In a little while, we will see Him.

 

Sermon for Easter 4, April 30, 2023

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

John 16:16-22  ¹⁶“In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father.”  ¹⁷Therefore some of his disciples asked one another, “What does he mean when he tells us, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?”  ¹⁸So they kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’?  We don’t understand what he’s saying.”  ¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’?  ²⁰Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice.  You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.  ²¹A woman giving birth has pain, because her time has come.  But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of her joy that a person has been born into the world.  ²²“So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again.  Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. (EHV)

In a little while, we will see Him.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            The last week of Jesus’ life on earth, there was much confusion among His disciples.  When Jesus was going up to Jerusalem that last time, the disciples were afraid the Jews would kill Him, and they feared for their own lives too.  “Thomas (called the Twin ) said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let’s go too, so that we may die with him.’” (John 11:16)  They knew the threat of the Jewish leaders’ hatred for Jesus and the fear those rulers had that His ministry would disrupt their uneasy relationship with the Roman authorities.  Still, the welcoming crowds on Palm Sunday had the disciples confident that with so many people supporting Jesus, His victory over their enemies was certainly well in hand.

At the same time, the disciples were hearing some strange things from Jesus.  The disciples had expected Jesus to assume control of Judah and reign with power and majesty like King David, but He also told them several times that He would soon die.  Jesus even told them how He would suffer, the cruelty that would be inflicted on Him, and how His death would happen.  Yet, He also told them He would rise from the dead, but it was all incomprehensible to them because of their preconceived notions. 

Our sermon text is one of those exchanges that, in the moment, made no sense to Jesus’ disciples.  However, we thank God for it, because it gives us confidence that, just as those disciples would soon learn, every prediction Jesus made would be fulfilled.  For us, that means that just like the disciples who had to be apart from Jesus for a short time, In a little while, we will see Him.

With the benefit of hindsight, Jesus’ statement makes perfect sense: “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father.”  Today, knowing how that week worked out, we know that Jesus was here teaching the disciples exactly what lay ahead of Him.  Jesus wanted His followers to be prepared for the trauma of seeing Him arrested, tried, tortured, executed, and buried in such unlikely and hasty fashion.  He also intended that even as they mourned His suffering and death they be eagerly awaiting the glory of Easter morning.

While Jesus knew the suffering and death He had been prepared and sent to undergo for us, He also knew that the Father would not leave Him to decay in the grave.  So yes, the disciples would lose sight of Jesus for a few days, but that isn’t the end of the story.  As we celebrated just a few weeks ago, Jesus lives.  He has won an everlasting victory for you and me and all who will believe.

But, that wasn’t yet understood by the twelve.  “Therefore some of his disciples asked one another, ‘What does he mean when he tells us, “In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me,” and “Because I am going away to the Father”?’  So they kept asking, ‘What does he mean by “a little while”?  We don’t understand what he’s saying.’”  This was not the first time Jesus had taught what lay ahead for Him, but confusion reigns when people don’t accept what the Lord says.

One might well ask how that fits our times.  Much of our world has little patience for what God’s Word actually says.  Therefore, confusion reigns over much of our world.  You can see that daily in the news and the craziness we see and hear reported from all over the world.  We might also ask, does that confusion touch us?  The answer is that, like with any other sin, you and I are not immune.  We too have our failings and weaknesses.  We too may wonder and weep when things seem hard to understand. 

When we have to stand, unexpectedly, at a grave to say good-bye, we often find ourselves asking, “Why?  Why, Lord, do you take this one away from me?”  Or perhaps we don’t like the laws, either old or new.  Many times, we won’t like how the world treats Christian believers.  We may well ask why God allows so much wickedness in this world.  “Why, Lord, don’t you put a stop to those who oppose You and Your people?” 

Many would say that Jesus didn’t have power over anyone when the soldiers came to arrest Him, but they would be wrong.  You see, our Lord was in control of every moment and everything that happened to Him.  Jesus showed that to His disciples in this text.  Jesus … said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’?  Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice.  You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” 

Again, hindsight is our friend in this.  The Jewish leaders, of course, celebrated to see Jesus dead and buried, and the devil likely hoped he had defeated God’s Son.  The disciples certainly were shocked, and you can be sure they spent those next days weeping their eyes out for all the dreams they thought they had lost.  Jesus’ followers hid from the world while worrying that Jewish or Roman officials would soon come to arrest them because they had followed Jesus.  But again, that is not the end of the story.

What had Jesus previously told His closest disciples?  “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him.  But three days after he is killed, he will rise.” (Mark 9:31)  Already a thousand years before that week, King David had prophesied, “You will not let your favored one see decay.” (Psalm 16:10)  And Jesus, Himself, had repeated those promises about His end several times.  Still, none of that would matter if we didn’t know what came after.  But, we do!  Jesus rose from the dead triumphant over everything that could separate us from God, and we are free from condemnation because Jesus lives.

We don’t have to imagine the relief the disciples felt when they learned of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  They lived it.  Where once they huddled away in sorrow and fear, after the joy of Jesus being alive again was finally realized through numerous interactions with Him, they spent the rest of their lives telling the world that Jesus lives—that He died for sinners like you and me, but that He rose from the dead victorious over sin, death, the devil, and the power of unbelieving men.  Then, immediately after being filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, those disciples preached and baptized.  They went out on the highways and byways of the world.  They wrote down the history of all that Jesus has done to give us eternal life through the forgiveness of all our sins by His blood shed on the cross.  They faced angry mobs and cruel rulers, defiantly refusing to be silenced, so that people everywhere could hear about Jesus and live—so that In a little while, we too will see Him.

Giving us a vivid description, Jesus said, “A woman giving birth has pain, because her time has come.  But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of her joy that a person has been born into the world.  So you also have sorrow now.  But I will see you again.  Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”  That promise wasn’t just for the twelve.  Like those original disciples, you and I may well have pain and sorrow in this world.  Sin, death, and temptation still trouble us on every side.  The world may well hate and abuse us, too.  Yet, that is not the end of the story for those who believe in Jesus.  A day is coming soon when we will with joy see Jesus face to face. 

Now, I am not pretending to tell you when Judgment Day will come.  That is not for us to know.  Nor am I telling anyone that his, or her, end is immediately near.  Still, none of us knows how much longer the Lord will leave us on this earth.  Yet, we do know that whether it happens in a few hours or a hundred years, our end is coming soon.  However, for Jesus’ disciples, including all those alive today, our end is joy at seeing our Savior again, for we will never again be without our Redeemer and Lord.

As blood bought souls brought to faith in Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the Gospel and the washing flood of Baptism, we have been given forgiveness full and free.  The gates of heaven have been opened to us.  Right now, we have Jesus’ assurance “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  Though we can’t see Jesus physically, yet we have full confidence in our future because “We know that He works all things together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose, because those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called.  Those he called, he also justified.  And those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

Jesus told His friends, “I will see you again.  Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”  After a little while, the very little while of just a few days, Jesus rose from the grave, and numerous eyewitnesses saw Him, spoke with Him, touched His pierced hands and side, and learned more from His personal teaching. 

Since His ascension to His Father’s side in heaven, Jesus isn’t visible as a Man in our presence, yet He is here, hidden in the words of Scripture, in the absolution announced by a fellow believer, and in bits of bread and the cup of wine in the Lord’s Supper.  He walks with us by His holy Word.  He cleanses us from sin by the work of the Holy Spirit applied with water on the heads of little children whatever their age. 

Regardless of what the unbelieving world might imagine, there is nothing that can confuse us any longer concerning our end.  Jesus watches over us right now, and we will be with Him forever when He returns to take us home.  Thereafter, we will rejoice like we have never rejoiced here on earth. 

No matter how great a day you may have sometime experienced here, it doesn’t compare to the joy of being reunited with God in the glory of heaven.  St. Paul wrote, “This perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  But once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54)  “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:57)  In a little while, we will see Him.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen. 

By His resurrection and His Word, Jesus cures confusion.

 

Sermon for Easter 3, April 23, 2023

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen.

Luke 24:13-35  ¹³Now, on that same day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  ¹⁴They were talking with each other about all of these things that had happened.  ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing this, Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them.  ¹⁶But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  ¹⁷He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?”  Saddened, they stopped.  ¹⁸One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”  ¹⁹“What things?” he asked them.  They replied, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.  ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death.  And they crucified him.  ²¹But we were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel.  Not only that, but besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.  ²²Also some women of our group amazed us.  They were at the tomb early in the morning.  ²³When they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.  ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb.  They found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”  ²⁵He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  ²⁶Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?”  ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.  ²⁸As they approached the village where they were going, he acted as if he were going to travel farther.  ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, since it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”  So he went in to stay with them.  ³⁰When he reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began giving it to them.  ³¹Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.  Then he vanished from their sight.  ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?”  ³³They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.  They found the Eleven and those who were with them assembled together.  ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord really has been raised!  He has appeared to Simon.”  ³⁵They themselves described what had happened along the road, and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. (EHV)

By His resurrection and His Word, Jesus cures confusion.

Dear travelers heading for home,

            As we look back to this event on that first Easter Sunday evening, we see two disciples walking away from Jerusalem in hopeless despair and confusion.  They no longer felt a need to be with their fellow believers.  They had seen their Messiah die and their hopes and dreams dashed at the cross. 

As the two men walked toward home, they talked about the events that had transpired over the weekend, as guys will do.  The Greek word is graphic—apparently, their discussion leaned toward an argument as they tossed ideas back and forth.  You can about imagine what some of the accusations might have been.  What happened to Jesus’ plan?  Was Jesus really who He claimed to be?  Where did He go wrong?  Why did the scribes and Pharisees hate Jesus so much?  What could we have done to help Jesus defend himself from the Jewish elite and the Roman soldiers?  Friend, why did you run and hide?  Well, who are you to point the finger at me?  Now what do we do?  And, what about those strange reports from the women?  Could someone have stolen Jesus’ body from the grave?  But why?  And who would have the courage to challenge the Roman guards?

They don’t sound like a confident pair of Christian disciples, do they?  Of course, then, how about us?  How does the world see us?  Are we bold and courageous in the face of calamity?  Is our confidence in Jesus readily apparent?  Can we stand up to the enemies who mock our beliefs in Jesus?  Are we ready to die rather than betray Christ?  Or do we walk away when challenges arise?

Dear friends, we could go on and on with questions that point out how I sin, how you sin, how our children are weak in the faith, and how others falter when it comes to following Christ, but the truth is there is often very little difference between us and those two disciples arguing on the road to Emmaus.  They walked away when it looked like all was lost.  They saw the disaster of Jesus’ death and felt embarrassment for following the One who died on the cross.  Even when the firsthand reports came to them that Jesus had risen from the grave and lives, they didn’t believe it.  Do we?

Quietly and unobtrusively, Jesus entered the conversation of His two struggling followers.  He met them right where they were at, in all their sorrow, confusion, and grief.  Jesus marveled at how confused His followers remained and how quickly they had abandoned His promises.  He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?”

Jesus met the two men where they were, but where did Jesus take them?  Right back into God’s Word.  When Cleopas and his companion looked back at Golgotha, the trial, and the tomb, all they saw was death and shame.  Jesus wanted them to see the glory—the glory of all of God’s promises fulfilled—the glory of the redemption of the world by the sacrifice of God’s Lamb.  Jesus wanted them to remember the Scriptures they had learned as boys, the truths Jesus taught as He walked among them, and then see how He had fulfilled it all.  Jesus explained to them how the Christ had to die for the sins of the world.  He showed them from the prophets how this was God’s plan from the beginning to save people like you, and me, and our two friends walking toward Emmaus.

Sometimes, we will run into people like those two men who want to argue about Jesus and our faith.  We will run into mockers who think a dead Jesus isn’t worth believing in.  Of course, that would be right, except Jesus isn’t dead—He lives!  That is the message we need to be proclaiming in the foothills, and mountains, and out on these plains.  Jesus lives!  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  His victory is won!  God took your sins and mine, put them on His Son, and destroyed Satan’s power to accuse us, for Jesus went to that cross holy and innocent in God’s eyes except for the sins He carried for you and me.  For all those sins we commit every day, Jesus died, but He didn’t stay dead. 

Now, if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, or hadn’t shown Himself to numerous eyewitnesses, we would be headed to hell along with every mocker and slanderer out there.  But dear people, that’s not the end of Jesus’ story.  He rose from the grave.  The salvation God planned for all who had sinned against Him is accomplished.  Those who are walking away from Jerusalem and Jesus’ death need to hear what God promised and how Jesus fulfilled it, because By His resurrection and His Word, Jesus cures confusion.

Like for those two men on the road to Emmaus, there is much trouble, confusion, hatred, and evil in our world, as well, and many people look for quick fixes and law based answers to try to make things right and coerce people to be good.  However, for true hope and true peace, we need to stick with what Jesus used—the plain Scriptures of our God and the promise of His grace.  Instead of writing off the confused because of their sin, let’s tell them again and again what Jesus did for them, how He carried their guilt, suffered and died their death, and rose again on the third day to live and reign and give life everlasting to all who believe in Him.  Let’s remind each other often of Jesus’ love and resurrection.

If your children aren’t excited to come to church, realize that it’s because they are sinners like all the rest of us, but then, show them how excited you are to have a Savior who took away your sins, and theirs too.  When they don’t love their memory work, remind them how much you love knowing what Jesus did for you.  When your neighbors or your professors mock your belief in the creation, don’t bother arguing; just tell them of the love God demonstrated by the sacrifice His Son made for you and for your enemies.  Go with Jesus once more to the Garden of Gethsemane and pray that God’s will be done and that your enemy be turned into a believer.  Run back faithfully to the cross confessing your sins and believe that Jesus triumphed over sin, death, and the devil for you.

Take a look at what happened when Jesus opened the Scriptures to those two men; as soon as their eyes were opened to the truth, they remembered how their hearts burned as He spoke.  The Holy Spirit was working in them by the Word of the Almighty, changing them from scared deserters into bold proclaimers of the Gospel.  Once they realized that Jesus truly is alive, those two men ran back to Jerusalem to tell other scared and grieving disciples the Good News.

Fellow members of God’s household, sometimes we get caught in a trap of thinking that we have to change something in our church or our worship to entice others to be with us.  Sometimes, we don’t speak because we think we might say the wrong thing or be mocked because we go against what the world around us thinks.  Sometimes, we think we have to defend God and Jesus by arguing with the mockers.  None of that changes the heart.  However, we do have something that can change even the most stubborn rejector of God.  St. Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)

We don’t have to fight with our neighbor who doesn’t believe.  We don’t have to shame anyone into coming to church.  We simply need to believe with our whole heart that Jesus lives, and our sins are forgiven, and when Jesus breaks bread with us, we see how He gave His body and blood so that we can truly live.  Don’t underestimate the power of that Good News for yourselves.  Jesus lives!  Victory is won for you.  Your sins are forgiven.  No matter what trouble or disaster you might have here on earth, you have a home in heaven.  Don’t be afraid to claim it.  Your Savior, Jesus, has opened the gates of heaven to you and to everyone who believes in Him.  It’s waiting there for you, and so is your heavenly Father, with His arms open wide longing to hold you forever. 

Dear friends, you have the best news anyone, believer or unbeliever alike, can ever hear: Jesus paid with His life for every sin that would have kept anyone out of heaven.  Yet, He lives and reigns forever.  So, whenever you see someone you hope God will save, don’t be afraid to tell them the truth.  Your witness doesn’t have to be complicated, just tell them what you know: that God promised to send a Savior, and Jesus did everything that was needed to complete God’s promises.  Jesus died for you and for all sinners, but He lives!  He was buried, but He rose from the grave to live and never die!  Pray for your lost neighbors, but when given the opportunity, tell them that Jesus lives!  Jesus rose from His grave victorious over death and the devil!  We have over five hundred eyewitnesses to this truth.  No honest court could ever deny Jesus’ victory. 

From this moment forward, may the Holy Spirit strengthen you to live the best, most joyous life ever!  Christ is risen!  Your sins are forgiven.  By His resurrection and His Word, Jesus cures confusion.  Alleluia!  Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

In faith, God gives you a rich, unending inheritance.

 

Sermon for Easter 2, April 16, 2023

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

1 Peter 1:3-9  ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.  ⁵Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.  ⁶Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials ⁷so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him.  Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (EHV)

In faith, God gives you a rich, unending inheritance.

Dear fellow inheritors,

            It’s been a week since we celebrated Easter; is your joy at Christ’s resurrection still daily at the forefront of your thoughts?  Chances are good that for much of the world, Easter was forgotten by last Sunday evening.  By Monday morning, the stores had everything related to the Easter celebration transferred to the clearance aisle.  But, do you suppose the original Christians felt the same way?

In our Gospel lesson, we saw that wasn’t the case.  That first night, even after learning that Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples remained hiding in fear.  Poor Thomas refused to believe Jesus was alive until he could touch the scars in Jesus’ hands and side.  However, eight days later, Jesus’ resurrection remained firmly in their most pressing thoughts.  Still, the disciples really didn’t get excited about the resurrection until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit finally opened their eyes to the reality of their salvation.  Today, I pray that you remember what the Holy Spirit has given you by bringing you to faith in Jesus, because In faith, God gives you a rich, unending inheritance.

Our writer this morning is Peter, remember him, that bold, impulsive man, who on the Friday Jesus was arrested had his impetuous heart turned into quivering jelly by his fear that he too would be arrested and killed.  That same Peter now speaks boldly to us by the encouragement and inspiration of the Spirit.  Fear has totally left him.  He has seen the power of what the Gospel can do.  He understands, finally, what Jesus came to do and has accomplished both for Peter and for all who believe.  Thus, he writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”  Praise God!  Give thanks to God!  Give glory and honor to the One who rescued us from darkness, sin, death, and the devil.  Why?

Because, “By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”  The world has always approached the idea of God with great fear.  Since Adam and Eve fell into sin, all people have lived with terror of the God who can judge them.  It isn’t that God hasn’t been good to people, even to those who don’t know Him.  It’s just that being enemies of our Creator, and by nature not knowing God or His mercy, people often wrongly conclude that everything bad caused by the curse of sin and the devil’s deceptive ways is caused by God. 

By nature, mankind sees the heavenly powers as something not to be trusted.  In the ancients, that is displayed in the many idols they worshipped in the false hope that help would be forthcoming to deal with the tragedies of life and the traumas of the world we live in.

In our days, it really isn’t any different, except that instead of graven images of wood, silver, gold, or precious stones, people tend to make gods of themselves, or government, celebrities, the scientific method, or the illusion of popular opinion.  None of those things give hope, nor can they take away fear.  Our Lord Jesus, however, has accomplished everything necessary for us to enjoy life, both here and in eternity. 

The true God who created the world and everything in it, who people naturally fear, doesn’t want us to be terrified forever.  In fact, though God is a just and righteous God who had to punish sin, He also loved us with an everlasting love that wants all people to be saved from the wretched condition the devil brought upon this world.  Thus, Peter writes, “By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”  It is through faith in Jesus, worked in us by the Holy Spirit through Baptism and the Gospel, that we have the new birth from above that Jesus told Nicodemus about. (John 3:3-6) 

That just and terrifying God poured out all His righteous indignation for our sins on His Son, Jesus.  Without that sacrificial substitution, we all would face eternity without hope.  However, to the Galatian congregation Paul wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.  As it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’  He redeemed us in order that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we would receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14)  This is God’s great mercy, that He counted our shame against His Son so that through faith, He would count those who believe as righteous. 

With Christ’s perfect righteousness now credited to us, we have no need to fear God for we are reconciled with Him.  When Jesus rose from the grave, that heavenly transaction was certified complete forever.  The purchase price for you and me was paid in full, and our home in heaven likewise deeded to us.  It comes to us as a gift because of Jesus’ death for us which is why the Spirit calls it our inheritance, and because it is in heaven where there is no sin, decay, or death, it is ours forever in unending glory.

Again, inspired by the Spirit, Peter assures us, “Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.”  Forgiveness, salvation, and a home in the glory of heaven is already ours, signed, sealed, and credited to our accounts by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  We experience this great inheritance partially for now.  Its primary benefit for us is eternal.  In heaven, everything is glorious and good.  Meanwhile, our faith benefits us here because as long as we remain in this world, we have the comfort of knowing that no matter what this broken world throws against us, we have a Champion in our corner who has not only opened the gates of heaven for us, but He is working all things so that we get there.

Now, I asked if you were still focused on the joy of Easter.  Christians celebrate Easter every Sunday of the year.  With our weekly worship services, God serves us again and again with the Good News that Jesus lived, died, and rose from the grave so that we may enjoy everlasting peace and joy with Him.  Peter wrote, “Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 

Without a doubt, Christian believers suffer the same cruel pains and hardships that afflict all people.  In addition, we may be called upon to suffer for our faith in Jesus.  Jesus exclaimed on His way to the cross, “If they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?” (Luke 23:31)  Peter remembered Jesus’ warning, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first. … Remember the saying I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too.” (John 15:18-20) 

Peter knew the testing this world throws against those who love Jesus.  He along with the other apostles experienced great hardship as they proclaimed what Jesus has done for everyone.  Peter knew how horribly he would die for preaching Jesus and Him crucified.  Jesus had told him how his life would end.  However, where once, Peter and his fellow apostles had been timid and scared of dying for Jesus, after the Holy Spirit filled their hearts, they could think of nothing more rewarding than proclaiming the Good News to the world.  Then, even after they were put on trial, falsely accused, slandered, and beaten for proclaiming Jesus, Peter and his fellow apostles went back to work, “rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for the Name.” (Acts 5:41)

There is much that remains a mystery about our futures.  We don’t know exactly what heaven will look like.  We don’t know exactly how it will be when we live there forever.  The Bible gives us glimpses of the glory and majesty, but our feeble experiences cannot fathom the fullness.  Still, with the Spirit working in us through Word and Sacrament, we have sure and certain confidence in every promise the Lord makes to us in His Word.  Therefore, Peter writes, “Though you have not seen him, you love him.  Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 

This is the joy that carries us through every trial and challenge this world has to offer.  In faith, God gives you a rich, unending inheritance.  By the faith He works in our hearts, we are granted forgiveness and salvation full and free.  We are granted freedom from the devil’s control and freedom from the punishment we deserved for our sins.  We are also relieved of the fears that our natural souls harbored before coming to faith.  We no longer have to be afraid to meet God face to face, because He has reconciled us with Him and through Jesus has prepared a glorious reunion for us all in heaven. 

Dear friends, the Lord alone did everything needed to count us worthy to be in His presence.  The Lord also worked the faith in us that brings us these marvelous, unchanging, undying benefits.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we don’t even have a reason to be afraid of death, because we have God’s promise that “Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)  “For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5)  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad!  In faith, God gives you a rich, unending inheritance.  Amen.

The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with you all.  Amen.

His final steps were not final.

 

Sermon for Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023

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

John 20:11-18  ¹¹But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, weeping.  As she wept, she bent over, looking into the tomb.  ¹²She saw two angels in white clothes sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet.  ¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”  She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.”  ¹⁴After she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.  ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?  Who are you looking for?”  Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you carried him off, tell me where you laid him, and I will get him.”  ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  She turned and replied in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means, “Teacher”).  ¹⁷Jesus told her, “Do not continue to cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.  But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father—to my God and your God.’”  ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”  She also told them the things he said to her. (EHV)

His final steps were not final.

Dear beloved of the living Lord,

            By the time we get through our Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, I often find myself rather troubled in my soul, grieving for my share of the suffering that the Son of God who loved me so much endured.  For me, it is a little like grieving for some dear friend I have lost at various times in my life.  But the true, hard reality is that I know that Jesus loved me far better and far greater than I could ever love anyone else.  So, when I hear the slamming door that signifies the closing of Jesus’ tomb, it really does rattle my heart a bit too.

When I reach that point, I can’t honestly comprehend how hard it must have been for Jesus’ mother, Mary, who was there at the cross watching her dear, perfect, firstborn Son, who she had known as God’s promised Messiah, give His life for wretched sinners like me.  How hard it had to be for Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene, to see the Man they had trusted and who had rescued them from such dark times, cruelly beaten, His skin ripped to shreds, His brow pierced by torturous thorns, His bruised head hanging down in death, and finally the body buried without even the chance to provide a proper funeral or anointing according to their custom.  How hard it had to be for the eleven disciples who had such high hopes for their life with Jesus, yet not only losing their Friend and Teacher, they now feared for their own lives.

At this point, I feel terrible for anyone who doesn’t know the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey used to be famous for saying).  You see, for anyone who doesn’t know what we celebrate today, the end isn’t just sorrow over the loss of someone who died centuries ago, it truly is the loss of any real hope for life in heaven.  We cannot know salvation if we don’t know Jesus’ resurrection.  Without that Good News, the gullible see Jesus as just any other ancient mystic, teacher, or prophet.  Then, what St. Paul wrote would apply, “If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all.” (1 Corinthians 15:19)

Through this Lenten season, we followed a theme of walking with Jesus as He took the final steps of His earthly life.  Yet, unlike every other ancient teacher, Jesus’ story doesn’t end at the tomb.  That is why we so celebrate the news that His final steps were not final.  Jesus lives!  Jesus rose from the grave triumphant over sin, the human condition, temptation, the devil, the Jewish leadership, the Roman governor and his soldiers, and finally even death.  Living for us, Jesus beat sin and temptation and the devil by living in human flesh exactly as God wants all of us to live.  For you and me, Jesus lived the perfect trust in His Father’s will, the faithful obedience to all that God had taught and commanded through the prophets.  In Jesus, there was never any doubt or worry, or questioning.

The events of that whole weekend were so unexpected by even those who knew and loved Jesus so well.  Thus, on that first Easter morning, “Mary stood outside facing the tomb, weeping.”  She didn’t know what else to do.  All she knew right then was that the tomb, in which she had seen Jesus’s body laid to rest, was empty.  The other women who had come to the grave with her, likewise, assumed that Jesus would still be dead.  The disciples back in their hiding place also were absolutely convinced that Jesus was permanently dead.  And even after they received the first reports that Jesus was alive, they couldn’t believe their ears.

However, Jesus’ final steps were not final.  “As she wept, [Mary] bent over, looking into the tomb.  She saw two angels in white clothes sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet.  They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’”  Ordinarily, this is not a good question to ask of someone grieving at their loved one’s grave.  Ordinarily, a question like that would simply devastate the sorrowing person.  However, this circumstance was unprecedented.  No one had ever raised himself from the dead.  Truth be told, no one else ever has. 

Now, the angel wasn’t being cruel.  That messenger from God was simply recognizing that there was no reason for sadness any longer.  Mary and the other women who went to the tomb went there expecting to carry out some last-minute care for a dead body.  But Jesus is no longer dead.  After Mary’s brief conversation with the angels, “she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.  Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?  Who are you looking for?’” 

There is that question again, “Why are you weeping?”  I could almost picture Mary screaming in frustration as she replies to Jesus.  However, Jesus had spoken to Mary with the tenderest care.  He knew she was beyond herself in sorrow.  So in her despair and “Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, ‘Sir, if you carried him off, tell me where you laid him, and I will get him.’”  Through the pain and the tears, Mary didn’t recognize her Lord.  Maybe we get that way sometimes too.  Through the pain of loss when someone we love dies, we can feel so overwhelmed we don’t recognize the life that remains.  Yet, here at Jesus’ tomb, we have certain confirmation that because Jesus’ final steps were not final, we who believe in Jesus will not die but live.

Jesus told His disciples, “Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:19-20)  We are made one with Jesus through faith in Him.  Jesus and the Father are One God from eternity.  Because Jesus has conquered everything that separated us from God, we too are now brought into connection with the living God.

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  She turned and replied in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means, “Teacher”).  If there has ever been a tearjerker reunion, this one is certainly right up there.  The Savior Mary had seen die and be buried, now lives.  The Lord in whom she had put all her trust didn’t let her down.  The God in whom her ancestors had trusted had delivered on every promise and prophecy.  She should have known.  All the disciples should have been crowding around that tomb just eager to see the moment when the angels rolled away the stone, but that isn’t our human nature. 

We by nature are weak in faith, but Jesus is not.  Therefore, when Jesus carried our sins to the cross and traded His holy, precious life for the dregs of society, Jesus knew He would live and never die again.  Jesus had told His disciples, “This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again.  This is the commission I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18)  Herein lies our eternal hope.  Though there is nothing in us for which God should love us, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  By His holy sacrifice, Jesus removed the shame of our sin.

Does God hate sin?  Absolutely, and He will have no part with anyone who remains in sin.  Does God hate the sinner?  This question is often used to mislead us, but yes, God hates the sinner.  He told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no human may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20)  When God said that word translated, “human,” He used the term “The Adam.”  In other words, no one remaining in the sin of Adam can see God and live, so if Jesus had stayed dead, we would be hopeless.  “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a Man.  For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)

This is why it is so important for us to see that Jesus’ final steps were not final.  Because He lives, we too will live and never die, just as Jesus promised Mary and Martha before He raised Lazarus from the dead.  Outside His own now empty tomb, Jesus told her, “Do not continue to cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.  But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father—to my God and your God.’”  Jesus’ Father and God, the One He had trusted perfectly as He walked this life for you and me, the God to whom Jesus boldly exclaimed from the cross, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit! (Luke 23:46) now claims us as His dear children.  The Lord, our God, now welcomes us into His presence to worship Him forever in glory.

Mary had the greatest roller coaster ride of emotion anyone has ever had.  She had come to that tomb in abject sorrow but clinging to the poor hope of one last glimpse of her Beloved’s broken body.  She was further heart-broken to find the grave empty and frantic to recover a last, tiny bit of comfort in doing what she could to cover the stench of decay, but Jesus turned her sorrow into joy.  His final steps were not final.  Because Jesus was no longer dead, and no longer missing, there was no decay and never would be.  Instead, Mary could experience the exhilaration of telling her friends and neighbors that Jesus lives.

Dear friends, you and I will often stand at the mouth of graves mourning the loss of those near and dear to us.  Right along with those we love, we too will be laid down to rest in the dirt.  Yet, for all of us who believe in Jesus, and for all those moments we say goodbye to someone who has walked in the Christian faith, we have sure and certain confidence that our final steps are not final. 

Through faith in Christ Jesus, we have forgiveness and peace with God which means that we have God’s invitation to live with Him forever in heaven.  St. Paul wrote, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4

Through faith in Christ Jesus as our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord, we have complete forgiveness and life everlasting.  This is why we shout “Alleluia!”  It is why we exclaim “Christ is risen!”  Jesus lives!  The victory is won!  And because His final steps were not final, we too will live and walk in glory.  A blessed Easter to you all.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen.

The God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, both soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.  Amen.

His final steps led to the Place of the Skull.

 

Sermon for Good Friday, April 7, 2023

Luke 23:26-33  ²⁶As they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country.  They placed the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.  ²⁷A large crowd of people was following him, including women who were mourning and wailing for him.  ²⁸Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  ²⁹Be sure of this: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed.’  ³⁰Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  ³¹For if they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?”  ³²Two other men, who were criminals, were led away with Jesus to be executed.  ³³When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. (EHV)

His final steps led to the Place of the Skull.

Dear fellow redeemed,

      They led Him out of the city to a hill named for a symbol of death.  Matthew used the Aramaic, Golgotha.  Mark here uses the Greek, cranion, from which we get our word, cranium, for the skull.  Since way back in the mists of time, the skull has been a symbol of death.  We don’t know the actual location of this hill, but it was well known at its time as a place of death.  It was a place reserved for executions. 

The Romans didn’t crucify randomly.  They chose a place for crucifying that would produce maximum impact on the local population.  Rome reserved crucifixion for slaves, rebels, and traitors.  They wanted everyone coming into, or out of, a city to see what happened to anyone who defied Roman authority.  Perhaps, that is one reason the Sanhedrin wanted Jesus crucified.  They wanted the people to see Jesus as a traitor and a fraud.

Both the Jewish and Roman authorities tried to do everything they could to wipe Jesus out of history.  The Jewish leadership stirred up the city to demand that Jesus be crucified for claiming to be God’s Son and the promised Savior.  Pilate, knowing Jesus was innocent, made a feeble attempt to protect Jesus from the Sanhedrin’s jealousy, but in the end, old Pontius used his feeble authority to try to mock both Jesus and the Jews.  Pilate posted a sign at the top of Jesus’ cross declaring in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19)  The proud leaders of Jerusalem wanted the people to see that no one should defy them, and the Roman government was happy to use Jesus to threaten anyone possibly considering rebellion against it.  However, neither of those two groups comprehended that God was in control of even the minutest detail so that Jesus, the true King of heaven and earth, would suffer and die for the sins of the world.

We meet another Jew on his way into Jerusalem for the Passover festival.  Did Simon know Jesus?  It doesn’t appear that he did until the guards grabbed him and forced him to carry Jesus’ cross the final steps to The Skull.  Jesus had become too weak and had fallen.  Yet, whose plan was this?  Simon may not have been a Christian before he carried Jesus’ cross, but Mark tells us he had a son named Rufus, (Mark 15:21) and years later in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul greets Rufus as one of the elect of Christ.  The same Rufus?  We can’t say for sure, but we can’t say it isn’t either.  Far more people have become followers of Jesus after He was crucified than ever did before.

“A large crowd of people was following him, including women who were mourning and wailing for him.”  Were these the women who had supported Jesus in His ministry?  It does not appear so.  It is likely that most of those women weeping and wailing were doing so only because one of the Sons of Israel was being crucified.  I say that because of how Jesus responded. 

Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  Be sure of this: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed.’  Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  For if they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?” 

Jesus wasn’t concerned about His own future.  He knew that was secure in His Father’s hands.  Jesus also knew what fate was coming to Jerusalem and to all who reject Him.  A scant forty years after Jesus was crucified, the Jewish leaders’ plans to preserve their authority came crashing down as Rome set a siege around the city, starved it into submission, then tore down every part of the city piece by piece until nothing remained standing, and slaughtered or enslaved every Jew still alive at that moment.  The Roman empire lasted a while longer, but it too is long gone in the annals of history.  Yet, Jesus remains, and Jesus lives, and Jesus reigns.

The immediate cause of Jesus’ crucifixion was Jewish and Roman forces trying to protect their own power and control.  However, the true cause of Jesus’ crucifixion was the sins of the world.  Adam’s rebellion.  Cain’s murder.  David’s adultery.  Peter’s denial.  Judas’s betrayal.  Every sin in between, and your sins and mine, all were counted against Jesus. 

Two criminals were also led out to the hill of execution that day.  Both deserved the treatment they got, just as you and I deserve death for the sins we commit.  Yet, in God’s eyes at that moment, only Jesus was guilty.  “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  For all the sins ever committed in this world, God put the curse of death on His own dear Son and had Jesus hung on that tree to pay the penalty the whole world deserves.

One of those criminals finally realized who Jesus is, and why Jesus was on that cross.  We don’t know if he came to faith in that moment or if he had heard the Gospel previously, but in repentance for his guilt and abandoning any hope in himself, he pleaded with Jesus for life, and Jesus’ answer to that convicted criminal gives us hope as well.  Jesus told the guilty one, “Amen I tell you: Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

This is why we call this Friday Good.  On this day, we remember and celebrate the truth that God’s Son gave Himself as the sacrifice that would reconcile the world to God.  When His final steps led to the Place of the Skull, Jesus made Himself sin for us.  Then, not only did Jesus suffer physical death because of our sin, He suffered all the wrath of God, the separation from God that every sinner deserves—the punishment of hell, so that people like you and me who believe in Jesus as God’s promised Deliverer can be united with God in true holiness.  Because of Jesus, who cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) God the Father accepts us as His children who though we were once lost and condemned have now been returned to Him pure and holy.

Naturally, none of this would mean too much if Jesus had stayed dead.  Yet, in this, history is on our side.  Jesus didn’t stay dead.  Having conquered death and the devil and even the stubborn flesh of the human condition, Jesus also conquered the grave, and in doing so, He threw open the gates of Paradise to all who believe.

Tonight, we reminisce with sadness the suffering and death of God’s beloved Son because of our contribution to His sentence.  Tonight, we grieve that our sins led Jesus to “the place called The Skull.”  At the same time, we rejoice, because Jesus loved us so much that He bore those sins with honor—the honor He was bringing to His Father by redeeming the world of all shame.

The Jews wanted Jesus dead so that they could stay in their little domains.  The Roman government was willing to kill Jesus to keep control over a rebellious people.  Both of them failed to last.  But Jesus—though Jesus died, He lives again.  Jesus allowed the world to have full control over Him even to the point of death, so that having conquered the devil and the grave, Jesus now reigns over heaven and earth and will until the end.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, King David saw the outcome of Jesus’ crucifixion.  A thousand years before God’s Son gave His life for you and me, David wrote, “You make him suffer need, apart from God for a while, but you crown him with glory and honor.  You make him the ruler over the works of your hands.  You put everything under his feet: … O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalms 8:5-8)  Jesus conquered death and He lives and reigns over all things forever.  He grants us forgiveness of all sin and peace with God, all because His final steps led to the Place of the Skull.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen.