In Matthew 25, Jesus presented a picture of the Day of Judgment. People will be separated, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep on Jesus’ right hand will be ushered into everlasting life as Jesus gives a list of their accomplishments, much to their surprise. The goats on Jesus’ left will be ushered into fire and everlasting torment prepared for the devil and his angels, and as much as the sheep are surprised to hear of what they have done, the goats are shocked to hear of what they didn’t do.

From there, people get all kinds of ideas as regards what the text means. They all usually focus on the works of the sheep versus the non-works of the goats, and assume He is there teaching that His followers should be in works of service to others, feeding, clothing, visiting, and caring for them as befits their needs. These are all fine works, given to you by God that you may be in service to others.

But Jesus also said in Matthew 25, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40) Now, the idea of works to service to others shifts into one that states that doing these is doing them to Jesus, that the person receiving the benefit is something more than someone in the way of your getting to Jesus. It also shifts into the belief that these works are only worth doing if they are done to someone who is Christ-like—someone you deem to be a Christian.

This interpretation of Matthew 25 is completely counter to the text and supporting texts. Those of you who know me well know that I often teach Matthew 25 with support from Matthew 10; after all, Scripture interprets Scripture. In Matthew 10, Jesus prepared to send His 12 disciples out, telling them to take no provisions, that those who receive them will take care of them; in other words, they will be fed, clothed, visited, and cared for by those who receive them. This is much like He told the 72 earlier in Luke 10; in fact, He told the 12 and the 72 pretty much the same things. So, similar to what Jesus told the 72, He told His 12, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” (Matthew 10:40) So, when Jesus said in Matthew 25, “[A]s you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.,” He is saying the same thing. No one says such a thing of just any other person, but it is said of those who represent them—when a representative is received and cared for, it is as if the person who is being represented is received and cared for.

Regardless, the text in Matthew 25 is not about service to neighbor, but about the day of judgment. There will be more time to delve into that text some other time. No, if you want to hear Jesus teach you about works of service to neighbor, there is today’s text.

Sadly, this text is often misinterpreted in as askew a fashion as is the text from Matthew 25. In today’s text, Jesus told the story of a certain man, a Jew, beset upon by thieves who rob him, strip him, beat him, and leave him to die in the ditch along the side of the road. Other travelers happen upon him lying in the ditch—a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. The priest and Levite, fellow Jews, pass around the man on the other side of the road. They had good reason to do so, according to the Law: the man in his current condition is unclean, and had they helped him, they would have been unclean, too. The Samaritan, however, had compassion on the man, bound his wounds, placed him on his own animal, brought him to an inn to recover, and gave to the innkeeper all that he would need to care for the injured man, promising more if what was left was not enough.

Where do the interpretations go wrong? “The Samaritan is Jesus,” they say, leaving no room for anything else, even if the text indicates otherwise. The Samaritan is Jesus, because His compassion causes Him not to be concerned about cleanness—He ate with sinners and tax collectors, after all. Furthermore, just as Jesus healed the world of the injury known as sin, so the Samaritan healed the man of his own resources. The Samaritan brought the man to the inn; Jesus brings sinners into the Church. The Samaritan directed the innkeeper to care for the man; Jesus instructs pastors to care for His sheep. The Samaritan provided all that the innkeeper needed to care for the man; the sufficiency for your care from the pastor lies solely and completely in Christ your Lord.

This, they say, is all that this parable means, but that ignores the rest of the text.

A certain lawyer prompted Jesus to tell the story. This lawyer is not a courtroom counselor, but an expert in the law of God. If you had a question about what God’s law said or demanded of you or the minute details of the law, you consulted a lawyer. So, for him to ask Jesus what the law says, what the detail of the law means, can only mean that he intended to test Jesus and catch him in a trap. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” “And who is my neighbor?”

The lawyer was going to prove his righteousness by demonstrating his love for his neighbor, but only the man who was worthy of his love was his neighbor.

Ah, you see! Works of service only matter if the neighbor is one who can be loved. Works of service can only be tolerated if the neighbor is one who can be loved. “One who can be loved,” is such a subjective phrase. If I love you, at least in this moment, then I’ll be more inclined to care for you and be charitable toward you. That’s how many who misinterpret Matthew 25 think. That’s how the lawyer thought. It is wrong!

After telling the story, Jesus turned to the lawyer and asked, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” Despite what he wanted to believe, the lawyer was confronted with the truth. The priest and the Levite couldn’t be bothered to be neighborly to the unclean man; the risk was too great—the work of service to him could not be tolerated. It was the one least expected to be a neighbor to the unclean man who was, a rival Samaritan.

So, the lawyer answered, “He who showed mercy on him.” The lawyer couldn’t even bring himself to say the word Samaritan. Nevertheless, he knew who the neighbor was.

“You go, and do likewise.”

There is where you find difficulty. It’s a fallen human frailty. No one wants to go out of their way to help someone they think is not deserving of their help. The lawyer was looking for confirmation of his bias. Instead, he received the opposite, but acknowledged his lesson.

The command he received is directed toward you, too. Have mercy on those who need mercy. Show grace to those in need of grace. Help the helpless. Do not regard their station in life or their relationship to you, should they be a friend or enemy. You are not doing this to Jesus, but you are doing it because of Him. As much as the Matthew 25 teaching is about the Day of Judgment, today’s text is teaching you that your neighbor is anyone whom you meet for whom you can do one of the good works prepared in advance for you to walk in. (cf. Ephesians 2:10) Better yet, in keeping with the grammar of today’s text, you are the neighbor when do you the good work to anyone in need of your good work.

Now, you’ll note that I never called the story a parable; the only time I mentioned the term was in connection to others thinking of it this way. You’ll note that Luke never used the term…that Jesus never used to term. No, it would be more accurate to refer to this as a fable—a moral story, much in the vein of Aesop’s Fables. Jesus was, after all, answering a lawyer’s question about interpreting the law—a moral question. That’s why He closed out the story with the imperative to the lawyer and to you: “You go, and do likewise.”

Others call Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan a parable. Even the editors of the Lutheran Study Bible allowed the section title with that word to remain above today’s text—perhaps they had no choice in that regard—but the word also appears in the book’s study notes. People call it a parable and want to interpret it as a parable, but a parable is a story about the Kingdom of God. There are certainly elements of a parable in this fable—He told this moral story that way by no accident, you can be sure, for He certainly intended for you to see a type of Christ in the Samaritan, for the very reasons mentioned in the interpretation of this text as a parable. You see, Jesus, similar to the Samaritan, stooped down into the ditch of your humanity, taking on flesh and blood like yours. By His work, your wounds are healed—by His stripes, you are healed. (cf. Isaiah 53:5) Jesus has done the work to bring you into the inn of the Church, wherein He gives all that you need in order to come to the fullness of life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10b)

This was accomplished for you on the tree of the cross, whereat Jesus shed His blood for your propitiation. You are covered in the blood of Christ, your Savior and Redeemer. This was applied to you each personally in your hearing of the Word and receiving of Holy Baptism. There, in those means, you were washed and sanctified, given new life, much as the man in the parable was restored to life by the work of the Samaritan and in the inn. And Jesus gives you all abundantly from Himself, body and blood, Word and work, so that you may have that abundantly life. Now, you are sent out from this inn to “go, and do likewise,” and be a neighbor to your fellow man, each of you as you have been given according to your ability. You are sent out with the abundant life you have in Christ, a life which is yours because you are forgiven for all of your sins.

Pope Leo X, in a bull titled Decet Romanum Pontificem on January 3, 1521, excommunicated Martin Luther from the Catholic Church, as well as any who follow his teachings, whom this bull labeled Lutheran. The last part of the missive cites the authority which Leo uses to perform such excommunications. There, he wrote,

It’s possible that this bull, as well as Leo’s earlier bull, Exsurge Domine, in which he commanded Luther to recant his teaching, served as part of the influence in writing Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word. There were later events that certainly gave cause to the hymn, not the least of which was an alliance that gave the impression that the Pope and Turk—to be understood as Muslim—were allied against the Church! Catherine Winkworth, prolific in translating many hymns into English, altered the first stanza to the way it is most often now sung, but what Luther wrote was a little closer to this:

Still, the Catholic Church, which would come to be called Roman Catholic nearly a century later, claims the authority of Peter and Paul as the founding of their church, so to speak. More specifically, the Bishop of Rome, who would call himself pope, claimed to be carrying with him and his office the authority they claim was given to Peter to be the head of the Church on earth. Peter is the foremost of all of Jesus’ apostles. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles. These two men have been and still are seen as the two greatest men in the Church since the Ascension of Jesus. Therefore, the papal church appeals to these for their foundation and papal authority.

Of course, Rome bases this authority given to Peter on how they explain the interaction that took place in today’s Gospel lesson. There, Jesus asked his disciples who people say that He is. “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets,” came the answers. Jesus was reckoned by the people to be a prophet, or the return of a prophet, which was to usher in the messianic age. “But what about you?” Jesus asked. “You’ve been with me for nearly three years now. Who do you say that I am?” Simon spoke up, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Blessed are you, Simon. I now call you Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”

Peter is a name in Greek which stems from the words petra or petros, meaning rock or stone. Simon, son of Jonah, had just given a rock-solid confession, and Jesus gave Him the name Rock. How did Peter know to say this? It didn’t just come to Him, but it was given to Him by the Father. How did the Father give this answer to Peter? Well, he had been walking for nearly three years with the incarnate Rock of all Ages, sitting as His feet and learning. It was St. Paul who once called Jesus the Rock. (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:4) Jesus also called Himself a stumbling stone and the Stone that the builders rejected (cf. Matthew 21:42-44), which both St. Peter and St. Paul echo. (cf. Romans 9:32-33; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6-8) So, following the precept that Scripture interpret Scripture, Lutherans believe, teach, and confess that Jesus is the Rock and that Peter confessed this truth in today’s Gospel reading when He said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” He spoke on behalf of the entire Church, for this is the Church’s confession.

But Rome rejects this and says that in today’s text, Jesus was setting Peter up to be the chief bishop of His Church and thereby gives him all authority in the Church on earth, which carries with it eternal repercussions, of course. They see Peter as being the only one who receives the keys of heaven, which is the authority to bind on earth so that it is likewise bound in heaven. Now, any man who assumes the office of Peter takes the title Holy Father in the Romish church, and with it the authority they presume to assign to Peter based on their understanding of today’s text. As was stated on Wednesday evening, as today’s text was cited in the articles of Smalcald that were studied, the Office of the Keys is seen as a top down office in Rome, given to the pope, who delegates it to the priests. So, to this day, the coat of arms of the papacy bears on it a set of keys as a result. This is also why Peter is often pictured as a sort of concierge in jokes about heaven.

Lutherans point to the night of the resurrection to interpret the last verse of today’s text. For on that night, the disciples were in the room behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Jesus appeared among them, breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:22b-23 NKJV) There, the authority to bind and loose sins as validly as it were to be done in heaven is not limited to Peter, but is given to Jesus’ Church. So, to this day, this Office of the Keys is a peculiar office given to the Church and exercised in Her by Her called and ordained pastors; therefore, the Office of the Keys could be described as bottom up, counter to the top-down idea of Rome. So, if the Office is given to the church, then you, dear hearers, have authority to forgive sins, especially those committed against you, and when your brother or sister leaves truly forgiven, you have won them back. (cf. Matthew 18:15)

With regard to Catherine Winkworth and her work, there is much for which to be thankful to God. She has given done many wonderful translations of hymns originally written in German. But, I would contend that the alteration she made to Luther’s hymn is something that might be worthwhile to consider undoing—that the original, polemical language Luther used is still valid today.

For one thing, the Turk, or Muslim, is still a murderous tyrant, hell-bent on throwing Jesus off of His throne, as evidenced by the many brutal slaying of Christians and the desecration and torching of Christian churches in Muslim-controlled lands in the Middle-east and Northern Africa. The Muslim is, after all, a holy warrior in his mind, whose purpose is to set up the everlasting kingdom of his god, Allah, on this earth. This “One World Under Islam,” which can be called a Caliphate, entails ruthlessly subjugating and slaughtering those who do not believe in Allah.

The pope, on the other hand, while he doesn’t take (or no longer takes) the lives of simple Christians, he is a threat to solid Christian teaching, thereby threatening the eternal lives of simple Christians—he tosses Jesus off the throne by claiming the seat as his own; this is why the Lutheran Confessions refer to the papacy as the Antichrist. (cf. Apology XV, 18; Power and Primacy of the Pope, 39; et al) Why is the papacy antichrist? Because the pope seeks to take from Christ His redemptive work and put the onus of your salvation on you, at the pope’s own discretion. The papacy’s Sacrifice of the Mass is a good example, in which the Romish church declares the Lord’s Supper a sacrifice performed to gain God’s favor rather than the body and blood freely given from Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice on the cross for your salvation.

The pope’s murder, while more subtle, is far more dangerous than the Muslim’s. “[Do] not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) Anything antichrist—or contrary to Christ—leads to death, eternal death. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Despite all of this, the pope cites Peter as his authority which he uses to lead people from Jesus and salvation to a way that would lead to death and damnation. Jesus said,

Does that mean that all in the Romish church are damned? Absolutely not! Even the man in the papal office may be saved, it’s not given to me or you to save or damn anyone. Still, there is always room to question Roman Catholic doctrine and wonder if any Roman Catholic, be they pope or parishioner, truly believes as they teach and confess. So long as their belief, teaching, and confession run counter to Christ, they are in danger of hellfire—but this is true of anyone with any label, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Turk, or anything.

The Church is not built on Peter or Paul. A church built on a mere man is a building built on sand, and a house built on sand is doomed to fall. (cf. Matthew 7:26-27) The Church is built on the Rock, Jesus Christ, and built on this Rock, it will never fall (as you will sing momentarily). (cf. Matthew 7:24-25) Jesus is the sure, certain, and solid cornerstone out of which everything that is the true faith is built. He is the cornerstone, the apostles and prophets are the foundation as their work is based on Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:2) And you, as the church, are built on this foundation of Jesus and the prophets and apostles: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Building a church on a mere man is not a danger unique to the Romish church. It can happen in any church body or congregation, even this one. If you are here because you like me or relate well to me or like my voice or you find me full of charisma or like my preaching, I’m flattered. However, any one of those better not be the only reason that you fill a seat in this place. If so, you are here for the wrong reason, and you would be heading for a doomed fall on the last day, like the house built on sand. Come because this place is founded on the rock-solid confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, because Jesus Christ and Him crucified for your salvation is proclaimed here.

It works the other way around, too. Perhaps you don’t like to come here or would rather not come here because you don’t like me or don’t relate well to me or find my voice grating or find me dull and boring or don’t like the way I do a certain thing. Whatever! Such criticism will just roll off my back (or it should). However, as long as Jesus Christ and Him crucified is proclaimed from these lips, then this is a place built upon the rock-solid confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In that case, your refusal to come is folly; remaining in this futile confession, you will fall like the house built on sand.

The Rock upon which the Church is founded is Jesus Christ. the Messiah, the Son of the living God. What does it mean for Him to be called Christ or Messiah? Namely this: He was anointed from eternity to bear your sin and be your Savior. (cf. Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20) In being anointed to bear your sin, Jesus was sent to Earth, to take on human flesh and blood like yours, to die. The Church, very specifically then, is built on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the sum and whole of Jesus’ teaching. To this all of the Prophets looked forward and spoke. To this all of the Apostles attest and wrote. Upon this you stand, by faith grasping the merits that Jesus won for you on the tree of the cross, trusting only in these for your salvation.

Your hope is not that some mere man with man-made authority will free you from the bonds of sin or from some middle place after death. Your sins are finally and fully forgiven in the death of Jesus Christ. He has freed you from all iniquity, regardless of what some pope may say. Unless you wish to hold on to your sins, binding them to you, they are loosed—they no longer hang around your neck like a millstone.

That is what it means to celebrate this feast of Sts. Peter and Paul—to confess what they have confessed, as the Church throughout time has confessed: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And when Jesus comes again, He comes to take you to Himself to be where He is for eternity. This is your sure and certain, rock-solid confession, because, in the right, sure, certain, and God-given exercise of the keys, you are forgiven for all of your sins.

The sainted Dr. Hermann Sasse, a Lutheran theologian from Germany by way of Australia, posed a question to the LCMS about 60 years ago. He had written a series of letters to Lutheran pastors in the Missouri Synod, and in letter 20 he wrote,

60 years ago, the question was asked. I wonder if there is yet an affirmative answer to it. Certainly, there are LCMS congregations, adorned with “the-cross-that-doesn’t” symbol of the Synod, that in practice bear a closer resemblance to what you might find in a mega non-denominational congregation. If you were to step into one of those places, you might wonder if you’ll hear the preaching of the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Jesus Christ who was crucified for the propitiation for the sins of the world, of if you’ll get the non-denom Jesus-as-great-example sermon, if you get Jesus at all.

• These congregations bear the mark of the strongest confessional church of Lutheranism, but are they a truly confessing church, such that the Lutheran Confessions are not merely held in honor, but are they in force and untouchable?
• Are the Confessions the confession of a living faith there—the formative life-principle of the congregation, her members, and her pastor—or merely a book that sits on a shelf gathering dust?

Are we still Lutheran?

There’s an old Latin saying: Lex orandi, lex credandi. Literally, it translates to, “The law of praying is the law of believing.” What it means is that as you pray, as you worship, as you sing—those things you do that define your practice of worship—so you also believe and confess. As you teach and worship, so you believe and confess. Quite frankly, it probably means that of those Lutheran churches where the worship service looks and sounds like something mega non-denom, the answer to the question, “Are we still Lutheran?” is “NO!”

Lex orandi, lex credandi is why in Lutheran circles, it is often said, “We believe, teach, and confess...” when it comes to doctrine and practice. Doctrine informs practice. Practice is derived from doctrine. Doctrine and practice are inseparable—you cannot have one without the other. And so, “we believe, teach, and confess” everything that we be believe and do. If practice and doctrine do not mesh, then something is askew. Often, the old axiom, “Actions speak louder than words,” comes into play. So, one may claim to confess and hold to a certain theology and doctrine, but if their practice says otherwise, then they must not believe what they claim to confess; by their actions—by their practice—one must conclude that what they truly confess is contrary to the confession that they make with their mouths.

It could be so dangerous as to call into question their salvation. If their practice—what they teach and sing—espouses a heresy, even if their confession is different from this practice, then they could be confessing a damnable teaching. For instance, they could sing a song that denies that Jesus rose bodily from His grave and the humanity of the ascended Jesus Christ, or pray a prayer that speaks of Jesus being merely a mode of operation of the one God (a heresy you may recall from last week called Modalism), and you would be left to wonder if the God they confess by their song and prayer is the same God revealed in the Scriptures. This is why St. Paul encouraged the young pastor Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16)

Since practice is informed by doctrine, it stands to reason that in order to continue in sound practice that you must be informed in sound doctrine. Now, I’m looking at you, dear hearers. Many of you, I see only once a week, ordinarily, and that for only an hour or two. I might not know what your spiritual life is like outside of the Divine Service. Only a few come to the Bible Studies on Sunday morning and Friday evening. Only a few come to study the Lutheran Confession on Wednesday evening. Are you able to make it but choose not to come? Are you still Lutheran? What does your orandi say of your credandi?

What is a Lutheran? A Lutheran is one who believes, teaches, and confesses what the Scriptures teach about God—who is one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—and the righteousness He gives us in the person and work of the Son, who assumed human flesh and blood, and died on the cross, spilling His blood as your propitiation, having taken your sins into His flesh, that you might become the righteousness of God in Him, which same teaching is confirmed and expounded on in the Lutheran Confessions, collected in the Book of Concord, which contains the Three Ecumenical Creeds, the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Power and Primacy of the Pope, the Small and Large Catechisms, and the Formula of Concord, both Epitome and Solid Declaration.

So, dear hearers, are you still Lutheran? If I were to ask you what you believe, teach, and confess regarding free will, would you be able to answer? How about the cause of sin? Do you know what it is Lutherans believe, teach, and confess about the Mass?

• “Our churches teach that a person’s will has some freedom to choose civil righteousness and to do thing subject to reason. It has no power, without the Holy Spirit, to work the righteousness of God, that is, spiritual righteousness. For the ‘natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God’ (1 Corinthians 2:14). This righteousness is worked in the heart when the Holy Spirit is received through the Word,” Augsburg Confession, article XVIII. So, we believe, teach, and confess that man does not have free will in all things.
• “Our churches teach that although God creates and preserves nature, the cause of sin is located in the will of the wicked, that is, the devil and ungodly people. Without God’s help, this will turns itself away from God, as Christ says, ‘When he lies, he speaks out of his own character’ (John 8:44),” Augsburg Confession, article XIX. So, we believe, teach, and confess that the source of sin rest solely with the devil and fallen man, not with God.
• “Our churches are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass. The Mass is held among us and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, except that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and there with German hymns. These have been added to teach the people. For ceremonies are needed for this reason alone, that the uneducated by taught what they need to know about Christ,” Augsburg Confession, article XXIV. So, we believe, teach, and confess that we still celebrate the Mass—the Divine Service—with all due reverence in a language understood by the people, as St. Paul encourages. (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:2, 9)

The documents in the Book of Concord were not written for use only by trained theologians. These are your confession, dear Lutherans. These express what you believe, teach, and confess—or what you should be believing, teaching, and confessing. On June 25, 1530, at a diet, or general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire, in Augsburg, men who would be called Lutherans presented this Confession to Emperor Charles V. Printed on the Confession before everything else was the antiphon for today’s introit, “I will speak also of thy testimonies before kings, and shall not be put to shame.” (Psalm 119:46) Who will speak of these testimonies? The Lutherans who stood before Charles V—princes and electors, pastors and priests…laymen and clergy. As they concluded the greetings and introduction, they read, “This is our confession and that of our associates, and it is specifically stated, article by article, in what follows.” “This is our confession,” they said—laymen and clergy. This is what they believed, taught, and confessed, written by them and for them, no matter their vocation. Therefore, it can rightly be said that it is your Confession, too, dear Lutheran, not only that of the man in the pulpit.

The Gospel reading appointed for today is Jesus calling Himself the Vine. Jesus is the One upon whom Christians—the branches—are grafted. From Him flow the sacramental juices of everlasting life. So, it was rightly said by Paul, “[I]n Him we live and move and have our being…” (Acts 17:28)

Jesus, the Word of God, bids His hearers to abide in Him, and He in them. A branch cannot bear fruit unless it stays on the vine; likewise, you cannot bear fruit unless you abide in Christ. Which fruit is that? It is fruit in keeping with repentance, your good works, that which expresses what you believe and confess. One who claims to be Christian, but who does not bear this fruit, is cut off from the Vine and cast into the fire. So, it is appropriate that Paul warned Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers,” for even Jesus said, “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 8:31-32)

Abide in Jesus’ word, in His teaching, in His doctrine, and you will bear fruit, for you are abiding on the Vine. How does this look? You study His Word. You study the Confessions which rightly expound His Word. You come to the Mass, Augsburg XXIV, whereat you receive Him and the gifts He comes to give. And as is confessed regarding free will in Augsburg XVIII, none of this is of your doing, but of the Spirit who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies you by the Gospel, which proclaims to you Jesus Christ crucified for you, that you are spared the death you deserve for your sins—you abide in Jesus the Word only by the work of the Holy Spirit. Your lack of fruit—of being and abiding in Jesus the Word—is all your doing, as is confessed in Augsburg XIX. How does it all look? It looks like being given to for the sake of Jesus Christ; “This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23)

This is exactly why Jesus Christ was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man. God would not have the sinner die—would not have you die—but sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law that they might receive the adoption as sons, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (cf. Galatians 4:4-5; John 3:16) Jesus Christ was incarnate, born, died, risen again, and is now ascended for you, dear hearers!

And you are here now, at the Mass, receiving those Sacramental juices as branches grafted in the vine as you hear His Word and receive the body and blood of the Word-made-flesh in, with, and under the bread and wine. You are here to receive from the Fatherly, providential hand of God the merits that Jesus, the Son of God, won for you on the cross. And you come again and again, by the power of the Holy Ghost, to get your fill again and again, so that your cup runs over. (cf. Psalm 23:5b) From Jesus flows to you life—these are your lifeblood; He is your life—in Him you live and move and have your being. These give you what God is come to give you, that you would bear fruit. By the grace of God, this is what you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth (cf. Romans 10:9-10)—what you believe, teach, and confess. Dear hearers, this is the work of God the Holy Ghost for you, who has brought you to Jesus and Jesus to you; therefore, you are forgiven for all of your sins. “And where there is forgiveness, there is also life and salvation.”

A crowd had gathered around Jesus, and I suppose many a sermon could begin that way. But, once again, a crowd had gathered. Among this crowd were deriders and those who sought to sully Jesus’ reputation—Pharisees and their disciples, scribes and teachers of the law, perhaps some Sadducees. Never letting a situation go without some instruction—these are his people after all, the ones created through Him, the ones He was sent to—Jesus spoke to the crowd assembled. He instructed, and some believed. To them that believed in Him He said, “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 8:31-32)

Yet, there existed in this crowd still others who did not believe—Pharisees and their disciples, scribes and teachers of the law, perhaps some Sadducees—they’ve all been mentioned before. They chimed in, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (John 8:33) Jesus explained that one who sins is a slave to sin, but if He, the Son, sets them free, they are truly free. He acknowledged that they are descendants of Abraham, yet seek to kill him; they do the work of their father, who is not Abraham. They stood firm, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus responded:

I’ll connect the dots here. Jesus just said, “You seek to kill Me…Abraham did not do this.” This thing that Jesus said did not fall on deaf ears. His listeners did in fact hear Jesus compare them to Abraham and how they reacted to Jesus compared to how Abraham did. “You seek to kill Me, but Abraham never did.” That’s when things really go down hill. It’s what prompted their retort, given in the form of an insult, with which today’s lesson begins: “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” and following that,

That’s why Jesus replied, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” This really threw those who sought derision for a loop. “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” You can almost hear them saying that in laughter: “Ha! You’re crazy. You’re not even 50, and now you’re saying you were around way back when Abraham was alive. Thanks for that, Jesus; I needed a good laugh today!” Yet, as calm and mater-of-fact-ly as ever, Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Then they took up stones to kill him. But, it was not yet His time, so He passed through them unharmed.

“[B]efore Abraham was, I AM.” This is not something to be taken lightly. It wasn’t a grammatical mistake by John. This isn’t simply a Greek idiom or a Hebrew idiom taken into Greek. Jesus plainly and truly said, “[B]efore Abraham was, I AM.” He was speaking of Himself in the present tense while referring to a past event. Not only was He around to see Abraham, but before Abraham even walked the earth, He says of Himself, “I AM.” That simple, two-word phrase carries a lot of weight.

Think back to when it was first used. Back at the beginning of Exodus, Moses was in the Midianite wilderness, having escaped there from Egypt to flee from Pharaoh’s wrath for having killed an Egyptian. He had since married and was tending to his father-in-law’s flock when the Angel of the LORD—a phrase used often in the Old Testament to refer to an appearance of the Son of God before He took on human flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary, a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity—appeared to him from the midst of a burning bush that isn’t consumed. Speaking from the flames in this bush, God told Moses to return to Egypt and demand the release of the Hebrews. Moses inquired, however, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?” God answered, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (cf. Exodus 3:1-14)

Now, this passage from Exodus 3 in the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, uses the same phrase as is found in the New Testament. When God said, “I AM,” He said, “Ego eimi.” That’s the same phrase Jesus used in John 8. It’s a little redundant, and for good reason. The word “Ego” is not necessary; it is enough to say “eimi” for that alone means “I am.” Adding “Ego” makes it emphatic: “I AM,” thereby meaning to draw parallels, in its New Testament use, to God’s use in Exodus 3, where the phrase is used in Greek to give it the extra meaning intended by what is said in the Hebrew.

It is in the Hebrew where this interesting parallel is made. When God says “I AM” in Hebrew, He says, “e’hiyeh,” a word which looks and likely sounds much like the name by which God reveals Himself in the Old Testament: “YHWH.” It is a name, which at its core, means “I exist”; as if to say that God, who is called YHWH, is the real god, that there is no god besides Him—“I am, and no one else is.” It is a name, interestingly enough, which the Jews refused to say, opting instead to say “Adonai” (meaning Lord) whenever they encounter God’s name, a practice retained to this day.

So, what does this all mean in regard to what Jesus said?

First of all, by using the emphatic “Ego eimi,” Jesus was, in fact, identifying Himself as God. This is further solidified in how He used the phrase, claiming His existence before the birth of Abraham (and, in fact, before creation).

Second, in a round-about way, Jesus had the chutzpah to speak the very name of God. Oh, certainly, there is a proper time for an ordinary man to use the Hebrew “e’hiyeh”, but the context in which Jesus says “Ego eimi” and the seemingly poor grammar used when He said it—why didn’t He say, “I was”?—was akin to Him saying YHWH.

In the ears of the deriders in the crowd that day, this was blasphemous. Jesus, a man in their sight, was claiming to be God. Jesus had been telling them of the God the Father, who is in heaven. Yet, a few times He also said, “I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me,” then He also claimed to be God. This is an affront to their logic which believes (rightly so) that God is one, and since God is in heaven and Jesus is not, He cannot be God. Furthermore, how could a man be God? Therefore, they pick up stones to pelt the blasphemer to death.

So, what you have before you in John 8 is the Biblical truth of the Trinity. God is one in three. God the Father is most certainly in heaven, as Jesus explained before today’s lesson. The Father sent Him from above, Jesus stated. However, God the Son stands right before them. Together with the Holy Spirit, these three are one God. They are not three gods but one, “one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity,” as was confessed moments ago in the Athanasian Creed.

That’s about the best anyone can say to understand it, too. “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity.” God has three persons: the uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal, almighty Father, the uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal, almighty Son, and the uncreated incomprehensible, eternal, almighty Spirit. Yet, there are not three uncreateds, incomprehensibles, eternals, and almighties, but one. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Spirit is Lord, yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord! The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God, yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

The Athanasian Creed attempts to put words to the fact that Scripture plainly teaches that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God with the fact that Scripture also plainly declares that God is one. Gladly, this third creed also states that God is incomprehensible. You cannot begin to comprehend the Trinity, and that’s alright. On this side of eternity, it’s not given to you to understand that God is one in three, but that you confess with your mouths and believe in your hearts that you worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. “He, therefore, that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.” The Scriptures declare this to be true, and so you believe it, you take God at His Word, whether you understand it or not: God says it, so it is true!

Furthermore, it could be a good thing not to understand it. There is a danger in trying to make sense of the Trinity. Trying to apply faulty logic and fallen reason to something incomprehensible inevitably leads to errors.

One such error is a teaching known as modalism. Modalism teaches that God is one—there is only one God—but that He works as Father, Son, or Holy Spirit at different times; sometimes one, sometimes another. At one point, He’ll put on His Father hat, so to speak, and operate in Father mode, and at another, His Son hat, and operate in Son mode, and at another, His Spirit hat, and operate in Spirit mode. But, since God is one, He cannot wear more than one hat at a time, to use the same illustration. You can likely point out from certain passages of Scripture that this is false; for instance, the Father was present at His Son’s Baptism to speak as the Spirit descended upon the Son in the form of a dove—Modalism teaches that there can’t be separate “modes” present at the same time.

Another error is a teaching spoken clearly against by the Athanasian Creed: Tritheism. This one acknowledges the three persons, but claims that they are all individual gods, independent from each other. This would be the polar opposite of Modalism. It is refuted, not only by the Athanasian Creed, but also by the beautiful passage that begins St. John’s Gospel as well as Jesus saying, “I and the Father are one,” in John 10:30, among many other places in Scripture.

It could also be a good thing for to struggle with understanding it. There is a danger in refusing to grasp what you cannot understand. Now, I don’t want to encourage applying faulty logic and fallen reason, but I speak of a refusal to acknowledge that there is a great mystery in the Trinity to the point of ignoring it altogether. Far too often, if there is something one finds difficult to understand or simply cannot comprehend it outright, they’ll ignore it altogether.

The Trinity is one such mystery. Feeble, fallen minds can have a terrible time wrapping themselves around the mystery of the Trinity such that you can be easily tempted to ignore it altogether, outside of simple lip-service maybe once a year. It is as if to say of the Trinity that it is not an important doctrine of the faith. It’s an easy cop-out for a wayward people that do not like to struggle, either physically, emotionally, or in thought. It’s an attitude of indifference that is extremely dangerous to one’s salvation.

However, God’s Word declares the doctrine of the Trinity to be true. Therefore, for one who believes what the Word of God says, the mystery of the Trinity is an important doctrine. There is no room for indifference with regard to the Trinity for one who keeps God’s Word—who guards, watches, cherishes, and clings to it, as you may recall hearing last week (and which Jesus also said in today’s lesson)—or abides or remains in it, as Jesus said of His true disciples earlier in John 8. God’s Word declares this to be true—the doctrine of the Trinity is true—and so one who keeps God’s Word believes it and cherishes it. God declares who He is in His Holy Word—He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…one God—therefore one who keeps God’s Word believes it and cherishes it. “He therefore, that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.”

Otherwise, if one dismisses the Trinity as so incomprehensible it is unworthy of thought or care, they they dismiss what God says of Himself. To them, God’s identity is unimportant. This leaves the door open to myriad interpretations about who God is (and none of them can be true) and myriad creations of who they want God to be (and none of them will be true). These believe in a false god who cannot save. To paraphrase: He, therefore, that will be saved must not thus think of the Trinity.

You cannot and do not go wrong in acknowledging that you cannot understand the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity. It is enough to take God at His Word, and believe and confess it to be true, as He has given you the faith to confess! In fact, this is the essence of faith. The letter to the Hebrews describes faith as the assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things not seen. (cf. Hebrews 11:1) If you understood something, you would see it, even if only with your mind’s eye. The Holy Trinity, being incomprehensible, cannot be grasped or seen with the mind’s eye, so your knowledge of the truth of the Trinity is taken on conviction of faith. God’s Word declares it to be true, so you believe it and confess it.

This belief in the Triune God—in one God in three Persons—expresses itself in the confession of the Creeds—the Apostles’ and Nicene in addition to the Athanasian. For it is those creeds that you confess that God is One, yet works in each of His three Persons for your good, not as in modes, but in actual Persons who are all One God. I fear if I try to say too much more than that about the Trinity, it’ll end up being too confusing, at best, and erroneous and heretical, at worst.

In any event, when you confess the three Person of the Trinity as one God, you confess that God the Father created you and has given and continues to give you all that you need to support this body and life; God the Son has redeemed you as He took on flesh, was born of the Virgin Mary, and died on the cross to forgive your sins; God the Spirit sanctifies you and daily brings you to the Word wherein you find repentance and the forgiveness of sins and brings you into the presence of God and His means by which He gives you repentance and forgiveness of sins. Again, these He did not as in modes, but in each of His persons. It is God—one God—who is at work to give you all that you have and need for your care and salvation in each of His three Persons.

There is no need to reduce God to something understandable and weak or completely do away with what cannot be comprehended. On the contrary, it is well and good to rejoice in a God who is greater than you are and greater than you can understand, who is strong enough to save, and who has given you faith in Him and His Word to believe “one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity.” He who thus believes in and confesses the Trinity will be saved—as you do and have today—for it is done and has been done with a faith which receives these words: You are forgiven for all of your sins.

Before the Gospel lesson begins, Thaddeus, one of the twelve, asked Jesus a question: “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Then, as you heard, Jesus gave His response:

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word…Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” It sounds simple enough. A mark of one who loves Jesus, who follows Him, who is a believer, is keeping His Word. And why not? If you love someone, you tend to pay more attention to what they say or write; you tend to hang on every word they say, soak it in, and cherish it. So it should be with one who loves Jesus, they keep His Word: they pay attention to it with meticulous detail and are keen to observe everything He says by it.

Conversely, the mark of one who does not love Jesus, and you can read that to mean either as one who hates Him or who is otherwise indifferent towards Him, is not keeping His Word. If you do not like someone or are otherwise indifferent towards them, you will most likely ignore what they have to say. How often do you change the TV channel when someone you do not care to hear is about to speak? Or, perhaps you hang on their every word, looking for something to complain or argue about (definitely not to soak it in and cherish it). And, this is how it is with those who do not love Jesus—they either ignore what He has to say, simply don’t care about it, or care enough to hear it in order to contradict it.

And I’ve brought this up many times before: Jesus did not say “obey” here, but “keep,” which is more at guard or watch or cling to. And it’s a good thing, too. While everyone should certainly obey everything He commands, doing so is an impossible ask in this sinful flesh, and this not only with regard to Jesus’ commands. Husbands and wives refuse instruction from each other. Children refuse instruction from their parents. Students refuse instruction from their teachers. Parishioners refuse instruction from their pastors. And now, you’re supposed to believe a Christian will, without question, accept instruction from Jesus, and that by doing so, they prove themselves a believer, a follower, a lover of Jesus.

Dear hearers, if in hearing this passage, you heard Jesus say, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My word…He who does not love me does not obey My words,” you have been duped by the Great Deceiver. Oh, what a great lie he has spread, and what a snare he has set. If you have fallen for this trap, then what is left for you to believe is one of two things:

1. I do love Jesus, therefore I do obey His Word without blemish, without sin (because of my love for Jesus), therefore, as the rest of the passage indicates, the Father loves me, and He, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have come to me and made their home with me, or
2. I do love Jesus, but I have not obeyed His Word perfectly every time. So, I must not be loving Jesus hard enough or well enough, so I fear, as the rest of the passage conversely indicates, that the Father does not love me, and He, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have not come to me and have not made their home with me.

Either you believe that you love Jesus and have proven it with your perfect obedience to His Word, which is false, or you believe that you want to love Jesus, but think that by your imperfect obedience to His Word you have proven that you do not love Jesus, which is also false. In short, you have been deceived to believe that your love of Jesus (and, by reciprocation, God’s love for you) is dependent on your obedience to God’s Word.

To number 1 can be said, “If you say you have no sin you deceive and the truth is not in you.” (cf. 1 John 1:8) To one such as this, the full force of the Law must be proclaimed, the Word of God which, without hesitation or modesty calls a sin a sin, and calls such a person to account for it, despite and in spite of their belief of perfect obedience. For, it is as this Word, supposedly obeyed perfectly, declares, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away,” (Isaiah 64:6) and, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one,” (Romans 3:10-12) and again, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…” (Isaiah 53:6ab) There is no escaping any of this, for the Word declares this to be the truth of everyone.

With number 2, however, there is required a little more work and explanation…a little more from the Word of God.

Therefore, devil, the world, and one’s sinful flesh will do their damnedest to move them from number 1 to number 2, and convince them that this deception is the truth.

• They will hurl all sorts of temptations at you. Something will provoke you to anger, and in this anger, to sin. Or who can say that there hasn’t been an occasion (and an occasion taken) to tell a little lie in order protect one’s interests? Therefore, you have transgressed God’s Word, not obeyed it, and God must not be with you. Therefore, you must not love Jesus.
• They will bring about illnesses, physical hardships, emotional hardships, and other such setbacks that are designed to cause you to doubt God’s presence. Therefore, you must not love Jesus.
• They will bring about lustful desires: another’s husband or wife or someone unwed with whom you would like to “get together with.” Or, it could be an object not in your possession. For all of these, you will work at ways to obtain them, some in ways that seem proper and legal, yet others not, even if the Word of God instructs otherwise. Once again, you will have transgressed God’s Word, no obeyed it, and God must not be with you. Therefore, you must not love Jesus.

These are designed to be a barrage against you, to cause you to stumble and doubt, to bring about hopelessness, and ultimately a cry against God in defiance—to do as Job’s wife encouraged Job to do: “Curse God and die.” (cf. Job 2:9) “There is no hope—what is the point—might as well get it over with and curse God and die.”

However, once again, I declare that what Jesus said is good news. The word He used is not “obey” but “keep”: guard or watch…or cherish or cling to. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word”—guard it, watch it, cherish it—“and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” The one who loves Jesus will hang on every Word He says and soak it in and believe it. It is the very same word which says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The one who loves Jesus keeps this word, too—they guard it, watch it, cherish it—they believe it!

In other words, God’s love for you and His dwelling with you is not dependent on your obedience to His Word. You have not obeyed His Word, but transgressed it and borne in yourselves iniquity. But, God loves you because He created you, and out of that love for His fallen creation (and you a part of that), sent His Son to bear that iniquity, to take that iniquity from you and lay it upon Himself. He, then, bore that iniquity to the cross where He felt the full wrath of His Father for it, in your place. The Word of God declares this against a hopeless world to bring hope, and that is something to keep, to cling to. Where is perfect obedience? It is only in Jesus Christ—He was perfectly obedient, yet still bore the full wrath of God for the sins of the world—and He was perfectly obedient and suffered God’s wrath for you!

Furthermore, keeping the Word of God—guarding it, watching it, cherishing it, clinging to it, believing it—is not something you come to by yourself and on your own merits, but something that is brought about in you by the dwelling of God with you. It isn’t up to you, and that’s a good thing! God dwells with you and in you in order that you would keep, guard, watch, cherish, and cling to His Word. For, if you keep, guard, watch, cherish, and cling to His Word, then you have what they bring: repentance and forgiveness of sins—the things God wants to give you. Today’s Gospel alludes to that, for it is there that Jesus says, “[T]he Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit is at work in the Word to bring you God’s gifts, in order that you would keep the Word, in order that you would receive God’s gifts…what a precious circle this is!

That is also the answer to Thaddeus’ question. For, as heard in the second reading for today, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and had them speak this Word of God to the people gathered in Jerusalem so that each of them could hear it in their own language. And by this proclamation, the Holy Trinity dwelt with their hearers that day to give what the Word of God gives, repentance and forgiveness of sins. “So those who received [their words] were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41, slightly altered)

You also were added to them. Still, to this day, the Holy Spirit is at work. He is at work to do today what He did that first Pentecost Day. He is at work in you to bring you to repentance by the Law of God and give you the forgiveness proclaimed in the Gospel of God, the Gospel which says that the LORD has laid on the Son the iniquity of all and that He felt the full brunt of God’s wrath that you deserved—and if the Son of God got the full brunt of the chastisement due you, then there is none left for you! “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

No, all that the Father has left for you is grace and mercy. It is mercy by which do not get what you deserve on account of Christ: eternal damnation for sins committed. It is grace that gives you what you do not deserve on account of Christ: remission of sins and pardon. Look to the cross of Christ, dear hearers, for there it is that God exercises His grace and mercy on your behalf. Therefore Jesus says,

You have peace against that hopelessness which the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh seeks to bring about in you as they attempt to convince you that God is not with you. You have peace because God is with you; you have His Word on that!

You have peace, peace which the world cannot give: peace with God. You have His Word on that, you keep it—guard, watch, cherish, cling to it, and believe it—for in it you find and have salvation. In it is declared to you this truth: you are forgiven for all of your sins.

Did you hear Him? Jesus Christ mentioned you in today’s gospel. Hear Him again: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…” He prayed not only for His disciples, His Twelves—“I do not ask for these only,” He said—but also for those who hear His disciples’ words—“but also for those who will believe in me through their word,” He continued. You, dear hearers, are prayed for by Christ. Soak that in for a bit.

[short time for reflection]

So, by now, you are probably wondering, what is He praying for you to have or to be. “[T]hat they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…” He prays for one-ness. Be careful, this is not merely unity, as in a bunch of individuals getting together, but union, as in many becoming one. And this, not only a union of people into some mere organization that is called the church, but one-ness in God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Take a little time to ponder that, too.

[short time for reflection]

Now, this one-ness, this union, is a one-ness in God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. For Christians, Lutherans especially, I imagine, theological signals should be going off when one-ness in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is mentioned. This sounds like Holy Baptism, and it is. It also sounds like a wedding, and there’s some relation there, too. Baptism is entrance into the Bride of Christ. In Baptism—water combined with the word and command of God—the Triune God claims the baptized and unites them with Himself; they are grafted into the True Vine, made a part of it, made one with it. You and I are incorporated with Christ—incorporated: from the Latin meaning brought into the body—and that Body of Christ is the Church.

It is this union that Paul recognizes when he writes to the church in Corinth, “Now you are the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), and to the church in Rome, “[S]o we, though many, are one body in Christ…” (Romans 12:5) It is this union that Paul speaks of when he wrote to the churches in Galatia, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

But this union goes beyond only union with God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Baptism is not only the means by which you are brought into the Body of Christ, the Church; not only the means by which you are given forgiveness and life and salvation. It also makes each one of you one with each other. Baptism is what you have in common with each other; it is where you are bound to each other—it’s that “blest tie that binds,” as has been sung many times here; each of you, Baptized and believing, are bound to each other, who are also Baptized and believing. Certainly, this one-ness is celebrated in the Lord’s Supper—where one-ness in confession is expressed—but it is created at Baptism. You are joined, each to another, in your Baptisms, made one as the Father and the Son are one with the Holy Ghost.

Here it is, as Paul continued in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it,” and more clearly again to the church in Rome, “[S]o we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

Now, let me back up. This one-ness and union that Jesus expresses in His prayer is a one-ness with God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is not merely a unity into an organization that is called the church.

A concern you might have with that concerns different denominations (a fancy word that can mean divisions) and confessions in Christianity today (and that have existed since Christianity began). Even within denominations and church bodies there are divisions: there are confessionals and liberals, those who use the historic liturgies and those who abandon them, those who fall on one side of a controversy or the other (or somewhere in between), and so on and so forth. Even within this little congregation I dare say that there are divisions: maybe there are those who would prefer we stick to singing out of TLH and those who don’t mind the hymn or service from LSB, or maybe some find value in the various Bible and Theology Studies and those who would only rather come for the Divine Service on Sunday (that’s not to say anything of those who can only come on Sunday)? Knowing of all of these divisions, no matter how small, you might begin to wonder about the efficacy of Christ’s prayer or even doubt Him.

I will begin by saying this: God, in his infinite wisdom, grace, and mercy, does not force His will on you. Certainly, He could force His will, and you and I would all be one in every matter conceivable, true union and unity. Such a time will come when God’s will will reign supreme as He will have gathered the church to live in His eternal presence, everyone will be of one mind and one will. Until that time, however, He does not force His will, but gives His grace and faith when and where He pleases. While you live here “below,” you still struggle with your own will and inward tendencies, and one of those is the tendency to divide.

Oh sure, man likes to create that which he proclaims as unity. One group will get together with another—one church will proclaim fellowship with another—when no true unity exists. Two people will join for one reason or another, from as simple as a friendship, or a common goal, to as grand and sanctified as a marriage, but even here, unity is superficial and unions can be strained. Friendships are fragile unities that are quickly and easily broken. And marriage?...“A threefold cord is not quickly broken,” you may like to quote about marriage from Ecclesiastes (cf. 4:12); but notice that it does NOT say that a threefold cord can never be broken. Even here (or at any congregation), though all of you are united and joined as one with each other, you still have and hang on to your inward, often-divisive tendencies; so no two people will get along perfectly, even in a Christian congregation, and some might be prone to break away from their local fellowship if they are offended, even over the smallest thing. Rev. Bill Cwirla once wrote,

Everyone is responsible for the hurt caused to others with whom they associate. Furthermore, you are each victims of the hurt caused by others with whom you associate. Man likes to hang on to his labels, no matter how insignificant, and he damns those who do not agree with him or join with him under that banner. So, you sin against each other and the unity you are supposed to have and, therefore, sin against God.

So, it only stands to reason that you will encounter all kinds of divisions, even in Christendom, on this side of eternity. There are and will continue to be different church bodies, confessions, denominations, and even congregations within these denominations that can agree on a great number of points, but differ perhaps in only one or two small issues, but these are still issues that divide. Or, there’s the grander scale of holding to a completely different confession or even subtle differences in the interpretation of Scripture—issues that, without a doubt, will divide.

This leads, inevitably, to people, even within Christian congregations, who hold to completely false and damnable doctrines. I speak not only of false religions, such as Mormonism or Islam, etc., but also of people who are often called False Christians. This is why Paul writes to the church at Corinth, “for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.” (1 Corinthians 11:19)

This is exactly what Jesus, Himself, said in this morning’s Gospel:

Once again, in His infinite wisdom, grace, and mercy, God allows factions and divisions, allows heterodoxy and false religions, that the truth may be brought to light. He used the problem of the Arian heretics in the 300s—who taught the Second Person of the Trinity was created, not begotten—to proclaim the truth put forth in what you confess today as the Nicene Creed. He used the problem of indulgences to proclaim the truth put forth in the Augsburg Confession (and all the Lutheran Confessions found in the Book of Concord). Out of division, God brings unity, so that the truth may be known, that the world may know that the Father has sent the Son because He loves His creation, and in His truth, He creates true unity and union.

And so, Jesus prays, “[T]hat they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…” It’s back to the one-ness Jesus prays for. Not only does He pray for it, but He brings it about. He uses divisions and heresy to bring to light the truth, calling Christians to the one-ness found in that truth. He brings individuals into unity and one-ness with other believers through the waters of Holy Baptism, joining them to Himself, incorporating them into His Body, and also joining them to each other. You are each joined to all Christians through Christ. You are joined to each other out of the love that God has for you, His most cherished creation.

This union works beyond and in spite of the unity you may try to create yourselves and the divisions you enhance among yourselves. In other words, in Christ you are joined to those you would not otherwise be joined to. This union crosses so many lines and borders you would never imagine crossing yourselves to find unity. For in Christ, you can be united to one who would be a cultural enemy, such as an enemy of the state. In Christ, you can be united to one who would be opposed to you politically. In Christ, you can be united to one who would be a social adversary, such as a Rockies fan to a Dodgers fan, or an Avalanche fan to a Flames fan, or a Broncos fan to a Chiefs fan. These all, and others, can be united in Christ, finding themselves joined to the one-ness of God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—fully incorporated into the body of Christ confessing that which He calls sin and receiving the forgiveness from that sin and a holy desire to live a life apart from that sin (and others), all out of a love of God that desires for you all His blessings and grace.

Therein lies the reason for the union that Jesus prays for. Jesus prayed,

In other words, you cannot be where Christ is now, ascended to the right hand of God, unless you are joined to Him, unless you are in union with Him. And then, being in union with Him, you receive all the gifts that He gives in His Word, which He Himself came to give, because you are in union with Him in all that He has done and is still doing. This is what Jesus means when He says, “that they may become perfectly,” or completely, “one”—it is the perfection or completion He refers to. It is as Rev. Cwirla again wrote,

You, dear Baptized, still living in that Baptismal promise, have been united with Christ, you have been joined to Him. In Christ you died, in Him you live, in Him you reign, in union with Father and the Holy Ghost, one forever, forgiven for all of your sins.

If you were to pore through the Scriptures, you would find periods of time where God is simply silent. There was no thunder from heaven, no smoke, no fire, no trembling mountains—only silence. Not much is said of God’s activity in the time between Noah and Abraham. The Old Testament closes and there was 400 years of silence before John the Baptist, to which even the Apocrypha attests. (cf. 1 Maccabees 9:27) Even in the New Testament, there’s hardly a word from God, even as He walks on earth in the flesh, between the time of Jesus’ Annunciation to His birth, between His birth and baptism, and a little between His resurrection and ascension. Of course, you know that God was active in all of those times, but you read and hear little to nothing of His direct interaction.

You now live in a time referred to as a Saeculum, a Latin word meaning “age” or “period of time.” It is used to refer to a period of time since an event occurred and the death of the last person to witness the event. It is usually used to refer to a period of silence from God; in fact, the 400 years of the inter-testamental period are often referred to as The Saeculum. The Saeculum that you live in is marked by the period of time in which no one living has seen Jesus in the flesh. By the standards set forth so far in this sermon, this Saeculum is another period of silence from God—there is no thunder from heaven, smoke, fire, or trembling mountains, at least, none of which can be attributed to the direct activity of God to mark His presence. The Canon of Scripture is closed, as there is no further revelation from God. Jesus has come, died on the cross, rose from the grave, and is now ascended to the right hand of majesty.

Now, there is silence…only silence.

But, you are not alone. Remember, wherever two or three are gathered in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there Jesus is among them. Jesus’ promise before ascending was to be with His people always, to the end of the age—the end of this Saeculum, you could say. (cf. Matthew 28:20) Therefore, Jesus is here, right now, in the flesh, though you cannot now see Him with your eyes or with any other sense perceive Him. When you do see Him again, that will be the end of this age, this Saeculum.

At that time, Jesus will return just as those witnesses saw Him ascend. Then, the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, and this corruption will put on incorruption, this mortal will put on immortality, and the saying will be brought to pass, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory?” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55) On that great and dreadful day, Jesus Christ the Lord will return and all the dead will rise from the graves, the righteous—all believers in Christ—to everlasting life (cf. Small Catechism, Creed, Article III), and the unrighteous to everlasting punishment, the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (cf. Matthew 25:41, 46)

But, why the perceived silence? Why the ascension of our Lord?

Dear hearers, it does you well to ponder these questions and recall the answers that you have been taught about the Ascension of Our Lord. Jesus Christ, in His flesh, is ascended to the right hand of the majesty of God in order from eternity to direct all things for the good of those who have faith in Him. Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, is in eternity as your Prophet, Priest, and King.

• As Prophet, Jesus sends men to preach the Gospel of redemption. Through these men, your God is active and speaking, bringing to light your sin by way of the Law of God and proclaiming to you the truth that your sins are covered by the blood of God, who died on the cross at Calvary. (cf. Ephesians 4:10-12)
• As Priest, Jesus pleads on your behalf before the Father. Flesh like yours intercedes on your behalf—He is your advocate—in the Divine Council that is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (cf. Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1)
• As King, Jesus governs and protects His Church as Her Head, even ruling the world in the interest of His Bride, the Church. So, as King of kings and Ruler of the universe, Jesus sends good and adversity in order that you would be cared for in this life and learn to trust in Him for the life to come. (cf. Job 2:10; Matthew 22:44)

Furthermore, Jesus Christ, the enfleshed God, is in eternity preparing a place for you, that where He is, you too shall be. (cf. John 14:1-3) In the meantime, as was mentioned, He uses means to prepare you for that day when He returns—your pastors and teachers, the Word, and the Sacraments.

Dear hearers, it also does you well to ponder more regarding Christ’s ascension.

First, Jesus ascended to fulfill prophecy. As you recited this evening in the Introit, the Psalmist prophesied, “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.” (Psalm 47:5) St. Paul quotes from Psalm 68 as speaking of Jesus’ ascension: “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.” (Psalm 68:18) Jesus also predicted His ascension before Nicodemus and His disciples, having said, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” (John 3:13)

Second, Jesus ascended to demonstrate where He was going. The ascension was an event in the life of Jesus that was actually witnessed as it happened, unlike the Resurrection. The Resurrection was attested to by those who saw Jesus crucified and three days later and after, interacted with Jesus, holes in hands and feet and side as He was; but no one saw Jesus rise from His burial cloths and walk from His grave (at least, none who recorded it). His ascension, however, was seen and recorded, and by it He declares that He has ascended above all things—that He has gone “up” to be with the Father to reign over all things, as the realm and abode of God is described in terms that can be understood as being above, up there, in the heavens, etc. That’s where Jesus was going, so He showed, to reign with the Father and prepare a place there to which to bring you.

Third, as St. Paul described, Jesus is “the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Ephesians 4:10) What does this mean? Well, I can put it simply this way: Jesus ascended in order to help you in believing. Think about this with minds made holy by the blood of the Lamb. There would be more stumbling blocks to your faith had Jesus not ascended, for you would be able to see Him where He is had He not. Therefore, the Lord ascended in order for you to better come to terms with the faith that you confess.

For, by that faith you confess that your Lord, Jesus Christ, is omnipresent in human flesh like yours. Now, you know that in your flesh, you can be in only one place at a time. In your flesh, you occupy only one place. Jesus, however, in His flesh, occupies all places at all times. He is, at this moment, in this corner of the room as He is also in the opposite corner, even as He fills all things. Furthermore, as two or more are now gathered here in His name, He is most certainly here to give you all good things in preparation for your life to come, but He is also in another place where two or more are gathered in His name also receiving His gifts. He is here for you and He is there for them, and all at the same time.

At the same time, while it strains your fallen minds to comprehend Jesus’ fleshy omnipresence, still by faith you confess it as the Scriptures teach, even as you attempt to grasp it by the logic that you cannot see your ascended Lord who ascended to fill all things.

Furthermore, as you confess a real and living presence of the body and blood of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar, it is easier to come to terms with that since you cannot see Him with your own eyes. Ponder this for a moment, had Jesus not ascended, but remained in one place visibly, then would it not be more difficult to confess that in, with, and under the bread of Holy Communion, you are given to eat of the body of Christ, if you could see that body, and see it not being consumed? Or the blood of Christ in, with, and under the wine and see that Jesus is not bleeding and growing pale as you take the cup?

In other words, if Jesus is in one place, how can He be in any other place, or in all places at once? Well, of course, He is God, and that answer would be enough. But, that you may more easily take Him at His Word, He ascended far above all the heavens in order that He might fill all things.

You could also picture the masses flocking to see and touch Jesus if He were still here as He once was. Many Christians already make pilgrimages to one holy site or another; imagine what there would be if Jesus were still walking around in a specific place on earth. Then the Scriptures would be false and God a liar, as they and He proclaim that the Christian doesn’t walk by sight, but by faith. (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7) A faith based on sight is no faith at all, which would discount all the promises that God made for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. To seek such a faith, therefore, is to doubt God and sin against Him.

So, while Christendom confesses an omnipresent God, even in the flesh of the Son, there are those who have trouble with this as they understand Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the majesty of God to be an ascension to a particular location. These Sacramentarian fanatics, as the Formula of Concord describes them, confess that since Jesus is there, at the right of the throne, then He cannot be in the bread and wine. Of course, to deny the real presence on such grounds would be to deny the omnipresence of the Son of God, even in His flesh.

It should go without saying, then, that if Jesus is present, bodily and bloodily, in the Sacrament of the Altar for you, then He is likewise present in His Word for you. Again, because you cannot see Him as He was once seen, it is easier to take Him at His Word to be present in His means of grace, including His Word proclaimed, so that when the called minister of His Word declares that you are forgiven, then you are forgiven indeed, as if Christ the Lord had said it Himself, as Jesus promised that resurrection night in the locked room. (cf. John 20:23)

Fourth, Jesus ascended in order to send the Holy Spirit. As you heard the last two Sundays, it was good, Jesus said, that He went away, or else the Helper would not be sent. But Jesus did go, and the Helper is sent, and He is come to convict you of sin—to show you your sinfulness and just how despicable and deplorable you are according to the Law of God—and He is come to convict you of righteousness—to declare to you the forgiveness won for you on the cross, where Jesus has overcome your deplorable-ness and despicable-ness and given to you in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion for the sake of Jesus Christ—and to convict you of judgment—that the ruler of this world, the devil, is judged and condemned, meaning that there is therefore now no condemnation for you who are in Christ. (cf. Romans 8:1)

Finally, by the help of God the Holy Sprit, your minds are fixed on the ascended Jesus, anticipating and praying for His return. “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” In the meantime, the Helper brings you to Jesus’ word of promise, which you heard earlier from the angels speaking to the witnesses of the ascension: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Your minds are fixed by God the Holy Spirit on the ascended Jesus, who was crucified for you and is risen from the dead, because He is here, as He promised, present in His flesh and blood in His means, for your keeping in the faith, for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. Here, though you do not see Him, He gives Himself to you, even as He had given Himself over to death for you, and so you are strengthened, redeemed, saved, forgiven for all of your sins.

Last week and today, the Gospel lessons have been portions of Jesus’ Farewell Discourses. What Jesus said in these texts happened perhaps only an hour or two before He was betrayed into the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes; He celebrated His last supper with His disciples back in chapter 13, and in chapter 18 is when Judas brings the Temple guard to arrest Him. Between these two events, Jesus prepared His disciples for the time that He would no longer be with them and His church as He had in the three or so years since His baptism. While He would soon be taken from them to be crucified and die for their sins and the sins of the world and on the third day rise again—events which on a few occasions He had told them about—this time He was also preparing them for His ascension.

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” (John 16:16) “[I]t is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7) “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14)

This is not the Son of Man and Son of God predicting His passion again; He’s preparing His disciples and His Church for a prolonged absence, so to speak: Jesus, in a little while, will go to the Father, not to be seen again until He comes to judge the quick and the dead. Until that great and dreadful day, He will have sent—He does send and continues to send—the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to take from what is of Jesus—what is Jesus—and give it to His people, His church, as you heard last week, and to execute His three-fold conviction of the world: of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (cf. John 16:8ff). The Church has lived these last two millennia on Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit has revealed and given Him to Her in the Word and Sacraments; so He has certainly not been absent—in fact, He had promised to be with His Church always (cf. Matthew 28:20)—but He has not been visible (and remains so) with these eyes of sinful flesh, as He had been two millennia years ago.

And in these latter days, these last two millennia, the Church has asked of Her Head in prayer that which He has commanded Her to do—in His name. Were the One-year lectionary still used in this place, today would be called Rogate, the Sunday before the three days of Rogation, the three days before Christ’s ascension. The name comes from today’s text, appointed also for Rogate, specifically this line: “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Today, in a way, is celebrated the gift of prayer.

Now, what do the Scriptures say about prayer? St. James taught: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16) I have often said of this verse that it teaches that prayer is closely connected to Baptism. The righteous man is one made righteous by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The righteous man prays in the name of Jesus, and his prayer is heard—it avails much. The prayer of the unrighteous man—one that rejects God and His grace—does not avail; you could say that it is not heard because it is not said in Jesus’ name. Baptism, which saves and gives the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 2:38-39; Titus 3:5-8), makes you righteous and supplies the faith by which you pray in Jesus’ name.

That brings me to this point: praying in Jesus’ name is so much more than merely sticking “…in Jesus’ name” on the end of your prayers. That isn’t some magical incantation that attunes God to your prayers in order to make them effective and fervent. On the contrary, praying in Jesus’ name is an acknowledgment that you have no merit or worthiness on your part to approach God. It is to acknowledge that you are worthy to approach God in prayer only for the sake of Jesus and His merits. Why? Because in the waters of Holy Baptism, you have put on Christ and His merits are yours! Because by way of the waters of Holy Baptism, you are a New Creation and are now yourselves found in Christ and bear His name!

There, in that sacred flood, you have been made righteous. It is an alien righteousness that you possess, for it is given to you. It is from outside of yourself—extra nos—and nothing of your doing. The merits by which you may approach God in prayer are not yours by your works and efforts and worthiness—in and of yourself you are completely unworthy—but they are yours by way of the atonement won for you by Jesus on the cross. There, in the font, you have been claimed by God as His dear son, and only because of that may you approach God as a son approaches his dear father.

Rev. Burnell Eckardt put it this way:

You pray in Jesus’ name because you belong to Him. You were bought with a price—not gold or silver, but Jesus’ holy, precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death. His death for sin is your death to sin by way of baptism into His death, and His resurrection to life is your resurrection to life everlasting by way of baptism into His resurrection. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27)

Therefore, when you pray in Jesus’ name, you are praying to God as your true Father, with all confidence asking Him anything as dear children ask their dear fathers. Rev. Dr. Carl Fickenscher once said, “…the Sacraments give us what the cross earned;” one of those things is the right as sons to ask the Father, and He will answer: “In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” You only love Jesus and believe that He came forth from God because you have been given faith to believe and trust in Him by way of Word and Sacraments, specifically the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Therefore, it follows that praying in Jesus’ name is not a device to ask for anything you want and expect that you will get it. Yes, ask your Father in heaven as dear children for your hearts’ desires—this is good and salutary and commended by the Scriptures:

• “LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear…” (cf. Psalm 10:17)
• Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:4-5)

However, be prepared to receive a “No” or “Not yet” reply from Him. The difficult part to understand in this is that you should rejoice in the answer you receive from the Father, whether that is “Yes,” “No,” or “Not now.” “I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” You will receive, Jesus said, but what you receive will not necessarily be exactly that for which you asked; however, rejoice, because God the Father has answered your prayer for your good and you have received from Him exactly what you need! And in that, your joy will be full!

If, in His will, you need what you desire, God will grant it, for Jesus’ sake. If it serves you better not to have what you desire, or to have it another time, then God will withhold your request, for Jesus’ sake. Again, this goes back to Holy Baptism, wherein you were given forgiveness, life, and salvation and faith to receive these blessings. That for which you ask in Jesus’ name that serve these ends will always receive a “Yes” from your Father in heaven, for Jesus’ sake, because praying in Jesus’ name, as mentioned before (and bears repeating) is an acknowledgment that you have no merit in and of yourself to approach God the Father in prayer.

Prayer in Jesus’ name requires faith and trust in Jesus and His death for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. Faith and trust ask of the Father in Jesus’ name first and foremost what He has already promised you. Forgiveness, life, and salvation are what the heart saved by the Lord earnestly desires—what it asks for in Jesus’ name. Again, Rev. Eckardt writes, “Ask, [Jesus] says, and you will receive, because faith not only knows what to ask, but how, since faith itself comes from the triune God and his name which is given in Baptism.” In other words, faith knows for what to ask, and these are forgiveness, life, and salvation—the very things the Father has already promised you for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now, Jesus gives you the gift of prayer because He has returned to the Father. He said,

The world hated and still hates Jesus, a fact which may seem more overt now than it has been since He walked the earth and the few centuries after. Consequently, the world will hate and does hate those who are His. The world hates you. At times you will feel overwhelmed and outnumbered—you will feel lonely—because the world hates you. Throw in other hardships and tribulations, unrelated to your faith in Christ, and those feelings can easily compound.

It is quite tempting in those times to neglect prayer and the Word and the Sacraments and the fellowship of the saints. As Jesus said of the disciples before His seizure and crucifixion, “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone.” When it feels like the world is closing in all around you, you so easily forget of Jesus and His promises—and you feel more and more alone. Like the disciples, you scatter; you scattering in an attempt to find a fleeting moment of peace and solace. And then you begin to wonder, “Did God abandon me? Did God forsake me?” You run away from God (or try to), and then wonder if He left you. No, dear hearers, He forsook His Son, Jesus Christ, for you, and for His sake, gave you the benefits of His life, death, and resurrection.

So, you are not alone, for God in Christ is with you, even in those times when you feel lonely, and He promises most especially to be among you when you gather with others whom He has claimed: “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:19-20) You, two or three or many more, gather in His name because He has placed His name upon you in Holy Baptism, and Jesus is there, in that gathering, especially in Word and Sacrament. What a great gift that when you gather, you, together, have the privilege to ask anything of God. And this is of great comfort, because, even though the world hated and hates Him, He has overcome the world, and He has overcome the world for you!

Finally, like Holy Baptism, prayer finds its consummation when Jesus returns. All of those things which the faithful and trusting heart desires—that which is the content of the effective, fervent prayer of the righteous man—which are summed up in forgiveness, life, and salvation—are fulfilled when Jesus returns and grants the finality of those things to those who have been baptized and believed (cf. Mark 16:16) For throughout the ages, the fervent prayer of the Church has always been, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” In times of peace and especially in times of persecution, the faithful have always asked for the return of Jesus, even as the martyrs under the altar in heaven wonder how long Jesus will wait. (cf. Revelation 6:10) However, on that day, Jesus says, you will ask Him nothing, for everything will be clear and plain and obvious to you. Jesus will be standing among you, in the resurrected flesh, having come to judge the quick and the dead; and to you have have believed on His name—the quick—the judgment is not guilty for His sake, and the sentence will be life—eternal life in His presence. And your own eyes will see Him, right along with Job. (cf. Job 19:25-27)

For now, however, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” By grace through faith, you ask in Jesus’ name. And your joy in Christ is full to receive these words: You are baptized; you have put on Christ; you are His; you are forgiven for all of your sins.

“A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me, because I am going to the Father…Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”

It’s been four weeks since Easter Sunday. Given the frail state of the human attention span, that sense of celebration is probably worn pretty thin or gone by now for many. In this day and age of ever increasing desire for instant gratification, one may be thinking that it’s time to move on; surely you’ve already seen the countdowns to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Compounding that is this tendency to dwell on the negative while preferring to accentuate the positive. While it is easier to recall the negative, the preference is to move past that quickly and on to the better things. The best way to do that is to keep moving forward and quickly. If something undesirable happens, no problem, you’ll be flying by it in a heartbeat. Even better if you can avoid it all together, or ignore it, or pretend like it didn’t happen. In every aspect of modern life, and I contend that its really nothing new, one likes to keep a move on.

Avoid the bad, avoid conflict, keep the peace, stick to the good…such is this way of life. And, like the fast pace one generally sticks to in life, I contend that this is nothing new.

This is a common occurrence in the Church, too. No one likes the Law preached to them, so some will try to find a place where they only hear “uplifting” sermons—that is, sermons that pat them on the back and tell them they’re doing a pretty good job, even though they stumble every now and again. Some will try to force their preacher’s hand not to preach the Law with one tactic or another: withholding offerings, slandering him and his family, complaining to ecclesiastical supervisors…there is no end to the vices that can be used. And, many preachers easily succumb to these temptations as they try to “keep the peace” (which is really no peace at all) and keep the numbers in the pews and in the plates (especially in harder economic times).

And then, this is the text you hear as the church has moved past the halfway point of the Easter Season. Jesus said, “A little while, and you will not see me…you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. ” Jesus pointed out that there will be an undesirable time in a little while. One cannot zoom past it. It is unavoidable. It cannot be ignored. There is no sense in pretending like it won’t happen. You can’t force your way around it. “You will weep and lament.”

However, the world would rejoice at this time. The world—this sinful, fallen world—is diametrically opposed to the Son of God, the person through whom it was created. The world would rejoice when it no longer saw Jesus, for it believed that it had won a victory. The world is rejoicing right now at the apparent lack of Jesus. And you, who rejoice in the Holy Trinity, who are in the world but not of the world, will be sorrowful.

Now, at first glance it would appear that Jesus was speaking of his death and resurrection. “A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me…” In a little while, Jesus would be out of view, but a little while later, He would be back. It makes sense. The disciples did weep as Jesus died. They scattered out of fear and confusion. There was certainly great sorrow at that time. And the world did rejoice. They mocked Him: “You saved others, save yourself if you really are the Christ!” (cf. Luke 23:35) The world had won, so it seemed.

Of course, you know otherwise. For God the Father had willed that His Son die for the sins of the world, that the Son shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins. It wasn’t the world that won as Jesus hung dead on the cross, but God. God had won the victory over the devil, for in the person of the Son, the devil’s head was crushed; no longer did the devil have any authority.

He won the victory over the world, too. That which was created through the Son is now redeemed by Him. St. John wrote, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) On the third day, He rose again, a victor over death, which is the way of the world, restoring everlasting life. This is the gift He gives to all who believe in Him, or as St. John also wrote, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 4:15)

That resurrection is certainly cause for joy and celebration. “[Y]our sorrow will turn into joy,” Jesus continued. And it is a joy still celebrated this day, this Fifth Sunday of Easter: Hallelujah! Christ is risen! Jesus was back within view. The disciples saw Him again.

But, there is something else that Jesus said which indicates that what He was not only talking about His death and resurrection: “A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me, because I am going to the Father.” No, what Jesus was referring to was not only His death and resurrection, but also His ascension. “In a little while, you will not see Me because I go to the Father, but you will see Me again when I return to take you to where I am.”

Circumstances for sorrow are a little different here. Disciples know that Jesus is not dead, but seated at the right hand of God. It’s the worldly influence that causes sorrow in this case.

Not much is written of how the world reacted to Jesus’ resurrection. St. Matthew wrote that some guards reported the resurrection to the ruling priests, who then bribed the guards to say that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body. (cf. Matthew 28:11-15) The ruling priests’ lie spread throughout the country, so it can be assumed that any actual account of the resurrection was not believed by anyone of the world. To the world, it seemed, Jesus was still dead and it had won the victory.

So, the world would continue its mockery of the followers of Jesus. It does its hardest to prove the foolishness of being a follower one who is dead. It points to physical death as the proof that Jesus’ death and supposed resurrection did nothing. It will claim that illness and disease are proof that Jesus had no power to save. He was just a raving lunatic, a radical teacher, in its estimation. The fact that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people is enough proof to the world to claim that there is no God. And their litany of proofs for a powerless Jesus and non-existent God go on and on and on. You live, you die, that’s it…it’s completely logical—and meaningless.

And that brings me back to where I started this morning in this sermon. Celebration is short-lived. There will be weeping and lamenting and sorrow. You cannot get past that.

The world is hell-bent on destruction and wants to take you along for the ride. Their arguments are logically convincing; you have little else than the Word to counter them, and every time you use it, it seems to fall on deaf ears. And there’s also that little voice inside that is always nagging at you, trying to convince you that what you believe is useless. You are madly attacked on all sides, from within and without. It is relentless, sometimes to the point of despair and doubt.

“As true as God’s own Word is true,” so let me return to the Word from this morning’s Gospel:

Or, as Jesus said in another part of St. John’s Gospel:

God certainly did win a victory over the devil, crushing his head and removing all authority from him through the person of His Son. God the Son won the same victory over the world, being the propitiation for the world’s sin—for your sin. And He sends the Helper, the Comforter, the Counselor—the Spirit of truth to continue to battle against the third part the unholy triumvirate with you: your sinful flesh.

As Jesus said before this morning’s Gospel: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7) Because He went, He sends the Counselor—the Holy Spirit. This is the gift given to all who have been Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, for there you receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, having been Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. “[Y]ou know Him,” Jesus declares, “for He dwells with you and will be in you.” He is with you and in you to help and comfort you, to combat against your sinful flesh.

How? Jesus said, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14) He will take from what is of Christ, and declare it to you. He is always at work to do this, never seeking glory for Himself, but doing it to the glory of Christ who sent Him. It is, after all, Christ and His work that He proclaims.

What is of Christ? First of all, it is His Word. He is the Word. All that is written in the Holy Scriptures is Him. The Holy Spirit inspired the writers to put to paper that which is Christ; now, that same Spirit works through that means—the written Word of God, which is Christ—to give you that Word—to give you Christ. You have the Word of God, by way of the Holy Spirit, to combat your sinful flesh. Your flesh says God does not exist; by the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God, you hear God say, I AM. Your flesh says God is a distant god who doesn’t care for His creation; by the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God, you hear God say, “I am with you always to the end of the age.” (cf. Matthew 28:20) Your flesh says God does not love you; by the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God, you hear God say, “I loved the world and you to the point of sending the Son in the flesh to die for the world and you, that whoever believes in Him should not perish have life everlasting.” (cf. John 3:16)

Your sinful flesh doesn’t like this, but it doesn’t have the power to overcome it. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, St. John wrote, the light no darkness can overcome. (cf. John 8:12; John 1:5) He is the light that scatters all darkness, St. Paul wrote (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:5); therefore, the Helper dwells within you so that the Word would scatter the darkness of your sinful flesh.

In the second place, that which is of Christ that the Spirit declares to you is the work which Christ accomplished by His death and resurrection. Namely, this is forgiveness, life, and salvation. A brother in office, Rev. Peter Bender, once wrote, “Wherever the words of Jesus are, there is the Holy Spirit to give us life through the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name.” Not only does the Spirit open your hearts and minds to hear Jesus, but He does more to battle against your sinful flesh: He really and truly gives what the Word declares. The Spirit takes from what is Christ’s and gives it to you, quite literally.

Once again, your sinful flesh doesn’t like this, but it doesn’t have the power to overcome it. Your sinful flesh only takes from you, it doesn’t give anything to you. It robs you of life—the wages of sin is death—and constantly reminds you of it. You grow faint and ill, and these are symptoms of your sinful flesh at work against you, symptoms your own sinful flesh will use to persuade you that God is not for you, that God has condemned you.

Not the Holy Spirit, however. He wages battle against your sinful flesh, not taking away from you, but giving to you. Your flesh says you are a gross sinner and you are dying for it; by the power of the Holy Spirit, giving what the Son of God has won, it is declared to you by God and His Word that you are forgiven for all of your sins. Not only does the Word declare this to you, and your hearts and minds are open to hear it by the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit takes from the Word and really and truly gives what the Word says: forgiveness of sins. And if you are forgiven for all of your sins, then you also have life and salvation.

Therefore, in the Holy Spirit, you celebrate…you continue to celebrate and always celebrate. Though the world around is decaying and destroying itself, though it appears as if the devil is having his way, though your sinful flesh rages against you, you are of Christ. That is cause for celebration!

You have been Baptized into the name of the Triune God, and through Baptism you have been crucified with Christ, therefore it is no longer you who live, but Christ lives in you by the power of the Holy Spirit. The life which you now live in the flesh you live by faith, God-given faith by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, faith in the Son of God, who loves you and gave Himself for you and now lives and reigns with the Father. (cf. Galatians 2:20) Therefore you celebrate, because the Holy Spirit gives you this which is of Christ: you are forgiven for all of your sins!

As the Gospel lesson begins, Jesus was strolling on Solomon’s porch in the temple courtyard. It was the Feast of Dedication, a time you might know better as Hanukkah. By this time, Jesus had become pretty well-known: He was the man who taught with authority and healed all manner of diseases incurable by the medicine of that time—and perhaps some that today’s medicine can’t touch either—and cast out all kinds of demons. So, Jesus had acquired a great following and reputation throughout all Judea.

The time, location, situation, and reputation all lead up to the question the Jews ask Him: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” “Why are you keeping us in suspense? We know who you are. We’ve seen and heard of what you’ve done. Why don’t you just come out and say it, you’re the Christ, the Anointed One…the Messiah.” To understand what they were asking and demanding of Jesus, you have to understand what they were expecting of Him.

Like I said, the time, location, situation, and reputation all lead up to the question they ask Him:

• The time was Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication. It was a commemoration when the temple was rededicated after the defilements of Antiochus IV of Syria, who had been a ruler of Judea in the line of the Seleucids following the death of Alexander the Great. You might recall from some study or class or history program on Alexander the Great that following his death, his empire was divided among three of his generals whose descendants ruled those regions: the Ptolemids in Egypt, the Antigonids in Greece, and the Seleucids in the Middle East and Asia. Antiochus IV thought himself enlightened, taking the epithet Epiphanes, and in his “enlightenment” thought the Jewish religion ridiculous to the point of outlawing its practice and defiling the temple. The Jews revolted, took over Jerusalem, and rededicated the temple, but only had enough oil to burn in their lamps for one day—this oil miraculously lasted eight.
The location, then, follows. Jesus was surrounded as he walked on Solomon’s porch on the temple grounds. This was the very same temple that was rededicated following the recapture of Jerusalem.
• The situation is that the Jews found themselves under the rule of another outside government, another outside ruler. It wasn’t long after the Seleucids were overthrown that the Romans came in and took over control of the region. While the Romans didn’t forbid Judaism, they did allow it with the caveat that homage be paid to Caesar as would be given to a king, and not merely a king as you would view a king, but a king that was placed in power by the will of the gods—their gods. Never mind that the Jews also didn’t like paying taxes to Rome.
• Finally, the reputation that Jesus had acquired was that which is something that was expected of a messiah. This reputation is deeply connected with the time and situation. It was during the reign of the Seleucids at the time that is called the “Inter-Testamental Period” that the Jews rose up, led by a family known as the Maccabees. Their exploits can be read about in the Apocryphal books known by that name. The Maccabees were charismatic leaders and won a great victory over an occupying force, freeing the Jews to live in the grace of the one, true God. Such were the events in the Maccabean revolt, that many thought them to be the messiah, especially Judas Maccabeus, who won a victory over Nicanor which liberated Jerusalem and the temple, allowing the Jews to restore the temple.

So, the elements were perfectly set up for the Jews to ask Jesus, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” In other words, “How long are you going to take to act? If you are the Messiah, tell us and get to work. Throw the Roman rulers out so that we can rightly and fully take up living in God’s grace.” As you no doubt have guessed by now, their idea of what the Messiah was and what he was supposed to do was skewed by their view of history. They thought the Messiah was supposed to be a political hero, someone who would restore the nation of Israel, who would inevitably cause the restoration of the right religion. Everything would be set right under his rule, and life could go on as it is supposed to, as God had intended it to.

Jesus had the resume to back up their assumption. He was certainly a charismatic leader and teacher. He did things that were miraculous, keeping in line with the miracle which confirmed Judas Maccabeus to be messiah-like. Jesus’ reputation was in line with their recollection of the Maccabean history.

“Look, Jesus, you certainly act like a Maccabee, so you must be the Messiah. Tell us and go all the way.”

Therefore, Jesus responded,

“I told you, and you do not believe.” Jesus had told them that He was the Messiah yet they refused to believe. He claimed to be the Christ, yet the Romans still ruled Judea. He referred to His reputation, works that He did in His Father’s name. These are the very same works that the Law and the Prophets wrote of by which the Messiah could be identified. Oh, to be sure, some of them resembled the works done by the Maccabees, but not all of them, nor some of them fully. But in Christ, they are all fulfilled or will be fulfilled.

And this is the end, the purpose, of His work as Messiah: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” He speaks, and His sheep follow. His Word gives them eternal life, and no one can take that away from them.

Yet they did not believe because they were not His sheep. He is very much the Christ, but not the Christ they had in mind. He was not keeping them in doubt; they were keeping themselves in doubt. They wanted the Christ to be in the vein of Judas Maccabeus—the conquering hero, as Handel called him. Jesus called Himself the Christ by pointing to His Works and the Scriptures which paints a different picture of the Messiah—one of being a gentle shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.

It was not the will of the Father that the country be restored so that the old religion could be practiced and life go on as it once had. The will of the Father is as Jesus said a few chapters earlier in St. John’s Gospel: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:39-40)

That is complete and full and final restoration. It was not dependent on the restoration of the nation of Israel, nor is it currently dependent on the restoration of any country. It was and is not dependent on the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem nor to the return to any old religion. It is this: “[T]hat everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” It is dependent on the death and resurrection of the Good Shepherd.

“I and My Father are one,” Jesus concluded. The Father’s will is His will. He was sent as Messiah to do this and be this, and only He could. Only He could because He is God. Judas Maccabeus never could; his will was not that of the Father’s. Judas was not God. Judas sought to liberate the country from the Seleucids, a noble deed to be sure, but he could not lay down his life for the people and rise again for them to bring them complete and full liberty.

This false perception and expectation of a messiah still exists today. Among some modern Jews exists the idea that the messianic age cannot exist without the restoration of the temple, which is currently “defiled” in the form of a Muslim mosque standing on the site. They seek another conquering hero, but not exactly of the same order as Judas Maccabeus. Some will go so far as to state that the Messiah is not supposed to be a person, but an idea or concept that will only be realized with restored temple worship and sacrifices—Judaism the way it once was. Therefore, Jesus is not the Christ and never was.

Even among some modern Christians, so-called, there exists this idea that Israel and the temple must be restored in order for Jesus to return. These seek a conquering hero, too, so that Jesus can complete His task as Messiah. It goes against what Jesus taught as being the will of His Father. It goes against what He said from the cross as He breathed His last: “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

There’s also a false idea shared by some Christians and non-Christians. There is this notion that Jesus is Messiah to fulfill a person’s expectations. The pop group, Depeche Mode, sang a song called “Personal Jesus” which relates to this notion. They sing, “Your own Personal Jesus / Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who’s there;” it sounds as if they are singing about a Messiah whose purpose is to fulfill one’s desires. In fact, Martin Gore, the song’s author, says of the song:

It’s the old “God in a Box” idea.

You could also easily fall into a trap that’s related to this “God in a Box” idea. You can speak of Jesus in a way that emphasizes one aspect or quality of His over and against some other, even to the exclusion of another. To do so limits the scope of who the Messiah is and what He does. This reduces the Savior to graspable chunks, as I once heard it described. It makes Him more appealing to certain segments of the population.

For instance, someone struggling to cope with illness will find it easier to grasp Jesus the Great Physician, so you’ll have a congregation or group that “ministers” only to the sick, proclaiming a Jesus who can heal diseases while ignoring the rest of who the Messiah is and does. This kind of “ministry” leaves them empty with regard to salvation. Or there is the group which proclaims Jesus the Defender of the Poor and Downtrodden and nothing else, or the Jesus who helps fight addictions and nothing else. The list can go on and on. These proclamations are devoid of salvation. While there is a place for Jesus the Great Physician, Defender of the Poor and Downtrodden, Destroyer of Addiction, and so on, these should never be proclaimed to the exclusion of Jesus the Messiah, who is Savior for eternity, especially because sometimes, in His role as Savior, He doesn’t heal your disease right now or bring you out of poverty or cure your addiction, etc.

So, while Jesus is all of these things, to be sure, recall what Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Earlier He had also said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) His Words are life, and He gives His life for all; those who follow Him, the Good Shepherd, have eternal life.

Follow Jesus only as Destroyer of Addiction, and there is no death and resurrection there. Follow Jesus only as Defender of the Poor and the Downtrodden, and there is no death and resurrection there. Follow Jesus only as Great Physician, and there is no death and resurrection there. Make Jesus a “Personal Messiah,” and there is no death and resurrection there; logical Old Adam doesn’t like that…doesn’t understand that. Seek in Jesus only a conquering hero, and you miss the Messiah mark entirely.

But, that’s why you gather here—why you are gathered here. You are gathered here by the Good Shepherd, sheep of the Good Shepherd, to hear His voice, to hear His Words. You are gathered to hear of the Good Shepherd’s life, death, and resurrection. Because here the Good Shepherd’s voice is speaking to you.

Some years ago, I was asked if it feels like someone else is talking when I speak in my role as pastor. While I hear the sound of my voice, it does most certainly feel like someone else is talking. I am, simply put, a mouthpiece for God. Certainly, my personality comes through as I preach to you, but what I have to say is not from me but from God, and I need to hear it as much as you do. Now, don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying that these words are inspired by God, as the books of the Bible are, but that as an under-shepherd of the Good Shepherd, I have been given a message to preach: of sin and forgiveness, of death and resurrection, of Law and Gospel—a message drawn from those inspired texts. This message is the voice of the Good Shepherd, and you and I are gathered to hear it.

And in hearing His voice, you receive exactly what He says, for His Word is life, and it is forgiveness and salvation. He speaks, and His Word does exactly what He says. He speaks of forgiveness and life and salvation and gives them when He speaks and through means—Word, Sacrament, and Office. Jesus said that the words that He has spoken are spirit, and they are life. (cf. John 6:63) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

And here’s the kicker. As the Good Shepherd is preached, the Great Physician and Defender of the Poor and Downtrodden and Destroyer of Addiction follow. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep; He gives His life to the sheep. Spiritual and physical healing are a part of God’s plan for His children, if not for the here and now, certainly in the life to come; therefore, if Christ crucified is preached, Christ the Great Physician, Christ the Defender of the Poor and Downtrodden, and Christ the Destroyer of Addiction is included (as is every other quality of the Messiah). Moreover, if Christ crucified is preached, so is Christ the Conquering Hero, for by His death and resurrection He has conquered the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh. By His death He has destroyed death, and by His rising against He has restored to you everlasting life.

Therefore, dear sheep of the Good Shepherd, hear his voice: Christ was crucified for you, died with your sin that you may live eternally without sin. Christ is risen for you, lives again that you may be where He is. He is your Good Shepherd, your Great Physician, your Defender, the Destroyer of your addiction, your Conquering Hero, therefore, you are forgiven for all of your sins!