The Good Shepherd as Savior and example

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Easter 2 – Misericordias Domini

1 Peter 2:21-25  +  John 10:11-16

If you follow the daily devotions our ministerium has been publishing, this last week you read the account from the last chapter of John’s Gospel, how Jesus took Peter aside and commended His sheep to Peter’s care (and not to Peter alone, but to all who hold the office of “pastor” or minister in Christ’s Church). “Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep. Feed My sheep.” Those words and that imagery would make little sense if it weren’t for the words Jesus spoke in today’s Gospel and in the larger context of John chapter 10, known as the Good Shepherd Chapter.

In the verses before our Gospel begins, Jesus began teaching the Jews about who He was and why He had come using the imagery of sheep and shepherd, which, of course, should have been familiar to them, because the Old Testament used that imagery often. There’s the famous Psalm 23. The LORD (Yahweh) is my Shepherd, who makes me to lie down in green pastures and leads me beside the still waters. And there are other Psalms where the Lord God is called the shepherd of His people Israel, who are called “His flock.”

On the other hand, the prophets also compared the false prophets and the wicked leaders of Israel to bad shepherds who only looked out for themselves and not for the sheep: His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant…they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain…. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”

And finally, there were the Old Testament passages that promised that the Messiah would come as a shepherd: Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him… He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young…. thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land.”

That’s the backdrop against which Jesus taught in John 10, where He essentially identified Himself as the LORD God and as the promised Messiah. He is more than just the owner of the people of God. His individual knowledge of each child of God and His deep love for the people of God mirrors the knowledge and the tender care of a dedicated shepherd for his sheep’s safety and wellbeing. And the way God’s people hear the voice of Jesus and trust in Jesus implicitly mirrors the way sheep hear and trust in the shepherd who is their constant companion.

But the people didn’t understand His point, so He went on to compare Himself to the door or the gate of a sheepfold. He is the only way into God’s kingdom. No one can enter in any other way but by trusting in Him. No one can stand before God the Father but by relying on the intercession of God the Son. In Him alone is peace, safety, security, salvation, eternal life, and eternal happiness. That’s why He came, to give people that. And those who wish to receive it from Him are His sheep.

But all of that came at a cost—not a cost the sheep had to pay, but a cost the Shepherd had to pay—made it His purpose to pay! And that’s where our Gospel picks up the narrative.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. But the hireling, who is not the shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees. And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees, because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I am known by my own, as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

What, above all, makes Jesus the Good Shepherd? It’s His willing choice to lay down His life for His sheep. Like a faithful shepherd who saw the wolf approaching and placed himself between the wolf and the sheep, knowing he would be taken down and killed, the Lord Jesus saw our sin separating us from God, and so He bore our sins in His own body on the tree of the cross, as Peter wrote in today’s Epistle. He saw death coming to swallow us up forever, and so He allowed Himself to be swallowed up by death for us. He saw the devil coming for us, and so He allowed the devil to come for Him instead.

But by bearing the penalties our sins had earned for us, He earned for us the forgiveness of sins. By allowing Himself to be swallowed up by death and then forcing death to spit Him out on the third day, He made it so that not even death can snuff out the life He has given to those who believe in Him, and the grave will have to spit us out again at the last day. By allowing the devil to strike Him down, He saved us who believe in Him from all the devil’s power to accuse us and drag us away to hell.

No one else has ever loved sinners so much. No one else has ever sacrificed so much so that sinners could be turned into children of God. There is only one Good Shepherd.

And that Shepherd has sent out shepherds of His own, pastors, to carry out the work He talked about in today’s Gospel. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “I must bring them,” Jesus said. But how would Jesus bring other sheep into His fold? He would not wander the earth, speaking the Word of God to people, calling them to repentance and faith and baptism. No, as we heard St. Paul say last week, it was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.

But there have been many hirelings along the way, before the time of Christ, at the time of Christ, and after the time of Christ—many religious leaders who were supposed to watch over God’s precious flock but who compromised along the way in order to be popular among the sheep or accepted by the world, who, in some cases, mistreated the sheep in order to gratify their own sinful desires, who stopped feeding the sheep the entirety of the Word of God in order to keep their jobs, in order to avoid making people mad, in order to avoid suffering.

Ah, but suffering can’t be avoided by a shepherd who serves under Christ. A true shepherd who serves under the Good Shepherd will face opposition, both from outside the Church and from inside the visible assembly of those who call themselves the people of God, just as Jesus did. In fact, right after Jesus charged Peter with the feeding of His sheep, He warned Peter that he would face suffering and death for doing his appointed work in the name of Christ. Yes, shepherds under the Good Shepherd must be willing to suffer for Christ and for His flock. Any pastor who runs away from that suffering is just another hireling. That’s the hard truth.

But here’s the other hard truth: The sheep must be willing to suffer, too. The apostle Peter told you that in today’s Epistle. To this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in his steps. Follow in His steps, first, by speaking the truth at all times and living a life that is holy and devoted to God, a life of love and humility and confidence in God’s direction. Then follow in His steps by enduring the suffering that is brought on you for living such a life. That suffering may come from outside the Church or from inside the Church, from strangers or from family members and loved ones, and you have to be willing to endure it rather than speak or live contrary to the Gospel.

But following in Christ’s steps, as Peter goes on to explain, also means enduring all that suffering without bitterness, without complaining, without threatening those who cause you to suffer, and without any deceit being found in your mouth. We are in a time already when speaking and living according to the truth of Christ will get you attacked, sometimes violently. The raging mob is out for blood. The Christian can’t respond in kind. You don’t defeat the devil by imitating the devil’s tactics, by shouting down those who try to shout you down, by ridiculing those who ridicule you. You defeat the devil by walking in the footsteps of Christ, your Good Shepherd. He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, should live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray. But you have now been brought back to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Stay with Christ and take comfort in His pastoral care. He died for you so that you could be in His flock for eternity. Do you think He’ll abandon you now that He’s risen from the dead? Hear the Word of Christ, your Good Shepherd and follow on the path His Word lays out for you. Follow in His steps, even through the valley of the shadow of death. He is with you. His shepherd’s rod and staff will comfort you. And as you follow Him, righteous by faith and living for righteousness, be assured that goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Amen.

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Pray to escape the punishment of heresy

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Easter 1

Revelation 8:1-13

John’s vision of the seven seals revealed the destruction that God would bring on the world in various ways leading up to the end, even as the Gospel would also be going forth, even as the believers on earth and the saints in heaven would be guarded in God’s safe-keeping. Chapter 8, before us this evening, has the seventh and final seal being opened by the Lamb, which serves as the introduction to the next vision, the vision of the seven trumpets.

Now, I’ll tell you, there’s a lot in this chapter that is hard to interpret. For the most part, we’re going to follow the interpretation of Johann Gerhard, the sound Lutheran teacher of the 17th century. His understanding fits well with the text, with the larger context of Scripture, and with the ancient commentators on Revelation whom he cites repeatedly in his commentary, but it’s far different from the modern scholars and the modern fanatics. So be it. We’ll do our best, trusting ultimately in the Lord to guide us. And since this is a sermon and not a Bible study, we’ll focus on the main points and leave the details for a different setting.

The Lamb opens the seventh seal, and there’s silence in heaven for half an hour. It seems best to view this as a “pregnant pause” as the anticipation builds for the next vision, or as a “reset,” because the vision of the seals took us all the way through the New Testament era up to the end of the world, and now we’re going back to the beginning again in the vision of the seven trumpets.

The seven angels standing before God were given seven trumpets. These don’t need to be seven literal spirit-being angels. They’re messengers in the vision, set aside for God’s sacred purpose. And that purpose is, largely, destruction. It’s depicted as destruction rained down from heaven on the trees and grass, seas and ships, streams and rivers, and the sun, moon, and stars. But only a third of all these things are destroyed, which is clearly not literally possible. It seems clear that the destruction being described in this vision isn’t done within nature, but within the Church, namely, the destruction that’s brought about by heresy, by false doctrine. Not that God is the source of false doctrine. But He does use it as a punishment against those who refuse to love the truth of His Word. That’s the understanding we’re going to work with.

Now, before the seven angels blow their trumpets, we’re told of “another angel” standing at the golden altar, like the golden altar of incense that stood in the ancient temple. He offers incense combined with the prayers of all the saints, making them all pleasing to God. Now, who is this angel, and what is this incense that makes prayers acceptable to God? I think the best interpretation is that this angel is Christ Himself, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us, as Paul writes. Christ is the true High Priest of the New Testament who stands before the altar of God, holding His merit, His works, His worthiness before the Father on our behalf, so that we have access to the throne of God, so that our prayers are acceptable in His sight.

Our prayers are mentioned here because they, together with Christ’s intercession, are the best stronghold against the false doctrine and resulting persecution that are about to be unleashed on the world. “Prayers prevent heresies from advancing as far as Satan attempts to sow them.”

He fills His censer with fire from the altar and then throws it on the earth. That sounds like a bad thing, but not if this fire is the fire of the Holy Spirit, whom Christ pours out on His believers starting on the Day of Pentecost in order to spread the Gospel and strengthen us in these difficult days. The noises, thunderings, lightnings, and earthquake sound scary, unless they are the thundering of the Gospel in the world, the lightning of miracles done in the first century Church, and the earthquake of the world being shaken by the Word of God as it takes hold in the world and as the Christian Church fills the earth.

But what happened shortly after the Day of Pentecost, as the apostles the Gospel far and wide? Heretics arose. False teaching, already by the time of St. Paul and surely by the time of John’s writing.

The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Destruction rained down from heaven and destroyed the trees and the green grass. Some of this sounds similar to some of the ten plagues in Egypt, which brought destruction on the Egyptians while the children of Israel were kept safe. Here a third of the trees are burned up. If we’re right in identifying these calamities as heresies and the heretics who teach them, then we may be dealing, not with a single false teacher, but with certain groups of false teachers who appeared over the first few centuries, or who have appeared over and over again ever since then. Gerhard suggests certain heretics of the first and second centuries who may be represented by the hail and fire, but we won’t go into that here. The trees, then, would be prominent Christian teachers. Remember, Jesus compared prophets to trees that bear fruit, either good or bad. By their fruits you will know them. Not all teachers of the Church are wiped out by this heresy; the universal apostasy from the faith hasn’t taken place yet. But a “third” of them are.

Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. This may be another group of false teachers who followed after the first group. There were dozens of them in the early church, and some of them had large followings. The sea, in this case, would be the Church, and the creatures in the sea who died would be believers who allowed themselves to be led astray by the false teachers. The ships represent those who were looked up to for their understanding and for their holy lives. But a third, of them, too, were destroyed by false doctrine.

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. Don’t think of asteroids here, or of Armageddon by asteroid. I’m not aware of an asteroid that can target the drinking water in the rivers and springs. No, again, this is a spiritual destruction, the fresh drinking water that sustains men’s souls is the Word of God. But the Word of God is poisoned, made bitter and deadly, by the heresy of these false teachers. We still see the results of that poisoning today, don’t we?, among all those who claim to be Christians but whose perverted understanding of the Bible ends up killing any faith that was there to begin with, so that the water of life has become for them a water of death.

Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. Christ, in Scripture, is called the Sun of Righteousness. The Church is sometimes represented with the moon that reflects the light of Christ to the world, and the stars are the teachers of the church, as in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Many heretics in the early centuries of the Church obscured the doctrine of Christ and obscured the confession of the Church and of its teachers. The great apostasy and the universal falling away hadn’t happened yet. But you might say that a third of the world’s light sources were darkened by false doctrine in those early centuries of Christianity.

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Heretics and their false doctrine did terrible damage to the Christian Church in its early days. But more was to come, and that’s the theme of the next chapter. What do we take away from all this?

Well, instead of viewing all the false doctrine and all the different denominations in the world as sign that Christianity isn’t the true religion, or as some sort of problem that we have to solve, understand that the situation we see today and that we see throughout the history of the last 2,000 years is exactly what God said it would be: a Church that is assaulted over and over again by false teachers, who do tremendous damage, at least to the Church in its outward form. Those who cling to Christ as our one Mediator and Intercessor, who pray for God’s help, and who take His Word seriously will be kept safe through all this destruction. But those who have refused to love the truth, who have loved the doctrines of men more than the word of God, who have allowed themselves to be impressed by flashy teachers or by nice-sounding teachings—they will perish with the world.

So, cling to Christ as your one Mediator and Intercessor. Send up your prayers for God’s help to escape the punishment of heresy and the spiritual destruction that is already running rampant throughout the world. And keep taking His Word seriously, so that, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, which is Christ. Amen.

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More reasons not to be afraid

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Easter 1

1 John 5:4-10  +  John 20:19-31

Last week we considered the question: If Jesus lives, why are you so afraid? We’re going to explore that a little further today based on the Gospel we heard from John 20. Here the Lord gives us even more reasons not to be afraid, given the fact of His resurrection from the dead.

The fact of Jesus’ resurrection is still front and center in today’s Gospel. Now, if you read the various resurrection accounts from the four Gospels, it can be a little confusing figuring out in what order things happened. All the Evangelists focus on different details. All of them summarize the events to some extent and leave many things out. Even Luke, who tells us plainly in the book of Acts that Jesus appeared on and off to His disciples for forty days after His resurrection, skips straight from Easter Sunday to the Ascension in his Gospel account. But all the Evangelists agree on the fact of the resurrection, and we have John to thank for the details you heard today.

The disciples had spent the weekend paralyzed by fear. Even on Easter Sunday, after seeing the empty tomb in the morning and hearing the report of the women who heard the angel and who saw Jesus alive, they were shut up tight in that upper room for fear of the Jews.

But finally, for the ten who were there that evening, the fact of the resurrection broke through their fear. Finally, after seeing Jesus alive, they believed. And to prove to them that they weren’t seeing a ghost, Jesus let them touch His hands and side that had been pierced, and He even ate food with them. He was alive, though He was also now exalted and glorified, so that, as we said last week, large stones can’t keep Him trapped inside a tomb, nor can shut doors keep Him from appearing inside a room. The fact of the resurrection broke through the disciples’ fear. And it should break through yours, too.

But so did what He said. He greeted them with the meaningful words, “Peace to you!” He even repeated it, “Peace to you!” That must have come as a great relief. Now, these disciples of Jesus hadn’t wanted Him dead. They hadn’t called for His crucifixion. They loved Him. They grieved over everything that had been done to Him by the unbelieving Jews. But they also had some reason to be fearful when He suddenly appeared in the room with them. Remember how they had behaved over the last few days. They swore to Jesus that they would never abandon Him, and then they did. Peter swore he would never deny Jesus, and then he did, three times. They were supposed to be comforting the rest of Jesus’ followers with His words that predicted His death and resurrection, but instead, they holed up in that upper room in disbelief and fear. Not a good example from those who had been hand-picked by Christ to speak for Him.

And yet He greeted them, “Peace to you!” “Peace to you men who ran away Me, the last time I saw you together. Peace to you, including you, Peter. The last time I saw you, I turned and looked straight at you after you had just gotten done denying Me three times. Peace to you, who refused to believe in My resurrection until now. Peace. Atonement has been made for your sins. Look, here are the marks of your reconciliation with God, the marks that show how your sin was paid for. That peace broke through their fear. And it should break through yours, too, because of what Jesus said next.

As my Father has sent me, so I also send you.” 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, their sins are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” There was a sending that evening, or perhaps a resending, since Jesus had already sent out these men as His apostles. But after everything that had happened, another sending was in order. Jesus had been chosen by His Father and sent on His mission to enter our flesh, to live under the Law for us, to bear our sins for us. He wasn’t sending the apostles to do any of those things. That work of redemption is “finished,” as Jesus said from the cross. But Jesus had also been sent to care for His sheep and to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins to those who repent. That work had to continue—has to continue. And so for that work Jesus sent out His apostles and added His own authority to their ministry, to forgive sins—to speak peace!—in His name to the penitent, and to deny forgiveness to the impenitent. They were to continue His work of caring for souls, preaching and teaching. They were to continue the ministry of reconciliation. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

And the work didn’t end with the apostles. As St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, Christ Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. This sending that Jesus did and still does is a vital part of His plan for the Holy Christian Church. Too many people think that religion is “between me and God. I don’t need anyone else.” That’s not the religion that Jesus established, though, is it? He instituted a ministry among men. And, granted, many ministers are false teachers. Many don’t do what Jesus commanded them to do, and many do things that Jesus never commanded them to do, and they will answer for it on the last day when they say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then He will say to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ But that doesn’t give Christians the right to despise the ministry or ignore the ministry or hide from the ministry that Christ gave. On the contrary, this is how the risen Lord Christ has chosen to interact with His sheep until He comes again, to care for them, to speak to them, to given them so many reasons not to be afraid, because He is personally seeing to it that they are cared for.

Now, that care may be close at hand. There may be a right-teaching ministry close to where you live, and we have been blessed with that and ought to give thanks to God for it every day. But in this last old age of the earth, the pure ministry of the Gospel is harder to find. You may have to travel many miles and many hours to find it, or you may have to make do, for a time, with long-distance hearing. And some do! Or the ministers may have to travel many hours to minister to Christ’s sheep who are geographically scattered, but confessionally tightly knit together in one flock with other sheep. (We’ll hear more about that next week.) Thanks be to God for sheep and for shepherds who love the Lord and His word enough to seek out and to carry out His ministry with such devotion! If Christ is seeing to it that His sheep are still cared for in this way, even as the world plunges into darkness, what reason do you have to be afraid?

Finally, we can’t end without saying something about Thomas. Thomas disbelieved the word of Jesus predicting His resurrection. Thomas disbelieved the women’s report. He disbelieved the report of the Ten who saw Jesus on Easter Sunday evening, and the report of the Emmaus disciples. He disbelieved that the empty tomb meant a risen Savior. He had believed in Jesus before. But now, he was determined to have visible, tangible proof in order to believe in Jesus as his Lord and his God. What a dangerous position to place yourself in!

But the Lord had mercy on Thomas and gave him the proofs he demanded. Put your finger here and see my hands; and put your hand here and place it into my side, and do not be unbelieving any longer, but believing. And Thomas answered in faith, My Lord and my God!

And Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. That’s you and I, isn’t it? We haven’t seen. We haven’t seen Jesus, alive or dead, or risen from the dead. What have we seen? We’ve seen Bibles and the eyewitness testimony recorded in them. We’ve seen the Church as Christians continue to gather in faith around God’s Word. We’ve seen the Church still calling ministers in the name of Christ and we’ve seen ministers still carrying out Christ’s command to preach, to forgive the penitent and to not forgive the impenitent. We’ve seen baptismal waters, and bread and wine being consecrated and distributed and received at Jesus’ command. All of this is the testimony of the Holy Spirit: the testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

You are part of that testimony. No matter how much the devil tries to distract you, no matter how much the world hates you, no matter how much your sinful flesh struggles against you and weakens you at time, you have stubbornly, defiantly refused to give in to the lie that Jesus is dead. The Holy Spirit has led you to believe that Jesus lives and reigns, not just for the universe out there, but for you right here. And as you confess Christ, you become part of His testimony to the world that the darkness cannot put out the light of Christ, that the devil has not won, that sin cannot condemn believers in Christ, that our God is trustworthy, and that His love is worth knowing, worth sharing, worth declaring before the world, because salvation is found in no one else but in the Lord Jesus Christ.

May the message of Easter, and faith in that message, continue to fill you with peace and with joy in place of fear and sadness, and with life in place of death, even as John tells us that he wrote his Gospel for this singular purpose, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, by believing, you may have life in his name. Amen.

 

 

 

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The elect will be safe and sound forever

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Easter

Revelation 7:1-17

We’re still basking in the glow of Easter Sunday and Christ’s resurrection from the dead. We heard this evening about His appearance to the Emmaus disciples, how He hid His identity from them until they recognized the Christ from the Scriptures first, how He would be rejected, how He would suffer, die, and then rise again. Only then did He make Himself known to them.

It’s still what He does. He guides us to the Scriptures and then guides us through the Scriptures to know and believe certain things before we get to see those things. In the case of tonight’s reading from Revelation 7, it’s the safety of the saints, on earth and in heaven, that we don’t see with our eyes. We have to believe it. We have to take God’s word for it.

If you recall from a couple weeks ago, we reviewed Revelation 6, where we saw six of the seven seals on the scroll opened. And we witnessed all kinds of destruction that would be leveled against the earth during this New Testament period, but also the going forth of the Gospel with the rider on the white horse, making his way through the world. We ended chapter 6 on the last day, the day of the Lord’s wrath against mankind, and the despair that unbelievers will face on that day.

Chapter 7, on the other hand, gives us a picture of believers in Christ leading up to the last day, first as we live in the world, and then as the souls of believers are brought out of this world.

John saw four angels, at the “four corners” of the earth, holding back the final destruction that is to be unleashed on the earth, symbolized by a destructive wind that will destroy the earth, the sea, and every last tree. But the angels have to hold back that final destruction for a little while longer, until the 144,000 “of all the tribes of the children of Israel” are sealed.

Now, we talked about this back in November when we heard these same verses on All Saints’ Day. Who are the 144,000? Is it a literal number or a spiritual one? Are they physical descendants of Jacob of spiritual ones?

There are all sorts of unscriptural interpretations of this group. Let’s focus on the Scriptural one. 144,000 is 12,000 times 12,000, or 12 x 12 x 10 x 10 x 10. There are those symbolic numbers again. We’ve identified 12 as the number of the Church. 10 signifies wholeness or completeness, and 10 cubed means it’s a relatively large number, although not nearly as large as the number of angels John saw earlier in his vision, “ten thousand times ten thousand.”

There are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. But you notice something strange about the listing of the tribes? It wasn’t the normal listing. There are two notable differences, or even three. First, the tribe of Dan is entirely missing. Second, the tribe of Manasseh is listed along with the tribe of Joseph. But Joseph had no tribe named after him. His two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, became the fathers of two tribes in Israel. And third, Judah, although he wasn’t the firstborn, was listed first.

What do we learn from those anomalies? The simplest understanding is that this list is meant to be understood figuratively or spiritually. It isn’t referring to a literal number of people who are literally descended from each of those tribes of Israel. It’s referring to the full number of the elect children of God, believers in Christ Jesus, who are the spiritual Israel that John the Baptist and Jesus talk about in the Gospels and that St. Paul talks about in Romans and in Galatians. That understanding is further confirmed in how the 144,000 are referred to a few verses later: as the servants of our God. That’s another way of saying all faithful Christians, that is, the elect, those whom God foreknew in eternity as those who would hear and believe the Gospel and who would persevere in faith until the end. Them He elected to glory.

And the world can’t be destroyed until the full number of the elect are brought into the Holy Church. As soon as they are sealed, the end can come.

Now, what does it mean to be sealed? Here it seems to refer back to the book of Ezekiel. In his vision, he saw the people of Jerusalem about to be slaughtered at God’s command. But not until certain people were marked. Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. They were to be spared from the coming destruction.

So the elect and believing children of God, the believers in Christ, are to be spared from the final destruction coming on the world. We are also the ones who “sigh and cry” over all the abominations that are done in the world. We do not give our consent to all the evil we see, nor do we participate in it. Instead, we sigh and cry over it. And God sees. And God seals. He marks us as His own. He will see to it that every last believer is kept safe and sound from the coming destruction. And that destruction won’t come until every last one of the elect is sealed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of death, those who have already fallen asleep in the faith are doing just fine. Here John gives us that familiar and beautiful vision of the believers in heaven. I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

On the one hand, God has every one of the elect numbered, hence the 144,000. But as far as we’re concerned, it’s a vast number that we can’t count, a vast number made up of people from all places and from all races. And as each one falls asleep in Christ, he joins that multitude that no one can count standing before God’s throne and singing the praises of the Lamb.

They are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. This world, especially as we approach its end, is the great tribulation. We see it more and more clearly each day. This world with its depravity and violence and injustice is not the home of Christians. We are in the world but not of the world. Christians have lost sight of that fact from time to time. They tried to mold the cultures of the world into the Christian image and they deceived themselves, blending society with Christianity so that one was practically indecipherable from the other. But when that happens, Christianity loses its true character, its character as living under the cross. In reality, Christians are living through the great tribulation here.

But afterward, there are the palm branches that are the sign of victory. And there are white robes that are the sign of purity and holiness and perfection, the sinless status these souls received already in this life, when they washed their robes in the “rosy-red waters of Baptism,” as Luther calls them, made red by the blood of the Lamb, making white the robes of the one who believes and is baptized.

Finally, see what God does for them as they live in his presence and serve him day and night in His Temple: He shelters them with His presence, providing for their every need, protecting them from all harm and danger. No more hunger or thirst, no more scorching heat or any threat of catastrophe. The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. After all the struggles with sin and its consequences here on earth, after making it through this great tribulation with their faith still intact, the saints in heaven are finally safe and sound forever.

Once again, we see that the book of Revelation is not such a scary book. What’s scary is what’s actually going on all around us. Revelation simply informs us that, yes, what you see going on around you was always going to come, and God has always included it in His plan. But what you don’t see, what’s hidden from view, is that the elect will be safe and sound when the world is destroyed. That you have to believe from Scripture. You have to take God’s word for it. Isn’t it comforting, then, that, with almost no one left on earth whose word you can trust, you can trust God’s word completely, without any possibility that He may just be lying to you? Take comfort in that fact, and trust in His promise of safety and rest for those who are found in Christ Jesus. Believe it now, and you will see it eventually. Amen.

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Jesus lives! What are you afraid of?

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Easter Sunday

1 Corinthians 5:6-8  +  Mark 16:1-8

We spent the Lenten season and Holy Week following Christ, the Lamb of God, through the words of Holy Scripture. We watched Him suffer. We watched Him die. We watched His burial in the tomb. Today we get to witness the empty tomb and His victory over death.

Hear the familiar story again and rejoice! The dedicated, faithful women who had devoted their lives to serving Jesus and providing for His earthly needs were still devoted to serving Him in His death. They weren’t satisfied with the burial He was given on Good Friday evening. It was rushed. The sun was setting. They had to finish quickly so that they could rest on the Sabbath—which was, as it turned out, the last and greatest Sabbath there ever was, because it was day the Son of God fulfilled the symbolism of that day of rest by resting in the tomb after dying for our sins. But as soon as the sun’s rays peeked above the horizon on Sunday morning, the women took the spices and oils they had bought and headed straight to the tomb, without even stopping to think how they would be able to move that heavy stone out of the way.

But before they arrived, there was an earthquake. The Lord had already risen and entered into His glory, no longer subject to the laws of nature, no longer kept in by large stones or kept out by locked doors. But an angel rolled the stone away from the entrance to the tomb, not to let the Lord out, but to let the world in, so that all could see the jarring truth: the tomb was empty. Jesus had risen from the dead.

By the time the women got there, the stone was already rolled away. An angel was sitting there on top of the stone he had just rolled away, and another angel was sitting in the tomb where Jesus’ body had been. We’re told that they were afraid when they saw the angel. And even after he told them not to be afraid, even after he told them the good news of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, it says that they were still afraid as they hurried away from the tomb to inform the disciples.

We can certainly understand their fear, there in the moment. But you and I have had time to let the truth of it settle in: Jesus really died on the cross and then really rose from the dead, just as He said He would. And His resurrection was permanent; His body has been changed so that He can never die again. He lives, and He reigns mightily on His throne. So what are you afraid of?

Are you afraid of sin and guilt? You should be, if you refuse to repent of your sins, if you’re determined to cling to them, to live in them, to let them keep separating you from God. But if Jesus lives, and you want to be free of the guilt of sin, then don’t be afraid. As the Scripture says, Christ died for sins, the Just for the unjust, to bring you to God. Christ was delivered up to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification.

Are you afraid of death? You should be, if you are not united to Christ by Baptism and faith. But if Jesus lives, and you are united to Him, then don’t be afraid. As the Scripture says, We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus said. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

Are you afraid of being condemned to hell? You should be, if you’re not a member of the holy Christian Church. But if Jesus lives and you are a member of His body, the Church, then don’t be afraid. As the Scripture says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body…He loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Are you afraid of the devil? You should be if you don’t have the constant protection of the living Christ. The devil is real and prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. But if Jesus lives, then don’t be afraid. By His resurrection He proved Himself to be the Stronger Man who took away the devil’s power to accuse or to harm those who take refuge in the wounds of Christ Jesus.

What else are you afraid of? The insane and frightening direction in which the world is headed? Persecution for speaking and living according to the truth of Christ? Financial collapse? Poverty? Scarcity? Sickness? Disaster? You should be afraid of all those things, if Jesus were still dead. But He isn’t. As the Scripture says, the Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus lives. You know it’s true. Now keep that knowledge with you whenever fears and doubts begin to trouble you. Keep that knowledge with you when the darkness of the world begins to overwhelm you. Keep that knowledge with you when temptation comes knocking at your door. The resurrection of Christ isn’t a thing we remember on a single day of the year. It’s a truth to remember every day, to celebrate every day, to take comfort in every day. Jesus lives! Believe it! And let that truth drive out all the fear from your heart. Amen.

 

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