Jesu Juva
“Crosswords”
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Did you hear that? Those who mock Jesus do so by acknowledging the truth: He saved others. He saved those they didn’t think were worth saving. He saved those they didn’t want to be saved; who were too sinful. It’s not that He couldn’t, it’s that He did. He gave sight to a man born blind. He raised a four-day-dead Lazarus from the tomb. How dare He! For this, He must die.
And look - He cannot save Himself.
Well that’s not quite the truth. He could, but would not. But to those mocking, that’s the same thing. To them, if He could, He would. That He doesn’t is proof that He can’t. Because first and foremost in this world and life you take care of yourself. You use your resources for yourself.
That’s true of a sinful world, a world curved in, bent in on itself. My needs come first. My wants come first. But the sinless Son of God in human flesh isn’t like that. He isn’t like us; He is what we should be. So He used His power for others, and for that, He is crucified.
And as He is, crucified, things go on as normal, really. Sinful men continue acting as sinful men, and Jesus continues acting as the God merciful, gracious, and abounding in steadfast love. They mock, He forgives. They take, He gives. They rise up against Him, He continues to serve them, even those who are doing this to Him. Father, forgive them. He gives hope. Today you will be with me in paradise. He does not hate for He cannot hate. He feels the full burden and weight of their sin, and the sin of the world.
But there are a few things not normal. A few people who Jesus’ love has changed.
The first is the thief on the cross next to Him. Who began this day as a condemned criminal with no hope. Who lashed out at Jesus with the others, but then changed his tune - his mocking becoming confessing, his confessing becoming repentance, and his repentance becoming hope. And he who began this day a condemned criminal with his arms outstretched on the cross, ends it a beloved son in the arms of his God.
The second person is the centurion - the soldier probably in charge of what was happening here. When he saw how Jesus died, he said, Truly, this man was the Son of God. Perhaps when he saw how Jesus died, he realized he was not really the one in charge here after all. The one in his charge was really in control, dying on his own terms. He was laying down His life, not having it taken from Him. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. This man was unlike any other.
And then there was Nicodemus, who before had come to Jesus at night and had a rather confusing and unsettling conversation with Him. Nicodemus never did crawl back inside his mother, but apparently was born again anyway, lovingly serving the One who had so lovingly served him that night. He no longer cared what the others thought, if it was night or not. He would help lay Jesus in the tomb.
And then there’s one more . . . one more person Jesus’ love has changed . . . you. For you Jesus carried His cross so that you could be unburdened of your sins. For you Jesus was stripped of His clothes so that you could be clothed with His righteousness. For you Jesus had the charge against Him written and hung over His head so that the sins which hang over your head be removed and your name written in the Book of Life. For you Jesus was reviled so that you be honored. For you Jesus left father and mother to hold fast to you, His Bride, the Church. For you Jesus was forsaken so that you never be. For you Jesus thirsted and received sour wine so that you who thirst for life be given the drink of His sin-forgiving, life-giving Blood. For you Jesus was laid in the tomb so that there is no place your body may go that He hasn’t already been there. For you Jesus was pierced that you may be healed. For you Jesus’ tomb was guarded and sealed, so that you have no doubt of His resurrection to life again.
All this for you, so how can you not be changed? The Word of God and the Spirit of God working through the Word work in your heart so that like Nicodemus you be born again, like the centurion you confess Jesus as the Son of God, and like the thief on the cross you look to Jesus for the life you need. And all you need, you have. The gift of God’s Son for you, the gift of God’s Son to you. His life that you have life.
We hear the story of Jesus’ passion every year, and we need to. We need to wonder and marvel at all He has done for us, to rejoice that He has, and to grow in faith and trust in Him, that we may grow in love toward others. That as Jesus has done for us, so we may do for others. Not because you have to, but because that is the change that has been worked in you. The change from sinner to saint, from selfish to giving, from outcast to son or daughter of God. That things not go on as usual for you and your life, but that you be different. Raised to a new life in this old world, and so not the same. Jesus, as the Son of God, was different, and you, as sons and daughters of God are different, too.
So only five miles from where Jesus was born and laid in the wood of the manger, Jesus is hung up on the wood of the cross and dies. But because of that short distance, the distance we have fallen from God, the chasm of sin which separated us from God, has been overcome. As we heard on Sunday, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). The Passion of Christ means the forgiveness of our sins. The Passion of Christ means we have a future. The Passion of Christ means everything.
So we come to Holy Week. And we know the truth: He saved others; - he saved ME - because he DID not save himself.
Behold the life-giving cross, on which hung the salvation of the world.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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