october 29 2023
October 29th 2023 Reformation Sunday
First
Reading: Revelation 14:6-7
Psalm: Psalm 46
Epistle: Romans 3:19-28
Gospel: John 8:31-36 (37-38)
Sermon
Text: John 8:31-36
Sermon Title: “Set Free”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“As Jesus was saying these things, many believed in Him. So, Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him; if you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”. (John 8:30-32) Jesus was teaching these things in the temple in Jerusalem and as usual there were some who listened intently and others who listened in order to try and catch Jesus in something they could persecute/prosecute Him for.
What a gracious promise of God, that Jesus spoke to them. If you “delight in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:2a), if you “abide” or remain in it; “gladly hearing and learning it”; if you allow the Word to correct you when you err; with contrition and repentance; Jesus said, “the truth (of the Word) will set you free”. (John 8:32b) Only by true faith alone in Jesus Christ; the world’s only Savior, which is received through the means of grace (Word and Sacrament); will we be set free from the power of sin, death, and the devil and enabled to serve God freely.
In contrast, the Jews in Jesus’ day and the Roman church in Luther’ day taught that keeping the law of God is what makes a person free or at least contributes to that freedom. This is clearly contrary to what is taught in both Holy Scripture and our Lutheran Confessions. Paul wrote, “by works of the law, no human being will be justified (made righteous) in His sight … all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace, as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 3:20a, 23-24)
Forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life are a free gift, won by Jesus’ atoning death on the cross and is received by faith alone; the Holy Spirit working faith when and where He wills through the Gospel; the Word and Sacraments. Sadly, the Jews who were listening to Jesus that day, couldn’t get past Jesus’ hard, but truth filled words about slavery and true freedom.
“They answered Him, We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it, you say, You will become free”? (John 8:33) Their sinful pride could not admit the truth about themselves or even the history of their people. They had no self-awareness whatsoever. How quickly it happened that, “those who believed in Him” (John 8:31b) began to question Jesus’ words.
Just a brief examination of the historical record shows that that they were quite frequently enslaved to other nations/people. Remember how the Israelites were enslaved in the land of Egypt, but “God heard their groaning” (Exodus 2:24a) and sent Moses to deliver them through a series of plagues and other miracles such as crossing the Red Sea on dry ground? Later when God gave them the Ten Commandments He said, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery”. (Exodus 20:2) God Himself called them slaves.
Remember the fact that the people of Israel were often at the mercy of their enemies whenever they were in sinful rebellion against the Lord. After many generations of this, God allowed them to be carried away into exile in both Persia and Babylon, but when they repented, He eventually allowed many to return and even to rebuild a smaller version of the original temple in Jerusalem. We see this in the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
But the people of Jesus’ day, did not (refused?) to remember their own history and their current situation in which they were living under the thumb of Roman oppression, their religious practices restricted in many ways. It is laughable/absurd that they would say, “we have never been enslaved to anyone”. (John 8:33) It just shows how sin and unbelief often blinds us to the truth that is right before our eyes.
Of course, Jesus isn’t talking about political or economic freedoms; for He said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you. Everyone who commits sins is a slave to sin”. (John 8:34) Luther speaks of the distinction between human freedom and Christian freedom in this way. “A human liberty has been achieved when laws are changed, but humans remain unchanged. (unconverted) Christian liberty has been achieved when men are changed, but the law remains unchanged”. (Commentary on Galatians 5:1)
Therefore, there are many today, like the Jews of Jesus’ time, who think they are free, only when they can do as they please, but Christian liberty frees us to do what God commands in His Word; serving both God and our neighbor in love; even though imperfectly, in great weakness. As the Apostle Peter outs it; “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1st Peter 2:16) motivated by the Gospel of God.
Apart from our connection to Christ Jesus by true faith, we remain as Jesus called it, “slaves to sin”. (John 8:34b) Our Lutheran Confessions teach, according to Scripture, “in spiritual and divine matters, the mind, heart and will of the (unbeliever) … can in absolutely no way, on the basis of its own natural powers, understand, believe, accept, consider, will, begin, accomplish, do, effect, or cooperate (with God). Our will is completely dead to the good, completely corrupted”. (Solid Declaration, Article II, par. 7) Scripture also declares, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked’. (Ephesians 2:1a)
Again, as Paul declared, “all are justified by His grace as a gift”. (Romans 3:24a). Even the faith that justifies (makes us righteous) is a gift; so we believe, teach, and confess in our churches that “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law”. (Romans 3:28) To the “one who trusts Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”. (Romans 4:5) Our salvation is entirely the work of Christ Jesus, who atoned for the sins of the whole world by His death on the cross.
Jesus continued to teach them saying, “The slave (to sin) does not remain in the house forever, (but) the Son remains forever; so, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed”. (John 8:35-36) Those who reject the gift of faith that Christ offers to all people, and continue to trust in their own works; or who think that it doesn’t matter what they do, or how they live, or what they believe are still in need of repentance.
The physical slave as well as the spiritual one, can never be sure of their status before their master, but the one who has been set free through the merits of Christ Jesus alone, have this promise from Holy Scripture; “We know that our old self was crucified with Him (in baptism) … so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For the one who has died (to sin in baptism) has been set free from sin”. (Romans 6:6-7) So, we are saved by grace, through faith, not of our works, “so that no one can boast”. (Ephesians 2:9b)
Also, while “good works must be completely excluded from any questions of salvation … the article of justification” (F of C, Epitome, Article IV, par 7a) according to Holy Scripture, our Confessions teach, “It is impossible for true faith and the intention to continue in sin can exist in a single heart at the same time”. (F of C, Solid Declaration, Article IV, par. 15) Or as Jesus put it, “the slave (to sin) cannot abide in the house forever” (John 8:35), if they live in intentional sin and are unwilling to repent and be corrected.
Now, in the verses that follow our text today, Jesus continues to push the discussion of who is free and who is not with some very direct words to the Jewish religious leaders saying “You are of your father, the devil” and “Whoever is of God hears the Word of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God”. (John 8:44a, 47) Can you imagine, Jesus called out some of His hearers as unbelievers?
Instead of repenting at Jesus’ warnings, for that was His purpose in confronting them, that they would acknowledge Him as the long-promised Messiah; the Jews proved their unbelief. They accused Jesus of “being born of sexual immorality”, (that Mary wasn’t a virgin) “of being a Samaritan” (a racial slur) and of “having a demon” (being possessed) (John 8:41a, 48). By the end of the conversation, “they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple”. (John 8:59)
Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Jews thought that their nationality, the fact that they descended from Abraham, would save them. The prophets of God also repeatedly warned the people against this way of thinking. John the Baptist said, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham”. (Matthew 3:9)
Jesus said, “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill Me, because My Word finds no place in you”. (John 8:37) The parables we have heard the last several Sundays also illustrate this, for example, Jesus telling them “the tax collectors and prostitutes go into the Kingdom of God before you” and “the Kingdom of heaven will be taken away from you and given to a people who produce its fruits”. (Matthew 21:31, 43)
As the Apostle Paul clearly states, “not all who are descended (physically) from Israel belong to Israel and not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring … this means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise (those who receive it by faith) are counted as (His) offspring”. (Romans 9:6b-8)
BTW, a couple people have asked me about the current conflict between Hamas and the nation of Israel. Now, many Christians are claiming that this has something to do with Scripture and/or the end times, but that is not the case. While one may agree (politically) that Israel or any other nation has a right to defend themselves from violent attacks, the nation of Israel today are not the people of God mentioned in the Bible. Again, the people of God are those who have trusted in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life; not those of a particular background or nationality.
So, as Lutheran Christians, we should also heed Jesus’ warning. Our heritage of Luther and the Reformation, as wonderful as these things are, cannot save us. We cannot say, we have Luther as our “father”, if we abandon the biblical teachings of the Reformation that he started. The most important of these teachings are justification (being made righteous) by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, found in Holy Scripture alone.
Holy Scripture is the very Word of God and is without any errors. Therefore, our confessions teach, “the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments … are the true guiding principle by which we all teachers and teachings (in the church) are to be evaluated”. (F of C, Solid Declaration, Intro, par. 3, p 527 in Kolb Wengert edition)
If Jesus’ Word “has no place in us” (John 8:37b), if we continue to insist on our own ways and works, contrary to Jesus’ Word, we are still “slaves to sin” (John 8:34b) and Jesus is calling us today to repent of our unbelief and listen to the “eternal gospel” John spoke of in the first reading today. But, “If you abide in My Word (Jesus said), you are truly My disciples … and this truth (of the Gospel) will set you free”. (John 8:31-32)
We must abide or remain with the Word, for the Word (and sacraments) are the God given means by which we receive the forgiveness of sins, the promise of eternal life and the strengthening of our faith. We must not take the Word for granted, (lest it be taken from us) but rather continue to hear it proclaimed from the pulpit and study it regularly. Jesus wants us who He has declared righteous as a free gift of His grace, to abide in His Word always, that we would continue to be free;
“Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God … the Word of the Lord remains forever, and this word is the good news that was preached to you”. (1st Peter 1:23-25) “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord”. (Psalm 1:1:1-2a) Amen.
The peace of God …