Vindication.

 

Sermon for Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024

Blessed 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.  Amen.

Mark 16:1-8  When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint Jesus.  ²Very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, they went to the tomb.  ³They were saying to each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb for us?”  ⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  ⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.  ⁶He said to them, “Do not be alarmed.  You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.  He has risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid him.  ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him, just as he told you.’”  ⁸They went out and hurried away from the tomb, trembling and perplexed.  They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. (EHV)

Vindication.

            They called Him a traitor to Rome but demanded His crucifixion because they considered Him a traitor to Israel.  They accused Him a blaspheming against God, but demanded His death for telling the truth that He is the Son of God.  They couldn’t find even two witnesses against Jesus who could agree on an accusation of any sin, but He was crucified because of the sins of the world.  He gave no thought to His own wealth, safety, or power, but Jesus was crucified because they were jealous.

Dear beloved ones in Christ Jesus,

            Vindication is the condition of being proven right or innocent.  In the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, Jesus proves that He is the Son of God, that He was innocent of all sin, that everything He promised is true, that God is faithful in everything He had prophesied, that we are forgiven of all sin, and that those who believe in Him will live and never die.

Far too often, the prophecies God had provided through His prophets were either ignored or misunderstood.  Even those who knew the prophecies pointed to the promised Messiah refused to believe that Jesus was the fulfilment of God’s promises.  The people of Israel were looking for a warrior-king, someone who could wrest them from the Roman overlords and set up Israel as the major power on earth. 

There are still some Jews who think that God’s prophecy of a Savior applies to the people of Abraham’s descendants, but with Jesus rising from the dead, all doubt is removed.  Jesus is the only Man who foretold His dying and rising again and made it come true.  To all the doubters of the world, God has been proven faithful to His promises.  The Savior of the world has come, has lived, died, and risen from the tomb of death victorious over all enemies.  Therefore, in Jesus’ resurrection, we find vindication of the Father in heaven who promised a Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. (Genesis 3:14)

Jesus was sentenced to die by the Sanhedrin, ostensibly because He was blaspheming against God when He claimed to be the Son of God.  The men who worked so hard to see Him killed even mocked Jesus on the cross for that true statement.  Now, there can be no doubt.  No on else could ever endure what Jesus went through for you and me, could be whipped, crucified, pierced with a spear to the heart, and be pronounced certifiably dead, then buried, and still rise from the dead. 

The soldiers who were posted to guard His tomb, so that no one could steal the body and make a false claim, confirmed the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, for they went to Jesus’ enemies and recounted the truth of what they had seen.  They thus vindicated their fellow soldier, the Roman centurion who observed Jesus’ death and with terror in his voice declared, “Truly He was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54)

Numerous times in His three years of teaching His disciples, Jesus told them how He would suffer and die at the hands of the scribes and Pharisees, but He also told them that on the third day He would rise from the grave.  The disciples never seemed to understand this promise.  Jesus also told Martha, after her brother Lazarus was dead in the grave for four days, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies.  And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish.” (John 11:25-26)  Still, Martha was shocked when Jesus called out Lazarus’ name and he came out of the tomb four days after he died and was buried.  Here again, in His own resurrection, God the Son is vindicated in His claims, and just as important, in His prophecies and His promises. 

The members of the Jewish ruling council heard about this miracle of raising Lazarus, and decided Jesus had to die lest He continue to draw believers to Himself.  In their jealousy, those men refused to believe what Jesus promised, and because they feared Him, they plotted His death.  They feared that if Jesus gained the trust of more people, the Romans might come and take away their positions of power.  In spite of all evidence, they convinced themselves that Jesus was a fraud.  Yet, here in the moment of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, His mission to save sinners is vindicated.  Jesus wasn’t seeking an earthly kingdom but the salvation of many souls.  Thus, when He had risen from the grave, Jesus didn’t start a rebellion against Rome, but He initiated the spread of the Good News of Christ crucified for sinners and faith in Him to give life everlasting.

For three years, a number of women had followed Jesus with the sincere belief that He was God’s promised Redeemer and Savior sent to reign over heaven and earth forever.  The disciples, likewise also, especially Peter, had devoted those years to following Jesus as students, giving up careers to learn at Jesus’ feet, convinced that He had “the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)  Peter’s own words testify to this trust.  In the time of trial, however, even the most faithful followers among them lost their hope.  Yet, what they had hoped for was not gone, for when Jesus gave up His life, He was doing exactly what they had been promised so that all their confidence in Him was vindicated. 

Jesus was never defeated by the Sanhedrin, by Pontius Pilate, by Herod, or even by sin, death, or the devil.  Every part of Jesus’ life and death went exactly as His Father in heaven had planned, from His birth through His resurrection after dying, so that you and I and all who believe in Jesus are forgiven of all sin, because Jesus paid for the sins of the world.  The perfectly holy Lamb of God bearing the sins for every fallen man, women, and child.  Thus, under the inspiration and authority of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul wrote:

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For in Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  Indeed, what the law was unable to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, when he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin. God condemned sin in his flesh, so that the righteous decree of the law would be fully satisfied in us who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)

Dear friends, you and I have perhaps faced some of the mockery that was thrown against Jesus while He was nailed to that cross.  Many of our world still refuse to believe that Jesus is God’s Son sent to save sinners.  In fact, many refuse to believe they are sinners, and often even celebrate their vile wickedness.  Because Jesus no longer walks the earth, those mockers question why anyone would believe in Him.  They reject everything God has said, because they don’t see it presently with their eyes.

Regardless of what the evil world might claim, you and I can go forth boldly through our time here on earth, vindicated in our faith, knowing without a doubt that because Jesus rose from the dead, our sins are removed from us as far as east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12)  We can go about our days confident that God has forgiven our sins and remembers them no more. (Hebrews 8:12)  Though Jesus’ enemies accused Him of a multitude of sins, we are vindicated for believing God’s proud proclamation “This is my Son, whom I love.  I am well pleased with him.” (Matthew 3:17)  In light of Jesus’ resurrection at the exact time He promised to rise from the dead, we can boldly put our trust in all of God’s Word, especially that which says, “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)

With all believers in Christ Jesus, from Eve who believed God’s promise of a Savior who would crush the serpent’s head, to Job who looked forward in faith to seeing his Redeemer in the flesh, (Job 19:25-26) to Abraham who believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, (Genesis 15:6) to those women surprised by the angel at the tomb until the last believer in Jesus draws breath upon the earth, we can walk confidently and with great boldness of faithful joy singing,

I know that my Redeemer lives;

What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

He lives, He lives, who once was dead;

He lives my ever-living Head.  Amen.  Amen.  Amen.

Now may the God of peace—who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, in connection with his blood, which established the eternal testament—may he equip you with every good thing to do his will, as he works in us what is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ.  To him be glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Evidence.

 

Sermon for Good Friday, March 29, 2024

Matthew 27:38-54  ³⁸At the same time two criminals were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.  ³⁹People who passed by kept insulting him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰and saying, “You who were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!  If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”  ⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, experts in the law, and elders kept mocking him.  They said, ⁴²“He saved others, but he cannot save himself.  If he’s the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.  ⁴³He trusts in God.  Let God rescue him now, if he wants him, because he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  ⁴⁴In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with him kept insulting him.  ⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land.  ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  ⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “This fellow is calling for Elijah.”  ⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, and soaked it with sour wine.  Then he put it on a stick and gave him a drink.  ⁴⁹The rest said, “Leave him alone.  Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” ⁵⁰After Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  ⁵¹Suddenly, the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom.  The earth shook and rocks were split.  ⁵²Tombs were opened, and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised to life.  ⁵³Those who came out of the tombs went into the holy city after Jesus’ resurrection and appeared to many people.  ⁵⁴When the centurion and those who were guarding Jesus with him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God. (EHV)

Evidence.

Dear sorrowing friends,

In our skeptical age, the world still cries out for evidence that Jesus is who He claimed to be.  Just as on that day some now call Black Friday, and we call, Good Friday, there are many mockers in the crowd.  For everyone who believes in God’s promises of redemption, there are likely many who question whether Jesus actually ever lived.  There are a host of people who imitate the mockers who challenged Jesus to come down from the cross to prove that He really is God’s Son.  Still, today, there are those who demand signs and wonders before they will believe in Jesus.

We don’t have to go back to Golgotha to hear the mockery.  It is all around us every day.  It’s in the voices of those who demand proof outside of the Bible accounts.  It’s in the actions of the many who sneer at God’s invitation to come hear His holy Word in our worship services.  It’s in the actions of the many who at their confirmations claimed they would be faithful even unto death, but they no longer enter the church because faith in Jesus doesn’t matter to them anymore.  Perhaps, it is even in us whenever we wonder about how well Jesus is taking care of us, or when we wonder why He allows us to hurt, to still have sickness, war, and death.

Yet, the evidence is here, right in front of us, that Jesus is who He claimed to be.  That He really did live and die for your sins and mine.  The evidence is in the historical recordings of those men who watched the events of Jesus’ life and the actions and miracles of the Son God sent into the world through birth from the Virgin Mary.  The testimony of a multitude of eyewitnesses should make us believe and never doubt.  The Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah were fulfilled to the last dot and tittle.  Every little bit of Jesus’ life and death lines up with those signs to look for.

And what does the eyewitness testimony tell us today?  We see the One who the crowds welcomed as the Son of David nailed to a shameful cross—The One against whom no two witnesses could find any sin or fault, being put to death in the most horrible way known to man at the time for crimes He didn’t commit, but also for His faithful testimony that He is the Son of God and the promised Messiah.  We hear in their eyewitness reports the mockery of the crowds who rejected Jesus.  But mostly, we hear Jesus’ voice cry out the mournful plea, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  The true Son of God, who in His whole earthly life had depended on His heavenly Father’s direction and strength, there on the cross suffering the torment of separation you and I deserved for our sins.

God had declared through His prophet, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)  Yet, so that He might save the many who were subject to this curse, God punished His Son so that many might believe in Him and live.  And Jesus suffered all the torments of hell so that you and I don’t have to.  He took that separation from God that you and I couldn’t escape on our own.

The skeptic still demands proof.  Most of them won’t even read the Bible, and if they do, they don’t read looking to find the truth.  Rather, many look for things to challenge.  Yet, the evidence is there.  Further proof that Jesus was carrying out His Father’s plan right to the last letter is right here before us. 

In crucifixion, most of the victims slowly suffocate.  Jesus had said He had power to lay down His life and power to take it up again. (John10:18)  Here we see Jesus speak loudly, both when He calls out His agony, and as He gives up His life.  The psalmist wrote about the Lamb of God who makes Himself the Victim in our place, “You notice trouble and grief.  You take it into your own hands.” (Psalm 10:14)

The victory of the eternal Victim is also evident in our text.  Matthew reports that as Jesus gave up His life, the very ground beneath their feet shook in agony of the loss.  The temple curtain, that divided the most holy place where the seat of God was kept separate from the people, was torn in two from top to bottom, indicating to the world that our separation from God has ended.  Jesus’ power over death was again shown to the world as the graves of saints who had believed in Jesus were sprung open and the believers restored to life.  After Jesus’ resurrection, they appeared to many in the holy city and were seen by many witnesses.

Finally, even the opponents, the enemies and idol worshippers who nailed Jesus to the cross were convinced by what they saw and heard.  Terrified they cried out, “Truly this was the Son of God.

Dear friends, the proof and all the evidence anyone ever needs is all there in the holy writings.  You and I can walk confident in everything you have been taught about Jesus.  As for the others who surround us—well, we can’t argue them into believing.  But the testimony of God’s Word is true, and it is powerful.  Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, just tell them what you have seen and heard.  Tell them what the eyewitnesses said, and let the Holy Spirit do His work. 

“No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)  Still, the Good News of all that Jesus did in His life and death to save sinners is all the power that is needed to bring life and salvation to even the hardest heart. 

The skeptic asks, “Why, if Jesus has the power to give life and to save, didn’t He save His own life?”  The answer is found in the love of God, who gave His own beloved Son into death so that many others might truly live and never die.  The answer is found in the Son who refused to come down from the cross until He took death away from you and me.  The answer is even more apparent just three days hence when the grave, in which they laid Jesus’ body, is thrown wide open for all the world to see that Jesus has conquered death and the devil, so that we may dwell eternally in God’s presence in heaven. 

To Him who lived and died for you and me, may all glory be given.  Amen.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless in the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all time, now, and to all eternity.  Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25)

A new covenant given for you.

 

Sermon for Maundy Thursday, March 28, 2024

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

Luke 22:7-20  ⁷The day of Unleavened Bread arrived, when it was necessary to sacrifice the Passover lamb.  ⁸Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.”  ⁹They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”  ¹⁰He told them, “Just as you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him into the house that he enters.  ¹¹Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’  ¹²He will show you a large, furnished upper room.  Make preparations there.”  ¹³They went and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.  ¹⁴When the hour had come, Jesus reclined at the table with the twelve apostles.  ¹⁵He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, ¹⁶for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”  ¹⁷He took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, ¹⁸for I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  ¹⁹He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”  ²⁰In the same way, he took the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is being poured out for you.” (EHV)

A new covenant given for you.

Dear friends of the Lamb,

            It’s hard to imagine anyone being more alone than Jesus.  I know that sounds silly, because Jesus had been surrounded by massive crowds for three years, and He gathered that night with His twelve closest disciples.  Yet, consider how alone Jesus was in His human condition.  He alone was the only perfectly righteous Man ever to live after the fall into sin.  Therefore, in every aspect of life, Jesus kept Himself separate even as He interacted with others.  Where people might make crude jokes, Jesus stood apart as perfectly innocent.  When temptations struck those around Him, Jesus remained resistant to the temptation—holy in every thought, word, and deed.

Even more so, as Jesus carried out His ministry, almost everyone who came to Jesus, came because they were seeking help only He could give.  They came for healing from every kind of disease.  They came to Him when they were hungry.  They came asking Him to decide between arguing brothers.  They came always with their hands out looking for a favor, for an answer to questions.  They came expecting Jesus, alone, to build for them a world-wide kingdom of power and dominance.

As Jesus gathered with His disciples that night, only Jesus knew what lay ahead for Him.  Again, Jesus was all alone.  He knew that Judas had arranged to betray Him.  Jesus knew that each of those disciples would run away in His time of trial.  He knew that Peter would deny even knowing Him.  He knew the crowds that welcomed Him into Jerusalem with great shouts of acclaim just days earlier would, that next early morning, cry out for crucifixion of this Son of David.  No one would stand with Jesus.

Perhaps that is the rub isn’t it?  People came to Jesus with all kinds of selfish expectations, but few, if any, came to Jesus because they knew Him as their Savior from sin.  Of course, that is the way it had to be, because we all were separated from God by sin.  None of us could do anything on our own to be reconciled with God, so God came to earth in His Son to establish A new covenant given for you.

The Passover meal was an annual event that commemorated God’s deliverance of the people of Israel from their bondage of slavery in Egypt.  In that meal, the people ate the flesh of the lamb whose blood saved them from the avenging angel as he passed through Egypt striking down every first born in the land.  Now, the first born of God and Mary declared, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”  Was it because He was lonely that Jesus wanted to eat this meal with His friends?  Was it because He loved the ceremony that caused Jesus to say this?

No, all of this was God’s plan from the moment sin entered the world.  God created this world to have a peaceful, loving relationship with the people He had created in His image.  Yet, that image was soon shattered in mankind by sin.  Therefore, Jesus eagerly desired to eat this meal, because His whole purpose in life was the culmination of God’s plan to reconcile Himself with mankind—to reconnect mankind with the image of God through the sacrifice of His Son to cover the sins of all people.

As Jesus reclined for that Passover meal, He knew full well the suffering, pain, mockery, and death He would undergo later that night and through the next day, as we count the days.  Still, He was eager to go through that to bring back together you and me, and all who believe, in harmony with God in heaven.  The original Passover was a two-way covenant in which God promised that those who followed His instructions would be protected from death.  God had made several other similar two-way covenants with Israel, but Israel had broken every covenant. 

Now, Jesus was giving a covenant of peace and reconciliation that was a declaration of God’s love for sinners, a promise of forgiveness and peace with God, a meal that puts in our mouths, sacramentally, the very body and blood of the Lamb sacrificed for the sins of all sinners of all time.  There was no if for our side to do.  There is no condition mankind must live up to in order to receive God’s promised blessing.

When Jesus took up the bread and the cup, He knew the sins of those who were receiving the bread and wine.  He knew they were being covered by His sacrifice.  He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, he took the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is being poured out for you.” 

A testament is a covenant, a promise of action or gift.  God’s gift to us is the forgiveness of sins won for us in the suffering and death of His Son.  For every time we have acted like Peter and denied knowing Jesus because we were afraid to let people know He is our Savior, Jesus paid the price.  For every time we felt like Judas, when the temptations of the world pulled our hearts to grasp for something other than the love of God, Jesus paid the price.  For even those times when the devil whispers in our ears that we have sinned too greatly for God to forgive us, when that liar tries to steal away the grace of God from our hearts and make us feel worthless before the judgment of God, Jesus paid the price of death for you and me. 

Jesus holds out A new covenant given for you.  That is what this supper is all about.  This meal is not just a memorial to Jesus.  Certainly, He wants us to remember what He has done for us to rescue us from certain destruction, but this meal is about Jesus reminding us how He has reconnected us with God.  It is putting Jesus’ flesh and blood in our mouths, again sacramentally in with and under the bread and wine.  With every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is there in that meal showing us that He truly gave Himself as payment for our sins.  And, each time we eat and drink, trusting that Jesus has given us His righteousness in place of our sins, we preach Christ crucified for sinners to those around us.

I said Jesus was so alone in this world.  The reason He was in this world was to bring us back together with Him, and with each other.  Our sins had separated us from God, but how often don’t our sins separate us from each other as well?  With His holy life put on the line for us, and by taking all of our sins on Himself as He went to the cross to pay for sins He didn’t commit, Jesus was taking sin out of the picture.  With this meal, Jesus invites the repentant betrayer to partake and be healed.  With His flesh and blood in the bread and wine, Jesus is telling the repentant thief that his guilt is covered.  He tells all of us, no matter how much baggage of sin we carry, that we are welcome at the banquet feast of heaven because of what He suffered for us all.

No, Jesus doesn’t invite us to sin freely.  That would be a foolish idea.  Instead, He invites forgiven sinners to enter into His presence to be comforted and strengthened by a meal that cannot be compared to any other.  King David sang, “You set a table for me in the presence of my foes.” (Psalm 23:5)  That night, as Jesus knew Judas was betraying Him, and He knew the Jewish leaders were scheming His immediate death, as He knew the disciples would abandon Him in fear, Jesus set a table of peace for them—a meal to give them hope and strength for the future.  That is what Jesus gives us as well. 

Through His body and blood, Jesus is refreshing our trust in His sacrifice for our sins.  In this meal, Jesus is strengthening us to face the world which is always hostile to Him and to His Father’s will.  As we remember Jesus and proclaim His death until He comes with our eating and drinking, Jesus is also giving us confidence that our sins are forgiven, and we have peace with God that will never again be broken, because Jesus’ body broken for us brings us together again in one great fellowship in His body, the Church.

The day is coming when Jesus will return in glory.  A day is also coming for each of us to meet God face to face, whether as Jesus returns to judge the world on Judgement Day, or as we are gathered home in death.  Regardless of the way we are brought before God’s judgment, Jesus has established A new covenant given for you—a promise of peace—a surety of hope—a commitment from Jesus that we are welcome in God’s presence because of the sacrifice He made for you and me.  All sin was put on Jesus, so that the Father would count all people forgiven for Jesus’ sake, so that we may dine forever at the wedding banquet with our Savior and King in the everlasting glory of heaven.  Amen.

To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.  Amen. 

Fix your eyes on Jesus as you run your race.

 

Sermon for Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024

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

Hebrews 12:1-3  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us.  ²Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal.  In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne.  ³Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart. (EHV)

Fix your eyes on Jesus as you run your race.

Dear friends in the lifetime contest,

            The subject of running doesn’t usually interest me all that much.  In fact, I have told many people that if you see me running, you better look for bears, because that’s about what it would take to make me run.  Rather than being a running enthusiast, however, this writer compares our lives here on earth to a race much like a modern triathlon or perhaps an ultramarathon.  It’s not just one lap around a track, or even one day of strenuous exercise to win a ribbon or medal.  It is hard training to build up endurance for a run that goes on day after day, up and down hills through all kinds of terrain with good or foul weather, and the only way to win is to get to the end still on the one way that leads to the prize which is heaven.  Thus, his encouragement to Fix your eyes on Jesus as you run your race.

Our text comes immediately after the writer to the Hebrews reminded them of the great heroes of faith that fill the Old Testament.  Those men and women had the lifelong challenge of running their race to meet the Messiah without ever seeing the outcome until they left this world in death.  They kept their eyes focused on the promise of a Savior, trusting that God would never let them down, and they were right in their hope and blessed eternally for their faith.

You and I must necessarily run the race of our lives by faith.  The writer explains, “Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)  The ancient believers were blessed with eternal life because they never let go of God’s promise to send a Redeemer.  As the writer explains, you and I have the advantage of even more witnesses.  Possessing not just the testimony of those who looked forward to the fulfillment of the promise, we have the promise fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Man, and our Savior. 

Furthermore, we have the reliable testimony of numerous eyewitnesses who saw Jesus alive and walk this earth, who experienced His miracles firsthand, or were able to interview the recipients of God’s grace through Jesus and see the change in their lives.  We have the testimony of the martyrs who, throughout the centuries, willingly laid down their lives rather than back down one smidgeon from the faith they believed in.

The disciples who had once hoped to serve Jesus in an earthly kingdom faced all kinds of opposition from neighbors and government, yet after finally understanding the victory Jesus had won, they boldly proclaimed what they had seen and experienced.  Even some of those who had opposed Jesus, and nailed His hands and feet to the cross, observed the events surrounding His death and confirmed the truth; “When the centurion and those who were guarding Jesus with him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54)  Still, that was nothing when compared to the events of Easter morning when the guards posted to keep the disciples from stealing the body had to go to the chief priests with the news that Jesus had risen from the dead and angels rolled the stone away.

The writer to the Hebrews said, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us.”  Imagine running a marathon on a muddy path with a bag of rocks on your back.  Why would anyone carry such a burden with no use for the weight?  That is the equivalent of us trying to slog through life with our guilt weighing us down. 

What should we do?  Whatever sins or guilt might trouble us, let us return daily to our baptisms where our Savior has washed away our sins and our guilt.  Let go of the burdens of misplaced efforts, accidental stumbles against the Commandments, mistakes that hurt others, and any intentional sins.  Take them all back to the cross where Jesus gathered all that heavy load on His own shoulders and paid the penalty of death for them all.

You can imagine how hard it would be to run through a forest with slippery stones underneath and vines and brambles running every which direction, each armed with thorns ready to grab at our ankles.  That is life in this world.  There are so many distractions that seek to pull our eyes off Jesus.  Maybe it’s the pull of wealth, or seeing an attractive person, the temptations that society puts before us, or even the ordinary duties of faithful vocations that, if taken too far, can lead us away from the path that leads to Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is warning us to beware of those things that may cause us to stumble or turn aside.  We also need to beware of the serpent, and other predators, that will tempt us to see every trouble or loss as God being unfaithful to His promises.  Yet, God showed His everlasting faithfulness by putting His own dear Son on the cross.

Therefore, the Word says, “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal.”  Jesus accomplished everything need to give us eternal life.  Here, the writer uses a rare word to say Jesus has finished our faith—He has accomplished what we seek to gain and the goal of our hope.  Jesus told His disciples, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  As we run our race through the tangled distractions of life, we need to keep our eyes focused on the Way Jesus has cleared for us.  Not only that, but He is also the Light for our path so that as long as we go with Him, we can never get lost, so Fix your eyes on Jesus as you run your race.

The Holy Spirit gives us another intriguing detail about Jesus—”In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne.”  We might wonder what kept Jesus going as He faced such a horrible death, made worse by the punishment of hell He knew He would have to undergo for us.  Yet, the Holy Spirit assures us it was the joy of knowing that He was accomplishing God’s love for you and me. 

We tend to think of love as someone handing out gifts and treats and speaking nice things to us.  Yet, ultimate love is doing exactly what is needed to bring a person into God’s everlasting grace.  Because sin had divided us from God, Jesus did everything needed to restore peace between God and mankind.  That means Jesus lived perfectly in harmony with God’s commands and with His will for mankind.  Without ever once stumbling or getting distracted on His mission, Jesus ran the perfect race through life so that His Father proudly testified, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 17:5)  Then, through faith in Jesus, the righteousness He lived on our behalf is credited to all those who believe and walk in His ways.

Still, the work of reconciling us with God wouldn’t be complete without the shedding of blood for our sin.  Jesus spent His whole earthly life on a mission to save, even to the point of carrying the burden of our guilt to that cross then dying the death we deserved in our place.  In honor of the holiness Jesus lived, and the sacrifice He made, God raised Him from the dead and placed Him in authority over everything in heaven and on earth, until the day comes when He will judge all things.

Again, we are encouraged for our run, “Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.”  Always keep in mind what Jesus did so that you have been relieved of every burden that would keep you from God.  Remember the sacrifice of blood that streamed from Jesus’ whipped back and sides, from the thorn crowned brow, from the nails in His hands and feet, and finally pouring from His side after He gave up His life.  That was real pain Jesus endured for you.  That was His true lifeblood that seeped down the cross and splattered on the ground.  That was Jesus’ love for sinners like me and you being demonstrated in the most awful way, so that no one could ever doubt how much Jesus loved you.

Of course, Jesus doesn’t abandon you to run this race alone.  He promises to be with you to the end. (Matthew 28:20)  Furthermore, after ascending to His Father’s side, Jesus sent His Spirit to be our Counselor, to convict us of the guilt that afflicted us, and to release us from that guilt by bringing us to believe in Jesus.  The Counselor continues to strengthen us daily through His gospel which keeps us trusting all that Jesus accomplished to reconcile us with our Creator.

Likewise, Jesus continues to strengthen us for the race with His own precious body and blood, which you will again receive this morning as medicine for your life and energizing sustenance for your soul.  In the bread and wine which He has blessed, Jesus promises that you receive His very body that was nailed to the cross, and the blood that He shed as He died to set you free from sin.

Dear friends, I have to admit that it is rather unlikely that you will see me running around town anytime soon.  You may see me walking, but if I am running, something’s gone wrong.  Yet, in regards to our spiritual life, I pray that we keep on running our race together with Jesus as our Leader and Friend, our Light and our Path.  With Jesus having cleared the way to heaven for us and guiding us on His path, we can’t lose, for He has finished the race with eternal victory for us all.  Therefore, today, and every day, Fix your eyes on Jesus as you run your race.  Amen.

May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers.  May he never leave us or abandon us.  May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways.  Amen.

Sympathy.

 

Sermon 6^th midweek Lent, January 20, 2024

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

Luke 23:26-34  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.  ³⁴Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  They cast lots to divide his garments among them. (EHV)

Sympathy.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            So much of modern man has fallen into the trap of believing that people have been getting better throughout the history of mankind.  Yet, we still see brother hating brother, women being abused and murdered, violent crime rampant in many of our cities, killing unborn babies applauded as something good, unjust wars waged over a desire for land and power, slander and vilification is normal in politics, and many assume that our country is nearing a civil war.  If that is what society improving itself looks like, it’s hard to imagine what would be worse.

As we gaze around the world, though, there are many places where Christians are facing horrible persecution, and many live lives far more perilous than our own.  In many of those places, Christianity was at one time a major part of the society.  So, what happened?  And is that what we are likely to face in the coming decades to centuries?  And if so, should we expect sympathy?  Or should we feel sympathetic to those who cause such abuse and violence now?

As we have read through the passion of our Lord these last five weeks, the thought of feeling sympathy for Jesus and what He went through may have grown in your mind.  Truly, what Jesus suffered for you and me is horrific.  It is something none of us ever want to experience, and honestly, we wouldn’t want it for anyone else, not even our worst enemies—at least I pray we all feel that way.

At the same time, is sympathy what we are to feel toward our Lord Jesus?  He indeed suffered unjustly at the hands of sinful men, but how should we feel about that?  As His enemies led Jesus out of Jerusalem to the site of His execution at The Skull, “A large crowd of people was following him, including women who were mourning and wailing for him.”  Would we say that those crowds had sympathy for Jesus?  From the records of the Gospel writers, it appears that most of the crowd were merely coming along to make sport of Jesus’ situation.  Many were likely part of the rabble that the high priests, scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees had stirred up to demand that Jesus be crucified.

On the other hand, many of the women were likely either professional mourners hired to make it look like the Jews didn’t want Jesus killed, or they may have been women who were horrified to see His condition or who mourned for any Jewish man the Roman rulers deemed worthy of death.  It is unlikely that the women who had followed Jesus were part of this mob, though many of them did accompany Him at the cross, still showing their support and love for the Savior.  Those women likely felt honest sympathy for Jesus.

In reality, however, the one who felt sympathy was mostly Jesus.  Jesus felt sympathy for the women who mourned for His condemnation, because He knew they would suffer greatly because they didn’t understand why He was sentenced to die, nor did they accept Him as the Savior promised by God for as long as this world has been troubled by sin.  Jesus felt sympathy for the citizens of Jerusalem because they rejected the promised Messiah who had come to take away their sins, and because of their rejection, the city would quite soon fall under the most grievous siege and attack, and the people would suffer horribly until their end.

But truth be told, Jesus was in that predicament because He felt sympathy for the world—for you and me.  Because of His love for us, “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)  Because He felt compassion for people lost in sin and hopelessness, Jesus willingly stepped into our shoes, so to speak, when He came into this world to suffer that abuse and trial and mockery, and to be nailed to the cross. 

As a Man the night before this awful event occurred, Jesus had prayed to His Father “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me.  Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)  Living in our frail human flesh, Jesus understood the great agony He would undergo for sinners who didn’t really care about Him.  As the Son of God, He understood the immense suffering He would face when the Father forsake Him as He paid the full price for all the world’s guilt.  If there was another way to save sinners, Jesus was willing to accept it if that was His Father’s plan.  Yet, Jesus perfectly trusted His Father, and perfectly obeyed His demand of death for sin.  Jesus knew better than we ever will the perfect justice God His Father displays.  Jesus also, of course, knew perfectly His Father’s love.  It is God’s love that sent Jesus to the cross, and Jesus’ love for you and me that kept Him nailed there until death.

So, what are we to do with our Sympathy?  Should we pour it out in grief and despair for what Jesus endured?  Should we look to that cross ashamed of its horrible example of the cruelty of mankind and vow to do better ourselves?  Well, in this question, too, Jesus shows that He has the perfect Sympathy.  “When 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.  Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”  Jesus demonstrated His Sympathy for those caught up in killing Him.  He showed Sympathy for those who had condemned Him, and for those who were mocking Him as He hung on that cross.  Furthermore, Jesus showed Sympathy for us that day as He hung there for you and me, and while He was taking our punishment, He was praying to His Father in heaven to count all of us as innocent.

Jesus endured all that pain, that mockery, abuse, and rejection.  He watched them divide all His earthly possessions, right down to His underwear, among the soldiers who nailed Him to that cross, and Jesus suffered all that shame with nothing but love and Sympathy for all of us sinners.

So, what are we to do with our Sympathy?  Jesus gave us the answer after He rose from the dead.  It was after He had accomplished everything needed for our salvation and the salvation of the world that He said, “Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

As the world turns against Christians more and more, we are not to fight back, nor are we to hide from the world, nor to mock it as foolish, for we all were once fools without knowledge of God and His love.  We also shouldn’t just express empathy for those who are dying in their unbelief and sin.  Rather, we are to tell people about the Man who lived perfect Sympathy for all people by giving up His life to pay for their sins.  Whether still in a free society where we can easily speak of Jesus’ love, or if persecuted for believing in Jesus, our goal remains the same, to tell of Jesus and His love—love that led Him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

God showed us grace, which is love we don’t deserve, by sending His Son Jesus to live and die on our behalf, so that God could declare us forgiven and innocent for Jesus’ sake.  God showed us mercy in not punishing us as we deserved, but rather, in sharing the Good News of what Jesus has done for us, and by working faith in our hearts to believe it, so that we can have absolute confidence in Jesus’ promise, “Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies.  And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish.” (John 11:25-26)

By putting Himself in our place, both in life and death, Jesus demonstrated true Sympathy for us that day and throughout His earthly time.  Now, may we by God’s grace and mercy continue to share His Sympathy for the world as we continue to tell the world about Jesus, about His life, His death, His resurrection from the grave, and His ascension into heaven where He lives and reigns on behalf of those who will believe until He returns to judge the world, because there will come a day when Jesus returns to judge, and those who don’t believe in Him will be crying for a place to hide.  God grant that our sympathy for others help many escape that wrath.  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. 

Do not be afraid; God is with you!

 

Sermon for Lent 5, March 17, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love.  Amen.

Isaiah 43:1-7  But now this is what the Lord says, the Lord who created you, O Jacob, the Lord who formed you, O Israel.  “Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.  I have called you by name.  You are mine.  ²When you cross through the waters, I will be with you.  When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away.  When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not set you on fire.  ³Because I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior, I gave Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.  ⁴Because you are precious and honored in my eyes, and I myself love you, I will give people in exchange for you, and peoples in exchange for your life.  ⁵Do not be afraid, because I am with you.  From the east I will bring your offspring, and from the west I will gather you.  ⁶I will say to the north, “Give them back!” and to the south, “Do not hold them.”  Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—⁷everyone who is called by my name, everyone I created for my glory, everyone I formed, yes, everyone I have made.” (EHV)

Do not be afraid; God is with you!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            We could spend a good amount of time examining how this prophecy was carried out among the people of Israel in the centuries after Isaiah lived.  However, what should truly interest us is how it applies to us today, for this word from our God extends down through the centuries to all God’s people, and the message remains the same: Do not be afraid; God is with you!

Now, we may never suffer the wrath of God for blatant idolatry and rebellion as Isaiah prophesied for the people living in his day, yet our world is ever in opposition to God’s people, so we too will face much hardship, many trials and temptations as we go through life.  And though we are unlikely to be carted off into exile in a foreign land, many people still today face persecution from their neighbors and hostility all around. 

Likewise, we may not be guilty of blatant idolatry, yet, we must take the words of St. John to heart when he writes by the power of the Holy Spirit, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)  Any believer who is honest with himself will quickly admit that there is not a commandment of our God that we do not regularly break.  Without falling astray, we can’t even get past the first Commandment, “You shall have no other gods beside me.” (Exodus 20:3).  Every worry we might have is an indication that we don’t trust God enough to handle our troubles.  Every time we fret over how we might survive the new year, or the next international threat, or even the next political administration is a reminder that we haven’t fully placed our confidence in the Lord.  Furthermore, every time we break any of the other commandments, whether by thought, word, or deed, we live our defiance against our Holy God.

Now, for all of these faults, and any other we might have, we deserve nothing better than the destruction and discipline God warned about through His prophets to Israel.  On our own, we too deserve nothing but God’s wrath and eternal death for our sins.  Therefore, whenever we recognize the depths of our guilt, it is especially important that we also hear this message, Do not be afraid; God is with you!

Truly, that is the message of God’s absolution for our sins.  The guilt has been removed from us as far as east is from the west for the Holy Spirit moved the psalmist to declare, “As distant as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our rebellious acts from us.  As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:12-13)  Here, “This is what the Lord says, the Lord who created you, O Jacob, the Lord who formed you, O Israel.  ‘Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.  I have called you by name.  You are mine.’” 

There is a ton of comfort for us packed in that sentence.  First, this applies to all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior.  When the Lord refers to the nation of Israel as Jacob, he is referring to all who believe in Him and walk in that faith.  How do we know we are included?  Because the Bible promises us in several New Testament texts, “Understand, then, that those who believe are the children of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:7)  Likewise, Paul wrote to the Roman congregation, “Abraham is the father of all the uncircumcised people who believe, so that righteousness would also be credited to them.  He is also the father of the circumcised people who are not merely circumcised but also walk in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.” (Romans 4:11-12) 

Furthermore, this saving faith that connects us with God isn’t something we do or something we have to find.  The Lord redeemed us, as it says here.  He bought us at the price of the blood of His Son.  Having called us through the Word, He calls us by name at our baptisms.  Oh, we might imagine that we pick the names for our children, but God puts His sovereign name over us as well.  He claims us as His own through the faith His Holy Spirit works in us, and then He says, “Do not be afraid,…You are mine.” 

With God as our Father, what power, what enemy force would dare hurt us?  What evil thing could steal us away from God?  The absolute truth is that as long as we don’t walk away from God and turn against Him, no one and no thing can truly harm us.  Oh, that isn’t to say we will never have trouble, sorrow, or pain.  After all, we live in a world broken by sin, and cursed because of sin.  Though defeated for all eternity, “Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)  However, even though he will try his hardest to deceive and accuse us, Satan can’t have us, because by His holy life and innocent death, Jesus has given us the victory over that ancient liar.  Furthermore, even as He promised through Isaiah, Jesus assures His disciples, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  What could the devil do that Jesus could not, would not, deflect away from us?

Through Isaiah, God promised to give nations to ransom Israel.  This was a foreshadowing of the true ransom price for all God’s people, the sacrifice of His own dear Son so that we have been reconciled to our Creator to live with Him forever in peace.  The Lord declared, “you are precious and honored in my eyes, and I myself love you.”  So much did He love us, and so greatly did God value us, that He gave of Himself, the Only-Begotten Son, in exchange for our lives.

Isaiah wrote to warn Israel and Judah of the punishment that would come against them for their wandering ways and rejection of the Lord.  As he wrote this portion of his prophecies, Isaiah was telling God’s people that the discipline planned for their rebellious ways wouldn’t go on forever.  After a certain time, God would bring back a remnant to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  This too pictures God’s plan for us.  Though we live in a foreign land, not the home of our heavenly Father, but in a world cursed by sin with all the troubles and sorrows that go along with sin, God has plans to take us to our eternal home of peace and glory in the Promised Land of heaven.

Isaiah wrote the promise of our Lord, “Do not be afraid, because I am with you.  From the east I will bring your offspring, and from the west I will gather you.  I will say to the north, ‘Give them back!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them.’  Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, everyone I created for my glory, everyone I formed, yes, everyone I have made.”  To the far reaches of the planet, God has sent His messengers: apostles, prophets, missionaries, gospel workers, pastors, and teachers, to call God’s people into His kingdom of grace.  God’s invitation is for all people, because it is not God’s desire that any should be lost.  (1 Timothy 2:4)

Through the hearing of God’s gracious Word, you and I and millions upon millions of others have come to believe in God’s promises, and especially in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  Through that faith, He made us His own, and through His Word of promise, He keeps us believing so that, unlike those who reject God’s gracious promise and will, we walk with Jesus, dressed in the righteousness Jesus lived for us, washed clean in the water and blood of His sacrifice, and fed by His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.

So, what does this prophecy given twenty-seven hundred years ago mean for you and me?  It tells the story of God’s never ending love for those He has chosen to be His people.  It tells us that He never forgets us, no matter what hardships and trials might lie before us in this troubled world.  Especially, He reminds us again and again, Do not be afraid; God is with you!  Amen.

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