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.