Bethel Lutheran Church - Pastor Luke Bernthal
Soli Deo Gloria

The One, True, Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; Matthew 28: 16 - 20; 2008-05-17

The Bulletin (order of service)

Text: Matthew 28: 16 - 20;
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

The Bible tells us very plainly that even though God has revealed much to us about Himself—and most importantly the salvation He came to bring us through His Son Jesus—there are countless things about God and His thoughts and ways that are beyond our comprehension. David says in Psalm 145:3, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.” God Himself tells us in Isaiah, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9). And the Apostle Paul exclaims in Romans, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

One of the most astounding, perplexing, and “unfathomable” teachings in the Bible is the one we focus on today, Trinity Sunday, and that is the teaching of the Trinity. Do you ever wonder where or how we got this teaching about God, especially since the word “Trinity” (which means “three in one”) is not used in the Bible? Have you ever had a hard time conceptualizing what it means that God is three persons, yet still one God? Maybe as we were confessing the Athanasian Creed a few moments ago you were thinking to yourself, “Some of this just doesn’t make sense!” That’s true! The teaching of the Trinity doesn’t make rational sense. How can anyone or anything be three, but at the same time one, and one but at the same time three? It’s impossible for our minds to fully grasp. Sure, we can try and use some illustrations for our minds to latch on to, but all of these illustrations fall short in one way or another. The best one I’ve ever heard of to describe the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; three “persons” in one God—is the illustration of water. It can be in three different forms: liquid, solid (ice), or gas (vapor, steam), but it’s all still water. The one problem with this illustration is that water cannot be all three of its forms at the same time (liquid, solid, gas). God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all three distinct and individual “persons,” but at the same time wholly and fully one God.

Is it any wonder, then, that in our text we read that even some of Jesus’ eleven disciples who were on that mountain in Galilee with Jesus “doubted” even though they had the resurrected Jesus right in front of their eyes? Verse seventeen tells us, When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted” (v. 17). Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that some of these men didn’t believe, but it does seem to indicate a lot of confusion in the minds and hearts of some of Jesus’ closest disciples—confusion, no doubt, about who Jesus was and how He could be both God and man at the same time, and possibly even some other doubts about the nature of the Triune God. In order to put their doubts to rest Jesus first gives them the assurance that He Himself is true God and then assures them that the Father, and the Holy Spirit are true God and one with Him as well. Then to top it all off, He promises that He, as true God, will be with always, even till the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). Jesus’ words in our text bring this same assurance and comfort to us. He speaks to our hearts with His Words and tells us about The One, True, Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Now usually we don’t have any problem thinking that God the 1. Father is God. He is the member of the Trinity that we probably think of most often when we say the name “God.” After all, as we read in our Old Testament reading the Bible begins by telling us that God the Father is the Creator of this universe, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Notice that the Bible doesn’t even argue the existence of God, it simply states it as fact: “In the beginning God...” The Bible also tells us very clearly that God the Father is still the preserver of all things. Psalm 145:15-16 tell us, “The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

But what about Jesus? There is no doubt that Jesus is true man. He lived, breathed, ate, slept, and even died just like any other human being. Even secular historians will tell you that. But how do we know, and how can we believe that 2. Jesus is God just like the Father? First of all, because Jesus Himself tells us so! In our text Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (v. 18). Only God can claim that type of authority. How did Jesus prove that He had this authority? Well, He was standing there talking to them wasn’t He? Remember just a short time before this Jesus had been brutally crucified on a cross and buried in a tomb—dead! Yet, three days later He rose from the dead, as He had predicted. And if that wasn’t enough, a short time after He said these words from our text He ascended into heaven. We also learned from our Old Testament reading that Jesus was there with God the Father at Creation. “Now wait a minute,” you might say, “I don’t remember you reading anything from Genesis about Jesus being at Creation!” Well, He was! He was there in God the Father’s words. John tells us in the first chapter of His Gospel that Jesus is God’s “Word made flesh” (John 1:14), and that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3). When God said, “Let there be…!” (Genesis 1:3), Jesus was there in those words!

Well, how about the Holy Spirit? Admittedly, there are probably fewer passages in Scripture that clearly tell us that the Holy Spirit is God, but even if we just had one that would be enough for us to trust that 3. The Holy Spirit is God. One of these clear passages is found in the Book of Acts. The Apostle Peter once confronted a man named Ananias when he had sinned and the Bible tells us, Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?...You have not lied to men but to God" (Acts 5:3-4). We read in our Old Testament reading that the Holy Spirit was also there with God the Father and Jesus, “the Word” (John 1:1), at Creation. We read in Genesis chapter one, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).

If you’re still not convinced let’s consider two more things from our readings this morning which tie the three persons of the Trinity together. The first one is from our epistle reading from 2 Corinthians. Paul wrote, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Why on earth would Paul have given a blessing in the name of Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit if all three weren’t God? That not only wouldn’t make any sense, it would be blasphemy on Paul’s part! How could anyone other than God Himself bless people?

Secondly, consider Jesus’ familiar words in our text, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (v. 19). Why on earth would Jesus give the command to “make disciples” by “baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” if they weren’t all three one God? Would it make any sense for Jesus to command us to baptize little Annie Marie Bohde, like we have this morning, in the name of anyone other than God Himself? How could anyone but God Himself give her, and us, the miraculous benefits of forgiveness and faith that are found in baptism?

Yes, the Bible’s teaching of the Trinity is a “hard teaching.” It is something our minds will never fully be able to understand, but that doesn’t mean we don’t believe it fully. We believe in a lot of things we don’t fully understand. I don’t fully understand all the intricacies of the law of gravity, but after jumping off the church swing set a few times as a kid, you bet I believe it exists! In the same way we will never—not in this life at least—fully understand how God was able to create this vast universe in just 6 days. We will never be able to fully comprehend how Jesus, the true Son of God, could be born of a virgin! And how will we ever be able to fully fathom the fact that the death of Jesus, a man who lived some 2000 years ago in a country half a world away from here, could pay for all my sins and the sins of every person who’s ever lived? But you can bet I believe it! And all who do believe this are personally given that forgiveness of all their sins and eternal life in heaven.

In the same way, we cannot fully understand the Trinity—how God can be three-in-one—but Jesus teaches it, so that should be good enough for us. If Jesus says it, believe it! 1. The Father is God, 2. Jesus is God, and 3. The Holy Spirit is God. That is the name you have been baptized into. That is the name Annie has been baptized into also. That is the name of the God who saved you from sin, death, and hell. The Triune God is our God; the one true God who loves us and still promises that He is “with [us] always, even to the end of the age” (v. 20). Believe it! Amen.