He Is Not Here!

Text:  Matthew 28:1-10

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

The religious leaders of Jerusalem had been challenged by Jesus over and over and over during the time of His ministry in Israel.  Their position of authority had been threatened and their power had been undermined by Jesus’ bold proclamation of the Kingdom of God.  As a result they began to plot how to destroy Jesus.  Their scheming and plotting started very early on in the ministry of Jesus.

As we know from the scriptures there were various times where Jesus was almost destroyed, but it simply did not happen because the time was not right.  It was not the hour for Jesus to suffer and die.  However, as we heard in last week’s sermon, this Holy Week was the time when Jesus would willingly go to the cross to suffer and die.  Yes, we believe, teach, and confess that it was Jesus’ mission to go to the cross; it was a decision that He made on His own accord.  Thus, Jesus gave Himself up to those who had conspired to destroy Him.  As a result Jesus was arrested, put on trial, at night, not for what He had done, but for who He was. 

Did you realize that countless Jewish Laws were broken to condemn Jesus.  False testimonies were fabricated, the Jewish trial to convict Him was held at night without a proper announcement.  They accused Jesus of stirring up commotion in the crowds, prohibiting poll taxes, and blasphemy.  Thus, they condemned Him and brought Him to Pontius Pilate at 6:00 AM where Jesus underwent a flogging that would have killed most people.  He was bloodied to an unrecognizable status and mocked as if He wasn’t even human.  The Roman Governor, Pilate, then broke the Roman law by allowing Jesus to be crucified.  Keep in mind that it was illegal to have a man flogged, that is severely whipped, and crucified on the same day for the Romans believed that that was too unethical.  Yes, the Jewish leadership bent and twisted its jurisdiction with fabricated lies.  Yes, the Roman Empire broke its own laws by having Christ crucified.  The full weight of the Jewish System and the Roman System stood against Christ.

Not only was the Jewish System and the Roman System against Christ, the disciples had abandoned Jesus as well leaving only the Apostle John and a couple of women at His side. 

As you already know, on the cross Jesus bled.  As His energy drained from His body it became more and more difficult for Him to breathe as His body sunk low causing His arms to pull upwards.

Christ also drug the sins of mankind upon Himself while on the cross.  He was forsaken, that is abandoned, by the Father as the Father judged this sin upon Christ. 

When everything was complete, He said, “It is finished” and He gave up His spirit.

After His death, things were not yet complete.  The Roman Soldier to ensure death pierced Jesus’ side with a spear.  Jesus was then placed in a tomb, and it was sealed with a large stone.  Roman soldiers also were placed on the outside of the tomb to ensure that the large stone would remain, that the tomb would continue to be sealed, so that the work and person of Jesus would fade into history. 

The Jewish System, the Roman Empire, the flogging, the mocking, the crucifixion, the stone, and the guards were all meant to dispose of Jesus Christ.  They were meant to wipe Him from history, they were meant to destroy Him, and they were meant to eradicate His followers.  All the force that the world could muster was devoted to exterminating this one called Jesus the Christ.

This all makes sense now, when we consider the reaction of the women going to the tomb that early Easter morning some two-thousand years ago. They were perplexed and confused because the stone was rolled away.  What happened?  Why didn’t the soldiers keep it shut?  Where was Jesus?  Did someone raid the tomb and take His body?  What is going on?  Yes, Jesus had promised that He would rise again, but after seeing the full force of the Jewish System, the brutalities of the Roman Empire, and the fierce death of Jesus, would this be something He would truly overcome?  Thus they were perplexed and confused seeing the stone rolled away and noticing that the body of Jesus was not there. 

After seeing that the stone had been removed, the women encountered an Angel of the Lord. This Angel explained and told them what had happened.  The Angel said, “He is not here; for He was raised just as He said.”

My friends, Jesus is not here.  He is not in the tomb. 

When I was a child I would ponder Resurrection Sunday and think to myself, “I am sure glad the stone was rolled away by the Angel to let Jesus out.”  I imagined that Jesus came to life in the tomb and simply had to wait in the tomb to be let out!  It is a funny thought to consider. However, the great truth about Easter Sunday is that Christ arose from the grave before the stone of the tomb was removed.  Yes, in our Gospel reading from today we read that there was a great earthquake and an Angel came down and rolled back the stone causing the soldiers to be struck with fear as if they were dead.  The Angel then sat on the stone, with the light of the morning sun shining into the dark tomb where Jesus once laid.  But where was Christ if He was not in the tomb waiting to get out?  “Christ, after He was made alive in His grave, descended into hell, not to suffer punishment, but to proclaim His victory over His enemies in Hell.”[1] Did you hear that?  Christ went to Hell to proclaim victory.  He went into the enemy territory to reveal that He was the victor.  Then He went to be among the living.  My friends, the stone wasn’t rolled away to let Jesus out, rather the stone was rolled away for you and for me so that we might know that He is not there. That He is not among the dead.  It was rolled away to show the followers of Jesus and reveal to all people the victory which Christ had obtained over sin, death and the devil.  It was as if the curtain was pulled back so God could reveal what His suffering servant accomplished on the cross!  The empty tomb is icing on the cake.  It validates and points back to what Jesus did on the cross.  It validates that death was not victorious and that what Jesus did on the cross was truly, truly sufficient.

“He is not here!”  These are the words of the Angel to the women explaining and showing that Jesus silently and wondrously passed through the rock.  The words, “He is not here,” tells us that the Jewish System, the Roman System, death, sin, and the devil cannot and did not exterminate the one called Jesus the Christ.  They could not wipe Him from history nor could they destroy His kingdom that has no end.  

Indeed, because Jesus is not in the tomb we can confess that Jesus is Divine, for no mere man could overcome death, especially the death that Jesus endured.

Indeed, because Jesus is not in the tomb we can confess that everything Jesus taught was true.

Indeed, because Jesus is not in the tomb we can confess that our sins have been truly paid for, that God’s wrath was appeased, that death is powerless, and that the devil is a defeated foe.  We can confess that what happened at the cross actually worked.

Indeed, the empty tomb confirms, sanctions, validates that we have a living Savior and victorious Savior; a living advocate. Because Jesus is not in the tomb, it testifies that we too will rise again someday in Christ. 

My friends, we have a Lord that is not here.  Not where?  Not in the grave.  That is the testimony of the Angel to the women that Easter Sunday long ago, and it is the testimony of God’s Word to you today.  Your Savior Jesus Christ is not among the dead but among the living.  Christ is risen from the dead trampling over death by death. No scheme of man and no power of evil could hold Him down.

Because He lives, you will also live.

He is not there.

Now, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1991), 138.

It Is Finished - For You

Text:  John 19:1-42

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

Today is the day that we have been journeying towards in the Church calendar and especially during our Wednesday Night Lenten Services.  Today is the day that Christ was taken before Pilate at 6:00 AM, nailed to a cross at 9:00 AM and suffered until 3:00 PM—for us.  Today is Good Friday.

Now that we are here though, there is a temptation to speedily rush to Easter Sunday and move past Good Friday.  Indeed the enticement is to want to rush to the empty tomb.  Preachers across America today are proclaiming the cross, but sadly many are not allowing their congregations to bask in the events of Good Friday.  The reason why?  The cross is difficult to ponder; it is painful for us.  It is the intersection of sinful mankind and a holy and righteous God.  It is the collision of sin and righteousness; thus leading to the death of the Son of God.  At the cross we hear the unsettling words of Jesus when He cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  We hear the clamor of the whip, and we hear the sound of the hammer and nails.  They are painful and difficult noises for us to hear.  

Not only are the events of the cross sometimes difficult for our modern sensibilities, it is believed by some that Good Friday should be glossed over due to Easter Sunday being the place where ‘real’ victory takes place.  In other words, some will say that the cross is only a part of the Christian message and that we shouldn’t over emphasize it or spend too much time on it, but rather we should hurry to the resurrection where we see true power, true hope and a message of victory that motivates the Christian into his and her future.  Yes, there is indeed an attraction to move beyond the dark day of the cross to the bright morning of the resurrection.

My friends, while we certainly don’t want to pit Easter Sunday against Good Friday, we must always remember that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is icing on the cake. The resurrection of Christ is a validation of what Christ did on the cross.  The empty tomb is like a stamp of approval or a signature on the dotted line to validate, confirm and cement what Jesus said, did, and accomplished at the cross on Mt. Calvary, as well as His whole ministry.  Thus, one should not rush past the cross so easily and so quickly, for indeed much was accomplished and much was done for you and me at Mt. Calvary.  Yes, the cross of Christ is not a detour to the highpoint of Easter Sunday.  Rather, the cross of Christ is the highpoint.  The cross is where the scriptures funnel us, with the powerful validation of life in the resurrection to follow.

Thus, tonight we stop on a highpoint, the summit of the Christian message.  We pause on this Good Friday, this climax of the Christian story, in order to look, ponder, hear, see, and understand the magnitude of what was done by Christ for us.  We slow down to listen to the Passion Story and to hear the powerful words of Jesus from the cross where He said, “It is finished.”  Yes, we stop on this Good Friday to hear these simple, yet profoundly powerful words; words that echo throughout the ages, “It is finished.” 

But what is finished you may ask?  What was brought to a completion?  What was accomplished at this cross?  Did this ‘finishing’ have anything to do with me or for me? 

In answering these questions, we hear in the scriptures that Christ finished God’s wrath.  Christ put an end to the Father’s anger against you and me, anger that is due to our sin and sinful condition.  In other words, Jesus pulled and dragged your sin and the sin of the world to Himself when He was lifted up on the cross.  Indeed, your sin was placed upon Christ as if it was His own.  This resulted in the target shifting from you and your transgressions, to Jesus.  The bullseye of justice was placed upon Christ and the full fury, wrath and damnation of the Father was unleashed on Jesus thus satisfying justice.  Truly, the Father’s wrath, judgment, and vengeance were spent upon Jesus, not you.  And get this, Jesus didn’t cancel the wrath of God nor was God’s wrath withdrawn, but rather Jesus absorbed God’s wrath; He absorbed it for you.  Thus, damnation and wrath are finished.  They have been finished for you in Christ on that Holy Good Friday some two-thousand years ago.

Not only was wrath finished but sin is finished on Christ as well.  Yes, at the cross the curse of sin was finished.  Therefore, no longer do our consciences have to be troubled spiritually speaking for Christ drank all the poison of sin, which resulted in Him being damned and killed.  Jesus’ death put your sin in the grave because through Christ death on the cross your sin was killed. Consequently, the Father does not and cannot hold the debt of sin against you; your sin is forgotten and forgiven; your sin and its curse are finished.

You who have ears do you hear this?  At the cross, wrath was finished and sin was finished as well.  Do you know who else is finished?  Yes, Christ’s cross shatters the power of Satan and it abolishes the sting of death.  Indeed, just when things can’t get any more awesome, we see at the cross that death and the evil one were destroyed; they were finished by an act of self-sacrificing love. 

Wrath has been finished.  Sin has been finished.  Satan and death have been finished.  What else is finished?  Can there be more?

In Colossians chapter two we read something remarkable, that the record that stood against us was erased.  It was erased and set aside when it was nailed to the cross.  Yes, our record of the times that we violated God’s holy perfect Law was canceled, it was finished.  Truly the destruction of our rap sheet of sin leads to something else as well.  It leads to the conscience being purified.  The ninth chapter of Hebrews says that the blood of Christ removes the stain from the conscience.  Certainly, the blood of Christ flowing from Calvary cleanses and gives relief to the conscience.  The blood of Christ is the only cleansing agent that the universe knows that can give the conscience the relief in life and peace in death.  Yes, the Gospel actually ‘purges’ or ‘cleanses’ our conscience.  It reaches back into your history and deep into your closets and washes you clean.  You, who have ears, listen to the Words of the Gospel, “Your Sins are forgiven, Christ has atoned for your sins, and it is finished for you.”  These words are not abstract ideas, but God’s Word for you.

Wrath . . . Finished.  Sin . . . Finished.  Satan . . . Finished.  Death . . . Finished. 

A record of wrong . . . Finished.  A stained conscience . . . Finished.

My friends, whenever you feel sorrow, doubt, fear, and on account of sin, the devil, death, God’s wrath, or a burdened conscience, look at Christ on the cross, remember Good Friday.  Against your sin, against the devil, against death, against the burdened conscience, and against God’s wrath which all lay you bare, you will find upon Good Friday’s cross one whom: absorbs God’s wrath, kills sin, destroys the devil, conquers death, and cleanses the conscience.  Yes, Jesus the crucified damns and devours sin.  He destroys death and He renders the devil powerless.  Instead of these things damning and devouring you, the crucified one damns and devours them and then He appeases God’s wrath.  All of this happens because the Son of God chose to go to the cross.  All of these things happened due to Good Friday where Jesus shouldered all the evils of the human race.  At Good Friday’s cross sin, death, the devil, and hell all died in Christ, because by His death He indeed finished everything—finished everything for you. 

Do you see the implications of Good Friday?  Do you see why the cross is the climax of the Christian story?  Do you see why the cross of Christ is our theology?  What this means though is that we don’t disregard the themes of Christmas, Easter Sunday, Pentecost, and so forth.  We don’t dismiss other teachings like the creation of the world, the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, the Resurrection, and so forth.  Rather, when we speak of all these other topics and events in the Christian faith, we speak of them with seeing the cross in the background and in light of the cross.  Yes, it is always from the cross that everything is understood, because in the cross we have the deepest essence of God’s work of salvation for mankind. 

In the words of Martin Luther, “Our theology is the Cross.”

Now, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Way It Has To Be

Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35

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

Do we understand that this is the way it has to be? Yes, it has to be this way.  “What has to be this way” you may ask?  Jesus, who is Lord, ‘has’ to serve us.  Yes, unless our majestic Lord serves us, we will have no part with Him.

This is the profound and humbling truth that the disciples had to experience and hear from Jesus some two-thousand years ago as they partook of the Last Supper and as Jesus washed their feet.

In our Gospel reading from this evening we heard that Jesus got up from the table, took His outer robe off, tied a towel around himself, poured water into a basin, and came to Simon Peter to wash his feet.  In response to Jesus’ actions, Peter exclaimed and reacted with a great deal of boldness saying, “In all of eternity, you will not wash my feet!”  Indeed, even though Peter had previously called Jesus ‘Lord,’ he now responds with a great deal of resistance to Jesus’ desire to wash his feet.  In fact, his response is rather bold and defiant. But why was there such resistance to have Jesus wash Peter’s feet? 

One of the most difficult experiences for mankind is the challenging experience of being served.  Being served cuts against our autonomy, our pride, and our passion to be self-sustaining individuals.  Being served by someone else puts us into the passive position, where we are acted upon; whereas, when we serve others, we are in control and we are doing the actions.  There is surely a great deal of fear that comes about when we are dependent upon someone else or to let some do something for and to us.  Indeed, it is very accurate that it is more difficult to receive than it is to give. 

Not only is all of this true in a general sense but we tragically see this in the Christian church as well.  For example, there is an awful temptation in believing that Sunday church services are solely about us brining and delivering our best efforts to God through our praises, prayers, and tithes; as if God is a distant passive God that needs to be entertained by us.  Furthermore, there is a heartbreaking temptation to make baptism into a work of man, where it is made into an act of our obedience towards God; showing God that we are serious about Him.  Also, there is an enticement to make the Lord’s Supper into a mere memorial service where we eat and drink as a symbolic salute to Jesus.  Finally, there is disaster when we read the Bible as an instruction manual of how to live our lives in a way to earn brownie points with God.  Yes, in the church the temptation is to make the Christian story about the Christian in action towards the Lord who observes rather than the Lord actively serving the Christian.  Otherwise stated, in the church there is a resistance to being receivers, to being beggars.  Like Peter, we resist being served; we resist being in the passive position; we push back against the Lord and Him doing stuff to us and for us.  We resist the idea of the church being the bride of Christ and frankly want to be betrothed to ourselves.  The reason being, we ultimately want to assert our greatness; we resist being a helpless beggar who needs to be served.

But Peter was not advocating for his own greatness when he didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet, was he?  Yes, he was.  Consider this.  Peter argued and resisted Jesus descending to wash his stinky and filthy feet, because he didn’t think that this was a fitting task for Jesus to do.  Otherwise stated, He didn’t think it was appropriate for the great Christ to sink so low to wash feet.  Thus, Peter’s refusal to let Jesus wash his feet was a refusal to let Jesus be Jesus.  Peter was refusing a Christ who served humanity and demanded a different kind of Lord, one who wasn’t a lowly foot washer.  So, by rejecting Jesus as one who served, Peter was consequently asserting his own greatness over Christ by refusing to learn humility in this example of feet washing.  Yes, Peter was asserting his own authority and his own definition of who he thought Jesus should be and what he believed Jesus should do.  “Jesus, you should not be washing my feet.  No, ‘I’ . . . ‘I’ should be washing your feet, for I am certainly able and capable of doing this for my Lord.  I don’t need to be served, I am o.k.   It is more important for me to prove myself by showing how well ‘I’ can serve you Jesus!”

In response to Peter’s bold resistance to having his feet washed, Jesus responds by saying, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”  In other words, Jesus is showing Peter that if he is going to have any part with Him that it needs to depend not on anything Peter can do, but on what Jesus does for Peter.  In other words, Jesus is simply saying, “This is the way it has to be Peter.” 

My friends, Jesus ‘has’ to serve you and me.  This is the way it has to be.  Our old sinful nature, the old Adam, complains and snarls at this reality though, because the old Adam wants to be in the driver seat.  The old Adam wants to be in control and resists helplessness at all costs.  You see, to be served and acted upon is to admit defeat, to say that we are helpless, to confess that we are beggars; alas the old Adam will never do this and thus the reason why we struggle with being served.  Nonetheless, this is the way it has to be.  It has to be this way because if we are to share in Christ’s fate and to partake in Christ’s finished work, we are going to need to be cleansed.  Yes, we can’t adequately clean ourselves.  Furthermore, why on earth would we need to wash Jesus?  It is not Jesus who needs to be cleansed, but us.  He is not the sinner, we are.  He is not the one who is dirty, we are.  He doesn’t need our works; we need His works. 

Yes, like Peter we need to be served.  We need to hear the firm, yet compassionate words of Jesus, “Unless I wash you, you will have no share with me.”  Truly, we cannot perform spiritual surgery upon ourselves to rid ourselves of sin.  We cannot scrub hard enough to remove the stain of depravity.  We cannot climb high enough into the good graces of God.  We cannot pray fervently enough to conjure up peace that passes all understanding.   We cannot bleed enough to pay for our own iniquities.  Thus, this is the reason why Jesus Christ had to come into this world; He came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. My friends, unless Christ washes you, you will have no share with Him. 

Keep in mind that this simple foot washing in our Gospel reading, is a mere foreshadowing to Peter of what is to come.  This tiny service of washing feet, which only takes 5-10 minutes, is a shadow of the bloody cleansing that Jesus did for humanity on the cross, for some 6 hours on Good Friday.  Hear the good news baptized saints, Christ not only demonstrated His servanthood by washing the disciples feet, He demonstrated His servanthood by washing you clean through His sacrificial death on the cross.  Jesus washed away your sin and guilt.  While you and I only need a mere 10 minute physical shower to cleanse ourselves from the dirt, sweat, and filth of life, we need the washing of Christ’s blood in order to be cleansed for all of eternity; a cleansing that happened for you on that cross.

Yes, Christ served you my friends when He went to the cross.  This is the way it had to be, for Christ our great Lord would have it no other way.  He was not content to leave you and me soiled by the stain of our sin.  He was not willing to let humanity perish.  He was not willing to leave us to our futile attempts to clean ourselves.  Surely, it was not beneath Him or opposed to His greatness to sink deeply into humanity where He lowered His shoulders underneath sin, taking it upon Himself and considering it well worthwhile.  This is the way it had to be. 

This is what the Christian faith is all about!  It is about humanity being served by God in the Flesh.  You and I don’t come to church on Sunday’s to give God our best as if He is a critique in the audience; rather, you and I come to church on Sundays to receive God’s living and active Word and His gifts of the sacraments.  Your baptisms are not primarily about your confessions, but about the confession and work of the Lord who washed you and says to you, “I have placed My name upon you; You are clean!”  The Lord’s Supper is not a mere symbolic salute to Jesus, but a heavenly meal prepared and delivered to you; a meal that delivers to you the true body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  The scriptures are not a mere ‘how to book,’ for you and me to try and implement in order to acquire brownie points with God, but the scriptures are the living Word of God that bestows repentance and faith upon you and me as a gift.  Yes, thank God that this is the way it has to be; thank God that Jesus has to serve you.  Thank God that Jesus did serve you.  Thank God that you and I are indeed beggars, beggars who are shown compassion and daily receive warm bread as a free gift. 

Give thanks to the Lord for He indeed went to the cross for you.  Give thanks to the Lord for He indeed washed you.  Give thanks to the Lord for He indeed chose to serve you.  Give thanks to the Lord for you undeniably have a share with Him forever.  Give thanks to the Lord for you are buried with Him and raised anew in Him. 

Dear Saints, you, who have been loved, are free to love.  You, who have been served, are free to serve. 

Now, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Golgotha, The Place Of The Skull: This Is Glory

Text:  John 12:20-43

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

For the last 40 days or so we have been in the season of Lent.  Our Wednesday Lenten Services and our Sunday Morning Services have intended to slow us down, help us contemplate ourselves and Christ, and gradually funnel us towards Holy Week.  Indeed, we have spent some 40 days moving a little closer and closer to Holy Week with a sense of soberness, with a sense of being keenly aware of our sin, and with a sense of seriousness.  And now, we are here.  We have arrived.  We stand at the edge of Holy Week today, this Palm Sunday.  This is indeed the week where things are supposedly going to get going.  We have been patiently waiting, anticipating, and looking for Christ’s glory.  Do we sense that we are on the brink of hearing and seeing Christ’s glory this Holy Week? 

In our Gospel reading the disciples must have felt the same sense of anticipation as Jesus continually said to the disciples over 3 ½ years, “My time has not yet come.  My hour has not yet come.  It is not my time yet.  No, not now my disciples; the time is later.”  Yes, there were countless occasions where Jesus was either almost arrested or taken by force to Jerusalem, but it simply did not happen because the time was not right.  The hour of Jesus’ glory had not yet arrived. 

However, in our Gospel reading from this morning, things are a bit different.  We encounter an event that happened right after Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey.  After the palm branches, the great welcome and yelling of, “Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” we read in our Gospel reading that Jesus is interacting with His disciples and a group of Greeks.  He then says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”  What?  Yes, after all the countless times of saying that it was not His time, here in our text, Jesus is now saying that it is His time.  Now is the time for Jesus to reveal His glory. 

Do you realize that this could not have come at a better time?  Jesus is in Jerusalem, the capital city!  They have given Him a hero’s welcome.  The city of Jerusalem is packed with people for the annual Passover Celebration.  There are so many people in Jerusalem that people are camped everywhere in and around the city.  There is a great buzz of energy in the air as the people of Israel remember and celebrate how God rescued them from the oppression of Egypt in the days of Moses.  And here in our Gospel reading Jesus says, “The hour is here.  The time is now; it is time for the Son of Man is to be glorified.”

We can just imagine the reaction of the disciples and others when they heard this news from Jesus.  “It is about time.  Now, we will see things happen.  Yes, the timing is just right Jesus; now we are going to see something really spectacular.  Let’s capture the buzz and excitement and funnel it towards Jesus as He unleashes His glory.  Yes, Jesus you healed, gave sight, and imparted health; now you are going to drive out the Romans … restore the temple … and make Jerusalem great.  Hold on and fasten your seatbelts for we are in for a ride!”

 

Yes, Jesus said that the hour had come for the Son of Man to be glorified!  “What earthly glorious pictures those words must have called up in the minds of the disciples. They were flushed with the glory of the palms and hosannas of Palm Sunday. This, they thought, was the real Jesus, the royal Jesus. This was Jesus coming into His own. The kingdom was about to be established.”[1]

Surely, glory is about to be revealed.  The disciples and followers were on the edge of glory; they were about to experience and see glory in Jerusalem.

For you and me today, we stand on the edge of Holy Week looking forward knowing that we will hear and celebrate Jesus’ glory as well.  But what does this glory exactly look like?  What do you think glory looks like as we stand on the verge of Holy Week anticipating the glorification of Jesus?

Well, some believe that glory is the accumulation of power and status.  Glory some others is the gathering of money, health, and influence.  Yet glory for another group may be acquiring first place and having a list of achievements, achievements that provide a platform for boasting.  Victory, prestige, health, money, power, influence, confidence, status, boasting, control, and beauty are all words that are attached to and communicate the word ‘glory.’

Thus, is this what we will see in Jesus?  Is this what we can anticipate this next week as we hear about Jesus being glorified during Holy Week?  As we have been journeying towards Holy Week during Lent, has our slow journey been a steady uphill climb towards the flashing glitter and power of glory that anchors itself above the troubles of suffering?  As we come closer to Good Friday will we find that the Roman Empire has been destroyed, that the Pharisees have been silenced, and that Jesus sits in power and control on a mighty golden throne?  Will we find ourselves sitting on Jesus’ right and left established in health, wealth, and happiness?

My friends as we step into Holy Week we will most definitely hear and see Jesus in glory.  However, the glory that we will see is quite a bit different from the glory that you and I anticipate.  It is different from what the disciples anticipated as well.  We will not see Jesus overcome and destroy the Roman Empire but Christ destroyed, bloodied, and beaten on a Roman execution cross.  My friends, we won’t see Jesus correcting a crooked justice system but we will see a Kangaroo court enacting perverted justice upon a truly sinless man.  My friends we won’t see a halo, but a crown of thorns.  My friends we won’t see a radiant Jesus sitting on a golden throne but rather we will see a suffering servant, spit upon, beaten to mush, and crucified.  This week we won’t see anything of renown, honor, beauty, respect, delight, splendor, and adoration.  My friends, it seems that Jesus’ definition of glory is quite different from our definition of glory. 

Yes, instead of rising out of the Lent Season to a glittery and flashy glorious Holy Week, it seems that we are going to travel to a place called Golgotha; the place of the Son of God’s death. 

But how can this be glory you may ask?  It does not look like glory.  It does not sound like glory.  It does not feel like glory.  I want glory.  I need glory.  I don’t want to know what happens when we plunge deeper and further away from what I perceive glory to be like.  I don’t want to follow Jesus any deeper or go any darker into the valley of death.  I don’t want the cross.  I don’t want to see the crown of thorns.  I don’t want to be spit upon.  I don’t want to hear the hammer and nails.  I don’t want blood to be spilt upon me.  I don’t want suffering.  Where Jesus goes, I cannot go. Thus, my friends, Jesus goes alone.  Abandoned by His disciples and abandoned by the crowd, Jesus goes to the cross on His own solidarity.  Jesus goes to this anti-glorious place to be lifted up on a cross.

When the Christ is lifted up on the cross—after being spit upon, bloodied, mocked, betrayed, and forsaken—the scriptures say that He draws all men to Himself.  Yes, in this anti-glorious place; in this dark, ugly, low place of shame and death, Jesus drags and pulls the weight of sin from the world unto Himself.  Do you and I truly hear this?  Jesus chose the crown of thorns.  He chose the hammer and nails.  He went into the darkness.  He chose the cross.  He drank the cup of wrath and He drags and pulls the weight of sin, your sin and mine, into this anti-glorious place, called Golgotha, where sin finds death, where sin is finished for you and for me.  

This. Is. Glory.  This. Is. Glory. 

This is the glorification of Jesus Christ: going where no other person would go and doing what no other person could do, taking the world's sin upon Himself and considering it well-worthwhile.

Now, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] (Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel (p. 106) for Palm Sunday, preaching on John 12:20-29)

Give Me Death, Not Reform

Text:  Romans 8:12-17 and Galatians 2:15-21

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

What Jesus did and accomplished on the cross gives us peace with the Father.  St. Paul writes in Romans the fifth chapter, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  This is indeed very good.  However, what are the implications of having peace with God?  Otherwise stated, peace with God has repercussions.  Consider this for a moment, being at peace with God puts us at odds with the enemies of God, namely the devil and the world. When we call the Lord our friend, we call the world and the devil our enemies.

Yes, Jesus warns us about the tension with the world when He says in the Gospel of John, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

The Apostle Peter warns us about the conflict with the devil saying, ““Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Indeed, the tension between the devil, the world, and all of us as Christians is the mark of the Church.  It is a battle.  In a sense, the Christian is a soldier engaged in a war against the world and the devil.  However, do we only war against these two adversaries?  In other words, is our war only against things like: the Secularists, the Atheists, Moral Relativism, the devil and his schemes, and so forth?  While the world and the evil one are truly in opposition to the Lord, it is easy for us to forget that we war against a much sneakier adversary, an adversary that is much closer to you and me than we realize.  That close and sneaky adversary is none other than ‘self.’  Yes, ‘self.’  In other words, the tendency for us is to see our war with things out there like the world and the devil but fail to see the war going on right here in our midst; the war with ‘self.’

My friends, being at peace with God through the blood of Christ puts you at odds with your sinful flesh, otherwise known as the old Adam or the old man.  This war is because the Christian, you, has two opposing wills, the sinful will of the sinful nature and the will that desires to please God which is called the new man.  This distinction is most evidently seen in Romans the seventh chapter where we read,

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

This battle rages on with the Christian throughout a lifetime.  It wages on for you as you are simultaneously a 100% sinner and 100% a saint. It wages on because “the sinful nature is like an old man’s beard that keeps growing back.”[1]  What this means is that until your death, you will always have this sinful nature that is at war with the Word, at war with the Holy Spirit, and at war with your new nature.  This sinful nature is like a stubborn donkey, unwilling to do anything from a free and cheerful heart towards your neighbor.  The old Adam, this sinful nature grumbles against the 10 commandments; has never believed the Gospel and never will.  The old Adam won’t perform anything through the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit.  The old Adam is a Saint of Cain and only performs apparent good works out of respect and to the benefit of the unholy trinity of Me, Myself, and I.  Yes, this sinful nature does nothing out of the context of the fear and love towards God. 

This sinful nature, your old Adam, is an enemy of the Gospel.  This is why we acknowledge each and every Sunday in this church our sinful condition when we confess our sins.  When we say, “Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean.  We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone,” and so forth, we are not saying this to simply heap on guilt to produce false humility.  We are actually affirming the reality of who we are and the way things actually are with us.  By confessing that we are sinners, we are bringing to light that we have this old sinful nature that has had its way with us throughout the week.  By confessing that we are sinners we are not allowing the old Adam to go into hiding.  Yes, our confession of sin brings the enemy to the light, lays the old sinful Adam and his fruits before almighty God.  Yes, in our confession of sin and the absolution it is as if the old Adam is being drug out of hiding, presented before God, and then is exposed, damned and killed.  Yes, through contrition, repentance, and faith from God’s Word the old Adam is killed and we are made different people in heart, spirit and mind.  Is this not what needs to happen to our sinful nature? 

I am reminded of a story from Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller.  Imagine your uncle has a pit bull, a mean pit bull, and every time you visit things are in a desperate state of disrepair. The curtains are ripped off the wall, the couch cushions are shredded; food, filth, and blood cover the floor. That blood is the blood of your cousins and your aunt. They're all in the hospital because this pit bull attacked them. And your uncle also has wounds from this mad dog, a missing finger, gashes on his face, stitches in his leg. You know that if your uncle lives much longer with that dog that he'll die. “This is insanity”, you say to your uncle through the front window of the house. Shouting over the dog's growl, “That dog's going to kill you!”   “Nonsense,” he shouts back, “I've just got to work harder training him.” Your uncle holds up the books that just came in the mail, Forty Days of Dog Training Purpose, Your Best Pit Bull Now!, Become a Better Pit Bull, books that will soon be eaten by this mad dog.  Now, anyone, observing this situation from the outside, can see the insanity. You can't train a dog like this. And yet this is how most Christians treat their old Adam, their sinful flesh. They are busy trying to train and reform the sinful flesh. Insanity! You can't teach the old Adam new tricks. There is only one thing to do with our sinful flesh: put it to death.  Paul tells us, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24)  He also says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)    Simply put, our sinful nature does not need to be reformed; rather it needs to be put to death.

My friends, challenges, encouragements, 10 steps, formulas, and principles may push the sinful nature along by manipulation and they may curb the sinful nature, but they do not solve or eliminate the sinful nature.  Think about this, are we to merely manage and reform glutton desires of food, drug abuse, abusing alcohol, pornography, sexual deviance, greed for money, need for the praise of man, fear of needing approval of others, need for power, desire for fame, selfishness, love of self, and idolatry of comfort.  Of course not!  These things do not need to be reformed, so that we have a little less gluttony, a little less pornography abuse, and a little less need for approval in our lives, and so forth.  Rather the root core of this sin is our sinful nature, and that is what needs to be crucified. 

Yes, the end of sin is not reform, but thanks be to God it is death.  But you may ask, “Is this death something that I need to now accomplish?  How shall I die?”  In Romans chapter six Paul does not tell us that we have to get busy and die, but announces something so profound and so astounding that we need to hear it slowly.  He announces that we have died.  It is not a task for us to accomplish.  Through baptism we partook of Christ and the fruits of His death.  In Christ Jesus you died.  In Christ Jesus you are raised anew.  What this means is that this Christian life is nothing other than a daily baptism, it is a continually putting to death of the old Adam for our baptism stands forever.  Yes, the old Adam that continually comes forth should be drowned and die with all sins and evil desire and daily this new man can rise up to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.[2]

My friends, we are baptized into Christ thus we don’t live embracing and making peace with the sinful nature, for we are at war with the old Adam.  My friends, we are baptized into Christ thus we don’t live trying to befriend and reform the sinful nature, for we are at war with the old Adam.  This old sinful flesh no longer lives for it has been crucified with Christ.  You died.  Rather, we live by faith in the Son of God who died and gave Himself for us – for you.  You were “buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”[3] 

Now, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Quote that is apparently attributed to Luther.

[2] Paraphrase from Luther’s Small Catechism.

[3] Romans 6:4

God's Word Is Not Mere Lip Service For It Does Stuff

Text:  John 4:46-54

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

We are used to broken promises and empty words, words that are vacuous; words that are simply lip service. Are we not?

Politicians make campaign promises and speak words of hope, only for us to later realize that their campaign words were empty, non-binding, and that their words were unable to deliver. "Read my lips, no new taxes.  I will not cut funding for the farm bill.  I will create new jobs. I will balance the deficit!” and so forth.  Employers and supervisors make words with promises only to have the promises rescinded due to budget cuts, “"You can expect a raise next year.  Yes, there is a job promotion ahead for you if you work hard.  This fertilizer should get you an extra 10 bushels per acre, if you invest now." Marketers make promises that we should know better not to trust, but words that we deep down hope are true, "With 4 easy payments you will obtain this fantastic exercise video which will then bring you on an exercise journey to lose 30 pounds in 5 weeks.  Invest now and you can expect a 20% return just like these fantastic individuals.  Purchase this product and your wildest dreams will come true."

Yes, these words sound promising and give assurance, but you, like me, have experienced the frustration of words not coming to fruition.  You have experienced the comfort of words, only to have that very comfort and joy stripped when the words didn't deliver, thus implanting and creating lingering doubt within your mind, doubt that says, "I will believe it when I see it."  However, I suspect that you are much like me in that you have also failed with words yourself too.  You have made promises to your employers, colleagues, friends, and family only to default on those promises, only to see that the words were not effective in having the results that you promised.  Painfully, you have spoken words to your spouse, saying, "Trust me, this time; it won’t happen again; everything is going to be o.k." only to find out that they are not. You have spoken words to your children, words that testify that you will be at the precious baseball game or music recital, only to default and fail to follow through on your words.

It is no wonder why we are suspicious of words.  We have all been sinned against with words, words that were false and words that failed to deliver on what they promised.  Furthermore, we are all guilty and know the guilt of sin when we speak false truths and speak empty words, words that have failed to bring forth the integrity that we hope to possess. Tragically this is our human condition.  We are broken and dead in sin which results in broken, false, and vacuous words.

The consequence of this is that we are suspicious of words; in fact we are so untrusting of words that we demand outward signs, things to validate and hold words in check.  You know what I am talking about!  When we submit words on a job application we need to have references for the employer to call in order to verify if our words of self-assessment are true and right.  Our words are not typically taken at face value, thus the need to place down payments, sign contracts, shake hands, and so forth.  God calls us to let our yes be yes and our no to be no; that we are to be truth speakers. Yet, we fail and sin with our use of Words and need to have outward signs, or tangible things in order to validate and hold our words and other people’s words in check.

Do you know that it was no different during the time of Jesus’ day?  The Jewish population demanded signs.  In order for something to be true and right they wanted to see the proof in the pudding, as they say.  And guess what?  Jesus did give the people signs.  During the 3 ½ years of Jesus’ ministry He traveled the country side doing miracle after miracle; healing the sick, giving life to the dead. Yes, the lame walked and the blind could see.  The buzz in the air was that this Christ did miraculous things!

But why did He do these miraculous things?  Although Jesus performed these miracles and signs to make Himself known and to lead people to faith in Him, the underlying purpose was to focus their attention on the Words that He spoke rather than the signs.  The visible signs and miracles testified to the truth of Jesus’ message.  In other words, these signs and miracles of Jesus were done not as a means to their own end, but they were done so that the people might believe that He was the Messiah (John 20:31).  The signs and miracles were to be like a catapult that grabbed ahold of the people and launched them to the person of Jesus Himself and His faithful/true words.

You see, my friends, Christ is much different than you and me.  Whereas our words are many times false and powerless, Jesus’ words are true.  Jesus’ words are powerful.  Where we demand signs to validate words, Jesus gives signs and miracles to point us back to His Words. 

In the case of our Gospel text that we read earlier, the Jewish Official is insisting that Jesus come to the place where his son was at the point of death.  In response Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” What Jesus is addressing is the problem that the people of the day many times had. They became distracted with the miracles and signs of Jesus and simply regarded Him as a miracle worker.  They saw the miracles and signs and failed to see the One doing miracles.  They had faith in the miracles and the signs.  Therefore, as we heard in the Gospel lesson today, Jesus does not go to the official’s residence to heal his son, but rather He speaks the words, “Go: your son will live!”  Jesus is taking this man from a ‘miracle and sign’ faith to a true saving faith in Jesus’ ‘Word.’  What makes Jesus the Messiah is not that He can do miraculous miracles, but that He actually is the Messiah, that Jesus’ words are true and powerful. 

Do you see the significance of this my friends?  Jesus speaks a word and the official’s son is healed instantaneously!  Jesus does not go to the man’s dying son on purpose.  He does not go and the reason is so that the official would trust the truthfulness and power of Jesus’ Word and His Word alone.

Unlike you and me, and the people of the 1^st Century, Jesus’ Word is true and Jesus’s Word is powerful.  The Word of God does stuff!  In the Old Testament reading from today we hear about God creating this world by the power of His word.  God said, “Let there be light.” And so it was.  As God speaks the world into existence in Genesis 2, we also see Jesus, the Son of God, declaring that the official’s son was healed, and so it was!  And get this, just as the Lord speaks the world into existence and speaks healing in to existence, He also speaks faith into existence in you and me. 

Each and every Sunday you come to this church, this Divine Service, to hear the Word of God.  Every time that you open the scriptures, God speaks to you.  His Word is not mere information that you are to act upon, but it is a living and active Word.  The Word is like a double edge sword; it is like a hammer.  The truthful Word of God invades you and me, interrogates us, and exposes our sin; thus it kills us and then delivers to us promises.  The Word does this because it is true and because of the Holy Spirit working in and through the Word.  The Word breaks through and wounds.  The Word comes against our old Adam, our sinful nature, and ascribes redemption solely to the blood of Christ. 

Therefore, listen and open your ears you who fail with words.  Listen and open your ears you who speak promises only to bankrupt those promises by your failure to fulfill.  Listen and open your ears you who speak false truths, fibs, lies.  Listen and open your ears you who offend God by your thoughts, deeds, and especially words.  Listen to a new Word.  “At the mighty cross, a cross that drips of Christ’s blood, Your sins were forgiven.  Yes, Your Sins ‘are’ forgiven. Thus saith the Lord.”  Indeed, you are wholly and totally forgiven.

So, my friends, in light of this new Word, when the devil rises to speak counterfeit words, false truths, lies and so forth to you—because he certainly will—tell the devil this.  The tomb is empty, for surely you know that it is true, for you yourself heard the words of victory from my Lord Jesus Christ, who cannot lie, that He indeed finished everything for me.  Yes, I am indeed a poor miserable sinner; yet I have heard the absolution from my pastor, who in the stead and by the command of Jesus proclaims to me that I am clothed in the blood of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus’ word is true and He has promised me salvation, redemption, and forgiveness.  Evil one, you should surely know this for Christ even descended to Hades to announce His very victory, a victory that He accomplished for me.

God’s Word is true, it is effective, and it is for you my friends.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.