Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - 1 Pet 2:11-20

 

   Easter 4

                                                                                                            1 Pet 2:11-20

                                                                                                            4/26/26

 

            In our text this morning, the apostle Peter calls the Christians in Asia Minor – what is today Turkey – “sojourners and exiles.” He began the letter by addressing them as the “elect exiles” and in the previous chapter he described how they should live “throughout the time of your exile.”

            Now it is clear that the majority of people whom he addresses are Gentiles. They are people who live in these areas – they aren’t foreigners who have been displaced. They are from places like Pontus, and Galatia, and Cappadocia, and Asia. That is their home.

            Yet Peter calls them “sojourners and exiles” because through baptism and faith they are now Christians. And this means that they are different. They no longer fit into the world. They are now separate and distinct as they belong to God. They don’t belong in the world, and that is going to be seen in the way they live.

            Peter’s words apply directly to you, because as Christians you are sojourners and exiles in this world. Now we need to be clear about what we mean by the term “world.”  Peter is not saying that that we are sojourners and exiles trapped in this physical creation. He is not saying that our goal is to escape our bodily existence and this material world because heaven is our real home.

            God made this material creation and declared it to be “very good.”  He created us as a unity of body and soul, and only in that way can be we what God intends. The ultimate proof of this is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Son of God became flesh – he became man and lived a bodily existence in this world. He did this not only to give us forgiveness, but also to free us from what sin had done to our bodily existence and creation itself.

            Instead, the term “world” describes the spiritual power that controls things. Since the disobedience of Adam this has been a fallen world. It has been a world ruled by the devil – a place of sin and death. All people are conceived as those who are spiritually dead and enemies of God. We enter into this world as people for whom the devil is lord.

            Yet in his love, God did not abandon us and leave us there – trapped in sin and under the lordship of the devil. Instead, he acted in his Son, Jesus Christ. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, he is true God and true man. By his death on the cross he freed us from sin. Peter says in the previous chapter that “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

            This action by God in Christ is his end time saving work. Peter says, “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

            We are celebrating during the season of Easter that God did raise Jesus from the dead. In Christ’s resurrection God defeated death and began the resurrection that we will experience when Jesus returns in glory. Peter begins this letter by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

            Through the work of the Spirit you have been born again. Peter says that “you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” He did this through the preached word of the Gospel.  And he did this through the water and the word of Holy Baptism. It is to this action by God that Peter calls our attention when he says bluntly: “Baptism now saves you.”

            And so in the verses immediately preceding our text Peter says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

            That is what you are.  You are a chosen race; a royal a priesthood; a holy nation; a people for his own possession. God called you out of the darkness of sin and the devil’s lordship. And now Jesus is your Lord. You belong to him. He ransomed you from sin by his death and resurrection.  His Spirit gave you the washing of rebirth and regeneration in baptism.

            And so, you belong to God. You are his. To die is to be with Christ. If Christ does not return first, you will die. But that will not be the end of your body. Instead, on the Last Day Christ will return in glory to raise your body and transform it to be like his.

            Because of Christ you are different. And in our text, Peter lays out some of what this now means for you. He says, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

            Peter warns us to abstain from the passions of the flesh.  Certainly this includes all disordered desires that are contrary to God’s will. A little later in the letter we get a few more details about what this involved as he says, “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

            Sex and alcohol are clearly in view here. Then, just as now, they often went together. The apostle says that Christians are going to be different from the world. It’s not surprising that sexual conduct is a recurring topic of discussion in the New Testament. Christ’s apostles proclaimed an understanding of sex that was completely different from the Greco-Roman world.

            Scripture does not teach that sex is bad. Quite the opposite, it was part of the very good world God created.  He made man as male and female. He formed Eve from Adam as the helper who corresponded to him – the one without whom things weren’t very good. Jesus taught that God instituted marriage as the one flesh union of man and woman. We learn in Genesis: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

            And in fact, God commanded husband and wife to have sex.  He established the one flesh union of husband and wife to produce children and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.”  Sex is good. It is the physical expression of the spiritual reality that exists before God. We have learned that biochemically it serves God’s purpose of creating and sustaining a bond between man and woman.   It is a necessary thing in marriage. And it serves the purpose of creating life from that union.

            But the fallen world takes this blessing and perverts it in every possible way. In the first century world it was considered completely normal that a man would have sex with his female slaves. It was normal that he would have sex with a prostitute if we wasn’t wealthy enough to have female slaves. It was normal for a man to use a boy for sex. The only real limit was that it was shameful for a man to be on the receiving end from another man. The claim that the ancient world widely accepted homosexuality as it is practiced today – a sexual relationship between two men who are equals – is nonsense.

            In the face of this Christ’s apostles proclaimed that sex was only to be shared by a husband and wife in marriage. Only this was true to God’s will. And any other practice is sin that brings God’s judgment. Paul told the Corinthians: “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

            Peter reminds us this morning that because of Christ and his Spirit we are sojourners and exiles. We are different from the world and so we look at things differently from the world. Once again, just as in Peter’s day, the world says that people can use sex however they want. The world assumes that people who are dating will have sex. It assumes that people will live together before they are married. It assumes the use of pornography. It assumes that homosexuality is normal and acceptable.

And here things today are actually worse than the first century because at least it did not accept homosexuality as it exists today. The first century absolutely didn’t believe the absurdity that two men or two women could be married. And it never would have imagined that a same sex couple would have children as a “family.”

The world doesn’t just assume these things. It expects them.  It promotes them in every possible means through what we see, hear, and read. If you don’t act in these ways, you will stand out. You will be the subject of jokes and mocking. If you speak publicly the truth of God’s word about these things you will be attacked.

Peter addressed these words to the Christians in Asia Minor because this presented a great challenge. We need to hear them because we face a great challenge as well. So I say to all of you – but especially to the young people – save sex for marriage. Don’t make sex part of dating, and don’t live together before marriage. Not only is this sinful, but when you don’t do things the way God created them to work it vastly increases likelihood that it will not turn out well for you. There is so much research that demonstrates this. It’s really hard to go against the way God ordered his creation to work.

I say to all of you – don’t use pornography. Jesus meant it when he said, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Pornography is addictive. It rewires the brain. It will bring harm to you and to your relationships.

The need to take actions that confess the truth about God’s gift of sex occur in the setting of family. We cannot say that living together is sinful, and then interact with the couple as if nothing is wrong. More broadly we cannot say that homosexuality is sinful, and then attend a wedding for a homosexual couple. And to bring this closer to home, we cannot say that living together is sinful and then attend the wedding of a couple that is doing so. Such a wedding does not do away with sin. Instead, having a wedding in the normal fashion while living together says that there was no sin for which couple needed to repent. And remember, where there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness.

We do this because of what God has made us to be in Christ. Earlier in this letter Peter says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” God has called us and made us holy in Christ. He has free us from sin. But as Peter says in our text, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

Living in God’s way and speaking the truth of his word will bring the world’s rejection and disdain. Yet Peter offers encouragement as he says, “But keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”  The world will condemn you now for doing what is right – for doing God’s will that he has revealed in his word. But our perspective is always framed by God’s end time action in Christ that we have already received, and which will reach its consummation on the Last Day.

Peter tells us that we act in ways that are true so that as those in the world see us doing this they will glorify God on the Last Day.  They will be confronted by the truth of the Gospel and the truth of God’s will. In an act of vindication they will have to to glorify God because you did what was right.

This morning Peter tells us that as Christians we are sojourners and exiles. We are different and don’t belong to a fallen world that is ruled by the devil. Instead in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God has given us forgiveness and called us to faith through the work of his Spirit. God has called us to be his chosen race chosen race; his royal priesthood; his holy nation; the people for his own possession.

Because God has done this, Jesus is our Lord. We are different from the world, and so we live in different ways – God’s ways. So abstain from fleshly lusts that wage war against the soul. And walk in the ways of the Lord for they are a blessing to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter - Jn 10:11-16

 

    Easter 3

                                                                                                                        Jn 10:11-16

                                                                                                                        4/19/26

 

 

            On Good Friday an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down while flying a mission over Iran. Both the pilot and the weapons system officer ejected. The pilot was rescued relatively quickly. The weapons system officer managed to evade capture. He climbed a ridge line and hid himself in a mountain crevice.

            And with that, the race was on as Iranian forces sought to capture the Air Force colonel. If they could do so, it would be huge propaganda coup. They would be able to torture, interrogate, and broadcast images of the American in order to humiliate the United States and use him as leverage in negotiations.

            The U.S. military set into a motion a massive operation in order to rescue the airman, whose call sign was Dude 44.  Armed forces members who face the possibility of being behind enemy lines and captured go through a training called SERE school – Search, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. As some of you know, my son recently graduated from SERE school. He couldn’t tell us much about the training. But one message he received there was clear: We will come and get you. No one is left behind.

            Those who took part in the mission were willing to risk their life in order to rescue Dude 44. Air Force A10 Warthog pilots and Army helicopter pilots flew in the midst of ground fire that damaged their aircraft. Special Forces soldiers fought to protect the pilot. Air Force Pararescue Jumpers helped to extract him – a force whose motto is, “That others may live.”

            This complete dedication to the mission, and a willingness to lay down one’s own life to save another is what we find in Jesus’ words this morning. Our Lord describes himself as the Good Shepherd. He says that he is the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

            Our text this morning finds Jesus in Jerusalem as he contends with the Pharisees.  He has just said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”  Our Lord described the nature of his mission. He was here to give spiritual sight to those who were blind in their sin. But those who thought they saw – who thought they had God all figured out – would find themselves blind in unbelief.

            Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. In their rejection of Jesus, they thought they saw matters correctly. But Jesus said that in their rejection of him, they were blind as they remained in the guilt of their sin.

            Jews like the Pharisees are rejecting Jesus. So in this chapter Jesus uses the metaphor of a shepherd to describe his action, and the response of those who are being saved. At the beginning of this chapter he says, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” 

            Jesus called you by name.  He did it in Holy Baptism as the pastor said your name and poured water on you with the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Through the work of his Spirit, Christ has called you to faith. This recognition of the Good Shepherd’s voice is not something that you worked in yourself. Instead, it was God’s action to save you. Earlier Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

            When we hear language like this, it is natural that our minds begin to turn to the question of those who don’t believe – those who think they see yet are blind like the Pharisees. But this is to ignore the reason that Jesus speaks these words to us.  It is meant to comfort you.

            Now there is no doubt that God wants to save all people. He learn in chapter three, “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.” God’s purpose in Christ is to save all. And there is no doubt that Christ died for all. John says in his first epistle, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

            The only answer you will find in Scripture for why people don’t believe is their own sin and fallenness.  We know that people are able to harden their own heart against the Gospel. We also know that like Pharaoh, God can harden people in this condition as they set themselves against God.

            But what we need to realize is that language about hearing Jesus’ voice – the voice of the Good Shepherd – is not meant to give an answer to our question about why some and not others. That is in fact an answer that only God can understand. Instead, this language is meant to comfort you with the knowledge that God has called you to faith. You hear Christ’s word and believe him because God has called you as his own.  Jesus says later in this chapter, “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.”

            Jesus describes himself as the shepherd whose voice the sheep hear. He is the one whom they then follow. So what is this shepherd like? Our Lord says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  Jesus calls himself the “good” shepherd, and then explains whey he is good. He is good because he lays down his life for the sheep.

            In our text, Jesus contrasts the good shepherd with the hired hand. The one who does not own the sheep has no investment in them. Watching the sheep is simply a job – it is a way to get a paycheck. And so when there is a threat like a wolf, he abandons the sheep. He doesn’t care about the sheep.

            Jesus is the good shepherd. He is the good shepherd because he does not abandon the sheep. Instead, he loves and cares for them as those who are his own. Christ says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

            Those who took part in the mission to rescue Dude 44 were dedicated to saving him. However, almost none of them knew this individual. They didn’t know whether he was a great guy or a complete jerk.  All they knew was that there was an American service member in danger and so they were going to do everything in their power to save him.

            Jesus did everything to save us. He lay down his life. But unlike those who took part in the rescue mission in Iran, he knew exactly what kind of people we were.  St 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.”

            Jesus knew that we are sinners who reject God all the time. We put our interests ahead of God. He gets the leftovers of our time, attention, and money. After we have looked out for ourselves, then maybe there is some left over for him. We put our interests ahead of our spouse, family, and neighbors. I am going to take care of me first, and then others can have some of what is left.

            Jesus knew that we are like this. In fact, Jesus lay down his life because we are like this.  Paul told the Romans, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Jesus lay down his life because our sin meant that we were not able to have life with the holy God. We had been created in God’s image for this purpose. But sin took away our ability to know God as he wants to be known, and to live perfectly according to his will.  Instead, as sinners who sin we were storing up wrath for ourselves on the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment of God. Because of sin our lives could not escape the final earthly consequence of sin – death.

            Jesus Christ lay down is life for the sinful sheep who wander from God. He lay it down for you when he died on the cross.  God laid on him the iniquity of us all – he made Christ to be sin for us.  He condemned your sin in Christ as he suffered and died.

            Because of love for the Father, and love for us, Jesus carried out the mission given to him. He lay down his life for the sheep in order to redeem us – to free us from sin.  But immediately after our text Jesus goes on to say that death on a cross was only one part of the saving work the Father sent to carry out. He says, “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.”

            During this season of Easter we rejoice that on the first day of the week the tomb was empty. When the women went to the tomb, instead of the body of Jesus they encountered angels who said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

            Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we now have life. We have life with God through the forgiveness of our sins. We have resurrection life because Christ is the firstfruits of our resurrection.  Baptized into Jesus’ death and receiving the body and blood of the risen Lord, we know that we will be raised as well.

In the verse just before our text Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Christ gives the abundant life of fellowship with God restored. He gives the abundant life that has no end for already now we have eternal life. He gives the abundant life that we will experience as full resurrection life when he returns in glory and raises us up.

And that abundant life found in Christ already now is present and active in us through the work of the Spirit. This life demonstrates itself in love. At the Last 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.”

The life of service directed towards others is the presence of Christ’s love in us.  It is the abundant life lived in Christ through the work of the Spirit.  As John said in his first letter, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

In our text Jesus says, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Christ points beyond Israel and the Jews because God had promised Abraham that in his seed all nations would be blessed.”

The Spirit borne voice of the Good Shepherd continues to sound forth through the Gospel. Jesus says in this chapter, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out, When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” His voice continues to call sheep to follow him – sheep who receive forgiveness and life as they are joined together with the body of Christ.

This morning we hear that Jesus is the good shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep. Although we were spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God he did this for us to give us forgiveness. And then after he lay down his life, he took it up again. This charge he had received from the Father. He accomplished it so that all who believe in him have abundant life – eternal life that will be resurrection life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

             

 

 

             

 

 

 

Mark's thoughts: For the Roman Catholic church, Islam is a path to salvation

 

During his visit to Algeria, Pope Leo XIV issued the statement above on X.  The statement about "communion between Christians and Muslims" should shock any Christian, since communion (fellowship) for Christians is only possible in Christ.  The Pope's language about "living in unity and peace" in the setting of Algeria ignores the fact that this nation is ranked among the top twenty persecutors of Christians in the world. 

This continues an emphasis seen in the Pope's work. During his visit to Lebanon he said, "One of the great lessons that Lebanon can teach to the world is showing a land where Islam and Christianity are both respected, and that there is the possibility to live together, to be friends." The Pope's comment ignored the fact that the Christian church in Lebanon has been devastated by Muslim persecution.

The Pope's statement in Algeria demonstrates two important realities. The first is his willful desire to ignore the persecution of Christians by Muslims. Fourteen of the top twenty nations  who persecute Christians are classified by OpenDoors as "Islamic oppression." 

The second is that rather than acknowledging Islam's opposition to Christianity, he wishes to treat it as an equal partner with Christianity. Muslims are not individuals who need faith in Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord. Instead, they are partners in the rich diversity of life.

The Pope's words and actions demonstrate the actual content of Roman Catholic dogma since Vatican II. The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (16) states that those who “have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God.”  It begins by discussing the Jews as it says, “In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh. On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues.” 

Then it goes on to say, “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.”  This statement declares that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, as it ignores the fact that Islam denies the divinity of Jesus Christ and rejects the Holy Trinity.

 

As it moves on from Jews and Muslims, Lumen Gentium states: 

Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things, and as Saviour wills that all men be saved. Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life.

This statement explains that salvation is possible for those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.  When through no fault of their own they do not know the Gospel, they can be saved if they “sincerely seek God” and “strive by their deeds” to do God’s will as it is known to them “through the dictates of conscience.”  Indeed, God provides “the helps necessary for salvation” to these individuals who by his grace “strive to live a good life.” 

 

Because Islam is a path to salvation for those "who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church," in truth the worst thing that could happen to a person would be to have Christ and the Gospel to proclaimed to him. According to this teaching, if a person hears about Christ and rejects the folly of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25), this path to salvation in the ignorance of Islam is no longer available.

The Pope's statement in Algeria is not surprising. It is true to Roman Catholic teaching. The question that Roman Catholics must confront is whether they can remain in a fellowship that denies Jesus Christ's words: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). 

 

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter - Jn 20:19-31

 

    Easter 2

                                                                                                                        Jn 20:19-31

                                                                                                                        4/12/26

 

           

“When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” “They were glad when they saw the Lord.” Every time I see this text I am struck by how incredibly lame that translation is.

Our translation, the English Standard Version, stands in the tradition of the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version that preceded it.  In these translations as well we find, “They were glad when they saw the Lord.”

Now I am glad when I look out and see nice weather. I am glad when I see that Notre Dame, or Michigan, or Alabama have lost a football game.  I am glad when Amy tells me that we are going to grill steak for dinner. But none of these are responses to life changing experiences.

Seeing the risen Lord Jesus in their midst was a life changing experience, and so we need to translate this with a stronger word than “glad.” When the New Revised Standard version came out, it changed the translation to, “They rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” We find the same thing in the New American Standard and New International Version. The New Jerusalem Bible has “they were filled with joy.”

“Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” Of course they did!  Their response marked a great change from how they had been feeling. We learn in our text that on the evening of Easter, the disciples were together in a room with the doors locked because of fear of the Jews. They were fearful – and not without reason.

On Friday the Jewish religious leaders had arrested Jesus, convicted him of violating the law, and then they had manipulated Pontius Pilate into crucifying him. The disciples had been with Jesus all during his ministry. They were well known for being Jesus’ close associates. It was not hard to imagine that the Jewish leaders would come after them as well.

On top of this, as we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel lesson, that morning Peter and John had seen that Jesus’ tomb was empty. It appeared that someone had taken Jesus’ body. And then Mary Magadalene had come and announced that she had seen Jesus risen from the dead.  She had passed on a message that she said came from him.

As they were gathered in that locked room, suddenly Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.  The Lord showed them the marks in his body where the nails had been used to affix him to the cross, and where the spear had been plunged into his side to make sure he was dead.

            The marks in his hands and side demonstrated that it really was Jesus who had been crucified.  He had died on the cross and had been buried. But now he stood before them alive.  He had been raised from the dead, just as Mary had said.

            John tells us, “Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” Of course they did!  They had seen Jesus die on the cross. But now he was alive and standing in their midst. The marks in his body demonstrated that it was the same Jesus who had died on the cross.

            In that moment they began to realize that everything Jesus had said was true. On the evening of Maundy Thursday Jesus had told them, “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me.” The disciples didn’t understand what this meant. So Jesus explained, “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.”  Then he went on to add, “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. 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 rejoiced when they saw Jesus. And then Christ once again declared peace to them. But this time it was not just peace for them. It was the commission that the disciples – Jesus’ apostles – were receiving to proclaim that peace to others. Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

            Jesus had declared that God the Father had sent him into the world. He told his opponents, “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.” The Father had sent the Son into the world in the incarnation as the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And John’s Gospel tells us why he did his. We learn, “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.”

            The Father sent the Son so that the world might be saved through him. He sent the Son as the sacrifice which atoned for the sin of all. John the Baptist had declared about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This is what Jesus had accomplished on the cross. Jesus had said it would happen this way.  He had 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.”

            Nailed to a cross, Jesus had been lifted up. He had died in the suffering and shame of crucifixion. That death had been confirmed as one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out. But as Jesus stood there risen from the dead it was now clear that his death was more than it appeared. It had not been failure. Instead, it had been God’s powerful work to provide forgiveness. John says in his first epistle that Jesus “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

            Now, as the crucified and risen One, Jesus declared that they had peace. He had told them on the evening of Maundy Thursday, “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.” In Christ there was now the peace of sins forgiven. And there was the peace of life that had conquered death. Jesus had said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He had told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” The risen Lord had conquered death, and now the disciples could understand why he had said, “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.”

            God had sent the Son into the world to save the world. It was God’s will to give forgiveness and life won by Jesus to all. And so in our text Jesus says to the disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Jesus set apart his disciples – his apostles – to carry out the continuation of this work. And he equipped them to do so. We learn in our text, “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus gave the Office of the Ministry to the Church. The apostles who had been with Jesus were limited in how much ground they could personally cover. They were limited by the fact that their death – quite often in martyrdom – would bring their work to an end. But the Holy Spirit breathed out by Christ has continued to place men in the midst of congregations to carry out this work of ministry.  Paul told the pastors gathered at Miletus, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”

Christ sent the apostles forth and told them, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” He sent them forth to speak absolution – the word of forgiveness. The Gospel of John begins in chapter one with the John the Baptist declaring that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It ends in chapter twenty with the crucified and risen Lord sending forth his disciples to forgive sins. 

Holy Absolution can be described as “the Gospel in its purest form.”  The Gospel announces that you are forgiven because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You cannot get a more direct experience of that Gospel than when Jesus himself says, “I forgive you.” The Lord sends forth those in the Office of the Ministry to speak in his place and stead. It is Christ’s Office of the Ministry. It is Christ’s Spirit who has placed the pastor in that congregation.  It is Christ’s word that gives forgiveness. When the pastor speaks, it is Jesus who is speaking through him.

You just experienced this as the beginning of the service. In the confession you admitted what is true of each one of us. We are by nature sinful and unclean. As those who descend from Adam we are fallen people who are sinful by nature – sinful from the moment of our conception. And then in our lives we sin by what we think, and say, and do.  We don’t love God with all that we are. We don’t love our neighbor as ourselves, as instead we act in selfish ways.

This is what you confessed about yourself. But then Jesus forgave your sins. The fact that it was Jesus’ doing was announced when I said that I acted “as a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by his authority.”  “Called and ordained” means that a man has been placed into Christ’s Office of the Ministry.  “By his authority” means that since it is Jesus’ Office and Jesus’ command to forgive, the forgiveness is Christ’s doing. And then I said, “I therefore forgive you all your sins.”  Through these words it was Jesus giving you forgiveness.

Jesus says in our text, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.” That is the loosing key – the word of absolution that frees you from sin. But he also says, “if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” The Lord tells his Church and her pastors not to forgive – to withhold forgiveness.  This is the binding key. It takes place when a person refuses to repent and turn away from sin.

Jesus tells his Church to announce that where there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness.  All Christians are sinners. But we are saints – holy ones in Christ – because we are repentant sinners, and therefore we are forgiven sinners.  You can’t knowingly hold onto your sin and receive forgiveness from Christ.  It is only in confessing sin and seeking to turn away from it that Christ gives his forgiveness to us.

This is true of all of the Means of Grace. In fact, it is the reason that we have Confession and Absolution before receiving the Sacrament of the Altar. There we receive the true body and blood of Christ, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. Naturally, it makes no sense to say that we must receive forgiveness in absolution so that we can then receive forgiveness in the Sacrament of the Altar.

The point of confession prior to the Sacrament is to make sure that those who are going to receive the body and blood of Christ are repentant. They go to the Sacrament of the Altar as people who confess their sin and their need for forgiveness from God. And having confessed this, Jesus forgives their sins in Holy Absolution.

He forgives you in absolution at the beginning of the service. Then he delivers forgiveness as you hear the Gospel in the reading of his Scriptures. He is delivering forgiveness right now as the Gospel is proclaimed to you in the sermon. Next he will give you forgiveness as you receive his true body and blood. And while we’re at it we recognize in the water that flowed from Jesus’ side that through Holy Baptism you have shared in Christ’s saving death, and so are the forgiven children of God.

Our God surrounds us with his forgiveness. He gives it to us through the Word, and through the visible Word of the Sacraments – the located means of his saving action. He leaves absolutely no doubt that those who confess their sin and repent are forgiven before him. As repentant sinners, we are forgiven sinners – we are saints.

On the evening of Easter the risen Lord Jesus appeared in the midst of the locked room and said to his disciples: “Peace be with you.” Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, we have peace. We have peace with God because our sins have been forgiven. We have peace knowing that death cannot separate us from God. We have peace knowing that in Jesus our resurrection has already begun. We have peace because we know though we may face tribulations, Jesus the risen Lord has overcome the world. And how do we respond to this? We rejoice, because Jesus rose from the dead.