Mid-week Lent Service 1 [Mark 14:26-31] (29-February-2012)

This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon, 7pm.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Mark 14:26-31)

Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our reading tonight begins with the words:

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

In the 19^th century, there was a Lutheran Pastor in Bavaria by the name of Wilhelm Löhe, who wrote a devotional book called “The Seed Grains of Prayer”. (Some of you may know this book, or even have a copy.) Wilhelm Löhe was responsible for founding the Neuendettelsau Mission Society which trained and sent out pastors all over the world, to Australia, North and South America, and Africa. In fact, the first missionary to Papua New Guinea, Johannes Flierl, was trained at this seminary. He also founded a movement for deaconesses.

But in his book, The Seed Grains of Prayer, there is a little section called: “Brief counsel for the Suffering and the Afflicted.” This was a little chapter, only a few pages long, where he gives advice for those who are depressed, or suffering from spiritual temptation, or from depression. To this day, I have still found nothing more useful that this little chapter.

One thing he writes is this: “When you feel as if your courage were at an end, begin to sing Psalms and hymns of confession. This is very offensive to Satan and exerts a wonderful power upon troubled souls. Especially to be recommended are the Hymns of Praise. The prayer of praise will often attain what no pleading petition may gain. At times these prayers may immediately draw you out of distress. If you are not able to sing, let others sing for you.”

As a musician, this really touches my heart – and Löhe really shows here how church music is not a matter of taste, or simply fun or enjoyment, but has to do with spiritual warfare. And singing is a weapon – it’s a weapon against the devil in the face of spiritual attack, temptation and depression. Singing exerts such a physical effect on people: Easter hymns and hymns of praise especially often have high and low notes which make you have to stretch and work physically hard with voice, lungs, and stomach muscles. And in eternity, we will sing forever, and it could probably be said that our ability to sing with all the angels in heaven will be a joyful fruit of our resurrected bodies, giving voice to all the joy and happiness of the soul.

And so here we are, gathered to listen to the history of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it’s starts with singing.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

This little bit of singing can be so easily overlooked. And it Greek the expression “when they had sung a hymn” is only one word: hymnêsantes. So let’s chew on this little word before we continue.

Immediately before our reading tonight, we read about Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper. And so after the Lord’s Supper, they sung a hymn. In the Gospel of John, we also read about a special sermon which he preached on that night and also a glorious prayer which he prayed. You can read all of this in chapters 13—17 of John. But in the other gospels, the details are summarised. All that is mentioned is that they sung a hymn.

It was always the custom to sing Psalms 113 through to 118 at the Passover, and so this is probably what was indicated in the gospels. These 6 psalms were called the “Great Hallelujah”. You will probably be familiar with many verses from these psalms: What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love endures forever. Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

What wonderful words with which Jesus should begin his suffering and death! What a wonderful and invigorating song!

Think about the words: Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. See Jesus walking through the gates of righteousness, entering into the sanctuary of God as our high priest pouring out his own sacrificial blood on the cross, taking on our sin to be our righteousness. See Jesus as the stone that the builders rejected.

What a day of suffering it will be for Jesus! What a day of great gladness it will be for us when our sins are atoned for by our precious Saviour! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! This is the day that the Lord has made!

And so, Jesus begins his journey to the cross with these songs on his lips, being filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. In the same way, each time we come to church and participate in the divine service, we don’t just come to reflect on the end of the week, but we come to prepare ourselves for another week with Jesus, rejoicing in our sufferings, as St Paul says in Romans 5. Because with singing the praises of God, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and are given power to endure which comes from the Holy Spirit alone, because we are joining in with what is already taking place on the other side of the grave.

And so, Jesus begins his suffering and death and his journey with a hymn.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Now we see that not only does Jesus prepare for his suffering with a hymn but also with prayer. We read in the bible that the Mount of Olives was almost like a favourite place for Jesus. We read in Luke 21 that “everyday [Jesus] was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.” (Mount Olivet is another name for the Mount of Olives.) And nearby the Mount of Olives was the town of Bethany, where he often stayed and visited his friends Lazarus, and Mary and Martha. In Luke 6, we read that he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.

So you see, Jesus doesn’t want to be arrested at his Supper, in the city, where there is a great crowd, but he goes to a quiet place, his favourite place, his refuge of prayer. And he prepares to meet his betrayer with prayer.

St John describes this in a bit more detail, and says that Jesus had to cross to Kidron Valley. The Kidron Valley was just near the Mount of Olives, and many years previous, King David had also crossed this valley and the brook there to escape from his son Absalom. But Jesus goes across there not to escape his enemies, but to prepare himself to face them.

And so we read: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Jesus comes to the place of prayer, and makes a prophecy to his disciples. He looks deeply into their hearts. St John’s Gospel chapter 2 says: Jesus himself knew what was in man. He knows that there is nothing good that dwells in their flesh, much more deeply than they can ever know themselves.

And he says: You will all fall away.

There is no disciple, without exception, who will not fall away.

And Jesus quotes from the prophet Zechariah: For it is written: “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”

Here we see that God’s hand is at work: he stretches out his hand and strikes the shepherd. A long time ago, Abraham lifted up a knife against his son, but the angel of God prevented him and God himself provided a Lamb. But here we have a different situation. Here Jesus is actually the Lamb of God, whom God himself provides. Jesus is his only Son whom he loves, but Jesus is also the Lamb that God provides. With Abraham, his son and the ram who is caught in the thicket bush are two different things. With Jesus, he is both the Son of God and the Lamb of God.

And we read in Isaiah 53 (one of the most wonderful chapters in the whole of the Old Testament): We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted…It was the will of God to crush him, he has put him to grief… the Lord has laid on him (placed upon him) the iniquity of us all.

And so we read in Zechariah: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.

You can just imagine when there is a shepherd in a field with his sheep, and a wild animal comes and attacks the shepherd, or a robber comes with a club and hits him over the head, the sheep will run in all directions. This is exactly what is happening here. This is exactly what Jesus is prophesying what will happen. God the Father will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.

But there is a profound reason why the sheep will be scattered. It is not just for no reason that it has to happen like this – it is not for no reason that Jesus prophesies that this will happen.

Let’s read once more what happens in the reading:

Jesus said to them: “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

Peter doesn’t want this prophecy to come true. He doesn’t like it, and he wants to make a stronger to commitment to Jesus.

But you see, it simply must come true. Jesus prophesies here that there simply has to be a separation between the shepherd and the sheep. Jesus prophesies that there simply must be a dividing line between the Son of God and his disciples. Nobody can die for the sins of the world with him: not Peter, not James and John, not Mary his mother – no-one can make the one true perfect sacrifice. Nobody else is true God and true man, intimately united the one person. Jesus is the only Lamb of God, he is the only Lamb that the Lord provides in the thicket bush. Only one Lamb is stuck with his horns in the shrubbery.

Peter died on a cross later in his life, so we are told from historians. But his death did not make atonement for the sins of the world: in fact, it didn’t even make atonement for Peter. Only Jesus’ death can do that.

So Jesus prophesies that the sheep will be scattered. And he puts the sheep as far away from the shepherd so that it’s clear to everyone that no-one else has made a contribution to our salvation. And as we know, no-one else can make a contribution to their salvation. Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus. By his stripes we are healed. On him the Lord laid the iniquity of us all, and he has laid them on no one else. And when we know that they are only laid on him, then we can be certain that the iniquities which are laid on him are those that belong to us all. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.

And Jesus is so gracious here, that he even says: And after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Jesus prophesies not just the fact that the shepherd will be struck, and the sheep will be scattered, but also the fact that the shepherd will get back up on his feet and call all the sheep back to him.

And we read in so much detail how Jesus came and met his disciples after his resurrection, and treated them in such a friendly way, it’s almost as if they never ran away, and that Peter never denied him three times. Sure, we can see the scars in his hands, but he treats them just like they are still his friends, with no grudges that they walked out on him at his darkest hour. He gently comes to breathe on his disciples the Holy Spirit, to call them by the Gospel, to gather them together, to enlighten them with his gifts, and sanctify them and keep them in the true faith.

You see, everytime we sin and we walk out on Jesus and deny him and turn our back on him, he is there with open arms, to gather us again, to seek after the one lost sheep who has gone astray. That’s what it means to have a loving shepherd of our souls! No wonder we have two congregations in the parish named Good Shepherd.

But you see, Peter doesn’t want this either.

He says, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

You see here that Peter is presumptuous. He rejects Jesus’ words, and he rejects the words of the prophet Zechariah. Peter’s denial has already begun. And the disciples all say the same thing—they all listen to and follow the example of Peter.

Peter even wants to put himself above all the rest of the disciples: “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

But Jesus reaffirms the future for Peter: “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.”

But that’s precisely the point, Peter! We don’t want you to die with Jesus, because you aren’t the Saviour of the world, and you can’t earn us a dry fig for our salvation! Get out of the way, Peter! Let Jesus die by himself.

Romans 11 says: “God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”

Peter, you need to be happy with the fact that you are a sinner. You will be disobedient. And you will deny your Lord many times. If you are not happy to be considered by God disobedient, then simply put you will never receive his mercy.

God has consigned all to disobedience. Listen to those words. They include you. There is one Saviour. There is one Good Shepherd. There is one name given here on earth among us by which we can be saved.

If you don’t want to be a sheep, then you make yourself a false shepherd.

Let Jesus die for you by himself, and put you far from him, so that he can go to Galilee and gather you back to himself again.

So here we see Peter with a false trust, a false confidence, a false expectation of his own capabilities. You may feel sometimes, you really want to set your life straight, and put it in order, and it just never works, and then you despair and groan even more than you did before. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to get any better.

But it’s time to let go of Jesus, and let go of your idolatrous ideas of wanting to die with him and be your own Saviour. It’s time for you to deny him, the separate yourself from him, let go of him, run away from him in accordance with his prophetic words, so that he can go to the cross by himself, and die alone for your sins. And then when he is raised from the dead, he alone will gather you into his sheepfold, he alone will forgive you, and he alone will build his church.

And so he goes to die a lonely death, by himself, alone: for you and for the forgiveness of all your sins, for the forgiveness of all your runnings-away, and all your denials, and all your attempts to die for the sins of the world yourself.

Jesus says: I am the Good Shepherd.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us! Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.