Beautiful Blood
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
No one ever left one of our Lord’s sermons saying, “Well,
that was nice. Good job, Lord.” Either it changed their lives, like Zacchaeus
and Mary Magdalene; or they hated what they heard and wanted to kill Him, like
the Pharisees. There is no in-between place, no comfort zone. All those who
would ride the fence, all those waiting to see which way the wind will blow,
all those who are lukewarm in faith—they already belong to Satan.
To a certain degree, this is the problem of the modern
Church: Too many times we leave the service, too many times we hear the sermon,
and we say, “Well, that was nice.” And not only have we done that and liked it,
but we have even hungered for it and demanded it. We have thought and sometimes
even said, “Preacher, don’t rock the boat! Don’t challenge us. Don’t teach us.
Don’t open up the Word of God for us. Don’t tell us we need the body and blood
of Jesus more often. Just fill the offering plate with pious platitudes and
quaint moral lessons. But don’t hit us where we live. Our prejudices suit us
just fine. We’ve outgrown our need for the Law.”
Repent, for you have not outgrown the Word. Repent, for the
Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, for the hour of
salvation is here, and no man knows when the last hour will come. Repent while
it is day, before the night comes when no man can work. Confess your sin.
Acknowledge your wretchedness. Kneel before your God. Throw yourself upon His
sure and certain mercy. Look to Him and find healing and rest. Turn to Him for
forgiveness and life.
This life is hard. This struggle against the forces of
darkness is real, and it wearies the soul. But the fact of the matter is,
you’ll never get out of the Church Militant alive. Either you give in to Satan
and the pleasures of the flesh, until the time comes when you must endure the eternal
torments of hell; or the Lord brings you home into the Church Triumphant, where
sin and temptation will harass you no more. Faith is a life-long struggle
against the powers of darkness. Confession and absolution are the constant and
consistent rhythm of our lives in Christ. So our Lord enters Jerusalem on the Sunday before His sacrifice to
pick us up, bind our wounds, and love away our grief.
He rides that day knowing full well what is in store for
Him. He knows what our rebellion will cost Him. He will drink the cup of wrath
from His Father’s hand. He will suffer in the agony of His soul for the sins of
the whole world. He who knew no sin will become sin. Justice will be met in
Him. The Father will forsake His Son. Jesus will die. And then—let us never
forget this part—He will rise again, triumphant over the grave. The Lord of
Life will defeat death by submitting to its dark clutches. Death could not hold
Him. In that victory, from that glorious cross-shaped throne of grace, the
reign of the Lord of Life will begin. He lives. It’s not nice or pretty as the
world counts such things, but the blood and death of Jesus gives life to those
who are marked with His name.
Our Lord Jesus
Christ—He who rode into Jerusalem by lowly donkey and her colt that blessed
Sunday before His death—He rides again today. He comes into our midst by similarly
lowly means: this time in the bread and wine in which He hides the glory of His
holy and precious body and blood. With this celebration we embark upon our
holiest observance, our holiest week. May it be unto us a call to repentance
and life, for those are His gifts to us. May it be a call for us to return to
the Lord our God. May His blood be on us and on our children. In the name of
the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God
which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
always. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment