1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word, as we continue our Lenten Midweek series, “Set Free: The Gospel in Exodus,” is taken from Exodus 14:5-31, it’s entitled, “The Good News of a God Who Makes a Way for Us,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The people of Israel had a deadly enemy bearing down on them. After the night of the Passover, Pharaoh had said that the Israelites were free to leave Egypt. Soon, though, he had second thoughts. So, he gathered his army and set out in pursuit.
3. With the Red Sea ahead of them and the chariots of Pharaoh’s army rapidly approaching from behind, it appeared that the Israelites were trapped. They didn’t have time to go around the sea, they didn’t have a way to get across it, and they weren’t prepared to face the Egyptian forces in battle. They had no way of saving themselves, and there appeared to be no way out. But where there seems to be no way, the Lord makes a way.
4. The Lord told Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea—and he promised that as he did so, the waters would be parted and the Israelites would be able to pass through the sea on dry ground. Just as the Lord had said it would be, so it was. Moses lifted his staff, the Lord parted the waters, and—with the water like walls on either side of them—the people of Israel safely made their way through the Red Sea.
5. When they had made it through, the Lord told Moses to stretch out his staff again, and as he did, the waters fell back into place, pouring over the pursuing Egyptians and stopping them dead in their tracks. “Thus,” as Moses wrote, “the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians” (Ex 14:30). Seeing that they had been saved by the Lord’s power, Israel trusted in the Lord as their God and in Moses as their divinely appointed leader (Ex. 14:31). So, embarking on their new life as God’s redeemed people, they set out to go where the Lord would lead them. A long journey still lay ahead. But, through God’s gracious deliverance, a new day had dawned for Israel.
6. Looking back to the miraculous Red Sea crossing, we marvel at what God did for the Israelites that day—and all the more so when we see that he did it not only for them but also for us! By saving the people of Israel from Pharaoh, God preserved the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And in doing that, he kept alive his promises to them—including the promise of an Offspring of Abraham through whom all nations would be blessed! More than that, not only did God preserve his promise to send us a Savior, but, as he delivered Israel through the waters of the Red Sea, he also gave a preview of how that promised Savior would ultimately deliver us.
7. Apart from Christ, we all face mortal danger from deadly enemies. The devil desires and seeks our destruction. Our own sinful nature plays right into the devil’s hands. And because of our sin, death is like a dark shadow following us, an enemy pursuing us. Many of us struggle with sins on a regular basis. We sometimes tell lies or are dishonest, get angry or hold grudges, and think only of ourselves instead of others. We may not always listen or obey our parents, teachers, or God, and at times we can be unkind, mean, or hurtful to others. Jealousy or envy can sneak into our hearts, and we might want more than we really need. We can also be lazy or neglect doing what we should, and we worry instead of trusting God. All of these are ways we fall short, but God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus cover our sins and set us free.
8. Threatened by these dangers on every side, we would seem to be trapped. We cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition any more than the Israelites could have saved themselves from Pharaoh’s armies. Whatever direction we look, the way is blocked. But again, where there seems to be no way, the Lord makes a way. The God who gave Moses to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt gives his own Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from sin, death, and the devil.
9. To make a way for Israel, the Lord directed Moses to lift up his staff of wood and stretch out his hand over the sea. To make a way for us, Christ is lifted up on a cross of wood, with his arms stretched out over Mount Calvary. Like the people of Israel, we are safely delivered from our enemies. But while Moses, too, passed through unharmed, Christ secures our safety only at the cost of his own life.
10. To save us from sinking down into the depths of judgment for our sin, Christ makes a safe path for us to the shores of freedom. And as he cuts off the devil’s pursuit of our souls, Christ himself is crushed as the waves of judgment crash down and flood over him. By his death, he saves us from death.
11. But this exodus wasn’t done just yet. With Christ crucified, dead, and buried, it certainly appeared that the way of Christ had come to its end. But once again, where there seems to be no way, the Lord makes a way. In vindication of this self-sacrificing Savior, God lifts him up out of the miry depths and delivers our Deliverer! Christ is raised to life, never to die again—and by his resurrection, he opens to us the way of everlasting life!
12. In fact, not only does Christ open a way to us—not only does he make a way for us—but he himself is the way. This way is trustworthy, for Christ is the truth. And in him, we find life, for Christ is himself the life. He is the one true way to life, and In Christ, God Makes the Way That Saves Us from All Threats and Gives to Us Everlasting Life. So, he now comes to us to bring this life to us personally, that in him we may have life and have it abundantly.
13. And to do this, he again works in a way that bears a striking resemblance to Israel’s exodus! As the Lord once delivered the Israelites into a new life through the waters of the Red Sea, he now delivers us personally to new life through the waters of Holy Baptism. The sinful nature is drowned, and we emerge safely on the other side.
14. Martin Luther makes that connection in a baptismal prayer as he says to the Lord, “Almighty and Eternal God, . . . You drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea, yet led Your people Israel through the water on dry ground, foreshadowing this washing of Your Holy Baptism” (LSB, p. 268; cf AE 53:97).
15. By water and the Word, we are baptized into Christ, and the saving benefits of his death and resurrection are applied to us personally. Through the waters of Baptism, we are delivered to a new life in Christ. Even though we struggle with sins like: lying, anger, selfishness, disobedience, unkindness, jealousy, greed, laziness, and worry, God forgives us because of Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment for all our sins so that we could be made clean and right with God. So, you can think of your baptism as your own personal exodus. In Christ, you have been set free, and the fullness of life is yours. May you rejoice in your Redeemer from this time forth and forevermore. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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