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The Bible Study – Our readings for Thursday, April 11 are Exodus 25:1-22 & Luke 5:17-39. The Lord details materials to be contributed for the construction and adornment of the Sanctuary and Ark of the Covenant. The Tabernacle is to be a Holy place where God and man meet. While the Ark would contain God’s Law, the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the cover would be called the mercy seat. It was to be regarded as the Lord’s throne. From here God spoke to Moses. Sacrificial blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat. The blood would cover the Commandments. Our sins have been covered by the sacrificed blood of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ. In Old Testament times, God dwelt with His people in the Tabernacle, and then in the Jerusalem temple. Today we meet our Saviour in His Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We find these means of grace within His true Church, where the Word of God is taught correctly, and the Sacraments administered properly. In our Gospel reading, the Pharisees and Scribes who taught salvation through observance of the Law, come to Capernaum where Jesus is teaching and healing. The crowds are so large a paralytic man must be lowered through the roof of the house to reach Christ. Luke writes: “And when he saw their faith, He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” It is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone that we’re saved – not by observance of the Law. The Pharisees and Scribes object. Christ explains that His miracles show the authority of His Word and His divine nature. Jesus calls the tax collector Matthew as a disciple. Matthew hosts a dinner that Christ attends. Also present – tax collectors & ‘sinners.’ Once more the Jewish authorities protest, asking why Jesus eats and drinks with such people. Christ makes clear to them and to us, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” As the Apostle Paul wrote: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Amen. Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto http://christlutherantoronto.org/sermons/bible-verses-showing-justification-by-faith-alone