Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter / Good Shepherd Sunday

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Jesu Juva

“A New Reality, A New Life”

Text: John 10:11-18; 1 John 3:16-24; Acts 4:1-12 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia.

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

Often times, when Jesus taught and preached, the people did not understand Him. Sometimes it was because He often spoke in parables, but even when He didn’t, what He said was so different than their teachers and what they were saying that the people didn’t understand. Not at first. And what Jesus said today is one of those times. 

Now, that may surprise you to hear me say that. Because you understand what Jesus is saying today. You who live on this side of Jesus’ resurrection. You who have all the teachings of Jesus in the Scriptures and the teaching of the Apostles He sent out to preach all that He said and did. So what Jesus said today, that He is the Good Shepherd, is not only known to you, but well-known and deeply loved. So much so that just as at Christmas we want to sing Joy to the World, and just as at Easter we want to sing Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, so in the hospital or at funerals or other challenging and difficult times, you want to hear the 23rd Psalm. You want to hear about the Good Shepherd. You want, you need, that comfort and assurance.

But in first century Israel, a shepherd who died for his sheep was not a good shepherd, but a stupid one! Sheep were a commodity. A valuable one, perhaps. But still, a commodity. Sheep were sheared for their wool. Sheep were sacrificed and eaten for the Passover. So when the wolf comes, a shepherd would do his or her best to defend the sheep, but die for them? That’s insane. The only result of that is a now undefended flock and a family in mourning. So not only does it make sense for a hired shepherd to flee, I imagine even the owner of the sheep would, too. Better to go home with a few less sheep than not to go home at all.

And that the people did not understand and some considered Jesus insane is, in fact, what John tells us in the verses around the ones we heard today. Right before it says: This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them (v. 6). And right after we hear: There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” [But] Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind” (v. 19-21)?

For that’s what Jesus had just done - opened the eyes of a man blind from birth. To heal someone who had lost their vision was one thing; but to give sight to someone who never had it . . . that was unprecedented. And it was starting to open the eyes of those who could see, to see Jesus in a new way. Which made those who thought Jesus demon possessed and insane (like the Pharisees) even more determined in their opposition, so that if anyone dared to say that Jesus was the Christ, they would be expelled from the synagogue (John 9:22). Excommunicated. And you thought cancel culture was a new thing . . .

You see, the Pharisees were the ones treating the people like commodities. Shearing them for profit. Devouring widows’ houses (Mark 12:40). And that was Jesus’ word, not mine. Devouring. Preying upon even poor widows. They didn’t care for the people but for themselves. They weren’t even hirelings, but wolves in hirelings’ clothing.

But what if the sheep weren’t treated like commodities, but like children? And what if the group of sheep wasn’t just a herd, but a family? And what if there was a shepherd saw them like that? Because your family is worth sacrificing yourself for. 

Now take that to the next level: What if there was a God who treated people not like commodities, or servants, or peons, but like children? And what if there was a God who looked at people not just as part of creation, but as family? What if there was a God so utterly and completely different from anything in this world, that He doesn’t look for anything from us because He doesn’t need anything from us, but does everything for us? Wouldn’t that be something? A game changer? What would such a God look like? What would such a God do?

You know. He looks like Jesus on the cross. Because when the satanic wolf came for His children, He did not flee. When the satanic wolf came and insisted that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and that therefore he had a right to devour us all, Jesus said: Devour me instead. Devour the one who made them. Devour their Shepherd. Devour their God. It was an offer satan couldn’t refuse. Because it was insane! Devour the shepherd and the flock is left undefended. Satan always knew God was stupid . . . People aren’t worth it. They treat each other like animals! This was confirmation to satan that he was right to rebel against such a stupid God. Now he could finish the job . . .

But Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] For the Good Shepherd doesn’t just have the authority, the authorization, the mission, to lay down His life, but it take it up again - that is, to rise from the dead. And He did. For yes, satan, you are right: the wages of sin is death. But what if sin was taken away? What if sin was atoned for? Then death would lose its power, wouldn’t it? Death would be forced to give up the dead. And all the people you think are just tasty treats would be children who live forever. 

And that is our joy this Easter season. Not chocolate and peeps, but forgiveness and life. That because Jesus rose from death to life again, we know that we will, too. It is the promise He gives us in Baptism: forgiveness and life. He applies His death and life to us; we die and rise with Him; we are sheep in His flock; children of God. Which means that the resurrection isn’t just something that happened some 2,000 years ago, and eternal life isn’t just something that will happen who knows how many years from now - these are our reality already now. Don’t think of them in relation to time, but about who you are. Who you are now, and who you will be forever. A forgiven child of God, who has a life not even death can end. That is our joy this Easter season. A new reality. A new life to live.

Which those who are living the same old life, and all they can see is the same old life, think is insane. So we heard in the reading from Acts that Peter and John were arrested for healing a man lame from birth and preaching that Jesus was risen from the dead. Why would you risk your lives for some useless lame man? And for people who are never going to amount to anything? Be reasonable! Stop this and save yourselves! But they didn’t have to save themselves. They’d already been saved from death, by the one who rose from the dead. So to stop wouldn’t be to save themselves, but actually the opposite - it would be to sacrifice the life they had been given and die. So no, thank you. For die now and live forever . . . or live now and die forever . . . not a hard choice, though sometimes hard to do.

And we heard of this new life also in the reading from First John: By this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. We who live in this new reality and have this new life . . . ought to. We ought not treat each other like animals. We ought not see others as commodities. We ought not value what we have or what we can gain or our own pleasure or how we can increase and move up in the world more than we value those for whom Jesus died. We ought not . . . but sometimes do. We sometimes fail to live the new reality, the new life, we have been given. 

The good news is that, as John went on to say, whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. He knows everything. Which not only means He knows what we’ve done . . . He does, of course. All our living the old life, the old reality; all our sins, no matter how big or small. He not only knows all that, but if He knows it all, it means He put it all on Jesus on the cross. Not one of your sins left out or forgotten or unatoned for. They’re all on Jesus and so not on you. They’ve all been paid for, atoned for, taken away, forgiven. 

So that’s what Jesus tells you here every week. Forgiveness isn’t just for one day a week, or course. But you get to hear these words here every week! Proclaimed to you, spoken to you. Words we need to hear every week and can never hear enough: I forgive you all your sins. And then shortly after that, we sing - we sing in joy This is the feast of victory for our God! His blood set us free to be people of God. The Lamb who was slain has begun His reign. That’s your new reality, your new life. It’s how Jesus sees you, as someone worth laying down His life for. And how you can now see others, as people worth laying down your life for. 

Not that it’s easy! Of course, it’s not. It wasn’t easy for Jesus either. Or for Peter and John. And on your own, you could never do it. Not even one little bit. So you’re not on your own. Jesus gives you His Spirit. He gives you His Body and Blood. That His new reality, His new life, be not just something you live in, but that lives in you. He gives it to you, so it can now flow out from you. And it does, though not perfectly. Some days more than others. Some days you completely fall on your face. Which is why your Good Shepherd is still your Good Shepherd. Still feeding, still leading, still guiding, still forgiving, still giving you His gifts and all you need. Making His reality your reality, and His life your life.

And if the world thinks you insane for how you live, that’s okay. It’s even good. It’s God’s good living in you. Testimony that this old world and life is not all there is. Your eyes have been opened, and others will, too. Maybe because of you. For I have other sheep that are not of this fold, Jesus said. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. And we could add to that: one family, one Father, one Saviour, one Spirit. 

What if there was a God who treated people like children? What it there was a God who looked at people as His family? What if there was a God who was completely consumed with love for us? A God who serves, a God who lays down His life for us? Wouldn’t that be something? A game changer? Change how we live. Change how we die. Change how we view world events. Change how we react to good news and bad news, joys and pandemics? 

What would such a Christian look like? What would such a Christian do? A Christian shaped by such love. A Christian defined by forgiveness - received and given. A baptized Christian. A Body- and Blood-ed Christian. 

It’s who you are, child of God! That’s your reality, your life. In Christ, your Good Shepherd. Christ, your risen Shepherd! 

For Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!]

And He has given you a new life to live.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter

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Jesu Juva

“Here We Stand”

Text: Acts 3:11-21; Luke 24:36-49; 1 John 3:1-7 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia.

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

Hie(r) stehe Ich! Here I stand.

Those words were not first uttered 500 years ago today, but they were most famously uttered 500 years ago today.

A little over three years ago, we remembered the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation. The day Luther posted his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517.

Last year, we remembered the 500th anniversary of the writing of what are often called Luther’s three great theological treatises. Specifically we remembered the one entitled On The Freedom of a Christian.

And this year, we remember another 500th anniversary, and that is, as the insert in your bulletin shows, the Diet of Worms. A “diet” was simply a formal assembly of the Emperor with the princes and bishops of Germany to conduct business. And at the Pope’s urging, Luther was one of the items put on the agenda. The Pope had already condemned Luther as a heretic and excommunicated him earlier in the year, on January 3rd, but he needed the Emperor’s help to enforce his ban on Luther. (That means: kill him. Because that what you did to heretics.) The Emperor, however, wasn’t much of a theologian. He was a politician, and with the Turks marching on his empire and their threat becoming ever more dire, he needed Germany to help him fight them off. Germany, where Luther had become wildly popular. So he summoned Luther. He would give him a chance to recant. But Luther would not. And it was on this day, April 18th, 1521, when Luther uttered his well-known phrase: hie(r) stehe Ich. Here I stand.

Now, while that’s one of the best known - if not the best known - things Luther ever said, he probably wasn’t the first to say it, and he certainly wasn’t the first to do it. That honor I would give to the Apostles. We heard in the reading from Acts that Peter had healed a man lame from birth. The people were utterly astounded, the once lame man wouldn’t him go, so Peter took his stand - on the Gospel; on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Y’all killed Him, he told the crowd of Jews. But God raised Him from the dead. What you see is that the miracles Jesus did before are continuing now, because He is not dead but living. What the prophets said has been fulfilled. So repent, receive His forgiveness - which is for you! - and be refreshed with His forgiveness and life. Here I stand.

But that’s only half the story. For while Peter was still speaking, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them (Acts 4:1) and arrested them. (We’re actually going to hear those verses next week.) For, you see, the Jewish leaders had the same problem the Emperor had - like with Luther, people were believing the apostles. The group of Christians was now starting to get dangerously large - they were now up to some 5,000 men, Luke tells us. And maybe more if you count families. So they brought Peter and John before the Diet (well, they called it the Council) and ordered them to recant. Well, OK, not to recant, but like Luther, to stop preaching what they were preaching. To stop preaching this heresy about Jesus and His resurrection and His forgiveness. So Peter and John responded, in words that Luther would echo so many years later: Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20). Here we stand.

Now if you’re like me, you admire Luther and Peter and John and all the rest of the Apostles and all the early Christian martyrs for doing that - for standing firm in the face of danger and death and saying here I stand! But the reason they could is the same reason we can: because Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed!] Because Jesus was the first to stand from the dead. We heard the account from Luke today, of what happened that first Easter evening, when Jesus appeared to His frightened and confused disciples and said: Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. Here I stand! Alive! What are you afraid of?

Are you afraid of your sins? Don’t be! I was crucified for them and now here I stand! Alive! They are atoned for and you are forgiven.

Are you afraid of death? Don’t be! I died and now here I stand! I defeated death for you, so that though you die, yet you will live.

Are you afraid of satan? Don’t be! He did his worst and tried to defeat me, yet here I stand! I’ve stripped him of his power.

Are you afraid of those who wield earthly power? Don’t be! They tried to get rid of me and yet here I stand! And they’ll try to get rid of you, too. But all they can do is take your life. But I give you eternal life, which they can’t take away.

And why are you troubled and confused? This is exactly what Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms said was going to happen. And Jesus taught them. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. So that they, too, could say: here I stand! And stake everything, even life and limb, on Jesus’ resurrection.

And they did. Peter did, when faced with the gruesome death of being crucified upside-down. Here I stand. And the same John who was with Peter that day when the man lame from birth was healed and they were threatened by the Council, did as well. He wasn’t martyred, but he was persecuted and exiled for his stand. Yet even so, and even after he witnessed or received word of all his brother Apostles killed, he could write the beautiful words we heard today, to encourage the believers: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. That is, here we stand! The love the Father has given us no one can take away. We are His children now, and His children forever. We will not deny Jesus. We will not go back to the old life of sin. We will not recant. Here we stand!

And here we stand. On the death and resurrection of Jesus. On the empty tomb. On every Word and every promise of God fulfilled in Jesus. On the forgiveness of our sins by grace through faith. 

And here we stand because this is the witness of the Scriptures - which is not just another holy book like other religions’ holy books - but the eye witness testimony of those who saw Jesus die on the cross and then risen from the dead and alive again. Those who saw His flesh and blood. Who saw Him eat - which spirits or ghosts do not do. Who put their fingers into those nail holes and their hands into His side. And who were then sent by Jesus - apostled by Him - to go tell the world this fact, this truth - that sin, death, grave, and hell are defeated. That there is life and salvation in Him who did that. For them. For all people. 

The witness of the Scriptures. That is the rest of Luther’s quote that is so important but often forgotten; what gave Luther such boldness. And so as you can read on the insert, Luther said: “I am bound by the Scriptures . . . and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. . . . It is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand . . .”

Conscience. You can’t go against conscience. You hear that a lot these days by people defending what they do and believe. But the truth is that your bare conscience is not a good and reliable guide. Your conscience, like the rest of you - your mind, your body, your desires - is fallen. Infected by sin. So when Luther said “it is not right to go against conscience” it was after he had said that his “conscience was captive to the Word of God.” For a conscience formed and informed by the Word of God is a good and reliable guide. A conscience without the Word of God is not.

Which is why on that first Easter evening, we read that what Jesus did is open the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures. In their case, the Old Testament Scriptures. He opened their minds first to clean out all the junk that accumulated there; all the wrong thinking and error. And then filled them with the truth of the Scriptures. And once they had that solid foundation to stand on, once Luther had that solid foundation to stand on, they could all boldly say: Here I stand!

And so for us. Why is it that we, at times, are not able to stand so firmly? Why is it so hard for us to say: Here I stand? Why do doubts and fears seem to get the better of us? Is it because we do not have this firm foundation to stand on, as they did? 

What junk has accumulated in your mind? Thoughts and “truths” of the world that contradict the Scriptures and so make you uncertain. What fear - of the world, the people in the world, or of losing what you have in the world - has replaced the fear of God? What do you love in the world more than God and so cling to that rather than the Word of God? You see, when our fear, love, and trust is wrong, then where we are standing is not firm, and may even be dangerous.

So we, too, need the firm foundation of God’s Word. It is no accident that the Reformation was launched after Luther became a professor of the Scriptures at the University of Wittenberg and spent his time diving into them. They - and the Spirit that works through them - changed him. And gave him a conscience captive to the Word of God that could say: Here I stand! Even in the face of all the powers of the world roaring against him.

And they are what strengthen and embolden you as well. 

To take your stand on your baptismal identity. You are not who others say you are, but who God says you are. 

To take your stand not on the fact that you are good, but on the full and free forgiveness of your sins. 

To take your stand on the Body and Blood of Christ given to you here as food for body and soul. 

To take your stand on the truth of God’s Word, that what God says is right is right, and what He says is wrong is wrong, and not the upside-down thinking of the world. 

You and I may have to take such a stand, as Luther did. The truth of the Scriptures is becoming less and less accepted these days, and less and less tolerated these days. Calling certain popular sins sin these days is out-of-bounds, and calling Jesus the only true God and Saviour has been discouraged and disallowed ever since the earliest days of the church. But here we stand. Popular or not. Allowed or not. Legal or not. Our conscience captive to the Word of God.

And if you don’t? If your doubts and fears get the better of you? Well, that’s why we come back here every week, isn’t it? To confess, to repent, and to hear Jesus say to us again, “I forgive you all your sins.” To have Jesus open our minds again, clean out the junk that has accumulated in there this past week, and be filled again with His truth. And to receive the food of His Body and Blood to strengthen us for another week. Another week of temptations, challenges, trials, dangers, needs, fears, and whatever else satan can throw at you. For satan wants to make your life like standing on a ball! So that you’ll always be off balance and shaky and uncertain . . . and easy to topple over. But what Jesus does is lift you up off the ground and put you on the unshakeable, unmoveable, reliable, and steadfast foundation of His Word. When you’re on a ball, you can’t say Here I stand! But on Jesus and His Word, then yes! Here I stand! Not because of me. Because of Jesus. Because of all that He has done for me.

A lot has changed in 500 years. A lot has stayed the same. But what will not change, and will never change, is our Lord, His Word, and His promises. The one who said Here I stand after His resurrection is the one on whom we can now say Here I stand! In life, in death, and forever. 

For Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!]

And hier stehen wir! We can do no other.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter

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Jesu Juva

“New Life”

Text: Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 1:1-2:2; John 20:19-31

Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia.

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

The reading from Acts today was remarkable. All who believed were of one heart and soul. They had everything in common. There was not a needy person among them. They sold and gave away what they had. I think we see glimpses of this in the church today. There is a certain unity we have here. All of you are very generous people. But still . . . there’s something different, isn’t there? About that early Christian church . . .

Some would chalk it up to a bygone era. Different people, different time, different culture. Some try to find in it a political ideology that we should strive to implement today. And some think that those early believers were like that because they thought that Jesus was coming back to end all things in a couple of days, weeks, or years at most - and when He didn’t, they had to scramble to adapt and stopped living that way. 

There’s a kernel of truth in all of those thoughts - but only a kernel. None capture the heart of the matter. For in all three of the readings we heard today, there are two truths that hold them all together; two truths that were life-changing for them then, and for us still today. And those two truths are what we are especially celebrating this Easter season: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ triumph over death and the grave, and the reconciliation we have in Him, both with God and with one another. Those are the two things that change us, no matter when or where we live.

So for those believers in Acts . . . when you know Jesus has risen from the dead, that changes everything! That changed them. What was so important to you before seems not so important now. We don’t have to suppose that they were naive in thinking Jesus was coming back imminently - whether He did or not, His resurrection meant their resurrection. His life now formed their life - and it showed. He gave everything for them, how could they not now give to others? Even everything they had.

But there was something else they needed to do that, and that was the forgiveness of sins. For you’re not going to give to someone you have a grudge against. You’re not of one heart and soul with someone you resent. You’re not going to be generous when you are suspicious. But when there is forgiveness, when there is reconciliation, when you have peace with God, then you can live at peace with others. Without that forgiveness, we’re constantly trying to defend and justify ourselves, our actions, our value, our needs - that we’re right, that we’re okay, that the problem isn’t with us but with others. The focus is on ourselves, not others. It is, really, against others. But forgiveness changes that focus. With this gift from God - not having to justify ourselves because He has justified us - we can focus on others and giving to them, both spiritually (forgiveness) and physically. 

Now, all this does not mean we should try to imitate the Christians in the early church and try to form Christian communistic communities. Some have tried that over the years. I’m not sure how they have turned out, though I can guess. Sin usually, sooner or later, intrudes and causes even our best efforts to fail. No, we are, in fact, different people of a different time and culture. So what we should do it take the two truths that enabled them to live that way - the resurrection and life of Jesus from the dead and the forgiveness of our sins - and apply them to our lives and circumstances today. What would such a life look like today? If the resurrection and life of Jesus was so real to you that everything else in this world paled in comparison? If you really stopped trying to defend and justify and exalt yourself and focused entirely on others? How would that change you . . . and your life . . . and our church?

The second reading we heard today, from the Apostle John, talks about all this, too, just in a slightly different way. He talks about having touched and seen the risen Jesus and the fellowship (or unity) we have with each other because of the fellowship (or unity) we have in Him. That is, that united to Jesus, reconciled to Jesus, we are reconciled and united to one another. We don’t say we have no sin or that others haven’t sin against us - sins from us and against us are the reality of this fallen world and life. But we DO have something more powerful than sin: the blood of Jesus [that] cleanses us from all sin. That forgiveness creates our fellowship. That is, it changes our relationships - with God and with one another. Sin no longer defines us and our relationships, forgiveness does. Your sins, shortcomings, and failures are not your story, the forgiveness and life of Jesus is. The forgiveness and life of Jesus, the uniting to Jesus, you received when you were baptized into Him.

And again, think about how your life would look, how our life together here as a church would look, if that forgiveness - and your baptism - more fully defined you and our story. I say more fully, because it already does . . . just maybe not as much as it should. For there is still division among us - in the world, in the church. Are we quick to accuse and slow to repent? Do we focus on some and ignore others? Do we see others as a brother or sister for whom Christ died, or someone who’s annoying or irritating and so avoid? Are we lacking in love? Are we jealous instead of generous? Expecting instead of giving? Are we walking in the light, or, if not in the darkness, at least spending some time in the shadows?

Now, it wasn’t perfect in John’s time either. We shouldn’t idealize the early church. John says he writes these things so that our joy may be complete. It’s not yet! And it won’t be on this side of eternity. But the life and forgiveness we need, we have. Because we have Jesus. Because He gives Himself and all that He is to us.

Which is what we see in the third reading we heard today, the Holy Gospel, the familiar account of Jesus appearing to His frightened disciples. What are the marks of that account? The very same things: resurrection and forgiveness. (1.) The risen Jesus appears to them and shows Himself truly risen and alive. (2.) He gives peace to their broken and restless hearts in the forgiveness of their sins. And (3.) He commissions them to give this forgiveness and life to others. Real forgiveness, just as if it came directly from Him. 

And they do. For what is the first thing they do with the reconciliation and forgiveness, the fellowship and peace, they have received? They go include Thomas. It is as John said: their joy would not be complete without him. There would be something missing - someone missing. And maybe Jesus told them to do it. After all, in the Gospel we heard last Sunday, the angel singled out Peter when he told Mary Magdalene: go, tell his disciples and Peter (Mark 16:7). So maybe here, too, Jesus told them to go get Thomas and meet back here in this same place exactly one week later. And He would be here. How else would they know to gather again and expect Jesus?

And so it is for us. Here we gather together each week and the resurrected Jesus comes to us. First He gives us peace in the forgiveness of our sins. We remember that we are baptized. Whatever you have done this week, however hard and however often you have fallen, you are His child and you are forgiven. Whether you denied like Peter, doubted like Thomas, betrayed like Judas, or sinned in any of a thousand other ways, all has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. You have peace and fellowship with God. You are forgiven. There is no sin too big, no stain of soul too deep, for the powerful blood of Christ to cleanse. You are forgiven and you are free. 

Which is not, then, the freedom to go live however you want and to sin as much as you want. Remember those Christians in the first reading today from Acts - what did the resurrection, forgiveness, and fellowship of Jesus do to them? It changed them. Amplifying not their focus on themselves and what they could do and get for themselves (which is what sin is), but amplifying their focus on others and what they could do for them. And they did. There was now something in their lives - a new reality - that completely reordered their priorities. And those ten disciples wanted that for Thomas too, as Jesus did. As Jesus wants for all people.

So we gather here, all of us foul sinners, all of us who have lived this week as if God did not matter and as if I mattered most. Who have lived as if Jesus wasn’t risen at all and I had to get for myself what I could. Who have lived in competition, not service, and in doubt, not faith. And here, Jesus says, not to put our fingers into His nail holes and our hands into His side, but even better - not us into Him, but Him into us! He places into our mouths His Body and Blood. And we say: My Lord and my God! And we, who do not see, are blessed. Blessed, because we are reconciled to God, forgiven our sin, and have fellowship with Him. All that we need we have, in Jesus. For life now, and life forever. 

And then like the then, to go out and bring those who are not here, here, the next week. Where Jesus will be for us again in His Word and Sacrament. Look around. Who is missing? Our fellowship is not complete, our joy is not complete, without them. We need them. And they need us.

And yes, there are a thousand things in life that get in the way. I don’t think that’s an accident. I think satan knows exactly what he’s doing, to divide our fellowship with God and with one another. But whatever is in the way - whether it is a large stone sealing a tomb, a burden in life, or something between Christians - the resurrection, forgiveness, and fellowship of Christ is greater. To restore what we lost, to repair what we damaged, and to reconcile sinners. That’s the new life we have in the risen Christ. It might look a bit different now among us than it did with those early Christians, but it is the same new life in Christ.

Of course, that new life you have is renewed in you every day through the Word and Spirit of Christ. It is not just a Sunday thing. You live it every day. You live in your baptism every day. But here is our life together. Here we have everything in common. Here there is not high or low, better or worse - we are all children of God. Here there is not less for some and more for others - all receive the same. The same Jesus, the same forgiveness, the same gifts, the same life. Here, we are of one heart and soul, one confession, one faith. Here we are for one another. And just like for those Christians in the early church, that’s special. Even remarkable. It is what many are looking for, craving for. Especially in our dog-eat-dog world, and nowadays, in our separated and isolated world. Here is the risen Christ and the gift of His fellowship. Here is a unity not of this world. It’s not what we have done, but what He has done for us, and brought us into. And blessed are we to be here. 

For blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Believe what? That Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!]

And here, with forgiveness and new life, for you.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Death Is Swallowed Up”

Text: Isaiah 25:6-9; Mark 16:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia.

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

I have to tell you that I plan on doing a lot of swallowing later today! Swallowing a lot of Easter goodies, swallowing the Easter feast my wife is making, and swallowing some good wine. A day of great joy and feasting after the fasting of Lent.

But as great as our joy, and as much as we might swallow today, our feasting is nothing compared to our Lord’s. For on this day, Isaiah says, he swallowed up death forever. The death that swallows us, that devours us, ever since that fateful day when Adam and Eve ate the only thing in the Garden God asked them not to - is now itself devoured and swallowed up by our Saviour. The life of our Lord’s resurrection has completely engulfed and eclipsed it. Death’s power now lies dead.

God had promised it. Isaiah prophesied it. Now Jesus had done it. And the angels announced it to the women who went to the tomb to finish His burial. 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. 

Well, this was too much for the women to swallow! No, really, where is He? They didn’t take Him and throw Him in the trash with the others, did they? Just tell us. And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Trembling and fear. That pretty much describes our world today. Our world for this past year. The women trembled and feared because of a body they could not find, the world trembled and feared over a virus it could not see. A virus swallowing up people by the thousands. And so panic, fear, doom. The women went to the tomb. Today people stay home. Hiding. Hiding from death, lest they be swallowed up. Because that’s what death does - it swallows us up. Bodies swallowed up by earth or flames. Friends, family, neighbors, taken from us suddenly. It has been said that the virus brought the world to its knees.

But that is where we already were. The church, that is. On our knees in prayer. On our knees in worship. On our knees before our King to whom we owe everything, including not only our lives, but our every breath. We already know all about death, and that we are all going to die because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). So this virus was new, but really not new at all. 

But to a world that stands tall and proud, boastful of human achievement and defiant of death, and for whom this is all there is . . . this was as frightening a year as that Easter morning was to the women. Never before in our lifetimes - although certainly before in the history of the world - but never before in our lifetimes had death seemed so large and powerful. There were wars, yes, but always someplace far away, in some other country. Natural disasters, yes, and terrible, but localized, not worldwide. There was terrorism, yes, but only in certain places. But this . . . was everywhere. And unpredictable. And seemingly so arbitrary. Swallowing up people everywhere. The world saw death . . . and trembled. And no amount of sweet-smelling flowers or pious sayings could make it better.

But there was one who could. And did. Not a researcher or a scientist, but a Saviour, come to swallow up death forever.

So when this virus emerged and starting saturating the world, it is the Church that was uniquely ready for it. Oh, death? Yes. We’re ready. We know of death. But even more, we know of our Saviour who swallowed up death! And in Baptism, we’ve already died and risen with Him. So we’re good. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s (Romans 14:8). That’s how Paul put it. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

That’s the confidence we need, that can get us through this world and life so fraught with danger and death. Because as bad as this last year was and so prevalent this virus, it wasn’t what most people died from last year. It was only the third-leading cause of death. And when it goes away or is rendered moot by weakening itself, herd immunity, vaccinations, or whatever, there will still be death. t will still have to be dealt with. 

But it was! It was! That’s the good news that is proclaimed this day. This is the feast of victory for our God! Yes, as we just sang, it was a strange and dreadful strife, when life and death contended. But the victory remained with life, the reign of death was ended (LSB #458 v. 4). And over 500 people saw the victorious one, Paul told us today. Saw the Jesus who once hung dead, swallowed up by death on the cross, alive again. And some of them soon faced a horrible death - by sword, by fire, by beast, those early Christian martyrs. But in Christ, they were ready. Oh, death? Yes. We’re ready. We know of death. But we have a Saviour who swallowed up death! So death can do its worst. We’re good. 

And so are you. For on the same mountain where Jesus swallowed up death forever, He also prepared for you a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. Isaiah describes it as a rich and sumptuous feast that brings joy and gladness to the heart. You know it better by its other name: the Lord’s Supper. For there is no food or drink richer than what we receive here. The bread of life, the cup of blessing, the Body and Blood of the Lord, the medicine of immortality. Food that gives forgiveness, life, and salvation. Food that gives us Christ’s victory over death. 

Yet this food also points us to the feast that awaits us in the future, the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. Where there are no tears, no sadness, no death, only joy, and gladness, and life. That is yours already now, even as we know the best is yet to come.

The women eventually got it, even though at first they left the tomb trembling and in fear. Maybe your reaction was the same, at first, when news of this virus and its spread first started to cover all peoples, like a veil over spread over all nations. That’s okay. Jesus doesn’t expect perfect Christians. He comes to imperfect ones with His perfection and forgiveness. He comes to the weak with His strength. He comes to those in fear with His peace. When we are bowed down He lifts us up. When we don’t know what to think, He gives us His Word, that we know the truth. When faced with uncertainty, He gives us His promises, that we be certain and sure and confident in Him.

The angel who spoke to the women at the tomb that morning did that. He pointed them to Jesus’ words and promises. This is just as He told you. Now go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. They who received this good news would also now give this good news. That death is defeated, the tomb is empty, and Jesus lives. Death got swallowed up!

And that’s our message, too, to a trembling, fearful, world. Now, and whenever, however, death rears its ugly head and roars with it foul breath again. Yes, death. We know of death. We’re ready. We’re good. You can be, too. Jesus’ victory is for all people. And maybe, just maybe, as the women were transformed by such news, and as the disciples were transformed at that news, so will those we tell. The Word and Spirit of God working in their hearts as He has worked in ours. 

So when you’re feasting today, swallowing down lots of good and rich food, remembering who feasted first on this day, and what He feasted on! That He swallowed up your death forever. To give you life forever. 

For Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Easter Vigil Meditation

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Knowing Our Story”

Tonight we are the disciples on the road to Emmaus. 

Tonight we are the eleven gathered together on Easter evening.

We are not sad and frightened, not confused and uncertain, as they were.

For we know what is coming tomorrow. We anticipate it already tonight.

But Jesus is doing for us, tonight, what He did for them, then - we are learning of Him from the Scriptures. That is, the Old Testament.

For on the road to Emmaus, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27).

And then, when He was with the eleven, Jesus said: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45).

He showed them. It was all about Him. Every bit of it. The history of Israel was no accident. It did not all happen by chance or fate. It foreshadowed Him, and He fulfilled it all.

And this is important for us to know. Past and present go together. Today, for example, people know we have a constitution, but many don’t know the history and how it came to be - and without that, the constitution doesn’t make sense to them. They don’t know why things were done as they were. But to know the history anchors the present and informs us why things are.

So, too, with Scripture. To know only the New without the Old is to know only part of the story; it leaves us anchorless and adrift. It can lead to misunderstanding and confusion.

That is, in fact, what happened in Jesus’ day. The Jews had forgotten. They thought they knew the Scriptures, but they were trying to understand them apart from Jesus, and so got them horribly wrong. So wrong, in fact, that they crucified the one those very Scriptures were talking about! So once Jesus fulfilled them, His first order of business is to teach this to those who were now to go and preach them. He opens their minds and fills them with the truth. All the stories, all the prophecies, all the Old, done, fulfilled, in Him.

And tonight, Jesus is doing that for us. Tonight our minds are being opened. We know what Jesus did. We know the joy that awaits us tomorrow. Tonight, we look back and marvel at how all the Scriptures talk about Jesus and find their fulfillment in Him. That in our minds, as we hear these stories, we hear Jesus.

Jesus, the creator and re-creator.

Jesus, the one who saves through water and the ark of His Church.

Jesus, the only son who was offered up for us.

Jesus, the one who brought us out of our slavery to sin and overthrew our satanic tyrant.

Jesus, the food and drink that is freely given to us.

Jesus, the forgiver of sins who took His own three day journey to deliver us from evil.

Jesus, the one who endured the flames for us, so that no flame will ever touch or harm us.

And then we’ll remember that all these stories are now our stories, for baptized into Christ, this is now our history, too. These are not just cool stories about certain people from long ago - these are our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, our ancestors. This is who we are. And it is important for us to know that.

For many, the Old Testament is a mysterious and hard to understand book. Different people, different times, different places, different cultures. But with Jesus, we are not so different. With Jesus, the unfamiliar becomes familiar. The more things change, the more they stay the same. They are sinners in need of redemption, we are sinners in need of redemption.

And tonight, we have been redeemed! What was foretold has been fulfilled. What has been promised has been delivered. Our hearts are glad, and tomorrow we will burst out in joy.

But not yet. Tonight, we gather in a peaceful joy. To take a deep breath and hear again our history. So that tomorrow, when we join the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we know a little better who that company is. And look forward to the day when we will see them and know them, all of us, finally together, around the throne of the Lamb. 

So let us hear their story. 

Let us hear our story. 

Let us hear Jesus’ story.

Holy and Good Friday Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Smile”

Text: John 18-19; Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

I think Jesus smiled on the cross.

Not the whole time, of course. There was much pain and agony. Agony of body with the nails. Agony of soul, being forsaken by His Father and being forsaken and mocked by His people. You heard the reproaches tonight. No smiling there.

But other times, I think He did.

I think He did when the thief on the cross next to Him asked for Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. Words of faith. A sinner turned from his wicked way to see in Jesus his Saviour. Words that were music to Jesus’ ears. As beautiful to Him on the cross as the songs of the birds are to us on a warm spring day. So I think they brought a smile - just a little one - to Jesus’ lips, right before He assured that newest child of God that He would, in fact, remember him, and he would, in fact, be with Him in His kingdom. A little joy in the midst of the pain.

And then, I think, there was another time. At the end of the long, cruel hours on the cross. After the scourging, mocking, and taunting were past. When it was dark and still and everyone there was just waiting for death, and Jesus said, It is finished.

Little children smile when they are finished working on a project or a drawing and bring it to their parents. Look! It is finished! School children smile when they finish an assignment or a test, or at the end of a school year. It is finished! Adults smile when a project at work or at home is completed. It is finished! It is a good feeling to have completed the work you started, you were given.

So, too, for Jesus. All that He came to do for you is completed. There is nothing left to be done for your forgiveness and salvation. For Jesus, it was about a 33 year project. His conception and growth in the womb. His birth in Bethlehem. His flight into Egypt and childhood in Nazareth. Obedient to His parents in every way. His completely perfect life. Then His Baptism and public ministry. His miracles and teaching. Healing, feeding, raising, praying. He knew it would end this way. He kept telling His disciples. No one would take His life from Him - He would lay it down of His own accord (John 10:17-18). Thus the Scriptures said, and thus He would do.

So He allows Himself to be arrested. He showed first that they had no power over Him. At His word they all helplessly fall to the ground. But then He withdraws His power and permits it. The Lamb has to be bound and led to the slaughter. And so like that Lamb, He opens not His mouth. He is silent, not defending himself or accusing others. On Him all the sins of the world laid. On Him on your sins are laid. He is stricken, smitten, and afflicted. By man or by God? Yes. By man in hate, by His Father in love for the world. He is despised and rejected by men, but not by His Father. He is forsaken, but not rejected. For just as at His Baptism (Matthew 3:17), and just as at His Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), this is His beloved Son, and with Him He is well-pleased. For in all this is the salvation of the world.

He is the High Priest who has become the sacrifice. The Shepherd who has become the Lamb. The one who spared from death all the firstborn of Israel in Egypt is the firstborn slaughtered in their place. No blood would protect Him. His blood would protect us. 

He is pierced, not stoned, for He would be lifted up from the earth in His death. For cursed is everyone hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23). He is crushed for our iniquities, by our iniquities. Crushed for every careless word you utter; every lie or word hurled to inflict pain. For every vile, hateful, lustful thought. For everytime you passed by another in need and looked the other way, and for every selfish action. For your heart blacked by sin and evil desires. For your bearing His name and then living like you didn’t. For every sin we think no one knows, and that, we think, doesn’t hurt anyone. How wrong that is.

So He who was Israel’s water in the wilderness is given sour wine to drink. The one who is the bread of life is starved of His life. He who is the Light of the world hangs in the darkness of death. He who clothed Israel for 40 wilderness years is plundered of His clothing. He who gave Israel a home and land of their own is laid in a borrowed tomb.

Now, it is done. It is finished. The sacrifice, the atonement. He dies, you live. You are redeemed. You are saved. And He wouldn’t have it any other way. It is worth it, to Him. You are worth it. All the pain, all the agony, all the mocking, the death. If it means life for you, if it means your crushing load on Him not you, if it means that today, you will be with Him in Paradise . . . it’s worth it. Take all the love of all who love you in this world all together - and this love is more than all that. Far more. Magnitiudes more. The love of Father, Son, and Spirit for you. The Father who gave His Son for you. The Son who laid down his life for you. And the Spirit who gives the life of the Son to you. It’s all for you. It always was. 

Now the promise made to Adam and Eve in the Garden is fulfilled. And as great as this sacrifice, the damage inflicted upon satan is worse. Far worse. Magnitudes worse. And with that, this tree of death has become a tree of life. Life for you. 

And so, I think, Jesus must have smiled, when He said: It is finished. He hangs there victorious. This is why He came, for this moment. You are His! So He breathes His last, hands over His Spirit for you, and entrusts Himself into His Father’s hands. 

And because He did, you can. You can breathe your last in confidence and entrust yourself into your Father’s hands.

And this, too: you can smile. Even, no especially, on this day. This very good Friday. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.