Sharper Iron from KFUO Radio

Job responds to Eliphaz. Job’s suffering is real, and his suffering is heavy. Job has no strength of his own remaining, and now his “friends” have proven themselves treacherous. Job calls upon his friends to show real care and concern for him instead of trying to convict him of sin.

Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Job 6:1-30.

To learn more about St. Paul's in Paducah, visit stpaulpaducah.org.

“There Is a Redeemer...

Eliphaz continues his response to Job. He knows from experience that Job’s affliction hasn’t come from nowhere. Eliphaz advises Job to seek God; if Job will do his part in repenting, then Eliphaz is convinced that God will do His part in restoring Job. Eliphaz is sure that he is right, and he smugly tells Job to receive such wisdom for his own good. Throughout his speech, Eliphaz’s platitudes fall quite short of the real comfort Job needs.

Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller, pastor at St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX, jo...

Eliphaz begins to respond to Job. Whereas Job had once been the teacher, Eliphaz claims that now Job is being taught. Eliphaz says that he has seen that the innocent do not perish; instead, those who have iniquity are those who suffer. Eliphaz even claims that a spirit came to him by night to reinforce the point. If even angels can fall, then Eliphaz is sure that Job must have done something wrong.

Rev. Rick Jones, Chaplain and Vice President of Spiritual Life at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Minot, ND, joins host...

After seven days of silence with his friends, Job speaks first. With vivid imagery, he curses the day of his birth and says it would be better if he were now dead. Yet this is not a despairing desire for death. The key to understanding Job's lament is the reality that Job's suffering has made him unsure if God remains for him. The thing that Job fears is that God is now his enemy. If that is the case, then Job has no hope at all, for life without God is worse than death.

Rev...

The scene in the heavenly council from Job 1 replays in Job 2. The LORD again taunts Satan with the righteousness of Job, yet Satan challenges God once again. Job's own health remains, the accuser says. God keeps Satan on a leash, refusing to let the accuser kill Job even as he strikes the righteous man with terrible sores. Job refuses to fall into the despair of his wife in the midst of his terrible suffering. When three of Job's friends hear of the evil that has happened, they come and sit silently with him for seven days.

The backstory for Job is found in God's heavenly council. There, God taunts Satan that Job is a righteous man. Satan challenges God, however, claiming that Job only fears God because of all the things God has given. God allows Satan to take away Job's possessions and family. The news of one disaster right after another hits Job all at once. Yet he responds faithfully: "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Rev. James Uglum, pastor at Chapel of the Cross Lutheran Church in St. Peter's...

The book of Job is wisdom literature, in which God's Word helps us to wrestle with important questions of faith and life. Job's great suffering leads to a debate between him and his friends, which is finally concluded by the thundering and authoritative voice of God. As the book of Job begins, Job is introduced as living an ideal life economically, socially, and religiously. Yet the name Job is related to a word that means "enemy." Could Job actually be God's enemy? What will happen if Job thinks he is God's enemy? The stage is set for the rest...

“There Is a Redeemer” is a series on Sharper Iron that studies the book of Job. The suffering of Job raises important questions. Does man fear God for no reason? Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? Who can be an arbiter for man? As this book of wisdom literature wrestles with such questions, God reveals to us that He is our Living Redeemer whom we are right to fear, love, and trust above all things.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scri...

When the guards give their report of events at Jesus’ tomb, the Sanhedrin bribes them to say that the disciples stole Jesus’ body. Their lie has sent this false gospel into the world still today. Nonetheless, Jesus has a true Gospel to send into all the world. He gathers His disciples to Himself in Galilee. From there, He sends them to all nations with His authority to make disciples through Baptism and teaching. This promise Jesus will keep, for He is with His Church into the ages of ages.

Rev. Sam Wirgau, pastor at Bethlehem Luth...

At dawn of the first day of the week, the third day since Jesus had died, the two Marys went to see Jesus’ tomb. They expected Jesus would be dead, despite Jesus’ promise. A divine earthquake and a heavenly angel interrupted their expectations. The only dead men at Jesus’ tomb were the guards attempting to keep Jesus inside. The angel announced the good news that the Crucified One had risen, as He said. When the women did as the Word of God had instructed them, Jesus met them personally, and they worshipped their Risen Lord in His body. Jesus sent t...

Joseph of Arimathea uses his wealth in service to the Lord by providing a tomb for Jesus. Through Joseph, God fulfills the Word He spoke through Isaiah. From an earthly perspective, things look final. Joseph and the women who witness Jesus’ burial act on the belief that Jesus will remain dead. Ironically, the enemies of Jesus are the ones who remember what Jesus had said concerning His resurrection. These enemies foolishly think they can hold Jesus in His grave. As Jesus rests in His tomb until the third day, the stage is set for His Word of resurrection to be...

The signs accompanying Jesus’ death provide God’s testimony for the victory that He has won. The tearing of the temple curtain showed that the once-for-all sacrifice has been made by Jesus so that He is our true and only Mediator before God. The earthquake showed the reality of God’s judgment and served as a confirmation of Jesus’ teaching. The raising of the saints showed that Jesus’ death was life-giving. Of all people, the Roman centurion realized that Jesus’ death showed Him to be the Son of God. As the women looked on, they saw that Jesus had truly died...

For three hours, miraculous darkness covers the land as Judgment Day comes upon Jesus on the cross. He experiences the suffering of hell as the Father forsakes Him. Nonetheless, as Jesus prays Psalm 22, He does so not in despair but trusting in His Father’s will. As the crowds continue to doubt and mock Jesus, He gives up His life for the sake of sinners. Because God has died for us on the cross, this day truly is Good Friday.

Rev. Sean Daenzer, Director of Worship for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and chaplain for the...

Pilate’s soldiers treat Jesus with cruel mockery. Even though they do not believe He is a King, Jesus truly reigns as He is crowned with thorns and enthroned on His cross. Through the suffering of Christ, the eyes of faith see the glory of God to win our salvation. Jesus refuses to come down from His cross, even as diabolical temptation calls out to Him from the religious leaders and bystanders. Jesus resolutely remains on His cross so that we would believe in Him as the Son of God, our Savior.

Rev. Andrew Belt, pa...

As Pilate examines Jesus for guilt, the governor is amazed at the Lord’s silence to His accusers. Pilate attempts to use his custom of releasing a prisoner at the Passover to release Jesus. The dream given to Pilate’s wife reveals that Jesus truly is innocent, yet Pilate’s passive plan backfires as the religious leaders persuade the crowd to plead for Jesus’ crucifixion. Pilate’s handwashing does not remove his guilt, even as the crowd cries out willing to accept responsibility. In a wondrous irony, Jesus is shedding His innocent blood precisely to place it upon sinners and make u...

Although Peter follows Jesus at a distance, Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus happens just as the Lord had foretold. With growing vehemence, Peter refuses to acknowledge any connection to Jesus, until the rooster crows after the third time. Peter recalls Jesus’ words, and the apostle leaves with bitter tears. As Jesus goes to His trial before Pilate, Judas regrets his betrayal of the Innocent One, but the chief priests fail to point to the absolution found in the blood of Christ. Instead, they take the money paid to Judas to buy a field for burial. Even though their acti...

As the Sanhedrin meets in the darkness, they have already determined a guilty verdict for Jesus, regardless of the evidence. Their initial inability to find even false witnesses to agree on an accusation against Jesus shows their corruption and evil. When two witnesses do agree on something close to what Jesus said, the chief priest puts the question to Jesus directly. Despite the attempts of the Sanhedrin to keep things quiet, they provide Jesus the opportunity to proclaim the truth of who He is. As their hatred of Jesus becomes violence, they are shown to have failed their trial...

Just as Jesus said, one of His own twelve disciples delivers Him into the hands of those who desire to kill Him. In an awful irony, Judas uses a sign of greatest affection for the deepest betrayal. Although divine deliverance is only a prayer away for Jesus, He goes to His arrest willingly. He tells His disciples to put their swords away, and He reminds the crowds of His innocence. As Jesus is led away to trial and the disciples scatter, all that must take place happens in accordance with the Scriptures.

Rev. Nate Hill...

Jesus heads to the Mount of Olives with singing. There, He forthrightly tells His disciples what is about to happen to Him and to them, all in fulfillment of the Scriptures. In Gethsemane, Jesus prays to His Father knowing exactly what He is about to face, yet He does so in obedience to the Father’s will. Although Peter, James, and John cannot stay awake and pray with Jesus, the Lord continues resolutely toward His suffering and death.

Rev. Jeremy Swem, pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church and School in Grand Rapids, MI, joins host Re...

Jesus observes His Passover with His family. He instructs His disciples to make the necessary preparations for the meal that He will bring to fulfillment. As He eats with His disciples, Jesus tells His disciples that one of them will hand Him over. Judas’ own words reveal him as the betrayer. Nonetheless, Jesus remains focused on the gifts that He has come to give. He brings the Passover meal to fulfillment by giving the Holy Supper of His body and His blood to His disciples.

Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Me...

Jesus continues to move resolutely toward His crucifixion. Although the chief priests and elders believe they are accomplishing their plan, Jesus' suffering and death is truly the Father's will for the salvation of sinners. A woman who anoints Jesus with expensive ointment receives scorn from the disciples, but Jesus teaches them that her action has shown that His suffering, death, and burial truly is valuable and beautiful. Judas, however, does not believe. He places a paltry value on Jesus and agrees to betray the Lord. Nonetheless, God's will goes forward unthwarted.

Rev. Ned Moerbe, pastor...

Jesus concludes His Olivette Discourse by describing His coming again in glory on the Last Day as a shepherd who separates sheep from goats. The sheep are His righteous ones. They are righteous because they have been blessed by the Father from the foundation of the world, and that righteousness was seen by the way they received Jesus by receiving His messengers. On the other hand, the goats are the unrighteous. They receive condemnation not because Jesus has chosen them for damnation, but because they have chosen it for themselves. That reality was made evident in the way they...

Jesus' parable of the talents teaches His people how to live faithfully now awaiting His return. God gives to His children according to their ability. Because His gifts come from His love, the proper response is to put those gifts to work in faithfulness to God, knowing that He is our loving Master whose gifts always bear fruit. The third servant in the parable illustrates the faithlessness of inaction. This servant's wickedness is revealed in his wrong faith toward his master. Because this servant does not know his master truly, he simply buries the master's property. However, when we...

Jesus tells a parable that illustrates what it means for His Church to always watch for the unknown day and hour of His return. He tells a story of ten virgins whose role is to greet the bridegroom's arrival. Five are wise by having oil to keep their lamps lit when the bridegroom arrives later than they had anticipated. Five are foolish, for their lack of oil leaves them far away when the bridegroom enters his feast. With the door locked, it is now too late for these foolish ones to enter. By this parable, Jesus teaches His Church...

After answering the disciples' first question concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus now turns to answer the disciples' second question concerning His coming in glory. Jesus is direct. No one knows the day or the hour. Those who attempt to predict the date reveal themselves to be false teachers. Instead, Jesus compares His second coming to the suddenness of the flood in the days of Noah. Thus, Jesus calls all men to watch and be ready through faith. As we watch for our Lord's return, He teaches us to live with wisdom as His faithful servants. In this way...

Jesus reiterates the importance of watching out for false teachers in the days leading up to the fall of Jerusalem. No false teacher will be needed to add to anything Jesus has said concerning the imminence of the temple's destruction. Jesus describes those days surrounding Jerusalem's fall with apocalyptic language reminiscent of the Old Testament prophets. The day of the LORD that came upon Jerusalem in AD 70 does foreshadow Christ's second coming, yet the destruction of the temple was not the end of the world. Even as created things pass away as we wait for the Last Day, Jesus...

The disciples ask Jesus two questions that prompt His last great discourse in the Gospel according to St. Matthew. They want to know when Jerusalem will be destroyed, and they want to know what sign will announce His second coming. Jesus answers both questions in order, careful not to allow the disciples to conflate the two events. This text speaks about the fall of Jerusalem. Jesus warns His disciples to stay alert through wars and disasters. Through persecution, they must endure in proclaiming the Gospel. When they see the abomination of desolation in the temple, they must flee from...

Jesus speaks Jerusalem's name twice with love and sadness, for its reputation has not lived up to its name. Instead of being the city of peace, Jerusalem has been the city that kills the prophets, and the same is about to happen again to Jesus. Even though His will was to gather Jerusalem into His refuge, Jerusalem's will was the opposite. In foretelling the destruction of the city and the temple, Jesus gives what Jerusalem wanted. He leaves the temple and goes to the Mount of Olives, in the same way the prophet Ezekiel saw the glory of the...

Jesus continues to speak woe to the scribes and Pharisees. Their hypocrisy is evident in their concern for outwardly upright behavior while being inwardly wicked due to their rejection of God's Word and His Son, Jesus. As the fathers of the scribes and Pharisees murdered the prophets, so now the scribes and Pharisees are about to spill the innocent blood of the Son of God. Nonetheless, by directing these words directly to each individual man hearing Him, Jesus calls each one to repent and believe even now, before it is too late.

Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz, pastor...

Jesus speaks woe repeatedly to the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy of claiming to know the Scriptures but refusing to believe in Him. When they spread their teaching, they only evangelize others for hell. Their hypocrisy blinds them to the truth of the temple as the house of God who dwells among His people with life and forgiveness. As the scribes and Pharisees focus on the minutiae of the Law, they miss the big picture of God's mercy and faithfulness. Even with such direct and harsh words, Jesus shows love to these men and calls them to repentance.<...

Having answered His enemies’ temptations three times now, Jesus takes the offensive during Holy Week. He warns the crowds and His disciples against the scribes and Pharisees. Although they rightly read the Word of God, which must be obeyed, their preaching and their practice are full of deceit and hypocrisy which must not be obeyed. Their preaching only proclaims the burden of the Law, with no salvation from the Gospel. Their concern for earthly glory only exacerbates the problem. In contrast, Jesus upholds the life of a servant as the paradigm for all who are members of His Church, fo...

The Pharisees try to tempt Jesus one more time by sending a lawyer from among them to ask about the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus responds by refusing to separate the two tables of the Law from each other. The love of God and the love of neighbor go hand-in-hand. Even more than that, the Law, together with the prophets, paints a picture of the Christ who has come to fulfill all things in place of sinners. Because the Christ is both David’s son and David’s Lord, the Christ is the only Savior.

Re...

The Sadducees take their turn at trying to trap Jesus by presenting a story that pits the resurrection against levirate marriage. Because of the lawfulness of all the marriages presented in their case study, they are sure they have proved the resurrection to be ludicrous. Jesus tells them outright that they are wrong because they don’t know the Bible or God’s power. If they realized that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of the living, they would know that the resurrection must be a reality—and it is!

Rev. Jeremi...

The Pharisees and Herodians form an unlikely alliance during Holy Week in an effort to trap Jesus. They believe they have Him cornered with a question about the lawfulness of paying taxes to the Roman government. Jesus lures them into their own trap as they bring out a coin for the tax and admit whose likeness is on the coin. Jesus’ proverbial answer acknowledges Caesar’s place in God’s order, but more importantly teaches us to recognize God’s rule over us and every aspect of our lives.

Rev. Philip Hoppe, pastor at Trinity Lutheran...

Jesus tells yet a third parable to the religious leaders during Holy Week; this time He compares God’s reign in the world to a King who hosts a wedding feast for His Son. The religious leaders have made every excuse not to come to Jesus in faith, and they are preparing to kill Him as they have killed the prophets before Him. This brings about God’s judgment, but He will have His feast full. Those whom He invites must come on His terms, wearing the wedding garments of faith. To come in any other way is to invi...

Jesus tells the religious leaders another parable set in a vineyard, drawing from the imagery of Isaiah 5. Like the tenants in the parable, the religious leaders have not produced the fruit God required, and they have instead mistreated God’s servants, the prophets. Now, they are on the verge of killing God’s own Son and bringing down upon themselves His judgment. Through this parable, Jesus proclaims Himself as the fulfillment of Psalm 118. Although the religious leaders recognize the parable is about them, they still refuse to believe.

Rev. Andrew Packer, pastor at Good Shepherd Luth...

As Jesus continues teaching in the temple in Holy Week, the religious leaders demand that Jesus state His authority for acting and speaking in the manner He does. Marvelously evading their trap, Jesus sets a trap of His own as He asks about the source of John’s baptism. When the religious leaders refuse to answer, Jesus refuses to answer their question directly. Instead, He begins a series of parables that shows the faithlessness of the religious leaders. Although they should have been sons of God, they have refused to listen to God by refusing the preaching of both Jo...

Upon entering Jerusalem, Jesus goes to the temple, where He overturns tables and drives out moneychangers. What should have been Jesus’ house of prayer has become a den of robbers, stealing the mercy of God from His people. The blind and the lame come to Jesus to receive mercy from Him, despite the ongoing protests of the chief priests and scribes. A fig tree serves as Jesus’ object lesson for the coming judgment against all who put their hope in a building rather than trusting in the Word of God.

Rev. Dustin Beck, pastor at Holy...

Jesus enters Jerusalem according to His plan and purpose. He gives specific instructions to two disciples concerning His mount for His ride into Jerusalem. Jesus’ words are fulfilled, just as the Word of God from the Old Testament is fulfilled. Jesus comes as the humble King. The crowd overflows with exuberance to see Jesus enter Jerusalem in this way, and they welcome Him with joy. Although they may not have understood the full import of their words, they were right to sing Hosanna to Jesus as the Son of David. He has revealed Himself as more than a Prophet; He...

Jesus passes through Jericho as He nears Jerusalem. There, two blind men beg for mercy from Jesus because they see Him truly as the Son of David. When the crowd tries to silence the men, their prayers grow louder. Jesus asks the two men the same question He had asked the mother of the sons of Zebedee, and these two blind men ask for something Jesus has come to grant. He grants them physical sight, matching their spiritual sight. Unlike a previous healing, after this miracle, Jesus does not tell the men to be silent. As Holy Week draws...