Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Numbers 21,4-9. Judica Sunday

In the Name of Jesus

Numbers 21,4-9 2112

Judika (5. Sonntag der Passionszeit) „Vindicate me“ 028

† The Annunciation of our Lord †

Dismas, the penitent insurrectionist at Christ’s right hand

25. March 2012

1. We beseech You, Almighty God, govern and preserve us, Your holy people, for the trials and tribulations of this world are numerous and great. Grant us mercy, and protect us from the world and the devil. May we show mercy to our neighbors in their time of need. Make our days good and peaceful. Amen.

2. From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: „Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.“ Then Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said: „We have sinned, for we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, so that He take away the serpents from us.“ So Moses prayed for the people. And Yahweh said to Moses: „Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, will live.“ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

3. The Psalmist proclaims: »Vindicate us, O God, and defend our cause against an ungodly people, hope in God; for we will again praise Him, our salvation and our God.« (Psalm 43,2a.5). Throughout the pages of Holy Scripture the Heilsgeschichte (salvation history) of God is unfolded as He rescues and redeems His people from their enemies. Our First Reading this morning from Genesis 22 shows us how all the way back in history with Abraham, Yahweh intended to redeem the world through a human sacrifice. By commanding Abraham to offer up his only-begotten son as a sacrifice, Yahweh showed through Abraham and Isaac how He would one day redeem all of fallen humanity by sending His Only-begotten Son, Jesus, to be our sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac were a type of redemption that was fulfilled by God the Father and Jesus.

4. Another redemptive type is found in Numbers 21. The people of Israel had sinned against God and Moses. As punishment, Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people and many were bitten and were dying. First Yahweh chastised His people with the law to show them their sin, then He sent them a savior from their sin and death. Thus Yahweh commanded Moses: »Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when they see it, will live.« The people were stricken in the Sinai Wilderness, but God saved His people from their sin. A thousand years later Jesus explained to Nicodemus the Pharisee how the bronze serpent in the Sinai will soon be fulfilled by a new savior outside of Jerusalem: »As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life and enter into the reign of God« (John 3,14-15.5). Later when entertaining some Greek visitors, Jesus proclaimed: »When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself. Jesus said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die.« (John 12,32-33).

5. Behold, the redemptive price for your sin! The bronze serpent wrapped around the pole pointed the way to the Christ nailed to the cross. The Holy Gospels proclaim that Jesus was crucified. The Greek verb is ἐσταύρωσαν (Mark 15,25; Luke 24,20; John 19,18), σταυρώσαντες (Matthew 27,35 ) and ἐσταυρωμένον (1. Corinthians 2,2), and it applied to many different forms of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead. There were different methods of crucifixion from impaling on a stake, to affixing to a tree, to an upright pole (crux simplex) or a combination of an upright pole (stipes) and a crossbeam (patibulum). In some cases, the condemned was forced to carry the crossbeam on his shoulders to the place of execution. A whole cross would weigh in at 300 pounds (135 kg), but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing around 75–125 pounds (35–60 kg). The Roman historian Tacitus records that the city of Rome had a specific place for carrying out executions, situated outside the Esquiline Gate, and had a specific area reserved for the execution of slaves by crucifixion. The Holy Gospels also inform us that the Romans had established a crucifixion site outside the city walls of Jerusalem known as Golgotha, Calvary, the Place of a Skull (Matthew 27,33; Mark 15,22; Luke 23,33; John 19,17). Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in that place, and the crossbeam, with the condemned person perhaps already nailed to it, would then be attached to the post. Common cross shapes were T, X and Y. Frequently, the legs of the person executed were broken or shattered with an iron club, an act called crurifragium so as to hasten death.

6. Behold, Christ Jesus set upon a cross, and everyone who is dying from sin, when you look upon Him, you will live! Christ crucified is the payment for sin, and this payment is given out to you each Lord’s Day in the preached Word, in your Baptism in God’s Triune Name, in the forgiving words of the Absolution and in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The bronze serpent in the wilderness only saved God’s people from one specific illness at a particular time in history. The crucified Christ outside Jerusalem saves people from every sin each and every day in the year, decade after decade, century after century, millennia after millennia.

7. »Abraham was to have sacrificed his only Son Isaac on Mt. Moriah, and thus he called the name of that place: »Yahweh will provide, forit is said to this day: „On the mount of Yahweh it will be provided.“« (Genesis 22,14). On Mt. Zion God the Father sacrificed His Only-begotten Son, and thus He called the name of that place: Yahweh has provided, for it is said to this day: „On the mount of Christ it has been provided.“„Thus Christ’s soul was grieved unto death so that we might rejoice forever. Christ sweated bloody sweat and struggled in the throes of death so that we need never despair in the agony of death. Christ was lead into captivity so that we would not have to be eternally captive to the Devil. Christ was bound so that He could rescue us from the bonds of sin and hell. ... Christ was falsely accused so that the law could not accuse us before God’s judgment. ... Christ was sentenced and condemned to death so that we do not end up in eternal death. Christ carried the burden of the cross so that He could lift the burden of eternal punishment from us“ (Gerhard 25-26).

8. This is the message of the gospel that we preach and proclaim unto our neighbors and the world. This is the message that saves people from their sins and grants them life everlasting. God in Christ has provided for you, and He will daily provide for you. Christ is your Redeemer and your Ransom. He is the New Isaac and the Ram of Moriah. Christ is your Providence and your Prudence.

9. God’s judgment has been satisfied in the crucified Christ, and He has vindicated you. Your sins are forgiven. The gates of heaven have been opened. Eternal life is now yours, and it is yours through Christ Jesus. I tell you the absolute truth, if you believe Christ’s word, then you will never see eternal death (John8,51). Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Jesus Christ, the Son of Man who serves mankind; help us to trust Your precious gospel that teaches us that You gave Your life as our ransom from sin so that we may endure the rants and ridicule of this world toward those who believe in You as their Savior. 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, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Friday, March 30, 2012

Numbers 21,4-9. Judica Sunday

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