Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sermon for Maundy Thursday - Ex 12:1-14

 

Maundy Thursday

                                                                                      Ex 12:1-14

                                                                                      3/28/24

 

          It turns out that in eastern Europe, people don’t want to remember.  After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union built numerous memorials to the Red Army and its soldiers in the countries where it defeated Nazi Germany.  These countries then became areas that were dominated by the Soviet Union. They were forced to become communist as true free elections were denied.  They were places where free speech was not allowed, and the state police repressed all opposition.  These nations were basically colonies of the Soviet Union, and the Soviets invaded Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1967 in order to maintain this control.

          With the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, these nations have regained their full independence.  However, the past remains. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it prompted a reaction across eastern Europe.  Places like Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Bulgaria began tearing down Soviet Union memorials in their lands.  These countries don’t want anything to remind them of how the Soviet Union oppressed them.

          In tonight’s Old Testament lesson we hear about a memorial with completely different associations.  Yahweh institutes the Passover as a memorial that will recall his rescue of Israel from slavery in Egypt.  We learn tonight that the Passover lamb was something that pointed forward to the great rescue Jesus Christ has won for us.  At the Last Supper, Jesus took the Passover meal and transformed it into the means by which he gives that rescue to us.

          Israel had been enslaved in Egypt.  Yahweh had sent Moses to Pharaoh with the message that he must let God’s people go.  Pharaoh had refused, and so God had sent a series of nine plagues upon the Egyptians.

          Now, in preparation for the tenth and final plague, Yahweh told the Israelites to take a lamb and kill it at twilight.  They were to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and lintel of their houses.  Then they were to roast the lamb with fire, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

          This was no ordinary meal.  Yahweh told them: “In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover.”  They were to eat it ready to go, because God was going to act.

          He told them, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.”  Yahweh promised that the blood on the houses would be a sign, and that no harm would befall the Israelites on that night when he struck the Egyptians.

          God would rescue them, and this meal would not be a one time thing.  Instead, Yahweh said, “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.” The continued celebration of the Passover meal would cause the Israelites to remember how God had rescued them from Egypt.

          At midnight Yahweh went through the land and struck down the first born of all the Egyptians.  However, wherever the blood of the lamb was on the house – God passed over that house and the Israelites were spared. The trauma was so great that Pharaoh finally commanded the Israelites to leave. 

God acted through the Passover lamb to rescue Israel from slavery. This action by God was type. It was an event in the Old Testament that pointed forward to what God would do in the New Testament.  St. Paul told the Corinthians, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

In our text we learn that the Passover lamb was to be blameless.  Jesus Christ was the sinless Son of God who entered the world as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Born without sin, he perfectly kept the Law and fulfilled God’s will.  

The Passover lamb was killed and its blood was placed on the houses.  This blood marked the house and caused God’s judgment to pass over the Israelites. Jesus Christ’s blood was shed on the cross for us.  Paul told the Ephesians, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”  Because of the shedding of Jesus’ blood for us, God’s judgment has passed over us. God acted in the Passover to rescue Israel from slavery.  God acted in Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb - to rescue us from slavery to sin.

This is deliverance that we needed because we were conceived and born as fallen, sinful people.  We were unable to free ourselves because our actions simply pile one sin upon another. In thought, word, and deed we continually generate sin and so we have no basis for living with the holy God.  Yet Jesus Christ’s death has won for us the forgiveness of sins and rescued us from God’s judgment.

At the end of our text God says, “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”  The Passover meal was to be celebrated each year.  It would continue to call to remembrance what God had done for Israel.  Later in this chapter Moses adds, “And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?' you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’”

Jesus, the Passover Lamb, had come to Jerusalem to die at the time of the Passover.  As he prepared to do so, he celebrated one last Passover meal with this disciples.  He told them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

But as the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb – as the true Passover Lamb sent by God – Jesus took the Passover meal and transformed it.  He took bread and gave thanks.  Then he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.”  Then after supper he took the cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying, “Drink of it all of you; this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Jesus told the disciples that he was giving them his body to eat.  It was his body that was given for them.  Then he told them that he was giving them his blood to drink. It was the blood that established the new testament – the blood shed for the forgiveness of sins.

At that last Passover meal, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Altar.  Jesus’ words do what they say.  He declared that the bread was his body to eat.  He announced that the wine was his blood to drink.  These things are what Christ declares them to be. And so in the Sacrament we eat and drink the true body and blood of Christ.

Jesus gives his body and blood to us for a reason.  He does so in order to give us the benefits that he won by his death on the cross.  We receive his body given on the cross for us – the body nailed to the cross to rescue us.  We receive his blood shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  Jesus the Passover Lamb gives us the very price that he paid to rescue us from the slavery of sin.  He places it into our mouth in order to apply the benefits of that redemption to us.

Jesus died on the cross as the Passover Lamb. But on the third day God raised him from the dead.  It is the risen Lord who continues to be the host of the Sacrament of the Altar.  Our Lord speaks his words through the pastor. The risen Lord gives us his true body and blood into our bodies. And in doing so we receive the pledge and assurance that our bodies will be raised up on the Last Day.

God had told Israel that the Passover meal was to be a memorial – it was to be a yearly reminder of the Passover and God’s rescues in the exodus.  When Jesus fulfilled the Passover and transformed the meal, he declared that it was still to cause remembrance.  Yet now it reminds us of Jesus’s saving death.  Our Lord said that we are to celebrate his Sacrament in remembrance of him.

For the Israelites, the Passover meal was an act of remembering a past event. But in the Sacrament of the Altar we do not have only a mental activity occurring – an act of remembering.  Instead, the remembrance is caused by the true body and blood of Christ that is present.  Our Lord – the risen Lord - comes bodily into our midst. We celebrate the Sacrament in remembrance of Jesus because in this way he is present with us and gives us the benefits of his saving death and resurrection.

In the Old Testament lesson tonight we hear God establish the Passover meal as he rescues Israel from slavery.  The death of the Passover lamb was the means by which God spared Israel from judgment.  Jesus Christ is the true Passover Lamb whose death has rescued us from slavery to sin. He has transformed the Passover meal into the Sacrament of the Altar in which he gives us his true body and blood.  He causes us to remember his death as he gives us the very price he paid to win us forgiveness.  Here we have the assurance that we are forgiven, and the pledge that the Lord will raise up our bodies on the Last Day. 

 

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Sermon for the Palm Sunday - Sunday of the Passion - Mt 26:1-27:66

 

                                    Sunday of the Passion

                                                                              Mt 26:1-27:66

                                                                              3/24/24

 

     It went exactly as planned.  It didn’t go as planned.  That is the contrast that we find at the beginning of the reading of the Passion of Our Lord according to St. Matthew.  Our text begins by saying, “When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’”

     Jesus predicts that his death – his crucifixion – will occur at the time of the Passover.  This is actually fourth time our Lord has predicted his passion.  Just before entering the 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.”

     This is what Jesus said would happen.  However, the Jewish religious leaders had a very different plan.  Immediately after Jesus’ prediction of his death we find this in our text: “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.’”

     The religious leaders had had enough of Jesus.  It was time to get rid of the troublemaker.  However, they knew well about Jesus’ popularity – how the crowds were enamored with him.  They needed to get rid of him secretly.  And clearly, the Passover was not the time to do it.  Jerusalem would be filled with pilgrims, many who had come from Galilee.  As a celebration of how God had rescued Israel from Egypt, it was a time that raised renewed hopes that God would do this again and rescue them from the Romans.  It was an emotionally charged time, and so was absolutely the wrong moment to act against Jesus.

     But then, an unexpected opportunity presented itself.  We learn, “Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.” This changed everything.  They now had someone from Jesus’ inner circle who was going to give Jesus up to them.  It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

     And so, events were going to happen as Jesus had said.  They were going to happen in this way because it was God’s will.  When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and one of those with him flailed with a sword, he said, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

     Holy Week was going to follow God’s plan.  It was the plan that the angel had announced to Joseph when he learned that Mary was pregnant and was going to divorce her: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

     Jesus had come to Holy Week to provide rescue from sin.  He came to Holy Week because you feel anger in your heart against others.  He came to Holy Week because you are jealous and covet.  He came to Holy Week because you lust.

     Jesus had come to Holy Week to provide rescue from sin.  But the way he was going to do it defies our expectations.  We expect the almighty God to act in force, power, and victory.  But Jesus had said, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

     Jesus had come to die.  He had come to be crucified.  At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Altar as he blessed bread and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” He took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  Jesus would give his body and shed his blood on the cross to win forgiveness.

     God’s plan was for Jesus to die on the cross as the ransom for many.  We learn about what this means from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden.  We hear in our text, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” 

     In the Old Testament, the cup is the cup of God’s wrath. The psalmist wrote: “For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.”  Jesus Christ was the sinless One.  Yet it was God’s will that he should receive the judgment for our sins.

     This was God’s plan.  It was a plan that would subject Jesus to excruciating spiritual and physical pain.  This was not something that Jesus wanted to experience. Yet three times he prayed that God’s will would be done.  Our Lord had taken on the role of the suffering Servant at his baptism.  His ministry had always been directed toward the cross.  He was fulfilling the Scriptures.  And now, as he stood on the verge of his passion, he committed himself to carrying out the Father’s will.

     God’s plan meant the injustice of Jesus’ so-called trial before the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate.  Jesus the innocent One was condemned to death. Pilate knew the Jewish leaders had delivered Jesus up out of envy.  He offered up the opportunity to release either Jesus or the prisoner Barabbas.  But the crowd was stirred to demand the release of Barabbas and that Jesus be crucified. The criminal was released, and Jesus was scourged and taken to crucifixion.

     Jesus was crucified in the midst of two criminals. The sinless One took his place in the midst of sinners as he died for the sins of all.  It was the Father’s will for Jesus to be on the cross.  Yet the religious leaders mocked our Lord 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. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Jesus showed that he was the faithful Son of God by remaining on the cross.  He was there to receive God’s judgment and wrath against our sin.  The darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour was the sign of God’s end time judgment.  As he was dying he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Jesus experienced for us the damnation of God’s judgment so that we never will.

Jesus had been crucified with the charge above him: “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.”  He had been crucified as a Messiah figure.  And in death, there could be only one conclusion – he had been a false messiah.  Certainly, he had been rejected by God.

Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus and buried it in his own new tomb that had been cut in the rock.  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there to see where Jesus was buried.  Yet even in death, Jesus’ opponents weren’t done.  They went to Pilate with concerns about Jesus’ claim that he would rise on the third day.  What if Jesus’ disciples stole his body and claimed he had risen? So Pilate gave them permission to make the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

That is how the Passion of Our Lord ends. That is how Holy Week ends.  But we are here today because that is not how things remained.  Jesus had predicted that he would rise on the third day.  In our text Jesus says, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

We have gathered on Sunday – on the first day of the week.  We do so because on the third day – on the first day of the week – Jesus rose from the dead. The Christian Church worships on Sunday because each Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection.  It is a “little Easter” as it were. 

This coming time of Holy Week prepares us for the yearly great celebration of Christ’s resurrection. It prepares us for Easter.  In our text this morning we see how things took place according to God’s plan.  Jesus fulfilled the Father’s will by suffering death on a cross.  He did so to win forgiveness for us.  This week we will follow our Lord to his death on the cross and burial. But we will gather again next Sunday, because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Sermon for fifth mid-week Lent service - What is Confession?

 

What is Confession?

                                                                                       3/20/24

 

          How many sacraments are there?  You may be surprised to learn that the Book of Concord – the confessions of the Lutheran Church - provides two different answers.  “Sacrament” is not a word that we find in the Bible.  Instead, it is a term that the Church uses to organize our thought about the content of Scripture.  So how you define what a Sacrament is will determine how many Sacraments there are.

          If you define a Sacrament as something that has been instituted by Christ, has the promise of forgiveness, and uses a physical means, then there are two Sacraments: Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar.  However, if you define a Sacrament as something that has been instituted by Christ and has the promise of forgiveness, then there are three Sacraments: Holy Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and Holy Absolution.

          For the most part, the two Sacrament definition has been dominant in the Lutheran Church.  It is probably not hard to understand why.  The physical means of water, and bread and wine give Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar a distinct and obvious character.

          Yet in spite of this, Holy Absolution is Christ’s gift that cannot be ignored.  It is sometimes described as a return to baptism.  In the Small Catechism the section “How Christians should be taught to confess” comes immediately after the portion that deals with Baptism. 

          Holy Absolution is the gift that the risen Lord has given to his Church. After our Lord’s resurrection he appeared to the disciples in the locked room and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

          We are about to enter into Holy Week.  We hear in our reading of the Passion of Our Lord tonight that as Jesus hung on the cross there was darkness over the land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour.  This was the sign of God’s end time judgment. Christ, the sinless One, was numbered with the transgressors.  He took our sin and received God’s judgment against it.  He was the object of God’s wrath in order to give us forgiveness.

          But on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead.  He appeared to the disciples in that locked room.  He demonstrated that he was alive as he showed them his hands and his side.  And then he instituted Holy Absolution.  He commanded his disciples to forgive sins – to apply the forgiveness that he had just won by his death and resurrection.

          The Small Catechism teaches us that confession has two parts.  First, we confess our sins.  We admit our sins before God.  The Psalmist said, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.”

          The Small Catechism goes on to say that the second part is “that we receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.”  Notice that this an audible word.  It is a word of forgiveness spoken to us.

          The pastor speaks this forgiveness.  However, it is not the person of the pastor that matters here.  Instead, Christ has instituted his Office of the Holy Ministry to administer his Means of Grace.  He works through his Church to place a man in this Office of the Ministry. And so when the pastor speaks, he speaks for God.  It is Christ who is speaking.  That is why the pastor announces absolution by saying that he speaks “as a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by his authority.”

          Christ says through the pastor “I forgive you all your sins.”  Holy Absolution can be described as the Gospel in its purest form.  The Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead in order to win forgiveness for us.  Then in Holy Absolution we hear God speak to us in the first person singular and say “I forgive you all your sins.”  We hear God speak directly to us as he forgives our sins.  You can’t get any more direct than that.

          We are used to hearing Holy Absolution at the beginning of the Divine Service each Sunday.  Here Confession and Absolution takes place in the corporate setting of worship.  However, that is actually not the setting that the Small Catechism addresses.  Instead it is speaking about Confession in a private setting.

          At the time of the Reformation, private confession had become a source of many abuses in the life of the Church.  The priest was present in the role of an examiner who was seeking to discover sins and determine whether they were mortal. Christians were required to confess all sins.  Confession was made, absolution was spoken, and then the priest assigned a penance that had to be done.

          The Lutheran Church returned confession to being a Gospel gift. The pastor was there to hear confession, not to examine and seek out sin.  The Christian was called upon to confess only those sins they knew.  And penance was eliminated, because Holy Absolution is a word of pure Gospel. Where Christ’s forgiveness has been spoken, there is nothing more that needs to be done.

          In answer to the question “What sins should we confess?” the Small Catechism says, “Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer; but before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts.” 

          Private confession provides blessings that are notable and important.  It gives us the opportunity to confess sins that trouble us.  Before God, sin is sin.  However, the devil is able to use some sins more than others in order to trouble us and cause us to doubt God’s forgiveness. When we keep these sins inside, the guilt and anxiety they produce can be very harmful.  Private confession provides the opportunity to rid ourselves of these sins – it gives us the chance to “get them off our chest.”

          And then, we get to hear God speak forgiveness to us as an individual.  God says “I forgive you all your sins”, and he speak it to you alone.  This is a powerful experience and a profound way in which the Gospel is received.

          People may feel hesitant to use private confession for several reasons.  First there may be the concern about whether sins confessed will be revealed to others.  However, at his ordination, and at very subsequent installation the pastor takes an oath that he will never divulge the sins confessed to him.  The seal of confession is recognized even by our legal system.  I was on the witness stand in a federal court in Chicago and refused to answer a question because it involved information shared with me in private confession.  The judge acknowledged this right, and told the questioner to move on to a different subject.

          People may also feel hesitant because they worry about what the pastor will think of him or her.  Here it is necessary to recognize that you are not going to shock your pastor. Apart from murder, I cannot think of a sin that I have not heard confessed.  You are not going to confess something the pastor hasn’t heard before.

          More importantly, you need to realize that no one spends more time thinking about sin than a pastor.  It is his calling to consider how the Law is applied to others in order to reveal sin and bring people to repentance.  But this also means that that he is deeply aware of how the Law reveals his own sins.  He knows himself to be a sinner as he listens to others confess their sin. 

          The pastor is not there to judge.  Instead, he is there to apply the Gospel.  He has been placed by God in the Office of the Holy Ministry to speak absolution to all who confess their sin.  His voice is Christ’s voice which says “I forgive you all your sin.”  We receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the pastor as from God himself, not doubting but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.    

         

           

         

           

 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent - Jn 8:46-59

 

                                             Lent 5

                                                                                                Jn 8:46-59

                                                                                                 3/17/24

 

     Prior to our text, Jesus has been engaged in a discussion with the Pharisees.  Has had told them, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” As the Pharisees continue in a debate with our Lord he says, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

     Jesus has set himself apart as the means by which there is forgiveness.  And he announces that this is so, because he is carrying out the work of the Father. Our Lord says, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

     Many believed in Jesus because of what he said.  So Jesus said to them, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus spoke of how he would give them freedom.  However, they objected to this. They replied, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”  Claiming their status as the descendants of Abraham, these Jews asserted that they were free already.

     However, Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  Jesus announced that he was the true source of freedom.

     Our Lord observed that they now wanted to kill him.  In this wish they were doing the work of their father.  The Jews objected, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father--even God.”  However, Jesus contradicted their claim.  He said, “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.”  Jesus announced that he was here to carry out the Father’s will.

     The Jews listening to Jesus did not understand him. They could not bear his word.  And Jesus explained why this was so. It was because their father was not God.  He said, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.”

     Our Lord sets before us the spiritual truth this morning that there are only two fathers.  Either God is your father, or the devil is your father.  Created in the image of God, God is our true Father.  However, the entrance of sin into the world in the Fall changed all that.  The devil became the spiritual Lord of all who descend from Adam.  Jesus told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  Sinful fallen nature gives birth to sinful fallen nature.

     Those who have the devil as their father do not even recognize it.  They believe that they are free.  They think they are free to make their own choices about what they believe.  They think they are free to use their bodies in any way they choose. They think they have freedom.

     Yet these are the beliefs, choices, and actions of slavery.  It is the slavery of sin in which the devil is pulling all the strings.  It is slavery that is death because true life can only be experienced in relation to God who is the source of life.  It is slavery that is death because it results in the eternal death of God’s judgment.

     In our text Jesus says, “If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.  The Jews were not of God. They thought they knew him because they were descendants of Abraham. But instead, their father was the devil.

And this stood in contrast to Jesus.  He says in our text, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.”

Jesus, the Son, knew the Father. And he was here to keep God’s word.  John begins his Gospel by describing the Son of God as the Word.  He says, “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 any thing made that was made.”

Then 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.” The Son of God became flesh.  He did so in order to be the answer to sin.  Jesus 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.”

     Jesus came to keep the Father’s word by being lifted up on the cross.  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.”  Jesus overcame sin and the devil’s power by dying on the cross.

     Jesus died and was buried.  But on Easter he rose from the dead.  In our text Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

      Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we already have life with God now.  This is a life that will never end.  It is a life that is ours because we have been born again of water and the Spirit.  The devil was our lord and we had no spiritual powers of our own.  But God, our Father, has changed this.  Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him. And will raise him up on the last day.”  God has called us to faith through the work of the Spirit.  We have life with God through Jesus. This is a life that death cannot stop.  And the risen Lord has promised that he will raise up our bodies on the Last Day.

     In our text Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. The Jews are offended by this and reply, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”

     Yet Jesus told them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”  Our Lord describes how Abraham looked ahead in faith to the fulfillment of God’s promise.  When the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus replied, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

     Jesus affirms that he is indeed God.  He is God, and yet he has served us.  He has given himself into death on the cross to give us salvation.  Jesus illustrated this fact for his disciples at the Last Supper when he washed their feet. Then he said, “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.”

     We who have received Christ’s love now share it with others.  We who have been served by Christ now serve those whom God has placed in our life.  We do this in the vocations where God has placed us. We especially do it towards our fellow Christians as we assist, support, and care for one another.  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.”

     In our text this morning, Jesus says, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”  Born again of water and the Spirit, we belong to God and are able to hear the words of God.  We listen to our crucified and risen Lord as he says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”