may 7 2023
May 7th 2023, Easter 5
First Reading: Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a, 51-60
Psalm: Psalm 146
Epistle: 1st Peter 2:2-10
Gospel: John 14:1-14
Sermon Text: John 14:1-7
Sermon Title: “The Way, the Truth, the Life” (Second Article Part II)
In the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me”. (John 14:1) “I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me”. (John 14:6b) “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame”. (1st Peter 2:6b) “Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose help is the Lord his God”. (Psalm 146:5)
Jesus begins our Gospel text this morning with a great word of comfort and promise. “Let not your hearts be troubled! Believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you”? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself; that where I am, you may be also”. (John 14:1-3)
How can Jesus make such promises? Because, as we heard last week, He is true God, possessing all authority in heaven and earth. So, He declares “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. (John 14:6) “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me”. (John 14:10a) Therefore, the Apostle Peter declared, “whoever believes in Him, will not be put to shame”. (1st Peter 2:6b)
Today, we continue in our review of the Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed from the Small Catechism, which we started last Sunday. We will focus on the threefold office of Christ; His humiliation and exaltation, and especially His Lordship; that Christ alone is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. “For there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved”. (Acts 4:12) Only Jesus saves!
In the Small Catechism the question is asked, for what threefold office was Christ anointed? Christ was anointed to be our prophet, priest and king. As prophet, Jesus preached the Word wherever He went; confirming His Word by way of His many miracles. As the prophet declared, “the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like Me … it is to Him you shall listen”. (Deuteronomy 18:15)
Through the preached Word today, Jesus is still proclaimed to be the only Son of God and Redeemer of the world. Scripture declares, “He gave the Apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints”. (Ephesians 4:11-12a) The Apostle Paul also wrote, “we are ambassadors for Christ; God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”. (2nd Corinthians 5:20)
As priest, Christ Jesus fulfilled the law of God perfectly on our behalf and became the perfect sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the whole world. This is His active and passive obedience that we heard of last week. As priest, Jesus also continues to intercede for us before the Father as Saint John declares, “We have an advocate with the Father”. (1st John 2:1) and again Paul, “Christ … is at the right hand of God … is interceding for us”. (Romans 8:34)
As King, Jesus rules over the whole creation, governs and protects His church here on earth, and finally leads His church (all true believers in Jesus Christ) to eternal glory. As Paul wrote, “the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom”. (2nd Timothy 4:18)
Another distinction made in the Bible regarding Jesus’ work of salvation is that of His humiliation and His exaltation. His state of humiliation is summed up in these words of the Creed; “Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried”.
This means that as a man, Jesus did not always or fully use His divine powers; “though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing; taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man”. (Philippians 2:6-7) In His humility, Christ endured poverty, hatred, and persecution. He suffered great agony of body and soul under Pontius Pilate and died in excruciating agony on the cross. He was then buried and remained there until the third day.
By His death on the cross, He has “purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and the power of the devil”. (Second Article explanation) Christ has redeemed you from all sins by taking your guilt and punishment upon Himself and freeing you from slavery to sin; “He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God”. (2nd Corinthians 5:21) “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed”. (John 8:36b)
Christ has rescued you from death, by His own suffering, death, and resurrection. Since He has conquered death for you and has promised you eternal life; you need not fear death, “for Our Savior Christ Jesus … abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel”. (2nd Timothy 1:10) “He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”. (1st Peter 1:3b)
Christ has rescued you from the power of the devil, so that he can no longer accuse you before God and you can resist his temptations, “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil”. (1st John 3:8) So, “submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”. (James 4:7) “Resist him, firm in your faith”. (1st Peter 5:9a)
Before we hear of Jesus’ exaltation, hear again the Gospel from the questions in the Small Catechism. Question # 138; With what has Christ redeemed you? He has redeemed you, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and innocent suffering and death; “like that of a Lamb without spot or blemish”. (1st Peter 1:19) “The blood of Jesus His Son, cleanses us from all sin”. (1st John 1:7)
Question # 139; How does this work of redemption benefit you? Christ took my place under God’s judgment against sin. By paying the penalty of my guilt; Christ atoned for my sins. “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities … with His stripes, we are healed”. (Isaiah 53:5)
Question # 140; Has Christ redeemed only you? No, Christ has redeemed me and all people; even those who ultimately reject Him. “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself; not counting their trespasses against them”. (2nd Corinthians 5:19) “He is the atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins … and the sins of the whole world”. (1st John 2:2)
Jesus’ exaltation is summed up in these words from the Creed; He descended into hell; the third day, He rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead”. This means that as a man, Jesus now fully and always uses His divine powers.
Now, this gives us opportunity to further discuss Jesus’ resurrection and ours, during this Easter season. Scripture affirms in multiple places, each of these statements from the Creed. As Luke records, “God raised Him on the third day and made Him to appear … to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses”. (Acts 10:40-41) “He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering, by many proofs; appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God”. (Acts 1:3)
Jesus’ bodily resurrection is one of the central teachings of the Christian church. His resurrection proves that He is the Son of God, as Paul wrote, “He was declared to be the Son of God in power … by His resurrection from the dead”. (Romans 1:4) It also shows that Jesus’ Word and teaching are true; for Jesus declared of Himself; “destroy this temple and in three days, I will raise it up … He was speaking about the temple of His body”. (John 2:19, 21)
By His bodily resurrection, we also know that God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice for the reconciliation of the world; for as you heard on Easter Sunday, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins … but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead”. (1st Corinthians 15:17, 20a)
Finally, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, assures us that we who believe in Him will also be raised bodily to eternal life. As we heard earlier in the Gospel, “In My Father’s house are many rooms … I go to prepare a place for you … I will come again to take you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also”. (John 14:2-3)
Forty days after His resurrection, in the presence of the disciple, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. This is briefly recorded in both Luke and Acts, but the Apostle Paul describes its importance. “God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church which is His body”. (Ephesians 1:20-22)
Finally, let us deal with Christ’s second coming on the Last Day to “judge the living and the dead”. Holy Scripture speaks many things about the return of Jesus, some of which contradict the teaching of many in the modern church. There are five main points in the Small Catechism and I will deal with each one briefly.
First, “Christ will return visibly and with great glory on the Last Day”. Jesus said “They will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27) and “As the lighting comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”. (Matthew 24:27) In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John also declares, “He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him”. (Revelation 1:7a) This, conflicts with the teaching of a “rapture” in which the saints of God simply disappear from the earth, long before Jesus’ return.
Second, “Christ will return to judge the world, not to set up an earthly government” as those who speak of a 1000 year reign of Christ; a period of peace and prosperity; before the final judgment. But Jesus clearly said, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne; and before Him will be gathered all the nations; and He will separate people one from another, like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”. (Matthew 25:31-32)
Third, “Christ will return on a specific day known by God alone”. The Bible makes this abundantly clear for Jesus said, “the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44b) and “concerning that day of that hour, no one knows”. (Mark 13:32a) Despite these words, many have tried to do what Jesus said could not be done and have embarrassed themselves greatly.
Fourth, “Before Christ returns, there will be increasing turmoil and distress for the church and the world”. Jesus said, “nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places”. (Matthew 24:7) Paul also wrote that “in later times, some will depart from the faith, by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons”. (1st Timothy 4:1) Remember also that Jesus spoke of persecution and hatred for those who followed Him.
Finally, and this is the good news, “the return of Christ is a source of hope and joy for the Christian”. Jesus said, “when these things begin to take place … your redemption is drawing near”. (Luke 21:28) When Christ returns, “He will appear … to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him”. (Hebrews 9:28)
Jesus is Lord! Which means that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, came down from heaven and has taken us poor miserable sinners and “snatched us from the jaws of hell … brought us back from the devil to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness; and He keeps us there”. (Large Catechism, par. 30-31) This is how Luther sums up this article of the Apostle’s Creed.
In closing, we affirm the words of the Psalmist this morning, “Blessed is the one whose help … is the Lord his God”. (Psalm 146:5) So, “we wait for our blessed hope; the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) who says, “Surely I am coming soon”. (Revelation 22:20a) To which we gladly reply, “Amen! Come Lord Jesus”. (Revelation 22:20b) Amen.
The peace of God …