Holy Thursday Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Eating the Passover”

Text: Mark 14:12-26; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

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

When He woke that Thursday morning (LSB #445), Jesus knew how the day would end. He knew that in mere hours He would be betrayed, He would be arrested, and then the next day, the day the Passover lambs were slain, it would be His blood poured out, His life given, to rescue not a nation but a world from death. He knew and He would go. And though we’re not told, I would not at all be surprised if Jesus arose that morning early, before the sun came up, and went off by Himself to pray, as we hear so often was His custom.

When the disciples woke that Thursday morning, what did they expect? Surely, not that! Probably what we heard from St. Mark: to begin preparations to eat the Passover. Notice the verb used there. They did not ask where they would celebrate the Passover, or remember the Passover, but where they would eat the Passover. 

Isn’t that strange? The Passover was an event that had taken place some 1,500 years before this. And it was an event. It was when lambs were slain, their blood smeared on the door frames of the houses of the people of Israel to protect them from the angel of death that would pass through Egypt that night and execute the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn of every man and beast not protected by the blood and so passed over, and the lamb then eaten in the midst of all that in anticipation of their leaving Egypt that very day. All of that was what the Passover was and what they remembered every year. So wouldn’t it have been better to ask where they would keep the Passover and eat the lamb? Maybe that’s what they meant . . .

But no, words mean something. And it was a common way of speaking of the Passover, to eat it, as if the whole event of the Passover was condensed down into this eating. And in a way, it was. For you couldn’t keep the Passover without the eating of the lamb. The flesh and blood of the lamb was central. And by eating the Passover, they participated in it. It was as if they were there. It was the way of becoming united with the ones who were there, the ones who went before them. It was much more than a mere remembrance or celebration. From its beginning in Egypt down to that day, the Passover is never what they did but always what God did and which became theirs when they ate the Passover.

So when He woke that Thursday morning, Jesus knew that by the end of that day there would be a new Passover. A new lamb would be slain whose blood would protect not just the people of Israel, but all people. And this Passover too would be eaten. And so as they were eating, Mark said - not an insignificant detail - Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

How strange those words must have sounded to the twelve reclining at the table that Thursday evening. They surely did not yet understand what Jesus was doing and how a new Passover was being accomplished. But they soon would. When after His resurrection, Jesus would open their minds and explain the Scriptures to them (Luke 24:45); how from first to last, they were all about Him, they all pointed to Him and foreshadowed His work. And when He got to Exodus and the Passover and put that piece into the one great Messianic puzzle that was being assembled from all throughout the Old Testament, I wish I could have seen the look on their faces! The eating, the blood, the lamb, the saving from death, the new life. It was all pointing to Jesus all along.

But it wasn’t just a new Passover they were now eating, but a greater one with a greater lamb. The death of the first born Son of God for the life of the world. Rescue from sin, death, and the power of the devil. New life not in a land of milk and honey, but with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.

And just like the first Passover, this new Passover is one to eat, and greater - now also to drink. The Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, given to us by the power of His Word, now in bread and wine. And as St. Paul explained, just like the first Passover, by this eating and drinking, it is our participation in what Jesus’ flesh and blood has done for us. We pass over from death to life with our Saviour. It is as if the whole event of His Passover is condensed down into this eating and drinking. Indeed it is. Here you receive all that He has done for you.

Which is good, for how often, when left to ourselves, do we not pass over sin but choose to remain in it and indulge in its feast of death? How we need this new and greater Passover, perhaps even more they did in Egypt.

And as a greater Passover, this isn’t one we eat just once a year, like the first one. Now, it is often. No minimum, no maximum, as often as you need the forgiveness and life of your Saviour, it is here for you. He promised. For that’s what a covenant is - a promise. The promise of God to you: that just as Jesus united Himself to us in His incarnation, so He unites you to Himself in His communion. And in so doing, we are united with all who have gone before us in the faith. United in Christ as one body, one Church, that lives now and will live forever.

When you woke that Thursday morning, Savior, teacher, faithful friend . . .  What was there that you could give them that would never be outspent, what great gift that would outlive them, what last will and testament (LSB #445 vs. 1, 3)? This gift. That the Church throughout the ages gather to eat the new Passover. Though in many places and many times, some in great cathedrals and some in humble homes, some very young and some very old, we are all really eating at one table, His table, the Lord’s table. His meal, His Passover, His Body and Blood. Receiving together as one His forgiveness, life, and salvation, until we finally pass over with Him from this life to the next, and the never-ending joy of the feast there that has no end. 

So when you woke this Thursday morning, what did you expect? 

Come eat, come drink, the Body and Blood of your Passover Lamb. The Lamb of God who on that Friday morning took away your sin, and the sin of the world.

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

Holy Wednesday Meditation

Jesu Juva

Text: Isaiah 62:11 - 63:7

The trampler is the trampled. The vanquished is the victor. The blood poured out is His own.

So unusual is the sight that the question rings out: Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments?

“It is I,” says the Lord. “Speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”

This bloody scene is the way it must be. Jesus goes alone. Indeed, He must. There is no one who can help Him. No one able. No one who can bear the awful load, the weight of the world’s sin. The day of vengeance had come. The wrath of God will be poured out against all sin, all rebellion, all iniquity. Jesus drinks that cup of wrath down to its dregs. He takes it all and is crushed - not by man, but by His Father, in our place. He dies that we may live.

This bloody scene is still the way it must be. Although many would like a clean, sanitary Jesus, and never have to look at Him on the cross or acknowledge the horrid reality that it was our sin, your sin, my sin, that put Him there, it must be this way. We must look and behold our Saviour is all His agony and death, so disfigured that we ask: Who is this? Can this be our God?

Indeed it is! Saving us in His mighty weakness. This is His steadfast love. This is His compassion and great goodness. This is His glory and the object of our praise.

And so Isaiah said: Say to the daughter of Zion, - to those born from the gracious dwelling of God with us, which is you and me. Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

His salvation, His reward, His recompense. What is this that He brings for us, provides for us, the payback for our sins against Him? The gifts of His forgiveness, life eternal, and salvation from our enemies. By His blood He restores us as sons and daughters of God, rightful heirs again of His kingdom. Though we threw it all away and still do, He comes and keeps coming to offer it again. We’ll hear it again tomorrow night: Take, eat, this is My Body. Take, drink, this is My Blood. Same Body, same Blood, from cross to altar, for you.

Some deny that. Those who want a clean, sanitary Jesus don’t want His Blood in the cup! But a clean, sanitary Jesus is no Jesus, no Saviour, at all. He came to be bloodied, and to give that blood for you, to you. And with the blood of the new covenant, the new testament on you and in you, that you be reconciled to God and at peace with God once again. There is no other way. 

And because of that bloody scene, this is true for you as well:

And they shall be called The Holy People,

    The Redeemed of the Lord;

and you shall be called Sought Out,

    A City Not Forsaken.

For He was the forsaken one on the cross, He came to seek you out, He came to redeem you from your sins, and to make you holy once again. And when the mouth of the Lord calls you something, all these things, then that is what you are. His Word does what it says. 

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

Holy Tuesday Meditation

Jesu Juva

Text: Isaiah 49:1-7

God ways are not our ways. The mind of God cannot be fathomed by human reason. That is no where as evident as in this prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah today. For the less successful the Messiah seems, the more successful He really is.

Isaiah starts out with a call to all people near and far to listen, and He says some impressive things of the Messiah. He was specifically born for this, from His mother’s womb, and named by the Lord Himself. His Word is His weapon, His sharp sword and polished arrow, and the hand of the Lord protects Him. For He is the chosen servant of the Lord and in whom God will be glorified. He is named Israel because He comes to be one with her, with us. He is Israel’s king, Israel’s Lord, and takes all Israel into Himself to save her.

All of which makes the next line from Isaiah that much more unexpected. Instead of hearing of the Messiah’s success he says: I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. And this week we see just that. The Messiah is rejected by His own people. The leaders line up against Him, the crowds yell crucify and trade Him for a criminal. His disciples run away in fear after one betrays Him and another denies even knowing Him. He is strung up on a cross as a common criminal. By all appearance it seems that all is lost. All is defeat. All has been for naught.

But words of faith we hear as well. Yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God. The future, the work, the outcome is the Lord’s. It is a good lesson for us to learn. How often we rely on our own strength. How often we judge by what we see and feel. How often we despair when things seem not to be going so well. Stop. Repent. The Lord does much with little. The Lord who created all that is from nothing, is able to do great things for us, even when all seems lost. All the Scriptures bear witness to this: He is the strength of the weak, the hope of the hopeless, and the life of the dead. And so faith clings to the Lord who is able.

And then we hear not only that the Lord is able, but the greater the failure, the greater His work and victory! And so through a Messiah rejected and crucified, the Lord says: it’s not enough to just save Israel! This crucified Messiah will save the world. It is too light [too little] a thing that you should be my servant [just] to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back 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. And this too: Kings and princes will prostrate themselves before Him.

Because, Isaiah says, the Lord is faithful. What He says, He does. What He promises, He fulfills. Always. And what good news that is for us! Our Saviour is not limited by our weaknesses and failures, our doubts and despair. He is able to work great and amazing things even when everything seems worse than lost. Can you imagine the disciples slapping each other on the back when Jesus was hanging on the cross and saying: This is great! We won! That’s preposterous, isn’t it? Yet that’s exactly what happened. The suffering and death of Jesus is our life, our light, our salvation and forgiveness. What seems to be is not all there is. 

So at all times of life, no matter how things are going, faith has a firm and sure confidence and foundation. Your Lord is at work - for you, in you, and through you. And is working great things that are beyond our wildest dreams and imaginings. 

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

Holy Monday Meditation

Jesu Juva

Text: Isaiah 50:5-10

These words from the prophet Isaiah contain one of his many prophecies about what would happen to the promised Messiah. It is not what one would expect. A Messiah, a Saviour, is one who rises up and leads men. A larger-than-life figure who triumphs over all odds and all foes. A valiant warrior.

So these are very strange words indeed. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. Those are words that describe the vanquished, not the victor. 

But there is something else strange about those words, something different and not quite right according to this way of thinking. These words are not just describing what was done to the Messiah, but what He does. He gives His back to those who would strike it. He gives His cheek to those who would pull out the beard. He offers and does not hide His face from the mocking, the taunts, and the spitting. This is His doing, not what is done to Him unwillingly. This is what this Messiah will do and how He will conquer. This is clearly a Messiah unlike any other.

And in all this, He says, the Lord God helps me, though it looks like the Lord God has either left Him or is punishing Him. That is not the case.

Therefore, He says, I have not been disgraced . . . I shall not be put to shame. Though that was exactly the aim of those who did this - to shame and disgrace - and they thought they had done so and were quite satisfied with their work, no. This is the Messiah’s glory. For He is doing this for you. He will be vindicated. It will be shown that those who looked like they vanquished Him were vanquished themselves, and that He who looked defeated is actually victorious.

And then some questions from the mouth of the Messiah: Who will contend with me? Who is my adversary? Who will declare me guilty? It is not only those who did those things, is it? It is you and me, as I pit my will against His will, as I sin against Him, as I think Him guilty of failing to keep His promises to me and so take matters into my own hands. Repent. We gain nothing with all that. We still, as Isaiah so descriptively put it, wear out like a garment and the moth still eat us up. That’s the real defeat. Death.

But not so for the Messiah. Though He dies, yet shall He live. He is the way to life. 

So the Lord opened your ear to hear this word. To repent and not rebel, to trust and not turn back. For the Lord is faithful, your Messiah is faithful. What looks like shame and defeat in this world and life may not be as it seems. The path we fear may just be the way to life.

Who among you fears the Lord

    and obeys the voice of his servant?

Let him who walks in darkness

    and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord

    and rely on his God.

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

Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion Sermon

[No audio today - sorry!]

Jesu Juva

“Grace Big Enough For You”

Text: Mark 14-15

Jesus is betrayed with a kiss. An action of intimate union, of friendship, used to betray. Judas didn’t have to choose that. He could have said: the one I speak to, or the one I will point to, or the one I embrace. But no - it was a kiss.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, consider the timing. Jesus had just spent how long in the agony of prayer to His Father. He knew what was coming - not just the crucifixion, but the weight of the world’s sin upon Him, the wrath and condemnation against that sin, and His Father forsaking Him who became sin for us. And so take this cup from me, if possible, Jesus prayed. But it was not possible. And Jesus would not betray His Father. He goes as it is written. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.

And immediately, while He was still speaking those words, Mark tells us, Judas and his crowd appears and His betrayer kisses Him. How Jesus’ heart must have ached for him at that moment. He knew it would be Judas. He knew it would have been better for him had he not been born (Matthew 26:24-25). But still we know that God desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). And that includes Judas. How Jesus’ heart must have ached for Judas when his lips touched Him. That sin of betrayal would be upon Him on the cross too, for all sins - from the biggest to the smallest - would be upon Him. If not, how could we ever be sure that all of our sins were upon Him? But Judas would not believe, he could not believe, God’s grace could be that big, and so not receive that forgiveness by faith. His kiss of betrayal, he thought, was too great, too much to be forgiven.

But there is no sin too great or too much to be forgiven. For that would mean that sin is greater than God Himself. And so that cannot be. If Jesus had been a mere man, then yes. But since it is the Son of God Himself that hangs on that cross for you, that bears your sins for you, then all sin is done, atoned for. Your sin is done. And so your sin, no matter how big or how frequent, is forgiven. God’s grace IS that big.

Which is a very good thing, because what do you do with your lips? Judas used his to betray Jesus. Do you do the same? Your lips confess the name of Jesus and call Him teacher and friend, and your lips touch His Body and Blood in the Supper. And then what do they do? Do they then lie and gossip?Do they confess falsehood through failing to speak the truth? Do they curse and not bless? And then go through the rest of your bodily members, too, so graciously given to you by your Creator and sustained by Him. What do you do with them, or fail to do with them? Your mind, your hands, your feet, your heart . . .  Are you betraying the One who gave these to you and redeemed these for you and desires that you use them for His service and life? How often do your actions - or inactions - confess the exact opposite of what Jesus prayed in the garden? How often do our lives confess: not Thy will but mine be done?

This season of Lent is about recognizing that reality of sin in our lives, but even more also learning once again how BIG the grace of God is, and that even our vilest sins, our most oft-repeated sins, our little sins and big sins, yes even our Judas sins, Jesus took upon Himself so they wouldn’t be on you. Yes, it was hard. Yes, the burden was more enormous than we can imagine. Yes, it was a most difficult cup to drink. But Jesus would not stop until He did it, and nothing could stop Him. He would not betray His Father and He will not betray you. He came for your sins and He was not leaving without them.

Do you believe that? Judas couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Many today cannot either, thinking they are too bad to come to church; thinking they have to do something in addition to Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. But this week, this Holy Week, speaks a most emphatic NO to that. Jesus did it all. He drank the cup, He died the death, and He rose from the dead. It is finished (John 19:30). 

That’s how BIG the grace of God is. That’s why satan doesn’t want you to see it or believe it. So he’ll try to minimize your sin, that you think it not so bad and that you can deal with it. You’re doing better than most. Or he’ll get you to deny that you’re a sinner at all - and think that all that stuff the Bible says doesn’t apply to you. That’s pretty popular today, it seems. Or if that fails he will try to minimize that grace and magnify your sin. He try to get you to despair of your unworthiness instead of rejoicing in Jesus your Saviour’s worthiness. That’s what he did to Judas. What kind of disciple are you, you worthless sack of . . . manure! You betrayed with a kiss! Look at you! Look at your heart! There’s no way you could ever be forgiven for that! 

But satan is a liar. Always. The truth is just the opposite of all that. Yes, you are a sinner, and no, you’re not better than most. But this too: there is no sin and no sinner greater than our Saviour. Was God’s grace big enough for Judas? Absolutely. And it’s big enough for you and me and all the world. 

And so today we heard and we’ll hear again that that very body Judas handed over in betrayal to death, Jesus hands over to us, in love, for life. Take and eat, take and drink, He says. This is the new covenant, the new testament, My promise of forgiveness and life for you. All your sins forgiven, and a new life given you. A new life, that you confess and not deny, that you love and not betray, that you forgive and not withhold this greatest gift you could ever give another. That you, as Paul said, have and live not the lies of satan, but have the mind of Christ.

And so just as Jesus rode into Jerusalem humbly on a donkey to accomplish that forgiveness and life, so now He comes here to this humble place in the same humble way, in water, in words, in bread and wine, to give Himself and His gifts of forgiveness and life to you. It is not beneath Him, for the King of all to come here and be with you, with sinners. It is His joy, for you are His joy. He will not betray you. For where you are is where He wants to be, and where He is is where He wants you to be. Forever.

So dear children of God, rejoice! Rejoice! This week we will again remember the awful events that took place - the mocking and stripping, the whipping and beating, the humiliation and death of the cross. But we do so with a solemn joy, for we know Jesus underwent all this for you and me. This is His love for you. 

The apostle John put it this way, in His Gospel, saying right before those last few hours of Jesus’ life: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (John 13:1b). This is the week we see the end and we see that love. Sadly, Judas died with his sin. Thankfully, Jesus died for your sin. This is His love for you. This is the grace of God for you. This is the week of His victory for you.

So let us too cry out our Hosanna! 

Lord, save! 

Me.

And hear again: My Body, My Blood, for you.

I forgive you.

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

Lent 5 Midweek Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Christians in an Unchristian World: Glory”

Text: 1 Peter 5:1-14

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

As we arrive at the final chapter of First Peter, Peter directs the attention of his flock, these Christians scattered far and wide and living in an unchristian world, to the glory promised by Christ. Which is important. For it is quite easy, when you are in the midst of trials and suffering of sometimes great magnitiude, to focus only on them; to see nothing but the problems weighing quite heavily right now, and not look beyond them, or even be able to. When there seems to be no end in sight. When you do not even know how you’re going to make it to tomorrow. At such times its easy to wallow in self-pity and resignation and think about nothing else.

Peter knew it. He’d been there. In spades. He was, as he says, a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Yes, he saw Jesus arrested while he was still wiping the sleep from his eyes. He saw Jesus on trial and condemned while he was busy denying that he even knew the man. Three times. And then he saw Jesus hung on the cross and then dead while he was too scared to even help take his friend down and bury him. He knew the terror of hiding behind locked doors with his friends and thinking that every noise you hear outside is the sound of the Jews coming to lift you up next. He knew what it was like to be arrested and abused for following Jesus, and to be on death row, mere days or hours from having your head removed from your shoulders. If anyone knew what those scattered Christians were going through, it was their shepherd Peter.

And so He reassures them. That though they are suffering now, when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Now, that is talking about when Jesus comes again in glory at the end of time. But there’s more to it than that, I think. Another layer that can help us now. For think about how Peter was on that Easter Sunday night, after he had witnessed the sufferings of Christ and was living with his own cowardice and failure and guilt. And then the chief Shepherd appeared. Locked doors couldn’t stop Him. He came right to them and said: Peace be with you (John 20:19). Peace, not fear. Forgiveness, not punishment. Hope, not despair. Joy, not sorrow. Everything Peter needed right then, Jesus came and provided. Because the chief Shepherd is alive and caring for His flock.

And how He does that, one of the ways He does that now, after His ascension, is through His elders, which is a biblical word for pastors. Peter wants those pastors, those undershepherds, to do what Jesus, the chief Shepherd, had done for him that night. Go to and be with them with the Word of peace, forgiveness, hope, and joy. Go to them and remind them of the glory of which we are now partakers, yet the fullness of which still awaits us. Go to them and preach to them that the victory has already been won! And that there will be an end to the suffering, to the sin, to the scattering. For when the chief Shepherd appears, it will be for them just as it was for Peter that night. So I exhort the elders among you, Peter says, as a fellow elder . . . shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Wherever that is, however that is. Be there for them, that they not be alone.

And then Peter adds this admonition: Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility. I think that too is a word to the pastors, but applicable also to all. Clothe yourselves with humility (or self-forgetfulness), because humility’s opposite, pride (or self-focus), is the great enemy of faith. For there are two dangers lurking with pride: thinking too much of self and too little of others, and looking too much to your own abilities and strength. Those are the opposites and enemies of faith because faith always looks out, not in; faith always looks to God in faith and to others in love, not at ourselves. 

So if we are proud or looking at ourselves or relying on ourselves, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, Peter says. God humbles the proud so that we will instead turn to Him in repentance for thinking too much of or only of ourselves, and turn to Him in faith to rely on Him and His strength and forgiveness alone. For only in Him are we anything, and only in Him is our strength and our deliverance.

But while God opposes the proud, He gives grace to the humble. So, Peter continues, humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. For His hand is mighty, not yours. He will exalt, not you. And at the proper time. So do not oppose or resist Him, or even doubt Him or despair of Him, but humble yourself under Him in faith and trust. And cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. He truly does care for you. Do you need more proof than the cross? He cares for you. The devil certainly doesn’t, He is looking to divide and devour you. Many in the world do not, and are the cause of your suffering and anxiety. But He does, your God and chief Shepherd does. And at the proper time, He Himself will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 

Because He has called you to His eternal glory in Christ. Notice that’s past tense. He has called you. It’s already done. He called you by the Gospel, baptized you into His Son, and has promised you eternal glory. That’s all past tense, yours now, though not yet in all its fulness. But that day is coming. And it is as sure and certain for you as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Just as locked doors could not stop Him from appearing to Peter and his frightened friends, so no grave will be able to stop Him either. What He has promised, He will do. For to Him belongs all dominion - all power and authority and rule and strength - forever and ever. Amen.

And thus Peter ends his letter. A letter which began with the certainty of baptism, and ends with its fulfillment. A letter to the scattered, yet who are united in Christ. A letter to the suffering that they have the mind of Christ. A letter of hope, when the flock seems small and the struggles loom large. A letter of encouragement, for it will never be easy to live as Christians in an unchristian world, and even moreso when that world is not just unchristian but turns anti-christian and anti-truth. 

Does it seem so for you? In your life? In the world? Can you relate to some of what Peter was talking about? You would be a rare Christian indeed who would say no. For satan is an equal opportunity attacker, the world you will always have around you, and your own sinful flesh will constantly battle against the new man in you. 

But in the midst of all that is Christ. Who like a conquering king staking his claim to the land he has won by sticking his flag in the ground, so Christ our King has stuck His cross into this earth and claimed the victory for you. A victory that continues to go forth into the world through the Word preached, the water of baptism poured out, and the Body and Blood of Christ given, giving the victory of the forgiveness of your sins. For the Head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now (LSB #532). 

And your head, too. Now a glory we believe, then a glory we will see. And so until that time we pray, as we will in the final hymn:

O Christ, do Thou my soul prepare

For that bright home of love

That I may see Thee and adore

With all Thy saints above (LSB #673 v. 6).

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

Lent 5 Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“What Would You Ask For?”

Text: Mark 10:32-45; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:1-10

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

If you could ask Jesus for one thing, just one thing, what would it be? If Jesus came here to you today and asked: What do you want me to do for you? what would you say? I’m sure many things are going through your minds. Maybe healing for you or a loved one you are worried about. Maybe peace in this crazy, murderous world. Less stress at school or at work. More time to spend with loved ones. Some, I suppose, would ask for riches. 

Well James and John get that opportunity, we heard today. They get to ask Jesus for whatever they want . . . and they already had what they wanted in mind. They wanted to sit at Jesus’ right and left in His glory. They wanted the greatness, power, honor, and authority of those two places.

Now before we scoff too much, perhaps their request made some sense. They were, after all, two of the three disciples that made up Jesus’ inner circle, along with Peter. They were the three Jesus had taken up the mountain to see Him in His transfiguration. They were the three Jesus was going to take farther into the Garden of Gethsemane with Him to pray. And Peter had already screwed up. Maybe they thought that disqualified him. For the first time Jesus spoke of His death to His disciples (which we heard a couple weeks ago), Peter rebuked Him, to which Jesus had to say: Get behind me, Satan (Mark 8:33)! The second time Jesus brings it up, the twelve begin to argue about which of them is the greatest (Mark 9:34). So now when Jesus brings it up again a third time, James and John seek to settle the matter. In a way, it just makes sense that they should have those two places. Worldly sense, anyway.

Well, thankfully, God does not ask such a question to us. Thankfully, I say, because I’m sure I would screw it up. What I would ask for would probably depend on the time of the day, the day of the week, what was going on right at that time, whether I was feeling good or bad, angry or sad, and a whole host of other things. I would probably blurt out something and then regret it later. 

So, thankfully, God does not ask such a question to us, and that’s good for two other reasons as well.

First, because He tells us to pray for anything and everything - not just one thing. Ask! Jesus says (Matthew 7:7). Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). If you have a need, come to the one who can help (Luke 11). Don’t give up (Luke 18:1). Pray like dear children ask their dear father (Small Catechism). We have been given such a great gift in prayer, and the promise of our Lord that He will hear. And so we don’t get just one chance. We don’t have to worry about screwing it up.

And notice that Jesus does not rebuke James and John for asking. He rebuked Peter, when Peter denied the cross, but not James and John. He corrects them, He teaches them, and He doesn’t give them what they asked for - and we’ll get to why in a moment. But it’s okay to ask. Your Father loves it when you pray . . . even if we sometimes ask for the wrong things and He has to say no.

But here’s the second reason - and this is really the point, of the readings today, and of Lent and Passiontide: God gives us what we should have asked for.

The Old Testament reading from Jeremiah spoke of this first. The people of Israel had screwed up. They had turned away from God and were worshipping idols. Though God sent prophet after prophet, culminating in Jeremiah, to preach to them and turn them to Him in repentance and faith, they would not listen. So finally, God was about to send them into exile from their home. For 70 years. A hard but necessary discipline. Because they had broken the covenant. And during those 70 years, if God had asked them what do you want me to do for you? they probably would have said: we want to go home.

So God didn’t ask. Instead, He proclaimed through Jeremiah that He would give them what they needed. The Father being a true father. Giving His children a new covenant, where He will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

That’s the answer, you see. If we have only one thing to ask, that’s what it should be. Forgive me, O Lord. Forgive me, a poor miserable sinner. That’s our greatest need.

Did you think of that at the beginning of this sermon? If you did, good for you! I don’t think many do. But that is the gift above all other gifts. That is the forever gift. Everything else will go the way of the world, of decay and death, but forgiveness lasts forever. Forgiveness is why the Son of God came into our world to be, as the Epistle said, our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The forever priest who would sacrifice Himself for the life of the world. For all people, no matter when they lived. Who would give His life to ransom you from sin and death. That is why Jesus and that is His glory.

So when James and John ask for the places next to Jesus in His glory, they really don’t know what they are asking for. They are thinking of the greatness and glory they know, but Jesus is going to show them the greatness and glory they do not yet know: of the cross. 

Right now, that cross is veiled in our sanctuary - but not so that we don’t have to look at it, but symbolic of our Lord being taken away from us. And to increase our joy when we can view it unveiled again, and see once again the glory and the love of God for us, who would do that for you and me. For truly it is His love that makes His cross glorious. His love that would rather He die than we die. His love that would take our sins and hold them against Himself rather than hold them against us. To take our condemnation and death and give us His forgiveness and life.

Now too, the world knows something of this, praising those who heroically lay down their lives or give greatly of themselves for others. And the world will even praise Jesus as an example of this, who laid down His life for a cause. To teach us, to show us. But Jesus is much more than that. For He didn’t lay down His life for a cause, He laid it down for you. To be more than an example - to be your Saviour. Not to show you how to do it, but to give you what you need the most: the forgiveness of your sins.

Which, if you think about it, is the only thing Jesus asked for while on the cross. Now, some scholars think that the words recorded for us that Jesus spoke while on the cross are indications of much longer prayers; of Jesus praying the psalms, since many of them are snippets of psalms. And that may be true. But if you consider just the seven last words as they are recorded in the Gospels for us, of what Jesus spoke while on the cross, there is one question and five statements, but just one request: Father, forgive them (Luke 23:34). 

That’s what Jesus is all about. The healings, the miracles, even the resurrection, are all about forgiveness - undoing sin and giving life. For when you are forgiven, you have everything, and all that you need. Now and forever. That we do not think of forgiveness that way is an indication that we too, like James and John, have something still to learn. 

So, Jesus asks them a question, to teach them. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? How would you answer that? It’s not really a fair question, since we know a bit more than James and John did at that point, when they eagerly answered yes! We know that Jesus was baptized into our death. We know that cup Jesus was about to drink was so dreadful that He would shortly ask His Father to take it from Him, if possible. 

But we know especially that we don’t have to, that Jesus transformed those things through the glory of the cross. He who is life is baptized into our death, so that we who die are baptized into His resurrection. He who is sinless drinks the cup of wrath against our sin, so that we who are sinners drink now the cup of blessing, of forgiveness. And so in every baptism and in every Supper, Jesus’ one request from the cross is fulfilled: we are forgiven. 

And so James and John and you and I are, in fact, baptized with Jesus’ baptism and drink of His cup - but only after He transforms them from death to life for us. For that is His glory and why He came. That not just James and John, but all of us have seat around Him when He comes again in glory. 

But those seats at Jesus right and left in His glory, that James and John asked for? Turns out there were two criminals they were prepared for. James and John really didn’t know what they were asking. And so it was good Jesus did not give those places to them. He gave them places even greater. Places He has prepared for you too. And if Jesus has done all that and provided all that for you, you are free now to serve and forgive others. To be great and glorious for others. For in Jesus, you already are.

So this Passiontide, these last two weeks of Lent, we learn again the glory of your Saviour, the glory of his love, the glory of His cross. We learn again the glory of His service and the glory of ours. And we learn again the glory of His forgiveness. And so we learn to pray: Father, forgive me. Father, forgive them. And culminating on Good Friday and Easter, we will hear His glorious answer: Done.

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