Thursday, April 7, 2016
Luke 16:22 ...the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.
FEEDS, COMFORTS, DEFENDS
When Jesus' followers were hungry, He fed them by the thousands. Nor does He neglect us, whom He rescued from eternal suffering at the cost of His own life on the cross. He also teaches us to pray for daily bread. But the greatest feeding that our Risen King does is when He tells us "take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you ... take drink, this is my blood of the new covenant." With the bread and wine of the Sacrament, our Savior feeds us with food that yields *eternal* life and peace.
This food gives us forgiveness of sin, and it was sin that brought death into the world. Thus we who daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment are comforted in the face of death and all the other troubles that lead to death in this earthly life. Not only does our Savior rescue us from many storms that threaten us with harm, but by the forgiveness of sins we are even defended from the accusations of Satan, who would claim that our sins make us his own offspring.
Of course, had Christ not risen from the dead, none of this food, or comfort, or defense would be ours. For "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). Without forgiveness there would be no angels bringing a Lazarus to Abraham's side, for "then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost" (v. 18). "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead..." (v. 20). Therefore:
He feeds me, comforts, and defends,
And when I die His angel sends
To bear me whither He is gone,
For of His own He loses none.
