“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John. Dear friends in Christ, though it only consists of two letters, the word ‘if’ carries with it significance much greater than its size. It can introduce uncertainty and perhaps even doubt into our lives, it can make us stop and ponder what could happen in the future. So when we hear the word ‘if’ in our text, it makes us a bit uncomfortable: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” If you love me, Jesus says. Our love is shown in keeping His commandments. Now, a little explanation is needed. What we have translated here as ‘commandments’ doesn’t mean just the moral principles that Jesus gave us. No, in fact, it encompasses all of Jesus’ words, both Law and Gospel. And to keep those words means to hold onto them, to preserve and cling to them. So this isn’t just keeping the rules, but instead believing in Jesus, holding to Him in faith. However, even with those explanations, we haven’t removed that little word ‘if,’ have we? There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether we can actually hold onto His Word, whether we can hold onto Him, and for good reason.
You don’t need me to tell you that this ‘if’ is a tall order. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Whether it is the commands of God that Jesus gave to us and clarified throughout His ministry, or the beautiful message of His death and resurrection for our sake, holding onto Jesus seems impossible, for we are struggling against a sinful world that cares little for Jesus or anything that He had to say. Sure, they like to claim Him for their own causes, listening to His Word when it is convenient for them. The whole Jesus? That is a bit too much for our world to swallow. Our world doesn’t want to be shackled to any morality; those around us are having too much fun living only for themselves. And that’s only the Law; the Gospel of Jesus is just as offensive. Jesus declares that “No one comes to the Father except through me,” but our world wants to see many paths to God. The world is deeply offended that ‘good people’ could end up going to hell. To hold onto the Word of Jesus in the midst of this world, which doesn’t believe in sin and therefore doesn’t need a savior, appears impossible. But there is more to our plight than simply an evil world. We can see ourselves as a firm rock in the midst of a raging river of unbelief and immorality, but we know that we are also struggling against ourselves. Our own sinful nature doesn’t want to hear any of Jesus’ words; we don’t want God to be in charge, instead we want to call the shots. Deep down we rebel against how Jesus has described the life of a Christian. Our sinful nature also rebels against the Gospel. It wants to work itself up to God, it wants to earn the favor of our Creator. Try as we might, we fail each and every day to hold onto Christ’s Word.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” That ‘if’ is a lonely word. We love Jesus, but it is wearying to struggle against this sinful world. We feel like we’re the only one who care about Jesus, we feel alone. Why should I be the only one to even try to live according to God’s Law? Why should I be the only one who trusts in Jesus for salvation? What has it earned me but the scorn of the world, the ridicule of my neighbors, turmoil within my heart? Our friends don’t believe in Jesus, even our family has seemed to abandon Him. Our neighbors live in immorality, we read about a world that seems to be going more and more down the drain each day. Does anyone else even care? That’s exactly what Satan wants us to think. He wants us to feel alone, he wants us to feel orphaned. He wants us to be isolated, to feel like we’re the only Christians around. That’s how Satan works; he separates, he isolates. He wants us to wallow alone in our sin, he wants us to stay away from the comfort of others. He gives us reasons to skip church, to avoid the fellowship of believers, and when we take him up on his offer, he rejoices. He wants to deal with Christians one by one, he wants to make us feel like we have been abandoned by God, and you know that often he succeeds. It seems that Jesus has orphaned us, leaving us behind in this cruel, dark world with an impossible command. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” That ‘if’ mocks us in our isolation. It’s almost like Jesus had said, “If you love me, but you don’t, you will keep my commandments, but you can’t.”
Satan paints that dreary picture, a picture of isolation, a picture of us standing alone in a sinful world. But the truth is much different. Jesus knows the challenges that you face in this world of sin, He knows Satan’s tricks. Jesus knows that the life of His followers here upon this earth will be a difficult, lonely road, and so He has not left us alone. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” The Holy Spirit is our helper, our companion in this dark and lonely world. The Father sends Him to us to create and strengthen faith, to be with us each and every step of our journey. The great promise of God in the Old Testament, spoken again and again, is that “I AM with you;” in Matthew twenty-eight, Jesus promises, “Behold I AM with you always, even to the end of the age,” and here Jesus teaches us that the Spirit, our helper, will “be with you forever.” The Spirit is the One who fulfills those promises by bringing us the presence of God, to comfort and strengthen us. The Holy Spirit isn’t known by the world, for He is the one who works faith within us, through the Word and through the waters of Holy Baptism. Where He is, there faith is being created and strengthened. The world doesn’t know the Holy Spirit, for it has rejected the Word, it has rejected faith. But in you, in me, the Holy Spirit is active doing the work He delights in. He has given you faith in your Baptism, He has strengthened that faith today and every day through the Word of forgiveness. The Holy Spirit is working, even if we can’t ‘feel’ Him; in fact the Holy Spirit is working especially when we can’t ‘feel’ Him, for He does His work in the midst of our weakness, as we struggle to hold onto Jesus in this world. We can only cling to our Savior through Him, for it is He, not us, that sustains our faith. He holds onto us, especially when our hold upon Jesus is weak and faltering. He keeps us in the faith, He keeps us in Christ’s Word, it is only through His work that we love Jesus.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is how Jesus fulfills His great promise: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” He is departing, going forth from the upper room that very night to accomplish salvation. “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more,” Jesus says. The world will not see Him for it will kill Him, executing Him by hanging Him upon a cross. The world refused to see Jesus for who He truly is, the Son of God come to free all creation from the bondage of sin, but instead they saw Him as a threat, as an imposter. They nailed Him to the tree, but in being killed Jesus would bring salvation for even those who condemned Him, even you and me. For He died bearing your sins, He died bearing your corruption. He died to forgive your lack of love toward Him or your neighbors; He died to forgive your inability to keep His Word. He loved you when you were unable to love Him; He kept His Word when you couldn’t. His departure means salvation, His departure means forgiveness, His departure means victory.
“Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” Jesus departed to accomplish salvation, but He returned, just as He promised. He returned alive, victorious over death, bearing the wounds of salvation for all eternity. Because Jesus lives, because He triumphed over the grave, you also will live. You possess eternal life, for the Holy Spirit has worked faith within you through the Word and the washing of Holy Baptism. You have been baptized into His resurrection, as Saint Peter teaches in our Epistle lesson: “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him.” Because Jesus lives, because you have been baptized into His death and resurrection, you too will live. You will live, even though you die, for Jesus has conquered death. Because Jesus lives, you will abide forever in the fellowship of the Trinity: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” The Holy Spirit brings us Jesus in this world of sin, and when we are joined with Jesus, we are in fellowship with the Father as well. You are not alone, for even now you are in the fellowship of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are in relationship with your God, for your sins are forgiven and you have been adopted as God’s children through the washing of Holy Baptism.
Jesus concludes our text by returning to the way He began it: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” In a sense, these words are just as daunting as when Jesus said them before; we cannot hold onto our Lord on our own. But with the words of Jesus in our text, we have the assurance that we are not left alone, that the Holy Spirit is working to create and sustain faith, faith which clings to Jesus throughout this life’s journey. The Holy Spirit reveals to us Jesus, He makes our crucified and risen Lord manifest to us, strengthening us in this world. Jesus was made manifest to His disciples in His resurrection from the dead; He is made manifest to you in the wonderful gifts of the Word and the Holy Sacraments, and He will be made manifest to you forever in the resurrection of the dead. Because He lives, also you will live. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! Amen.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Easter 3 of Series A (Luke 24:13:35)
“Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. Dear friends in Christ, mothers have a way of seeing things that their children (or their husbands) are unable to. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times my mother sent me into a room to find something, and I couldn’t find it, but when summoned, she came and immediately tracked it down. Maybe it was superior knowledge of where things were stored, maybe it was superior techniques in finding the lost, or maybe it was just luck, but it seemed that she could see much more clearly than me. And she hardly broke a sweat. I could spend ten minutes searching drawers and cabinets, and she would come in and find it in five seconds. Now, I can’t remember my mother ever saying to us ‘are you blind!?’ but she would’ve had good reason to. Was I blind? Yes and no. I could see, but I just couldn’t see what I was looking for.
In the same way, the disciples on the road to Emmaus could see just fine, they just couldn’t see who they were talking to. “That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.” Our text is dripping with irony, as Jesus plays the part of a confused traveler and these two men proceed to tell Him about the events of Good Friday and Easter morning. Like an exasperated mother, we read this text and say, “Are you blind!?” Yes and no. These two disciples have physical sight, but they are spiritually blind. They cannot see Jesus for who He truly is.
This is the result of the first sin. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sunk their teeth into the fruit they were not supposed to eat, Scripture tells us that “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” Their eyes are opened, and they don’t like what they see. They see shame, condemnation, sin, and death. They see a world corrupted by sin, a world that is dying. And now that their eyes are opened to see sin and death, they are blinded to God. This is a tragic reversal of how it was when God created man. We were formed lovingly from the dust of the ground, God Himself breathed into our nostrils the very breath of life. Humanity had eyes completely opened to God and closed to all evil. We were in perfect relationship with our heavenly Father and Creator. But sin changed all that. We now have eyes closed to God and open to sin and evil. That is all we see around us, we cannot see God on our own. We look at ourselves and we ask, ‘Are you blind?’ Yes and no. Our eyes can see death all around us, we can see the sin that fills us and others, we can see the devil’s temptations, but God we can’t see.
Blindness then leads to misunderstanding. The two disciples on the Emmaus road give Jesus a confirmation lesson, and their teaching is, to say the least, lacking. “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel.” The crucifixion doesn’t fit into their conception of Jesus. It is unexpected, tragic, and surprising. They thought that He was a mighty prophet, but now He is dead. That little conjunction ‘but’ is filled with sorrow and disappointment. He was a mighty prophet, but He was crucified. We thought He was the one who would redeem Israel but He lays in a tomb. They were looking for a victorious Jesus, a Jesus who would back up His mighty miracles and amazing words with a demonstration of power in the holy city itself. God had protected His chosen people Israel before, He had preserved them against many foes, and they expected Jesus to be the greatest redeemer.
Does the cross fit into our conception of Jesus? Do we want a Jesus dying upon a cross, or do we want a victorious Jesus? Would we rather have Good Friday or Palm Sunday? Eyes blinded by sin want a bloodless Jesus, a Jesus that doesn’t have to suffer, a Jesus that redeems in triumphal victory. A redeemer that suffers? That’s almost embarrassing! Maybe that is one of the reasons we have trouble talking about Jesus to our friends and families. I’m told that for missionaries, it is often difficult to speak of the cross to tribal peoples. The message that Jesus of Nazareth was a mighty prophet but He died upon a cross doesn’t seem to appealing to people who worship gods of power. It isn’t much different for us. Eyes blinded to God and open to sin see suffering as evil, in our sin we can only think in terms of power, and a Jesus hanging upon the cross doesn’t look very powerful. Are you blind? Yes and no. You can see a dead Jesus upon the cross, but on your own you cannot see why.
Only Jesus can provide those answers, and now it is His turn to teach. “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” The disciples saw the death of Jesus as an intrusion on the story of Jesus, as a tragedy that ruined all of His previous work. Jesus was a mighty prophet but He was crucified. Jesus changes their perspective. His death wasn’t a tragedy, it wasn’t unexpected, it wasn’t a roadblock on His march toward victory. No, instead His death was necessary. This is a divine necessity- it was necessary from God’s perspective that Jesus should suffer and die. Eyes blinded to God and opened to sin can only see suffering as evil; Jesus opens our eyes to see that His suffering was a tremendous good, the greatest good that the world has ever known. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” According to God’s Holy Scriptures, the suffering and death of Jesus was necessary. Why?
It is ironic that the two disciples would say, “But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel.” There’s that word again: ‘Jesus died, but we hoped He would redeem us.’ The irony is that ‘but’ doesn’t belong in that sentence. Jesus died because it was necessary for Him to redeem Israel. The disciples have the right term, they just misunderstand it. To redeem someone or something means to pay the price to set them free. The disciples on the Emmaus road knew that Jesus had come to redeem, they just misunderstood what He would redeem them from and what the price would be. Jesus came to redeem us from sin, and the price He would pay was His very own blood. Saint Peter gives us this proper perspective on redemption in our Epistle lesson: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Jesus redeemed you and me from the bondage of our sin, and it was His suffering and death that would pay the required price. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer because it was necessary for your good, for your salvation. It was necessary because God loves you.
Jesus spends the rest of their journey teaching them from the Scriptures about the necessity of His suffering and death to redeem you and me. He opens up the Scriptures so that they see Jesus on every page, and their eyes are opened to understand all that He has done for them. But they still cannot see Jesus for who He is, not until He reclines with them at the table that evening. “When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. And He vanished from their sight.” Only at the table, as Jesus breaks the bread, is He finally revealed to them for who He truly is. He is the same Jesus who was crucified, the same Jesus who lay in the tomb, but the tomb could not hold Him. He is risen, triumphant over death forever. The bonds have been broken, the victory has been won. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! These disciples have been taught, but only at the table do they truly see Jesus as their risen Lord. It is the same with us: in the Lord’s Supper we see Jesus, He reveals Himself to us as God in the flesh who has redeemed us with His death and resurrection. Teaching and the Lord’s Supper belong together. We cannot have one without the other. Teaching leads to the Supper, and the Supper cannot be understood apart from instruction. In both Word and Sacrament, Jesus is revealed to eyes blinded by sin. He works faith, He strengthens and feeds us, He forgives our sins. The risen Jesus is seen clearly in the gifts He offers, and in His rich grace He offers them to you.
Jesus came to open blinded eyes, eyes blinded to God and open only to sin. He came to shed His blood that this tragedy may be reversed. Jesus wants us to look upon our God with opened eyes for eternity, and He wants our eyes to be shut to sin and evil forever. As Isaiah writes, in the new heavens and the new earth “He will wipe away tears from all faces.” Jesus opens your eyes to see Him in the washing of Holy Baptism, in the faith worked through His Holy Word, and as with the disciples in Emmaus, in the breaking of the bread. Jesus opens your eyes to see Him as your Savior and Lord, the one who took upon Himself the necessity of shedding His blood and dying to redeem you from your sin. Were you blind? Yes and no. You were blinded to God and had eyes wide open to sin and death. Thanks be to the God who opens the eyes of the blind, who reveals Himself as our Savior in His great gifts! He has opened your eyes to see Him as your Redeemer, to understand His death and resurrection rightly. He has opened the eyes of faith to look to your Savior now and for eternity. Will you be blind? Yes and no. You will be blinded to sin, for it will be destroyed, washed away forever by the blood of the Lamb, but you will look to God with perfect eyes for eternity. The resurrection is the proof, the seal, the guarantee of this. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! In the Name of the God who opens the eyes of the blind, the one who redeemed us with His very blood, our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
In the same way, the disciples on the road to Emmaus could see just fine, they just couldn’t see who they were talking to. “That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.” Our text is dripping with irony, as Jesus plays the part of a confused traveler and these two men proceed to tell Him about the events of Good Friday and Easter morning. Like an exasperated mother, we read this text and say, “Are you blind!?” Yes and no. These two disciples have physical sight, but they are spiritually blind. They cannot see Jesus for who He truly is.
This is the result of the first sin. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sunk their teeth into the fruit they were not supposed to eat, Scripture tells us that “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” Their eyes are opened, and they don’t like what they see. They see shame, condemnation, sin, and death. They see a world corrupted by sin, a world that is dying. And now that their eyes are opened to see sin and death, they are blinded to God. This is a tragic reversal of how it was when God created man. We were formed lovingly from the dust of the ground, God Himself breathed into our nostrils the very breath of life. Humanity had eyes completely opened to God and closed to all evil. We were in perfect relationship with our heavenly Father and Creator. But sin changed all that. We now have eyes closed to God and open to sin and evil. That is all we see around us, we cannot see God on our own. We look at ourselves and we ask, ‘Are you blind?’ Yes and no. Our eyes can see death all around us, we can see the sin that fills us and others, we can see the devil’s temptations, but God we can’t see.
Blindness then leads to misunderstanding. The two disciples on the Emmaus road give Jesus a confirmation lesson, and their teaching is, to say the least, lacking. “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel.” The crucifixion doesn’t fit into their conception of Jesus. It is unexpected, tragic, and surprising. They thought that He was a mighty prophet, but now He is dead. That little conjunction ‘but’ is filled with sorrow and disappointment. He was a mighty prophet, but He was crucified. We thought He was the one who would redeem Israel but He lays in a tomb. They were looking for a victorious Jesus, a Jesus who would back up His mighty miracles and amazing words with a demonstration of power in the holy city itself. God had protected His chosen people Israel before, He had preserved them against many foes, and they expected Jesus to be the greatest redeemer.
Does the cross fit into our conception of Jesus? Do we want a Jesus dying upon a cross, or do we want a victorious Jesus? Would we rather have Good Friday or Palm Sunday? Eyes blinded by sin want a bloodless Jesus, a Jesus that doesn’t have to suffer, a Jesus that redeems in triumphal victory. A redeemer that suffers? That’s almost embarrassing! Maybe that is one of the reasons we have trouble talking about Jesus to our friends and families. I’m told that for missionaries, it is often difficult to speak of the cross to tribal peoples. The message that Jesus of Nazareth was a mighty prophet but He died upon a cross doesn’t seem to appealing to people who worship gods of power. It isn’t much different for us. Eyes blinded to God and open to sin see suffering as evil, in our sin we can only think in terms of power, and a Jesus hanging upon the cross doesn’t look very powerful. Are you blind? Yes and no. You can see a dead Jesus upon the cross, but on your own you cannot see why.
Only Jesus can provide those answers, and now it is His turn to teach. “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” The disciples saw the death of Jesus as an intrusion on the story of Jesus, as a tragedy that ruined all of His previous work. Jesus was a mighty prophet but He was crucified. Jesus changes their perspective. His death wasn’t a tragedy, it wasn’t unexpected, it wasn’t a roadblock on His march toward victory. No, instead His death was necessary. This is a divine necessity- it was necessary from God’s perspective that Jesus should suffer and die. Eyes blinded to God and opened to sin can only see suffering as evil; Jesus opens our eyes to see that His suffering was a tremendous good, the greatest good that the world has ever known. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” According to God’s Holy Scriptures, the suffering and death of Jesus was necessary. Why?
It is ironic that the two disciples would say, “But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel.” There’s that word again: ‘Jesus died, but we hoped He would redeem us.’ The irony is that ‘but’ doesn’t belong in that sentence. Jesus died because it was necessary for Him to redeem Israel. The disciples have the right term, they just misunderstand it. To redeem someone or something means to pay the price to set them free. The disciples on the Emmaus road knew that Jesus had come to redeem, they just misunderstood what He would redeem them from and what the price would be. Jesus came to redeem us from sin, and the price He would pay was His very own blood. Saint Peter gives us this proper perspective on redemption in our Epistle lesson: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Jesus redeemed you and me from the bondage of our sin, and it was His suffering and death that would pay the required price. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer because it was necessary for your good, for your salvation. It was necessary because God loves you.
Jesus spends the rest of their journey teaching them from the Scriptures about the necessity of His suffering and death to redeem you and me. He opens up the Scriptures so that they see Jesus on every page, and their eyes are opened to understand all that He has done for them. But they still cannot see Jesus for who He is, not until He reclines with them at the table that evening. “When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. And He vanished from their sight.” Only at the table, as Jesus breaks the bread, is He finally revealed to them for who He truly is. He is the same Jesus who was crucified, the same Jesus who lay in the tomb, but the tomb could not hold Him. He is risen, triumphant over death forever. The bonds have been broken, the victory has been won. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! These disciples have been taught, but only at the table do they truly see Jesus as their risen Lord. It is the same with us: in the Lord’s Supper we see Jesus, He reveals Himself to us as God in the flesh who has redeemed us with His death and resurrection. Teaching and the Lord’s Supper belong together. We cannot have one without the other. Teaching leads to the Supper, and the Supper cannot be understood apart from instruction. In both Word and Sacrament, Jesus is revealed to eyes blinded by sin. He works faith, He strengthens and feeds us, He forgives our sins. The risen Jesus is seen clearly in the gifts He offers, and in His rich grace He offers them to you.
Jesus came to open blinded eyes, eyes blinded to God and open only to sin. He came to shed His blood that this tragedy may be reversed. Jesus wants us to look upon our God with opened eyes for eternity, and He wants our eyes to be shut to sin and evil forever. As Isaiah writes, in the new heavens and the new earth “He will wipe away tears from all faces.” Jesus opens your eyes to see Him in the washing of Holy Baptism, in the faith worked through His Holy Word, and as with the disciples in Emmaus, in the breaking of the bread. Jesus opens your eyes to see Him as your Savior and Lord, the one who took upon Himself the necessity of shedding His blood and dying to redeem you from your sin. Were you blind? Yes and no. You were blinded to God and had eyes wide open to sin and death. Thanks be to the God who opens the eyes of the blind, who reveals Himself as our Savior in His great gifts! He has opened your eyes to see Him as your Redeemer, to understand His death and resurrection rightly. He has opened the eyes of faith to look to your Savior now and for eternity. Will you be blind? Yes and no. You will be blinded to sin, for it will be destroyed, washed away forever by the blood of the Lamb, but you will look to God with perfect eyes for eternity. The resurrection is the proof, the seal, the guarantee of this. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! In the Name of the God who opens the eyes of the blind, the one who redeemed us with His very blood, our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Easter 2 of Series A (John 20:19-31)
“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the twentieth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John. Dear friends in Christ, for the disciples, Easter Sunday was a day of suspense and amazement, fear and wonder. We can imagine them together that morning in the upper room, the same room that Jesus celebrated the Lord’s Supper with them before that long, dark, and fateful night. John tells us that the doors of that room were locked “for fear of the Jews,” fear that they thought was entirely justified. If an innocent Jesus could be killed without a fair trial, then what could happen to His followers? Then the women burst in. The tomb is empty! Peter and John investigate. The tomb is empty! Mary Magdalene comes in next, almost hysterical with joy and trembling. I have seen the Lord! He is alive, He is risen! Later that afternoon, as Saint Luke will teach us next week, two disciples pound on the locked door. We talked to Jesus on the road to Emmaus! He has conquered the grave! The disciples remain in their bunker all day, listening to the news as it comes in. Something amazing is definitely happening, though they aren’t quite sure what it is yet. We do not see joy in their faces, but confusion and fear. The doors remain locked.
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” Jesus comes to them, victorious over the grave, speaking words of peace. This is no idle greeting, but instead the very fruits of His resurrection. These disciples had fled at His most desperate hour, they had denied Him in their thoughts, words, and deeds. But Jesus here speaks no accusations, but instead He proclaims peace. His resurrection has won peace for those disciples and for you and me, the only peace that truly matters. The Jews will still seek the lives of the disciples, some will die on crosses like their Lord. Jesus doesn’t promise earthly peace for any of us. Instead, He brings peace between God and man, the peace of the Gospel, the peace won by His victory. Because Jesus took our sin upon Himself and paid the price for them, we are at peace with God, reconciled to Him forever. His wrath raged against Jesus; it will not touch you. To prove the basis for this peace, Jesus shows them the wounds of salvation. “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.” This is no ghost, this is no imposter, but this is the same Jesus that died on the cross, bearing the same body He offered up on the tree for the sin of the world.
The response of the disciples is the same as the women at the tomb that morning. “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” They have the joy of the resurrection, the joy that comes only through faith in the risen Jesus. Their doubt and unbelief is driven away, and now the Lord has a mission for His chosen Eleven. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” They will go forth into this darkened world to represent Christ, to continue His work upon this earth. Jesus was sent into this world by the Father to accomplish salvation, and now His disciples will go forth to deliver that salvation to all people. They are here changed from disciples, ‘learners,’ into apostles, ‘sent ones.’ And they will not go alone. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.’” The work of Jesus is that of forgiveness. Forgiveness brings the peace of Jesus, eternal peace between God and man. Here the apostles are given the privilege of going out to forgive sins, bringing the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection to sinful people. With these words, Jesus establishes the Pastoral Office, and He intends it to be an Office that is all about the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit goes with all those who hold that Office, for the men who hold it can do nothing on their own. They need the Holy Spirit for the work they are called to do, and Jesus in His grace gives this gift to them.
The Eleven apostles are given wondrous gifts that first Easter evening. Not only are they given the peace of the resurrection, but they are commissioned and ordained to take this peace into the entire world. But as John tells us, not all of the Eleven were present to receive these gifts of Jesus. “Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not there when Jesus came.” Why was Thomas absent? John doesn’t give us any indication, but simply reports that he wasn’t there. For some reason or another, Thomas excluded himself from the community of believers in their most desperate hour. And because he refused to join his brothers in the upper room, he missed the opportunity to receive the great gifts of Jesus. You know, it doesn’t really matter why Thomas was absent. People have all sorts of reasons for not going to church, some that are petty and insignificant, and some that indicate a very deep hurt that needs healing. Many of them boil down to the assertion that ‘I can be a Christian by myself.’ But the simple fact is that we are not Christians in isolation. We do not fly solo in the Christian life. We cannot believe for another person, but we do have a responsibility to support our brothers and sisters in the faith. That’s right, one of the reasons you go to church is to serve your neighbor. We are not just a collection of individuals here this morning, but a community, a family, a congregation, and when we exclude ourselves from the community we are hurting our brothers and sisters in the faith.
But as the account of Thomas indicates, we are most significantly hurting ourselves. For those who isolate themselves from the church cut themselves off from Christ’s gifts. And in the case of Thomas, this isolation was devastating. “So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.’” The isolation of Thomas leads to skepticism and unbelief. He has cut himself off from the gifts of Jesus, and his faith withers away as a result. We call him ‘doubting Thomas,’ but that is really too kind. Instead, we should call him ‘unbelieving Thomas.’ He has placed himself outside of salvation through his unbelief, giving to all of us a stern warning of what can happen when we exclude ourselves from the community of believers
This could’ve been the end of the story, but we have a stubborn God, who continues to work on us and continues to draw us back to Him. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Thomas rejoins the community of believers again eight days later. He still has his unbelief, but like a church member who only comes a few times a year, at least he is in the pew. In that same upper room, Jesus launches a direct attack on his unbelief. “Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’” In the midst of the community, amongst his brothers and sisters in the faith, Thomas encounters the risen Christ. Jesus is present where He has promised to be present, in the midst His Church. In the Church He gives His great gifts, the peace that the world cannot give, and now Thomas receives this peace and sees the wounds that won peace between God and man. This proclamation of the Gospel creates faith within him, faith which drives away unbelief, and the response is one of the greatest confessions in the New Testament. “Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God.’” This same Jesus, crucified and risen, standing before the community bearing the wounds of salvation, is truly Lord and God, true God in human flesh for the salvation of all.
You have not had the opportunity to see the risen Christ as Thomas did, but you are not for this reason to be pitied. Jesus says to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus may be chastising Thomas, but He uses this occasion to speak a blessing to all those who believe even though they haven’t seen Him. This includes you and it includes me. We are blessed, because the Lord has created faith within us, faith which drives out unbelief, through the proclamation of the apostles. They continue to preach the message of the resurrection through the Holy Scriptures, as John writes: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Those who have followed the apostles in the Pastoral Office have the privilege and weighty responsibility to speak the words of forgiveness, the proclamation that brings true peace between God and man.
The primary place where this happens is in the Divine Service. We encounter the risen Christ each and every Sunday, when He comes to us through the Word and especially when He gives us His Body and Blood to partake of in the Lord’s Supper. Here in this place, once again this morning the risen Christ is coming to you, bringing you forgiveness, the peace of the resurrection. You are forgiven! You are at peace with God! The wounds that Christ will bear for eternity are the proof and seal of this truth. Only Jesus drives out unbelief and creates faith, and He does so through the proclamation of the Gospel here in the midst of His gathered people. Saint Peter wrote in our Epistle lesson: “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” We are blessed, for even though we have not seen Him, Christ has forgiven our sins, He has created faith within us. Our salvation depends not upon our eyes, but upon His promises. Thanks be to God that Jesus still comes to us with His great gifts! In the Name of our crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, who drives out unbelief with the power of the Gospel, Amen.
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” Jesus comes to them, victorious over the grave, speaking words of peace. This is no idle greeting, but instead the very fruits of His resurrection. These disciples had fled at His most desperate hour, they had denied Him in their thoughts, words, and deeds. But Jesus here speaks no accusations, but instead He proclaims peace. His resurrection has won peace for those disciples and for you and me, the only peace that truly matters. The Jews will still seek the lives of the disciples, some will die on crosses like their Lord. Jesus doesn’t promise earthly peace for any of us. Instead, He brings peace between God and man, the peace of the Gospel, the peace won by His victory. Because Jesus took our sin upon Himself and paid the price for them, we are at peace with God, reconciled to Him forever. His wrath raged against Jesus; it will not touch you. To prove the basis for this peace, Jesus shows them the wounds of salvation. “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.” This is no ghost, this is no imposter, but this is the same Jesus that died on the cross, bearing the same body He offered up on the tree for the sin of the world.
The response of the disciples is the same as the women at the tomb that morning. “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” They have the joy of the resurrection, the joy that comes only through faith in the risen Jesus. Their doubt and unbelief is driven away, and now the Lord has a mission for His chosen Eleven. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” They will go forth into this darkened world to represent Christ, to continue His work upon this earth. Jesus was sent into this world by the Father to accomplish salvation, and now His disciples will go forth to deliver that salvation to all people. They are here changed from disciples, ‘learners,’ into apostles, ‘sent ones.’ And they will not go alone. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.’” The work of Jesus is that of forgiveness. Forgiveness brings the peace of Jesus, eternal peace between God and man. Here the apostles are given the privilege of going out to forgive sins, bringing the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection to sinful people. With these words, Jesus establishes the Pastoral Office, and He intends it to be an Office that is all about the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit goes with all those who hold that Office, for the men who hold it can do nothing on their own. They need the Holy Spirit for the work they are called to do, and Jesus in His grace gives this gift to them.
The Eleven apostles are given wondrous gifts that first Easter evening. Not only are they given the peace of the resurrection, but they are commissioned and ordained to take this peace into the entire world. But as John tells us, not all of the Eleven were present to receive these gifts of Jesus. “Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not there when Jesus came.” Why was Thomas absent? John doesn’t give us any indication, but simply reports that he wasn’t there. For some reason or another, Thomas excluded himself from the community of believers in their most desperate hour. And because he refused to join his brothers in the upper room, he missed the opportunity to receive the great gifts of Jesus. You know, it doesn’t really matter why Thomas was absent. People have all sorts of reasons for not going to church, some that are petty and insignificant, and some that indicate a very deep hurt that needs healing. Many of them boil down to the assertion that ‘I can be a Christian by myself.’ But the simple fact is that we are not Christians in isolation. We do not fly solo in the Christian life. We cannot believe for another person, but we do have a responsibility to support our brothers and sisters in the faith. That’s right, one of the reasons you go to church is to serve your neighbor. We are not just a collection of individuals here this morning, but a community, a family, a congregation, and when we exclude ourselves from the community we are hurting our brothers and sisters in the faith.
But as the account of Thomas indicates, we are most significantly hurting ourselves. For those who isolate themselves from the church cut themselves off from Christ’s gifts. And in the case of Thomas, this isolation was devastating. “So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.’” The isolation of Thomas leads to skepticism and unbelief. He has cut himself off from the gifts of Jesus, and his faith withers away as a result. We call him ‘doubting Thomas,’ but that is really too kind. Instead, we should call him ‘unbelieving Thomas.’ He has placed himself outside of salvation through his unbelief, giving to all of us a stern warning of what can happen when we exclude ourselves from the community of believers
This could’ve been the end of the story, but we have a stubborn God, who continues to work on us and continues to draw us back to Him. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Thomas rejoins the community of believers again eight days later. He still has his unbelief, but like a church member who only comes a few times a year, at least he is in the pew. In that same upper room, Jesus launches a direct attack on his unbelief. “Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’” In the midst of the community, amongst his brothers and sisters in the faith, Thomas encounters the risen Christ. Jesus is present where He has promised to be present, in the midst His Church. In the Church He gives His great gifts, the peace that the world cannot give, and now Thomas receives this peace and sees the wounds that won peace between God and man. This proclamation of the Gospel creates faith within him, faith which drives away unbelief, and the response is one of the greatest confessions in the New Testament. “Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God.’” This same Jesus, crucified and risen, standing before the community bearing the wounds of salvation, is truly Lord and God, true God in human flesh for the salvation of all.
You have not had the opportunity to see the risen Christ as Thomas did, but you are not for this reason to be pitied. Jesus says to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus may be chastising Thomas, but He uses this occasion to speak a blessing to all those who believe even though they haven’t seen Him. This includes you and it includes me. We are blessed, because the Lord has created faith within us, faith which drives out unbelief, through the proclamation of the apostles. They continue to preach the message of the resurrection through the Holy Scriptures, as John writes: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Those who have followed the apostles in the Pastoral Office have the privilege and weighty responsibility to speak the words of forgiveness, the proclamation that brings true peace between God and man.
The primary place where this happens is in the Divine Service. We encounter the risen Christ each and every Sunday, when He comes to us through the Word and especially when He gives us His Body and Blood to partake of in the Lord’s Supper. Here in this place, once again this morning the risen Christ is coming to you, bringing you forgiveness, the peace of the resurrection. You are forgiven! You are at peace with God! The wounds that Christ will bear for eternity are the proof and seal of this truth. Only Jesus drives out unbelief and creates faith, and He does so through the proclamation of the Gospel here in the midst of His gathered people. Saint Peter wrote in our Epistle lesson: “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” We are blessed, for even though we have not seen Him, Christ has forgiven our sins, He has created faith within us. Our salvation depends not upon our eyes, but upon His promises. Thanks be to God that Jesus still comes to us with His great gifts! In the Name of our crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, who drives out unbelief with the power of the Gospel, Amen.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter Day (Matthew 28:1-10)
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said.” Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this Easter morning comes from Gospel lesson read a few moments ago from the twenty-eighth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Dear friends in Christ, when Jesus died upon the cross on Good Friday, Saint Matthew tells us that the very earth shook. Rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the curtain of the temple tore in two. At the death of the Son of God, the created order reacted, quaking as if in agony. Whether the earth shakes in mourning or in celebration, one thing is clear: something very significant has just happened. Three days later, in a peaceful garden not far from the hill of Golgotha the earth was shaken again. “And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it.” The earth shakes in reaction once again to the mighty deeds of God. All creation was affected by what happened on that bloody hill, and now all creation is affected by what is happening in a quiet graveyard. God has done something amazing, something wonderful, something miraculous, and the earth itself responds. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
The created order reacts to the mighty deeds of God, but humans are ignorant. “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” They came expecting to find a body to anoint, they came expecting to find a sealed tomb. They came in the expectation that their Lord, their leader, their friend, remained in the grave. Now, Jesus had testified to His followers quite clearly that He would die and then three days later be raised. They knew the end of the story, but on that morning, they came to the tomb in doubt and unbelief. Their doubt has been shared by many throughout the centuries, especially today. Some simply argue on the basis of their own experience: “people just don’t rise from the dead.” Others turn to the ridiculous, claiming that Jesus had a body double, or that He simply fainted upon the cross and then woke up in the tomb. The most common objection is the oldest. Matthew tells us right after our text: “They gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, ‘Tell people, “His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep”’… And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.” Perhaps some of you have bought into those explanations in the past. Perhaps a few of you are even now denying the resurrection in your hearts and minds. But even if we don’t deny the resurrection, doubt assails us each and every day, for our enemy is the father of lies. Make no mistake, such doubt is sinful, for in doubting we call Jesus a liar when He promised that He would rise again. The women had heard those promises from Jesus’ own lips, but still they doubted; they came to the tomb not expecting a resurrection, but instead a dead body.
Pay close attention to how Matthew tells us of the resurrection. Even as the women travel to the tomb, things are happening. “And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.” Plenty of people saw the death of Jesus. The Roman soldiers, the mocking crowds, the women and the disciple whom Jesus loved could all testify that Jesus died. But no one saw the actual resurrection of Jesus, for the witnesses showed up after it had occurred. Even before the women arrived at the tomb, filled with doubt, God had already raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection occurs before the witnesses arrive, it occurs before the women believe. The resurrection is not dependent upon man, but upon God.
The resurrection is true whether you believe it or not. It is an objective fact, more true than any other event recorded in history. Neither your faith nor your unbelief affects the plans and purposes of God. The resurrection of Jesus isn’t created by your faith, and it isn’t denied by your lack of faith. The resurrection of Jesus instead creates faith; when you hear the proclamation of Christ’s Easter victory, the Holy Spirit is working faith within you to grasp onto the truth of the resurrection of the Crucified One. This began early that morning, for the angel at the tomb had the privilege to preach the first Easter sermon. “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you.” The result of this message was nothing else but faith. “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.”
The response of the women to the first Easter sermon seems strange. Fear and joy don’t really go together in our minds. Now, the joy we understand. In fact, joy is the proper response to the resurrection. That is why we let the alleluia’s ring forth again this morning after keeping them buried for the season of Lent. The resurrection greeting is full of joy: Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! We rejoice for Christ has been vindicated, God did not let His Righteous One see decay. We rejoice because the resurrection is the seal of the victory Christ won through His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. Good Friday and Easter belong together as one mighty act of God for our salvation, and we rejoice that Jesus did not leave us in our sin, but instead gave Himself as the sacrifice. All joy in the life of a Christian flows from Easter. But do we always have that joy? Do we go through this life in the joyful knowledge that Christ has indeed been raised for us and our salvation? Or do we find ourselves with the same emotions as the women on that first Easter morning, filled with fear? We come to worship this morning knowing that we should have joy, but instead we still feel the burden and fear caused by sin. In a world filled with corruption, surrounded with plenty of reasons to fear, how can we rejoice?
The resurrection of Jesus doesn’t depend on our faith or our joy, but instead it creates both faith and joy. His victory over death gives us joy even in this valley of the shadow of death. But Christian joy, the joy of the resurrection, isn’t some fleeting emotion. Having this joy doesn’t mean that we’re happy all the time or that we never feel sadness or fear. Instead, the joy of the resurrection expresses itself throughout the varied experiences of our lives in this world. This joy is much more profound than simply an emotion. It is the confidence that death, sin, and suffering have no permanent hold upon us, but instead that they are defeated enemies, trampled under by Jesus’ death and victorious resurrection. This confidence only comes from Jesus, only from the proclamation of the cross and empty tomb. Only the Gospel can give us this joy in the midst of sorrow, joy that is fed and sustained by the comforting words of our Lord. Jesus has been raised whether we feel joyful or not, indeed He has been raised because our hearts are filled with fear. The empty tomb and the risen Jesus is an objective fact, true despite all appearances to the contrary.
Christ is risen even if there seems to be no cause for joy in this world. Christ is risen even though we suffer. Christ is risen even though we mourn. Christ is risen even though we die. In fact, Christ is risen because we suffer, Christ is risen because we mourn, Christ is risen because we die. Christ is risen as the solution to suffering and death. Only He provides the answer to sin in this world, for He bore all of the sin of the world to the cross. The risen Jesus is the crucified one, as the angel reminds us this Easter Sunday. He will bear His wounds for eternity, a testimony that the living One is He who was crucified, the Lamb who was slain for the sin of the world. He died in our place, He died to destroy death, He died to pay the price for all sin. The solution to suffering was His suffering, the solution to death was His death. His resurrection proclaims that sin, death, and Satan are defeated, and for that reason, we can have true joy. Christian joy is His gift to you, for only He can banish fear.
The first words from the mouth of the angel were intended to drive out fear and bring joy to those frightened women. “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said.” They heard these wonderful words, but they still had fear. Only one person could remove that fear, and soon He was standing before them. “And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.’” The resurrection of Jesus removes all fear. When Jesus tells us “Do not be afraid,” He is speaking words of absolution. ‘Do not be afraid, for my resurrection is your victory. I died for you and now I live for you.’ His resurrection means that death’s reign is done, sin can’t condemn us, and Satan’s accusations are now empty. Jesus has conquered them all, and the empty tomb proves it. When you hear the beautiful words, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ Jesus is saying to you, “Do not be afraid.” And today, hear that message again: because Christ died and rose again for you, your sins are forgiven! Each and every one of them has been washed away by blood of the Lamb, swallowed up by His victory. You are forgiven- do not be afraid!
We no longer fear sin, for it has been forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus. We no longer fear Satan, for His head has been crushed by the foot of Jesus, just as God promised in the beginning. We no longer fear death, for the message of Easter is that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so you too will rise. Your destination is not eternal death, but eternal life, for your Lord and Savior died for you, and He rose again for you. Christ’s tomb is empty, and so shall yours be, for He will raise you up in victory on the Last Day. His life is your life, for God raised Him up for your salvation. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! In the name of the crucified and risen one, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
The created order reacts to the mighty deeds of God, but humans are ignorant. “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” They came expecting to find a body to anoint, they came expecting to find a sealed tomb. They came in the expectation that their Lord, their leader, their friend, remained in the grave. Now, Jesus had testified to His followers quite clearly that He would die and then three days later be raised. They knew the end of the story, but on that morning, they came to the tomb in doubt and unbelief. Their doubt has been shared by many throughout the centuries, especially today. Some simply argue on the basis of their own experience: “people just don’t rise from the dead.” Others turn to the ridiculous, claiming that Jesus had a body double, or that He simply fainted upon the cross and then woke up in the tomb. The most common objection is the oldest. Matthew tells us right after our text: “They gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, ‘Tell people, “His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep”’… And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.” Perhaps some of you have bought into those explanations in the past. Perhaps a few of you are even now denying the resurrection in your hearts and minds. But even if we don’t deny the resurrection, doubt assails us each and every day, for our enemy is the father of lies. Make no mistake, such doubt is sinful, for in doubting we call Jesus a liar when He promised that He would rise again. The women had heard those promises from Jesus’ own lips, but still they doubted; they came to the tomb not expecting a resurrection, but instead a dead body.
Pay close attention to how Matthew tells us of the resurrection. Even as the women travel to the tomb, things are happening. “And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.” Plenty of people saw the death of Jesus. The Roman soldiers, the mocking crowds, the women and the disciple whom Jesus loved could all testify that Jesus died. But no one saw the actual resurrection of Jesus, for the witnesses showed up after it had occurred. Even before the women arrived at the tomb, filled with doubt, God had already raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection occurs before the witnesses arrive, it occurs before the women believe. The resurrection is not dependent upon man, but upon God.
The resurrection is true whether you believe it or not. It is an objective fact, more true than any other event recorded in history. Neither your faith nor your unbelief affects the plans and purposes of God. The resurrection of Jesus isn’t created by your faith, and it isn’t denied by your lack of faith. The resurrection of Jesus instead creates faith; when you hear the proclamation of Christ’s Easter victory, the Holy Spirit is working faith within you to grasp onto the truth of the resurrection of the Crucified One. This began early that morning, for the angel at the tomb had the privilege to preach the first Easter sermon. “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you.” The result of this message was nothing else but faith. “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.”
The response of the women to the first Easter sermon seems strange. Fear and joy don’t really go together in our minds. Now, the joy we understand. In fact, joy is the proper response to the resurrection. That is why we let the alleluia’s ring forth again this morning after keeping them buried for the season of Lent. The resurrection greeting is full of joy: Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! We rejoice for Christ has been vindicated, God did not let His Righteous One see decay. We rejoice because the resurrection is the seal of the victory Christ won through His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. Good Friday and Easter belong together as one mighty act of God for our salvation, and we rejoice that Jesus did not leave us in our sin, but instead gave Himself as the sacrifice. All joy in the life of a Christian flows from Easter. But do we always have that joy? Do we go through this life in the joyful knowledge that Christ has indeed been raised for us and our salvation? Or do we find ourselves with the same emotions as the women on that first Easter morning, filled with fear? We come to worship this morning knowing that we should have joy, but instead we still feel the burden and fear caused by sin. In a world filled with corruption, surrounded with plenty of reasons to fear, how can we rejoice?
The resurrection of Jesus doesn’t depend on our faith or our joy, but instead it creates both faith and joy. His victory over death gives us joy even in this valley of the shadow of death. But Christian joy, the joy of the resurrection, isn’t some fleeting emotion. Having this joy doesn’t mean that we’re happy all the time or that we never feel sadness or fear. Instead, the joy of the resurrection expresses itself throughout the varied experiences of our lives in this world. This joy is much more profound than simply an emotion. It is the confidence that death, sin, and suffering have no permanent hold upon us, but instead that they are defeated enemies, trampled under by Jesus’ death and victorious resurrection. This confidence only comes from Jesus, only from the proclamation of the cross and empty tomb. Only the Gospel can give us this joy in the midst of sorrow, joy that is fed and sustained by the comforting words of our Lord. Jesus has been raised whether we feel joyful or not, indeed He has been raised because our hearts are filled with fear. The empty tomb and the risen Jesus is an objective fact, true despite all appearances to the contrary.
Christ is risen even if there seems to be no cause for joy in this world. Christ is risen even though we suffer. Christ is risen even though we mourn. Christ is risen even though we die. In fact, Christ is risen because we suffer, Christ is risen because we mourn, Christ is risen because we die. Christ is risen as the solution to suffering and death. Only He provides the answer to sin in this world, for He bore all of the sin of the world to the cross. The risen Jesus is the crucified one, as the angel reminds us this Easter Sunday. He will bear His wounds for eternity, a testimony that the living One is He who was crucified, the Lamb who was slain for the sin of the world. He died in our place, He died to destroy death, He died to pay the price for all sin. The solution to suffering was His suffering, the solution to death was His death. His resurrection proclaims that sin, death, and Satan are defeated, and for that reason, we can have true joy. Christian joy is His gift to you, for only He can banish fear.
The first words from the mouth of the angel were intended to drive out fear and bring joy to those frightened women. “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said.” They heard these wonderful words, but they still had fear. Only one person could remove that fear, and soon He was standing before them. “And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.’” The resurrection of Jesus removes all fear. When Jesus tells us “Do not be afraid,” He is speaking words of absolution. ‘Do not be afraid, for my resurrection is your victory. I died for you and now I live for you.’ His resurrection means that death’s reign is done, sin can’t condemn us, and Satan’s accusations are now empty. Jesus has conquered them all, and the empty tomb proves it. When you hear the beautiful words, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ Jesus is saying to you, “Do not be afraid.” And today, hear that message again: because Christ died and rose again for you, your sins are forgiven! Each and every one of them has been washed away by blood of the Lamb, swallowed up by His victory. You are forgiven- do not be afraid!
We no longer fear sin, for it has been forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus. We no longer fear Satan, for His head has been crushed by the foot of Jesus, just as God promised in the beginning. We no longer fear death, for the message of Easter is that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so you too will rise. Your destination is not eternal death, but eternal life, for your Lord and Savior died for you, and He rose again for you. Christ’s tomb is empty, and so shall yours be, for He will raise you up in victory on the Last Day. His life is your life, for God raised Him up for your salvation. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! In the name of the crucified and risen one, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Good Friday (John 18:1-19:42)
“When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this Good Friday evening comes from the passion narrative according to Saint John, specifically chapter nineteen, verses sixteen through thirty. Dear friends in Christ, last night, as the altar was stripped, God’s gathered people spoke Psalm twenty-two. Even for those who have encountered this psalm before, the details are astonishing. Jesus spoke at least the first verse of this psalm on the cross, and some scholars believe that He prayed the entire psalm there. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” It is no surprise that Jesus prayed this psalm on the cross, for in it David speaks of his own sufferings in terms that point forward to the sufferings of his descendent, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. Jesus suffered in accordance with
the Scriptures, in each and every excruciating detail.
John emphasizes this for us by telling us of how the soldiers divided the clothing of Jesus. “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also His tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.’” John is quick to tell us that this seemingly unimportant detail fulfilled a part of Psalm twenty-two: “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” The psalm describes a man who is still alive, yet treated as if he were dead, at the whim of his executioners. Psalm twenty-two also describes the verbal abuse heaped upon Jesus: “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, for He delights in him!’” Not only that, but even the method of Jesus’ execution is prophesied. “They have pierced my hands and feet- I can count all my bones.” Not a bone of Jesus would be broken, but His hands and feet would be pierced by the nails.
Psalm twenty-two describes the suffering of Jesus in graphic terms. “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” John pays special attention to the fulfillment of this detail. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’” Jesus was thirsty on the cross. This is not just a throwaway comment, but a window into His suffering. Jesus’ last drink was probably right before they departed for the Garden of Gethsemane the night before. He was severely dehydrated, and had lost much more fluid during the beatings that led to the cross. His body literally screamed out for water. However, it seems that more is going on here than simply a graphic image of His suffering. John tells us that Jesus said this “knowing that all was now finished.” Immediately after He takes His drink, Jesus dies, saying, “It is finished.” The thirst of Jesus is a seemingly minor detail, but it has much greater significance.
Jesus has fulfilled every detail of His suffering prophesied beforehand in the Scriptures, but He has done much more than that. The thirsting of Jesus in accordance with Psalm twenty-two is a sign that He has completed all of the Scriptures; He has finished the plan of salvation according to those Scriptures. Jesus dies to fulfill all that the Scriptures said of Him. Psalm twenty-two tells us the details, while our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah fifty-two and fifty-three tells us the significance of those details. God’s prophet tells us why Jesus suffered and died.
Isaiah teaches us in our Old Testament lesson two important truths: Jesus died because of us, and Jesus died for us. Conjunctions and prepositions may seem to be small and insignificant words, but as you see here, they are vitally important.
When Isaiah tells us that Jesus died because of us, He means that we are the reason that He hangs upon the cross. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned- every one- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus is on that cross because of you and your sin. Those nails were driven through His hands because you sinned, because you rebelled against God. Jesus suffered because you disobeyed your parents, because you had lustful thoughts, because you cheated your neighbor. His flesh was torn by the scourge because you took God’s name in vain, because you harbored hatred toward your neighbor. As Isaiah says, “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.” This is a night of repentance, of sorrow over our sin, our rebellion that placed Him on the cross. Look to the cross and see the wrath of God over sin! Look to the cross and see the results of your rebellion! Tonight we will read, as the Church has for centuries on Good Friday, the Reproaches. These are Old Testament passages put into the mouth of Jesus, in which our Lord cries out to us, asking us why we have rebelled against Him. The Reproaches are difficult to hear, but they reinforce the teaching of Isaiah, that Jesus suffered because of our sin.
After we speak each of the three Reproaches, we will say a prayer to our heavenly Father, asking for mercy. Then we will sing a verse of the hymn Lamb of God, Pure and Holy. “Lamb of God, pure and holy, who on the cross didst suffer, ever patient and lowly, Thyself to scorn didst offer. All sins Thou borest for us, else had despair reigned o’er us: Have mercy on us, O Jesus!” Jesus bore all sins for you; He died for you. He died because of your sin, but He died for that sin, to take it away. Isaiah doesn’t leave us in despair, but teaches us that Jesus hung on that cross for you and me, for our salvation. “But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.”
His wounds bring us healing; healing that is eternal, healing from the deep wounds inflicted by sin, the healing that we so desperately need. Forgiveness won by His blood is poured onto your wounds, and you are healed and made whole every time that you hear the Absolution, every time that you are reminded of your Baptism, every time that you receive Christ’s Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper. Through His death for you, you will spend eternity no longer wounded by sin, no longer wounding your neighbor, but healed and finally whole, for your relationship with God is restored. His chastisement brings us peace; peace between God and man, peace that this world cannot give, peace forever. The violence of those who afflicted Him results in eternal peace. This was God’s plan from the beginning, as Isaiah teaches us. “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief.” We see the love and mercy of God when we look to our crucified Savior. Look to the cross and see the love of God for you! Look to the cross and see your forgiveness, your salvation, your life! God planned this all for you!
It was this plan and will that Jesus completed upon the cross. “When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” No one takes Jesus’ life from Him, but He gives it up willingly into death for you and for your salvation. He doesn’t bow His head and give up His spirit until all is completed. “It is finished,” He says. Jesus has drunk the cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs, and He has done so for you and for me. He has completed His suffering; the price has been paid in full, there is nothing yet to do for our salvation. He has left nothing undone- there is nothing we must add; it is all finished! The Scriptures have been completed, not just the details, but the meaning and purpose of His death. Jesus is the righteous sufferer of Psalm twenty-two, and He is also the Suffering Servant of Isaiah fifty-three. And there is one more detail in Isaiah yet to be fulfilled: “When His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring, He shall prolong His days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” In three short days we will see this verse completed as well, for Jesus truly shall see His offspring, you and me, He shall surely prolong His days; God will not let His Son remain in the tomb. In the Name of the righteous sufferer, the Suffering Servant, who gave up His life for our salvation, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, Amen.
the Scriptures, in each and every excruciating detail.
John emphasizes this for us by telling us of how the soldiers divided the clothing of Jesus. “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also His tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.’” John is quick to tell us that this seemingly unimportant detail fulfilled a part of Psalm twenty-two: “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” The psalm describes a man who is still alive, yet treated as if he were dead, at the whim of his executioners. Psalm twenty-two also describes the verbal abuse heaped upon Jesus: “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, for He delights in him!’” Not only that, but even the method of Jesus’ execution is prophesied. “They have pierced my hands and feet- I can count all my bones.” Not a bone of Jesus would be broken, but His hands and feet would be pierced by the nails.
Psalm twenty-two describes the suffering of Jesus in graphic terms. “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” John pays special attention to the fulfillment of this detail. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’” Jesus was thirsty on the cross. This is not just a throwaway comment, but a window into His suffering. Jesus’ last drink was probably right before they departed for the Garden of Gethsemane the night before. He was severely dehydrated, and had lost much more fluid during the beatings that led to the cross. His body literally screamed out for water. However, it seems that more is going on here than simply a graphic image of His suffering. John tells us that Jesus said this “knowing that all was now finished.” Immediately after He takes His drink, Jesus dies, saying, “It is finished.” The thirst of Jesus is a seemingly minor detail, but it has much greater significance.
Jesus has fulfilled every detail of His suffering prophesied beforehand in the Scriptures, but He has done much more than that. The thirsting of Jesus in accordance with Psalm twenty-two is a sign that He has completed all of the Scriptures; He has finished the plan of salvation according to those Scriptures. Jesus dies to fulfill all that the Scriptures said of Him. Psalm twenty-two tells us the details, while our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah fifty-two and fifty-three tells us the significance of those details. God’s prophet tells us why Jesus suffered and died.
Isaiah teaches us in our Old Testament lesson two important truths: Jesus died because of us, and Jesus died for us. Conjunctions and prepositions may seem to be small and insignificant words, but as you see here, they are vitally important.
When Isaiah tells us that Jesus died because of us, He means that we are the reason that He hangs upon the cross. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned- every one- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus is on that cross because of you and your sin. Those nails were driven through His hands because you sinned, because you rebelled against God. Jesus suffered because you disobeyed your parents, because you had lustful thoughts, because you cheated your neighbor. His flesh was torn by the scourge because you took God’s name in vain, because you harbored hatred toward your neighbor. As Isaiah says, “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.” This is a night of repentance, of sorrow over our sin, our rebellion that placed Him on the cross. Look to the cross and see the wrath of God over sin! Look to the cross and see the results of your rebellion! Tonight we will read, as the Church has for centuries on Good Friday, the Reproaches. These are Old Testament passages put into the mouth of Jesus, in which our Lord cries out to us, asking us why we have rebelled against Him. The Reproaches are difficult to hear, but they reinforce the teaching of Isaiah, that Jesus suffered because of our sin.
After we speak each of the three Reproaches, we will say a prayer to our heavenly Father, asking for mercy. Then we will sing a verse of the hymn Lamb of God, Pure and Holy. “Lamb of God, pure and holy, who on the cross didst suffer, ever patient and lowly, Thyself to scorn didst offer. All sins Thou borest for us, else had despair reigned o’er us: Have mercy on us, O Jesus!” Jesus bore all sins for you; He died for you. He died because of your sin, but He died for that sin, to take it away. Isaiah doesn’t leave us in despair, but teaches us that Jesus hung on that cross for you and me, for our salvation. “But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.”
His wounds bring us healing; healing that is eternal, healing from the deep wounds inflicted by sin, the healing that we so desperately need. Forgiveness won by His blood is poured onto your wounds, and you are healed and made whole every time that you hear the Absolution, every time that you are reminded of your Baptism, every time that you receive Christ’s Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper. Through His death for you, you will spend eternity no longer wounded by sin, no longer wounding your neighbor, but healed and finally whole, for your relationship with God is restored. His chastisement brings us peace; peace between God and man, peace that this world cannot give, peace forever. The violence of those who afflicted Him results in eternal peace. This was God’s plan from the beginning, as Isaiah teaches us. “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief.” We see the love and mercy of God when we look to our crucified Savior. Look to the cross and see the love of God for you! Look to the cross and see your forgiveness, your salvation, your life! God planned this all for you!
It was this plan and will that Jesus completed upon the cross. “When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” No one takes Jesus’ life from Him, but He gives it up willingly into death for you and for your salvation. He doesn’t bow His head and give up His spirit until all is completed. “It is finished,” He says. Jesus has drunk the cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs, and He has done so for you and for me. He has completed His suffering; the price has been paid in full, there is nothing yet to do for our salvation. He has left nothing undone- there is nothing we must add; it is all finished! The Scriptures have been completed, not just the details, but the meaning and purpose of His death. Jesus is the righteous sufferer of Psalm twenty-two, and He is also the Suffering Servant of Isaiah fifty-three. And there is one more detail in Isaiah yet to be fulfilled: “When His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring, He shall prolong His days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” In three short days we will see this verse completed as well, for Jesus truly shall see His offspring, you and me, He shall surely prolong His days; God will not let His Son remain in the tomb. In the Name of the righteous sufferer, the Suffering Servant, who gave up His life for our salvation, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, Amen.
Maundy Thursday (Exodus 24:3-11)
“And [God] did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel. They beheld God, and they ate and drank.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this Maundy Thursday comes from the Old Testament lesson read a few moments ago from Exodus chapter twenty-four. Dear friends in Christ, a covenant is an agreement between two parties, a solemn pledge by both sides that they will fulfill what is required of them. We don’t necessarily use the term too often today, but we do see the concept all the time in our world. We have covenants between renters and landlords, lenders and borrowers; even nations have agreements with one another: “If I don’t attack you, you won’t attack me.” Human relationships would have a difficult time operating without covenants.
God is also in the business of making covenants. He made the covenant with Noah to never destroy the earth again through a flood; His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob promised many descendents and the Promised Land for them to live in. In our text, God makes another covenant with His people as He prepares to take them to that land. This is a covenant of obedience, for God has finally delivered to His people His promised Law, which tells them how to live before Him. If they obey, He will care for them and defeat all their enemies, and it sure sounds like they intend to obey: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” To show how serious this is, oxen are sacrificed. “And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood He threw against the altar.” The altar indicated God’s presence, and half the blood was thrown there to show that God would keep His end. Then the people were reminded of their obligation. “And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, ‘Behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’”
Having pledged and promised their obedience, having received the blood upon their heads as a sign of this covenant with their God, the leaders of Israel are summoned up the mountain to eat a meal. Moses doesn’t tell us if these men knew what kind of a meal this would be, but when they reached the appointed place, they experienced what few ever had. “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel.” They saw the God of Israel. The creator of heaven and earth, the One whose mighty arm had brought them out of Egypt, the God who fills all things with His power and glory appeared there before them. They fell down in worship, and Moses records for us what they saw under the feet of the living God. “There was under His feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.” We can tell that Moses is having trouble finding the words, at a loss to describe through human language the appearance of the glory of God. This is a holy God, clean and pure, as indicated by the pavement He stands upon, and that is a problem, for these are sinful men. They had made a covenant of obedience on the bottom of that mountain, a solemn pledge to obey God, but when Moses returns to those same people, they will be worshipping a golden calf. Mankind is sinful, we are completely corrupted to our very cores. We can make all the promises that we want to God, but we fail every time. By rights, then, this holy God should strike down these decidedly unholy men, but He doesn’t. “And He did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.” In His great grace, God permitted them to eat and to drink in His presence.
Wouldn’t it have been amazing to be on Mount Sinai that day, to actually eat and drink in the very presence of God? Moses describes one of the more amazing events in the Old Testament with just a few words: “they beheld God, and ate and drank.” So much of this event is a mystery, even for those who experienced it, but it truly happened. They beheld the God who created the universe, and they ate and drank. Too bad that sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore, right? “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
The Lord’s Supper doesn’t look as impressive as the meal of Mount Sinai. There isn’t a pavement of sapphire stone, there isn’t a visible manifestation of God, simply bread and wine set on an altar, with words spoken by a man no different than you. As Christians, the ordinary appearance of the Lord’s Supper often deceives us. Do we truly appreciate how amazing and miraculous the Sacrament of the Altar is? Or do we simply go through the motions, coming forward because it’s just ‘something we do?’ Here the God of the universe, who created you and all things, comes near to you and physically touches you. The incarnation becomes real as the God who took on our human flesh here offers His Body and Blood for you to eat and to drink. This isn’t a show, this isn’t simply spiritual, this is real, this is a miracle, this is truly Christ coming to you to touch you with salvation. If we truly understood this reality, I think it would have a great effect on how we prepared for the Lord’s Supper and how we acted before, during, and after we received it. If we knew we were going up Mount Sinai to see God, we would sure be prepared, and make no mistake, what happens here tonight at this altar is an even greater miracle that what happened on that mountain. For here we do not simply eat and drink in the presence of God, here we actually partake of Him. He is the host, but He is also Himself the meal. Jesus gives Himself to us: the same body that hung upon the cross for our sin, the same blood that was shed there as the price for our redemption. God Himself touches your lips in the Lord’s Supper; in this feast you taste and see the Lord is good.
When we fail to appreciate the great miracle and gift that Jesus gave to His people on that first Maundy Thursday, we demonstrate the same sinfulness that the Israelites did. They couldn’t fulfill the promise they spoke so boldly to God: “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” God was faithful to His covenant, while His people rebelled time and time again. What was needed was another covenant, this one a gift from God to His sinful people, and once again blood would seal it. “And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” This new covenant is established in the blood of Jesus Christ, poured out and shed for all people upon the cross.
Tomorrow night we will gather to ponder the sufferings of Christ. You will see Him suffer and die for you and for all your sin. On Good Friday He poured out His blood to bring you the forgiveness you so desperately needed. Christ won your salvation upon that cross, and He delivers that salvation to you and me in this most holy Supper. The holy things of God are offered tonight to you and me, people who are by no means holy. The Lord of the universe dines with His sinful people, bestowing forgiveness upon you and me. This feast actually makes you clean, it forgives your sins, it makes you holy, allowing you to dwell with God forever. The ancient fathers of the church called the Lord’s Supper the ‘medicine of immortality’ precisely for this reason: in this Sacrament, salvation is delivered to you!
Tonight you will not see God with your physical eyes, only with the eyes of faith. But what Jesus gives to you in the Lord’s Supper is forgiveness, life, and salvation, the very promise that you will behold God for eternity. Job declared, “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Come to the feast, for here Christ gives Himself for you! Here the very benefits of His death and resurrection are brought to you; here the Savior of the world comes to you to touch your lips with salvation! Taste and see that the Lord is good! In the name of Jesus, who shed His blood for the forgiveness of all your sins, Amen.
God is also in the business of making covenants. He made the covenant with Noah to never destroy the earth again through a flood; His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob promised many descendents and the Promised Land for them to live in. In our text, God makes another covenant with His people as He prepares to take them to that land. This is a covenant of obedience, for God has finally delivered to His people His promised Law, which tells them how to live before Him. If they obey, He will care for them and defeat all their enemies, and it sure sounds like they intend to obey: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” To show how serious this is, oxen are sacrificed. “And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood He threw against the altar.” The altar indicated God’s presence, and half the blood was thrown there to show that God would keep His end. Then the people were reminded of their obligation. “And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, ‘Behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’”
Having pledged and promised their obedience, having received the blood upon their heads as a sign of this covenant with their God, the leaders of Israel are summoned up the mountain to eat a meal. Moses doesn’t tell us if these men knew what kind of a meal this would be, but when they reached the appointed place, they experienced what few ever had. “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel.” They saw the God of Israel. The creator of heaven and earth, the One whose mighty arm had brought them out of Egypt, the God who fills all things with His power and glory appeared there before them. They fell down in worship, and Moses records for us what they saw under the feet of the living God. “There was under His feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.” We can tell that Moses is having trouble finding the words, at a loss to describe through human language the appearance of the glory of God. This is a holy God, clean and pure, as indicated by the pavement He stands upon, and that is a problem, for these are sinful men. They had made a covenant of obedience on the bottom of that mountain, a solemn pledge to obey God, but when Moses returns to those same people, they will be worshipping a golden calf. Mankind is sinful, we are completely corrupted to our very cores. We can make all the promises that we want to God, but we fail every time. By rights, then, this holy God should strike down these decidedly unholy men, but He doesn’t. “And He did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.” In His great grace, God permitted them to eat and to drink in His presence.
Wouldn’t it have been amazing to be on Mount Sinai that day, to actually eat and drink in the very presence of God? Moses describes one of the more amazing events in the Old Testament with just a few words: “they beheld God, and ate and drank.” So much of this event is a mystery, even for those who experienced it, but it truly happened. They beheld the God who created the universe, and they ate and drank. Too bad that sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore, right? “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
The Lord’s Supper doesn’t look as impressive as the meal of Mount Sinai. There isn’t a pavement of sapphire stone, there isn’t a visible manifestation of God, simply bread and wine set on an altar, with words spoken by a man no different than you. As Christians, the ordinary appearance of the Lord’s Supper often deceives us. Do we truly appreciate how amazing and miraculous the Sacrament of the Altar is? Or do we simply go through the motions, coming forward because it’s just ‘something we do?’ Here the God of the universe, who created you and all things, comes near to you and physically touches you. The incarnation becomes real as the God who took on our human flesh here offers His Body and Blood for you to eat and to drink. This isn’t a show, this isn’t simply spiritual, this is real, this is a miracle, this is truly Christ coming to you to touch you with salvation. If we truly understood this reality, I think it would have a great effect on how we prepared for the Lord’s Supper and how we acted before, during, and after we received it. If we knew we were going up Mount Sinai to see God, we would sure be prepared, and make no mistake, what happens here tonight at this altar is an even greater miracle that what happened on that mountain. For here we do not simply eat and drink in the presence of God, here we actually partake of Him. He is the host, but He is also Himself the meal. Jesus gives Himself to us: the same body that hung upon the cross for our sin, the same blood that was shed there as the price for our redemption. God Himself touches your lips in the Lord’s Supper; in this feast you taste and see the Lord is good.
When we fail to appreciate the great miracle and gift that Jesus gave to His people on that first Maundy Thursday, we demonstrate the same sinfulness that the Israelites did. They couldn’t fulfill the promise they spoke so boldly to God: “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” God was faithful to His covenant, while His people rebelled time and time again. What was needed was another covenant, this one a gift from God to His sinful people, and once again blood would seal it. “And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” This new covenant is established in the blood of Jesus Christ, poured out and shed for all people upon the cross.
Tomorrow night we will gather to ponder the sufferings of Christ. You will see Him suffer and die for you and for all your sin. On Good Friday He poured out His blood to bring you the forgiveness you so desperately needed. Christ won your salvation upon that cross, and He delivers that salvation to you and me in this most holy Supper. The holy things of God are offered tonight to you and me, people who are by no means holy. The Lord of the universe dines with His sinful people, bestowing forgiveness upon you and me. This feast actually makes you clean, it forgives your sins, it makes you holy, allowing you to dwell with God forever. The ancient fathers of the church called the Lord’s Supper the ‘medicine of immortality’ precisely for this reason: in this Sacrament, salvation is delivered to you!
Tonight you will not see God with your physical eyes, only with the eyes of faith. But what Jesus gives to you in the Lord’s Supper is forgiveness, life, and salvation, the very promise that you will behold God for eternity. Job declared, “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Come to the feast, for here Christ gives Himself for you! Here the very benefits of His death and resurrection are brought to you; here the Savior of the world comes to you to touch your lips with salvation! Taste and see that the Lord is good! In the name of Jesus, who shed His blood for the forgiveness of all your sins, Amen.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Palm Sunday (Series A: Isaiah 50:4-9a)
“But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Old Testament lesson read a few moments ago from the fiftieth chapter of the prophet Isaiah. Dear friends in Christ, He rode in majesty, surrounded by adoring crowds. They waved Palm branches, they placed their cloaks on the road in front of Him. The people shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” This man has raised the dead, He has healed the sick- could He be the Messiah? They remembered the words of the prophet Zechariah: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, you king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” This is the king of Israel, the Christ, the One promised of old. He has come in triumph, in glory, arriving in Jerusalem to conquer His enemies. But this is not the kind of king we would expect. In Isaiah, He is called the Servant of the Lord. He has come to rule, but He will rule only by serving. He is the Servant, and today, the Servant speaks to you and to me.
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.” I am the Servant of the Lord. I came from my blest throne, from the position of glory that I held as the only-begotten Son of the Father. I took on your human flesh, was born of a virgin, and emerged to preach the Word of God thirty years later. I only speak what the Father has given me to say, I do only the deeds of He who sent me. The Father teaches me, and I am an obedient student. I listen to His Word and then I teach it to you. I taught you the ways of God, His Law and His wrath over sin. From me you learned what God requires of you.
I didn’t only come to teach, but also to act. I have come to the weary. Sin fatigues us, physically, mentally and spiritually. Your bodies wear out, but I have come to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, to even raise the dead, as you heard last week. It was my greatest miracle that drew the crowds on that Palm Sunday; they wanted to see me, for I had defeated death by raising up my friend Lazarus. But sin doesn’t just weary your body, it wearies your mind and soul. I brought comfort to the distressed and peace to the troubled in heart. I said to the people: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I taught you the way of the Lord, I brought comfort to you in your distress. In obedience to the will of my Father I taught you, for I do nothing apart from Him.
“The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” I spoke to you the very words of God, but you did not listen. I taught you His ways, but you did not obey. I lived a perfect life of obedience to my Father; you refuse to obey Him each and every day. You turn from God’s Word, you refuse to hear me, you refuse my comfort and aid. I come to you because you are weary, but you deny your fatigue. You claim that you can stand strong without me, but I am the Great Physician, and I can see that you have deep spiritual sickness. You live as if you mattered most and my Father mattered little at all. You may not say those words, but that is what your life in this world indicates. You do not live in obedience to the Word I have given to you, but instead you live a life focused only on yourself. I have called you to love God before all else and to love your neighbor as yourself. You are to serve your neighbors, to place their needs above your own, but you refuse. You instead focus on your needs, your wants, your desires. You have forgotten that I have placed you in this world to benefit others, not yourself.
There is a deep divide between your rebellion and the obedience of the Servant of the Lord. I am obedient to my Father, I am obedient where you are disobedient, and I am obedient in your place. It was the will of my Father that I should live the perfect life you couldn’t, and then suffer the punishment you deserve. I am obedient to my Father’s will, even though it means flogging, even though it means torture, even though it means humiliation. “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” I didn’t flee, I didn’t fight back, but I submitted to the scourge and whip of the Roman soldiers, to their disgrace and humiliation. They mocked me, they called me names, they caused me pain and anguish. I am the Servant of the Lord, I am the creator of the universe, I am God Himself in the flesh, but I did not struggle. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, I did not open my mouth. I was obedient to the Father’s will; I lived the perfect life you couldn’t, and suffered the humiliation that you deserved.
“But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” I will not be ashamed. The soldiers disgraced me, they destroyed my body with the rod and the scourge, they nailed me to the cross, but I will not be ashamed. For the Lord is my helper, and I have set my face like a flint. I am resolute, I go to the cross willingly. Nothing is going to deter me from dying there because it is the Father’s will, and I am obedient to the Father’s will. His will is that I die in your place, that I take your sin upon my shoulders and carry it to the tree. No one takes my life from me. No one. Not the Jewish authorities, not the Roman soldiers. They think that they have power over me, that they can do with me what they want. But they are wrong. I lay down my life willingly, I freely give it up to death. With a word, with a thought, I’m off that cross, those soldiers are dead, and I am free. But I won’t do that, because you are too important to me. I taught you what God requires of you, about His Law and His wrath over sin. But that is not the final word. I also teach you of God’s love, His mercy, His grace. You are sinful, rebellious, and disobedient, but I love you. You think only of yourself, but still I love you. I love you so much that I am willing to lay down my life, I am willing to follow the Father’s will through torture, humiliation, and death for you. My suffering is for you, my death is for you. I lived my perfect life for you, because nothing is more important to me than seeing you standing around the Father’s throne for eternity.
“He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?” I am righteous, but many contended with me. I am innocent, but many declared me guilty. Isaiah wrote about me: “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” I am the righteous One, and I willingly suffer in obedience to my Father’s will because through that cross He will declare you righteous. My life is now your life and my death is now your death, for I bore your iniquities. The Lord vindicates you because of me. You are declared righteous and innocent, your sins are forgiven, because I gave my life in your place. My death is your salvation, your vindication; the Lord looks at you and sees me and what I have done for you.
Today you saw me enter into Jerusalem in triumph. On Friday you will see me hanging upon a cross. Today the crowds shout ‘hosanna!’ By Friday they will be crying ‘crucify Him!’ But I am innocent- I have done nothing wrong. There is only one human being in history that did not deserve death, and He hangs upon a cross. They falsely accused me, they condemned me as a criminal, but I lived a sinless life. Still, I do not open my mouth, I do not protest. I know that the Lord will vindicate me. Wait and see; I may die on that cross on Friday, but I trust in my Father, I trust in the Lord. He will vindicate me. My righteousness, my innocence will be declared throughout the world. Come back next Sunday and you will see. God will not let His righteous one remain in the grave- I guarantee it. “But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” Amen.
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.” I am the Servant of the Lord. I came from my blest throne, from the position of glory that I held as the only-begotten Son of the Father. I took on your human flesh, was born of a virgin, and emerged to preach the Word of God thirty years later. I only speak what the Father has given me to say, I do only the deeds of He who sent me. The Father teaches me, and I am an obedient student. I listen to His Word and then I teach it to you. I taught you the ways of God, His Law and His wrath over sin. From me you learned what God requires of you.
I didn’t only come to teach, but also to act. I have come to the weary. Sin fatigues us, physically, mentally and spiritually. Your bodies wear out, but I have come to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, to even raise the dead, as you heard last week. It was my greatest miracle that drew the crowds on that Palm Sunday; they wanted to see me, for I had defeated death by raising up my friend Lazarus. But sin doesn’t just weary your body, it wearies your mind and soul. I brought comfort to the distressed and peace to the troubled in heart. I said to the people: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I taught you the way of the Lord, I brought comfort to you in your distress. In obedience to the will of my Father I taught you, for I do nothing apart from Him.
“The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” I spoke to you the very words of God, but you did not listen. I taught you His ways, but you did not obey. I lived a perfect life of obedience to my Father; you refuse to obey Him each and every day. You turn from God’s Word, you refuse to hear me, you refuse my comfort and aid. I come to you because you are weary, but you deny your fatigue. You claim that you can stand strong without me, but I am the Great Physician, and I can see that you have deep spiritual sickness. You live as if you mattered most and my Father mattered little at all. You may not say those words, but that is what your life in this world indicates. You do not live in obedience to the Word I have given to you, but instead you live a life focused only on yourself. I have called you to love God before all else and to love your neighbor as yourself. You are to serve your neighbors, to place their needs above your own, but you refuse. You instead focus on your needs, your wants, your desires. You have forgotten that I have placed you in this world to benefit others, not yourself.
There is a deep divide between your rebellion and the obedience of the Servant of the Lord. I am obedient to my Father, I am obedient where you are disobedient, and I am obedient in your place. It was the will of my Father that I should live the perfect life you couldn’t, and then suffer the punishment you deserve. I am obedient to my Father’s will, even though it means flogging, even though it means torture, even though it means humiliation. “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” I didn’t flee, I didn’t fight back, but I submitted to the scourge and whip of the Roman soldiers, to their disgrace and humiliation. They mocked me, they called me names, they caused me pain and anguish. I am the Servant of the Lord, I am the creator of the universe, I am God Himself in the flesh, but I did not struggle. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, I did not open my mouth. I was obedient to the Father’s will; I lived the perfect life you couldn’t, and suffered the humiliation that you deserved.
“But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” I will not be ashamed. The soldiers disgraced me, they destroyed my body with the rod and the scourge, they nailed me to the cross, but I will not be ashamed. For the Lord is my helper, and I have set my face like a flint. I am resolute, I go to the cross willingly. Nothing is going to deter me from dying there because it is the Father’s will, and I am obedient to the Father’s will. His will is that I die in your place, that I take your sin upon my shoulders and carry it to the tree. No one takes my life from me. No one. Not the Jewish authorities, not the Roman soldiers. They think that they have power over me, that they can do with me what they want. But they are wrong. I lay down my life willingly, I freely give it up to death. With a word, with a thought, I’m off that cross, those soldiers are dead, and I am free. But I won’t do that, because you are too important to me. I taught you what God requires of you, about His Law and His wrath over sin. But that is not the final word. I also teach you of God’s love, His mercy, His grace. You are sinful, rebellious, and disobedient, but I love you. You think only of yourself, but still I love you. I love you so much that I am willing to lay down my life, I am willing to follow the Father’s will through torture, humiliation, and death for you. My suffering is for you, my death is for you. I lived my perfect life for you, because nothing is more important to me than seeing you standing around the Father’s throne for eternity.
“He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?” I am righteous, but many contended with me. I am innocent, but many declared me guilty. Isaiah wrote about me: “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” I am the righteous One, and I willingly suffer in obedience to my Father’s will because through that cross He will declare you righteous. My life is now your life and my death is now your death, for I bore your iniquities. The Lord vindicates you because of me. You are declared righteous and innocent, your sins are forgiven, because I gave my life in your place. My death is your salvation, your vindication; the Lord looks at you and sees me and what I have done for you.
Today you saw me enter into Jerusalem in triumph. On Friday you will see me hanging upon a cross. Today the crowds shout ‘hosanna!’ By Friday they will be crying ‘crucify Him!’ But I am innocent- I have done nothing wrong. There is only one human being in history that did not deserve death, and He hangs upon a cross. They falsely accused me, they condemned me as a criminal, but I lived a sinless life. Still, I do not open my mouth, I do not protest. I know that the Lord will vindicate me. Wait and see; I may die on that cross on Friday, but I trust in my Father, I trust in the Lord. He will vindicate me. My righteousness, my innocence will be declared throughout the world. Come back next Sunday and you will see. God will not let His righteous one remain in the grave- I guarantee it. “But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” Amen.
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