Sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - Num 21:4-9

 

Num 21:4-9

                                                                                                 Easter 6

                                                                                                 5/5/24

 

          About a month ago, all eyes were fixed on one place. It was the solar eclipse, and during that time most everyone stopped for at least a few minutes and gazed up at the sun. As we know, people came into our area from all over just to see it.

          We had several Lutheran groups who set up on our parking lot in order to watch the eclipse. One group came here from Iowa.  Several set up special telescopes and video equipment so that they would view the entire eclipse and take pictures of it.

          In our Old Testament lesson this morning, we find that all eyes are also fixed on one place.  Yet rather than looking for entertainment and enjoyment, they are looking in order to be rescued and delivered from death.  They are looking at the means to which God has attached his promise.

          Our text begins by saying: “From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.”  In the exodus, God had rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt.  He had brought them to Mt. Sinai and had taken them into a covenant with himself.  He had declared that they were his treasured possession.  They were a holy nation to him.

          Yahweh had promised to give them the land of Canaan – the land he had promised Abraham that he would give to his offspring.  Israel had arrived at Canaan, but then things had gone all wrong.  Spies sent into the land to do reconnaissance reported that it was a fertile and wonderful place – a land flowing with milk and honey.  Yet they also said that the people who lived there were strong, and lived in large fortified cities.  Most of the spies gave the impression that Israel could not take it.

          Israel rebelled. They refused to enter the promised land.  Only through Moses’ intercession did God spare the nation.  Yet he said their punishment would be that the nation would wander in the wilderness for forty years.  Those who were twenty years and older would never enter the land. They would die in the wilderness.  Instead, their children were the ones who would possess the land.

          Our text says, “And the people became impatient on the way.” Literally, the Hebrew says that “the spirit of the people” became impatient.  Many of them were on a journey to nowhere.  They were going to die in the wilderness and never see the promised land.  They had nothing before them except the journey that was going to stretch on for years.

          We learn in our text: “And the people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.’”  In their impatience, the people turned against God and his representative, Moses.  They raised the accusation that God had brought them out of Egypt only to die in the wilderness.  They complained that there was no food and water, and they added that they loathed the food God was giving them.

          The people’s statement ignored how God had given them water.  Twice God had used Moses to bring water from a rock. In fact, the second occurrence had just taken place in the previous chapter!  God could be trusted to provide water. He had in the past.  He would in the future.  Immediately after our text, Yahweh brings the people to a well and tells Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.”

          The Israelites said they had no food.  But that was not true.  The reality was that they weren’t satisfied with the food that God was providing to them.  He was giving them quail for meat. And since the exodus, he had provided them with manna.  He had given them bread from heaven. Yet they said, “we loathe this worthless food.”

          Israel’s experience should not sound unfamiliar.  Like Israel, we too are on a journey.  We are on the journey of life.  And like Israel, we too become impatient on the way.  We grow tired of the journey as we encounter difficulties and challenges.  In particular, we are prone to focus on what God is not providing to us. We ignore and overlook the blessings that he does give.

          We want a bigger house and a better car.  We want more and better vacations. We want to be able do those extra things without having to worry about our budget.  And we look around and see that other people have these things.  After all, it’s plastered before us every day on Facebook and Instagram.  We covet what they have, and we blame God for not treating us better.

          Israel had spoken against Yahweh. And so in response, God punished the people for their sin by sending fiery serpents among them.  They bit the people, and many of the people died.  Yahweh’s action confronted the people.  And so they came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.”

          Moses prayed for the people.  And Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”  God told Moses to make a serpent and set it on a pole. He attached his promise to this - that anyone who looked at it would be spared.  So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. As God had promised, if a serpent bit anyone, that individual looked at the bronze serpent and lived.  The people had faith in God’s promise that he had attached to the bronze serpent on the pole.

          St. Paul told the Romans, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”  This text about the bronze serpent on the pole was written for our instruction and encouragement.  It provides us with a type – something in the Old Testament that points forward to what God has done for us in the New Testament.

          This text is easy to interpret, because Jesus has already done the work for us.  He told Nicodemus, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 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.”

          The Son of God descended from heaven in the incarnation in order to save us.  Like the Israelites in our text, our sins deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment.  They deserve God’s judgment.  But Jesus Christ was lifted upon on the cross in order to free us from sin.  The Lord Jesus has redeemed us through his death.

          Sin brings death.  But in winning forgiveness for us, death was not the end.  On Easter, God raised Jesus from the dead.  God has given us victory over both sin and death through his Son.  And then, as we will celebrate on Thursday, God exalted Jesus Christ as he ascended into heaven.

          Now we receive forgiveness and life by looking at Jesus in faith.  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.”  We trust and believe in the crucified and risen Lord.

          Jesus has ascended.  Yet he continues to meet us where we are.  Just as God attached his promise to the serpent on the pole, so now our Lord attaches his promise to water, and bread and wine.  He gives us these means that are located in our midst by which he applies his saving work to us. 

          Through water poured on your body in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit you have shared in Jesus’ saving death. Paul told the Romans, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”  By faith in God’s work of baptism you now have the forgiveness that Jesus won for us you the cross.  And you also have the promise that you will share in Jesus’ resurrection. Paul tells us about baptism: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

          Christ has attached his promise to the bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Altar.  He has said, “This is my body given for you. This is my blood shed for you.”  Through these words, Jesus gives us what he says.  He provides his true body offered on the cross for us.  He gives his true blood shed in death for us.  By faith in Christ’s promise we receive the blessing of forgiveness. Jesus comes to us here and now as he is present in his body and blood.

          Jesus gives us bread from heaven in the Sacrament.  He gives us food for the new man that sustains us in our journey, and gives us hope.  Like the Israelites, we are on a journey in life.  But unlike those in our text who were twenty years and older, our journey is not a journey to nowhere.  Instead, it is a pilgrimage that leads to a destination. 

          Our Lord Jesus has already shown us the destination in his resurrection.  Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of the resurrection of the Last Day.  He is the firstfruits of our resurrection. Because he has risen with a body transformed so that it can never die again, so will we.  Our Lord will return in glory on the Last Day.  He will raise us up and transform this creation so that it is very good once again.  That is where our journey is taking us. That is the hope we have before us because of what Jesus has done.

          In the water of baptism we have been made a new creation in Christ.  We are children of God who receive the forgives of sins through faith.  And while we are on this journey we seek to walk in faith. 

So give thanks to God for the blessings that you have received.  Do you have food today? Do you have clean water? Do you have clothing?  Do you have a roof over your head? Give thanks for these things, and don’t take them for granted.  God is providing you with daily bread.  He is giving you what you need to support your body and life.

Recognize that his blessings go so far beyond just the basic necessities of life.  Don’t take those things for granted. Don’t let the desire of greed govern your life as you are ruled by an endless quest for more and better.

Instead, see God’s blessings as the means he has given by which you can bless others.  God has loved you in Christ.  Use his blessings in order to help those around you.  John said, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

In our text today, God attaches his promise of rescue to the serpent on the pole.  The serpent on the pole directs us to what he has done in Jesus Christ.  Jesus was lifted upon on the cross to redeem us, and then he was raised from the dead to give us life.  Now he has attached his promise to the Sacraments as he gives us forgiveness and sustains us as his people during our journey of life.  We journey in hope as we keep our eyes set on the risen Lord.

 

   

 

       

 

         

   

         

            

           

 

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - Jn 16:5-15

 

Easter 5

                                                                                                 Jn 16:5-15

                                                                                                 4/28/24

 

          Timothy, Matthew and Abigail will be coming home from college in two weeks.  We have been looking forward to this because we know that the occasions to have all of the family at home for an extended period of time are rapidly coming to an end.  This time next year, Timothy will be preparing to graduate and receive his commission as an officer in the U.S. Army.  And of course, when that happens he will be assigned to his first post and there won’t be any more summers at home.

          We knew that Timothy would be gone for part of the summer at Advanced Camp – the ROTC evaluation that takes place at Ft. Knox.  However, we were surprised to learn that because of two other Army opportunities, Timothy is basically going to be gone for the whole summer.  He will be at home for two weeks, and then we won’t see him the rest of the summer.

          This has brought home the realization that Timothy really will be leaving soon. He will start his own life and we won’t see him very often.  There is a sadness that accompanies this because we enjoy Timothy and like to have him at home.  On the other hand, we recognize that this is a good thing.  It’s the way life is supposed to work.  After all, we don’t want him living in our basement when he is thirty.

          In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus says that he is leaving.  He is returning to the Father.  This is something that brings sadness to the disciples.  However, our Lord shares that it is actually a good thing.  His departure means that he will send the Helper – the Holy Spirit.

          Our text is found in the same portion of John’s Gospel as we heard last week.  Jesus and his disciples are making their way to the Garden of Gethsemane on the evening of Maundy Thursday.  Our Lord shares words with the disciples that they really can’t understand yet.  He talks about what is going to happen in the future.

          In the verse just before our text Jesus said, “But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.”  Jesus talks about the future so that when those events happen, the disciples will remember that he told them it would be that way.  He hadn’t said these things in the past, but now a great change was about to occur.

          Jesus said, “But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”  Our Lord announced that he was leaving – he was returning to the Father.  This fact filled the disciples with sorrow. After all, they didn’t want their Lord to leave them.

          Yet Jesus said that while this made them sad, it was actually a good thing. He said, “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.” 

          Our Lord said it was necessary for him to depart so that the Helper – the Spirit – could come to them.  We do not receive an explanation about why this is the case.  We learn that this is simply the way God’s saving work unfolds.  Earlier in the Gospel Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Then John tells us, “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

          In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ glorification is his death, resurrection, and ascension.  Jesus revealed his glory during his ministry.  After Jesus turned water into wine John tells us, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” 

All of Jesus’ miracles point to the cross. They point to the work by which he would be glorified. During Holy Week Jesus 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 died on the cross to free us from sin.  He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”  We were slaves to sin.  It held us in its power as we were cut off from God and under his judgment. 

Yet God sent his Son into the world in order take our sin and receive the judgement against it in our place.  John’s Gospel says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

However, Jesus’ glorification did not end at the cross.  John tells us about his entrance to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, “His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.” 

Jesus’ glorification continued as he rose from the dead. During Eastertide we celebrate the fact that our Lord defeated death in his resurrection.  Jesus 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.”  Jesus took it up again on Easter as he was then present with his disciples, demonstrating to them that he had risen has he had said.

But we learn in our text that this was not the end of Jesus’ glorification.  Instead, it continued as our Lord returned to the Father in the ascension. In the next chapter Jesus says, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” 

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  John begins his Gospel by saying about the Son, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”  God sent his Son into the world to save us.  John tells us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Now, as the One who is still true God and true man, Jesus has returned to the Father.  He has been glorified.  And he has done this in order to send the Helper.  His saving work continues in our midst through the Spirit.

Earlier in this section of the Gospel Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” 

The Spirit is the Spirit of truth.  He speaks God’s truth. And so Jesus says in our text: “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”  Jesus says the Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, “because they do not believe in me.”  Our world is a sinful place.  It believes it can do whatever it wants.  What it refuses to do is to believe in Jesus Christ.  One of the latest surveys indicates that 28% of American adults are “nones” – they have no religious affiliation and only vague beliefs about God if they believe in a god. The Spirit convicts this because to reject Jesus is to remain under God’s judgment.

          Jesus says that the Spirit convicts the world “concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer.”  Jesus Christ has completed his saving work in his resurrection and ascension and those who refuse him are condemned for his righteousness that they are rejecting.

          And our Lord says, “concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”  By his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has defeated the devil.  He said at beginning of Holy Week, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”  The devil has been defeated.  All who reject Jesus Christ remain under the devil’s power and will share in his judgment.

          The Spirit convicts the world.  But the Spirit guides Christ’s believers into truth.  Jesus says in our text, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 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.”

          The Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus and makes it known to us.  The Spirit guides us into all truth because he gives us faith in Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life.  The Spirit’s goal is always to point us to Jesus’s death and resurrection – to make this known to us – because through Jesus we have forgiveness and eternal life.

          In this same section of the Gospel Jesus said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”  The Spirit sent by Jesus from the Father bears witness about Christ.  And we now hear that witness from the apostles.  The apostles were with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry.  They saw his miracles.  They saw his death. And then they were transformed by Jesus’ resurrection.

          The Spirit has worked through the apostles to give us the witness about Jesus.  Our Lord says, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the 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 witness of John this morning is the witness worked by the Spirit.  It is the Helper taking what belongs to Jesus and making it known to us in order to give us forgiveness and life.

         

 

 

 

           

 

Mark's thoughts: The Law is good.

 

In the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians he says:

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful (Colossians 3:12-15)

 These words are law. They tell us what we are to do. 

We may wonder why Paul feels the need to say this to Christians.  After all he says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  He also says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

 

In Baptism we have received the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.  God has created the new man in us, and we are children of God.  However, we are not only new man.  Paul tells the Galatians, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17).  Until we die or Christ returns, we also still have the flesh – the fallen sinful nature present in us.  This old Adam resists God’s will and battles against the new man.

 

Because this is so, Paul tells us what we are to do.  He speaks law.  The Holy Spirit uses this law to do two things. First, the law teaches us how we are to live. We receive guidance in what a God pleasing life looks like – a life that is lived in Christ.  Second, the Spirit uses that law to repress and compel the old Adam.  Hearing this law helps to prevent the old Adam from controlling our actions.  In doing so, it assists the new man in his struggle against the old Adam.

 

We are new man in Christ, and so when we hear these words we also find in them a word of encouragement.  For the new man, the law is something he wants to hear.  Christians hear descriptions of God’s will in the law, and through the work of the Spirit they experience the response: “Yes, that’s exactly what I want to do!”

 

Paul’s intent in writing these words is not to show Christians that they are sinners.  However, Paul also says, “through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).  The Holy Spirit may use this word of law to reveal how we don’t do these things. In doing so he leads us to repent and take comfort in the forgiveness that we have through Christ.  This faith then prompts us to live according to these words.

 

The law is God’s good gift.  The Holy Spirit uses that law to address our spiritual needs.  He reveals our sin to lead us to forgiveness.  He teaches us how to live.  He represses and compels the old Adam to assist the new man in his struggle.  He encourages us to live in God pleasing ways.

 

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Jn 16:16-22

 

Easter 4

                                                                                                Jn 16:16-22

                                                                                                4/21/24

 

          It was the night when Jesus was betrayed.  Our Lord celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples.  Then he and the disciples made their way to the Garden of Gethsemane.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not tell us anything about this trip.  However, John provides us with an account of what Jesus said to his disciples during this time.

          In John’s Gospel, Jesus often says things that the disciples don’t understand until after the resurrection.  For example, in chapter two Jesus replies to his opponents by saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews are baffled as they reply, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”  However, John tells us: “But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

          Earlier in this chapter, Jesus had shared unexpected news with the disciples.  He said, “But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”  Our Lord said that he was returning to the Father.  He was leaving, and naturally this was very troubling for the disciples.

          We will hear in next week’s Gospel lesson that Jesus said his departure was actually a good thing.  It meant that he would send the Helper. In the course of these chapters, known as the “Farewell Discourse,” Jesus explains what the Helper would do.

          The disciples were already confused and troubled by what Jesus had said.  In our text, the Lord compounds this as he shares more information that they don’t understand.  Jesus said, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

          The disciples were confused by this, as well as by what Jesus had already said.  We learn in our text: “So some of his disciples said to one another, ‘What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?’ So they were saying, ‘What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.’”

          Jesus knew that the disciples wanted to ask him.  He understood that they were deeply confused by his statement, “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me.’” 

In our text Jesus doesn’t directly explain what the “little while” is.  Instead, he tells them what their experience will be as they pass through it.  He doesn’t directly explain it because, as we will see, there was no way that they could understand.  They had to experience the event itself, and in this way they would understand and be transformed.

Jesus said, “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.”  Our Lord described a time in which the disciples would be sorrowful. They would weep and lament.  By contrast, the world would rejoice.  However, Jesus promised that their sorrow would turn into joy.

In order to illustrate this, Jesus said, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.”  Labor is a time of hardship and difficulty – I am reminded of how Amy was in labor for 36 hours when she gave birth to Timothy.  However, when the baby has been born none of that matters.  Instead, there is joy that the child has been born into the world.

Jesus applied this illustration by saying, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”  The disciples would experience sorrow in the present when they did not see Jesus.  But they would see Jesus again. This would bring joy, and no one would take their joy from them.

The disciples in our text are mystified by what Jesus is saying.  However, we now stand in a position to understand what Jesus means, just as they would in a few days.  Our Lord speaks about his death and resurrection. A little while and they would no longer see Jesus.  It was Thursday evening.  By sundown on Friday they would no longer see the Lord.  He would be buried in a tomb.  But then in a little while they would see him again.  On Sunday evening – on Easter – they would see him as he appeared in the midst of the locked room where they were.

John the Baptist had announced that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Our Lord had repeatedly declared that he would die. He said that he would be lifted up.  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.” He said during Holy Week, “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.”  He said this because he would die on the cross.

          Jesus died as the sacrifice to rescue us from sin and God’s judgment against it.  Our lives are filled with the pervasive presence of sin.  We put God second, as our interests, hobbies, and desires come before him.  We act in selfish ways as we put ourselves before our spouse, family, and friends.  We allow anger to direct our words and actions.

          This sin is not a violation of some abstract standard.  Instead, it is an offense committed against the holy God.  When David confessed his sin he said, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”  As we just confessed, this sin deserves God’s present and eternal punishment.

          However, as we heard Jesus say last week: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  Jesus lay down his life for us in order to rescue us from sin and God’s judgment. Our Lord assures us, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

          Jesus died and was buried.  For a little while his disciples did not see him. They wept and mourned.  The hope that they felt because of Jesus had been dashed.  And the world rejoiced.  His opponents celebrated the fact they had killed the Lord.

          But after a little while – on the third day – Jesus rose from the dead.  Jesus says in our text, “but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”  He was right.  We learn in John’s Gospel: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”

          Through the work of the Spirit the disciples have shared this good news – this Gospel - with us.  And now, we too rejoice with a joy that will never be taken from us.  Jesus’ resurrection has transformed our life.  Not only do we know that sin is forgiven, but we know that Christ has given us victory over death.  Because we believe in Jesus we already have eternal life now.  Death cannot end our life with God.  And we know that the risen Lord will raise us up.  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.”

          This does not mean that the struggles of this world have ended. We still encounter disappointments and problems.  We experience hardships and tragedies.  But because of Jesus’ resurrection we do not lose hope in the face of these things.  We do not lose hope because nothing can take the joy of the Lord’s resurrection from us.  His victory has changed our present and future. 

          In this section of the Gospel Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  We have peace because in Christ’s resurrection we find the assurance that God’s love for us continues no matter what circumstances may look like.  We live knowing that the victory will be ours because Jesus has already won. Our Lord declared, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

          Jesus’ death and resurrection also transforms the way we live. He said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”  Christ gave himself for us, and now we give ourselves in service to others.  This means that we put the needs of others before our own. It means that we are willing to sacrifice to help those around us.

          This begins at home.  So husbands and wives, look for ways to assist and support your spouse. Children and youth, help your parents with tasks that need to be done – even when it isn’t your chore.  And then it continues out with our friends and co-workers.  Look for opportunities to support and care for the neighbors around you.

          In our text, Jesus says, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”  The disciples did not see Jesus after he had died on the cross and had been buried in the tomb. They wept and mourned.  But a little while passed, and on the third day they saw the risen Lord.  Because they did, we know that our sins are forgiven and that death has been defeated.  We have peace knowing that Jesus has overcome the world and confidence that God continues to love us in the midst of all circumstances. As our Lord says, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”