Jan Koenig

Every Advent Christians again ask, “What is Christmas?” Time and again we are reminded that the Christ would be born to be rejected, resulting ultimately in His crucifixion.  To the world this seems like utter failure, but to God and His people this is the heart of salvation, the meaning behind Christmas. Of Christ’s rejection… Read more »

Sadly, when many Christians fail to fathom the symbolism frequently found in the final book of the Bible, they give up in understanding this book and then they totally disregard whatever it clearly conveys.  This Advent season, consider some of the powerful and clear Advent messages in the book of Revelation.  Some such messages may… Read more »

In the Holy Gospel for the second Sunday in Advent Saint Luke informs us that the Baptizer fulfills the prediction of Isaiah 40:3 as he becomes God’s heavenly bulldozer.  It was thus predicted that the Baptizer would bring down the mountains, fill in the valleys, straighten crooked paths and smooth out the rough places.  Certainly… Read more »

Happy Hanukkah!  Yes, you read that correctly, Happy Hanukkah!  This year the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah falls on December 3rd. But what does that have to do with Christians, or more specifically what does that have to do with Jesus? For over four hundred years—from Malachi to John the Baptist—God had been silent; he sent… Read more »

When Jesus, or the New Testament writers, separate “body” and “blood” in their discussion of the work of Christ, they are speaking of Him as a sacrifice.  To prepare an Old Testament sacrifice the blood was associated with the life of a creature, and it was taken from the sacrificial flesh and strewn, daubed or… Read more »

Our Epistle for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost (Hebrews 9:24-28) is of tremendous importance in that it demonstrates Christ’s work to be the fulfillment of what was done in Old Testament worship.  This worship, linked to the priestly work in the Tabernacle, pointed to Christ, His cross and His empty tomb. A key statement is… Read more »

The end of this month our LC-MS congregations will be commemorating and celebrating the Reformation.  Why?  A simple explanation would be that the Reformers understood the salvific meaning of freedom. In the Holy Gospel assigned for Reformation Day Jesus declares, “…everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin…if the Son sets you free, you… Read more »

If one had to briefly describe the heart of Christianity, an appropriate summary would be, “It centers in the cross of Christ.” Though this monologue is entitled Brege’s Cross Words, of course the words of the cross do not uniquely belong to Brege.  I will be presenting and discussing Christ and his cross in any… Read more »