The readings for the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost are taken from Exodus 3:1-15; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17; and Luke 20:27-40.
As we approach the end of the church year (the Sunday before Thanksgiving), we consider lessons that have to do with the end of the world, also known as Judgment Day. All three lessons have to do with forces that oppose God: Pharaoh, the Lawless one, and the Sadducees all opposed God and took away the lives of people by holding them captive under the law. The Son of God is the great “I AM” of Exodus who appeared to Moses. Jesus shows Himself to be that great I AM, now in the flesh as our substitute under the law to redeem us from the curse and captivity of the law. Jesus is the one who called Paul away from those who opposed God to be a servant of truth and grace. The truth is that God has chosen us to be His own children, He has set us free from the law and death, and He will come and raise us from the dead, reuniting our regenerate soul with a risen body for life everlasting.