In the Name of Jesus
John 12,20-26
Lätare (4. Sonntag der Passionszeit) 027 „Rejoice“
Agape, Chionia, Irene, Virgins, Martyrs at Thessalonia, 304
3. April 2011
1.„Grant, we beseech You, Almighty God, that we who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Your grace may mercifully be relieved, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ“ (Book of Common Prayer, 1771 36). Amen.
2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to St. John where the holy evangelist writes: 20Now among those who went up to worship at the Feast of Passover were some Greeks. 21So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, „Sir, we wish to see Jesus.“ 22Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23And Jesus answered them, „The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.“
3. In John 12 we see the universal appeal of Jesus as some Greeks desire to see Him. It is possible that these are Greek God-fearers who worshiped the God of Israel and were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. These Greeks may have hailed from the Decapolis, the ten Greek cities east of Galilee. Their request occurred shortly after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
4. We do not know whether these Greeks got to see Jesus or what they discussed. Jesus used their request to launch into another opportunity to teach His disciples about the ministry of the messiah as proclaimed in the Scriptures. The Son of Man will indeed be glorified, but His glorification is manifested in His crucifixion. Jesus was about to fulfill our reading today from Isaiah 54, where the holy prophet declares, »„For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather You. 8In overflowing anger for a moment I hid My face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,“ says Yahweh, your Redeemer.«
5. Jesus affirms the Scriptural prophecies that the Son of Man must suffer, die, and rise again. His suffering and crucifixion is at the hands of His Heavenly Father who empties out His great and fearsome wrath against sin and the sinners upon Christ Jesus His Son. On the cross, Jesus became God the Father’s enemy. Isaiah tells us that the Heavenly Father deserted Jesus, was angry with Him, and hid His face from His only-begotten Son while He hung on the cross. There are 18 complaint psalms that describe Yahweh as the enemy of His chosen (Psalm 6, 13, 22, 35, 39, 42-43, 44, 60, 74, 77, 79, 80, 85, 88, 89, 90, and 102). Perhaps the most well-known complaint psalm is Psalm 22. Jesus uttered portions of this psalm when He was crucified. The Psalm begins with, »My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, from the words of My groaning?« (Psalm 22,1).
6. For the very reason that our sinfulness is great, Christ Jesus was made man. Jesus arrived for sinners like you and me, yes, for the entire world. God the Father’s great plan of salvation (Heilsgeschichte) for this world of sinners was that His beloved and only-begotten Son became the Chief Sinner in order to ransom the very sinners who justly deserve God’s wrath. Christ Jesus, then, lived the complaint psalms and fulfilled them upon the cross. The inescapable plan of God called for His beloved Son to die in Jerusalem on the cross at Passover. Christ Jesus was crucified in our place and for our sin. He became the Chief Sinner. He became the ransom price.
7. John the Baptizer identified Jesus as »Behold, the Lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29). Under the Mosaic covenant in the Old Testament, lambs, goats, and bulls were sacrificed by the tens of thousands each year, and by this sacrificing and the shedding of blood, the Lord saw the ransom price of the blood and forgave the people’s sin. Under the Christological covenant in the New Testament, one Lamb was sacrificed once and for all to merit the ransom price for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus was that sacrificial Lamb who was sacrificed and shed His blood on the cross. Jesus thus fulfilled the Mosaic covenant and the Old Testament.
8. On the cross, then, God the Father poured out His fierce anger and Divine punishment for sin. Let us dwell on what this means. Yahweh’s holy anger and righteous judgment upon sin and the sinner is justified. »The person who sins will die« (Ezekiel 18,4.20). On the cross Jesus vicariously took our place and suffered what each one of us rightly and justly deserves to suffer from God the Father. We deserve to suffer punishment for our many sins. We deserve the curse of death for our great sinfulness. We deserve to be in hell and eternally separated from Yahweh. Jesus, however, takes our place. He bears our own sinfulness upon Himself. He is accounted as the Chief Sinner who must suffer and die for sin. When His Father looked upon Jesus bearing our sin on the cross, the Heavenly Father zeroed in all His holy, fierce wrath upon Jesus and poured out in full measure all His anger against sin. Jesus, as the Chief Sinner, had become God’s enemy.
9. The Prophet Isaiah describes how God the Father treats His enemy Jesus on the cross: »Just as there were many who were astonished at Him – so marred was His appearance, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of mortal – so He startles all the nations; kings shut their mouths because of Him« (Isaiah 52,14). Isaiah continues: »He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole« (Isaiah 53,5). »Yahweh has laid upon Him the iniquity of all people« (Isaiah 53,6). »It was the will of Yahweh to crush Him with pain« (Isaiah 53,10). »He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of all people, and made intercession for the transgressors« (Isaiah 53,12). Jesus endured this fierce and devastating wrath upon the cross. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1,29).
10. Perhaps you have heard about Judgment Day beginning on 21. May 2011. I have seen it advertised on the buses that traverse Broad Avenue in our borough. Harold Camping has prognosticated that God’s Judgment Day will begin on 21. May 2011 and be brought to completion on 21. October 2011. At such time, Camping claims that all life on earth will be dead and the universe will be destroyed. Harold Camping is a false prophet on two accounts:
1. Camping has dated Christ’s Second Advent in direct contradiction of Holy Scripture which declares that »no one knows the day nor the hour« (Matthew 24,36).
2. Camping has dated Judgment Day as 21. May 2011, but he is two thousand years tardy, for God’s real Judgment Day occurred on 14. Nisan 33 A.D. which corresponds to 1. April 33 A.D. in our Gregorian calendar reckoning.
11. You see, God the Father judged Jesus on the cross. His crucifixion was Judgment Day and on that day Jesus bore the judgment for all sin. When we stand before Jesus in all His splendid glory it will not be a Judgment Day upon sin, but that last day will be a day of joy and rejoicing for Jesus will usher us into His heavenly reign. To be sure, for unbelievers that last day will be a day of condemnation and everlasting punishment in hell. Their damnation is not because God is angry at their sin, for Jesus has already paid for their sin on the cross, but their damnation will be because they refused to believe and hope in God’s forgiveness that He merited for them when He judged Jesus for their sins on the cross.
12. God’s judgment upon Christ is our judgment in Christ. Jesus explained it this way: »For God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life« (John 3,16). The Prophet Isaiah describes it this way: »„In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid My face from You, but with everlasting loving-kindness I will show mercy on You,“ says Yahweh« (Isaiah 54,8). The Heavenly Father’s wrath against sin has been poured out. He has judged sin and the sinner. The ransom price has been paid in full. God the Father now pours upon us His gracious mercy. Again the Prophet Isaiah writes: »„For this is like the days of Noah to Me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again; so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My loving-kindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,“ says Yahweh who has compassion on you« (Isaiah 54,9-10).
13. Thus the Introit’s antiphon reminds us of today’s theme in Lent: „Rejoice!“ God the Father was once our enemy, but His beloved Son became God’s enemy in our place. In doing so He has endured God’s wrath and punishment on sin, He has purchased our forgiveness, and God’s judgment has been meted out upon Christ. In return, we now have the full and complete mercy and grace of the Lord. We are forgiven. We are saved. We have it all through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Rejoice! Amen.
14. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Blessed Grain of wheat who fell into the earth and died, grant our guilty consciences solace and remind us that You have paid for the forgiveness of our sinfulness so that we may rejoice in Your suffering and crucifixion, for although You died, You raised Yourself up alive on the third day and through Your resurrection much fruit is born in our lives. Amen.
One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
Book of Common Prayer, The. Copyright © 1771 Oxford University Press.
Book of Common Prayer, The. Copyright © 1990 Oxford University Press.
Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Jerusalem and Parousia: Jesus’ Eschatological Discourse in Matthew’s Gospel. Copyright © 2000 Jeffrey A. Gibbs.
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