Sermon for 4/24/22: Second Sunday of Easter

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Water, Blood, and Spirit

I John 5:4-10

 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            This Sunday following Easter is something like what the disciples experienced following the Transfiguration: it’s back to those every day realities. It’s not that we forget about Easter. The resurrection of our Lord is that great hope that is always in front of us. We know our resurrection is a certainty; we will eventually experience that for ourselves. But for now, we are still bound to the realities of life this side of paradise. And those realties are sin, repentance, and faith, and the knowledge that our bodies will one day return to dust if Jesus has not already returned.

Our lives look more like Holy Week than Easter Sunday, and that is as it should be. We are given reminders of this in today’s readings. The Old Testament reading reminds us of Israel’s demise because of sin and their need to be revived by the Spirit of God. Today’s Gospel sets Thomas before us, with his all too human desire to see before he will believe. And the Epistle takes us to the cross and the body of our Paschal Lamb hanging dead, having given His life to cover the sins of the world. St. John saw for himself that of which he now speaks; we have a reliable witness.

Pilate had his soldiers check to see whether any of the condemned were still alive. When they came to Jesus, they found Him already dead. There was no need to break His legs to hurry His death by suffocation. Instead, one of the soldiers took a spear and pierced His side, and from His side flowed water and blood.

But what does it mean? Listen to what John says: “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only, but by the water and the blood.” And then John tells you who is at work in the water and blood: “And the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.”

John is telling you why water and blood flowed from the Savior’s pierced side. Water, blood, and Spirit testify—together they give witness that Jesus is indeed the Son of God! Just like the sky going black, the earthquakes, the rocks splitting wide open, the temple curtain torn in two from top to bottom, and the tombs of many of the saints breaking open—so, too, the water, the blood, and the Spirit cry out that Jesus is truly the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

And still today, water, blood, and Spirit testify to Jesus. The Spirit, always at work in the Church through the Word, proclaims that Jesus did the job of accomplishing salvation for you. Do you remember our Lord’s promise to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion? He said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare the things to you that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” And today, the holy Office of preaching is the very office of the Spirit. Through this Office, He calls you by the Gospel and enlightens you with the gifts of Christ—all the benefits of Calvary! The water of Holy Baptism and the blood of the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, connected to God’s Word, are the Spirit-filled witnesses to the Savior who died for you on that Friday before the Resurrection. These Holy Sacraments are the Spirit’s own witness that you are forgiven, redeemed, saved only for the sake of Christ. Indeed, they are the very means, the instruments, by which He grants you the benefits Jesus won for you at the cross.

Water and blood from the side of Jesus: the Holy Spirit uses these two Sacraments in the Church to wash and cleanse you from all sin, to quench the thirst of God’s wrath against you. You are saved through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit in the Baptismal flood. And now you are sustained in that baptismal faith through the cup of the New Testament which holds the very blood shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins.

After all, the water and the blood that flowed from our Lord’s side are the water and blood of God’s own Son, that One in whom all the fullness of the deity miraculously dwells. Life-giving water and life-bestowing blood, together with the Word, the faithful witness of the Holy Spirit: in these gifts, you receive the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternity with your Lord. This was all included when Jesus said from the cross: “It is finished!”

These are the ways the salvation He won for all are delivered to you. Jesus says that this is so. “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” All of this—water, blood, and Spirit—are for you, for your salvation! ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 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.   

Sermon for 4/17/22: The Resurrection of Our Lord

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No video recording this week.

The Great Reversal
Mark 16:1-8

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

On this day, the Church celebrates nothing less than the greatest reversal in the history of the universe. We are talking here about reversing things that simply cannot be reversed, at least not in the way we are used to thinking of them. The blackest sin you have ever committed is reversed into perfect righteousness. The most grievous sadness you have experienced is reversed into ecstatic joy. Darkest death itself is reversed into eternal life. We are talking, of course, about the resurrection of Jesus. He who was dead is alive forevermore! The world will never be the same!

When those two women named Mary went to the tomb on that morning, they were certain what they would find: the dead body of Jesus. Jesus may have talked about hope, but in the end, He had not been able to escape crucifixion. Death, it seemed, had the last word. The women were simply returning to the tomb to complete the burial rites that had been cut short by the onset of the Sabbath the evening of that past Friday. And they hoped that someone—perhaps the Roman guards stationed at the tomb—could roll the stone away so they could finish their work.

But when they arrived at the tomb, the huge stone had already been rolled away. Entering the tomb, they were met by a young man sitting there—an angel actually, clothed in a long white robe. To these women, downcast and dejected by death and defeat, the angel proclaimed eternal light and life and victory. He announced the world’s greatest reversal. “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him...” Against all odds, against all the power of sin and death and this world, Jesus has won the victory, and it is your victory. Open your eyes and see!

The very natural reaction of the women was to be alarmed. Who wouldn’t be? People dead and buried don’t just come back to life, do they? But the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed.” It is a fact! Jesus, who was crucified, is risen from the dead. That is the first point we must get right if we are to take into our souls and our bodies this incredible victory and experience for ourselves our Lord’s reversal of sin and death. Initially, the women did not know what to think. They knew something had happened, but exactly what, they didn’t know. But that’s not good enough. Indeed, even today there are those who say things like this: “Well, just what happened on that first Easter, we can’t be sure. All we can know is that for those disciples, at least, Jesus was alive; and what matters for you and me is that Jesus is alive in our hearts.” Well, that is not good enough, either. And if you ever hear a preacher say that, run away from him as fast as you can go. Do not listen to the voice of the devil. The angel gives us the facts: Jesus was dead by crucifixion; He was buried; and on the third day He was literally raised from the dead in his very own body. It’s the greatest reversal in the history of the world, and it’s a fact.

The Scriptures testify that Jesus, as God and Man in one Person, was the man who was without deceit, without guilt, without sin. Jesus presented Himself to death and the devil, to be mocked, ridiculed, beaten, spit upon, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, and finally killed. Of course, death and the devil were overjoyed. But they got more than they had bargained for. Being a man, Jesus could be killed. But being God, He must live and reign forever. On Easter, the eternal life that Jesus had within Himself as God triumphed over death and the devil.

Jesus took on this mission for one reason, and it was not for Himself. After all, He was pure and sinless by nature. He undertook this battle for you. He took your sins into His own body and was tortured for your sins all the way to death. He did this to reverse your situation, that you need never be tortured for your sins; so that you may have His peace. He reversed your situation so that you could stop fearing death and start rejoicing in His resurrection. He rose bodily from death to reverse the dark history of your sin and sadness and death, and to replace it with His righteousness and joy and abundant, everlasting life. And He gives the gift of His resurrection triumph to all who believe and are baptized into His name. His innocent suffering, His bloody death, and His victorious resurrection are more powerful than all the sins and deaths in the world. He reverses all of that. How desperately sad that anyone would think he did not need this reversal, and refuse to be reversed by Christ!

But this great reversal is ours now through faith, and it will be ours in eternity, when we will see our Lord face to face. Jesus will reverse our sin and death and bring us into His righteousness and life in heaven forever, with all the saints of all time. It is the greatest reversal in the history of the world. The Christ, crucified in our place, has been raised. In so doing, He has overcome death and the devil for us. He has brought us to righteousness and eternal life. The world will never be the same! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 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. 

Sermon for 4/15/22: Good Friday (St Mark Passion series)

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Creation Groans in Expectation
Mark 15:33-39

 

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

 
        For three hours—from the sixth hour until the ninth hour—the sky darkened over the land while Jesus hung on the cross. The other Gospels include this detail while also mentioning that the earth shook and graves were opened. To understand why, we must consider several important prophecies found in the Old Testament. For example, Amos declares that the day of the Lord will be a day of judgment: “And it shall come to pass in that day…that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight…” Zephaniah describes it as “a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness…” Here is what we need to understand: human sin did not only impact the relationship between God and his human creatures, and the relationship between a man and his neighbor; it impacted the whole of creation.

When God created Adam, He created man from the ground, and He provided for us from the earth. He gave us a place to live on the earth. He gave us the responsibility for the care of His other creatures and His earth. But Adam and Eve were not content to live as creatures who lived from God’s gifts and depended on His goodness. When they sinned in their attempt to become more than creatures—to become like God—God handed out the death sentence He had promised. How did He execute judgment? He cursed the earth, making it difficult for them to wrest their life from the earth. And eventually, they would return in death to the dust from which they were created.

When God executed judgment, creation comes apart at the seams. All one has to do is skim through the Old Testament to see how this happens time and time again. The flood is, of course, the best-known example: God returning the earth to a state where it was formless and empty, just as it was before God spoke the Word to create the heavens and the earth. There was also the plague of darkness which accompanied the first Passover, where Moses stretched out his hand over the land and darkness covered the land for three days as a sign of God’s judgment. But perhaps the most descriptive, the most reminiscent of the flood, is found in Hosea: “Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.” When God exercises judgment, creation falls apart.

And that’s exactly what happens on this day. On Good Friday, God poured out His anger against His human creatures who ruined the harmony of His creation. But the Son of God stood in the place of the human race. He died on our behalf. The rest of creation felt it. In the presence of God’s anger, the created order turns into chaos. And so the sky darkened and the earth shuddered.

What makes this all the more devastating is that the judgment doesn’t fall upon a mere human creature, one who is only human. It falls upon the Son of God, the One through whom all things were made. The One through whom all things were made now dies as a human creature. And with His death, creation crumbles. It’s remarkable that the Son of God would be sent into His own creation by His own Father for this purpose. The Son of God became a human creature to rescue God’s prized human creatures, and with them to rescue His whole creation. Only months ago we celebrated the birth of the Son of God into the creation He Himself had made; now, as a human creature, the Son of God, the Agent of creation, now dies for His creation.

But since the death of the Son of God involved the entirety of creation, it did not end there, for Death has no claim on Jesus. And so the darkness of Good Friday would be replaced by the light of Easter morning. The unraveling of creation brought about by the wrath of God against sin would be replaced by the new creation; creation would be reconciled to God. As St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Just as Adam brought about death and corruption for all human creatures and, indeed, for all creation, so Jesus would bring about new life and renewal, beginning with His human creatures and extending to all creation. God would raise Christ from the dead. As the One who embodied the entire human race in bearing the Father’s righteous wrath against sin, Jesus then rose from the dead, raising the entire human race with Him. Sinful humanity has been redeemed. Corrupted creation has been restored. We are made a new creation. The darkness of the curse of sin will be shattered by the rising of the Christ, the Word made flesh, the Light of the world. 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. 

Sermon for 4/14/22: Maundy Thursday (St Mark Passion series)

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Believing Is Seeing
Mark 14:12-25

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

 

           Throughout this season of Lent, we have looked upon our Lord’s Passion through the eyes of St. Mark the Evangelist. And we’ve had a recurring theme: We do not see things the way the Lord sees them. We want to believe only those things we can see. We call it the scientific method, and it works pretty well for us in our daily lives. But when it comes to the things of faith, everything is turned on its head. In fact, as we hear in Hebrews 11, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So it is not that seeing is believing; in fact, it is only through the eyes of faith that we can see what our Lord is doing for us and for our salvation.

          The disciples ate the Passover with Jesus that night. The Passover was the great feast of Israel’s redemption, the meal that recalled Yahweh’s deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians. In eating the Lord’s food for pilgrims, the disciples recalled and gave thanks for Israel’s deliverance. They called for the Lord to rescue them from all their oppression and to establish His reign forever. But the Twelve, like the rest of God’s people, weren’t concerned so much with their past deliverance; they were more concerned with their current Roman oppressors, and they wondered if deliverance would ever come.

          The disciples had eaten the Passover with Jesus before; that night would be no different. Oh, they were aware of the building opposition to Jesus from the authorities. They had seen the strange anointing from the unnamed woman earlier that week at Bethany, when Jesus claimed that she was preparing His body for burial. But they were not going to let their Rabbi’s melancholy predictions spoil their celebration of the Passover. But the Passover is not merely an event from the past; it pointed forward to the sacrifice of Jesus as the Lamb of God. And the disciples were blind to that present reality. Jesus had told them—and we’ve heard these words already this Lent—“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.” They could not see the reality Jesus revealed to them: that He was the greatest Passover Lamb and the fulfillment of the Passover. They wouldn’t believe it. They wouldn’t believe that their Master would suffer and die. Blinded by their sin, they couldn’t see it. They had missed it.

So Jesus found another way. Hear again these words: “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.’” Since they disciples wouldn’t believe what was right before their eyes, Jesus place His Word in their mouths.

          What about you? Is this just another Maundy Thursday? Is this just another night for you to come to church? Another night singing those boring, stodgy old hymns? Another night to listen to that tiresome man in the pulpit, to get your snack of bread and wine, and then be on your way? Are you just receiving simple bread and wine in your mouth? Or is there something more happening here tonight? We desperately want there to be something more here, but our eyes, blinded by sin, cannot see it; our ears, attuned to the whispers of that satanic serpent, cannot hear it.

So Jesus finds another way. He invites you to eat His Word, too. Here on the altar, the Passover Lamb of God is here in tangible form, hidden in bread and wine. He invites you to know that He is the Son of God, and that He will establish God’s reign of mercy, grace, and love through the Passover of His own body and blood, present through His Word and promise. The blood of Christ is painted on the doorway of your heart, and the angel of death passes over you. Death is defeated; Satan is chained. Here is deliverance: signed, sealed, and delivered in His Word.

So come. Come: eat and drink the Word of God. Believe it. He has a plate and cup, filled with His body and blood, filled and waiting. Take it and eat; take it and drink. Believe, and you will see. 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. 

Sermon for 4/10/22: Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday)

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Humility in Christ

Philippians 2:5-11

 

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

 

Humility often seems in short supply. As character traits go, it is decidedly unpopular. According to conventional wisdom, what this world needs is not more humility, but more assertiveness. We revere those who say exactly what needs to be said, regardless of who might be hurt. We envy those who aren’t afraid to step on toes, to crawl over backs, to jump right in the middle of things unconcerned about where they might land or what damage they might do.

Again, according to conventional wisdom, humility is viewed as weakness. Humility is the way of the spineless. It is the mode of the indecisive. It is the character of those who are willing to be misused and abused.

By that measurement, it is no wonder that our Lord Jesus was not given much welcome in our world. No one displayed perfect humility as He did, and humility has never found much favor; we sinners much prefer to exercise sinful pride. But Jesus didn’t come to curry favor among men. He came to save them, and to do so in a way that was uniquely His, a way humanity could never really understand. For His humility led Him to let the seemingly powerful have their way with Him. And that meant suffering; it meant abuse; it meant, finally, the cross.

And now, our Lord says to us, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” To take up our cross is to willingly take up the humility, the suffering, the mockery that attaches itself to the cross. It is to follow in the way of the Lord: the way of humility, the way that seeks the eternal welfare of our neighbors, the way that pursues peace of heart and soul even when there is no peace to be found from the world.

St. Paul says, “Have this mind among yourselves.” Paul is talking about humility that follows the example of Jesus Himself. Jesus “made Himself nothing”—literally the text says, “He emptied Himself”—that He might be one flesh with us to serve us. There were no trappings of kingly power for Him. Even in that Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem, humility was the message He delivered. He entered not on a kingly steed, but on the back of a donkey, a simple beast of burden. He did not come to overthrow the Roman overlords; He came to face the death of the cross. He was not merely a man living among sinful men; He made Himself lower than the lowest of men. He became the despised and rejected One. As Isaiah put it, He was the One from whom people turned away their faces so that they might not see Him. He was stricken, smitten, and afflicted, and they thought His suffering was for sins He had committed. But in truth, they were the marks of His perfect obedience to the Father, the sign of His perfect humility. He had come to do not His own will, but that of the Father who sent Him.

And what a wonderful example this is to us. But as we try to give humbly of ourselves, we become discouraged because we never live up to His standards. Our sinful pride keeps popping up. Not even the virtue of humility is immune to the temptations of the world, the devil, and our sinful flesh. We all suffer from false humility, which is nothing else than an inflammation of the ego.

But true humility is possible when we depend on Jesus. We depend on Him for forgiveness. That was what His humbling to the point of death on the cross was all about. And His resurrection was the heavenly Father’s stamp of approval on our Lord’s atoning work. It is the proof that all our sins, including pride and false humility, are truly and surely forgiven. We don’t have to make excuses for our sins. We don’t have to make up for our failure to be humble. We simply acknowledge our sins and confess them. And then we depend on our Lord Jesus to forgive those sins. This humility is a gift of grace. It comes with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we abide in Christ, we want to walk in the same paths of meekness and submission He walked. Because we are His disciples, we want to learn from Him, for He is gentle and lowly of heart. Looking at our Lord, we learn to love others, especially those who are difficult to love. We share the affection and sympathy He had especially for the forgotten and downtrodden.

It is not the way most would choose. It is not the way we would choose, left to ourselves. But humility is the way our Lord followed; it is the way He sets out before us. And as He gives us strength through His Word, as He feeds us and molds our hearts through the Sacrament of His holy body and blood, our lives—our thoughts, words, and actions—are formed in that humility. It is humility in the shape of a cross, for on the cross He gave His life for us. By the power of that cross, we now can and will live for Him and for others. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

Sermon for 4/6/22: Midweek Lent V (St Mark Passion series)

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The Gospel According to God
Mark 15:15-32

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

 

          The suffering and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is tough to handle. We know the story, of course, and we know how it ends. But seeing the cross of Jesus and how He responds to the cross is part of the story that is not easy to take. This is not how we would write the story. You see, we like the story where the good guy comes out on top. We like the story where justice and fairness overcome villainy. We like it when people get what they deserve. A little show of divine power, some well-aimed wrath and retribution—that’s the story we would write. And it would include a glorious scene where Jesus emerges victorious with His enemies groveling at His feet.

          Of course, that’s not the story we get. Good Friday’s showdown does not end with deafening cheers and a blaze of glory descending upon the hero. It seems that what Jesus shows Pilate, Herod, the Sanhedrin, the soldiers, the crowd, and us is defeat: resignation, weakness, humiliation, and surrender. This is not the image we want for our hero. But this is what Jesus seems to display. This is the portrait of the crucified Christ: naked, bloody, suspended with nails hammered through His wrists and feet, struggling for breath. It left the eyewitnesses in a state of disbelief. The soldiers stationed in Jerusalem saw a compliant, silent Jesus; their mockery and scorn were violent and blasphemous.

          The religious leaders of the Jews did no better, though they should have known better. They had no sympathy for their countryman who was enduring the worst Rome could hand out. In fact, the Sanhedrin and the priests were the ones who sought the death of their promised Messiah. After all, what kind of Messiah could Jesus be? He seemed powerless before the might of Rome, when He was supposed to be the mighty King to deliver Israel from her bondage. He was unwilling to live according to the statutes of the Pharisees, and He opposed the religious leaders of the Jews—those men who thought they would be the closest allies of what they would consider a real Messiah. No, this Jesus couldn’t be the fulfillment of the promise. They would only believe what they wanted to believe. And when it came down to it, they couldn’t help but wonder what kind of Messiah would allow Himself to be nailed to the cross and die.

          It was a fair question. Not even the disciples could answer that question. The men who had heard the truth right from the mouth of Jesus Himself could not comprehend what Jesus was doing. It took little more than the arrest of their Rabbi for them to be thrown into terror and driven into hiding. The Christ of the cross was an image they did not want to see; it was a story they did not want to witness. What Jesus revealed at Golgotha did not seem to be the sort of thing that would create faith or encourage devout worship. All these witnesses of Golgotha saw, but they did not believe.

          But Jesus was showing them—and us—exactly what it means to be the Messiah. He revealed Himself as God in flesh. Golgotha on Good Friday is resplendent with the glory of God, but it does not come in the way that sinful man expects. We can appreciate how the cross displays love and compassion—after all, it was love and compassion for His creation that drove Jesus to endure the cross and the shame and agony and suffering. But the full reality is that it is precisely on the cross and by the cross that Jesus shows the world exactly who the Son of God is. He is the Lord, the One by whom all things were made, the supreme Lover and Savior of creation. The cross is His throne. Jesus takes His place as the Lord over His kingdom. He is crowned as the God who redeems His creatures. Only God can love like this. Only God can give Himself so absolutely to those who despise and reject Him. And it’s ironic that it is only the centurion who sees and knows the truth. He confesses, “Truly this was the Son of God,”

          So the glory is there on the cross, but it’s not the kind of glory we’re used to seeing. The power and strength and victory we long to see on display from our Lord actually are on display, but they are taking a form no man could have imagined. At Calvary, on the cross, Jesus shows us God. He shows us the reality of what God is. He shows us the core of our faith: trust in the God who gives His all for His creation, even His own life. This is not the God who writes the story the way we would write it. And it is so much the better than the story we would tell, because this is the story where the victorious Lord is displayed in the glory of the cross, suffering and dying for the sake of the love He bears for His creation, winning the victory by the power of His blood. And we are the ones who bow at His feet—not in terror, but in humble thanksgiving. 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. 

HYMN: Upon the Cross, Dear Lord

Between the death of my father and the onset of Lent, I haven’t done much “hobby” writing lately. I have a couple novel ideas rumbling around my head, including one my father had come up with when he was younger than I am now. But I hadn’t worked on a hymn text since early February at the Southern Illinois District convention of my church body.

A couple nights ago, I had trouble getting to sleep. While I was busy not sleeping, a couple lines popped into my head regarding the seven words of Christ on the cross. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get the proverbial blood pumping. We had the tri-circuit winkel today and, as often seems to be the case, the gathering of pastors helped the writing process along. It’s not the most on-the-nose text for the words from the cross, and I realize the identity of the speaker and audience changes, sometimes even within the same stanza. I’d be interested to receive your input and feedback.

Upon the Cross, Dear Lord

1. Upon the cross, dear Lord,

You spoke Your mighty Word

To share Your grace and blessing. 

Your Church, with great acclaim,

Shall praise Your holy name,

Your perfect love confessing. 

Father, Forgive Them…

2. Ignorant people cry

For their own King to die. 

Sinless, the King is bleeding. 

Father, for Jesus’ sake,

We pray, no vengeance take. 

His blood for us is pleading.

Today You Will Be With Me…

3. Sinners deserve the grief

From which we seek relief. 

O Christ, in mercy hear us!

“You, child, shall be with me,”

He says upon the tree. 

His grace alone can cheer us. 

Woman, Behold Your Son…

4. Huddled beneath the cross,

Mourning the Savior’s loss,

The Church her Lord is grieving. 

Gathered, we two or three:

There Jesus deigns to be,

Our loneliness relieving. 

My God, My God…

5. Forsaken in our place,

Jesus, in boundless grace,

Dies to redeem creation.

Man, once by sin defiled,

To God is reconciled.

We sing in acclamation. 

I Thirst

6. In all things, faithfully

Heeding the prophecy,

The bitter wine you swallow. 

Our God in flesh, dear Christ,

The Lamb now sacrificed,

Your holy name we hallow. 

It Is Finished

7. In anguish hear Him cry. 

See, world, your Savior die,

No wrath the Father sparing. 

Salvation’s work is done;

Redemption’s ransom won

By Christ, the burden bearing. 

Father, Into Your Hands

8. Jesus, whom we adore,

Forsaken nevermore,

Is giving up His spirit. 

Take, Lord, Your Sabbath rest.

Your name, O Christ, be blessed. 

Your vic’try we inherit. 

667 667

NUNC DIMITTIS (LSB 888)

Good Friday; Seven Words of Christ on the Cross

Sermon for 4/3/22: Fifth Sunday in Lent

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High Priest and Sacrifice
Hebrews 9:11-15

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

 

At the center of the creeds, we confess the saving work of Jesus. And an important part of that article is what we call the threefold office of Christ: that He is, at one and the same time, Prophet, Priest, and King. As Prophet, Jesus reveals Himself by Word and deed to be the Son of God and Savior of the world. As King, our Savior governs all things in heaven and on earth for the sake of His Church. The remaining office is the one to which our text refers: the office of Priest. And, just as the Second Article stands at the center of the Creed, so, too, the Office of Priest stands at the center of the saving work of Christ. It is to this priestly office of Jesus that we direct our attention—which is appropriate in this Lenten season, when we consider the great atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

In the Old Testament, the High Priest was God’s representative to men. He spoke for God; he taught God’s Word to the people and urged them to faithfulness; he pronounced the forgiveness of sins and conducted the divinely ordered sacrifices. At the same time, he represented the people before God. He offered sacrifices on their behalf; he brought their prayers to God; he interceded at the mercy seat, seeking for them the pardon and peace of God. In short, the High Priest was the spiritual head of the people of God.

It is against this backdrop that we consider our great High Priest. Compared to Jesus, the Old Testament High Priest fades into insignificance. This is what the Epistle writer is describing when he says: “…When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) He entered once for all into the holy place, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” After long years of anticipation, the promised Redeemer appeared as the great High Priest who was able to gain for all people and for all time the blessing of everlasting salvation. This he would do by serving as High Priest in that “greater and more perfect tent...” And what that means is that the Son of God came in a most miraculous way, taking on human flesh.

This is the great mystery of the Incarnation. Jesus, the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, concealed His deity behind that human nature He received when He was conceived. Without ever separating Himself from His divine nature, He took into that divine nature His human nature, so that He could fulfill all that was required for our salvation. His “tent,” therefore, was perfect. In spite of the fact that Jesus was, in every sense, a true man, there was not the slightest taint of sin in Him. His enemies found nothing for which they could honestly accuse Him. They examined every detail of His life, and yet, He could fearlessly challenge them all, as He did in today’s Gospel: “Which of you convicts me of sin?” Jesus is the great High Priest, the one we need! This same writer to the Hebrews said: “…It was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”

That Day of Atonement, where the High Priest conducted an elaborate sacrifice for himself and the people, is done; Jesus, the only High Priest who could bring a perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for sin, fulfilled it. And now the veil is torn in two, and we are permitted to see the once-for-all holy place, and none are kept from seeing the New Testament holy of holies, the altar of the cross. Not only this, but we are also allowed to witness the sacrificial offering. Our great High Priest offers Himself as the sacrifice. The blood of the Lamb of God flows freely, and as we witness this dreadful, and yet wonderful, scene, we join the ancient prophet in his confession: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”

While this world continues, and human hearts bleed, and souls cry out for pardon and peace, it will be the same: “It is finished!” Even the Old Testament saints were saved by this great High Priest and His perfect sacrifice. Our redemption needs never be repeated or improved. Ours is the holy blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What the holy writer said is true: “...How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance...” Thanks be to God for this gift of boundless grace! In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

           The peace which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.