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All Saints’ Day 2025
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
November, 2, 2025
Rev. 7(2-8) 9-17, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12
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Text and Audio: immanuelhamiltonchurch.com click “sermons”
Text: pastorjud.org
Audio: pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes: bit.ly/pastorjud
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Matthew 3:1–2 (ESV) 1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” What is the kingdom of heaven? How do you get in?
John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus and Jesus comes to John to be baptized. Jesus is then tempted by Satan in the wilderness and afterwards begins His ministry around the Sea of Galilee. Matthew 4:17 (ESV) 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” What is the kingdom of heaven? How do you get in?
Jesus calls His first disciples and then…Matthew 4:23–25 (ESV) 23 …he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.”
Jesus’ fame is spreading, and now Jesus goes up on a hill and His disciples come near to hear Him teach. The crowds also are waiting to hear Jesus. This new teacher can do miraculous things. He has power over sickness and demons and can make the paralyzed walk. His acts are beyond the laws of nature. What is He going to say? This is Jesus’ first public teaching recorded in Matthew and Matthew introduces it in a very deliberate way. Matthew 5:1–2 (ESV) 1 … when [Jesus] sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: Matthew 5:3 (ESV) 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven. What is the kingdom of heaven?
A kingdom is where the king reigns. It is where the king does his kingly stuff. Who is the king in the kingdom of heaven? It is Jesus. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near, the King -- Jesus -- is here. The kingdom of heaven is where Jesus rules, it is where Jesus does His Kingly acts. It is where Jesus does His savings deeds.
What kind of king is Jesus? He is a king who comes to serve, not to be served. He is a king who eats with society’s outcasts. He comes to the lowliest sinners and calls them to repent and washes them clean and brings them into His kingdom. Jesus humbles Himself to wash away your filthy sins and takes responsibility for them and suffers and dies as the servant king paying the price for you. He is crowned mockingly with thorns. He is dressed up as a king and sarcastically worshiped. His throne is the cross. Instead of wearing kingly, luxurious robes King Jesus is crucified naked. He takes upon Himself the guilt and shame of the world with a sign above His head, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. As we begin worship processing forward with the cross we remember King Jesus on His throne with His crown doing His kingly deed of saving you. Jesus is King.
Who do King Jesus’ savings deeds benefit? The poor in spirit. Jesus’ saving deeds belong to those who know they are unable to save themselves. They belong to those who know they cannot do it: to those who know they are sinners and grieve that they cannot free themselves. The kingdom of heaven is for those who know they need Jesus. Salvation and entry to the kingdom of heaven is a free gift for those who cannot earn it. This is incredible Good News and it is a radical new teaching coming from Jesus.
Jesus declares that you are blessed in your inability. You are blessed because you cannot do something. This is profoundly countercultural. In the world you are blessed because of your abilities. You are blessed because of what you can do. You are blessed by what you can accomplish. But blessed in the world is not the same as blessed by Jesus.
Blessed by Jesus is a present blessing; you are in the kingdom of heaven right now, and it is an eternal blessing; you will be in the kingdom of God forever.
Blessed in the world means you are successful, powerful, rich, healthy, wealthy and wise. Blessed in the world is a temporary, fleeting blessing that can come and go and will vanish as soon as you take your last breath. Blessed in the world is vanity. As King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 5:15 (ESV) 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.”
Matthew 5:3 (ESV) 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed by Jesus means that Jesus’ saving deeds have been credited to you. He has taken the record of your sins and nailed it to the cross where His blood covers all your sin. Blessed by Jesus means that Jesus has erased you sins and your name is in the Book of Life and on the judgement day Jesus will read your name and you will go to live in the Heavenly City of New Jerusalem for eternity with Jesus.
In John’s revelation Jesus teaches the faithful in the church in Sardis saying, Revelation 3:5 (ESV) 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”
Blessed by Jesus is a present blessing; you are in the kingdom of heaven right now, and it is an eternal blessing; you will be in the kingdom of God forever.
On most Sundays before we begin the Divine Service you get on your knees and confess that you are poor in spirit. You are a natural born sinner. You repent -- for the kingdom of heaven is near. You confess that you are among the lowliest sinners; you are a real sinner who cannot save yourself. You cannot do it. You need Jesus. You cry out to the Lord, “For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us and lead us…”
And Jesus forgives your sins. That is what King Jesus does. His is a kingdom of forgiveness. And you are, right now, in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is your King. He rules over you. You pray that you may delight in His will and walk in His ways to the glory of His name. You are a subject of King Jesus.
Unless Jesus returns first, you will one day die, and at death you will enter an intermediate phase of the kingdom of heaven. Your body is laid to rest in the earth and your spirit goes to be with the Lord to wait for the last day, when there will be, as we confess in the creed, the resurrection of the dead.
Today, on All Saint’s Sunday, we remember those who have died in the faith this past year and in years past. Those we remember today who fell asleep in Jesus are still in the kingdom of heaven waiting for the Last Day when their bodies will be raised up in perfection, and body and soul reunited they will hear their name read by Jesus and the saints will go marching through the pearl gates into the Holy City.
On that day you will be a part of the multitude in the final eternal phase of the kingdom of heaven in the throne room of Jesus. Revelation 7:9–10 (ESV) 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Jesus’ teaching on a hill that day was radical and counter cultural to the people 2,000 years ago. It is just as radical today. Jesus blesses you in your inability. Jesus comes to those who cannot save themselves and He washes them clean, covers them with His robe of righteousness and gives them eternal life in the kingdom of heaven now and forever.
This morning you remembered your baptism as we spoke the words of the baptismal service: rejecting the devil and his works and his ways and confessing faith in God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For many of you who were baptized as an infant, these words were spoken for you. You were unable to speak. You were baptized in your inability. You were brought into the kingdom of heaven through water and word -- not from anything you did, but by the power of God.
We baptized babies despite babies being unable to reject the devil and confess faith in God. We baptize babies because babies are unable to do anything. Baptism is not something you do for God as is falsely taught in so many churches. Baptism is what God does for you. Babies are blessed in their inability and are given the gift of the Holy Spirit and are brought into Jesus’ Kingdom by His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV) 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” You cannot do it. Jesus has done it all. You are in the kingdom of heaven right now. Jesus is your king, He is your ruler. You came here this morning because Jesus is King and you are in His Kingdom and He has promised to do His Kingly saving deeds for you, right here. King Jesus lives in your heart and teaches you His Word. He feeds you His very Body and Blood to strengthen and preserve you in true faith to life everlasting. You, poor in spirit, are blessed for eternity, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Amen.