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

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Numbers 21,4-9. Judica

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Numbers 21,4-9 1718

Judika 028

Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, Martyr 251

18. März 2018

1. О Jesus, the Lamb of God, assure us that Your vicarious sacrifice has acquitted us before the judgment seat, so that we may take comfort in our vindication and salvation.(Starck 78). 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 the Lord 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 the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.“ So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses: „Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall 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. Time and again, the Holy Scriptures tell story after story of the Lord rescuing and redeeming His fallen creation: mankind. One such story is told in Numbers 21. The people of Israel had sinned against the Lord and Moses. As punishment, the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people; many were bitten and were dying. First, the Lord chastised His people with the law to show them their sin, then He delivered them from death. The Lord told Moses: »Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when they see it, they will live.« 1500 years later Jesus explained to Nicodemus the Pharisee how the bronze serpent at Sinai would soon be fulfilled by another figure at Calvary: »As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him we have eternal life and enter into the reign of God« (John 3,14-15). 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). Jesus was lifted up on a type of pole: a Roman cross. Common cross shapes used by the Romans for crucifixion were T, X and Y.

4. The imagery of the cross has not been confined to Christianity; other organizations employ a cross and in doing so reveal how Christianity has influence them. Moses’ bronze serpent influenced Greek mythology and their rod of Asclepius: a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius: who was associated with healing and medicine. A number of organizations use a variation of the bronze serpent logo, including the American Medical Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield and MedicAlert. There is the blue Star of Life symbol used by many EMS organizations. The American Lung Association uses a variation of a cross as its logo: a double bar cross also known as the Cross of Lorraine.

5. Jesus makes a clear point of reference to His crucifixion with the bronze serpent of Numbers 21. The Bible is full of these type : anti-type references. Type: look at the bronze serpent and live; anti-type: believe in the Son of Man on the cross and live. Another type : antitype reference ties in here too. The Apostle Paul compared Adam and Jesus, calling one the First Adam and the other the Last Adam. The First Adam brought sin and death to all mankind, but the Last Adam brought forgiveness and eternal life to all mankind (Romans 5,12). The First Adam’s trespass lead to condemnation for all mankind, but the Last Adam’s one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all mankind (Romans 5,18). The First Adam made us sinners: the Last Adam made us righteous (Romans 5,19).

6. This First Adam : Last Adam type : anti-type goes all the way back to Genesis 3 and the serpent. Through a serpent, Satan succeeded in tempting Adam to sin and die. Satan was told that Jesus would triumph over the serpent: Satan would bruise Jesus’ heel but that would happen as Jesus crushes Satan’s head with that heel (Genesis 3,15). The bite of a venomous serpent kills : by dying Jesus kills Death (1. Corinthians 15,54-57). St. John Chrysostom preached in his Easter Vigil sermon of 400: „Let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free. Christ has destroyed Death by enduring it. Christ destroyed Hades when He descended into it.“ Death is the great doom/twilight of men (Mennsrök); even the gods of the Greek myths and sagas could not bind not overcome Death or Hades (Murphy 117). Christ alone is able to bind and overcome Death; He uses a cross to do so. Christ’s cross, alone, is capable of holding the serpent of Eden (Nidhogg) bound and gives protection to all who cling to the cross for life and salvation (Murphy 118). By a tree the satanic serpent brought death to men and women, so by the tree fashioned in a cross Christ Jesus brought life again to men and women. Christ’s death and resurrection have forced open the maw of Death (Murphy 102-103). Christ’s victory over Death and the Devil results in Him taking possession of the keys of Death and Hades (Revelation 1,18) and tearing asunder the gates of Hades to free those in prison there.

7. Our somber march through Lent leads us to the cross, and Judica gives us a preview of Christ’s redemptive act on Good Friday (Karfreitag). Death has lost his thing; Hades has been defeated; Christ has won the victory. »Those who are in Christ are a new creation. The old has passed away, and the new has arrived« (2. Corinthian 5,17). The old died on the cross with Christ, and the new arose with Him on Easter.

8. Christ is with us,

Christ before us,

Christ behind us,

Christ in us,

Christ beneath us,

Christ above us,

Christ on our right,

Christ on our left,

Christ when we lie down,

Christ when we sit down,

Christ when we arise (St. Patrick).

We arise today through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism, through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, through the strength of His resurrection and ascension, through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom (St. Patrick). The doom of men has yielded to the deliverance of men through Christ. The Daylight of Christ rises over the twilight of men. Amen.

11. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Son of Man who did not arrive to be served but to serve; continue to teach us on our journey through Lent You have given Your life a ransom for all people, so that we have the certainty of forgiveness and eternal life. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Numbers 21,4-9. Judica

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