Today's Reading: Matthew 11:25-30
Daily Lectionary: Job 19:1-12,21-27; John 8:1-20
"All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Matthew 11:27)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The world doesn't know God the Father because it doesn't know Jesus. But how do you know Jesus? By the preaching of the Gospel. That is why St. Matthias was sent by God—to preach the Gospel. Like most of the other Apostles, we don't really know what happened to St. Matthias other than that he was probably martyred for Christ. But St. Matthias isn't important for his own sake. He is important to remember as one who was a witness of Jesus' earthly life and who was called in the church to be a preacher.
How do you know God? You wouldn't except that Christ has revealed Himself to you in His Word and Sacraments. Well how do you know whether the Son has willed that the Father be revealed to you? By the preaching of the Gospel. By Baptism. By the ministry of the word that your pastor carries out. By the Sacrament that you receive. In those gifts, you have Christ and having Christ, you have the Father.
Tomorrow begins the holy season of Lent. It is a time of reflection upon the passion—the suffering and death of Jesus for our sins. This is what Matthias preached. Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. Jesus dying for sinners. Jesus, the salvation of the world. Matthias lost his life for that preaching. Yet the Lord saved many lives through that preaching.
The world doesn't know the Father. But apostles and preachers like St. Matthias are used by God to preach Christ to the world. Their preaching of Jesus is how the Lord comes and shows Himself to this world. That preaching is how the Lord takes what was accomplished at Calvary and delivers it to people here and now.
We celebrate Matthias, not for his own sake, but because He was an apostle, an eyewitness of Jesus sent to be a preacher of Jesus. Through such preaching you have Jesus and in having Jesus, you know the Father, too. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
For one in place of Judas, Th' apostles sought God's choice; The lot fell to Matthias For whom we now rejoice. May we like true apostles Your holy Church defend, And not betray our calling But serve You to the end. (LSB 517:13)