For the student: Read along, fill in the blanks, and write your answers on the lines. Your parent has the answers.
Step 1 · Understand the Collect
Most collects follow a five-part pattern: the address (the One to whom we pray), the reason (what God has done or promised), the petition (what we ask), the purpose (what we hope will result), and the ending (the closing that names the Trinity).
Almighty and merciful God, of Your bountiful goodness keep from us all things that may hurt us that we, being ready in both body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish whatever You would have us do; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
1. Mark each part of the collect. Are any parts missing?
2. The collect asks God to keep harm from us so that we can serve Him. What does that order teach?
3. Why does the collect say "body and soul" instead of only one?
Step 2 · Understand the Gospel
Read the Gospel on your own.
Matthew 9:1-8
1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic—"Rise, pick up your bed and go home." 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
1. Jesus saw "their faith" (v. 2). Whose faith, and how did it show?
2. The man came to be healed. Why did Jesus forgive his sins first?
3. The scribes said, "This man is blaspheming." Were they right that only God can forgive sins? What did they miss?
4. Which is easier to say, "Your sins are forgiven" or "Rise and walk" (v. 5)? Why does Jesus heal the man?
Step 3 · Find the Collect in the Gospel
1. Find at least two places where the collect's words appear in the Gospel. Explain each one.
2. Today's Epistle tells us "to put off your old self" and "to put on the new self" (Ephesians 4:22, 24). How does the healed man picture that?
Step 4 · The Small Catechism
The Office of the Keys. What is the Office of the Keys? The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. Where is this written? This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter twenty: The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:22-23) What do you believe according to these words? I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, in heaven also, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.
Cross-reference. "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation... Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." (2 Corinthians 5:18, 20)
1. The crowds glorified God "who had given such authority to men" (v. 8). According to the catechism, who exercises that authority among us today?
2. Why is the absolution the pastor speaks "just as valid and certain... as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself"?
3. The Keys also withhold forgiveness from those who will not repent. Why is that loving?
Think about it. Only God can forgive sins. How can a pastor forgive them? Read Matthew 9:8 and John 20:22-23 and be ready to talk about it.
Step 5 · Wrap It All Up
1. Write a short collect of your own for this day. Use all five parts.
Pray today's collect together. Then answer:
2. What does Jesus do for you when the pastor says, "I forgive you all your sins"?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible. Small Catechism quotation from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, © Concordia Publishing House.