Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Real and True and For You”

Text: John 20:19-31; Revelation 1:4-18; Acts 5:12-32

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.

Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.

Thus spoke Thomas. Doubting Thomas, if you like. Which is a name a bit unfair, really. They all were doubters that day. Unbelievers, if you like. The women who went to the tomb expecting a dead body. The other disciples in that room cowering in fear behind locked doors and barred windows. The two disciples walking in despair on the road to Emmaus. Jesus had told them all that He would be killed and then rise from the dead. Multiple times He told them. The first had happened, but they did not believe the second would. And they all did not believe it. They all could not wrap their minds around such a statement. They were all unbelievers that day.

So when Thomas said, I will never believe, what he meant was this: I will continue to believe  . . . to believe what I know. That Jesus is not alive. That death is more powerful than Jesus. That Jesus talked a good game, did lots of great miracles, shook up the world, but lost in the end. The Jews won. The Romans won. Death won. Not Jesus. He’s dead. This I know. It’s what they all thought that day, at first.

Which means they were all dead that day, at first. Their hopes, dead. Their dreams, dead. Their faith, dead. Their future, dead. Because their friend and who they thought was their Saviour was dead. And what was alive was their fears, their confusion, their doubts. So they acted like dead men, entombing themselves in that room behind locked doors and barred windows.

But then someone with the key came. And I don’t mean the key to those locked doors and barred windows! The one we heard about in the reading from Revelation, the one who has the keys of Death and Hades. The one who died and is alive forevermore, just as He had told them. And when you have those keys, to unlock death and the grave, what chance does a locked door, a barred window, or even a prison with bars and guards have to keep you out? So Jesus appears. The living Jesus. He didn’t break down or unlock the doors or windows. He didn’t need to. Just as the large stone that sealed His tomb wasn’t rolled away to let Him out, but to show that He was already gone - risen from the dead. Because when you have the keys to unlock death and the grave, what chance does a stone have - no matter how big - to hold you in?

So just as Peter and John ran to the tomb that had once sealed in Jesus, but found Him not there, so Jesus goes to the tomb that they had sealed themselves into, that locked and barred room, to let them out; to give them life from the dead and set them free. And the key to set them free, the key to unlock their doubts and fears, is the same key as the key to death and the grave - the key of forgiveness. For death is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23). Death was ushered into our world by the sin of Adam and Eve (Romans 5). The soul who sins is the soul who will die (Ezekiel 18). So if sin is atoned for, paid for, then death and the grave are unlocked. Then the power and hold of death and the grave is gone. Then you have life. Forgiveness is the key.

Which you know from a much smaller scale, from your own life. Let’s say you messed up. I mean, you really messed up. Think of something from your own life. Or, say you took something of your Mom or Dad’s and broke it. Something they needed, or really loved. Something that had belonged to their grandpa, irreplaceable. And you didn’t break it just a little, you smashed it. Broken beyond repair. And they’re going to find out. You know they’re going to find out. And soon. It’s all you can think about, worry about. And what’s going to happen to you when they do! . . . And then the moment comes. And you’ve never been more scared in your life! But instead of bringing the hammer down - a hammer which got bigger and bigger in your mind the longer this went on! - you heard this instead: I forgive you. . . .  What? That’s it? And with just those words, your fear and anxiety, your dread and despair, are gone. You can live again.

So it was in that room that night. The one who has the key to life, to living, to unlocking us from our dread and despair, the fear and anxiety of our sins, death, the grave, and hell - all of it! - comes to them and gives them life. Peace be with you, He says. Peace for troubled minds. Peace for anxious hearts. Peace that I do not hold your sins, your failures, your doubts, your unbelief, against you - I forgive you. And suddenly, they could live again! They were glad, they rejoiced! Jesus was alive, and now they, too, were alive. And just as Jesus had left His tomb, so they walked out of their locked and barred tomb that night.

And when they did, they went and found Thomas. Maybe just because he was their friend and fellow disciple; but maybe Jesus told them to. Maybe when Jesus appeared to them that night, He looked at them and counted one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten . . . wait, what? Where’s Thomas? Go tell Thomas! Go unlock Thomas from his prison house of fear and death. For as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. . . . If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven. So go tell Thomas. Go forgive Thomas. Set Thomas free. Give Thomas life.

But Thomas did not believe them. That’s the thing about forgiveness - it can be real, but if you don’t believe it, you still live in fear and dread and death. Your Mom and Dad can say I forgive you for breaking what was so important to them, but if you don’t believe it, you still live in fear and dread of that hammer of their wrath coming down on you. Sooner or later.

So for seven more days, Thomas lived in dread and fear and sadness. Did he not see the change in the others? Did he not wonder? Makes you feel sad for Thomas, doesn’t it? 

Then on the eighth day, John tells us - not just the eighth day of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, but the day of life, the day of eternity, the day unlike any other that came before it because the power of death and the grave had been broken - they re-enact that night for Thomas. Same room. Same locked doors and barred windows. Same Jesus. Same words. Peace be with you. Plural you. All of you. But then personal you. You, Thomas. Peace be with you. I do not condemn you. In fact, here - if it’s the nail holes that will make you believe, then here. Go ahead. Poke me. Prod me. This is why I came. To give this Body and Blood for you and to you. And it is Easter for Thomas. He is raised from the dead. Now he lives and confesses: My Lord and my God! I Know That My Redeemer Lives (LSB #461)! But Thomas’ joy is not the greatest in that room that night - Jesus’ is. That Thomas now lives and is free.

And now that same Body and Blood that Jesus offered to Thomas to poke and prod He now offers to you to eat and drink. That you be forgiven, believe, and live. For the sins which cause you dread are forgiven. Swallowed up in His victory. The death that will come upon you and the grave your body will be placed into cannot hold you. They’ve been overcome by His resurrection. You belong to the one with the keys to death and the grave. So you will live. And you can live now. Free from fear, anxiety, or dread. You can say - as you did say - with Thomas: I Know That My Redeemer Lives!

For blessed are those who have not seen - that’s you - and yet have believed. Believed the word that has been proclaimed to you. The word of forgiveness. The word of life. The word of victory. The word that sets you blessedly free. 

And John says that’s why he wrote his Gospel: these are written so that you may believe - not what you know, not what you think - but that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life - freedom, forgiveness - in his name. 

The kind of freedom and life those disciples - now apostles - had, which we heard about in the reading from Acts. It hadn’t been that many days since they had locked themselves into that room in fear. But now they were different. Changed. Now they couldn’t be stopped. Now they had no fear. The Jews that had crucified Jesus were threatening them and they didn’t care. Because what could the Jews do to them? Jesus has the keys to death and the grave. Jesus has the forgiveness that set them free, and told them to go set others free with that same forgiveness. When they spoke, when they forgave, it would be Him speaking, Him forgiving. So they did. Maybe even feeling sorry for the Jewish leaders . . . for the forgiveness that was real and true and for them, but they didn’t believe.

Now that word and that forgiveness is spoken here, for you. To raise you from the dead in Baptism, to set you free with forgiveness, to give you confidence and joy in each and every word and promise of God fulfilled in Jesus, and to give you the Body and Blood of Jesus once poked and prodded by Thomas to eat and to drink. That you live. And when you do, Jesus rejoices. In you. 

And maybe others see a change in you, and wonder. And you can tell them - as the disciples told Thomas - of sins forgiven, of death defeated, of the grave opened. You can tell them of a Saviour not who burdens, but who sets free. Not one who demands, but who gives. Who doesn’t demand you give your life for Him, but who gives His life for you. A Saviour who doesn’t make you earn His favor, but forgives. Who says peace be with you, and gives that peace. 

Like with Thomas, maybe they won’t believe, but say I will never believe, unless . . . They’ll believe only what they know, what they think, what they see and feel and touch. And we’ll be sad for them. And pray that Jesus work in them as He has worked in us.

But maybe they will believe. The reading from Acts said many did then; maybe many will today. Forgiveness is powerful. People are dying to live. There’s only one who holds that key. Who opens the grave.Who gives life to the dead, hope to the hopeless, and a joy that cannot die. That no matter what we have broken, how we have failed, we have hope. And not just that we may get away with it, but that it’s gone. Forgiven. Defeated. By our Saviour. And then His gifts given - freedom, life, and joy. That not just one day a year, but everyday, be Easter for us. Everyday a day of life and joy. Everyday a day of confidence and peace. Everyday a day to know that my Redeemer lives! For Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] And therefore so are you.

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

Sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord

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Jesu Juva

“The More Things Change . . .”

Text: Luke 24:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26; Isaiah 65:17-25

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.

No two Easters are the same. 

Because the world changes. This year there is a war in Ukraine, but fear and uncertainty around the world. Two years ago we had to have multiple services of only ten people each. The changes are not always bad, like these, but it seems they are more often than not.

But not only our world changes, we change. For some, this is their first celebration of Easter. For some, the first as husband and wife, the first with a new child, the first without a loved one, or the first in a new home. Some are having to spend this Easter away from home in rehab. Some battling a newly diagnosed disease.

And our church changes. Some members have gone, some new ones have come, some come back after long absences. And maybe next year, we’ll be in our own place!

But while no two Easter are the same, at the same time every Easter is the same. The same truth, the same joy, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The triumph of life over death! That is the truth we celebrate today that makes all the difference, through all the times and places and changes that happen in our world and our lives and our church. Everything else may change - that never does. He never does. And never will.

So Easter is a rock we can count on. Whatever happens. Through all changes. In good times and bad times. In life and in death. It is the rock, center, and foundation of the Church Year. It is the rock, center, and foundation of our lives. As we sang today: The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done! (LSB #464) Life and death contended, in that combat stupendous, and life won. The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal (LSB #460 v. 1).

But on that first Easter, it was a different rock, another kind of rock, the women were counting on. The one holding Jesus - a dead Jesus - in the tomb. But something had happened; something had changed. It wasn’t where they expected it to be. He wasn’t where they expected Him to be! This was a day unlike any other for them. At first, they were perplexed, confused, when they saw the open and empty tomb. Then they were frightened when they saw the two men in dazzling apparel. And then they were filled with joy as they went back and told the eleven what they had heard and seen. They were . . . well, they were like the shepherds at Christmas who told everyone what they had heard and seen. The shepherds who were so filled with joy at seeing Jesus in the manger. The women were filled with joy when they didn’t see Jesus in the tomb - because He was risen from the dead! It really was an Easter unlike any other. And unlike any would be again.

The apostle Paul said that as well - that this was an Easter unlike any other. It was a first. The first resurrection. Jesus as the first to overcome death. Jesus as the firstfruits of all who have fallen asleep, who have died. Meaning there would be many more after Him. And so this pointing us forward to another Easter unlike any other, when all the dead are raised, death is destroyed, and all enemies put under His feet. 

The prophet Isaiah talked about that day, too; that day unlike any other day - not the first Easter, or the Easters after that, but that final Easter. When not just people are raised and made new, but all of creation is made new. A new heavens and a new earth! With no sorrow or sadness, no sin or death. Only blessing, only peace, only Jesus. Victorious and triumphant. 

That’s the Jesus we need. That’s the hope we need. That’s the life we need. And the Jesus, hope, and life we have. A Jesus who lives and cannot die again, and so is with us through all the changes and chances of life. And with us not just to make our lives better here and now, for a time. Paul says if that’s all Jesus can do, if that’s all He’s good for, then we are to be greatly pitied and have quite the pitiful Saviour - even if we have good lives. Because that good life is going to come to an end. Somehow, someway, sometime. And then what? And what’s the point? Of just prolonging - however well - the inevitable?

But Jesus didn’t come and didn’t die and didn’t rise just to give you a better life now - maybe your life will be, maybe it won’t. He came and died and rose to make your life eternal. To give you a life beyond the reach of death. Life as God created it to be. 

You can’t blame the women for being perplexed and confused, or the disciples for doubting their story. We struggle with it, too. With death. When war breaks out, when a pandemic spreads, when a loved one dies, when we come face-to-face with our own mortality, we, too, often times . . . We know Jesus is risen from the dead! Yes, we know that. We know His words and promises. We believe. We know His forgiveness and life. And yet still, when death is no longer sometime in the future, but now . . . when death is no longer a possibility, but a reality . . . when death jumps up and smacks you in the face . . . it’s hard, isn’t it? The struggle real.

Which is why Jesus came to defeat death for us. And why we have so much joy this day - because He has! 

That when the doctor says six months, which seems more like six minutes, we have the hope and joy of Jesus and a life without end.

That when beside a grave that is six feet deep, which might as well be six million miles deep, we have the hope and joy of Jesus and the promised reunion of the resurrection.

And having such confidence for the future enables us to live now. So that we not be so afraid of dying that we are afraid of living. That we not be so afraid of the future that we neglect the present. That we not be so afraid of what might happen that we miss what is. 

Some people say that to make the most of your life, live every day as if it was your last. Make the most of every opportunity. That’s one way one to look at things. But because of today, because of Easter, we can also live every day as if it was your first - like you have all of life before you. Because you do! You have a glorious future in Jesus. You have a life that will not end. So you can be like that newborn child. She has no worry about death. He isn’t worried about what will happen tomorrow. They just live. Because Mom and Dad are taking care of everything. You too. As a baptized child of God. Because Jesus took care of everything. 

And then when death comes, whether it come suddenly or slowly, was a surprise or was expected, be it from old age, accident, natural disaster, or man-made disaster, whenever, however, it comes to you, then you will have an Easter unlike any other. For you will fall asleep here and wake up with Jesus. And you will live. Free from all sin, free from all evil. You’ll be home. Victorious and triumphant in Jesus.

So today we celebrate an Easter unlike any other, and at the same time the same as every other. We’ve come through a Lenten season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, of discipline and growth, and we’ve come to the joy of Easter. We do it every year, knowing that one year it will be our last. That one year, we’ll come to that Easter that has no end! For the sin that separates us from God has been taken away, atoned for, forgiven, by Jesus. The death that separates us from life has been defeated and conquered by Jesus. And the devil, who wants to separate us from God and life and one another and all good has been trodden down by Jesus, and is under His heel. So what is left for us but life and joy?

So with that word and promise and confidence, we come now to our Lord’s Supper, this foretaste of the feast without end. We receive a taste of eternity, for we receive the Body and Blood not of a dead Messiah, but of a living Saviour. Here is the Body and Blood that atoned for your sins. Here is the Body and Blood that rose from the dead. Here is the Body and Blood that trampled down the old evil foe. Here is the Body and Blood of victory and triumph. And you are what you eat. So you are forgiven, you are triumphant, you will rise and live forever. 

So today, all of history, all our lives, all our hopes, all our dreams, all our fears and confusion, are swept up in one little phrase: Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] And the more things change, the more that stays the same.

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

Great Vigil of Easter Homily

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Jesu Juva

“The Night That Changed Everything”

Last night, we remembered Jesus’ crucifixion. Tonight, we will witness Ben’s. And we’ll remember our own.

Oh, don’t worry Ben! There’s no cross out back, no nails, no hammer, no crown of thorns or whip. That all belonged to Jesus, not you. That was all for Him, not you.

But tonight you will be crucified. That’s what baptism is. Baptism is not your testimony, your confession, what you do. It is your death and resurrection. That’s what God tells us. We’ll hear it again tonight in a bit. That in baptism we are joined to Christ in His death and resurrection. We die and rise with Him. Not symbolically, but really. Not by nailing and bleeding, but by drowning. Through water and the Word, Jesus takes you with Himself through death to life again. The Old Adam, the old sinner in you crucified, and a New Adam, a new man in you raised. To live before God in righteousness and purity forever. That’s a promise, Ben. You can’t do that. Never could, never would. But Jesus did. And gives it to you. 

The rest of us will remember when that happened to us, when we were crucified with Christ, when we were baptized. Maybe some of us were old enough to remember that day, maybe some of us were but infants. But whether or not we remember the day is not the point. We remember the reality. The Word and promise of God applied to us. The gift given to us. When we, too, were crucified and raised with Christ to new life. It is a promise and gift that we do not remember just tonight, but especially tonight. But every day, we awaken and arise and remember: I am baptized. Not: I was baptized. Past tense. History. But I am baptized. Present tense. Reality. This is who I am, because this is who God has made me, the new birth He has given me. I am a baptized child of God. God put His Name on me. I belong to Him. 

But you will not always live that way, Ben. I’ll tell you that right now, though you probably already know it. You’ll sin. Maybe fall hard. And perhaps it won’t take long. But when you do, know that you have a Father who forgives you, a brother who died for you, and His Spirit calling you back in repentance and faith. Faith that the words and promises of God are sure and true. That’s why we begin each Divine Service in the same Name we were baptized in, remember that we are baptized children of God, confess our sins, and know that our Father welcomes us prodigals back again. I forgive you all your sins, He says. Every week. Words we can never grow tired of hearing.

But before we get to that, your crucifixion with Christ, we’re going to hear once again some old and familiar stories. Old Testament accounts of what God has done for us. His gifts to us. And when you do, think about how all these stories teach us not about history, but about our reality. Our baptismal reality.

We’ll hear of creation, how all life came to be by the Word of God. And in baptism, it is the same - new life given through the Word of God in the water.

We’ll hear of the flood, how God cleansed the world and saved through water. And in baptism, it is the same - cleansing and new life through water.

We’ll hear of Israel passing through the Red Sea and how God swallowed up their enemies in that same water. And in baptism, we pass through water, and our enemies - sin, death, and the devil - are swallowed up in that same water.

We’ll hear from the prophet Ezekiel of God’s promise of a new heart and a new Spirit when He sprinkles clean water on us, as He does in baptism.

We’ll hear from Job the confidence that after his flesh has been destroyed he will see God with his own eyes - his own, resurrected eyes. And in the resurrection of baptism, we have that same confidence.

We’ll hear from the prophet Zephaniah, of God’s joy and salvation, of God gathering and restoring His people, which He is doing even now through His Word and His Word in the water of baptism.

And then what is always our final reading for this night, we’ll hear of the three young men in the fiery furnace - three thrown in, but four walking around, unharmed, in the flames. And we know that whatever flames we face, whatever trials and troubles - even the very fires of hell! - we will not be alone, and we will pass safely through, because we’ve been joined with Jesus in His death and resurrection. The water of baptism dousing the flames of sin and hell.

Tonight we remember that the death and resurrection of Jesus is the nexus of history. All before leading to it; all after flowing from it. The world will ignore that, point to other things and events. We know better. This is the night that changed everything. This is the night that changed us. This is the night of forgiveness. This is the night of life. 

So tomorrow, we remember Jesus’ resurrection. Tonight, we will witness Ben’s. And we’ll remember our own. And don’t worry, Ben! It is yours, too. Your grave will be opened and will not be able to hold you, on that day when Jesus says, come out! And you will. From death to life. This is the night.

Holy Good Friday Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“When Push Comes to Shove, God is Love”

Text: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; John 18-19

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

We have been inconvenienced this Holy Week. Pushed out of the building we usually meet in. Forced to load up our stuff and make do somewhere else. If you’re like me you’re not happy about that. Grumble a bit. 

But really, this is nothing. And it is really nothing compared to what Jesus went through for us this day. This Good Friday. What He went through because we pushed God out of our lives. For that’s really what sin is. Sorry God, I want this, I want to do this, I want to be this, so you’re out. Out of this part of my life, at least. Or that part. Adam and Eve were the first, but they weren’t the last. This pushing out has been repeated by every single person since. No exceptions. 

And the result of pushing God out of their life, for Adam and Eve, was being pushed out of the Garden. To a world of hardship, toil, and trouble. You want life without God? OK, here it is. And it was not good. We’ve created a world of hardship, toil, and trouble, too. And others have inflicted theirs on us. And God saw all that we have created, and behold, it was very not good. And the result of this, the consequence for this, is being pushed out of eternal life. You want life without God? OK, here it is. It is called dying.

And every man and woman, boy and girl, has been dying ever since.

But today is called Good Friday, not Bad Friday. Today is the day we see like no other that while we have pushed God out of our lives - or at least part of my life, when I sin - God is not so easily pushed. He comes back. He doesn’t stay away. He wants us back. He wants us to live.

So He dies. He is born into our world for this purpose. He is a teacher, He is an example for us, but He was born to die for us. To become the pushed out one, taking our place, taking our sin. So He is forsaken. He is stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. He bears our griefs and carries our sorrows. He is the lamb led to slaughter. And when He raised His arms on the cross, it was not to push us away, but to gather us to Himself. To gather us up and take us back to God in the forgiveness of our sins. To forgive us for those very sins that pushed Him out and put Him there.

So we’ve been inconvenienced this Holy Week. Perhaps that is good. Our life in this world of sin shouldn’t be too comfortable. It should be a struggle against sin, a battle against evil. We live pushed out lives in this world. The world pushing out the truth, pushing out love, pushing out Jesus, and those who belong to Him.

But just as God is not so easily pushed, neither should we be. So when pushed with sin, we respond with forgiveness. When pushed with hate, we respond with love. When pushed with falsehood, we speak the truth in love. When pushed aside and trampled, we respond with care and prayer. We may be stricken, smitten, and afflicted by the world, but we won’t be by God. Because Jesus was for us. That’s why our prayer is not My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? In fact, our prayer should be, My God, My God, why haven’t you forsaken me? For that’s what we deserve. But the answer is the same. Jesus. He was forsaken for us, so we will never be.

And He was on a Good Friday. A Friday of goodness. And this wasn’t an inconvenience for God. He wasn’t busy doing other things in other places, and then throw His hands up in disgust, having to stop what He was doing, and come and save us. No. This is who God is. When you see Jesus on the cross, you see God as He wants to be seen, as He wants to be known, as He IS. The cross was not an interruption, an inconvenience, or a Plan B - the cross is God loving us, and loving us to the end (John 13:1). So He love us in a world and life without end.

We’re going to hear that story again now. The candles will go out. The room will grow dark. But as the darkness grows, so does the light. The light of God’s love, shining from the cross. The light that shines even in the darkness of death.

But one thing in that story you’ll hear tonight . . . a small, insignificant detail, that maybe isn’t so small or insignificant at all. It is the inscription that Pilate put on the cross, over Jesus. The charges against Him. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. The Jews didn’t want that. They pushed back on Pilate, wanted Pilate to change it, to read, This man said, this man claimed, He is our king. But Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. It was the truth Pilate had asked about earlier, when he asked, What is truth? He got it right. 

What is also right is the inscription God wrote and put - not above you - but on you. When you were baptized and marked with the sign of the cross and His Name was put upon you. Christian. The world doesn’t want that. Pushes back on that. Says: you’re no Christian! You may say you are, claim to be, but look at your life, your sin. You’re no better, no different than the rest. And perhaps they are right. There certainly is never a shortage of reasons for us to repent. But when the world, and satan, and even our own sinful nature push back and say you’re no Christian! It is God who pushes back and says: Yes, yes you are! What I have written I have written. You are mine. Not because of what you do, but because of what I have done. Not because you’re good, but because of Good Friday. Because my good Son died to make you good again. And when push comes to shove, that love, that forgiveness, that life, that Word, that promise, wins every time.

So it really is a Good Friday. An inconvenient one, perhaps. But our life in this world of sin shouldn’t be too comfortable. Our rest is coming. Now it is for us to love and forgive, even as we are embraced in the love, forgiveness, and life of our Saviour. Our Saviour who pushed out and swallowed up sin and death for us. Who died that we might live.

In His Name, the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Holy Maundy Thursday Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Everything Old Is New Again”

Text: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 10:15-25; Luke 22:7-20

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

When does something new become old? Answers will vary, but we can estimate. We may not agree where the line is, but we agree there is a line. When what is new becomes old. When does a person become old? Is it 50, 60, or 70 years? What about a car? 10 years? For technology, clothes, and fashion, one year is sometimes all it takes for the new to become old. Old fashioned. Old hat. Old and worn out.

But what if it didn’t? What if a person never became old? A car never broke, your computer or phone never became obsolete, your clothes never wore out? We get glimpses of this in the Bible. In the early days of the world, some of those folks lived 900 years and more. When the people of Israel were stuck in the wilderness for forty years, their clothes and shoes did not wear out. But mostly, things do. The line may move, we may have different opinions about where that line is, but there is a line. Things, people, become old. Wear out. Fall apart. Die. Sooner or later.

Because we crossed the line. God had set a line - do not eat from this tree; this one tree. And when Adam and Eve crossed that line - when they trespassed, when they transgressed - they went from new to old, from life to death. That’s what sin does. And that’s sin’s lie. Sin, the devil, temptation say do this and you will live; you’ll be better, better off. Do this and you’ll be good; as good as new. But we aren’t. We’re still stuck on the wrong side of the line. Doing, saying the wrong things; thinking, desiring the wrong things. 

But these next three days, this Sacred Triduum, are about making us new again. All three of the Scriptures we heard tonight said that. 

From the prophet Jeremiah we heard: Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. And, Jeremiah goes on to explain, not just a covenant that is new, but a covenant that makes us new. 

In the reading from Hebrews we heard that we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh. The old way moved us from new to old, from life to death. This new way undoes that, for it is the new and living way. That is, the way that moves us to the new from the old, to life from death. 

And then in the Holy Gospel, Jesus gives His disciples the bread and wine which is His Body and Blood, and says: This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. That new covenant that Jeremiah was talking about. This gift that makes new.

For as the flesh and blood of Adam and Eve went from the right side of the line to the wrong side, the flesh and blood of Jesus went the other way. He was born into this world gone wrong, this world fallen into sin, this world gone mad, this world growing old and dying, and His flesh and blood crossed back to the right side of the line. He forged a new and living way, for us. That we not die, but live. And not just live the same old lives, but new lives.

That is what these next three days, this Sacred Triduum, are all about. Jesus making all things new (Revelation 21:5). 

So He gives His disciples new bread and a new cup. Bread they had never eaten before and a cup they had never drank before. It looked like the same old bread, the same old cup, but it wasn’t. In the old Passover, it was unleavened bread. Now, it is His Body. In the old Passover, it was wine. Now, it is His Blood. His Body given and His blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. Those sins that put us and keep us on the wrong side of the line. But His Body given and His Blood shed to forgive. His Body now eaten and His Blood now poured into us to forgive. And with that forgiveness, to give us life and make us new.

For the old, Jesus took. That’s the cup He drank. Our old cup. The cup of suffering, the cup of wrath and death. The cup He prayed in the Garden, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me (Matthew 26:39). But it was not possible. This cup had to be drunk, completely, down to the dregs. So Jesus did. For you. In your place. And in its place, gives you a new cup - a cup that makes new. The cup of blessing. The cup filled not with wrath and death, but with forgiveness and life. The cup of His Blood. Take and drink this, He says. So we do. We eat this new bread that is His Body, and we drink this new wine that is His Blood. And we are forgiven, made new, and given life. We are taken back across the line, where we were always meant to be.

And what God makes new never becomes old. Oh, but you say, we are still wearing out, we are still dying, we are still sinning. And indeed we are. For we are still old Adams. Though we have been made new in Jesus, we have not yet traversed that new and living way Jesus opened for us. We have not yet passed through death to life again. But we have begun. And we have Jesus’ promise that we will. That death will not be the end of us, but that as He rose from the dead, so too will we rise with Him.

So in that confidence, we live new lives. Not the same old, sinful lives. New lives. Lives like the reading from Hebrews described for us: In full assurance of faith. Holding fast the confession of our hope. Stirring up one another to love and good works. Not neglecting to meet together. Encouraging one another. Forgiving one another. And all the more, he says, as you see the Day drawing near. What day? The Day when Jesus returns and all is fulfilled. When all is made new. The Day of the new creation - the new heavens and the new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13). 

Imagine that. No more old, only new. No more sin, only forgiveness. No more death, only life. No more sadness, only joy. No more strife, only peace. No more division, only unity. That is the new Jesus has provided for us. The new He gives to us this night in His Supper. The new that will never grow old. Take eat. Take drink. New food, a new life, a new you.

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

Holy Wednesday Vespers Meditation

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Jesu Juva

“A Bloody Affair”

Text: Isaiah 62:11 - 63:7

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The story of Jesus’ Passion is a bloody affair. There is the blood of Jesus shed from the crown of thorns pressed into His head, from the flogging He received from the hands of the soldiers, His blood dripping onto the ground from His body on the cross, and the blood that poured out from His side - with the water - when the soldier’s spear pierced Him to make certain He was dead.

There is also the blood we will remember tomorrow night, the Blood of Jesus given us to drink in the Lord’s Supper.

But there’s more. There’s the blood that must have stained Malchus’ clothes after Peter lopped off his ear. Jesus healed that ear, but the blood on his clothes a silent witness to what had happened. There must have been blood on the soldiers who whipped and beat Jesus and who nailed Him to the cross. His blood that spattered on them. And then when Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body down from the cross - how much blood got on him and his clothes? 

And there’s metaphorical blood as well. Jesus’ blood on Judas’ hands and conscience. Pilate, the Roman Governor, washed his hands of Jesus’ blood (Matthew 27:24). And then the cry of the crowd: His blood be on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25)!

The story of Jesus’ Passion is a bloody affair. Some of the blood spilled because of anger, hatred, and bitterness. But some of the blood poured out in love, compassion, and forgiveness. The first is the blood we see so much in our world today - a shooting on a subway, a war in Ukraine, a dispute between friends. The second is the blood we need. The blood of God, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

Isaiah spoke of both kinds of blood tonight. The blood of vengeance, and the blood of redemption. The blood that brings blessing, and the blood that brings recompense. And we see all of it in Jesus.

On the cross, there was the blood of vengeance - the hatred, anger, and bitterness raised against Jesus by the Jewish leaders. But that’s not all of it. That’s not even the half of it, or the tiniest bit of it. Far more crushing was the wrath Jesus bore, the recompense of God, for the sin of the world. For my sin and your sin. He took that vengeance so we wouldn’t have to. And because He did, the blood He shed became the blood of our redemption, the blood that brings blessing and gives life. The blood He gives us in His Supper for the forgiveness of our sins. 

That blood is now upon us and our children when we are baptized and His blood washes us clean from our sins. Again, blood of blessing, blood of life. Wonderful blood from a wonderful love.

But there will come a day - when Jesus comes again in glory - and for those not washed in the blood of His life, love, and forgiveness, it will be a day of vengeance, of recompense, of payment. For if Jesus’ blood is not on you and in you for the forgiveness of your sin, then your sin is still on you, and you will have to pay - with your own blood, with your life. But it need not be. The story of Jesus’ Passion is a bloody affair. A bloody affair to save you, that you be called, as Isaiah said, The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord.

Isaiah asked: Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned - bloody - garments from Bozrah? And the Lord answered: It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. Someone who is bleeding and shedding his blood is usually weak, not mighty. Dying, not saving. But when Jesus shed His blood, when He hung on the cross, He was just that - mighty and saving. Mighty enough to die for you, to save you from your sin. This Lenten season, this Holy Week, and especially the next couple of days are all about that. The story of Jesus’ Passion is a bloody affair. And thank God that it is! His blood crying out to the Father for your forgiveness. 

Holy Tuesday Vespers Meditation

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Jesu Juva

“Some Messiah!”

Text: Isaiah 49:1-7

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. 

Have you ever felt that way? Maybe it was for a school project that you tried really hard on, or a test you studied really hard for, only to get a bad grade. Or maybe you’ve given your all at work, even working unpaid overtime, yet you keep getting passed over for raises, promotion, and recognition. Or maybe you planted a vegetable garden. You dug and planted, watered and fed, weeded and cultivated, and . . . nothing. Or what is produced is snatched up by critters and you spent your strength, your time, your energy, for nothing. I think we’ve all felt this way at one time or another, for one thing or another.

But here, these words from the prophet Isaiah, they are about the Lord’s servant, the promised Messiah, the one come to save, the one who would glorify God! And they seemed to come true. He came to His people, but His people rejected Him (John 1:11). When He preached in His hometown, the people He grew up with tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29). When His words offended people, they walked away and left Him (John 6:66). The religious leaders hated Him and kept trying to trick Him and get Him to say something wrong so they could accuse Him (Mark 12:13). And when they couldn’t get Him that way, they got Him crucified by twisting Pilate’s arm.

But how things seem to be to us are not how they are with God. Isaiah would later say that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8). So when Jesus came and God was not glorified but crucified, it did seem that all was in vain, all was lost. That’s what the disciples thought. And that’s what some said who taunted Jesus on the cross: He came to save others, but He cannot even save Himself (Luke 23:35, 37)! Some Messiah!

Yes! Exactly. This was exactly God’s plan, to save not just His people, but all people, the whole world. To use rejection for redemption, captivity for freedom, death to defeat death, humiliation for glorification. So of this seeming failure we hear this: You are not a failure. In fact, It is too light a thing - too small a thing - that you should be my servant to raise up [just] the tribes of Jacob and to bring back [just] the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Jesus Himself would say this, too: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, - that is, crucified - I will draw all people to myself (John 12:32).

And He has drawn you. Through His Word proclaimed to you and His Spirit working in you, He has revealed to you and implanted in you this truth: that in this rejected, crucified man from Nazareth is your salvation. That through His death you have life. For He is much more than a man from Nazareth - He is God’s Son in human flesh. And that this great good news and faith has reached to the ends of the earth we hear from the book of Revelation, when in his vision of heaven, John reports seeing people from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. And not just a few, but a great multitude that no one could number (Revelation 7:9). 

So Jesus did not labor in vain. He did not spend his strength for nothing and vanity. In fact, the reality couldn’t have been more different. And for you, too. Maybe some of the things we do in this world and strive for in this world don’t work out. That happens. We are not always successful. But whatever the Lord is doing in your life and working in you will work out, according to His purpose and for your good. What the Lord does is never in vain, for or nothing. Even if we can’t see the purpose or understand the means, that’s okay. Faith believes. Not blindly, but believes because as we will celebrate on Sunday, Jesus’ tomb is empty. And not because His body was stolen, but because He rose from the dead. And if God can use rejection, cross, suffering, and death for our good and the good of the whole world, then He can - and will - use whatever you are going through, too. Don’t trust what you think. Trust the Word of God. The Word that never lies. The Word that became flesh. The Word that rose from the dead. And the Word that has made you His child. 

Holy Monday Vespers Meditation

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Jesu Juva

“Our Faithful Lord and Saviour”

Text: Isaiah 50:5-10

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

It is easy to hear Jesus in these words of the prophet Isaiah tonight. He is the one who gave His back to those who strike, receiving blow after blow, stripe after stripe, from the soldiers who flogged Him. He is the one who hid not His face from disgrace and spitting, the soldiers punching Him, mocking Him, and spitting in His face. They act like playground bullies with their helpless and hapless prey. But, of course, Jesus is anything but helpless and hapless. He could have stopped it at any time. He could have turned the tables and smote those who smote Him. He could have called down twelve legions of angels to defend Him and fight for Him (Matthew 26:53). Even one would have been enough to put down however many soldiers were abusing Him. Yet He stands there and takes it, all the abuse, because He knows He is taking it for you. For if not Him, then it would be you. And not just you, but you for eternity. An eternity of suffering and dying.

So He is not disgraced. They meant to disgrace Him, demean Him, belittle Him, show Him that He is nothing compared to them. But He is not disgraced, He is not shamed, because He stands there in love. In love for you. This is the Bridegroom laying down His life for His Bride, giving all that He has for His beloved. Many wedding vows today are often made quickly and easily broken. They are often made without much thought and with even less seriousness. Not Jesus. His Word is His promise. What He speaks is truth. You can stake Your life on it. 

So it is for this moment He has come. For this moment He was born. From the day He was baptized in the Jordan by John, His every word, every deed, was to come to this moment. He set His face like a flint and would not be deterred. He came to save, He came to die. He came to save not Himself, but you. So He would die that you might live. It wasn’t easy. Nothing easy about what Jesus went through for you. But your salvation mattered more than anything else. So He would take it. He would lay down His life for the life of the world. 

In fact, all of them, all who accuse Him and torture Him and crucify Him, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up, Isaiah says. Those who think they are something will not last, while the one they think is nothing will live forever. Because the Lord God helps me. Twice it is said in these verses. The Lord God helps me. And those the Lord helps are never put to shame. The world likes to say that God helps those who help themselves. But the Scriptures say that God helps those who cannot help themselves. Which is all of us, really. None of us can overcome our sin. None of us can stave off death forever. None of us can rise from death to life again. So Jesus has come to help us. Jesus has come to save those who cannot save themselves. 

And that is what we hear again this week. The story of our salvation. The Lord has opened our ears to hear, and through the Word we hear to work faith and strength faith in our hearts. That though rebellious, we be forgiven by the one who was not, who kept the Law perfectly for us in every way. That though we, at times, turn backwards and turn away from our Lord in our sin, He calls us back in repentance. To find in Jesus once again our life and our hope. And to hear those words once spoken from the cross and proclaimed ever since: Father, forgive them (Luke 23:34). And you are.

Our verses this night concluded with these words: Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Darkness and no light mean no vision; your eyes are of no use. You must find your way some other way. And for us, that is with our ears. Which is how these verses also began: The Lord God has opened my ear. It is the Word of the Lord that is our guide through this world and life. It is the Word of the Lord that will not deceive us or let us down. It is the Word of the Lord that is only truth. So we rely on the Word. The Word and Name of God put upon us in Baptism which marks us as children of God. And the Word made flesh whose death and resurrection made Baptism what it is - a joining of us to Him, through death to life. So that He whose ears once heard mocking and taunting and disbelief, would now hear the voices of praise and confession and faith. Our voices. The voices we will raise this week, and the voices we will raise with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, forever.