Acts 2:22-32 "Easter Confidence"

Acts 2:14a, 22-32 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “...Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know – this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses.” Theme: EASTER CONFIDENCE - Jesus’ confidence about Easter - Our confidence from Easter In the name of Jesus Christ who lives, and was dead, and behold is alive forevermore; dear fellow redeemed in His name, Confidence is a tricky thing, isn’t it. Confidence can be a great attribute or it can be a great weakness. On the night of Jesus betrayal, Peter sounded pretty confident in himself. Though Jesus warned Peter that he would deny Him three times that night, Peter confidently asserted that he would face death with Jesus rather than denying Him. We know well how that evening went for confident Peter, as he folded under the pressure of a servant girl and denied knowing who Jesus was. Peter’s problem was that he had confidence in himself and his own strength to stand side by side with Jesus. However, life without confidence can be paralyzing. Lack of confidence makes one afraid to ask for a raise at work or ask a girl out on a date. But what about confidence as a Christian? Are we confident about our faith and about our future, or are we paralyzed by uncertainty? When we talk about confidence as Christians, it is very important that we recognize where our confidence lies. God wants us to be confident about our relationship with Him and about our future with Him. But where do we find our confidence as Christians? Does our confidence lie in ourselves, in our abilities, and in our perceived strength of faith? If so, we are no different than Peter on the night he denied Jesus. Rather our confidence is to be found outside of ourselves. It lies in Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. Let us therefore consider this morning “Easter Confidence” by looking first at the confidence which Jesus had about Easter and the confidence Easter gives us. May the Holy Spirit strengthen our confidence in the words and promises of God! JESUS’ CONFIDENCE ABOUT EASTER Would you describe Jesus as being a confident person? Absolutely! While He was humble, loving, and gentle, He was by no stretch of the imagination wishy-washy or milquetoast. He was confident in His teaching. He was confident in His work. He was confident in His mission in life. In the weeks leading up to His suffering and death on Good Friday, Jesus tried to prepare His followers for what was coming. In Matthew 20 we read, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.” (Mt 20:18-19a) Jesus knew exactly what was waiting for Him in Jerusalem - death. And not just any death, possibly the most cruel form of death man has ever conceived of - death by crucifixion. But Jesus never ended the discussion of His crucifixion by just saying that He would die. No. He always ended it by confidently saying, “And the third day He will rise again.” (Mt 20:19b) Every time He told His disciples about what was going to happen to Him, He always ended by saying He would rise from the dead. Jesus was confident that He would rise from the dead on Easter. Where did this confidence of Jesus come from? As the omnipotent (all-powerful) Son of God, Jesus certainly had every right to be. He had all power in heaven and on earth. If that doesn’t give one confidence, nothing will. Yet, when Jesus humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant, He relied on His Father. Unlike Peter, Jesus found His confidence in the words and promises of His heavenly Father. We hear of that in our text for today. Our text is taken from the Pentecost sermon of Peter, but is quite fitting to consider on the Sunday following the resurrection. In his sermon Peter speaks at length about the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Peter says in verse 23 that Jesus was, “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” Jesus’ death and crucifixion was part of God’s plan from eternity. While God didn’t make the unbelieving Jews or the Romans do what they did to Jesus, it was all part of God’s plan. Jesus betrayal, beating, and crucifixion was God’s plan to redeem us and Jesus knew this because He knew the Word of God. He knew Isaiah was writing about Him in chapter 53, when Isaiah wrote that He would be “stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.” Jesus knew that Isaiah had written that He would have to be “wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Is 53:4-5) Therefore Jesus was confident of the suffering and death that awaited Him in Jerusalem, because He was confident of God’s plan of salvation as laid out in Scripture. But as we said early, Jesus always ended the discussion of His Passion by saying that on the third day He would rise again. This too Jesus was confident of and His confidence came from the words and promises of God. Peter tells us of this when he quotes from the words of King David in Psalm 16 in our text, “ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. ” Peter makes known in our text that David was not writing of himself in this text because David is dead and buried and had been decaying or corrupt for many centuries. David was not writing of himself in Psalm 16. Rather the Holy Spirit was using David to write of Jesus. God would not abandon the soul of Jesus to Hades, or the realm of death. God would not let the body of Jesus decay or become corrupt. David was prophesying of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This is where Jesus got His confidence. He knew the Word of God. He knew God would not abandon Him in the grave but would raise Him to life again before decomposition set in. Jesus was confident because of the words and promises of God. He knew the word of God could not lie. Therefore, David prophesied of Him in verse 25 and 26, “I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope.” Jesus always kept the LORD before Him. His Word and will was always foremost in His life. He confident He would rise from the dead because the Scriptures said He would. And when Jesus appeared to His disciples on Easter eve He told them the same. “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.” (Lk 24:46) Jesus’ confidence about Easter was grounded in the words and promises of God. OUR CONFIDENCE FROM EASTER At the end of verse 25, we hear David speak of Jesus saying, “the Lord is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.” That word “shaken” is a word rich in meaning. It refers to something that was thought to be very stable unexpectedly and disastrously shaken. It would be a fitting word to use after an earthquake. You never expect the earth beneath you to move. But the people of Japan could tell you a much different story. Jesus did not expect to be shaken because the Lord was at His right hand. He always kept the Lord before Him. He knew the words and promises of God, and because of that His confidence in the resurrection would not be shaken even as nails were pounded into His hands and feet. There are many things that shake our confidence. Things that we think are stable and certain in this life. We think our parents, spouses, or friends will always be there for us. We think that we will always have our health or our finances. We think those things are stable and not going anywhere. But then those things that we thought were very stable in our lives are suddenly shaken up. Cancer hits us or a loved one. A parent, spouse, or child dies and it shakes up our whole world. Suddenly nothing seems certain anymore. “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” (Is 40:8) Every aspect of our lives in this world is affected by sin. Sin affects our health and our finances. Sin affects our families and our marriages. “The grass withers, the flower fades,” God says. But let us learn from the events of Easter to find our confidence in the words and promises of God that stand forever. Now if Jesus had not risen from the dead on Easter, we have many things to worry about. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor 15:17) If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, none of God’s promises are valid. Our faith is worthless and we are still accountable to God for our sins. But, Peter writes in the last verse of our text, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses.” God DID raise Jesus from the dead. Jesus used the 40 days between His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven to PROVE that He was alive and had really risen from the dead. He wanted witnesses that were CONFIDENT that He was alive. And Peter says, we are all witnesses. We saw it. It is true. He has risen, just as He said He would. What does this mean for us? Easter means that we can now be confident that ALL of God’s promises ill be kept. God has promised that His Son’s sacrifice on the cross paid for all your sins. Easter proves it. Paul writes to the Romans, “(Jesus) was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” (Rom 4:25) The reason He died was to take away all of our sins. When He was raised to life, it was God’s declaration that we are not guilty in His sight. We have been reconciled to God. Through Jesus we are at peace with God. He is our loving, heavenly Father and we are His children. As His children God has many precious promises for us in His Word. As He says in Jeremiah, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer 29:11) This is the confidence we gain from Easter. What is it that has shaken your confidence right now? Finances, crops, health, family, marriage? God has much to say about these things in His Word. Let us search diligently His Word and learn those precious promises He has made to us. If Jesus rose from the dead, that means God means every one of them and will keep every one of them. Let us learn not to place our confidence in ourselves, but in the words and promises of God who loved us, gave His Son into death for our sins, and raised Him from the dead on the third day for our justification. This is our Easter confidence. Praise be to our risen Lord! Amen.

Matthew 27:50 "Jesus - A Profile of Love"

 Profiles of the Passion - #7) Jesus - A Profile of Love Text: Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who loved us, and gave Himself up for us, dear fellow redeemed in His name, What does love look like? If I asked you right now to describe love or draw a picture of love, how would you describe it or picture it? Valentine’s Day is a day of love and often love between two people is depicted with a heart-shaped symbol to represent that love that a person has in his or her heart for that other person. Or maybe the description of love you would give would be that of a man and woman, standing before God, pledging to be faithful to one another. A faithfulness that only death can separate. Maybe it is the bond between a parent and a child. Or maybe the image of love you have in your mind is an aged wife at her husband’s bedside, holding his hands during his last moments of life. To different people, love will be described in different ways. During our Mid-Week Lenten services we’ve been considering different profiles of the Passion. A profile is a brief depiction or description of someone. Many of our young people are familiar with this word “profile” thanks in part to Facebook and the profile pages they have. These pages describe things about people - such as their age, their interest, and the like. We considered the a profile of betrayal, a profile of lost opportunity, a profile of denial, a profile of unbelief, a profile of sinful convenience, and last week a profile of repentance. Tonight, as we gather together during this week that is most sacred and dear to us Christians, we want to consider a profile of love. We all know that Jesus was loving. We see His love in everything He did. How He fed the 5,000 when they were hungry. How He healed those who were physically tormented by diseases and demons. How He took up the little children in His arms and blessed them. We see His love in raising to life again, the widow of Nain’s only son who had died. But as we consider this profile of love, we will not be using any of those Scripture accounts. Instead we turn to the Word of God as recorded in Matthew 27, verse 50, where we read - Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. So far the Word of God. If you’ve ever read Genesis chapter 5, you’ve read a summery of life in this world. We read that Adam begot Seth, and he died. Seth begot Enosh, and he died. Enosh begot Cainan, and he died. And so, as chapter 5 of Genesis continues on recounting the genealogy of Adam to Noah and Noah’s three sons, we hear the story of lives beginning and lives ending. Life and death. It really is the story of life in this world, isn’t it. Sure none of us expect to live to be 930 years old like Adam or 969 years like Methuselah, but we all expect our beginning and ending to be the same as what we read in Genesis 5. We are here because our parents begot us and we will be here until we die. It has been this way since Adam and it will be this way until the Last Day. While we would much rather focus on the begetting of life, the birth of a new child, we know that death is a very real thing in our lives - something none of us can avoid or escape. This is the result of being a descendant of Adam. When God created Adam, He created Adam in His image. An image of perfection, holiness, and righteousness. Death was not a part of the picture at that time. However, death was a threat for disobedience. After God created Adam, He told him that he was free to eat of any tree in the Garden which He had made. Except for one. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it (dying you shall die).” (Gen 2:17) Death would be the result of disobedience. Yesterday in Confirmation class, we talked about what death is. Death is defined as a separation. When we speak of death, we are usually speaking of the soul separating from the body. However the Bible speaks of death in two other ways. The Bible speaks of eternal death, that is an eternal separation from God in hell. The Bible also speaks of a kind of death that was the immediate result of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden - spiritual death. It is a spiritual separation from God while still living here on earth. While Adam was initially created in God’s image of perfect righteousness and holiness, when Adam disobeyed and ate of the tree, he suffered spiritual death - a spiritual separation from the holy God because of His sin. Adam’s rebellion also, ultimately led to his physical death as well at the age of 930. Because of Adam’s sin, none of his descendants have the image of God anymore - that is an image of perfect holiness and righteousness - but instead we all have the image of sinful Adam. In Genesis 5:3 we read, “And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” Seth was born spiritually dead in his trespasses and sins. And so it has continued for all mankind. All of us are born spiritually separated from God, awaiting our physical death, and because of our sin an eternal separation from God in hell. “For the wages of sin is death,” Paul writes to the Romans (6:23). So we have come to accept that death is just a part of life. A part of life for all of us, except for Jesus. What makes the death of Jesus a profile of love, is WHO it was that breathed His last and yielded up His spirit on Good Friday and WHY He breathed His last. Though there are hundreds of deaths recorded in Scripture, there are none like the death of Jesus. The Roman centurions who were charged with supervising and carrying out the crucifixion of Jesus, had probably seen hundreds of crucifixions and they knew what to expect. But they had never seen anything like the death of Jesus. Jesus who prayed to His Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him. Jesus who cared for His mother from the cross. Jesus who assured another man being crucified for the crimes he committed of eternal life. No other death or crucifixion included three hours of darkness. Never had the earth quaked and the rocks split at the death of any other man. These things only at the death of Jesus. This lead one of the Roman centurions even to proclaim at Jesus’ death, "Truly this was the Son of God!" (Mt 27:54) The death of Jesus was so different because Jesus was so different. Unlike every other person that had been born into this world, Jesus was not born of the sinful image of Adam. He had a human mother, but He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a true man, but He was also true God. John writes of Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (Jn 1:4) As the Son of God, Jesus was FULL OF LIFE. As the Son of God, He was the author of life. Again, John records, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (Jn 1:3) Without the Son of God, there would be no life on this planet at all. Yet what do we hear happened to the Author of Life? Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. Jesus died. Not an unusual thing for any of us. But think for a moment on what a remarkable statement that is about Jesus! The Son of God, in whom was life, the One through whom all things were made, the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, DIED. Death is not a part of who God is. But why? Why did the Son of God “yield up His spirit?” Why did the author of life breath His last and die? This is where we begin to see the profile of love that is Jesus. Jesus never disobeyed one of God’s commandments, though He never had a sinful thought or an unloving thought toward His neighbor. Paul writes that Jesus, “knew no sin.” Jesus had no personal experience with sin. And thus, having never sinned, He never earned the wages of sin - that is death. Yet He dies. He dies a most horrible and wretched death. He dies because He loved us. While Jesus had no personal experience with sin Himself, we know a lot about sin. We were born in the sinful image of our first father, Adam. The Son of God knew we were born spiritually separated from God and unless He did something, we would be eternally separated from God in hell. And so He yielded up His spirit and breathed His last. He died so that we could live. This was plan of the Triune God from the beginning. He didn’t want us to perish eternally, apart from Him. He wanted us to be in fellowship with Him forever. But God could not simply ignore our sin problem. He is a just God and justice requires that punishment for rebellion be carried out. And that is where the Son of God came in. It was either us or Him. Either we would be punished eternally for our rebellion, or the sinless Son of God would have to suffer and die in our place. What happened? Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. Jesus, the Son of God, died. God placed all our sins on His sinless Son and punished Him in our place. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, Paul writes. (2 Cor 5:21) We heard the Prophet Isaiah write of Jesus, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Is 53:4-5) THIS is what love looks like. Love looks like a lifeless Jesus on the cross. Jesus our Good Shepherd lays down His life to save the flock. On this night of Maundy Thursday, Jesus told His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13) What greater act of love could Jesus do than to lay down His life to save us? To endure the wrath of God against sin on the cross? To suffer hell on the cross so that we could go to heaven? THIS is what a profile of love looks like: Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. Praise be to our Savior Jesus! Amen!

"The King that rode on a donkey's colt"

Zechariah 9:9-10 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.’ Theme: THE KING THAT RODE ON A DONKEY’S COLT - A humble King - A powerful King Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus, fellow subjects of the King of kings! Only 12 more days! Have you cleared your schedule for that day so you can watch the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton? Can you hardly handle the wait? Watching many of our news stations, you would think this royal wedding is a monumental event in American history. Yet their marriage does not affect our nation in any way. The monarchy in Great Britain is largely for show. Queen Elizabeth and her family really have little say in policy making or national defense. Yet this royal wedding seems to have captured the imagination of many Americans. I suppose hearing that a prince is going to get married makes many girls think of the fairytales they used to hear as children. Stories of Prince Charming coming to rescue the damsel in distress and make her his bride, a princess. But of all those Prince Charming stories you’ve ever heard of, what have you imagined Prince Charming to be riding on? Isn’t his trusty steed always a white stallion? And why is that? Isn’t it because Prince Charming’s strength and power is reflected his mode of transportation? Speaking in today’s terms, we wouldn’t expect Prince William and his new bride to ride around in a rusted out 1985 Ford Escort. That would be beneath royalty to ride in such a contraption! Rather we expect them to ride around in some of the finest transportation available - like a Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, or Mercedes Bends. We have come to expect powerful people to demonstrate their power in their choice of transportation. Isn’t that one of the things that is so striking about the Palm Sunday account? The prophet Zechariah writes of a King who’s dominion or rule would be “from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.” There has never been a king that ruled an empire which covered the ends of the earth, except for the King of whom Zechariah writes. Yet how does this powerful King get around? We would expect to find Him on only the finest chariot, pulled by the finest breed of horse in His day. But Zechariah writes of this King that He comes “riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” That is like Prince William and Kate pulling up to their wedding in a 1971 Ford Pinto! Sure it will get you where you need go, but it is not very regal at all. Today we mark the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy, some 500 years later, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem the Sunday before His death. I think most of us are very familiar with the Palm Sunday account. We colored pictures of it when we were in Sunday School, we have the opportunity to be reminded of it each year, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself WHY Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey? When Jesus sent His disciples into the village of Bethphage to bring get a donkey and a colt for Him to ride on, was He just looking to show that He was the one Zechariah was writing about, or was there something more at work here? We want to answer that question this morning as we examine “The King who rode on a donkey’s colt.” May the LORD God bless us and be with us as we examine the words of His holy prophet. Amen. A donkey certainly has it’s value and purpose in our world. A donkey is often called a beast of burden, because it was frequently used to haul heavy loads. Donkeys can run, but they are not very fast. You would not want to ride a donkey into battle or run one in a race. Furthermore, donkeys are known to be rather stubborn and difficult to work with. They were something that was reserved for the poor and lowly, who couldn’t afford a horse. While they do have their purpose, given the choice between a horse and a donkey, I sure most of us would prefer a horse to ride on. And yet on the Sunday before His death, we hear that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on colt, the foal of a donkey. Along with the donkey, what we are most familiar with on Palm Sunday is the hosannas that the people shouted to Jesus and how they hailed Him as their king. Much as our children did this morning. But Palm Sunday was not the only time the people of Israel spoke of Jesus as a king. Right after Jesus miraculously fed the 5,000 (Jn 6), there were some who wanted to make Him a king. And why not?! He gave them food that they didn’t have to work for! Who could ask for a greater king than that! Yet Jesus was not a bread King come to meet people’s physical needs. He would not allow them to make Him King and left that area. But on Palm Sunday He didn’t shy away from people hailing Him as a King (Lk 20), waiving their palm branches, and proclaiming their hosanna’s to Him. Many kings were praised as they rode into the capital city of Jerusalem. But I doubt any of them were riding on a donkey’s colt. This happened to demonstrate the kind of King Jesus was and the truth about His kingdom. He is a humble King riding on a humble donkey’s colt. This is exactly the King that Zechariah prophesied of in our text. “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zion and Jerusalem are the Church. And the Church is to rejoice and shout for joy over their King. Their King that comes to them. Their King that is righteous and brings salvation. But their King that is lowly and humble. That is the reason this King rode on a donkey’s colt, because He is humble. We would expect nothing different from Jesus, would we. When He was born, He was not born into a noble and powerful family, but to a peasant girl from Nazareth. During His life, though He is the powerful Son of God from eternity, He took on a servant’s form. On the night before He died He washed His servant’s feet. Though He did many miracles, He never used His almighty power for Himself, but to help others. When He did help people, He told them not to tell anyone what He had done. Jesus did not want fame as a miracle worker, but as the Prophet and Teacher. Though He created the heavens and earth, He had no place to lay His head and call His own at night. The King of kings had no palace and no army, but was followed by the poor, lame, and uneducated. This King then died a servant’s death when He was crucified to save His people. Though King Jesus rode on a humble donkey’s colt, we the Church are to rejoice and shout for joy over our humble King. We rejoice that He is humble. We rejoice that He does not come by force and displays of power. This humble King continues to come with humble means. He rides into the hearts of a little baby with the humble water and word of Holy Baptism. He rides into the hearts of His repentant followers, through the humble means of bread and wine. He rides into our hearts through the humble preaching of the Word. He does not just associate with the mighty and powerful, but with the lowly, the downcast, the repentant sinner. This is our humble King who rides on a donkey’s colt. “Only the strong survive.” “Might makes right.” “The meek inherit...nothing.” The people of this world have always despised humility. Humility to the world is a sign of weakness. That is why so many who passed by the cross on Good Friday mocked and scorned Jesus. They saw no strength and power on the cross, only defeat and humiliation. "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'" (Mt 27:42-43) The world thinks that a powerful King would do some powerful act like coming down from the cross. The world sees a crucified Jesus and thinks He is weak and defeated. We should not let the world fool us into thinking that humility is a sign of weakness. Though this King rode on a donkey’s colt, He was powerful. Listen to the power Zechariah writes of about King Jesus. “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the battle horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” This King that looked so humble riding a donkey and so defeated nailed to a cross, was actually defeating great spiritual enemies and establishing peace. By His death on the cross He was removing the enmity that existed between God and us. He was reconciling us unto God. He removed our sin by taking it on the cross and suffering our punishment. His blood bought peace between God and us. And the rule of King Jesus? From sea to sea. Though the servant Jesus had no place to lay His head, His rule is over all of creation. We heard from Paul in our New Testament lesson (Phil 2:5-11) that after Jesus humbled Himself, God highly exalted Him, giving Him the name above every name and that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow - even those who mocked and blasphemed Him on the cross. Think of how many call on Jesus as their Savior today! Wherever the Gospel is being preached, Jesus is extending His kingdom. So we see once again, that the Kingdom of Jesus and the kingdoms of this world could not be more different. Jesus told His disciples, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mt 20:25-28) Greatness in the Kingdom of Jesus is seen in humility and serving. Not putting oneself first, but putting one another first, even as Jesus put us ahead of Himself as He laid down His life to save us. The greatness of Jesus was not the power He displayed, but the love He showed by coming to earth to serve us. The Son of God didn’t HAVE to become man, but He did so that He could die for us. Jesus didn’t HAVE to take on a servant’s form, but He did to serve as our Substitute before God. He served us by obeying God’s Law perfectly for us. Jesus didn’t HAVE to die the humiliating death on the cross, but He did to pay for all of our sins and ransom us. The greatness of King Jesus would not have been coming down from the cross, but the greatness of Jesus is that He STAYED on the cross to save us! In the verses leading up to our New Testament lesson (Phil 2:5-11), Paul writes, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 2:3-5) As subjects of King Jesus let us not make ourselves greater than our King who rode on a donkey’s colt. Let us see how Jesus humbled Himself to save us and likewise humble ourselves in loving service to one another. What other animal would you have Jesus ride on? He is our humble King riding on a humble donkey’s colt. He who bore the burden of our sins did Himself ride on a beast of burden as He came to save us. Therefore let us join the glad throng on Palm Sunday by proclaiming - HOSANNA! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! PRAISE BE TO KING JESUS! AMEN.

Romans 8:11-19 "We Are Children of God"

Romans 8:11-19 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors -- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

Theme: WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD

- Adopted by the Spirit

- Led by the Spirit

- To be raised through the Spirit

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus, who have been called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified with the whole Christian Church on earth, by the working of the Holy Spirit,

Did you find our Old Testament lesson as captivating as I did? (Ezekiel 37:1-14) It is like a scene right out of a hit Hollywood movie! The LORD takes Ezekiel and sets him down in a valley where it looks like World War III has been fought. The floor of the valley is full of dead men’s bones. Bones that had been picked clean by predators and left to bake in the hot Mid-Eastern sun. But then, at the word of the LORD, those dry bones are covered with muscle and skin. And when the LORD commands it, life enters those once dry bone. They then rise to their feet and stand as a great army.

What a sight that must have been! How amazing it must have been to see those once dead and lifeless collection of bones, rise to life at the LORD’s command, and stand as a mighty army ready to do the LORD’s bidding. Don’t you wish you could have seen what Ezekiel saw in that valley?

Yet, if you have ever witnessed a baptism, you have seen something just as amazing! It may not have looked as spectacular with your eyes as what you imagine Ezekiel to have seen, but the LORD did the very thing He showed Ezekiel. Here in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, God sent His Holy Spirit and created life in someone who was spiritually lifeless. He raised that person to spiritual life, made him or her part of His mighty army, ready to do His bidding.

This life which the Holy Spirit gives is emphasized throughout our text from Romans 8. Let us consider what an amazing thing it is, that the Holy Spirit has taken our once dry and spiritually lifeless bones, and made us children of God. Let us hear how we were adopted by the Spirit, how we are led by the Spirit, and how we will be raised through the Spirit. May the same Holy Spirit who has called us to faith through His Word ever strengthen us through the same.

ADOPTED BY THE SPIRIT

Adoption is a pretty amazing act of love, isn’t it? A man and a woman decide that they want to bring a child who is not theirs into their family. Those parents will feed that child, clothe that child, and provide shelter and protection for that child. They will provide a home for that orphan. But the greatest thing they share with that child is love. They will love that child, as if he or she was their own flesh and blood, even though it wasn’t their child by nature. What an amazing gift to give a child that otherwise wouldn’t have it - a home, parents, and love!

Isn’t this exactly what God has done for us? We were not naturally His children. In fact, we were His enemies by nature. He told us what His will was and we wanted to do the exact opposite. He said, “Thou shalt love Me above everything else,” we said, “We’ll love ourselves first and if there is love left over, maybe we’ll share some with you.” By nature, man views God as an angry and demanding Judge, rather than a gracious and merciful Father.

Yet God changed all that. Paul writes in verse 15, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” God sent His Holy Spirit to breath spiritual life into these dry bones and adopt us as His children. Think of that! God brought you into His family and made you one of your children!

The result of being adopted by the Holy Spirit, is that we no longer fear God as an angry Judge. Instead we see Him as Jesus would have us see Him, as our loving, heavenly Father. We speak to Him the same way in which His Son Jesus spoke to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Abba, Father.” “Abba” is an Aramaic word like our word, “Daddy.” It is a very tender, loving word. It implies a close, loving paternal relationship. And that is the relationship we have with the Father by the Holy Spirit. When He brought us to faith in Jesus, He brought us into a close, loving relationship with God the Father.

But how can we know if we have been adopted into God’s family? Paul continues on in verse 16, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Like a witness in a courtroom who has to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so too the Holy Spirit is testifying of the truth with our spirit. When the Holy Spirit brought us to faith in Jesus, He created a new man of faith in us. This new man of faith, along with the Holy Spirit bears witness to us that we are God’s children. Do you call God your Abba, Father? When you read Scripture, is God speaking to you about your sin and about Jesus as your Savior? That is the testimony of the Holy Spirit with your spirit that you have been adopted by the Spirit and made a child of God!

LED BY THE SPIRIT

Who here remembers the McDonald’s jingle from the 1970's, “You deserve a break today?” They wanted you to think of McDonald’s as a break from the hard work of preparing a meal or a break from the normal daily routine. You deserve it! This was not just a marketing scheme for McDonald’s, it is also a marketing scheme used by the sinful flesh. The sinful flesh tries to convince us that we’ve been pretty good and so we deserve a break from denying the desires of our flesh. Go ahead, have a couple extra drinks. Go ahead, look at that dirty website or movie. You deserve a break today.

Though we have been adopted as children of the heavenly Father, we still have a sinful flesh to contend with. Our flesh wants to please itself rather than please God. Our flesh wants to follow the world rather than the Word. Our Old Adam, will want to serve itself and join in sins of adultery, theft, fornication, false witness, covetousness, and the like. Maybe not always in an open way, but to lust after the things of the flesh in the heart. The Apostle Paul spoke of the same thing a chapter earlier when he wrote of himself, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” (Rom 7:19) As an adopted child he knew what God’s will was and wanted to do that, but his sinful flesh prevented him from doing so.

Because we have the same sinful flesh we need to hear this stern warning from Paul in verses 12 and 13, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die.” As children of God (fellow brethren with Paul), we are debtors - but not to the flesh. We don’t owe the flesh anything. We are not obligated to serve it and obey it. The only fruit the flesh can produce is death! Spiritual death and, eventually, eternal death.

Paul continues, “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” The difference could not be more striking between those dry bones on the valley floor that we used to be, and the vibrant, full of life, children of God that we are now. Then we were led by the flesh to serve the flesh. Now we are led by the Spirit of God to serve God. Led by the Holy Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body. Rather than letting the flesh rule us, by the Spirit we are empowered to mortify the sinful flesh.

How are we led by the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the body? Well, do you remember how it was that muscle and skin were formed on those dry bones? The LORD said to Ezekiel, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” (Ez 37:4) And do you remember how those lifeless bodies were filled with breath and rose to their feet to make an exceedingly great army, ready to do the LORD’s bidding? “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the LORD God....’” (Ez 37:9) It was only by the word of the LORD that those dry bones were able to do anything.

The Spirit works through the same means in us. He leads us always and only through His Word. Through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament He leads us to put to death the deeds of the body and gives us life. Through the Word the Spirit leads us to crucify and drown our old Adam through daily contrition and repentance. Through the Word the Spirit leads our new man of faith to daily come forth and arise. We are children of God who are led by the Spirit.

RAISED THROUGH THE SPIRIT

This struggle between our old man of sin and our new man of faith is one that will continue on until we die. But there is a great day that is coming. A day that is so great, that all of creation is eagerly awaiting it. The great day when all the sons of God will finally be revealed. That great day, will be the last day, when the Spirit will raise us to life.

Verse 11, “But if the Spirit of Him (the Father) who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He (the Father) will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” The same Holy Spirit who came to you through the Water and Word of baptism; the same Holy Spirit who adopted you, and made you a child of God; the same Holy Spirit who testifies that you are a child of God; the same Holy Spirit who dwells in you will also raise to life your physically dead body on the Last Day.

Paul speaks of the glory that awaits the children of God at the resurrection on the Last Day. Verse 17, “and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” As the adopted children of God, we are allowed to share in everything that was Jesus’. We are joint heirs with Him and will be glorified together with Him. That is what Jesus gave us. And what did we give Jesus? Our sin. Our sorrow. Our hell. All of which He willingly took on Himself when He suffered and died in our place. What love! What grace!

But until that day, there is a cross we must bear. It is the cross of discipleship. Jesus told us to expect suffering in this life for following Him. He said, “'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” (Jn 15:20) If you have a chance later, you can read of just such an example in our bulletin. Missionary Koenig tells of how Pastor Parandaman in India, was once a Hindu. But the Holy Spirit breathed life into his dry bones and adopted him as a child of God by bringing him to faith in Jesus. The result was suffering. His family ostracized him and still does today. We should expect the same from the world, from friends, and even from family as we follow Jesus and His Word.

But don’t focus on the cross-bearing or suffering. Instead, Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” None of that suffering we endure in this life can even BEGIN to compare with the glory that is to come. You see where Paul’s focus is? Where ours needs to be - the glory of the life of the world to come. The glory that Jesus earned for us, which makes our present sufferings seem so insignificant. The glory that will be revealed when we see Jesus face to face. The glory when these corruptible bodies put on incorruption and these mortal bodies put on incorruption (1 Cor 15:53). We will be raised to this life through the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead and who dwells in us.

We were once those dry bones scattered about the valley of the shadow of death. We were spiritually lifeless and without hope. But thanks be to God that He sent His life giving Spirit to us. Through the water and Word of holy Baptism and through the preaching of the Gospel, God sent His Holy Spirit into our hearts. His Spirit adopted us as God’s children. Through the same Means of Grace the Spirit leads us to repent of our sins and put on our new man of faith. And creation joins us in eagerly waiting for the great day when the sons of God will be revealed in the glory that Jesus has won for us. May the Spirit who called us, gathered us, and enlightened us ever keep us steadfast unto the end. Amen.

Hosea 5:15-6:3 "Adversity's Question: Where did God go? OR Where did WE go?"

Hosea 5:15-6:3 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” (ESV)

Theme: ADVERSITY QUESTIONS: Where did God go? OR Where did we go?

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus,

In today’s terms, the story of the prophet Hosea might be described as scandalous. The prophet Hosea lived at the same time as the prophet Isaiah - a little over 700 years before Christ was born. While Isaiah mainly prophesied to the southern Kingdom of Judah, Hosea mostly prophesied to the northern Kingdom of Israel, but in his book he also has some words for the southern Kingdom of Judah.

The book of Hosea opens by the LORD commanding Hosea to take a wife. Seems harmless enough, right? After all, God invented marriage and said that it was not good for man to be alone. Yet what makes this so peculiar is the type of wife God commanded Hosea to take. The kind of wife that parents would tell their sons avoid. In chapter 1 verse 2 we read, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom.” God wanted Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife! An adultertress! Someone who slept around!

Yet God had a purpose in this. He wanted Hosea’s relationship with his wife and children - if they even were his children - to be a reflection of the relationship the LORD had with Israel and her people. While Hosea loved and cared for his wife, she cheated on him and was unfaithful to him. So too with the Israelites. Though the LORD loved them, cared for them, promised to protect them, and supplied for all of their needs, they were unfaithful to Him. They practiced spiritual adultery by worshiping other gods. When they were in trouble, when enemy nations were on their doorsteps, threatening to destroy them, rather than going to the LORD their God for help - the same LORD God who had saved them from the Egyptians and delivered them from all the heathen nations living in Canaan - rather than going to that God for deliverance, they instead turned to other heathen nations for protection. Israel was sleeping around with the heathens and now her smaller sister nation, Judah, was beginning to imitate her.

By the time we reach chapter 5 of Hosea, the year is about 735 B.C. Though Israel still exists as a nation with it’s own king, it is all but owned by the nation of Assyria, the superpower of the day. But Israel is getting tired of paying Assyria’s king Tiglath-Pileasar III’s heavy tribute. So Israel teams up with the nation of Aram to try and defeat mighty Assyria. They also asked Judah for help. But when Judah won’t help, Israel and the Arameans attack Jerusalem.

Where does Judah’s king Ahaz go for help? Not the LORD, but Tiglath-Pileasar and the Assyrian army. In order to get Assyria’s help, Judah basically indentures itself to Tiglath-Pileasar. King Ahaz says, "I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me." (2 Kings 16:7) Assyria then invades Israel from the north and Judah from the south, carrying out God’s judgment against the spiritually adulterous nation of Israel.

Yet, in all this, Judah is not held guiltless either. Not only did Judah seek aid and protection from a heathen nation rather than the LORD God, but she also trampled on her sister nation of Israel. Therefore the LORD was going to pour out His wrath on Judah like a flood. In the verse right before our text the LORD says, “For I will be like a lion to Ephriam, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.” (Hos 5:14) The LORD was prepared to tear through Judah like a lion would tear through its prey.

And then we come to verse 15. The LORD says “I will return again to my place.” Like a lion returning to its den after the hunt, the LORD was going to return to His place in heaven and abandon Judah and Israel. By the year 700 B.C. the Assyrian army had defeated the northern Kingdom of Israel and carried her people away never to be seen again. Assyria would turn its attention to Judah. They would tear through Judah in an attempt to destroy them as well.

As all this was going on, all this adversity, many probably wondered, “Where did God go? Why is He not helping us as He helped us in the past? Why is God allowing these bad things to happen to His good people?” Like many people, they may well have blamed God for all the distress and adversity to come upon them. And had God abandoned them? It certainly sounds like that when God says, “I will return again to my place.” God had left them. But is that really the question they should have been asking? Should have they really be asking where did God go or should they instead have been asking, “Where did we go? Where did we go wrong that God is no longer with us to protect us and help us?”

WHERE DID WE GO?

This departure of the LORD from Israel and Judah should have come as no surprise. Countless times the LORD sent His prophets warning Israel and Judah not to continue any longer on their path of spiritual adultery. Again and again He called on them to repent and return to Him. But they would not listen and so the LORD left them to their own devices. God did not depart from Israel and Judah first, Israel and Judah had long ago departed from the LORD and His ways.

But like Hosea who loved his wife, even though she cheated on him, the LORD was ready to take back His adulterous bride, Israel and Judah. “I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.” Now we begin to see WHY the LORD came after them like a lion, tearing at them like prey and then returning to His den. He hoped that in their distress they would repent of their spiritual adultery and earnestly seek Him. Rather than asking, “Where did God go?” God would have them examine themselves and ask, “Where did we go? What sins have we committed that God would cause such distress to come into our lives?”

The prophet Hosea calls out to the people to repent, “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.” Rather than wondering where God has gone, Hosea urges them to return to the LORD in repentance. Return to Him and His ways. The LORD is merciful, gracious, and longsuffering. He will heal and will bind up the wounds with His forgiving love.

Hosea continues, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” Notice the confidence Hosea has in the steadfast love of the LORD! Hosea is certain that the LORD will give them new life. It may involve a couple of days of suffering, but if we repent, if we turn away from our sin and to Him, He will raise us up to life again in Him.

Therefore, Hosea urges again, “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD.” Can you hear the urgency in Hosea’s words to those spiritually adulterous people? He urges them to seek to know the LORD. This is done by first finding out what His will is and what is pleasing and displeasing in His sight. The LORD is known by His Word. In His Word He reveals Himself and His will.

Hosea then speaks of the confidence and trust they can having in turning to the LORD in repentance, “His going out is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea knows the LORD as his God. He knows the LORD is forever merciful and gracious. If the people humble themselves in repentance, the day of the LORD’s salvation will certainly rise upon them just as certain as the dawn means the sun is rising. He will shower them with His grace just like the fall and spring rains.

We certainly have much to learn from this text, don’t we. When adversity strikes us it may feel that God has left us and isn’t helping us as He promises to in His Word. It may seem that God has torn us, wounded us, and returned to His den. Like the psalmist said in our Psalm for this morning (Psalm 43:2), “Why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” We may be left to question with others, “Why would a loving God allow such a thing to happen to us?”

But is that the question we should really be asking? Should our little minds be trying to comprehend the greatness of God’s wisdom and mind? Or should we instead be asking, “Where did we go?” Rather than trying to examine God’s heart, let us instead learn to first examine our own hearts. Are we guilty of committing spiritual idolatry? Well, as far as I know, none of you have a statue of Baal or an Asherah pole or a golden calf in your house or garage that you bow down to and offer sacrifices to. That is, I don’t think anyone here practices open idolatry like Israel and Judah did. But that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been unfaithful to our God in ways similar to Judah and Israel.

Consider this, when Judah and Israel were under assault from the enemy, where did they go first? Didn’t they first to go to the heathen, the unbeliever for help. When we have health problems, where is the FIRST place we go for help? The doctor, right? When we have financial problems, where is the FIRST place we go for help? The bank. When we are having family problems, where is the FIRST place we go for help? When we are having homework problems or school problems, where is the FIRST place we go? Maybe our parents or our teacher. When the weather is looking wretched and we fear what may happen to this year’s planting or this year’s harvest, where is the FIRST place we go? The almanac or an old timer, who has much experience in farming? Or maybe we look to ourselves first for solutions to these problems.

Now, please understand me clearly - there is nothing wrong with going to a doctor or a bank or your teacher for help. The point of our examination is to see where we are going FIRST for help when adversity strikes. Isn’t it true that so often we turn to the world first for help, and then if that doesn’t then we wonder where did God go? Why does He seem to be hiding Himself from me?

When adversity strikes, when it seems that the LORD is tearing our world apart, that is the perfect time for us to examine our hearts. Let us acknowledge our guilty before the LORD and earnestly seek His face. Let us confess that we did not seek Him FIRST for all of our needs and the needs of our family. Let us press on to know the LORD. Let us open our Bibles and hear the voice of our God as He makes Himself known to us by the pens of His holy writers. Let us make use of the man God has called to be our spiritual overseer.

As the psalmist wondered in our Psalm why his soul was downcast and in turmoil within him, what did he resolve to do? Ignore it? Fix it himself? No. He tells his soul, “Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.” (Ps 43:5) While the assaults of his enemies left him with many questions, he rests his hope in God, certain that God will help him.

That is the same thing Hosea says in our text, isn’t it. The LORD may allow us to suffer for two or three days, but He will raise us up again as we return to Him in repentance. As sure as the light in the Eastern sky means that the sun is on it’s way up, so too God’s aid and help is certainly coming. He has torn us, that He may heal us. He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. He will come with His comfort and grace, just like those Palestinian rains each spring and fall.

As for the question, “Where did God go?” there is One who had the right to ask that question. One who never practiced spiritual adultery and never deserved to be abandoned by God. Jesus was never unfaithful to the Father. When the enemy was assaulting His soul in Gethsemane, He went to the Father in prayer and trusted Him to do the right thing.

Yet like a lion and a young lion, God tore into Jesus on the cross and then returned to His den, leaving Him alone on the cross. This God did because on the cross Jesus became each of our sins us as the LORD laid on Him the iniquity of us all. God made Jesus to be Judah and Israel’s spiritual adultery. God made Jesus to be our sin. And Jesus suffered the wrath of God in our place. God left His Son on the cross and returned to His place, because at that moment Jesus was no longer His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased, but instead the His cursed Son who was bearing the sin of the world.

Though suffering all this adversity, Jesus continued to call God “My God” and “Father.” And on the third day God raised Him up to life again. Because Jesus already suffered the punishment of God for our sins, God has healed us and bound our wounds from our great distress of sin. In Jesus, God comes to us with healing in His wings. He waters us with His grace and love.

So, no matter what distress and adversity God has allowed to come into your life, rather than wondering where God may have gone, let us question where we have gone wrong. Rather than examining God’s heart, let us examine our own hearts. Let us really repent of real sins. “In our distress let us earnestly seek Him. Come, let us return to the LORD; let us know; let us press on to know the LORD. ” Amen.

John 9 - "The Works of God Revealed"

John 9 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. 8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" 9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." 10 Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" 11 He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." 12 Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know." 13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. 17 They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 "but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself." 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner." 25 He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." 26 Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?" 28 Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. 29 "We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from." 30 The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 "Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." 34 They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?" And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" 36 He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" 37 And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." 38 Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.

“The Works of God Revealed”

- Seeing

- Confessing and worshiping

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus, who once were lost, but now have been found, were blind but now see,

As we read through John 9, what struck you as the most remarkable event of the chapter? It’s quite a bit longer of a sermon text than we are used to. Yet it is quite easy to follow the narrative which the Holy Spirit has preserved for us today. Was there anything that struck you as we read through it? Certainly the man born blind receiving his sight is pretty remarkable! He is even amazed as he says in verse 32, “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.” That is pretty amazing! There is no record of anyone being born blind in the Old Testament receiving their sight. Never from the beginning of the world until Jesus healed this man, has anything like this ever happened.

Imagine how amazing it would have been for this man born blind. He had never seen the face of his parents. He had never seen a sunset or the stars in the sky. He had never looked upon the amazing colors and shapes of God’s glorious creation. He didn’t even know what his house looked like or the Temple he worshiped at. Since there was no real work a blind man could do in those days, he had to rely on the love of his fellow Jews to survive. He sat outside the entrance Temple or city gates and ask for handouts from passers-by. But all this changed when Jesus came into his life and gave him sight.

Yet, I would argue that this man receiving sight is not the most remarkable event in our text! Let us look closer at this portion of God’s Word to learn some spiritual truths as we see the work of God revealed in the life of this man born blind. We will see the work of God revealed in this man’s seeing, confessing, and worshiping. May the Holy Spirit strengthen our spiritual eye-sight through His word, that we may see Jesus our Savior more clearly with our eyes of faith.

SEEING

“Isn’t this the one who sat and begged?” “Nah! Can’t be! That man was blind, this man can see!” “It is him! I recognize him! But how did this happen?” You can imagine the confusion and excitement as the friends and neighbors gathered around this man born blind to find out what happened to him. Even his parents seemed dumbstruck by what had happened to their son. The man born blind has only a limited idea of how this had happened. “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” He knew Jesus had given him his sight, but he didn’t know where Jesus now was. The last contact he had with Jesus was while he was still blind and Jesus told him to wash the clay off in the pool of Siloam.

This amazing event had to be brought to the attention of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were supposed to be the spiritually enlightened ones of the day. They begin their inquisition of this man born blind. They too wanted to know how this man was now able to see. The man born blind again repeated the events that had transpired in very simple, straight forward terms, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

The Pharisees were divided about Jesus doing this amazing thing. Some ignored that which was right before their eyes and said, “This Man (Jesus) is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Some were offended that Jesus had supposedly done work on the Sabbath by spitting on the ground, making clay, and applying it to this man’s eyes. Then He told this man to do unnecessary work by washing his eyes in the pool of Siloam. This was a violation of the rules they had added to God’s Word about the Sabbath. Others replied, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So they ask the man who was healed what he had to say about Jesus. “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” To which the man said, “He is a prophet.”

But this was not enough. They thought this was all a hoax and that he wasn’t really born blind. So they called his parents to testify. His parents were afraid to tell what they really thought - that Jesus had healed their son who was born blind. They were afraid to say that because the Pharisees had already threatened to excommunicate from the synagogue anyone who confessed that Jesus was the Christ. So they told the Pharisees to ask their son themselves, he was old enough to answer for himself.

So again, they call the man born blind to testify. They continue to badger him with questions. One is not sure what they were hoping to get out of him. Were they hoping he would say Jesus was a horrible person and did not really heal him? Were they maybe hoping that he would say that Jesus called upon Beelzebub to heal him? We’re not sure. One thing is for sure, the ones who claimed to have spiritual sight, were blind to what was right before them and refused to accept what their eyes were seeing - the work of God revealed in this man.

Yet what do we find with the man born blind? Verses 30-33, “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” Do you now see the truly remarkable event that unfolds in our text? While it is remarkable that Jesus was able to give this man born blind his physical eyesight back, the truly remarkable work of God that is revealed in him is the spiritual sight God gave this man. Though this man has not yet seen Jesus with his new eyesight, with his eyes of faith he clearly saw Jesus for who He was. “He is a prophet. ...He is a worshiper of God and does His will. ...this Man is from God.” He saw Jesus as a Man sent from God and doing God’s work.

We often wish we could have seen the miracles Jesus did. We wish we could have seen Jesus give sight to the blind! But the work of God revealed in this man born blind has also been revealed in you. God has given you the same spiritual sight He gave this man. You see Jesus as the Son of God, sent to be your Savior. You see Jesus as your Substitute who came to do the will of God in your place. You are no different than this man in our text. You were born spiritually blind, but have been given sight. Paul said in our New Testament lesson, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” (Eph 5:8) Like this man, though you haven’t seen Jesus with your physical eyes you have heard His voice and with your eyes of faith you see Him just as clearly as this man born blind. This is the work of God!

CONFESSING AND WORSHIPING

It is striking to see how everyone seems to have abandoned this man born blind. His neighbors and those who had previously seen that he was blind, were very interested in how he was able to gain sight. But once they hear that Jesus had healed him, they bring him before the Pharisees and there he stands alone to explain himself. Then his parents are called before the inquisition. They are only willing to say that he was born blind, they don’t want to stick out their necks and suggest that he was miraculously healed by Jesus. They too abandon him before the Pharisees, saying, “He is of age; ask Him. He will speak for himself.” John explains that they said this because they were afraid of the Jews and afraid they might be excommunicated from the synagogue.

This too is quite remarkable, isn’t it? We would think that everyone would be overjoyed and ecstatic about this amazing miracle that had taken place in their midst. We would expect that especially his parents would be giving glory to Jesus for healing their son! We would think the Jews and Pharisees would want to meet with Jesus and glorify God for the great thing He had done for this man. Yet this healing seems to be a matter of controversy and offense, more than a matter of joy. This shows us the sad spiritual condition of Israel at the time of Jesus. God was at work among them and, more than anything, they seem troubled by it.

But the fact that this man was abandoned by his neighbors and parents, makes the work of God in this man’s life all the easier to see. We have already seen how the work of God was revealed in his life by his faith in Jesus. But faith in Jesus is never alone, is it. It is always accompanied by good works. We see the fruits of the work of God revealing themselves in this man’s confession and worship of Jesus.

While his parents are afraid they will be kicked out of the synagogue, their son with his new eyes of faith does not hesitate to confess Christ publicly to the Pharisees. When they continue to badger him about how he was healed, the man born blind almost becomes a bit sarcastic with them. Verse 27, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” When the Pharisees reviled him and said that they follow Moses but not Jesus because they do not know where he is from, the man born blind continues to confess and defend his faith in Jesus. Verse 30, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He has opened my eyes!”

The work of God is revealed in this man as we see him confess and defend his faith in Jesus. In the end he is excommunicated from the synagogue for confessing that Jesus was sent from God. While everyone else seems to treat this man like a pariah, Jesus does not. Upon hearing that he had been excommunicated, Jesus deliberately seeks out the man that had been born blind and said in verses 35-38, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him. Here the work of God is revealed in the confession and worship by this man. He believed Jesus is his Lord and the Son of God and he bowed down and worshiped Jesus as his God. This is the work of God! This man didn’t care how everyone else felt, he knew Jesus was his Savior.

Every time you confess your faith in Jesus, the same work of God is revealed in you! Paul writes to the Corinthians, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3) It was the Holy Spirit who was at work in the heart of this man born blind and led him to confess his faith in Jesus before the Pharisees and before Jesus. It is the same Holy Spirit that leads you to confess the same thing. After Peter gave his rock-solid confession about Jesus, Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 16:17) Faith and confession are the work of God! It is the work of God when you tell your friends, your neighbors, your relatives that you believe Jesus is the Son of God, sent from heaven to take away all your sins, and give you the gift of eternal life. It is the work of God revealed in you when you stand here in church and publicly confess your faith in Jesus by one of our creeds. This is the work of God revealed in you when you confess that you see Jesus as your Lord and your God!

And we cannot but join this man born blind in worshiping Jesus as our God. We cannot help but worship Jesus who gave His life for us to save us. The fact that you are here this morning, is revealing the work of God in you. We must sing to Him. We must praise Him. We must pray to Him. Believers have done this from the beginning. Abel offered sacrifices in worship to God. David wrote countless psalms of worship to his Savior God. Daniel would go to his room three times a day to pray to God. The man born blind bowed down and worshiped Jesus as His Lord and Savior. This is the work of God revealed in us that we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and worship Him as our God.

So what is the most remarkable event in our text? It is Jesus giving sight to those who do not see, but not in the way we first expected. We first thought it was remarkable to hear that a man born blind was able to see with his eyes. But as we looked deeper into our text we saw that the work of God revealed in this man was the faith God created in His heart. Faith which saw Jesus his Savior. Faith which freely confessed itself in Jesus. And faith which worshiped Jesus as Lord and God. And this is the very reason why God caused this man to be born blind in order to reveal the work of God in him. We praise God that He has worked in us as well. That we who were born spiritual blind have been given the sight to see Jesus as our Savior from sin, confess Him to one another and throughout the world, and worship Him as our Lord and God. May the Holy Spirit ever give us 20/20 vision for our eyes of faith, that we may always be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Heb 12:12) Praise be to God for this amazing work which He has begun in us! Amen.

Profiles of the Passion: Peter - A Profile of Denial

PROFILES OF THE PASSION 3) Peter - Profile of Denial Luke 22:61-62 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." 62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus, grant that balm and healing In Thy holy wounds I find, Ev-ry hour that I am feeling Pains of body and of mind. Should some evil tho’t within Tempt my treach’rous heart to sin, Show the peril, and from sinning Keep me ere its first beginning. Amen. (TLH 144:1)

(Taken from 1 Peter 1:1-5) To the pilgrims of the Dispersion (at Prince of Peace), elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. My name is Simon, son of Jonah. But you probably know me better by the name which Jesus gave me, Peter. Tonight I have been asked to share with you my profile and help you to see something about yourself. I think you will be surprised how much you and I have in common. Allow me first to share a little about myself and my background. I grew up in the Galilean town of Bethsaida, on the Northwestern shores of the Sea of Galilee. Over time my brother Andrew and I moved to the town of Capernaum, where we took up the fishing trade with two other would-be apostle brothers, James and John. My brother Andrew, like John, was a disciple of John the Baptist. And it was actually Andrew that first brought me to Jesus. After John the Baptist had pointed out Jesus to Andrew as the Lamb of God, my brother followed Jesus and spent the day with Him. Andrew came found me and told me that he had found the promised Messiah, the one that the prophets had spoken of. And more than just telling me about Jesus, Andrew actually physically brought me to Jesus. And it was at that moment that my life changed. Upon Jesus seeing me, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone). Cephas is Aramaic for the Greek name of Peter, which you are all quite familiar with. It wouldn’t be until much later that I understood why Jesus gave a name that means “A Stone.” At one point during the three years that I followed Jesus and was taught by Him, Jesus asked us what people were saying about Him - who they though He was. Well, there were various opinions among the people as to who Jesus was. Some people thought He might be John the Baptist or the prophet Jeremiah, back from the dead. Other people thought that maybe the prophet Elijah had returned from heaven. Jesus then asked us who we thought Jesus was. I couldn’t help myself from speaking up. I had no doubt about who Jesus was. I believe the same thing about Jesus as you believe. I said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I said that because I was certain that Jesus really was the prophesied Messiah, just as my brother Andrew told me. But as He taught us and we saw all the good things He did, I knew that He was true God, the Son of God. Is this not the same thing that you just said about Jesus earlier in your worship service? Jesus then revealed to me that the reason I was so confident about who He was, was because God had revealed this truth to me. “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:17-18) I didn’t just believe that Jesus was the promised Christ, the Son of the living God because Andrew had told me that. I believed that because God Himself had created faith in my heart. Faith which believed the rock-solid truth that Jesus is the Son of God. The rock-solid truth that Jesus would build His Church upon. The rock-solid truth that all believers would confess - just as you believe and confess. So rock-solid that Hell was powerless against it. And so I began to see why Jesus called me Peter, which means “a Stone,” after He spoke of the rock-solid confession I gave about who Jesus is. But for me, it was often one step forward, two steps back. No sooner had I spoken this rock-solid truth about Jesus, then I said something stupid. Jesus had just said how blessed I was because of what God had revealed to me. Jesus then went on to talk about His suffering, death, and resurrection. This was an offensive thought to me! The thought of Jesus being mistreated and put to death was unbearable. I pulled Jesus aside and I actually rebuked Jesus for what He had said! How foolish of me to rebuke the Christ, the Son of the living God. "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" (Mt 16:22) Somehow I thought I knew better than Jesus. What I didn’t realize, but Jesus did, was that Satan using my words to tempt Jesus to not go through with His Passion. Jesus promptly rebuked me, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." (Mt 16:23) So Jesus went from speaking about how blessed I was because of what God had revealed to me, to calling me Satan for tempting Him not to go through with His mission. This is kind of a summary of my life of following Jesus. I was so often bold and confident, which was not a good quality but a weakness. My involvement in the events of Jesus’ suffering and death, is my greatest shame and embarrassment. It is an account that you hear of every year, so I’m sure you are quite familiar with it. After we had finished celebrating the Passover with Jesus and He had instituted the Lord’s Supper, we left the Upper Room and headed to the Garden of Gethsemane. Along the way, Jesus said these ominous words, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” (Mt 26:31) Jesus was warning us - all of us, including me! Jesus was making known that another prophecy of the Old Testament would be fulfilled when we would abandon Him that night. Once again, I thought I knew better than Jesus - and for that matter, better than the Old Testament! I boldly promised Jesus, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble." I just couldn’t imagine myself stumbling, and falling into sin on account of Jesus! Jesus warned me, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." This couldn’t be! Jesus couldn’t be right! He was my God, my Savior, my Teacher, and my Friend! How could I ever deny Him once - let alone three times and all in that very night! I told Jesus He was wrong, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" I was ready to stand at Jesus’ side - all the way to death, if I had to! I thought I was pretty strong. I thought my faith could handle anything that came my way. What I didn’t realize was just how weak I was. That night, the very thing Jesus warned me about, the very thing I told Jesus He was wrong about, took place. After Jesus was arrested, John and I followed from a distance, so we could see what was going to happen to Jesus. John was able to get us access to the courtyard of the high priest, where I warmed myself by a fire, with others, paying close attention to what was happening with Jesus. That is when it began. An unarmed servant girl approached the fire I was sitting at and began starring at me. Then she said, "This man was also with Him." I began to panic! What if they found out I was one of Jesus followers? I was in the enemies territory now. They might arrest me as well and treat me like they were treating Jesus! "Woman, I do not know Him," I told her. But it did not end there. A little while later I was approached again by the servant girl, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth. This is one of them." She was starting to attract attention. I again denied it. But others started joining in, so I swore to them with an oath, "Man, I am not. I do not know the Man." I thought I was off the hook, but about an hour later I was approached a third time, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it." This couldn’t be happening, I thought! Now I am doomed too! I feared for my life! I began to curse and swear, "I do not know the Man. I do not know this Man of whom you speak." Then it happened. The rooster crowed for the second time that night. From where I was I could see Jesus and as the rooster crowed, He turned and looked at me. It was a look that pierced me to my very soul. The very thing I promised Jesus I would never do, I had done, just as He warned me. I was so ashamed of myself. I had denied my Lord! It was so overwhelming, that I ran away crying. There was my Lord suffering scorn and shame, being slapped and spit upon. And what was I doing? Cowering in fear in front of a servant girl, trying to save my hide by denying I was with Him or even knew who He was! My profile is a profile of denial. My friend, the Apostle Paul, wrote, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor 10:12) I thought I could stand, but boy did I ever fall. But God used my denial to humble me and teach me to find my strength in Him. I needed to see how great of a sinner I was in order to see just how much I needed a Savior. Jesus’ look that night, revealed just how weak of sinner I was. But on Easter Sunday morning, I learned the greatness of Jesus’ grace and power to save. I ran to the tomb to find that Jesus had risen from the dead. He had paid for all my sins - including my sins of denial. He died to forgive me and He rose to assure me that I was forgiven. The Lord went on to use me for great things in His church. He used me to deliver a powerful sermon on Pentecost. A powerful sermon which the Holy Spirit used to bring many people to faith in Jesus. Later, as I stood before the same Jewish council that Jesus stood and was commanded to stop preaching about Jesus, HE gave me the strength to defy them and continue preaching the good news about Jesus. And it was Jesus who gave me the strength to remain faithful unto death, when I died a martyrs death even as Jesus told me would happen. You and I have so much in common! Which one of you doesn’t think you believe so firmly in Jesus and your faith in Him is so strong, that nothing would ever deter you from being faithful to Him. Yet, how many times have you denied Jesus? Maybe you didn’t curse and swear that you don’t even know who Jesus is, but haven’t you denied Jesus by your words and actions? Like that time your unchurched friends started making fun of Christians and you joined right in because you didn’t want them to make fun of you too. Or that time that you joined in, using the same dirty language that they use, because you didn’t want them to think you were different. What about denying Jesus with love? On the same night I denied Jesus, He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:34-35) Jesus loved us and died for us! Aren’t we denying that we are one of His disciples every time we speak or act unloving toward one another?! What if Jesus looked at you at those times? How would you react? You and I have a great deal in common. We both think we are stronger than we are. So join me in repenting and humbling yourself before God. Rejoice that Jesus died even for our sins of denial and pride. Run with me to the empty tomb and see that Jesus has risen from the dead! God accepted the payment He made for every last one of your sins and my sins. Look to Him for your strength and rely on Him for your protection. And be amazed, as I was, at how the Lord could use such a foolish sinner like me to do great things in His Kingdom. May Jesus keep you faithful unto the end. Amen.