Your Redeemer lives and so shall you.

 

Sermon for Easter 2, Quasimodogeniti, April 11, 2021

This is the day the LORD has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Amen.

Job 19:25-27  ²⁵As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the end of time he will stand over the dust.  ²⁶Then, even after my skin has been destroyed, nevertheless, in my own flesh I will see God.  ²⁷I myself will see him.  My own eyes will see him, and not as a stranger.  My emotions are in turmoil within me. (EHV)

Your Redeemer lives and so shall you.

Dear friends in Christ,

            In the days after Jesus’ death, His disciples locked themselves away from the world in fear of what might happen to them since their Lord had been killed.  Even though early that morning, the women had brought the shocking news that Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb, they seemed to forget Jesus’ promise that He would rise on the third day.  Peter and John had run to the tomb to see for themselves, but even after the women brought the news they heard from the angels that Jesus was raised from the dead and He would meet the disciples in Galilee, the disciples were still uncertain of what it all meant.  If only they had remembered Job’s words as they hid in that upper room.  Likewise, we too should listen to Job as we wait for our Savior to return, for we learn that Your Redeemer lives and so shall you.

The disciples hid in fear that the Jews or Romans would do to them what they had done to Jesus.  Maybe they remembered Jesus saying, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too.” (John 15:20)  Considering that passage, how often are You and I also afraid as we observe the rebellious attitudes of so many around us?  Like the disciples eventually faced, many Christians in our world, and Christian teachings too, are under constant attack from the devil’s friends.  With so much turmoil going on around us, it is not surprising that many are afraid of whatever bad things could happen to us, to our children, to parents, or to our friends.  To be honest, though, fear shows a lack of faith.  Yet, our Lord Jesus instructed us, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

Job, the man in our sermon text, was under vicious attack.  Satan was trying to prove that Job believed in God only because God had blessed him so richly.  In his jealous attack, the devil went as far as God allowed.  Satan took every blessing from Job except his life.  The devil destroyed Job’s children, his servants, his wealth, and eventually even his health.  At the time he spoke these words, Job was covered from head to toe with painful boils.  But you might say, “Wait a minute, Job still had his wife and friends.”  However, those who should have been a blessing and comfort to Job seemed to join in the devil’s attack on the man.  His friends accused Job of committing terrible sin for which God was rightly punishing him, although they had no evidence of such sin.  Job’s wife told him he should give up on God and die.  With frenemies like that, who could survive?

Job tried to defend himself against his friends’ attacks, but for believers, including Job, there is really only one defense when the devil attacks—true, humble faith in God’s promises.  So, as we look at Job’s faith, we will look at the object of his faith and the salvation brought to him through faith, and we will see that Your Redeemer lives and so shall you.

Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the end of time he will stand over the dust.”  What an amazing testimony Job gave over two thousand years before Christ was born!  It shows that Job had been given faith in the Redeemer God promised to Adam and Eve.  Furthermore, Job acknowledges that the Redeemer could not be just a man, but the One who lived then, who would live on earth to redeem him, and who lives forever. 

In our creeds, we proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds.  Our Redeemer lives—from eternity to eternity.  This is the reason for our confidence—Jesus lives.  Eternally begotten of the Father, He is fully God even as He is fully Man.  He lives before the creation of the world.  He lives at the time of Job.  He lives with the eleven disciples locked in that upper room.  He lives with you and me.  Risen from the grave, Jesus lives yesterday, today, and forever. 

Now, of course, we know that Jesus died; that is how He became our Redeemer.  The Holy Son of God, set aside His heavenly glory to take on human flesh and pay the debt of death required for the sins of the world.  Throughout the first half of the Church year, we learned of Jesus’ humble birth, holy life, and sacred ministry in preparation for His dying.  The great debt for the sins of the world required a great offering to God to cover it, so the Son of God, Himself, became that all-sufficient sacrifice for all people as Jesus died on the cross to pay the debt for all our guilt, including our sins of fear and doubt. 

Only Jesus could pay that price because only Jesus had no sin of His own for which He needed to pay, but Jesus remained true God as well as Man, so that He could rise again.  Here in the Easter season, we celebrate that Jesus didn’t stay dead.  The fact that He rose from the grave, alive, assures us that Christ’s sacrifice is accepted by God as full payment for our sins.  It shouts to the world that Jesus is who He says He is, and Jesus says, “Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)

The Bible declares that because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, God has set Jesus at His right hand to judge the world.  That Day of Judgment is what Job looks forward to as he says, “at the end of time he will stand over the dust.”  Today, many people tremble in terror of Judgment Day.  Often, they won’t admit that fear, but subconsciously, it drives them to be terrified of the future, of opposing ideas, of death, strangers, climate change, and other threats.  It also causes them to fear the cross, and Christians, because the cross reminds them of deadly punishment for their sins, and Christians (even if we don’t say anything) remind them that the Almighty Creator will judge in the end.

The Christian, on the other hand, can look forward to Judgment Day with anticipation, because the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, gives us confident faith that we have been declared innocent because of Christ’s sacrifice and therefore welcome in His eternal home.

Now, Job recognized that he didn’t deserve redemption.  He understood that he had sinned against God.  Reading the book of Job, you may wonder about this because of the way Job argues his innocence, but we see that Job understands his guilt as he says, “even after my skin has been destroyed.”  Job recognized that he had sinned, and death would be the consequence of his sin.  Because of sin we all will die, but trusting in His Redeemer, Job was not afraid of physical death for faith gave him the assurance of his own resurrection. 

Job said, “Then, even after my skin has been destroyed, nevertheless, in my own flesh I will see God.  I myself will see him.  My own eyes will see him, and not as a stranger.”  Just as Jesus rose from the dead, on the last day, you and I and Job will also be raised from the dead.  We can have the same confidence as Job.  In fact, we can be even more confident because Jesus’ resurrection is an already accomplished fact.  Job looked forward, trusting in God’s promise that He would send a Savior, a Redeemer.  We have the eyewitness testimony of those who saw Jesus raised and living after His crucifixion, death, and burial, and like for Job, Jesus promises us, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

Through faith in the promises handed down from his forefathers, Job knew that God would restore his body at the last day.  Jesus’ resurrection is not a mystical, spiritual resurrection some pretend.  It is a true restoration of Jesus with glorified body and soul.  Likewise, for us—our souls will be reunited with our bodies, raised in a glorified state, for all sin will have been removed. 

St. Paul wrote, “Look, I tell you a mystery.  We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)  That is the great day we anticipate, when our bodies are changed, and no matter the state of our present earthly flesh, we will be raised to live forever with glorified, sin-free bodies, and from that moment on, we will see our risen and glorified Lord.  Thus, we join in Job’s yearning plea to see that day, as he says, “My emotions are in turmoil within me.”  Though feeling the great pain of his losses, Job recognized the joy of his future. 

Without faith in the Redeemer, Job would have been one sorry and troubled individual when the devil attacked him with such vengeance.  But throughout all his troubles, Job could express this simple yet incredibly deep faith in the Redeemer.  That really is the definition of faith—to believe despite contrary evidence.  Job could have thrown up his hands in disgust and simply walked away from God as his wife suggested.  Job looked at the earthly evidence and saw only trouble, but then he looked at the spiritual evidence of God’s promises and would not, could not, turn away from the love of God.  That is why God allowed the devil to test Job, because God knew that the faith Job had been given would be strong enough to preserve his eternal life. 

For our assurance and hope, God promises us that faith as small as a mustard seed is saving faith.  Faith in the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, preserves us through anything the devil, the world, or our own flesh might use against us.  Thus, we have nothing to fear except letting go of God-given faith. 

So, how can we strengthen our faith in Jesus?  The same way that Job was kept in the faith, through the promises of God.  Connected with Jesus in His Word, God keeps us in the faith.  As we make use of God’s Word: hearing it in worship, reading and studying the Bible, as we continue to strengthen our souls with Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament, God keeps us in the saving faith.  Dear Christian friends, trust God’s Word, for Your Redeemer lives and so shall you.  Amen.

Now to Him who is able to strengthen you—according to the gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, . . . to God, who alone is wise, be glory forever through Jesus Christ.  Amen.