See what Jesus did for you.

Sermon for Epiphany 3, January 26, 2020

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Dear friends in Christ,

            The world is full of opinions about what the Bible is and what purpose it serves.  That was true in Jesus’ day, and it is true in ours.  Many modern folks view the Bible as a collection of myths and stories with bits of history sprinkled in.  Others view the Bible almost superstitiously as they open it at random to try to decipher what direction they should take in their decision making.  Some use the Bible mostly to judge their neighbors.  Still others view the Bible as an instruction manual telling a person how to live in order to enjoy a happy life, and for some, how to mollify an angry God who wants nothing more than to catch us in sin so he can punish us.  Every one of these opinions misses the point.

Speaking to Jews who accused Jesus of blasphemy and of breaking the Sabbath Day laws, Jesus answered, “You search the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them.  They testify about me!  And yet you do not want to come to me in order to have life.” (John 5:39-40)

God had made the descendants of Abraham a chosen people, a nation set apart through which the Savior of the world would come, and through which God’s Word would be recorded and spread.  Many of Abraham’s descendants firmly and faithfully believed God’s promises and were thus credited with the righteousness of God and granted eternal salvation.  On the other hand, the nation of Israel had a long history of rejecting the God of their fathers in order to follow the ways of the world.

Likewise, even as crowds of devotees followed Jesus listening to His every word, numerous enemies rejected Him and sought to destroy the Seed of Abraham who had come into the world to restore mankind to peace with God.  This morning, as we search a portion of the Scriptures taken from the prophet, Jeremiah, may we all clearly See what Jesus did for you.

Jeremiah 33:6-9  ⁶ But watch!  I will bring it health and healing.  I will heal them and reveal an abundance of peace and truth to them.  ⁷ I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and I will build them up as they were in the beginning.  ⁸ I will cleanse them from all the guilt they incurred by sinning against me.  I will pardon all the guilt they incurred by sinning against me and by their rebellion against me.  ⁹ This will provide a name of joy, praise, and glory for me, in the presence of all the nations of the earth.  They will hear about all the good that I do for this city, and they will tremble in awe because of the good and because of the peace I provide for it. (EHV)

Through Jeremiah, the Lord of Creation says “Watch.”  Literally, He says, “Watch Me bringing health and healing.”  God tells us to pay attention to His Word, to the promises He made and swore that He would carry out on our behalf.  God made those promises with no conditions on us.  The health and restoration aren’t something we can accomplish or even contribute to.  God alone does it all.

The words of our text were spoken at a time in which the city of Jerusalem was near its destruction, and in denial, the leaders of that state held Jeremiah under house arrest because he was the bearer of warnings from God.  If only those people would have been willing to hear what God sent Jeremiah to say.  If they would have listened, they could have turned from their wicked idolatry and perhaps God would have relented from the destruction He planned, or they would have, at least, heard God’s promises of restoration giving peace and security to their eternal end.  But, precious few were willing to hear what the Lord had to say.

Later, the words of our text gave hope to the captives after Jerusalem lay in ruins and surviving Jews were living in exile in Babylon.  This was God’s promise that it wasn’t a permanent exile.  God would restore and heal.  The words also carry a much broader promise down to you and me.  As I earlier quoted, Jesus said the whole book of the Law and the prophets is a testimony about Him.  Therefore, you and I can hear these words with confidence that they apply also to you and me.

God said, “I will bring it health and healing.  I will heal them and reveal an abundance of peace and truth to them.”  Here, God isn’t talking about a physical healing, though the minor fulfillment brought a restored Jerusalem and a return of some exiles to Palestine.  And later, Jesus physically healed the people who came to Him for help.  Yet, the main purpose of these words is to proclaim a spiritual healing that God Himself would accomplish on our behalf. 

He continued with the prophecy: “I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and I will build them up as they were in the beginning.  I will cleanse them from all the guilt they incurred by sinning against me.  I will pardon all the guilt they incurred by sinning against me and by their rebellion against me.”  The minor fulfillment came to physical Israel seventy years after the captivity in Babylon had begun, but the real result was God’s Son coming to earth to live and die for all the people of the world, and in Him we See what Jesus did for you.

Jesus, God’s only begotten Son came down to earth to live as a Man so that He could make these words forever true.  The sin for all the guilt you ever felt was put on Jesus.  The perfectly holy life God demands of His people was lived on earth by God’s dear Son.  Because Jesus was willing to live and to die for you and me, and because He really, truly, did suffer and die in our place, God has declared us innocent and free from the punishment we deserved.

For every moment of rebellion in our lives, for every time we have neglected our duties as holy children of God, God has pardoned us for Jesus’ sake.  For every time you have messed up, missed the target, crossed the line, or just plain stood defiantly apart from God’s will, Jesus provides the cleansing flood.  Whatever guilt you might feel, whatever troubles your conscience, look to the cross where your Savior hung in your place and find healing for your soul.  When you stumble, when you fall, when the devil gets in your ear with his accusations or entices you to think or do something you know is wrong, see again what Jesus did for you in His life and death.  Return to your baptism in confession and feel again the cleansing water and Word that purifies you before the Lord.  Return and See what Jesus did for you.

The living God, the One who led Israel out of slavery in Egypt and promised life and every blessing in their new home makes that same promise to you.  He says concerning the cleansing and pardon He has won on your behalf, “This will provide a name of joy, praise, and glory for me, in the presence of all the nations of the earth.  They will hear about all the good that I do for this city, and they will tremble in awe because of the good and because of the peace I provide for it.”

As you heard in last Sunday’s sermon, “The Lord said, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.'" (Isaiah 49:6)  The reason God had been so good to Israel, and so generous with them, is because He wanted to save all people.  Israel benefitted by God choosing them to hear His Word, experience His leadership and care, and finally, to be the people through whom the Savior of nations came.

But, lest we ever forget, God has been just as good to you and me.  The Bible tells us, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)  As you See what Jesus did for you, tremble in awe at the gracious care God has poured out upon you and me.  Rejoice that, in spite of our sins and faults, the promise made to Israel thousands of years ago also came true for you, for the Lord promised:

“I will sprinkle purifying water on you, and you will be clean.  I will cleanse you from all your impurity and from all your filthy idols.  Then I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you.  I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put my Spirit within you and will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will carefully observe my ordinances.  Then you will live in the land I gave your fathers.  You will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from all your impurity.” (Ezekiel 36:25-29)

Dear friends, make no mistake; the Bible wasn’t given to be a rule book, a measuring stick, a lucky charm, or just an inspiring story.  God gave His Word as a promise of forgiveness and salvation, won for you and for all through the incarnation of His holy Son. 

The Bible is the story of Jesus, the message of a gracious God to a rebellious world, not chiefly a message of judgment against sinners, but a message of reconciliation and peace between God and the human race.  Rejoice in what Jesus has done to make you righteous before God. 

Rejoice that God put your sins on Himself, that He suffered and died in your place.  That He lived as a Man so that you could be counted as righteous in God’s eyes, so that you could be welcomed into the eternal glory and peace of heaven.  See what Jesus did for you.  Amen.

Now to the King eternal, to the immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.