"Yahweh's Blind Servant" (Isaiah 42:14-21)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16).

 

God’s chosen nation of Israel is blind. And this blindness does not illicit any sympathy or pity from God. This blindness only fosters disgust and contempt from God.

 

The problem was that Israel’s blindness was not congenital, as was the case of the blind man in today’s reading from John 9. No, Israel’s blindness was not because of any sad consequence of some accident or any such devastating disease.

 

Israel’s blindness was willfully and intentionally chosen. Israel chose to be blind. Israel chose to not see. Israel chose to be spiritually blind.

 

And God had done everything for His people. God had graced His servant Israel with every advantage and with every blessing. Repeatedly, God had intervened for them. God was unrelenting in protecting and providing for His servant Israel. 

 

And yet, Israel looked and refused to see. They did not want to see. Israel was blind by choice.

 

And yet, Israel could still “see.” But they had other things to see. Israel had their own plans. Israel focused on their own comfort. Israel had its own dreams. Israel dreamed of the idols of their neighbors. They dreamed of their own ambitions. They dreamed of a messiah of their own liking – a worldly messiah. They put their own interests first. So, when it came to the one true God and His glory, Israel chose to be blind.

 

God presents all His grace and His gifts and His glory. He presents all that He wills to give to His people and what is their response? They respond like a petulant child, who turns away from his parent, squeezes his eyes shut, clasps his hands over his ears and starts humming loudly. But may I ask this question of you: how often do you assume this same posture? How often do you choose to ignore God?

God wants His people to see the wonder and beauty of His great and many gifts, but so often, His people refuse to acknowledge what God has done and instead choose to see the demands and deficiencies of the day.

 

Even though we have the Old Testament, which as St. Paul says for us Christians serves us as an example so that we wouldn’t desire evil as they did (1 Corinthians 10:6-11), the Scripture was written down for our instruction, so that we would learn from the mistakes of the Israelites of old, but we so often close our eyes and cover our ears to God and hum loudly. So often, we just do what comes all too naturally: we become spiritually blind to God.

 

God has graced us all with family to whom you share life’s joys and sorrows, but what fills our eyes all too often are those shortcomings and those quirks. And these shortcomings and quirks seem to multiply with the passage of time.

 

God, too, has given His people the certainty of His grace through His Means of Grace: His Word and His Sacraments. And all too often, our old sinful nature would rather look for something with a bit more flash and feeling attached. God gives His Word and Sacraments to form and to feed and to comfort His Church. But all too often, our sinful nature only sees things that despise and divide.

 

God has given His plan for a life of purpose and meaning and so often we choose to turn away and look for something more immediately satisfying. 

 

God gives gift upon gift and grace upon grace, but so often we join those Israelites of old as we put our hands over our ears, we pinch our eyes tight and hum loudly your anthem. All too often, we choose blindness.

 

So, what does God do? Does He just let us choose our own demise? No! God cannot change who He is. For His love has no other outcome! He proclaims: “For a long time I have held My peace; I have kept still and restrained Myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant” (Isaiah 42:14).

 

So, like a woman at the point of giving birth, there is no holding back for God. There is no other unfolding plan. God will act. If His people will choose to be spiritually blind, He will send another Servant. And this Servant will not be petulant or rebellious. This Servant is the obedient Son. This Servant will not miss what the Lord would have Him to see. This Servant will not fail to hear what He is to hear.

 

At last, Yahweh has His Servant who is all that Israel and you and me are not. At last, a Servant who is not blind!

 

Then God proclaims: “Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but My Servant, or deaf as My Messenger whom I send? Who is blind as My Dedicated One, or blind as the Servant of the LORD?” (Isaiah 42:18-19).

 

Hmm. This Servant who is not blind … is blind! However, this Servant is not blind to God’s will, but He is blind to the ways of the world. This Servant refuses to see what we all see. He chooses to be blind to the path of indulgence or self-promotion. He chooses to be blind to self-glory and acclaim. He refuses to sin. This Servant willfully will not follow the ways of the fallen world.

 

God made Him who knew no blindness to be blind for us so that we who are blind might see. God made Him who knew no deafness to be deaf for us so that we who are deaf might hear. 

 

The Blind Servant willfully will not see the ways of this world. He is blind all the way to the cross. He is deaf to the taunts.

 

This Blind Servant is not blind for the sake of Himself, but for the sake of love. He is the Blind Servant of Yahweh, who comes and faithfully does the deed that He was sent to accomplish.

 

Jesus is this Blind Servant. He, the Second Person of the Trinity, who is fully God becomes man for you! He takes upon Himself God the Father’s judgment that is supposed to be for you and me, because of our sins. Our sins of lack of trust. Our sins of pride. Our sins of self-interest. The Blind Servant takes this judgment as the nails of condemnation are drawn through His flesh and bone.

 

The sentence of death falls upon Jesus, the Blind Servant, as He dies, crushed and trampled by the Law. The Blind Servant dies. God dies.

 

The Jewish authorities who rejected the Savior of the world, and all who agreed with them, did not understand the wonderful truths and blessings they saw with their own eyes. The miracles and sermons of Jesus did not mean a thing to them. They remained blind and deaf. Even after the raising of Lazarus, the Jewish leaders did not change. They did not believe. So, they sought to kill Jesus and Lazarus. Just as their forefathers had remained blind and deaf, so did they. 

But the Blind Servant would accomplish His Father’s bidding. You see, this Blind Servant is unstoppable in His purpose. He would not remain dead, but live! 

 

As His disciples are hiding out in that locked upper room on that first Easter evening, the Blind Servant appears to them and says, “Peace be with you” (John 20). Jesus comes to His blind servants, and He will not be deterred.

 

Just as Jesus came to His disciples on that first Easter evening, He comes to us this day. He came to them and now to us His blind servants and He will not be deterred. 

 

By our own reason or strength, we could never open our eyes to Jesus. The only strength we have is to close our eyes to Him. But Jesus will not be deterred! So, He sends His Holy Spirit to you as He calls you by the Gospel, enlightens you with His gifts, sanctifies you, and keeps you in the one true faith. The Holy Spirit always points to Jesus, who is the founder and perfecter of the faith, the faithful Blind Servant, as we hear the proclaimed Word and receive His Sacraments. Through these Means of Grace, the Blind Servant freely gives His gifts and blessings, chiefly the forgiveness of sins to which we receive by faith.

 

God will not be deterred. He will not keep us spiritually blind. He can’t. That is not His nature. So, God will lead the blind as He “will turn the darkness before them into light” (Isaiah 42:16) through His Blind Servant, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

     Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—
    That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
    Was blind but now I see!                                    (LSB 744, stanza 1)

Text: Public domain

 

You were lost, but now you have been found. Jesus has found you and He ever so gently pulls your hands from your ears and even more gently, He pushes open your wrinkled eyelids. At last, you can see. Now, you see Jesus. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"If Anyone Keeps My Word" (John 8:48-59)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death” (John 8:51).

 

Today’s Gospel reading picks up in mid-conversation between the Jewish religious authorities and Jesus. These Jewish religious authorities have been bombarding Jesus with question after question as to catch Jesus in a lie. But the problem for them is, Jesus only speaks the truth.

 

Earlier in John 8, Jesus was telling these Jewish authorities things that did not fit into their self-made notions of religion. So, Jesus told them that they were of the world, but He was not of this world (John 8:23). Jesus also told them, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free” (John 8:21).

 

Now, in today’s Gospel text, Jesus tells them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death” (John 8:51). To His hearers, they were likely thinking, “Who does Jesus think he is?! Our Father Abraham died! The prophets died! Everyone dies!”

 

So, who does this Man think He is? Well, since the question has been asked, Jesus is the Son of God, the eternal Son of the Father, the One who was with the Father before all things were made. He is the One who became incarnate, who came into our world, who took on our flesh. He is the One who came so that He could sympathize with our weaknesses, our fears, our illnesses. He is the timeless One, the One who existed before Abraham, and yet He also became Abraham’s descendant. He is the One, the only One who can say, “If anyone keeps My word, He will never see death.”

 

Jesus goes on saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). So, what exactly did Abraham believe about Jesus?

 

Well, Scripture gives no record of Abraham saying anything about Jesus, but Abraham certainly believed in this very word of promise. Abraham believed it. He kept it. He held on to it. 

Remember how Abraham saddled his donkey and took his son, his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, to the mountain as the Lord had directed him? Remember how he took the wood and laid it on the back of his son, his only son, Isaac? Remember how he built an altar and then tied up his son, his only son Issac on the top of that altar?

 

Abraham held onto the Word of the Lord. Abraham believed and kept the Word of the Lord, and on that day, his son, his only son Isaac did not see death.

 

God did all of this to test Abraham. God did all of this to test Abraham’s faith. And this test of Abraham served as a preview of another son of Abraham, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself.

 

Jesus is the promised Son who carries the wood of His cross upon His back. He goes up Mount Calvary to make the great sacrifice to rescue us from the infection of our sin. He is the beloved Son who willingly bound Himself and laid upon the altar of the cross to deliver us from death. Jesus is the Lamb provided for the burnt offering. Jesus is the Lamb who is offered for us, who willingly caught Himself in the thicket of our sin and wears the crown of thorns upon His head. 

 

So, on Mount Calvary, it is Jesus who provided our deliverance from everything that infects us: sin and death.

 

So, how can Jesus say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death”? He can say that because He came to see death for us and to give us His life. He came to drink the cup of suffering in order that we may be released from death’s grasp. He came to be our Great High Priest to sacrifice not a sheep or a goat, but His holy precious blood, so that He would purify our consciences.  

 

So, if we keep His Word, by clinging to His Word, we are rescued from the power of sin, which is eternal death.

 

We have His Word. You hear His Word each Lord’s Day. You read His Word through Bible study and devotion. You sing His Word through hymnody and liturgy. Since we have His Word, let us keep His Word. Since we have His Word, let us hold onto His Word with our dear life. Remember, it is Jesus who also proclaims: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though He die, yet shall he live, and everyone who believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26) and “I am the way, and the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

So, if you cling to Jesus as your Lord, you will live forever. For St. Paul proclaims, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). So, nothing ever can take away eternal life away from you as long as you cling to Jesus and His Word!

 

But as poor, miserable sinners, how do we keep His Word? For we are so much better at not keeping His Word as we ignore Him, and listen to false voices and our own hearts. We are so much better at dishonoring Jesus. We so often fear, love and trust in created things rather than in God, the Creator. We so often do not fear God’s wrath by avoiding every sin. We often hold grudges and harbor resentment against our neighbor. We have all lied, cheated, and stole what did not belong to us. We have all sinned in thought, word, and deed by our own fault, our own grievous fault. So, we are all not too good at keeping Christ’s Word.

 

So, if we can’t keep His Word, Christ will keep it for us. Jesus is the One who promises: “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54-55). So, that is the answer. That is how we keep His Word so that we will never see death. We keep His Word through the reception of His Means of Grace, His Word and His Sacrament. So, if you are united to Jesus in His Holy Supper of His true Body and His true Blood under bread and wine, you already have the victory over death, because His risen and glorified Body and Blood gives you His life, now and forever.

 

Jesus gave you faith in His Word through the holy waters mixed with His Word in Holy Baptism. There, you were born of water and the Spirit. There, you were united to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. There, you were “united with Him in a death like His” so that you would be “united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Romans 6:5). 

 

Again, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”Jesus is also the One who sends His called and ordained servants to “forgive the sins of any,” and those sins “are forgiven them” (John 20:23). 

 

 

So, when you hear those sweet words, “As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” your sins are removed from you. When you hear those words, you are at peace for Christ has blotted those sins away through His death.

 

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, Jesus also puts the icing on the cake for us. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). You see, through Jesus, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit is recognized in its fullness. The very Son of God enables us to see the Holy Trinity by Him becoming flesh. So, when we see Jesus and hear Jesus and touch Jesus, we also see, hear and touch the fullness of God. In Jesus, we have the Holy Trinity. And so, we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity (Athanasian Creed).

 

As we confessed the Athanasian Creed earlier, some of you may be thinking about the ending of that creed with its anathemas, its curses. We spoke, “And those who have done good will enter into eternal life” – you may like that. But what did you think about: “And those who have done evil into eternal fire”? What are we to make of that?

 

Well, what does Jesus say? He says to cling to Him. He says to trust in Him. He calls on us to grow in faith. And how do we grow in faith? By keeping His Word. And we can only keep His Word through receiving His gift of forgiveness through His Means of Grace, His Word and Sacrament.

 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.” You have His Word. So, keep it and hold onto it. For He who promises is faithful: “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life … Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:54, 56).

 

So, keep His Word as Christ unites Himself with the Father and the Holy Spirit with you in His Supper! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"In A Little While" (John 16:12-22)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Jesus said: “A little while, and you will see Me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see Me” (John 16:16).

 

Are you confused by these words of Jesus? If you thought Jesus only spoke in parables, you would be mistaken. Today, we hear Him saying three riddles. So, what is Jesus saying? What are we to understand?

 

As you may be perplexed by these words of Jesus, His apostles are certainly befuddled. So, they say to each other, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’” (John 16:17).

 

They are perplexed. What is Jesus talking about? Was Jesus going to leave them? Then come back to them? But they just couldn’t ask Jesus what He meant.

 

Just think of this riddle: No matter how smart you are, there is one thing you will always overlook. What is it? The answer: your nose.

 

Yes, riddles can be fun, but they can also leave us confounded. The apostles reacted with puzzlement to the words Jesus spoke to them, “A little while, and you will see Me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see Me” (John 16:16).

 

As for us, we live on the other side of the “little while” of Christ’s atoning death and bodily resurrection and ascension, so we know the answer for Christ’s first “little while” riddle. 

 

We all have our own “little whiles.” Some are long; some are short. What are your thoughts when you have to wait in line at the grocery store? What are your thoughts when you wait in line at an amusement park? What are your thoughts when you are caught in traffic? We all treat our “little whiles” differently. 

 

Today, on this Fifth Sunday of Easter, we find ourselves back in the upper room on Maundy Thursday. 

 

The apostles were uneasy. The Jewish authorities’ hatred toward Jesus was reaching a boiling point. Later that night Judas Iscariot would betray Jesus with a kiss setting into motion Jesus’ arrest, trial and death.

 

Again, we know what Jesus was talking about. He was talking to His apostles about in “a little while” His coming suffering and death and in “a little while” His coming resurrection from death. 

 

But Jesus isn’t done with speaking riddles. Jesus says to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20).

 

Jesus says, “You will weep.” Well, this is not surprising. When Lazarus died, even Jesus wept. “You will weep and lament,” Jesus says, “but the world will rejoice.”

 

This is the world that hates God, its Maker. This is the world that wants nothing to do with Jesus, its Redeemer.

 

Now, there are reasons why the apostles would weep. First, they did not know what would happen in just “a little while.” They didn’t get it. Yes, they were told several times. But just like us, we don’t always listen and ultimately understand what has been said. Second, the death of Jesus was a good reason for the apostles to weep and lament, because Jesus is killed. The Lamb takes the sin of the world upon Himself and sin kills Him. They don’t see Him, since He’s dead and buried in a tomb. Their sin, the world sin, yours and my sin killed Him. Everyone, the apostles, the disciples, the Jewish authorities and the Roman soldiers all believe that Jesus is dead and gone. 

 

But in this second riddle, Jesus concludes saying, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” So, what would happen? Easter would happen. The bodily resurrection of our Lord would happen. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

They saw Jesus again! He appeared in the barred-shut upper room on Easter evening and a week later saying, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19) and immediately showed them His hands and His side. They were glad when they saw the Lord! 

 

Then, sometime later, Jesus revealed Himself again by the Sea of Tiberias. Despite catching no fish on their own, Jesus’ voice leads them to another miraculous catch of fish and to eating breakfast with Him and Peter receiving the certainty of his forgiveness from Him after he denied Him three times on Maundy Thursday.

 

This sorrow that turned into joy was not manufactured by anything within them. They rejoiced “when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). Their joy came from outside of them. It came from without. Their joy came from the crucified and risen Jesus! He turned their sorrow into joy!

 

“In a little while” Jesus would bring redemption, life, and salvation. But wait, there’s more!

 

Forty days after His bodily resurrection from the dead, Jesus would return to God the Father as He bodily ascended into heaven. So, again, “in a little while,” His apostles would not see Him. But “in a little while,” the Holy Spirit would make it clear to the disciples all the things that had happened. And the Holy Spirit would also point them to things yet to come, and many, including you and me, will come to faith in Jesus as Lord through their apostolic testimony recorded in the Scriptures.

 

But what about you and me? Well, Jesus gives us a third riddle: “So also you will have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you”(John 16:22).

 

We are also living “in a little while.” I bet there have been times when you have not been particularly joyful. In our “little while,” we struggle. We struggle with weeping and lament. We mourn while the world is rejoicing. And just like when Jesus died nailed to a cross, the world today is rejoicing. The world is rejoicing because it has pushed God into a corner. Now, God cannot be shoved away, but the fallen world has pushed God away from so much public consciousness. Why? 

 

Well, the world hates God and His only begotten Son, who has come as the Redeemer of the world. You see, the fallen world hates God and rejoices when we worship money and possessions, falsehood over God’s truth. The fallen world rejoices when love grows cold and when we live in echo chambers by only interacting with others who share your same beliefs.

 

So, where is the joy? Even when we live in a time of intense pain, we are living a time akin to a woman giving birth. For when the birth occurs, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child has been born into the world. For when a child is born, all the pain is quickly forgotten. All that remains is joy. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

Today, Jesus comes to us offering forgiveness for your sins in hidden means through His written and preached Word, through the word of absolution, and given to us under bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins, the strength for our faith. But besides the mystery of the Means of Grace, we have not seen Jesus. We have not seen His scarred hands and feet with our own eyes, but we have seen Him by faith. And as Christ says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

 

But we will see Him fully. Right now, we all experience various crosses and trials, but “in a little while,” Jesus “will wipe away every tear from [your] eyes, and death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”(Revelation 21:4). So, be patient. God will get you through your trials.

 

Right now, we see a world growing increasingly out of control, but “in a little while” Jesus will return and set all things right. On that Last Day, Jesus will destroy our last enemy: death.

 

“In a little while” we will see the glorified, risen, ascended, all-powerful Jesus with our own eyes. On that day, we will rejoice, and no one can take that joy away from you. Until that day, let us always look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come! Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"From Unbelief to Faith" (John 20:19-31)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” … and “He showed them His hands and His side” (John 20:19, 20). Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

On that first Easter morning, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the empty tomb. At first, she didn’t recognize Him, but at once she heard her name, she desired to cling to Him. (John 20:11-18)

 

Later that Easter day, Jesus appeared to two unnamed disciples on the road to Emmaus. They, too, didn’t recognize Him at first, but at once He opened the Scriptures to them and made Himself known through the breaking of the bread, they did not want Him to leave. (Luke 24:13-35)

 

But now it is the evening of that day. The rumors have been circulating all day. Word has gone out to the apostles that their Lord had risen from the dead. If they believed the word of Christ’s resurrection, they certainly aren’t showing it. 

 

But the apostles are showing something. They are showing fear and unbelief.

 

For the apostles, they are sitting behind locked doors in great fear of the Jewish authorities. Except for Thomas, they will not go out. Now, they are not behind a simple padlock – the doors are barred. And not just one door is barred. It is assumed that the outer door of the building itself and the inner door to the room are barred shut. Nobody was getting in, and nobody was getting out without everyone knowing about it. All they see is death before them. 

 

Now, the apostles have good reason for their fear. You see, long before Christ died on the cross, the Sanhedrin had decreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah was to be expelled from the synagogues (John 9:22). And since that time, the Sanhedrin’s hatred for Jesus also spilled over to them. So, they figure they’re next.

 

So, here they are, hunkered down, huddled together, letting fear control their lives.

But in reality, nobody at that present time was attempting to kill them. It is likely that the Sanhedrin believed that since “the Jesus problem” has been dealt with that His disciples would then scatter. Yet, for the apostles, they think they are next. Their hearts tremble. They are letting fear control their actions. Fear: the unpleasant emotion caused by the thought that they were in danger; likely to be threatened; maybe be inflicted with the pain and agony of the cross themselves.

 

Fear remains a major experience for us. We live in a fallen world that can threaten us with violence. Fear can disrupt your life. We live in an age where things can go disastrously wrong. We live in a very imperfect and cruel world, where bad things happen, and we think of the most frightful possibilities of harm. I’m sure you can make your own list of the things you fear the most.

 

In this moment of fear for the apostles, Jesus appears. He never knocked on the door and asked permission to come in. He never found a sneaky way in. Now in His risen and glorified state, time, space, the rock of the tomb, the walls and doors of buildings no longer hamper the body of Jesus. He simply appears where He desires to appear. At this moment, Jesus simply desired to appear and stand among His apostles and say to them, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).

 

It is in this fear and anxiety that Jesus comes. It is in this fear and anxiety that Jesus comes to move them from unbelief to faith. Again, He greets them saying, “Peace be with you.” Now, this was a common greeting, a greeting that men spoke to each other, but when Jesus speaks “Peace be with you” here, He actually gives what that phrase says. He gives them peace. The peace which surpasses all understanding. The peace that guards hearts and minds.

 

And having spoken of peace, He now shows this peace as He “showed them His hands and His side” (John 20:20). By showing His wounds, He proves to them that He is not a phantom or a spirit. He is Jesus in the flesh. The same Jesus they knew before He suffered and died.

 

By showing His hands and His side, Jesus is showing them the very price at which He has brought them peace, His pierced hands, His split side, the evidence of His death by crucifixion. He shows them the wounds made by the nails and the spear. The wounds that proclaim that God is at peace with us. These wounds attest to our peace. 

 

 

When the apostles fled when Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, they gave up their faith in Him. They became unbelievers. But by hearing those words, “Peace be with you” as Jesus extends His pierced hands, He has taken all their guilt away and has restored them as believers again. For these ten living apostles, seeing led to them believing.

 

Now restored to faith, these ten apostles desire to begin their work on evangelizing the lost. Lone and behold, an unbeliever comes into their midst: Thomas. So, they try to convince Thomas saying, “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25a). They kept laboring and laboring to convince Thomas to believe. But their efforts proved in vain as Thomas says to them, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe” (John 20:25b).

 

Thomas is right where the other apostles were before they saw Jesus. They had to see in order to believe. It is often we hear of Thomas as a doubter. He was no doubter. He was certain. Just like the other apostles were certain that Jesus was dead. Besides being certain, Thomas was an unbeliever, just like the other apostles before they saw Jesus. 

 

The other apostles attempted to use reason in bringing Thomas to faith, but unbelief always was and always will be unreasonable. This is glaringly plain in the case of Thomas. For him, all the unanimous testimony of his fellow apostles, whose character he knew so well, amounted to nothing. The fact is that all of them, including himself, never dreamed that Jesus would return from the dead. That was impossible. 

 

The more the ten apostles speak to him and the more they present the facts, the more stubborn Thomas becomes. He challenges the evidence, saying, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

 

Thomas is demanding evidence. What the other apostles claim to have is not nearly enough for him. 

 

Now, you can’t reason with an unbeliever, because unbelievers set up criteria of their own. Unbelievers will have what they demand. Unbelievers make themselves a superior person, looking down on believers as fools who cannot be trusted. The wisdom of the unbeliever exceeds that of all other people. At this time, Thomas is pretty sure of himself that Jesus is dead.

Eight days later, with all eleven living apostles present, and the doors still padlocked, Jesus appears. The first words Jesus says are “Peace be with you.” Then he pulled Thomas aside and said, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27).

 

Immediately, Jesus turns Thomas from unbelief and mistrust into a solid and confident believer. Jesus gave Him faith, just as He gives us faith. You see, faith can only be received as a gift from God, from the Holy Spirit. Faith is not something that God expects us to conjure up for ourselves. Faith is not something that we create. Faith is something that the Holy Spirit creates in us.

 

There was no mistake. This Man is the crucified and risen Jesus. He is living. He is alive! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

Thomas now had the knowledge. He saw Christ’s hands and the nail holes still visible, scarring His flesh. He could no longer deny what was right in front of him. And to his faith, Thomas declares, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28).

 

We each have a similar walk of faith as Thomas. You were baptized. There, the Holy Spirit gave you faith. And what does the Holy Spirit do with your faith? He strengthens it as you hear and read His Word. In the Rite of Confirmation, you confessed this faith as Thomas did. You stated your agreement with God. And what does God do? He continues to strengthen your faith through His Means of Grace – His Word and Sacraments. God gives you His grace to you personally as He forgives your sins.

 

In the Lord’s Supper, you agree that Jesus is truly present. You agree that He gives you His very body and blood. When you hear His words of promise in this Supper, your faith informs you that you receive God’s forgiveness. Life and salvation are yours because Jesus won them for you, by His death, through His resurrection.

 

Since that night, Jesus is still appearing for us. Yet, not in the same way as He did for the apostles, but He still does appear. He appears to you as your Savior – as His gift to you in the Sacraments and in His Word, He continues to speak to us in His Holy Scriptures. 

 

In Christ alone, He moves all people from unbelief to faith. And in this gift of faith, we forgive one another, just as He has forgiven us. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Easter 2: "Bringing True and Lasting Peace" (John 20:19-31)

AUDIO: POPcast

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them…” (John 20:19a).

 

Last week’s Gospel lesson from Mark 16 left us with some questions. Yes, we heard the angel’s Gospel proclamation to Mary Magdalene: “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified One. He has risen; He is not here” (Mark 16:6). But we were left without a sighting of the resurrected Jesus. Now, Jesus knows that we need His physical presence. And He did show up for us last week in His Word and Sacrament, but we are still wanting more. 

 

For the apostles on that Resurrection Day, they didn’t know what to think. To be sure, they had heard from Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, that Jesus is risen from the dead, but they were still sitting in fear and fright behind locked doors. Their hearts are too weak and heavy to believe the news they have heard. They didn’t know what to believe. Then all of a sudden Jesus stands among them and says: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19b). Jesus didn’t sneak through a broken window or use a spare key. He just appeared. He arrived to bring peace to His weary apostles.

 

With Jesus in their presence, He gives them “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, [that] guards [their] hearts and [their] minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Now, this peace is not worldly peace. As Christians, like us, they will continue to daily suffer misfortune and hostility. Like us, Satan will continue to oppress them and afflict them. Like us, the fallen world will continue to alarm them with persecution and tyranny. And, like us, their own sinful flesh will continue to alarm them with their own weaknesses and impatience.

 

For these apostles, they are sitting there behind locked doors in great fear of the Jewish authorities. Except for Thomas, they will not go out. All they see is death before them. But even before Jesus arrives, they are at worldly peace. Nobody is there threatening their lives. Nobody is there attempting to kill them. Yet inwardly their hearts tremble. Inwardly, they have no peace or rest.

It is in this fear and anxiety that Jesus comes. It is in this fear and anxiety that Jesus comes to soothe their hearts. It is in this fear and anxiety that Jesus sets His apostles at peace.

 

Now, don’t misunderstand. Jesus is not taking away the danger. Jesus is not removing the malice of the Jewish authorities. Outwardly, everything remains unchanged. But now, through Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you,” their hearts are no longer afraid. 

 

Outwardly, like us, all the misfortunes remain: sickness, poverty, sin, the devil, and death. These evils do not cease. But inwardly, the apostles are at peace. The apostles are strengthened. The apostles are comforted. Through those words, “Peace be with you,” they no longer care about any misfortune as they become more and more courageous and bold.

 

The same goes for us, when Christ comes through His Word and Sacraments, He lets all our external adversities remain, but strengthens our faith. Out of timidity, He makes a fearless heart. Christ makes a trembling heart bold. He makes a restless conscience peacefully quiet. Through Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit makes us confident, courageous, and cheerful in the things that would otherwise frighten us, such as the power of sin and death, and all other distresses. Christ’s peace is a true and lasting peace, which remains forever and is invincible as long as you cling to Christ.

 

However, this peace only happens and comes when Christ points His apostles and us to His hands and His side. It is only when Christ shows us through the Word that He was crucified for us and shed His blood and died for us. Through His death, He has paid for our sins and appeased and warded off God’s wrath for us. This is the sign that comforts our afflicted consciences and hearts, which assures us of divine grace and the forgiveness of sins.

 

But what could it mean for Jesus just appearing inside a locked upper room? Well, Jesus came to His apostles this way to point out that after His resurrection, His kingdom on earth will no longer be bound to a bodily, visible, tangible, and worldly way of life, to time, place, space, or the like. Rather, Jesus is now present and rules through His power everywhere, in all places and at all times, when and where we need Him, and He will always be with us and help us unhindered through His Word and Sacraments.

 

 

This Christ did on that first Easter evening, but not every apostle was there. Thomas was missing. As for where Thomas was, we do not know. But for some reason, Thomas was the only apostle who wasn’t frightened enough to remain behind locked doors. Even though Thomas made his way outside, He still had the same anxieties as his fellow apostles. He still had the same doubts of his fellow apostles. Those anxieties and doubts that Jesus calmed for the others.

 

After Jesus departed, Thomas returned. Immediately, the other apostles told him, “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25a). After all that the apostles have gone through, Thomas likely thought that his fellow brothers were playing a joke on him. How could this be? Jesus was dead. So, Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe” (John 20:25b). Thomas is hedging His bet. This is as if Thomas said, “You can say you saw Him, but I don’t believe you. Prove it!”

 

Eight days later, all the apostles were together, including Thomas. While the doors were locked again, Jesus appeared and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you” (John 20:26). Then Jesus, knowing Thomas’ heart, said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27).

 

With those same calming words, “Peace be with you” and His gestures toward His hands and His side, Jesus calmed Thomas’ anxiety and fear. Now with confidence and courage, Thomas says, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28).

 

A lot of times, we like to criticize Thomas by calling him “Doubting Thomas,” forgetting that Thomas was of the same mindset as the other apostles. They all doubted. They all lived in fear and anxiety. Peace only came when the Crucified and Risen Christ appeared. Peace only came when Jesus showed them His hands and His side and said the words, “Peace be with you.”

 

This morning, Jesus is offering us peace. He is bringing us true and lasting peace, the peace which this fallen world does not understand. He is bringing to us “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7a). Jesus brings us this peace to all repentant sinners through the gift of absolution that He instituted. 

Following that second announcement of peace, Jesus says to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:21-23). This peace Jesus gives to His apostles in connection with His wounds is peace won for all mankind. This is what Jesus is declaring with this second announcement of peace. Like the apostles, we too, have been sent out by Jesus as His disciples. Jesus is calling us to tell this good news of peace to all who would hear it as we have received this peace from Him.

 

As redeemed and forgiven in Christ, the Church is commissioned by the Crucified and Risen Christ to forgive repentant sinners in His Name. When we do so, those sins are also released in heaven. They are wiped away, as if those sins never occurred. At the same time, the Church is also commissioned by Christ to retain those sins of the impenitent sinner in His name. The impenitent sinner is one who is not sorry for their sins against God and their neighbor. They have no guilt or any need for Jesus. They refuse to repent of their sinful life, but instead choose to continue in sin. For such a person as this, those sins are not forgiven, but remain on the sinner, who must account for them before God.

 

True peace and lasting peace is only received through faith in the Crucified and Risen Jesus. This Word of forgiveness is spoken by the Church in the stead of Christ through the Office of the Holy Ministry. To reject it is to reject the benefit of forgiveness.

 

Jesus pronounces this blessing of peace only on those who believe upon hearing the Word of peace from the Church without requiring visible or tangible proof. Thus we, who have not seen, may with certainty trust the same word of peace the apostles did. 

 

Jesus’ third announcement of peace is for us. “These words are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name” (John 20:31). Unlike the apostles, we cannot see Jesus’ hands and His side, but the Crucified and Risen Christ has not left Himself without witness. We can open our mouths to receive His very Body and Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins. In this blessed Sacrament, Christ assures us again and again that our sins are forgiven. May Christ’s Word and Sacrament fill you with the true and lasting peace only Jesus can give. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  + SOLI DEO GLORIA +