Lent 5
Jn
8:46-49
3/22/15
My vicarage – the year long
internship that is the third year of seminary training – took place in
Alexandria, VA. As many of you know, it
was also the first year that Amy and I were married. The vicarage congregation provided housing,
health insurance and a stipend, so Amy was able to work as a contract nurse in
the area. Thursday was my day off, and so she scheduled herself to be off that
day as well. Every Thursday we went
somewhere in the Washington, D.C. area and did something as we took in all the
sights.
We spent quite a bit of time in the
area around the Mall in Washington. When
you are there, it is hard to miss the fact that three structures dominate the
center of our nation’s capital. On the
one end there is the Capitol building.
In the center is the Washington Monument. And at the other end is Lincoln
Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial itself is
an enormous white building which stands in front of a large reflecting
pool. Inside is a giant sculpture of a
seated President Abraham Lincoln.
The fact that structures
commemorating President Washington and President Lincoln dominate the center of
the capital is not surprising. Washington was the general who led the nation to
victory in the Revolutionary War, and was the nation’s first President. Lincoln led America through the bloody Civil
War as the nation was preserved. In the
popular imagination he is credited with ending slavery in the United
States. In many ways he is treated as a
national martyr because he was assassinated while in office.
Lincoln is a giant figure in our
nation’s history. Kentucky, Indiana and
Illinois all have ties to Lincoln. But because Lincoln lived in Illinois during
his adult life and political career that led to the presidency, Illinois has
the strongest claim. Lincoln’s home is
preserved in Springfield. He is buried
in Springfield – you can touch is nose there.
And Illinois has made the most out
of these ties. It is the self proclaimed
“Land of Lincoln.” When you enter the
state, that slogan along with a picture of Lincoln greets you on state
signs. If you look on the license plate
of your car, you will see a picture of Lincoln in the center along with the
slogan “Land of Lincoln” written underneath.
Abraham Lincoln is such a significant and beloved national figure that
the state of Illinois proudly trumpets this heritage.
In the Gospel lesson for today, the
Jews who are arguing with Jesus do something similar. They proudly claim the heritage of Abraham. Yet in their case this claim is even more
significant since rather than mere civic pride, it involves the status they
believe they have before God. Our Lord tells them that instead of Abraham,
their spiritual status and eternal life depends on Jesus.
Our text this morning is the conclusion of a discussion between Jesus
and some Jews that takes up all of chapter eight. Repeatedly, Jesus asserts he has been sent by
God the Father. He says that he speaks
what he has heard from the Father. He
announces that the one who believes and keeps Jesus’ words will never die. The
Jews reject all of this. Instead they
claim that Abraham is their father. They are the offspring of Abraham and
therefore they can call God their Father.
At the heart of our text and this
discussion is the question of how a person relates to God. For these Jews, this is a matter of their
heritage. Because they descend from Abraham, they are recipients of God’s
promise to bless Abraham and his offspring.
Before our text Jesus proclaims, “If
you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.” In response they indignantly reply, “We are
offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you
say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”
In our text this morning we find the
contrast between those who know God and those who don’t. We find the contrast between those hear the
words of God and those who don’t. And at
the center of this stands Jesus. Jesus
speaks from God. He speaks the truth
about who we are and how we can have fellowship with God.
Now people in the world today don’t
cling to the belief that they are the children of Abraham. But the basic
orientation found in our text is everywhere.
It is an easy confidence that spiritually all is well. Our Lord describes God the Father as the
judge in our text, but the world has no expectation of a judge before whom all
must appear. After all, there is no
right and wrong, so how can there be judgment? And on top of that, the very
idea of a judging God is so unloving. What a downer!
The way of our world is very
tempting. I mean, no one wants to be
wrong. No one wants to be told that they
can’t do something – especially something that is very enjoyable. No one wants to be told that you have to
do something – especially something that is hard, and requires self-control
and sacrifice. We would rather do what we
want to do and be affirmed in those decisions at the same time by the
world around us.
And that is what the world is
offering today. That is what you are tempted to embrace. You can go that way,
and things will be easy. Create your own spirituality and you can have all of
Sunday for yourself. You can keep all of
your money for yourself. Sexually, you
can do whatever feels good. You can pick
and choose what you want to believe about Jesus and the way life should work.
And the world – our culture – will love you for it. TV, the internet, movies, magazines, music
and everything else will affirm your decision.
But there is a problem with all of
this – it’s not from God. It doesn’t lead to God. Instead it’s from the devil and it leads to
him. Just before our text Jesus says, “If
God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I
came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I
say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the
devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the
father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.”
Repeatedly in this chapter Jesus
emphasizes that God the Father sent him. The Father sent him and so Jesus
speaks the things he has heard from the Father and does the things the Father
has given him to do. He says, “When you
have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do
nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who
sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that
are pleasing to him.”
Jesus came to do the things that
were pleasing to the Father. He came to
do the difficult things; the painful things that carried out the Father’s will
and served us. As we get even nearer to
Holy Week, we remember that Jesus was indeed lifted up on the cross. He told Nicodemus, “And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
By his death and
resurrection he has defeated sin and death for us. And so Jesus can say in our
text, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see
death.”
Our Lord can say this because of who
he is and what he does. In our text the
Jews are offended by this. They say to him, “Now we know that you have a demon!
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he
will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And
the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered that he wasn’t
glorifying himself. After all, if he did
that his glory would be nothing. Instead it was the Father who glorified
Jesus. The Jews claimed about the Father,
“He is our God.’” They claimed this, yet
Jesus says in our text, “But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to
say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I
keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it
and was glad.”
Our Lord says that Abraham looked
ahead to the fulfillment of the promise that in his offspring all nations would
be blessed. Because he trusted God’s
promise he knew that it would be fulfilled.
In fact he “saw” it fulfilled by faith.
We are headed towards Holy Week and
Easter. In that time we will again be
reminded that we have seen it fulfilled.
Where Abraham had some vague sense of what God would do, we know the whole
story. We know about the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ for us.
In our text Jesus says, “If I tell
the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” You hear Jesus’ words and believe them
because you are of God. You are able to
hear and believe because you were born again of water and the Spirit in Holy
Baptism. Sustained by his Word, and his
body and blood in the Sacrament you live knowing who Jesus is and what he has
done. And because this is so, as Jesus
says in our text this morning, you can be sure that you will never taste death.
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