His final steps led to a fig tree.

 

Sermon for 4^th midweek Lent, March 15, 2023

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.  Amen.

Mark 11:12-14, 20-25  ¹²The next day, after they had set out from Bethany, Jesus was hungry.  ¹³When he saw a fig tree in leaf in the distance, he went to see if he might find anything on it.  When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, since it was not the season for figs.  ¹⁴Jesus said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!”  And his disciples were listening. … ²⁰As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered down to the roots.  ²¹Peter remembered and said, “Rabbi, look!  The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”  ²²Jesus replied, “Have faith in God.  ²³Amen I tell you: Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  ²⁴Therefore I tell you, everything that you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  ²⁵Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (EHV)

His final steps led to a fig tree.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            For many people, this miraculous event might seem totally out of character for Jesus.  Jesus had spent His life in service, and His ministry in helping and healing, yet here, His simple curse immediately brought death to the tree.  This evening, we explore why His final steps led to a fig tree.

The first thing we must admit is that God is the owner of all things and He expects certain results.  Early in Jesus’ ministry, He told a parable about an unfruitful fig tree that the owner of the garden was ready to cut down, but the gardener interceded and pleaded for another chance to feed and nurse that tree into production, with the caveat that if it produced no fruit in the next year, he would cut the tree down.  Clearly, Jesus was showing His disciples, the Jewish leadership, and all people of all time that while God is patient, and His servant Son is willing to do everything in His power to save us, there is a limit to God’s patience and a day of reckoning will come.  Likewise, here.

Therefore, Jesus didn’t curse this fig tree because He had a nasty temper or a selfish streak no one had previously seen.  His whole focus was on saving people like you and me.  Consider an example from the Old Testament; the Lord’s closing words to the prophet Jonah.  While Jonah waited, hoping to see God’s destruction of Nineveh, the Lord caused a vine to grow up and give shade over Jonah’s head during the heat of the day, but the next day, God sent a worm that chewed through the vine, so it withered away, and Jonah was angry.  He questioned why God would allow the death of the vine that was giving him comfort.  The Lord’s reply shows us a good picture of Jesus’ intention with this fig tree. 

The Lord asked Jonah, “Should I not be concerned for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left—and also many animals?” (Jonah 4:11)  The Lord was concerned for the eternal salvation of those former heathens in Nineveh.  He was likewise concerned about the salvation of the people of Judah including even the rulers who so despised Him, and Jesus is concerned about our eternal wellbeing.  Thus, this fig tree is a picture warning of judgment for a lack of producing fruit.

As the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus has the perfect right to use that tree as He saw fit, so when He was hungry, Jesus saw the fig tree from a distance, and He went intending to pick some fruit.  However, as he reports this account, Mark gives a very interesting detail.  He wrote, “The next day, after they had set out from Bethany, Jesus was hungry.  When he saw a fig tree in leaf in the distance, he went to see if he might find anything on it.  When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, since it was not the season for figs.”  Did you catch the interesting detail?  “It was not the season for figs.” 

Now, why would Jesus, the possessor of infinite knowledge and wisdom, not recognize that it wasn’t the right time to find figs on the tree?  He wasn’t being deceptive nor being deceived.  Yes, Jesus was hungry just as it says, but Jesus used this fig tree to picture for us that God is looking for fruit from us in season and out of season, and He has every right to do so.  The Jews of His day were worshipping in a magnificent temple.  They followed rule after rule the leaders had laid down to make them look good, but the fruit of faith was missing. 

This event takes place on the Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week.  As Jesus was progressing toward the temple, the leaders of Israel were plotting to kill Him.  Shortly after His reply to Peter’s astonishment, Jesus proceeded to the temple and again cleansed it of the money changers and thieves.  The picture is clear, our Lord doesn’t want the show of faithfulness, He wants to find fruit.  His final steps led to a fig tree so that we would be warned of the result of being unfruitful in our spiritual lives.

Thus, exactly as in His previous parable, this tree represents the life of those who profess to believe in God.  God has chosen us to be His people, planted us as treasured trees in His garden.  The Lord has provided us with nourishment for the body, and most important, nourishment for our souls in His Word.  So, whenever He comes to us looking for faith, He expects to find it—even at an inconvenient time.  However, if the fruit of faith—that is trusting in Jesus as our Savior—is not found in us, He will say to His Son who is given authority to judge, “I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I have found none.  Cut it down.” (Luke 13:7)

The next morning, as Jesus and the disciples passed by on their way to the temple, “they saw the fig tree withered down to the roots.  Peter remembered and said, “Rabbi, look!  The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”  Jesus replied, “Have faith in God.”  The evidence of judgment was right there plainly in front of them, but the answer?  “Have faith in God.”  That is the point of Jesus’ vivid example; it is faith that saves us.  Faith gives life.  Faith in Jesus produces fruit in us.  Remember, He has told us, “I am the Vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

The withered fig tree shows us the power of Jesus’ faith.  Now, some will likely scoff at that because obviously God’s Son would believe in His heavenly Father, but Jesus was living on earth in human flesh for you and me.  Therefore, in contrast to our often weak faith, Jesus lived in perfect trust and obedience to all His Father wills.  There was never a moment when Jesus had doubts, or a lack of trust in what God wanted from Him.  Jesus was showing us the way—actually, He was living the way of faith for us.

Furthermore, Jesus was promising what He often taught, that God hears the prayers of those who trust in Him and answers those prayers.  He told His disciples, “The one who believes in me will do the works that I am doing.  And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.  I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:12-13)  Always seeking to glorify His Father in heaven, Jesus will answer our prayers.  Naturally, those answers are always for our benefit, so if we desire or ask for something not in accord with God’s will, Jesus will give us something that is in line with perfect righteousness.

True faith trusts God completely without doubt.  Jesus tells us, “Therefore I tell you, everything that you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  True faith believes in God and trusts that however God answers our prayers, it is the good and perfect answer to what we need.  That idea is totally at odds to our sinful nature, but perfectly in line with Jesus.

A troubled father once brought his young, demon-afflicted son to Jesus requesting, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  “If you can?!” Jesus said to him. “All things are possible for the one who believes.”  The child’s father immediately cried out and said with tears, “I do believe.  Help me with my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-24)  This is how the faithful come to the Lord in prayer, not unsure or wondering whether God can or will help, but pleading for His mercy and begging for stronger faith to believe.  Jesus immediately healed that young boy.  He answers our prayers so well that we are promised, “The prayer of a righteous person [that is, someone who trusts in Jesus] is able to do much because it is effective.” (James 5:16)

True faith also forgives.  Jesus told His disciples, “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  Our Father in heaven has so richly forgiven all our sins for Jesus’ sake.  The first statement to roll out of Jesus’ mouth when being nailed to the cross was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)  When we come under the shelter of Jesus’ righteousness by faith, we also come under His mercy, and His kindness.  How could we be part of our God and Savior, who willingly died for the sins of the whole world, and yet hold on to grudges and hurts?  How might we dare to withhold forgiveness from someone God the Father has already counted innocent for Jesus’ sake?

I am sure we all can admit to times we didn’t want to forgive, times when the hurts inflicted upon us feel so deep and painful that we can’t get them out of our minds.  Yet, the forgiveness we offer to those who hurt us also helps to heal our hurts.  Though mankind had rebelled against God, He refused to be forever offended.  Instead, He offered up Himself to bear in our place the punishment we deserved for our guilt. 

Ultimately, that is the story of Lent: that God has given Himself so that we might be reconciled with Him, and He invites us to recognize our unrighteousness and the total depravity of our nature, while He opens His arms on a cross to die for us, and then invites us to come to Him for forgiveness, peace, healing, love, and life everlasting.  Having brought us to peace and safety by faith in Jesus, God welcomes us back into His kingdom, invites us to partake of the miracle of faith, and promises that just as Jesus is righteous in every way, so too we will be when He gathers us from this earth and takes us home to heaven.

Dear friends, as you walk with Jesus to a fig tree and ultimately to the cross this Lenten season, “Have faith in God.”  When you pray, trust that your sins are forgiven and God desires to answer your prayers with whatever is best for you, for “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.” (Psalms 103:12-13)  Heaven awaits you on your last day, for having been washed clean in the water and Word of Baptism, and being reconciled to God by faith, your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  To teach us, His final steps led to a fig tree.  Amen.

How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, everyone who is walking in his ways.  Amen.

Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.

 

Sermon for Lent 3, March 12, 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.

Romans 5:1-11  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ²Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.  And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.  ³Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, ⁴and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope.  ⁵And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.  ⁶For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly.  ⁷It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person.  Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him.  ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ⁹Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.  ¹⁰For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life.  ¹¹And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation. (EHV)

Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.

Dear beloved in the Lord,

            It has been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes.  Now, we might argue about whether there are other sure things, however, no one can deny that there is a lot of uncertainty in our lives.  And, while the prognosticators (a big word for those who make guesses about the future) pour out endless forecasts concerning the weather, the economy, future climate, the outcome of various sporting events, the political scene and how it will change in the next election, the only thing we know for sure is we will die. 

Furthermore, regardless of whether one is a believer or denies the existence of God, it is just as sure and certain that every person will stand before God in judgment, either at our deaths or on Judgment Day.  The Bible warns that those who stand in sin before the Judge “will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” (Hosea 10:8)  The terror of those who stand condemned before God will be beyond anything this world has known.  Still, that is not what God desires for anyone.  Therefore, our text explains the great gift we have been given by faith, so we Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.

St. Paul assures his readers, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Being justified means that God has declared sinners like you and me to be innocent because Jesus took the punishment our guilt deserved.  Therefore, because God now counts us as innocent, He no longer holds us under the condemnation that “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)  Now, some may scoff and say, “So what, everyone dies.”  True, everyone dies—because of sin.  Yet, the death God wants to prevent in us is the everlasting separation from Him in hell.  That’s why He gave His Son into death on a cross to pay for our sins.  Thus, Jesus solemnly promised, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6) 

The sad truth today, though, is that so many people view this as ho-hum news.  The world has worked very hard to convince people that there will be no penalty to pay for not believing in Jesus.  It has worked just as hard to convince the gullible that this life is all there is.  Satan continues to weave his web of lies in his attempt to convince even believers that sin doesn’t matter—that God doesn’t care or doesn’t exist.  Yet, apart from justification through faith in Jesus, the soul is destined to eternal torment with the devil and his wicked cohorts.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit brings Good News through Paul which assures us that “Through [Christ] we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.  And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.”

What shows us that God exists is that He predicted everything He would do to save us through His Son—and then carried it out.  On a time scale impossible to be contrived by men, God prophesied for multitudes of centuries about what the promised Savior would do, where He would be born, where He would grow up, what miracles He would do to show Himself, how He would suffer and die, but most important, how He would rise to live again and be given authority over all things to judge.

One of Satan’s favorite lies is that the troubles and uncertainties we face in life are because God wants to hurt us, or because He doesn’t care to help us.  To that, Paul defiantly declares, “We also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope.  And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.”  True faith is seen in how it reacts to opposition.  If everything went perfectly all the time, who would look to God for help?  Examine the history of the world and you will see that when life is easy, God is often forgotten.  Yet, in forgetting God, we earn His wrath and rightful condemnation, so God in love allows hardship that we may be turned to Him.

Now, every person ever born was under the same condemnation because we all sin for we inherit that affliction from our parents.  On our own, we couldn’t escape the sentence of eternal death in hell, but Jesus came, so that we would have a reason to hope for a better life.  “For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly.  It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person.  Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

You might find good examples of people who gave their lives for the good of country, or to save loved ones, but who among mankind has ever given his life to save his mortal enemy?  Imagine the president of Ukraine offering to give his heart and lungs to save the life of the president of Russia.  That is the kind of undeserved, sacrificial love Jesus showed for us. 

God’s Son, Jesus, holy from everlasting to everlasting lived a perfectly holy life after taking on human flesh to live among us.  Then, with a willingness beyond anything we could imagine, He allowed Himself to be arrested, tortured, falsely accused, and nailed to a cross in order that He might face God’s wrath for sin in the place of those who rejected Him, cursed Him, ignored His gracious invitation to come to Him for help and healing in every need, and even for those who denied He exists.  Jesus didn’t live, suffer, die, and rise again for good people.  He did all this for all of us who deserved only banishment from God’s presence forever.

This morning, we had a baptism—a little child was brought forward for the bath of water and Word so that by cleansing him of his sin God could claim him as His own dear child and make him fully acceptable in His heaven.  This is available to us because Jesus died for us, satisfying God’s just and righteous requirement that sin be paid for with death.  Because of the reconciliation with God and the faith in Jesus granted in Baptism, a little child is made righteous in God’s house.  And because “Christ died for us.  Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.” 

With that exchange of sin for righteousness also comes life in heaven.  This gives us every reason to rejoice.  Paul wrote, For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life.  And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation.”  We rejoice, because God will never change His mind about accepting Jesus’ payment for our sins.  Forever after, God wants all people to be saved in Jesus’ loving embrace. 

Our sermon theme exhorts us, Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.  God’s grace is His unconditional love and mercy granted to sinners for Jesus’ sake.  We didn’t deserve it, or do anything to merit it, but Jesus did.  He did it all, and it cannot be undone.  Therefore, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16)

There is one danger that should concern us.  God will never change His mind, but what happens if we change ours?  God gives faith in Jesus which brings forgiveness, life, and salvation, but what happens if we abandon His love?  St. Paul warned, “By rejecting these, some people have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith.” (1 Timothy 1:19)  Just as Jesus warned, “Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)  So, what are we to do?

Far too many people today want to go it alone against the world.  They say things like, “I don’t need church, or the help of my fellow congregants.”  “I know about Jesus so why be bothered with all that extra stuff.  All they really want is my money anyway.”  “Why pay attention to a God who demands holy living instead of doing what feels good in the moment?” 

Setting yourself or your loved ones apart from God’s protecting hand puts you in danger of the most savage killer ever to torment the world.  Peter warned, “Be alert.  Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Resist him by being firm in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)  The lone lamb is always in grave danger, so we need our Good Shepherd to be guarding and feeding us continually.

The reason God calls us to worship, and to rejoice in His mercy, is that He wants to keep on serving us with His grace and goodness.  He wants to have us hear again and again in numerous different ways all the mercy God has shown us in His Son.  God promises, “My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty.  Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)  “So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

Dear friends, the only thing more sure than death and taxes is God’s love for you, which caused Him to live and die and rise again so that you may have life.  We Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace because Jesus said, “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  We rejoice because Jesus lived, died, and rose again for you.  We rejoice because Jesus paid for all our guilt and shame to open the doors of heaven to all who believe.  We rejoice because the Holy Spirit has brought this Good News to us as a free gift and worked faith in our heart to believe it.  We rejoice, “For God has said: ‘I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)  Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.  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.

Believe what Jesus knows.

 

Sermon for Lent 2, March 5, 2023

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

John 3:1-17  There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.  ²He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”  ³Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”  ⁵Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!  ⁶Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh.  Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.  ⁷Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above.  ⁸The wind blows where it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  ⁹“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.  ¹⁰“You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things?  ¹¹Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen.  But you people do not accept our testimony.  ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  ¹³No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.  ¹⁴“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (EHV)

Believe what Jesus knows.

Dear friends in Christ,

            I recently listened to an interview of a world-renowned physicist, and professed atheist, in which he declared that he didn’t trust eyewitness testimony because it has been proven unreliable.  The only thing that man considers reliable is what he sees with his own eyes, or perhaps what has been observed through repeated scientific observations.  What he fails to realize is that both of those rely on what the eyes happen to see, and for good or ill, we tend to see what we want to see.  Furthermore, if he is rejecting eyewitness testimony, honesty would require him to reject even what he has seen.

Much of our modern world wants to treat the Bible in the same misleading way.  There are many who say they cannot trust God’s Word because they claim it is the testimony of men, and therefore not certainly reliable.  That idea is hogwash, because “No prophecy of Scripture comes about from someone’s own interpretation.  In fact, no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)  When the skeptic claims that the Bible has contradictory testimony, those supposed contradictions are easily resolved when we understand that they agree on what they are reporting about, but the Holy Spirit purposely offers differing details of the events as needed for their audience.  We need perfectly reliable information, and therefore, Jesus’ testimony to Nicodemus in this text teaches us to Believe what Jesus knows.

What many of those critics are really saying is that they only trust certain, preapproved witnesses.  They claim testimony is more valid when it comes with a stamp of expert authority.  Here, Jesus makes a point of giving Nicodemus expert validation that far exceeds what any ordinary scholar could provide.  Though men imagine all kinds of ways to puff up their own reporting and investigation, there is no testimony more valid than that of the originator of whatever one is discussing.  Thus, when Jesus tells Nicodemus how one might enter heaven, we all should listen intently, for Jesus has that certain validity in His testimony that cannot be bested, because “He was with God in the beginning.  [And,] Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made.” (John 1:2-3)

Maybe I should begin at the beginning of the text.  A renowned teacher of Israel came to the greatest Teacher the world has ever known.  Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of darkness, because he was a careful scholar, who, perhaps, wanted truth without the shouts of his peers.  That may be what made him so respected among Israel’s leaders.  Nicodemus spoke to Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”  In this, we can see that this Pharisee came to Jesus with certain preconceived notions.  Nicodemus considered Jesus just an ordinary man, yet he was willing to grant that Jesus must have a special connection with Israel’s God, so we see that Israel’s leaders were willing to admit that Jesus is a prophet, but nothing more.

Jesus’ response to Nicodemus stumped him further.  Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  What Jesus is telling Nicodemus is that if God is with Jesus, Jesus must be part of God’s kingdom, which the Pharisees were not willing to admit.  Furthermore, Nicodemus remained perplexed; How could someone old be born a second time, and literally from above?  Physically impossible, correct?

However, Jesus again replies in a mystical way, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!  Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh.  Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  Jesus is showing what He knows—something which was long-overlooked in Israel.  The kingdom of God is not a kingdom of earth.  Even David’s kingdom, so revered among the Israelites, had been more than an earthly kingdom.  Yes, it was a real kingdom on earth, but those who had the faith of David are members of a far greater kingdom in heaven.

Born of flesh, we inherit the legacy of our parents.  It is a life of sin, rebellion against God, and shame.  By our mortal birth, we are all mortal, destined to die, and headed to eternal separation from God, deservedly so, for the sins we commit constantly and for our natural rejection of the Creator who gave us life and formed us in our mother’s wombs.  The unbeliever doesn’t understand this because he is relying on his own observation to derive whatever truth he might discover.

Jesus continued, “Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above.  The wind blows where it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  Jesus used an example from the physical realm to show how some things are not discoverable by human observation.  Even today, with our magnificent gadgets and all the expertise of science in our grasp, we still can’t answer exactly where the wind comes from or goes.  We feel it.  We hear it.  We can measure and predict it, but only because we see what it does as it touches other things.

As Jesus said, it is the same in the kingdom of God.  No one on earth can identify exactly who God has chosen to make part of His kingdom or why He has chosen any of us.  Our testimony of what we believe is the only thing we can truly observe.  Yet, Jesus is saying that those who believe in Him have, like the wind, an interaction with the world that is discernable and makes a difference in the world.  The reason behind that is the motivating power of the Holy Spirit.  As the Bible says, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)

Now, Nicodemus was curious but still confused; “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.  The man was an expert in the Old Testament, the books of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets.  He knew the history of Israel and how God had interacted with His people for millennia.  Yet, he still didn’t understand that it takes God working in us to bring us into His kingdom.  “You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things?  Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen.  But you people do not accept our testimony.”  The Pharisees imagined they were making themselves right with God by works.  The Sadducees imagined that there is no heaven, so the only thing to worry about is power on earth.  Neither group would enter heaven without a change of mind.

A couple times in my life, I have had the opportunity to vacation while staying in homes I couldn’t possibly afford.  To have any chance of entering those homes without breaking in and having the police come and take me away, I needed to get a key from the owners, or alternately, learn from the owner where I might find a key he had hidden on the property.  What Jesus is telling Nicodemus is a bit like that. 

Imagine the folly of thinking we can break into God’s heavenly mansions by deception, trickery, or brute force.  First of all, how would we find the place?  And, with multitudes of angels guarding it, how could anyone force his way in?  The idea is ludicrous.  Yet, that is what people imagine when they think they can earn a spot in God’s eternal dwelling place.  Sinners trying to work our way into God’s kingdom only leads to eternal banishment in hell.  All of the Old Testament sacrificial system was designed to show the need for one holy sacrifice that would gain a home in heaven for sinners. 

Having entered our world to be that sacrifice, Jesus here offers us the key to His kingdom.  This is where our sermon theme comes in: Believe what Jesus knows.  Jesus told Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.”  If you want to know how to enter heaven, the most reliable source of that information is the One who descended from heaven to make it possible for us to go there, for when Jesus speaks, it is God speaking to us.

Jesus then plainly explained to Nicodemus what must happen; “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  That teacher of Israel knew what had happened in the wilderness some fourteen hundred years earlier, how Israel had rebelled against God and suffered for it, yet how God had offered relief from death through faith.  So that Nicodemus, and you and I, could be saved from eternal death, the holy Son of God would appear to be a sinner like us then be nailed to a tree in our place so that we could look to Him and be saved.  The Lamb of God, without blemish or spot, would take all the punishment for the guilt of the world so that you and I, and a struggling teacher of Israel, might be saved.

My question for you this morning is what did Jesus know when He entered our world?  We have the answer in this text.  Jesus knew exactly what He came for, what He had to do, what He had to suffer, and even when and how He would die, all to give us the key to His heaven.  He told Nicodemus, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  This is what you and I need to know and believe to be saved.  Yes, now as believers in Jesus, we want to know how to live and how best to serve our Savior and King.  At the same time, we know that our service does not open the door to heaven.  Only Jesus could do that for us.  But He did, and He does.

The key to the kingdom of heaven is given to us in the Gospel in Word and Sacraments.  Faith in the truth of all that God has done for us opens the door of heaven to us.  The testimony of Jesus’ disciples wasn’t given to show us what we must do to be saved, but to teach us how Jesus has done everything God had planned to make us right with Him.  Then, that saving gift of faith is brought to us in the hearing of the Good News and in the washing flood of Baptism.  As St. Paul declares, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes … For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed by faith, for faith, just as it is written, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17)  Likewise, Peter teaches, “Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the body but the guarantee of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:21)

Dear friends, repent of your sins and put your faith in the One who came from heaven to bring us home to our Creator’s side.  Trust the Son of God and Man who told His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)  Believe what Jesus knows.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

A substitute inheritance: From Adam—death; in Christ—life!

 

Sermon for Lent 1, February 26, 2023

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you through faith in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Romans 5:12-19  ¹²So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned.  ¹³For even before the law was given, sin was in the world.  Now, sin is not charged to one’s account if there is no law, ¹⁴and yet death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those whose sin was not like the transgression of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who was to come.  ¹⁵But the gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass.  For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God’s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!  ¹⁶And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin, for the judgment that followed the one trespass resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the gracious gift that followed many trespasses resulted in a verdict of justification.  ¹⁷Indeed, if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, it is even more certain that those who receive the overflowing grace of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ!  ¹⁸So then, just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification for all people.  ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of one man the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will become righteous. (EHV)

A substitute inheritance: From Adam—death; in Christ—life!

Dear friends chosen by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit,

            Inheritances have often been quite controversial in our world.  For some people, the idea that anyone should receive an inheritance is somewhat offensive.  Politicians often consider the estates of the wealthy as an appropriate source to pay for whatever programs they might want to fund.  As parents do their estate planning, they often struggle with making decisions that are equitable if not equal in how they might treat what each child will inherit. 

On a more positive note, we can consider inheritances that having nothing to do with money.  New parents often examine their baby wondering whose nose the child received.  Where did she get that hair color?  Ooh, and that temper, did he get that from Mom or Dad? 

There are thousands of different aspects about our bodies and lives that we inherit from our parents and grandparents, but in our text this morning, St. Paul teaches us about two inheritances granted to all people: the first is a fatal condition inherited for our parents which we can’t escape; but the second is a most gracious substitute inheritance.  Dear friends, I present for your attention, your legacies: From Adam—death; in Christ—life!

From Adam—death: it’s a bit hard to think of something as horrible as death as a thing we inherit, isn’t it?  An inheritance is supposed to be a gift, right?  Who could be so cruel as to pass death on to his children?  It is something like showing up for the reading of your loved one’s will only to hear that the only thing you have inherited is a massive, crushing debt that requires you and your children to be enslaved forever?  Now, of course, Adam didn’t write this in a will.  It isn’t what he intended to leave behind, but once sin had enslaved Adam, his bondage to sin and death has been handed down from generation to generation to every child since born into this world.  And, there was no way for any of us descendants of Adam to escape from that sentence of pain, sorrow, and death.

Recognizing this, Paul wrote, “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned.”  Every child born in the line of Adam and Eve, which is every person ever born, received the same cursed inheritance.  While we are blessed with a variety of eye colors, and there are blonds, brunettes, redheads, and some have straight hair, while others have curls.  Some are naturally tall or short.  Yet, every child is born with the same complete inability not to sin against God.  God later explained His will for our lives saying, “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)  But, what we received from our parents, by the inheritance of birth, is total opposition to God’s authority and terror of His holiness.

Now, the arrogance of our enslaved condition will lead many to say, “I wasn’t completely opposed to God at birth; I wasn’t really that bad a kid.”  However, Paul refutes that idea, saying “Now, sin is not charged to one’s account if there is no law, and yet death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses.”  That first sin Adam committed caused him to lose the holiness with which God had created him.  It brought instant spiritual death and eventually physical death.  In that one failure, Adam crossed the border from the kingdom of God into Satan’s kingdom of slavery, torment, suffering, and death. 

By his own power or cunning, there was no way for Adam to escape the devil’s bondage, and his children were likewise born under the same spiritual tyranny.  Though they could no longer break God’s command against eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (the only command given to our first parents), Adam’s children also were chained by sin and the condemnation it earned; death became master over all.  If you want to know who are sinners in this world, check the obituary columns of history.  Then also check to see who among us is on a continual march to the grave.  That is the legacy left to us by our parents, each of whom, like us, was born in the dungeons of the devil’s rebellion from which none of us could escape.  Our legacy?  From Adam—death.

In a word, mankind’s condition was instantly hopeless.  Cut off from peace with God by guilt and shame, the wealth of Paradise was lost.  Harmony between husband and wife was shattered.  Once the caretaker of all the wealth and riches of earth, Adam became a slave to his basic needs.  His labor now tiresome, hatred, illness, strife, and pain soon followed for Adam and his children.  If not for the goodness of God, immediate annihilation would have felt merciful.  Sadly, some people still feel that way.

However, there is a reason our “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)  It was not God’s desire to leave us in the wretched state sin had put upon us.  Therefore, in pure, sweet, undeserved mercy and grace, God grants to the human race A substitute inheritance: in Christ—life!

Though we were all born poor sinners with no ability, talent, ingenuity, strength, or holiness by which we might free ourselves from the slave master, we have a Friend who recognized our helpless condition, a Savior who knows your troubles and understood the crushing debt you inherited from before you were born.  The Holy Only Begotten of God entered our world to make Himself our Brother so that we could inherit from Him all the wealth our first parents had lost.  Paul described it this way: “The gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass.  For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God’s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!” 

Do you see the magnitude of what this means?  You have been set free from the chains of sin and death!  The legacy you received from your first parents has been overcome by that from your friend, Jesus.  Christ carried out this righteous act by setting aside His throne in heaven and coming to earth to live and die for you and me.  By taking on our flesh, Jesus took on the command of perfect obedience to all the laws God gave to keep this sin-sick world somewhat at peace.  Jesus took on the command of perfect obedience to everything that God willed for the human race.  Jesus’ life on earth was one completely holy and righteous act—a life without sin—each and every day lived in perfect holiness for you and me.

Having obeyed all righteousness for us, Jesus did something more.  He went to the deadly cross to suffer the separation from His Father’s love our sins deserved, the physical death, the pain and punishment our sins had earned.  Jesus took His perfectly holy and obedient life and offered it up on the cross to make all the sinners of the world righteous in His Father’s will. 

Today, because of Christ’s death, there is a last will and testament you want to hear.  It has some wonderful passages in it that give us hope: gracious promises like, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  Another assures 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)  The last will and testament of our Savior also tells us how we will receive His wonderful legacy, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39) 

Though in the past we were caught in the hopelessness of the devil’s cruel chains, we now are assured that we will never again be separated from the God who loved us enough to sacrifice His own dear Son to set us free from tyranny to live in peace and joy, “For God has said: ‘I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)  We are assured that we will live and never die for the Holy Spirit had Paul write, “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)

I know many of you have already read God’s will and testament: the Bible, but I hope you read it again and again and marvel and rejoice at the gift of salvation and eternal life Christ brings to you through its saving message.  You maybe never thought of the Bible as a last will and testament.  However, it tells us of God’s will for our lives, of His desire that we enjoy eternal life and fellowship with Him in the paradise of heaven, and it shouts God’s promise of a Savior from the sin and death that has afflicted this world since Adam’s fall.  Just as important, it tells us how God has accomplished our release from the devil’s chains through the preaching of the Good News of all Jesus has done for us and the washing flood of Baptism. 

The Gospel is Jesus’ last will and testament.  From the cross, Jesus announced, "It is finished!" (John 19:30)  With our ransom price fully paid, the war between God and Satan is over, the separation between God and man is removed, and we are free to live in Him.  Everything necessary to bring us back into perfect fellowship with God is accomplished.  Jesus has done it all for you and me.  Paul wrote, “For just as through the disobedience of one man the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will become righteous.”

Through the hand of St. Paul in this letter, the Holy Spirit announces the inheritance that became ours when Jesus died—A substitute inheritance: no longer From Adam—death, but now in Christ—life!  This is your eternal inheritance: the forgiveness of all sins and life everlasting, a gift more precious than all the gold and silver in the world, a gift God, in His great love for sinners, wants the whole world to receive for the joy it brings to all who believe.  Therefore, “If by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, it is even more certain that those who receive the overflowing grace of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ!  A substitute inheritance for you: in Christ—life!  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.