Lent 5 Judica – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. John 8:46-59 “We See it, and we are Glad”
March 17, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Almighty God, heavenly Father, who, through Your Son our Lord and our Redeemer, promised: If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death, we humbly ask You, grant us Your Holy Spirit, that, duly knowing Your Son, we may keep His Word, trust in it, comfort ourselves with it in the hour of departure, and enter into everlasting life; for the sake of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 92)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Jesus answered, “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. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who is not a regular goat to be placed on the altar, but the ram pulled from the thicket as the One atoning sacrifice for your sins, dear fellow redeemed:
When you go on the internet, you can find many wholesome videos where men and women who are serving in the armed forces surprise their loved ones when they come home. They sneak up on family members and are greeted with a warm embrace and many tears of joy. They are always the same, yet we can watch it over and over again. These videos make us happy on the inside because it is good to see families reunited. These ones especially because no one likes it when the children go off to war. Yet, the defense of the country is needed so that we can live in peace. As these men and women make the sacrifice to serve for our country, we are close to the day where we remember Jesus sacrificing Himself for the sins of the world. This sacrifice can only happen if Jesus is telling the truth, that He is the Son of God. Jesus is indeed telling the truth and He makes this abundantly clear to His enemies. While they can’t stomach the thought, we see it and we are glad!
You would think everyone would be happy to see God’s promises being fulfilled in Jesus. God reveals His gracious love for the world. The father of lies has been working against our Father in heaven since the beginning. The lies that have been spun about what the Christ is supposed to be like run deep. The religious leaders are not glad because their power is disappearing. They pick up their attacks against Him. [Jesus said:] “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? 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.” Jesus comes at them just as forcefully. He asks them to point out His sins.
What sins will the religious leaders point out? You know as much as I know that the sins of Jesus do not exist. He has come to follow the Father’s will. A will that only He can follow because He is God. So, Jesus knows the answer to His question for the religious leaders. All they can do is make up lies which they get from their father. They make claims that they are doing what is right. They can’t prove that Jesus has done anything wrong. They boast that they are sons of Abraham, but they don’t believe in the promise that he believed as Jesus points out in our text. They look to find salvation in the laws of God which cannot be kept perfectly. Last, but not least, the Christ they want is an earthly ruler. We even see that in the disciples as the people look for a liberator from the Romans. Jesus tells the Romans that His kingdom is not of this world. The religious leaders reveal who their true father is, the father of lies.
The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. Yet I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.” As we get closer to Jesus’ death, we see how hard they are attacking and accusing Him. Can you hear the anger in their voices? “Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” They are hurling these vile insults because they can’t prove their own claims. Jesus is not even looking for His own glory and you can see that in His actions. He isn’t lording over the miracles He does. Most of the time, He performs a miracle to help someone and He asks them to be quiet. The judge sees Jesus’ glory and He is glad because this is His will. God is taking care of His people by revealing their sins and their Savior.
We like hearing the second part of the Savior being revealed to us, but we don’t like to have our sins revealed. We want to think that we are doing everything right. The father of lies likes to work on us as well. He tries to get us like the religious leaders. He wants to influence our thoughts about who Jesus is. Are we absolutely sure that Jesus has felt all of our temptations? The world then swoops in saying, “you might as well join us! You clearly have been abandoned by Jesus because the ‘sin’ you’re committing, everyone is committing it!” When we realize our mistakes and don’t want to give some of them up, then we will try to do some good things and hope that they are noticed. Lastly, when it looks like the devil has us in his talons and there is no relief, we can think that it would be better if Jesus would just leave us alone. Maybe the world is right, He doesn’t exist, He is dead. The father of lies infiltrates us just like the Jewish leaders and it can be hard to get rid of his lies once they have sunk in. We either have to admit they are lies, or we have to double down on them.
The opposite of listening to the lies of the devil, is to listen to the promises of God. The forefather Abraham only had God’s promise to live by. Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). “All the families of the earth shall be blessed!” This is all Abraham had. How do we know that Abraham believed in this promise of God. In his old age, past the age of child bearing, little baby Isaac was born to him. Abraham and Sarah rejoiced and were very glad with the birth of their son.
Jesus tells the Jews that it was this gladness that Abraham had which reveals his belief in the Messiah to come. Jesus answered, “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. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.” God’s love is on display in front of His enemies and Jesus knows the Father’s love as He lives it out as a living sacrifice.
The living sacrifice can only be the Son of God and that is exactly who Jesus is. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” The enemies of God look to kill Him right there, but they are denied it as Jesus disappears revealing His power again. They will get their wish soon enough, because that is the will of God. The Son of God will die as promised to Abraham. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12). Jesus was the sacrifice that Abraham waited for, the blessing to all the families of the earth, and the blessing that saved his son Isaac from death.
“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.” And what a day it is to have the great “I AM” come down and take on your flesh. He lives out a perfect life, healing you from your spiritual pain. He tells you the truth of Scripture as He lays down His life for you. You can’t keep the law, you will at times believe Satan’s lies, and in your confession of your sins the Son of God says look at my sacrifice. I perfectly told the truth and instead of kill I was killed. I paid the ultimate price, my sacrifice on the cross cleanses you of your sins. The high priest of good things gives up His spirit in death for you. Through His perfect life and death, you will never taste death.
This is the joy the life of Christ brings you. You can see this life and be glad in it. It is through His life that you can beat back the father of lies. And when the father of lies is successful, you go back to the life of Christ. This is the faith that you have, everything He has said to you in His holy Word is true. The Son of God has come down from Heaven and He still comes to you. He will continue to come to you in the Means of Grace until it is your time to be home. You will celebrate, rejoice, and be glad like a family whose son or daughter comes home from serving. The families of the earth are blessed by the high priest who gave Himself as the living sacrifice for your sins. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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