"Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12:13)
Tomorrow evening at sunset is the "start" of Passover, although tonight begins the search for chometz. What really matters, however, is that because of Our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ, all of humanity can experience a "pass over." My sins are under the Blood of Jesus Christ, and the same protection from the death angel which the Hebrews experienced in Egypt, you and I may now enjoy, under the Blood of Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
The Reformation brought this reality to Europe and eventually the Americas and the world, complete salvation by faith and trust in, and obedience to Jesus Christ, the Blood Covenant of the Word of God Himself. We are now in the land of The Reformation. Yes, there were reformers throughout Church History, viz., Wycliffe, Hus, et al. But it was here the gauntlet was laid. Sarah and I hope to be able to go to Wittenburg this coming Saturday. A pastor here really encouraged us to do it. With all our travels in Europe over the years, we never made it there. It is a "sacred" place. It was there that Luther preached his response to the Papal Bull to, among other things, recant the 95 thesis. Luther refused of course, and he responded at Worms, Germany, in a trial,
"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the
Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust
either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is
well known that they have often erred and
contradicted themselves), I am bound by the
Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive
to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant
anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against
conscience. May God help me. Amen."
I still come back to one of the great incongruity of German culture and history perhaps best expressed by William Shirer, Author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: "How did it happen, that an ancient and cultured people, steeped in Christianity, cultivating the arts and sciences, preeminent in modern technology, who gave us Luther and Kant, Bach and Beethoven, Goethe and Einstein, collapse into savage barbarism in the mid twentieth century?" This is one of the great questions of history. The answers can be quite "spiritual" and academic, but to me, the events which occurred on German soil within my life time, and with such a people as Shirer described, I take as a warning to America particularly------------- "and may God have mercy on our soul." Amen.
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* Photo: Woody at the Wansee ("Final Solution") House
* Photo: Woody at the Wansee ("Final Solution") House
