Sermon for Good Friday - Isa 52:13-53:12

 

Good Friday

                                                                                       Isa 52:13-53:12

                                                                                       4/7/23

 

          San Diego Chargers fans could not wait for quarterback Ryan Leaf to show up for the 1998 season.  Leaf stood 6’5.” He had a cannon for an arm and had just thrown for nearly 4,000 yards during his junior year in college.  He was a Heisman finalist and had led his team to their first Rose Bowl in more than sixty years. He was brimming with the cocky confidence of a winner.

          Leaf was considered to be a “can’t miss” franchise quarterback.  The only real question was whether Leaf or another quarterback available in the draft – a quarterback named Payton Manning – was better. The experts were divided, and many  believed Leaf was the better choice.  He had a stronger arm and was more mobile that Payton Manning.

          The Indianapolis Colts had the first pick and chose Payton Manning. The Chargers had the second pick and chose Ryan Leaf. The team and its fans expected greatness, but when Leaf actually showed up what they saw was very different.  Leaf’s record as a starter was only four and fourteen. He threw thirteen touchdowns and thirty three interceptions.  His cocky confidence turned out to be arrogance that turned off fellow players.  After only three seasons, the Chargers cut Leaf.

          In our Old Testament lesson for tonight we hear about a similar contrast as the prophet Isaiah describes the Servant of the Lord.  He is expected to be God’s holy arm bringing salvation. But when he shows up, he looks very different.  He looks like the opposite of success and victory.  On this Good Friday, we reflect upon how the prophet’s words speak about Jesus Christ.

          The prophet Isaiah wrote in the eighth century B.C. as he dealt with events of his time.  Yet his prophecy also looks down the road to what awaits the nation – God’s punishment of exile because of her unfaithfulness.  The Babylonians would conquer the southern kingdom of Judah in the sixth century B.C. and take them into exile.  Yet through Isaiah, God spoke a word of comfort and hope.  God would bring them back from exile.  And he would do even more than this – he would act to give forgiveness for sin.

          Just before our text Isaiah has said, “Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”  Yahweh was going to bare his holy arm.  He was going to reveal his salvation, and surely this would be an amazing sight.

          In our text, we learn that the Servant of the Lord is the One through whom God is going to act.  But immediately, it becomes apparent that appearances do not match expectations. We hear, “As many were astonished at you-- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.” 

          And things just get worse.  Isaiah adds, “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”  We learn that there is nothing about the appearance of the Servant that would even make us want him.

          The holy arm of the Lord bared before the nations?  Surely, this cannot be the case. Instead, the Servant is an utterly pathetic figure.  He is man of sorrows and grief – someone that others reject with good reason.  Isaiah could hardly describe a less attractive figure than when he says, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

          In words that the prophet himself could not fully understand, Isaiah describes Jesus Christ on Good Friday.  He hangs, most likely naked, on a cross.  He bleeds after having been whipped and beaten.  He wears a crown of thorns and is mocked by the inscription above him, “The King of the Jews.”  Nailed to a cross, the suffering of his death has been put on display for all to see.  He has become one more dying billboard for the Romans in the provinces by which they warn: Don’t mess with us.

          We too would want to avert our eyes and ignore him. However, before we do, we must ponder the fact that Jesus had said it would be this way.  He did this several times.  In fact, just before entering Jerusalem he had said, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

          Jesus said he would be here.  The One who had worked miracles like stilling a storm on the Sea of Galilee and raising a widow’s son from the dead had said it would be this way.  He knew that it was coming.  He had come to suffer and die in this way.

           And as we look at Jesus through Isaiah’s words, something begins to dawn on us.  Those are not his grief and sorrows. They are ours.  The prophet writes, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”  It seemed that God was striking Jesus in judgment.  He was.  But he wasn’t receiving this for himself.  He was receiving it for us.

          Jesus had begun this path when he was baptized in the Jordan. He, the sinless One, submitted himself to a baptism of repentance. At his baptism God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  He spoke words of Isaiah chapter 42 that identified Jesus as the Servant of the Lord.  Jesus was the Servant of the Lord, and on the cross he was carrying out the work of the Servant.

          That work was one of forgiveness for sin.  It was forgiveness earned by the One who suffered and died in our place. Isaiah tells us, “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.  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.”

          Our transgressions. Our iniquities.  That is why Jesus hung on the cross.  The prophet is right. We are all like sheep who have gone astray.  We do not walk in the way of the Lord. Instead, we make up our own way.  We ignore God and do what we want to do.  We harm our neighbor because we prefer to look out for ourselves.  There is no shortage of transgressions and iniquities in thought, in word, and in deed.

          God is the holy God.  He justly judges and punishes sinners who sin.  There can be no other outcome.  And so we were by nature and by action on a course that circled down into damnation.  We were destined for hell.

          We were. And that is why God acted in the Servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus announced, that “the Son of Man came not be served but to serve, and to gives his life as a ransom for many.”  He came to die in our place.  As Isaiah says, “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  Those sorrows and griefs turned out to be ours – what we deserved.  Jesus Christ received God’s judgment and punishment against our sin.  In this way he saved us.  As Isaiah says he was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.  By his suffering and death he has brought us peace and healing.

          Jesus was offered as the sacrifice that gives us forgiveness.  In our text, Isaiah describes the Servant as a guilt offering.  Jesus suffered and died for us.  But this was the means by which God gave us a righteous standing before him.  Our text says, “by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

          Jesus’ death on the cross is the reason that you are justified.  He the righteous One bore your sins – he was crushed for your iniquities.  God punished our sin in Christ, so that now God can justly count you as righteous.  You have this by faith - faith in in the saving death of Jesus.  St Paul tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

          We have faith in Jesus Christ. Yet this faith is not grounded only in the events of today.  As important as today is, if there was only today – Good Friday – we would have no assurance of forgiveness.  We would have no guarantee of justification.  The final wages of sin is death, and without the defeat of death, sin’s power would not be overcome.

          In our text we learn about how the appearance of the Servant was appalling. Yet before this, the very first words of our text say, “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.”  It ends by saying, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.”

          Our text tells us that the Servant suffers as he bears our sins.  Yet it speaks about this because the Servant has been exalted.  Suffering and humiliation were not the end.  It was not the end of Jesus Christ because as he declared about himself: “and he will be raised on the third day.”

          That is the focus for another day – for the third day.  Tonight we listen to the prophet Isaiah’s words about the Servant.  He is not what we expect as God’s holy arm brings salvation.  He is weak and helpless – a man of griefs and sorrows.  But as we see Jesus Christ upon the cross tonight in our Gospel reading we understand the crucifixion of Jesus in a new light.  We recognize that he looks that way because of us. We understand that God acted through him to give us forgiveness.  As Isaiah 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.”

         

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

Sermon for Maundy Thursday - Jn 13:1-15

 

Maundy Thursday

                                                                                      Jn 13:1-15

                                                                                      4/6/23

 

          Jesus’ hour had come.  Repeatedly in the Gospel of John we have heard earlier occasions when it was not yet Jesus’ hour. We heard it in the miracle at Cana when Jesus told Mary, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”  On several occasions Jesus’ opponents wanted to seize him.  However, they were unable to do so because we are told, “his hour had not yet come.”

          However, now Jesus’ hour had come – the hour for his death.  In the previous chapter Jesus had said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” 

Jesus understood all that this would entail. He knew the suffering that awaited him.  Just after this he added, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” 

Jesus had a purpose.  He had a mission to carry out. He had come to defeat the devil. He went on to say, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Then John tells us, “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”

Jesus had indicated that he was going to die.  He had spoken of being lifted up.  But this action would not be end.  Instead, his death would lead to resurrection and ascension.  Jesus had come from the Father to carry out his saving mission.  And this mission would take him back to the Father. 

Our text begins by stating, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”  Jesus loved his disciples to the end.  He loved them all the way.  That is what the next day would be about as he died on the cross.

Jesus understood all that was about to take place.  Our text says that Jesus knew God had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God.  Yet his going back to God was a way that would go through the cross. It would go through the cross, but would lead to glory in the resurrection and ascension.

The disciples couldn’t understand yet what Jesus was about to do. They had to experience it, and then only in meeting the risen Lord would they finally understand.  Yet in order to give them something that would teach them – and us - Jesus did something unexpected.

It was typical that feet were washed before a meal. The dusty roads of Palestine left residue that needed to be cleaned off.  Naturally, this menial task was carried out by a servant or slave.  It was not something that people would consider doing for one another. That action was too far beneath them.

However, while they were eating, Jesus rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Jesus was washing the disciples’ feet.  He was carrying out the work of a servant. The action prompted Peter to ask the incredulous question: “Lord, do you wash my feet?”  It made no sense.  If the disciples would not wash one another’s feet, certainly they never expected Jesus their Lord and teacher to wash theirs.

But Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” They did not the understand the action at the time.  We have already seen that Jesus had announced what his hour meant for him.  And in the language about Jesus’ washing actions we find an allusion to Jesus’ previous words – words that explain what the actions meant.

We are told that Jesus “laid aside” his outer garments.  In chapter ten, Jesus had used the exact same word to describe what he does for his sheep.  He had said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Jesus washed his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper in order to illustrate what he was about to do by his death on the cross.  In an act of humble service, he washed their feet.  By an even more humble act of service, he was about to subject himself to the suffering and death of the cross. This is what Jesus did the for the disciples. This is what Jesus did for you.

John the Baptist had declared about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Jesus had been sent by the Father to take away your sin. Every Sunday we speak the words from John’s first epistle: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  We would prefer to deceive ourselves. We don’t want to admit the ways that we put God second. We don’t want to face the ways that we harm our neighbor.  But confronted by God’s Word, we also know that we must confess what is true.  We are indeed sinners.

Yet we are the sinners for whom Jesus was lifted up.  We are the sinners for whom Jesus laid down his life. We are the sinners for whom Jesus offered the humble service of sacrifice on the cross.  Jesus had described himself as the bread that came down from God.  Then he added, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Jesus’ hour had come.  Jesus knew the hour was one of death on the cross. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet.  He did it in order to illustrate the humble service he was about to offer to win our salvation.  But Jesus also knew that this would not be the end.  Earlier he said, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

The Lord who offered the humble service of death on the cross did not remain dead.  Instead, in his resurrection he defeated death.  His act of humility arced down into the grave, but then his saving work emerged back up out of the tomb as the living Lord returned to the Father in the ascension.  He is now the ascended Lord who had promised that he will return on the Last Day.  In him we already have life.  And in him we have the hope of resurrection.  Jesus said, “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’s Gospel is unique in that as he describes the Last Supper he does not include an account of Jesus instituting the Sacrament of the Altar.  Writing after the other evangelists, he does not cover the exact same ground.  Instead, he tells us something new, as we learn about the washing of the disciples’ feet.

Though he does not include Jesus’ words instituting the Sacrament, Johns’ Gospel does have words that immediately make us think about it.  After feeding the five thousand Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”  We recognize that these words find their ultimate fulfillment in what Jesus instituted on this night.

In the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus gives us the benefits of what he won on the cross.  He uses bread and wine to give us his true body and blood.  He gives us the very price he paid to win forgiveness for us. As we eat his body and drink his blood we receive forgiveness, and so have eternal life.  The risen Lord places his body and blood into our bodies as he gives us the pledge and guarantee that we will share in his resurrection on the Last Day.

Jesus does this to strengthen us in faith.  He does this so that we can learn from his washing of the disciples’ feet and put it into practice. We learn in our text that when our Lord had washed their feet, he put on his outer garments and resumed his place. Then he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”

Jesus willingly gave himself into death in service for us.  Now, he calls us to serve one another.  The Christian life is one of humble service given to others.  It is, because this is what Jesus has done for us. This is how he saved us.  This is the reason he has saved us, so that we can render loving service to others.

After the supper, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  We are reminded that especially, this loving service is directed towards those who share faith in Christ. This love is what should identify us to others.  We are the disciples of the Lord who washed his disciples’ feet.  We are the disciples of the risen Lord who died on the cross for us.

 

 

 

Sermon for the Sunday of the Passion - Phil 2:5-11

 

Sunday of the Passion

                                                                            Phil 2:5-11

                                                                            4/2/23

 

          “Jesus is Lord.”  This was the earliest Christian confession – its earliest creed.  Paul told the Corinthians, “No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. He told the Romans that it was necessary to confess this with one’s mouth in order to be saved.

          “Jesus is Lord.” In the Gospel and Epistle lessons for today, we are reminded about why the claim sounded so absurd to the first century world.  After all, we find Jesus on trial before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.  Pilate caves into public pressure as in a calculated political move he hands Jesus over to be executed by crucifixion.

          Jesus is scourged by the Roman soldiers.  He is hit with a whip studded with lead or pieces of bone that shreds skin and leaves muscle exposed.  Then he is mocked by the Roman soldiers, as they have some fun at the expense of this pathetic Jew.

          Next, taken to the place of execution, he is crucified. He is nailed to a cross in a way that is meant to cause slow suffocation – often during the course of several days. His cross is lifted up and set between two criminals.  On it is put the charge, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”  Jesus is mocked by the Romans, but also becomes the means by which the Romans mock the conquered Jews.

          Yet the Jews who oppose Jesus are there to mock as well.  They had to witness the signs and wonders Jesus performed.  Again and again, Jesus had bested them in theological arguments.  Now, they have the opportunity to get the last word, and they relish the moment.  The chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mock him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.”

          Finally, after uttering the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, Jesus dies.  He does not last on the cross for days.  He lasts for only six hours before death.  Then friends bury him in a nearby tomb which is sealed and guarded – a final indignity heaped upon him by his Jewish opponents.

          To call Jesus “Lord” sounded absurd because there was another individual who bore that title. The Roman emperor was called “Lord.”  He ruled an empire that encompassed the entire Mediterranean world – an empire that stretched from England to Syria; from North Africa to Germany and the Balkans.  There seemed no doubt about who the real Lord was – after all, it was the emperor’s agent who had crucified Jesus in the first place.

          But in our text, the apostle Paul tells us that there is more to the story. He begins by saying, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

          No, there was no comparing the Roman emperor and Jesus because while the emperor was just a man, Jesus was God. He was God – the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.  However, he did not consider this equality with God something to be grasped – something to be used for his own advantage. Instead, in order to carry out the Father’s saving will he emptied himself – he took on the form of a servant – of a slave - when he was born in the likeness of men.  Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, the Son of God emptied himself in the incarnation because he came to serve us.

          In the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God was in the world to serve. But the way he would do this defies all logic.  It goes beyond all rationality.  Paul tells us, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Jesus Christ, the Son of God humbled himself in order to obey the Father’s will.  He humbled himself in willingness to die.  Yet it was not just to die – it was to die by means of the cross.  He humbled himself to be point of the humiliation and degradation that we find in our Gospel lesson.

          The Son of God was willing to do this for two reasons.  The first reason is our sin.  Conceived and born as fallen people, we sin in thought, word, deed.  We sin against God. We sin against our neighbor.  Because of these things, the wrath of God will be revealed in judgment on the Last Day.

          Yet the second reason was God’s love for us.  Paul told the Romans, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  God’s love for us prompted him to send his Son on the mission of humiliation. The Father sent forth the Son into the world in order to be the sacrifice for our sin.  Paul told the Romans that, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

          That is what was happening on the cross.  We know this because the cross was not the end.  Paul continues in our text by saying, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

          The first Christians learned to confess, “Jesus is Lord,” because God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day.  Yes, he died in the humiliation of the cross.  But he did not remain dead.  Instead God raised him up, and Jesus appeared to them on Easter and for a total of forty days.  Jesus ate and drank with them, and taught them about the kingdom of God. 

By the resurrection, God the Father vindicated Jesus who had humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And in the ascension he exalted Jesus as he was seated at the right hand of God. God highly exalted Jesus over all things, and gave him the name that his above every other name.  He gave him the name “Lord.”  Jesus is the risen and exalted Lord.  When he returns in glory the words of our text will find their fulfillment. God has acted so that on the Last Day “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The day will come when all will have to confess that “Jesus is Lord.” For those who have confessed this during their life and believed that God raised Jesus from the dead, these words will be raised in exultation as we celebrate the salvation we have received.  For those who rejected Jesus during this life and refused to believe in him, it will be the sorrowful admission of those facing damnation.

You confess “Jesus is Lord” now.  You believe that God raised him from the dead, and so you have salvation.  To die is to be with Christ.  The Last Day will mean sharing in Jesus’ resurrection as you live with him in the new creation.

Yet confessing Jesus as Lord holds meaning for how we live each day.  Paul begins our text by saying, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”  Paul refers to “this mind” because of what he has just said: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

The way of Christ – humility in service to us – becomes the model for our lives.  Christ “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.” He emptied himself in the incarnation as he entered the way of service, and then humbled himself to the point of death – even death on a cross.

If Christ did this for us, that now becomes the way that we live in relation to others.  You have been baptized into Christ and received his Spirit, so now count others as more important than yourself.  Look out for their interests ahead of your own. We do this for not only for those in our family and church, but also for those outside these groups.  After all, Christ showed love for us when we were still sinners.

“Jesus is Lord.”  The words sounded absurd to the first century world because they declared that a Jew who had been crucified was Lord of all.  But the apostles and witnesses of Jesus suffered and died to confess this before the world because they had met the risen Lord.  They knew that God had highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

Now, you have met Jesus Christ through his inspired Word.  The Spirit has called you to faith in him, the crucified and risen One.  You are able to confess “Jesus is Lord.”  You confess this now and so you have forgiveness and salvation.  You confess it even before a world that is hostile to Jesus and mocks him.  You will joyfully confess this on the Last Day when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  

  

 

         

 

 

           

           

         

 

           

 

 

         

 

Sermon for fifth mid-week Lent service - Conclusion

 

Mid-Lent 5

                                                                                      Conclusion

                                                                                      3/29/23

 

          If you have ever been in the setting where you are praying the Lord’s Prayer with Roman Catholics, you have probably experienced a difference in practice. While Roman Catholics simply end the Lord’s prayer by saying, “Amen,” the practice we have inherited adds the doxology, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever,” before adding “Amen.”

          It is interesting to note that neither way of praying comes from the New Testament.  The text of the Lord’s Prayer as found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke does not include either the doxology or the Amen.  Both are in fact are part of the way the Lord’s Prayer has been used in the life of the Church.

          The Jewish practice of prayer ended with a doxology.  A doxology is a statement that praises God.  When Jewish Christians began praying the prayer that Jesus had taught, they continued this tradition by adding a doxology to it.  The earliest text of the Lord’s Prayer that we have outside the New Testament comes from a work called the Didache, which means “Teaching.”  It is a Jewish Christan work that probably came from Syria at the beginning of the second century A.D.  Here the Lord’s Prayer ends with the doxology, “For power and glory are yours forever.”  You will notice how close this is to the form we use.

          The medieval practice in western Christianity did not include the doxology in catechesis. However, it did follow the practice of adding “Amen.” You will find that this word is not found in the biblical text either.  It too was part of the Jewish practice that was taken over by Christianity.

          The word “Amen” is directly based on the Hebrew word “Ameyn.”  It describes that which is certain or sure.  There is no prayer for which “Amen” is more appropriate because this is the prayer that Jesus himself has taught us.  These words are certain and sure because they come from the Son of God.

          Luther emphasizes this in the Small Catechism when he writes: “This means that I should be certain that these petitions are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by him; for he himself has commanded us to pray in this way and has promised to hear us.” We know for certain that these petitions please God.  We know that he hears them because God gave them to us through his Son.  And we also know that God has promised to hear them.

          The word “Amen” expresses the confidence of faith.  This is necessary because James says about prayer, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”  Prayer needs to be the voice of faith which turns to God in confident expectation. 

          Our confidence in prayer finds its ultimate source in the One whose passion we prepare during Lent to remember.  Jesus did not simply teach us these words.  He is the One who has made it possible for us to be speak them in the first place.

          On our own we have no right to speak to God in these or any other words.  We are people who are curved inward on ourselves. By nature, we are sinners who do not trust God and do not believe in God.

          Yet because this is true God sent his Son into the world. As Paul tells us, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”  All who are under the law are under a curse, because they are unable to do the law perfectly in thought, word, and deed. 

          As we celebrated at Christmas, God sent his Son into the world as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He took on our humanity so that he could take our place.  Jesus received the curse that we deserved.  In doing so he redeemed us – he freed us from the slavery of the law’s curse.

          Our sin brought the curse of the law.  It also brought death.  The words of Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent reminded us of this fact: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  God had told Adam that disobedience of the one command he had given would bring death.  Then after the Fall, God told Adam, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

          Sin brought death.  But Jesus passed through the death of the cross in order to defeat death.  We prepare to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter.  God raised Jesus from the dead and vindicated him as the Christ. He began the resurrection that will be ours, since Jesus is the firstborn of the dead.  And then he exalted Christ as he ascended and was seated at God’s right hand.

          The risen Lord who will return in glory has given us this prayer.  He is also the reason that we can pray all of these petitions.  Jesus is the reason that we can address God as “Our Father.” By his death and resurrection he has given us the status of being the children of God.

It is through the Spirit whom Christ sent that God’s name is hallowed as we believe his Word and lead godly lives according to it.  God’s kingdom comes as the Spirit causes us to receive through faith what Jesus won.  God’s will is done as he causes both of these things to happen on account of Christ in opposition to the devil, the world, and our sinful nature.

It is only as those who know the Father through Christ that we can recognize God as the giver of the daily bread we receive so bountifully.  The forgiveness for which we pray has been won by Jesus for us, and therefore we know it is certain and sure.  We also know that it is the forgiveness we share with others.

We trust that God will protect us from temptation because he is the God who acted in his own Son to save us. And we know that he will protect us from the evil one and all the evil he wishes to bring because in Jesus God has overcome sin, death, and the devil.

Our Lord Jesus taught us the Lord’s Prayer.  He, the crucified, risen, and ascended Christ is the reason that we know that these petitions are pleasing to the Father.  When get to end of the Lord’s Prayer we say “Amen” because these words are certain and sure.  God has commanded them, and God has promised to hear them. And so, “Amen, amen means, ‘yes, yes, it shall be so.’”