(Only sermon audio available today.)
Sermon for Judica – Lent 5
Genesis 12:1-3 + Hebrews 9:11-15 + John 8:46-59
Did you notice in the Propers today all the references to the world’s opposition to the righteous and the Lord’s deliverance of the righteous? Introit: “Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people.” Gradual: “Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies.” And then, “He delivers me from my enemies.” Tract: “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth.” And then, “The LORD is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.”
Those prayers to God for help against the enemy are not just the prayers of the Psalmist. They are the prayers of many Christians, and actually, they are the prayers of Christ Himself. And the vindication that God promises is first for Christ, and then for the Christian.
You see Jesus’ enemies lining up before Him today in the Gospel, and Jesus doesn’t back down. On the contrary, He riles them up. He riles them up by simply telling them the truth, and He tells it so directly in our text, so “in your face,” that no one can misunderstand, no one pretend that there’s a gray area where interpretations may differ, no one can sit on the fence. The truth of Jesus is sweet to some and bitter to others. Believe it and live! Deny it and die! It doesn’t get any more serious than this.
Jesus had been telling the truth to the Jews all along. God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Whoever believes in the Son has life. Whoever does not believe will not see life. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall not thirst. And in the words just prior to our Gospel today, Jesus said, Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed…If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Now, to you who know and love Jesus, those words are sweet, aren’t they? That truth is precious and dear. You wouldn’t trade it for all the wealth in the world, I hope. But that very same truth is bitter medicine for the one who wants to go on practicing sin; for the one who refuses to admit that he is a slave to sin in need of the freedom that only Christ can give; for the one who doesn’t want to abide in the word of Jesus, but go on believing whatever “truth” he wants. Jesus promised the world to his fellow Jews; He offered them Himself. But they didn’t want Him. They didn’t believe His words. They didn’t want His help.
Why not? Jesus tells them plainly. He drives the truth home: He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God. Bitter medicine. A hard truth to swallow, to be told you don’t belong to God, because you won’t listen to Jesus. Which means, as Jesus pointed out earlier in John 8, that they belonged to the devil. It’s either one or the other.
Jesus knew that truth wouldn’t go over well, and it didn’t. The Jews resorted to mockery and ridicule. “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” No, Jesus said. You’re not right. You dishonor Me with your ridicule. And while I don’t seek My own glory, God the Father seeks it and He will judge those who dishonor His Son.
But what are the next words out of Jesus’ mouth? Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death. Even then, the Jews who had dishonored Jesus didn’t have to die for the horrible sin of mocking the Son of God. Jesus offers life to anyone who would keep His word, that is, to anyone who would hear it, believe it, and keep holding onto it. Good, sweet news for the believer! Bad, bitter news for the one who wants to choose a different path.
To the Jews, it was more bad news, because they were not about to keep Jesus’ word, and the fact that He made such a bold claim just riled them up even more. Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ See how the world mocks and ridicules when Jesus claims to be able to keep people from dying! The Jews mocked, not because they didn’t believe in the resurrection from the dead, but because they didn’t believe Jesus was the Lord over life and death who could do it.
That same Jewish mockery is practiced by many people today. “Don’t tell me I have to keep Jesus’ words in order to go to heaven. That’s just plain intolerant. That’s just plain elitist and exclusivist. Jesus may be one path among many to God. But don’t you dare make the claim that He’s the only path to God, and that His word must be heard and kept!” Most assuredly I say to you, such people will see death.
Of course, in our age (and even in the Greek world at that time), people mock the whole concept of resurrection. We are the heirs of the Enlightenment, after all. We live in a scientific age. We know (they say) that the universe came from a Big Bang, not from a special creation. And we know (they say) that death is irreversible, or, if it is reversible someday, it will be due to man’s scientific ingenuity, not an act of God. How ridiculous for Jesus to claim that death doesn’t happen to those who believe in Him! And how foolish are the Christians who believe it!
But you who keep Jesus’ word, who repent of your sins and believe in Jesus’ promise to free you, to feed you, to give you life – you will never see death. You will never taste death, because Jesus tasted death for you and so became a perfect High Priest, as the Epistle reminded us today, a perfect High Priest who offered His own holy, precious blood to make atonement for your sins, such a perfect atonement that, if every person in the world were to believe in Him, even the worst criminal, then every person in the world would be justified and received into eternal life.
If you believe Jesus’ words, then you understand what He meant when He promised that anyone who keeps His word will never see death. You know that He meant that, although your body will stop working and will sleep in the earth for a time, your soul will not be buried in the earth with your body; your soul will not suffer the wrath of God or the torment of hell; your soul will be carried by the angels to Abraham’s side in the presence of God, where you will wait for the day of resurrection.
That’s a huge promise, a massive promise, a truth you can’t prove by any scientific method in the world. But it’s still the truth. And the truth has the power of the Holy Spirit behind it to bring people to believe it.
If Jesus’ words hadn’t riled up the unbelieving Jews enough before, His final claim in today’s Gospel certainly did the trick. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
I AM, the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush. I AM, the one who was in the beginning, before time itself began. I AM, the one who promised to Adam and Eve a Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head. I AM, who appeared to Abraham and promised him a Seed who would be a blessing to all nations.
Now it all comes together. Jesus, this man not yet fifty years old, claimed to be the very God – in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit – who created the world, who delivered Israel throughout the Old Testament, who was about to be killed by the unbelieving world so that He could redeem His fallen creatures, who would rise from the dead on the third day.
That’s the truth, and the world can’t handle it. But at the same time, this very truth is what sustains our faith and hands out to us again the forgiveness of sins. At the same time, when we speak this truth, God is speaking through us to call unbelievers to faith in Christ, and some will be converted and saved.
It doesn’t get any more serious than this. If you don’t believe the truth, you are lost. If you claim to believe in God but don’t rely on Jesus’ words, then you’re a liar. If you do believe, you have God’s forgiveness and life. You will never see death. All who believe in Him will suffer in this life, too, but, like Jesus, you, too, will be vindicated and brought back to life, even as you now live and will never die. Amen.
