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March 14, 2009 -- Third Sunday in Lent -- Service Guide -- Bulletin

"The Finger of God"

From the Old Testament of the Day: And the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God," but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the Lord had said. [Exodus 8.19]

From the Holy Gospel: "But if it is by the finger of God that I cast our demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." [Luke 11.20]

Today’s is Oculi, the 3rd Sunday in Lent, so named because of the beginning word of the Introit: "My eyes": My eyes are ever on the Lord.

That’s really a wonderful position from which to live each moment of life: My eyes are ever on the Lord. But, things being what they are – a battlefield between Christ and His angels vs. the devil and his fallen angels – and the Christian being what he is, both 100% sinner and 100% saint, it is no wonder that my eye, your eyes, and every Christian’s eyes are not always and only on the Lord. But in this battle there is another force – not "the force be with you" from Star Wars fame, but the force mysteriously called "The Finger of God." Let your attention now be focused on the identity of this Finger of God.

I.

The Old Testament of the Day presents you with event known as the 3rd plague that God brought upon Egypt in His war against Pharaoh – really His war against the devil and his fallen hosts. You may recall the previous two plagues that the Lord unleashes against the Egyptians when the Pharaoh refuses God’s instruction – Let my people go. Pharaoh has the same sort of view concerning God’s commands as do most of the people in our town, our state, our country, indeed, our world; namely, that God’s commands need not be heeded.

So, in the face of the Pharaoh’s hardened heart, God – through Moses, his voice and his staff – turns the water of the Nile into blood, causing the fish to die and water to become foul. But the magicians with their satanic arts, do the same thing, turning some water into blood, and the Pharaoh remains hardened.

Then, after seven days, God, through Moses, demands that the Pharaoh let His people go, or else the land will be overrun with frogs. Pharaoh refuses. So, on comes the second plague, but again, the magicians do the same through their satanic arts. Mind, you it is God Himself that allows the devil’s minions to mimic the plagues that God brings upon Egypt.

Then comes the 3rd plague. After the Pharaoh refuses to let God’s people go, God brings on the plague of gnats. And when they magicians with their satanic arts seek to duplicate this plague, they come to this startling conclusion, this admission of defeat: They say to the Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But the Pharaoh remains unmoved. So, this "finger of God" will bring upon him, in successions, plagues of flies, of diseased livestock, of boils on the skin of people and livestock, of damaging thunder and hail, of locusts, of darkness over the land, and the disastrous final plague, the death of the firstborn of man and beast. All of these plagues, being correctly identified by defeated magic minions of the devil as the work of "The finger of God."

Now, we must remember that these are unbelievers who present the Pharaoh with the conclusion that this is "the finger of God" that fights against them. But, pagans or not, God has given them a correct insight – this is the finger of God, and throughout the Old Testament this same force is at work. Who this force is, we learn from Christ in the New Testament.

II.

In the Holy Gospel, it is Jesus Himself who explains the source of His miracles. In the face of the silly suggestion that Jesus can cast out demons because He Himself is the leader of the demons, Jesus makes this claim: "But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you!" When Moses returns to Egypt after 40 years in the wilderness of Midian, it is the kingdom of God that has come upon Eygpt, no matter how the Pharaoh and his magicians and his army and his people might think and act. Now, as Jesus is into His public ministry, it doesn’t matter what the leaders of the people or those who follow them happen to think about Jesus. It is the case that He casts out demons by the finger of God, and therefore, God’s kingdom has come on this land and people, whether they accept it or not.

Now, what, or more correctly who, is the finger of God. In the Old Testament, to distinct forces from the throne of God the Father in heaven were at work on earth. God the Son is seen at work in the Old Testament – but not directly or simply in what we call Theophanies, appearance of God. God the Son is at work as a force, a force known as "the Right Hand of God." And also at work on earth within the blessed Holy Trinity, as "the finger of God" is the Holy Ghost.

Chiefly, in the battle of the plagues the Holy Ghost is working not on plague-making, but more specifically the Finger of God is working the Pharaoh, on his heart, hardening that heart, so that believers might see truth work, when otherwise they would see only the devil’s haughtiness and deceit at work.

Now in the Holy Gospel of the Day, it is the Holy Ghost at work in and with the miracles that Jesus does – God the Son now on earth in human flesh and human nature. And again the finger of God is at work chiefly on the hearts of sinners, hardening those who battle against the Gospel of Christ, and bring forth faith in those who see and believe that the kingdom of God has come upon them in Christ Jesus.

III.

This Holy Treo of the Ever Blessed Trinity is at work today, in your life, in our lives together as church, as families, as citizens, and always in this fallen world as sinners hounded by the Evil One. It is the midst of this fallen existence that God the Holy Ghost – the Finger of God, works to bring and keep you close to God the Son – the Right Hand of the Father and your Savior, that we might rejoice in all the gifts come to us from God the Father, the Father of Jesus through His birth by the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, and therefore your heavenly Father and that of all believers.

The point of both the Old Testament and the Holy Gospel today is to cause you to see more clearly that this is indeed a fallen world in which you live, and of which you are a part by your sinful nature. It is as fallen as was the Pharaoh and his pagan nation; it is as fallen as was the determined opponents of your Lord Jesus in His public ministry, opponents who put Him on a cross of public distain and corporal punishment, only to have the Blessed Holy Trinity at work – the heavenly Father, the Right Hand of God, and the Finger of God – working your salvation and your life with God, now and forever.

Life today is as confused as those who battled gnats and accused Jesus of being the devil – a confusion that will increasing lead to opposition against Christ, against the Gospel, and against you! The miracles in today’s texts are given to you as a reminder – a reminder both of what forces do and will come against you in this life – and more so who it is that fights for you and will bring you the victory – a victory of faith now and a victory of everlasting life when our Lord returns.

So it is, by the working of God the Holy Ghost, the finger of God, in the face of the activities of the devil that can and do come against you, that you know that you are united with Christ, who has defeated the devil and will bring eternal rescue to you!