In the Name of Jesus
Judika (5. Sonntag der Passionszeit) 028 „Vindicate me“
Daniel, Prophet, 606-536 B.C.
10. April 2011
1. We beseech You, Almighty God, to mercifully look upon Your people so that by Your great goodness they may be governed and preserved forevermore both in body and soul (Book of Common Prayer 36), for we live in a world of godless pagans and self-righteous Pharisees. One rejects God and all His workings, and the other boasts in their own merits and goodness. Both tug at our hearts, enticing us to follow their philosophy. Many times, O Lord, we must admit that we follow the siren song of either the pagans or the Pharisees, and in doing so we end up ship-wrecking our faith upon the cliffs of discontent and despair. But we know that You have given us the wonderful gospel that is manifested in Your only and beloved Son. By faith we trust in You, O Jesus, for the forgiveness of our sins and we are set at peace that You will send the Holy Spirit to set us upon the solid foundation of faith alone in the crucified and risen Christ. 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: 46Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” 48The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50Yet I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge. 51Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.” 52The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55But you have not known Him. I know Him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and I keep His word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.” 57So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. This is our text.
3. The Apostle John connects for us the different points in Yahweh’s salvation plan (Heilsgeschichte), specifically Abraham and Jesus. Abraham lived from 2166-1991 B.C., and Jesus was speaking to the Jewish Pharisees and scribes in A.D. 32. The main point in the argument between Jesus and the Jews was: which side possessed the true religion and Divine doctrine (Gerhard 276). The Jews boasted that they were descendants of Abraham, but Jesus counters that they neither have Abraham’s faith nor his good works (Gerhard 276). Thus, the issue boiled down to the true way to salvation. The Jews leaned upon the law, and they sought their righteousness and salvation through the law (Gerhard 276). Jesus countered that the law cannot be kept, and that salvation is not to be sought through the works of the law but that salvation is to be sought through the promise of the gospel (Gerhard 276). If you do not believe that I am He, Jesus says, then you will die in your sins (Gerhard 276).
4. The dagger in the heart of the Pharisaic argument is when Jesus says, »Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.« We have a common misconception in the Church that goes like this: Abraham and all the Patriarchs did not have the full understanding of the gospel and the messiah. Worse yet, we might even be tempted to think that Abraham and all the people of Israel, being under the terms of the Mosaic covenant, were saved by the law, and Christians under the New Testament are saved by the gospel. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth!
5. Abraham and all the Patriarchs knew the gospel and they believed it! We can even go back to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and discover that even they knew and believed the gospel. Likewise all the Patriarchs from Adam to Abraham, people like Seth, Methuselah, Noah, and Shem had the promise of the gospel, and furthermore rejoiced in this gospel. Moses and Aaron, viewed as the great prophets of the law and the tabernacle, had the precious gospel and the forgiveness that the gospel promises. Likewise the faithful in Israel, the judges, and those righteous kings in the line of David held onto the gospel when the landscape around them argued for another gospel and way of salvation apart from Yahweh and His messiah. There was not and is not two different ways of salvation: one for the Jews by the works of the law and another for the Christians by the promise of the gospel. Everyone from Adam to the present day, whether he or she be Jew or Gentile, is saved by the promise of the gospel. It will remain this way in the future. The promise of the gospel given to Adam and Eve and confirmed mightily to Abraham and Sarah has not and will not be abrogated.
6. Jesus says, »Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.« In classic Lutheran catechetical tradition we naturally ask „Was ist das? What is that? What does this mean?“ The Apostle Paul says that the gospel was preached to Abraham so that in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed: the Gentiles will be justified by faith, the same faith in the same God that Abraham believed in (Galatians 3,8). The gospel is Jesus who is the promised savior, and Abraham believed in and trusted in the gospel of the promised savior. Furthermore, the Epistle to the Hebrews teaches that Abraham saw Jesus’ day „by faith“ (Hebrews 11,8-10).
7. By faith Abraham, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore (Hebrews 11,12). By faith Abraham offered up his only son Isaac (Hebrews 11,17). By faith Abraham reckoned that Yahweh was able to even raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11,19).
8. Abraham saw Jesus’ day. Abraham saw Jesus’ day when he went up to Moriah to sacrifice his son. Abraham saw Jesus’ day when he received Isaac back from the dead. Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah are the great Old Testament type of the glorious New Testament antitype of God the Father and His Son, Jesus. Abraham received from Yahweh the promise of the gospel, the promise that the Christ would descend from him, the promise that this Christ would be a sacrifice for the world’s sin and raised up again.
9. Somewhere along the line, somewhere between the last prophet, Malachi, and the birth of Jesus, many Jews, through the teaching of the Pharisees and scribes, ceased to live by faith in the covenant promise of the messiah but lived by obedience to the Mosaic law. Sometime in the three hundred years of prophetic silence from Malachi to Matthew, God’s people forsook the gospel and took up the law as the basis for their righteousness and salvation.
10. Abraham entertained angels and Yahweh Himself. Abraham received them with reverent joy. Abraham listened to the words of God and believed them with all his heart. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees had the very Son of God in their midst, heard His Divine words, but they, who claimed proudly that they were heirs of Abraham, utterly failed to receive God in their midst. In John 8 they wanted to kill Jesus with stones. Far too often today, many people reject Jesus with pharisaic scorn rather than receive Him Abrahamic delight.
11. Jesus promises that whoever keeps His word will never see or taste death (John 8,51.53). The Pharisees reckon this as utter foolishness. They thus conclude that reason and experience reveal Jesus’ claim to be a delusional lie. Many today reject Jesus based on these claims of overcoming death. Such a promise delves into the realm of the spiritual which cannot be explained scientifically or rationally. It is far easier to accept Jesus as a teacher of the law and morals, for such items can be easily grasped by our minds. Thus the Church faces the constant temptation to dilute the precious promises of Jesus.
12. Jesus says, „I am“ and in doing so claims to be Yahweh who personally knew Abraham. Jesus overcomes death and gives eternal life. Abraham had this life by faith in the Christ, and we also have this life by faith in Christ. May we always receive Christ and His words by faith, never trusting in our works of the law to merit righteousness, but firmly trusting in Jesus who gives us His righteousness as a free gift. Thus Abraham received it with joy, and thus we do so even to this day. Our God vindicates us and defends our cause against ungodly people and false doctrine. He is the Lord, in whom we take refuge (Psalm 43,1-2); He is Christ Jesus our Savior, our Resurrection, and our Eternal Life. Amen.
13. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Son of Man, You did arrive on this fallen and accursed earth to serve and to give Your life as a ransom for us and all people. Give us the peace that this gospel promises so that we may live each day in the joy of knowing Your great and merciful love for us. 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.
Gerhard, Johann. Postilla, Vol. 1. The Rev. Dr. Elmer M. Hohle, Translator. Copyright © 2003 The Center for the Study of Lutheran Orthodoxy.
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