Sermon for Judica – Lent 5

Hebrews 9:11-15  +  John 8:46-59

We often speak of the threefold office of God’s Anointed One, the Christ, the Son of David: the office of Prophet, Priest, and King. All three offices were prominent in the Old Testament, usually occupied by different people, although sometimes they overlapped, as with David, for example, who, in addition to being king, was an inspired, prophetic writer of many of the Psalms, earning him the title “royal Prophet.” At the beginning of the Lenten season we saw how Jesus, the Son of David, defeated the devil’s temptations and so became qualified to serve as our great High Priest, who was without sin and, therefore, able to offer His own blood as the perfect sacrifice for all sin, being the Mediator and Priest of a New Testament to fulfill and replace the Old. Today’s epistle spoke of that same thing, and it’s the main theme of Holy Week.

On this last Sunday before Holy Week, we heard a Gospel that highlights Jesus’ role especially as Prophet and King, like His forefather David. Prophet, in that He was sent by God to speak the very words of God to the Jews, and to reveal God to them, although most refused to acknowledge Him as a true Prophet; and King, in that Jesus confronts the enemies of His people to put them in their place. Modern kings, where they still exist, usually sit in safety and luxury, giving orders from afar, from the comfort of their palaces. Ancient kings sat on thrones when they were making decisions, but they also led the charge in battle. Throughout this whole chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus does battle, not with earthly weapons, but with the sword of His almighty word. He takes on His enemies, the Jews who were becoming more and more motivated to kill Him. And He takes them on, not for His own sake—on the contrary, these confrontations would eventually get Him killed. No, He confronts them for our sake. He bears their insults and accusations, refutes them, and makes the bold statements that form the foundation of our faith and provide pure comfort to all who believe. So watch as the true royal, priestly Prophet goes into battle for His beloved Church.

The Jews had been challenging Jesus all day. So He challenged them back: “Which one of you convicts me of sin?” And no one could, for as much as they hated Him and were eager to find sins to convict Him of. The fact that they couldn’t proves yet again that Jesus was indeed qualified to serve both as the great High Priest and as the perfect Sacrifice, to heal the breech between God and sinful mankind, to reconcile God and man through His blood and mediation.

And if I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears God’s words. That is why you do not hear, because you are not of God. Jesus was “of God” from the start, making Him both the perfect Prophet, who spoke God’s words faithfully and was supposed to be believed, and the perfect Priest, who, as the God-Man, can perfectly represent God to man and man to God. Believers become “of God” when they are born again, when they are brought to faith. But the Jews who didn’t believe in Jesus proved that they were not “of God.” They didn’t have Him for a Father. They weren’t His children. They weren’t on His side. Instead, as Jesus had pointed out earlier in this dialogue, they were of their father, the devil, who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. Yes, Jesus dared to declare these powerful, well-respected religious leaders to be sons of Satan, to be working for the devil, to be enemies of God, because they refused to use Jesus, the Mediator, to be reconciled to God. That’s true for everyone who fails to hear and believe the word of God that Jesus speaks, the word of God that’s recorded in Holy Scripture. There is no fellowship with God for those who do not believe the things that Jesus says. And, tragically, it’s often people inside the Church, people who claim to be God’s children, who reveal themselves not to be God’s children by their rejection of Christ’s teaching—a sobering warning for all of us.

The Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and that you have a demon?” They were dripping with hatred and condescension toward Jesus. Who did He think He was? They were the famous Pharisees! They were the experts! They were the leaders of the Church! How dare He declare them to be outside the kingdom of God! He must be the one who’s a half-breed and in league with the devil!

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and who judges.” There He is as Prophet and as King. As Prophet, Jesus honors His Father by speaking His Father’s words faithfully. He honors His Father by doing His will in the world, always, without fail. As Prophet and as King, Jesus stands against these unbelievers and warns them that the One who is heaven seeks glory and honor for His beloved Son, and who sits in judgment against everyone who fails to give it. This is the same Jesus whom John saw in his vision in the Book of Revelation, with a sharp two-edged sword coming out of His mouth. Here He slashes the Jews with it and speaks condemnation against them.

Meanwhile, the same sword of His mouth works great comfort for those who believe, even as it continues to destroy those who disbelieve. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. That’s a defiant assertion against His enemies, who would surely see death, and even eternal death, because they wouldn’t keep His word. But for all who do, it’s a proclamation of pure comfort, for all who keep His word, for all who believe in Him and in the words He speaks. Here is Christ the King, stepping forward to take on death itself on behalf of His beloved Christians.

“Death” has various meanings. The most literal meaning is the separation of body and soul that takes place when the lungs stop breathing and the heart stops beating and the brain stops sending signals to the rest of the body. That physical death awaits us all, by the ancient command of God that cursed our race after the first man and woman chose death over life. But the death that believers in Jesus will never see is far worse. That death is called eternal death, the death of pain and torment that comes after physical death—torment for the soul, and then torment for body and soul at the end of this age, when Jesus returns and raises all the dead, when the righteous will go away to eternal life while the unrighteous will go away to everlasting punishment. That death is truly dreadful. That death is permanent. But we have the assurance of the Christ, our Prophet and our King, that those who keep His word will never see that death, not at all, not any part of it, not hell, not purgatory, not any sort of torment after our physical death occurs, but only life, joy, peace, and rest.

Of course, the unbelieving Jews were oblivious, as usual, to Jesus’ true meaning. Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets. And you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Yes, the prophets and patriarchs experienced physical death. The Jews claimed Jesus was demon-possessed because, as they saw it, He was promising to keep people from dying physically, when, in fact, He was talking about eternal death in hell. They thought He was making Himself out to be greater than Abraham and greater than the prophets. In that, however, they weren’t wrong. Our royal priestly Prophet Jesus, the Son of David, was and is greater than Abraham or any of the Old Testament prophets, greater than the greatest men who had ever lived, greater than Elijah and Elisha, who did raise a couple of people from the dead. But those people just got a few more years added to their earthly lives before they died again. Jesus could do far more!

But first, before the big reveal, before revealing who He truly was, our King tossed another grenade at them: Jesus answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your God. You do not know him; but I know him. If I were to say, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be a liar, like you. But I do know him and keep his word.” The royal priestly Prophet from heaven knows the Father perfectly, because He is the only-begotten Son of the Father, begotten of His Father before all ages. He knows God and He reveals God to mankind. Meanwhile, those who reject Jesus and don’t listen to His word, but who still call themselves children of God or worshipers of God—they’re nothing but liars. And Jesus isn’t afraid to say so.

Finally, the King is ready to set them on fire with His words about Himself. Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced. Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! And you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Abraham saw the coming of His promised Seed by faith, and he laughed. He rejoiced, not only in the birth of his promised son Isaac, but in the coming Seed, the promised Christ, in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. But more than that, Abraham literally saw the person of Christ every time he interacted with God, because Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, the eternal God Himself, Yahweh, Jehovah, the great I AM, as He revealed Himself to Moses.

That’s what the Prophet Jesus declares about Himself. So don’t even think about claiming to be a religious person, much less a Christian, if you don’t believe it, and if you don’t believe in Him. He is the only true God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is the true Prophet, Priest, and King, anointed by God the Father to speak for Him as Prophet, to offer His blood and to mediate for sinners as Priest, and to reign over the house of God as King, doing battle against every enemy as a mighty Champion, until death itself is thoroughly defeated. Believe in Him! Take refuge in Him! And He will share with you His victory over sin, death, and the devil. Amen.

Source: Sermons

Sermon for Judica – Lent 5

Hebrews 9:11-15  +  John 8:46-59

Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation! That was the opening verse of today’s Introit, from Psalm 43. Vindicate me, O God! That’s the cry of a righteous man who has been unjustly accused of unrighteousness, of a truthful man who has wrongly been called a liar, of an innocent man who has been unjustly accused and judged and condemned as a criminal. It’s a plea to God, who sees the truth, to stand up for the one who is being falsely accused, to rescue him, to make him victorious over his accusers. Men may get it wrong. They may treat the just man unjustly. But in the end, God will sort it all out and see to it that the righteous are vindicated and that the unrighteous are condemned.

Now, if Christians who have been falsely accused can pray this Psalm—and we can!—how much more the Son of God when He is falsely accused! And that’s exactly what we see happening in today’s Gospel. This Gospel is a fitting preparation for Holy Week as Jesus’ bitter enemies, the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, spoke to Him with utter hatred and contempt, falsely accusing Him of all sorts of things. Next week, we’ll watch Jesus being falsely accused before the Jewish Council and before Pontius Pilate on Good Friday, and we’ll marvel at His silence. But in today’s Gospel, which takes place several months before Holy Week, Jesus does not remain silent at all. In fact, He doubles down and makes even bolder claims before the unbelieving Jews—claims that would, eventually, get Him killed, claims that would, eventually, require vindication from God.

“Which one of you convicts me of sin? And if I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me?

The Pharisees and other unbelieving Jewish leaders had been scolding Jesus on this day for His teaching. They had been boasting about their lineage from Abraham. “How dare you claim that you are some kind of savior, that we need you, that you were sent from God? We’re Abraham’s children. We’re the chosen people of God, Jesus! You’re a nobody!” And yet not one of them could prove anything Jesus said to be untrue. No one could point to any sin He had committed. Everything He did proved that He was telling the truth, and yet they still refused to believe Him. Here He tells them why that’s the case: He who is from God hears God’s words. This is why you do not hear, because you are not from God.

In other words, God’s children listen to God’s Word. The fact that people refuse to listen to Jesus, refuse to believe in Him, proves that they are not God’s children. That’s an accusation from Jesus, and how much of our society, of our world, would be on the receiving end of such an accusation! “You won’t listen to God’s Word. You insist on making up your own truth, your own right and wrong, your own doctrines and beliefs, your own way of salvation. You who do this—you are not God’s children.” That’s the accusation Jesus made against the unbelieving Jews. It’s the same accusation He continues to make against the unbelievers of the world. And people today mostly react the same way the Jews did to that accusation:

The Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and that you have a demon?”

They mocked Jesus as a Samaritan, a half-breed, an outsider, a worshiper of a false god, and even possessed by the devil. The world does the same thing today. They hold up their own false version of God—sometimes, even their own version of Jesus!—as the true God and label Bible-believing Christians as the mean ones, as the intolerant ones, as the ones on the wrong side of history.

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it and who judges.”

Notice, Jesus doesn’t launch into a grand defense of His words or His ministry. He doesn’t dabble in philosophy or apologetics. He simply denies having a demon, and claims that He is honoring His Father. He even claims that God seeks honor for Him, for Jesus, and He threatens the unbelieving Jews, that God will judge the one who does not honor Jesus. Then He adds an astounding promise:

Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

Death comes for us all. Everyone knows that. Imagine hearing someone claim that their words were the key to avoiding death. Now, what does it mean to keep Jesus’ word? It means, first, to believe He is telling the truth about God, about Himself, about us, about right and wrong, and about the way of salvation from death, which is through faith in Him as the Conqueror of death, sent by God to save sinful human beings who are otherwise destined to die, and to suffer death forever. But it means more than believing it to be true. Keeping His word also means actually acknowledging and repenting of our sins, trusting in Him for the forgiveness of sins, and seeking to put His word into practice in how we think and speak and behave in this world. Those who keep His word will never see death, will never taste death. That’s not a promise that our bodies won’t give out. It’s a promise that, when they do, our souls will not experience even a moment of hell or of separation from God, but will go on living with the life that we have in Him even now, and that, one day, our bodies will be raised and perfected and joined back together with our souls.

But all that was too much for the Jewish leaders. Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets. And you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”

They just can’t believe. They can’t believe anyone would be so bold, to claim that He can keep people from dying. That’s even crazier than claiming that God created the universe in six natural day—which those Jews likely believed. But to them, Jesus’ words couldn’t possibly be true, because if they were, that would mean that He was greater than Abraham, greater than the prophets. It fact, it would mean that Jesus was truly sent by God, was the Lord of life and the Ruler over death. And they were not going to accept that.

Jesus answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your God.

The Father had been honoring Jesus throughout His ministry, in every miracle Jesus performed, in every perfect outcome of everything Jesus said and did. That’s why we really need to take note during Holy Week next week, because during that Holy Week, some 2,000 years ago, for about three days, the Father would not publicly honor Jesus. Instead, He would allow Him to be utterly dishonored by men. Why? And would the Christ ever be vindicated? That will be our focus next week.

For now, Jesus just keeps doubling down on His claims. You do not know him; but I know him. If I were to say, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be a liar, like you. But I do know him and keep his word.” Not only does Jesus call His detractors, “liars” for claiming to know God when, in fact, they didn’t know Him, but He adds another claim, almost as a taunt. Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced. Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! And you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

You know, there are many, many so-called Christians today who claim that Abraham never believed in Jesus, and, therefore, modern Jews will also be saved without believing in Jesus. But in this text Jesus proves them all to be liars. Abraham did believe in Jesus. He saw Jesus from afar and put his faith in Him and rejoiced in Him, the distant Seed of Abraham who would come and be a blessing to all nations. In fact, when Abraham encountered the LORD God, even back in Abraham’s day, the truth is, he encountered the person of Jesus, though not the Man Jesus, because, unlike the rest of us, Jesus existed before He was born. In fact, He existed before the universe was born, from the beginning, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus is. Or as He puts it, “I AM.”

This is the One whom you worship, dear Christians. The LORD, the great I AM, the Seed of Abraham, the Son of God and the Son of Man. This is the One who confronted the unbelievers in Israel, who spoke the truth to them but was called a liar, who was righteous but who was branded as unrighteous, who was innocent, and yet who was, eventually, put to death. They couldn’t do it on that day, because, as John says, His hour had not yet come. But it would, and we’ll spend next week hearing about it in detail. The accusers and enemies and murderers of Christ would have their day. And Jesus cries out through the Psalmist, Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation! For a few days, it would appear that the Father didn’t hear Jesus’ plea. But all that would change on the third day, when Christ’s vindication would come.

You, too, will be vindicated, eventually, against all the false accusations people make against you, against all the mistreatment of the world, against all the apparent victories of the devil, who has been pummeling and pummeling the true Christian Church on earth for a long time now. When you suffer unjustly, when you’re unjustly accused, when the world condemns you, when the devil comes for you, when death itself comes for you, don’t lose heart. Say, Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation, against unjust persecution, against sin, death, and the power of the devil. And you’ll see. God will vindicate you, just as He vindicated His perfectly innocent Son, to whom you belong, because, unlike the unbelievers in our Gospel, you are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Source: Sermons