Mid-week Lent Service IV [John 19:4-16] (14-Mar-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 5.30pm.

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

Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, bless all of us with your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear well. Amen.

Tonight in our sermon we read about Pontius Pilate and his final dealings with the crowd before Jesus was lead off to be crucified. Last week, we read about where Jesus was scourged, and crowned with thorns, clothed with a purple robe, given a reed as a sceptre and mocked and spat upon. This week, we read mostly about Pontius Pilate, walking back and forth inside and outside his headquarters, speaking to the crowd and to Jesus, before he finally gives up and hands Jesus over to be crucified.

Our reading tonight is broken up into three parts:

I.                   Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd, and testifies to his innocence.

II.                 Pilate goes back inside with Jesus and asks him where he is from.

III.              Pilate takes Jesus outside again, trying to release him, but to no effect.

So let’s come to our first part, where:

I.                   Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd, and testifies to his innocence.

We read in John 19:4, where Pilate says to the crowd: See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.

Last week, we read about the terrible suffering that Jesus endured. We read so clearly now, that even though Pontius Pilate had had him whipped in one of the most horrendous punishments known to humanity, he still comes out afterwards and says: I find no guilt in him. So why did he have him flogged? Well, it was all politics: it was simply to appease the crowd. And Pilate had thought that maybe if he had Jesus flogged, that the crowd would have a sense of shame about it, and they would feel sorry for Jesus and agree to release him.

So Pilate says: See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. We read: So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

What a mess Jesus must have looked, after all that he gone through just then. Compare that wonderful time before the fall into sin, when God created woman and brought her to the man. We read: Then the man said: This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. What an amazing thing it was for the first man to see for the first time the first woman!

Now everything is reversed. This time God, through Pilate, presents his own Son to the crowd. The Jews were God’s chosen people, his bride. And now Jesus, their bridegroom is presented to them. Behold, the man! He is flesh of their flesh and bone of their bones. And yet, instead of receiving him with love and affection and devotion, as the first man received the first woman, they receive him with burning hatred, with not a drop of sympathy at all. We read: When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!”

These words of Pilate — Behold, the man! — also remind us of what St Paul says in comparing Adam and Christ. He says: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. He also says: For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall be made alive. Here we have a comparison between Adam and Jesus. Adam sinned, Jesus dies for sin. Adam started off perfect and pure and strong and healthy and even immortal, and then ended up completely wretched because he chose sin. But then Jesus comes along, and he is true God, and he then becomes completely wretched and poor and hungry just like us when he becomes a man, not because he is a sinner, not because he chose to sin. But he chose to bear our sin, and to carry it. And now Pilate shows us what it looks like for a man to bear our sin: Behold, the man!

It will also be a wonderful thing when we appear before God’s throne, full of sin. There is nothing in us that is worthy of God accepting us or welcoming us into heaven. But we can say: Behold, the man! Don’t look at me and my sin, but look to Jesus and his atonement for sin. Look to Jesus and his purity. This is the man who has died for you and made himself your brother and your Saviour. Pilate says: Behold, the man! John the Baptist said: Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

When the people called for his crucifixion again, we read that Pilate said: Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. Pilate here is almost throwing in the towel, so to speak. He is fed up with it all. He says to them that he finds no guilt in him. But on the other hand, he puts out a challenge to them: Take him yourselves and crucify him. It’s almost to say: I can’t come up with a reason to crucify him. So if you want to crucify him, you better have a good reason. I’ve exhausted the Roman law, so if you have a good reason to crucify him, I want to hear it.

                                         

So what do they say? They say: We have a law, and according to that law he ought to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God. Now the Jews had the law in the Ten Commandments about taking the Lord’s name in vain. And also we read the law in Leviticus: Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. Now the Jews here thought that because Jesus had said that he was the Son of God, that he was blaspheming the name of the LORD. But he would be blaspheming the Lord’s name if such a thing were not true. For example, if you or I said that we were to Son of God, it would be blasphemy, because it’s not true. But Jesus had not only testified with his mouth that he was the Son of God, but also through his works, and his wonderful healing and comforting miracles. It was true.

But there was a lie in what they said. Jesus had not made himself the Son of God. God himself had declared from heaven that he was His Son, at his baptism, and also at his transfiguration.

But this thing stabs Pontius Pilate in his conscience. You see, in Ancient Roman religion, the gods were super-human beings, as they often are in many pagan religions. And Roman people were open to the possibility of one of the gods coming down in human form. Caesar Augustus had actually called himself amongst other things Filius Dei, the son of a god. What the Jews said to Pilate here would have really made him tremble. “I know that he is innocent, but the Son of God, you say?” And so we read: When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

Once again, Pontius Pilate’s grand plan to free Jesus through arousing sympathy for Jesus had backfired on him, he comes out in confidence, and he ends up in fear.

This brings us to the second part of our reading where:

II.                 Pilate goes back inside his headquarters to speak to Jesus.

We read: Pilate entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

Now Pilate is not asking him, “Where are you from?” just like we might say that to someone in the church narthex to someone, talking about what city or town they come from. Pilate already knows that: he knows that he is from Galilee. That’s why he had him sent off to King Herod. He is asking him something much deeper. And yet: Jesus gave him no answer.

This is like a young couple, who are in love, and thinking about getting married. They say to each other: I love you. And when they say this, they take a risk, and also commit themselves to each other. When Jesus says to Peter: Who do you say that I am? He says: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Peter knew where Jesus was from. He made a confession of faith.

But imagine the young couple, and one of them said, “Do you love me?” This question is not a commitment, but doubts whether they really do, and they want the other person to commit first. If you put yourself on the line first, then I’ll follow, but I won’t take the risk, and take the lead. This question could also carry underneath it a rebuke, as if to say: “Do you love me? You sure don’t act like it!”

And so, Pilate says to Jesus, “Where are you from?” He won’t make a confession of faith. He says to the crowd that he is innocent, but he won’t commit himself to Jesus. Jesus has already said enough to create faith in him. He had already said: My kingdom is not of this world. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Jesus already told Pilate that he came into the world from outside of it, from eternity, from the bosom of the Father. And so in answer to his question, Jesus remains silent.

This makes Pilate angry. He says: You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? Pilate threatens Jesus here. It’s as if he says: Hey, speak to me, or I’ll crucify you just for that! This would be as if a world leader said to another world leader: Reply to my emails, or I’ll launch a nuclear bomb! Everyone knows just how silly this is. So Jesus does open his mouth, and doesn’t give his answer, but says: You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.

Jesus says something here about authority. We live in a society that doesn’t respect people in authority. Many students in schools don’t respect their teachers, citizens don’t often respect their politicians and leaders very highly, and we could give other examples. But God has actually created authority, and he has given it to the world as his blessing and as his gift. Now, there are plenty of people who abuse their authority, but the abuse of authority doesn’t make authority in and of itself a bad thing.

So God has created authority in the home, in marriage and in the family. He also has created authority in the church. And he also has created authority in the civil realm, in society, with leaders, police, armed forces, and so on.

It’s a wonderful privilege that God gives to us to pray for those who are under our authority, and to pray for those people who are in authority over us. St Paul writes in 1 Timothy: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Also, we read in Romans 13: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. St Peter also writes in his first letter: Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. Pontius Pilate is a governor, just like Peter mentions here in his letter.

Have a think about our leaders, and world leaders. We might imagine some leaders that we like, and some we don’t like. For example, there’s the prime-minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull. Or the Queensland premier, Anastacia Palaszczuk. Or there’s our local members of parliament. Or then there’s the Queen, who is also the Queen of the Commonwealth of Australia. Whether we personally like these people or not, the fact is they have their authority from God, and God has placed them there. There is great wisdom is knowing what authority we have, and then to use it.

And so here we have Pontius Pilate, who is threatening to crucify Jesus for not opening his mouth. And Jesus says to him: You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above. This means that when Pilate finally does give Jesus over to be crucified, it is God who has allowed it to happen. But also, if Pilate misuses his authority by sentencing an innocent man to death, it is a great sin. And Jesus says this to him: Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. Jesus says: If you crucify me, it will be a sin, and even a great sin. But those who have given me over to you, to manipulate you, and to use you, and to get what they want by pressing in on you, they have committed a greater sin. They are using God-given authority not to promote what is right and good, but in order to suit their own ends.

This now brings us to the third part of our reading tonight, where:

III.              Pilate brings Jesus outside again, and tries to release him, but to no avail.

We read: From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” This time, these words are addressed to Pilate. In effect, the Jews here are threatening Pilate, as if to say, If you don’t do what we want, we’ll put in a bad report about you to Caesar, and he won’t like that, will he, Mr Pilate? Pilate is now put in a difficult place. The crowd remind Pilate that he is not simply a man in authority over them, but he is a man under the authority of Caesar. What will Caesar think, they say, if you don’t put a rival king to death?

We read: So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. We can see here that this is Pilate’s last opportunity. He is going to sit in his official judgment seat. The judge is going to make his pronouncement. John also mentions the day and the time. It is the Day of Preparation—the next day is going to be the Sabbath, and time is running out. It is Friday at midday, and there are only so many hours left in the day. Later on in the chapter, we read that the Jews didn’t want to have bodies on the cross on the Sabbath, so they asked Pilate to break their legs and get the job over and done with. But here we are told specifically, that Pilate has ascended onto his judgment throne. As Peter says: He is a governor sent by God to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

And so mindful of this holy calling and duty that God has bestowed upon him, he says: Behold your King! We read: They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Just as they chose to have Barabbas released—a murderer instead of their creator—so they also choose to have Caesar as their king, the Roman Emperor, who has taxed and oppressed them, and call for the death of the King of heaven, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the King of David, the Lion from the Tribe of Judah, the Son of David and the Son of God.

In Matthew’s Gospel we read: So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather than a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Pilate tries to excuse himself by washing himself clean, in a little symbolic ritual, and declaring his innocence. But he is saying: Jesus is innocent, and I want to share in that innocence too. It’s you that are forcing me into this.

But then the Jews say something quite tremendous. They say: His blood be on us and on our children! It’s as if they are saying: “Don’t you worry, Pilate! You might have a bad conscience, but we don’t. We know he’s guilty. His blood can be on us and even on our children, but we know that we are right and that we have nothing to worry about. We know that we are innocent, and we know that he is guilty.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. They did not give him a fair trial. Pilate had tried to free Jesus, the crowd had simply pushed and pushed until their voices prevailed.

In some sense, they call upon themselves the guilt of Jesus’ death upon themselves, convinced that they are right and Jesus is wrong. However, those of us who believe that they were wrong and Jesus was right must really shudder at these words.

These words are very sensitive, especially in the way that they have been used in history. Sometimes, different people have developed a particular hatred for Jewish people, and this came to a particular head, when Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist party exterminated many, many Jews—together with many other unwanted people—in the holocaust at the time of WWII. Hatred towards to Jews was justified because they had called the guilt of Jesus’ death down upon them and upon their children.

And yet, we who are Gentiles, have been grafted in, through holy baptism, into God’s people. Both Jews and Gentiles are called to be part of God’s church on earth. And of course, Jewish people are so close to our faith, in that they have the Old Testament, and yet they are so far away in that they reject the New Testament, and Jesus as their Messiah. Jesus was a Jew, as were all the apostles, and all the writers of the bible. As St Paul writes: But if some of the branches [that is, some Jews] were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, [that is, Gentiles] were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who supports the root, but the root that supports you. The Jews were originally God’s chosen people, and now we have been made God’s chosen people together with them. Those Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah are cut off, and need to be called to repentance and faith just like the rest of us. As long as Jews and Muslims in the Middle-East reject Jesus together they will always be fighting. Jesus calls both Jews and Muslims to him, to his cross, to his blood, to his peace which passes all understanding. Imagine what a joy it would be for Jews and Arabs if they had one common Saviour, Jesus Christ, having one common baptism, and could share in the Lord’s Supper together! This is not to say that Jesus’ peace is simply a political thing—not at all. However, Jesus says: Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. What a wonderful joy it must have been for that Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 to read prophet Isaiah—that prophet which he knew so well—and then to realise that it was talking about Jesus!

It should be a great prayer for us towards those of the Jewish race and of the Jewish faith that the blood of Jesus may be upon them and upon their children, not as a curse, but as a blessing. And this should also be our prayer about ourselves and our children, just as Peter said on the day of Pentecost: Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.

Behold the man! Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

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

Lent I B [Mark 1:12-13] (18-Feb-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

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

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and angels were ministering to him.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today we are celebrating the First Sunday of Lent. And for many centuries, it has always been a custom of the church to read about Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness. Our Gospel reading today is from the Gospel of Mark. Mark actually doesn’t tell us very much about Jesus’ temptation. He simply says: The Spirit immediately drove [Jesus] out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and angels were ministering to him. That’s it. In the Gospel of Matthew and Luke we find much more detail of the exact conversations that Satan and Jesus, and what the specific temptations were. So in our sermon today we’re also going to look into those passages in Matthew and Luke.

Jesus temptation happened immediately after his baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. Even though Jesus was true God and always lived in unity with the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit now comes upon Jesus for a special purpose: to show that Jesus is the true Son of God, and to anoint Jesus for his work of preaching, healing, comforting, suffering and dying. We read that this same Holy Spirit then immediately drives Jesus out into the wilderness. John says in his first letter that the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. As soon as Jesus is baptised, he is driven by the Holy Spirit to confront the devil, and destroy him, and to show us for all time how he is defeated.

In Hebrews 4 we read that Jesus has been tempted as we are in every respect, yet without sin. Today we see Jesus being tempted, and tempted just as we are. However, Jesus does not fall into sin, but fights off the temptation, and overcomes it. Jesus has a real fight with Satan—the temptations were real and sharp and cruel. And yet there is no doubt who is going to win. Sometimes, people think that if Jesus were a real human, it must have been possible for him to fall. But that’s not true, because Jesus is not just a human being like us, but also true God. And yet, the temptation was real. The devil can only fight battles that he is going to lose, and yet he fights them anyway.

Now during these 40 days, Jesus fasted and ate nothing. During the season of Lent, Christians have often fasted too: maybe they eat less, or give up some favourite food, or some habit. But the fasting of Jesus is a miracle. When the bible speaks about fasting for us, we don’t need to copy Jesus here! Jesus performs a special miracle in his fasting, and shows us his power as true God. Moses and Elijah also fasted for 40 days, being strengthened by God’s special supernatural power. However, after Jesus shows his divine power and fasted for 40 days, then we read he was hungry. He is true God, but also wants to sympathise with us. He has a special task, and he shows us that he feels the same kinds of normal pains as us.

The amazing thing about this is that Jesus didn’t have to suffer, or feel weakness, or hunger, or experience temptation, if he didn’t want to. When he was arrested Jesus said to Peter: Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? Jesus also said: No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. And so, even though Jesus is true God, he experiences hunger, feels pain and endures temptation because he wants to encourage us and sympathise with us. He wants us to trust him, not just as our God above us, but as our brother alongside us.

And so, this reading teaches us something very confronting: you are not immune to Satan’s attacks. The devil didn’t hold back from seducing Adam and Eve, even though they were sinless, and we are not. After the last Supper, Jesus said to Peter that Satan wanted to have him to sift him like wheat. The apostles weren’t immune to Satan, and he destroyed Judas. Even at Jesus himself—who is both man and God—the devil didn’t hold back from firing his darts. And so, this reading today is very important, because if want to get the devil off our back and win, we can’t do it by ourselves. We need to have Jesus our army General on our side, and we need his weapons. Then we can win, because we are saved by the winner.

So let’s now read about the first temptation of Jesus, and how Jesus fights this temptation off.

I.                   The first temptation.

So we read: [Jesus] was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Satan wants Jesus to prove himself. But Jesus doesn’t need to prove himself to him! And you too never have to prove to Satan that you are true Christian. The devil wants to sow doubt: If you are the Son of God. If you are really God’s Son, then do what I tell you. Jesus is hungry, and Satan tempts him to eat. But instead of Jesus just going home and eating some bread, Satan wants him to use magic powers, to change many stones into a banquet of bread, so that Jesus will not just eat, but pig out and make a proper fool of himself.

Now here’s what’s amazing: Jesus doesn’t silence the devil with supernatural power. He fights him off with something that all of us have access to: the clear word of God, a simple little bible verse. He says: It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This is a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3. And one little bible verse like this skewers the devil in his tracks. You see, God’s word has power. It has divine authority, and the bible requires the same obedience as we would give to God himself, because this is God’s word. Jesus says: If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. And so Jesus shows us that all the power against Satan is contained in God’s Word.

Jesus says: It is written. Jesus shows us here just how highly He views the Scripture, the bible, God’s Word. Even though Deuteronomy was written by Moses long before this event, it was not simply Moses that Jesus was quoting, but the Holy Spirit himself, because the Holy Spirit inspired Moses. 2 Timothy 3:16 says: All Scripture is inspired by God. It could also be translated: breathed out by God, or breathed out by God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus also said once that the Scripture cannot be broken. When Jesus was praying to his Father, he prayed for his disciples and said: Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. And so, because the Scripture has all this power behind it, Jesus doesn’t need to use supernatural power against Satan—all he needs is the Word.

Now it has always been a practice in the church until recently for Christians to learn bible quotes from memory. In Deuteronomy 6, it says: These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You can see from our reading today how useful it is for us to learn bible verses and to commit them to memory, not just to be intellectual, but to be equipped and armed and to have weapons against the devil in our hearts and minds. Jesus doesn’t have a theological argument with Satan; he just quotes the Scripture. He says: It is written.

Jesus quotes the words: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This passage from Deuteronomy talks about when God sent manna—heavenly bread—to the Israelites in the desert. God wanted to teach them that their daily bread comes from him. But God also provides us with bakers, and with flour, and wheat, and so on. But when those means are taken away, and there is no one to make bread, then we can start to think: God has abandoned me! Now I need to use the devil’s tricks—and lie and cheat—to get bread and money and stuff. No—God provides for us, his word says it, and we can ask him for what we need. He is faithful and will provide everything.

Now, let’s come to the second temptation, and how Jesus fights off this one.

II.                 The second temptation.

We read: Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. Sometimes we look back on something that happened to us and we think that the devil must have orchestrated the whole thing. Notice here in our reading that the devil takes Jesus up on the top of the temple. The devil seems to have even physical power over people’s bodies. But we learn also from the book of Job that Satan only causes mischief as God allows it, and if God allows it, then it is not for evil, but for good. At the end of the book of Genesis, Joseph says to his brothers: You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. In the same way, Satan takes Jesus up on top of the temple for evil, but God allows it for good, to win a victory over Satan.

Now also it says that the devil set him on the pinnacle of the temple. The temple was the holy place which God had told his people to build so that they could have access into his sacred presence. But Satan doesn’t take him inside where the holy ceremonies and sacrifices are going on, but puts him on top. The temple may as well be a big-top or a circus tent, and devil turns this holy building and this holy place into a play-thing, into a jungle-gym, into a trapeze-show. This is a temptation that the devil often sends: to get people to despise and profane holy things from God, and treat them like they are nothing.

Now what does Satan say to Jesus? He says: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “’He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “’On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Satan wants Jesus to give up his mission to save the world from sin by dying on the cross and to go “splat” on the pavement below. Then everyone would say, not “Behold, the Lamb of God”, but, “Tsk, tsk. What a tragic, silly early death of a promising young life!” Or Satan wants Jesus to prove just how powerful his prayers have been, so that when he jumps, the angels will catch him and provide a safety net. If Jesus is the Son of God, then surely the angels must come.

Now to add to the temptation, Satan quotes the bible. Just like Jesus before, Satan says: It is written. And he quotes from Psalm 91: He will command his angels concerning you. Actually, this is a misquote. Satan leaves out some words. The psalm says: He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Now, Jesus has been anointed by the Holy Spirit to be our Saviour. That is the way he is to follow. And as long as he continues in that path, God will send his mighty armies of angels for his protection. And the same for us: God doesn’t promise angelic protection whatever we do, but he does promise to send the angels to guard us in all our ways, as we walk with God.

Sometimes people think the bible isn’t reliable, because even “Satan can quote the bible”. The devil only twists the bible, and turns thing around to make it says what it doesn’t say. Jesus doesn’t argue with the devil, but just quotes the Scripture: Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” God gave Jesus a calling: to be the Saviour of the world. And God has called you to follow Jesus wherever you are in life: to be a faithful spouse, or a parent or grandparent, or a child, or a citizen, or whatever. God sends angels to protect you daily as you trust and follow him wherever he has called you. He won’t prove that he looks after you by you jumping off buildings; He has promised it.

Now, let’s come to

III.              The third temptation.

We read: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” Now the devil pulls out a particularly nasty trick. He pretends to be God, he pretends to be an angel of light. St Paul says that Satan even manifests himself as an angel of light. He shows Jesus a beautiful view, the wonder of God’s creation, great forests and lakes, great cities and beautiful things. And Satan makes himself into an inspirational speaker. He says: All these I will give you. Do you like it? You can have it! You can have it all: riches, fame, glory. Ask what you want and it’s yours.

But there’s always a catch with old Nick… He says: All these I will give you, if… He’s like one of those slick salesmen who says: “Absolutely free!” But then in the footnote there’s this fee, and that fee, and every other fee. When the devil gives something to someone it always comes at the expense of their soul. He says: All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me. Every false God demands a sacrifice. Jesus says: What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? And even in the church, the devil always tries to make falling away from the faith into the most holy Christian work. He makes apostacy and denying Christ into a beautiful work of Christian piety and worship.

And so Jesus once again quotes the Scripture. He says: Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Here the devil comes straight out, and tempts Jesus to worship him. But Jesus also shows us here that worship belongs to God and to him alone. Many people won’t go all out and worship Satan, and become Satanists. But then they’ll pray to angels or people who have died or even saints or their ancestors. And because they’re not worshipping the devil, they think it’s OK. But behind anything that is not the worship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the devil is hiding. And so Jesus calls us all back to the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. 

Now Jesus also says: Begone, Satan! Somewhere else Jesus also says: Get behind me, Satan! You don’t argue with the devil. Sometimes we can sit around for hours, days, weeks, months, being harassed by Satan. We didn’t need to argue with him, we didn’t need to reason with him, we didn’t need to think everything through. All we needed was to tell him to rack off! (Or whatever colourful language you prefer!) Jesus says: Be gone, Satan! Clear out, get out of my face, hit the road! This is a very important thing in what we call “spiritual warfare”. James says: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Here Jesus takes the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, like a fly-swat, and smacks him. The job is done. That’s all it takes.

At the end of our reading, it says that Jesus was…being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. In Luke it says: When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. This opportune time was when Satan put it into the minds of different people to work to have Jesus crucified. But Jesus’ death was not Satan’s victory, but Jesus’ victory over Satan. And so Jesus was out in the wilderness there with wild animals. Since the devil had been silenced, the wild animals couldn’t be used by the devil to attack Jesus. So they were silenced too. Even a den of lions couldn’t harm the prophet Daniel, and Jesus could quietly sit with any wild animal that came along.

Also, it says: And the angels were ministering to him. There are only two places where the angels come and help or assist Jesus: here, and when Jesus sweat blood during his bitter prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane. It seems as though the devil’s attacks “took it out of” Jesus, and took its toll. Sometimes the devil attacks us as Christians, and through Jesus and his word, we are able to win the victory. But it can leave us exhausted. And so we see in our reading that even Jesus was assisted by the angels. Likewise, when we are feeling weak and exhausted and beaten about by the evil one, we can rest in the wonderful truth that Jesus has won the victory, and he surrounds us with the mighty protection of the heavenly hosts.

So let’s thank Jesus for that victory, and sing to him: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest! Amen.

Dear Jesus, the old prince may still scowl fierce as he will. He can harm us none; he’s judged forever undone. One little word can fell him. Amen.

Epiphany IV B [Mark 1:21-28] (28-Jan-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

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

He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Last week, we read about a specific message and a particular word that Jesus was preaching, where he said: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

Today we read: They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath [Jesus] entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

In our reading today, we don’t read about what Jesus was saying. The text simply says that he was teaching. But we do read the kind of effect that it had on people, and why it had this effect. We read: They were astonished at his teaching. But why were they astonished? We read: for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. Jesus was teaching not with simply human authority, like the scribes that the people were so used to. It is one thing to be a scribe, and to check and double-check words and grammar—this is a good thing. But it is another thing to teach. When Jesus teaches, he is not simply teaching empty words, or rhetoric. He is not saying a beautiful or a clever or a funny way of putting things. He is not showing off his ability to communicate, or his skills in giving a speech. This is all human authority. But Jesus’ teaching has authority, because he is not only a human being, but he is also true God at the same time, in one person. And so Jesus’ teaching is crystal clear, it is completely and totally true, and there are no half-truths. Sometimes people say things in a clever way so as to say two opposite things at the same time, and they end up saying nothing. In actual fact, they just want to say something to keep people happy, and to be politically correct, or to be diplomatic. But this is not how Jesus speaks: every word that he teaches is God’s word. Proverbs 30 says: Every word of God proves true. Jesus prays to his Father: Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. He also says that the Scripture cannot be broken. St Paul also writes to Titus that God never lies. And because of this, we read in Hebrews that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And so when Jesus teaches, the people are astonished, they recognise the divine authority of Jesus, they recognise that there is something different about what he says that no one else has said to them before. They recognise that no-one has called them to repentance in the sharp, clear way that he has, and no-one has comforted them with the divine comfort of heaven in the way that he has.

But then, in the middle of Jesus’ teaching, something very strange happens. We read: Immediately there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him.”

First of all here, we are told that there was a man with an unclean spirit. An unclean spirit is another name for a demon, or sometimes it is called an evil spirit. Now what is an unclean spirit? One of things we often forget when we read the bible is that creation includes things that we can’t see. In the Nicene Creed, we confess: I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, or seen and unseen. The visible creation is what we see around us, and the creation of these things is describes right at the beginning of the bible, in Genesis chapter 1. Visible things include light, water, the sky, the earth, land, the sea, plants, trees, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, the solar systems and galaxies, birds, fish, animals, reptiles, insects, and also, of course, humans. But then there are also certain things that God creates that are invisible: this includes heaven and hell, and also angels. Angels are spiritual beings, spirits that are created by God, that don’t have bodies, don’t have flesh and blood. However, like human beings, angels also were created with a free will. God commanded human beings to love him and serve him, and he created the angels to do the same. Loving and serving God means that we do it willingly—God does not have us like puppets on a string, making us love him by force. That wouldn’t be love.

And so, we also believe that the devil decided to use his free will not for God and in service of God, but in hatred towards God, and in rebellion against him, and for evil. Then Satan tempted the first people into sin, and the human race became sinful too, because they listened to the voice of the devil instead of God, and also chose evil over good. But also, we read that the devil was not the only angel who fell into sin, but there was a large number, who form a kind of army with the devil as the leader.

In our reading today, we read that an unclean spirit had entered into a man. Now, in our culture, something has happened in the last two or three hundred years, which is called the Scientific Enlightenment. From this time onwards people have made all kinds of advances in science, which has been a very good thing. However, at the same time, people started to reject things in the bible that weren’t able to be proven by science, or weren’t measurable by science. People started to deny that there’s anything that exists that you can’t see. We can see this today, where many people don’t believe in the existence of heaven or hell, angels or demons, the devil, or even God himself. They look at the world with a set of rules that just completely does away with anything that they can’t measure or prove with science.

Many people in the church too have often read passages such as the one in our reading today in a scientific—or we might say a “rationalistic”—way. This isn’t to say that we don’t use our brains when we read the bible. Of course, we do.  But we shouldn’t use our brain and our reason to try and make the bible say something that it doesn’t say. Especially we shouldn’t try and make the bible say the opposite of what it doesn’t say! This is exactly what the devil did when he tempted Eve: God had said that if they ate the fruit, that they would surely die. What does the devil do? He interprets God’s word in such a way as to make it say the exact opposite of what God actually said. The devil says: You will not surely die.

And so, it is common for people to read a passage like this in our reading today and to say that this man didn’t have an unclean spirit, but that he had a mental illness. However, this is not what the text says. Mental illness does exist, and sometimes there are certain mental illnesses that have symptoms which look similar to demon possessions. But they are not the same thing. Later in chapter 1 of Mark, we read that Jesus healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. There are two things here: Jesus was healing people who were sick, and he was casting out demons. They were not always the same thing. So there are two mistakes that people make: sometimes they think that there is no such thing as demon possession, and that everything is mental illness. Sometimes people think that there is no such thing as mental illness and everything is demon possession. Both of these things are wrong. Sometimes a person can go to a doctor or a psychiatrist and be treated for their mental illness—no problem. However, there are also situations where medical treatment can’t help—the reason is that the person is not really mentally ill, but are spiritually troubled.

But let’s pretend that the man in our reading does have a mental illness. Let’s listen then to what the man says. He says: What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God. What kind of mental illness is able to recognise Jesus, and to speak hidden things about him that other people wouldn’t otherwise know? Also look at what Jesus does in return. We read: But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him.”

When we’re dealing with mental illness, we’re dealing with a person who is sick, and who needs treatment. And when anyone is sick, whether they have a physically debilitating illness or are mentally ill, we should pray for them, and they should go and seek treatment. And we pray that Jesus would bring healing to the person, either in a natural way through treatment or through medicine as God provides through a doctor, or in a supernatural way through a special miracle of God. We know that in this life, God may or may not give a miraculous healing. But we do know that for those who believe in Jesus, that he will heal us completely and totally in the next life and completely transform and glorify our bodies so that we will completely free of all of our sickness and troubles.

Sometimes people—especially some charismatics or Pentecostals—make the mistake of believing that when people become Christians, they become sinless. So every time they see and recognise sin at work in them, they think it must be an evil spirit. Now, it is true that because our heart is sinful, the devil has a close ally inside of us. But some people make the mistake of always wanting exorcism, when in actual fact, they need absolution, and forgiveness. They need to hear the words that Jesus has died and paid for each and every single sin and their whole sinful heart and their whole sinful condition, and even in the church today we can hear the words of forgiveness from God himself spoken to us. When we hear the words: I forgive you all your sins, the devil has no more power to make accusations. Jesus has pulled his teeth out, and the devil can’t bite us anymore! As St Paul says in Romans: There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

When we’re talking about demon possession, we’re talking about two beings: one is a human being, a man or a woman like you and me, and the other is an invisible being, a demon or unclean spirit, who has entered in and joined itself to the person. This unclean spirit can take control of the person, like in our reading, where it uses the person to speak its own words. In our reading the unclean spirit uses the person and says: What have you to do with us? Have you come to destroy us? The unclean spirit even gives the person a special insight into hidden things that the person otherwise wouldn’t know. In our reading the unclean spirit says: I know who you are—the Holy One of God. Notice here that the demon tells something that is true, but the means of know that truth is not right. The words are true, but the authority is not right.

And so we might ask the question: how did this man end up like this? Well the text doesn’t actually tell us. However, Jesus does say to his disciples: I am the way and the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. We know that outside of Jesus and his kingdom, life is a dangerous mess, and people are open and susceptible to all kinds of spiritual danger. However, in our reading, when Jesus is present there in the synagogue, and begins to teach, the unclean spirit is exposed.

Now, we read in the Scripture where God the Father’s voice comes down from heaven and says: This is my beloved Son: listen to him. This happens at the Transfiguration, when Jesus’ face and clothes began to shine with bright, white light. In the Old Testament, Moses had already spoken about the coming Messiah, and said: The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen. All throughout the New Testament, we read various passages that confirms this prophet to be Jesus, and even God the Father says: listen to him. Moses had said centuries before: It is to him you shall listen. But on the other hand, in the same passage, Moses says some other things. He says: There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.

So, do you hear that the nations listened to fortune-tellers and diviners, and lists a whole lot of occult practices that people did. All through the history of Israel and the kinds, we see that the Jewish people often mixed in the practices of the nations with God’s law. And so, what this passage teaches us is that fortune-tellers and diviners are not speaking with the voice of Jesus. Jesus does not use fortune-tellers and diviners to speak, but they use a different spiritual power. Moses says: Don’t listen to fortune-tellers and diviners. But God the Father says about Jesus: Listen to him.

In our culture, many people recognise that there’s more to life than what we can see. But then the mistake that people often make is that they think that everything spiritual is good. That’s not true. The truth is that the greatest good is spiritual good, but the greatest evil is spiritual evil. You can’t make use of a fortune-teller, or a psychic, or a clairvoyant, or a medium, and think that this is the Holy Spirit—it’s not. God has specifically said in his word that listening to Jesus Christ and listening to fortune-tellers and diviners are mutually exclusive things. And so when people open themselves up to these kinds of false ideas and false practices, and particularly occult practices, they also open themselves up to unclean spirits.

In the bible, an unclean spirit is also called an evil spirit or a demon. The bible speaks very negatively about them. But outside of the church, people use positive-sounding ways of speaking about them. People might say: I have an angel who speaks to me. Or: I have a spirit guide. Or: I try to hear what the universe is trying to say to me. Or: I communicate with my higher self. Even sometimes people can be mistaken and deceived for thinking that they are talking directly with God or the Holy Spirit, even when they reject and go against what the Holy Spirit has revealed in the Scriptures. All these things are examples of people trying to make contact with the unclean spiritual realm.

Now, the amazing thing about our reading today is that Jesus deals with this man very simply. We read: Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” The word “be silent” means to “get muzzled”. Jesus speaks to the unclean spirit like a noisy dog. And we read: The unclean spirit, convulsing him and was crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. Even in Luke it says that the man was done no harm. Jesus, being true God and true man in one person, knows exactly how to separate an unclean spirit from the person standing in front of him. And with his powerful and authoritative word, he simply casts the unclean spirit out.

And we read: And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at one his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

What is important here is Jesus’ words, and his authority. There is no spiritual wrestling match that goes on. Jesus is not addressing the unclean spirits as equals. He has complete and absolute authority over them.

In the church, Jesus has spoken his same authoritative word of power to you when you were baptised. And when we are baptised, we make a clear statement against the devil and say: I renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways. We confess the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and we renounce the devil. This is who we are as Christians, and our whole life is a lesson in renouncing the devil and confessing Jesus Christ. In ancient times, when a person was baptised, they would rebuke the unclean spirit, and this excellent practice has been reintroduced into our churches in recent years to emphasise the power of Christ’s work against Satan in baptism. It’s no accident that as less people in our society are baptised, spiritual and demonic trouble have increased for people. In baptism, our Lord Jesus with his powerful word forgives us our sin, rescues us from death and the devil, and gives eternal life to all who believe this. Baptism is a wonderful defence and shield against all the attacks of the evil one, because we can continually look to Jesus and his promise to defend us from all evil. And when we are bothered and attacked by the evil one, we can simply say: Be silent! Get out of here! You don’t belong here!

Jesus is the one who has power over all spirits, and all the authority belong to him. We have access to his great authority because we have his authoritative word, which is a word of power. We are weak, but the word we speak is the word of Jesus. St Paul says: My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. So every time we speak the word of God in its truth and purity, and preach it, and sing it, and read it, the devil is cleared out. The devil knows his time is short when the word is in play, because these words are the words of the living God and the living Jesus who has risen from the dead. We cannot do anything in our power and authority—Jesus is the only exorcist. We pray to him, and ask him to work together with us, and to use us where he sends us. As the people say in our reading today: He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him. Amen.

Dear Jesus, we thank you for your word of authority and power. Protect us from all the power of the evil one. Amen.

Epiphany II B [John 1:43-51] (14-Jan-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 9am.

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

Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our reading today talks about Jesus calling to himself two disciples: Philip and Nathanael. We read: The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

There’s not much to this passage! We are told a few things about various places: Jesus was going to Galilee, and Philip, Andrew and Peter were all from Bethsaida. But all we are told about Philip’s conversion is simply that Jesus found him and said to him, “Follow me.” Already Andrew and Peter had followed Jesus. And now, in our reading today we read about two more: Philip and Nathanael.

Here we see a powerful word of God from Jesus himself, where he simply says to Philip: Follow me! This is almost the same thing that we read when Jesus called Matthew the tax collector. It says: Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. In the passage today about Philip, we don’t even read specifically that Philip rose and followed him. We do read that Philip went and spoke about Jesus to Nathanael, so it’s obvious that Philip did follow Jesus. But it’s almost not important that Philip obeyed Jesus, because that’s not the point. The point is that Jesus called him. And all the power of Philip’s conversion didn’t come from Philip, it came from the word of Jesus.

Sometimes we meet some Christians who want to tell everyone about their conversion. And it is a wonderful thing to convert to Christianity, and to come to Christ. But then for many Christians, they were raised in a Christian home by Christian parents, they were baptised as children, and each day has been a day of growth in the Christian faith, but they have had no massive turn-around in their lives. And so sometimes someone might say: “When did you become a Christian?” And we would say, “When I was baptised.” This answer often doesn’t satisfy these people, and so they say something like, “But when did you accept Jesus into your heart as your personal Lord and Saviour?” Now—here we see a problem. Yes, it’s a wonderful thing to have Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour. Without Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour, we can’t be saved. But they want to put all the focus on the question “when did you accept him?” Our accepting, and our receiving, and our conversion is a very shaky foundation to put our trust in, because our heart is still full of sin, and doubts, and all kinds of things. And so we might say, “How do I know that I really converted, that I am really, genuinely converted, and that it wasn’t all a show?”

Instead of putting your trust in your conversion, put your trust in Christ’s word to you: Follow me. And in each of our lives, there is a wonderful day when Christ said these words to us personally, and that was on the day of our baptism, when he said, I baptised you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When we were baptised, Jesus called us by name, just as he called Philip, he gave to us the forgiveness of sins which he won on the cross, he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of eternal life. All the power of our Christian life comes not from us, and from our response to all these things, but from Jesus, and his words, and his promises.

In the second part of our reading, we read: Now Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Here we see Philip come to his friend Nathanael, and tell him that he has found Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now we know that Jesus wasn’t actually the son of Joseph, but that he was only the Son of Mary and that his mother was a Virgin. And also we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but Philip calls him Jesus of Nazareth, because that was the place where he grew up. But there’s something else that we learn from these words about Philip and Nathanael.  Philip says: We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote. What does this tell you? It tells you that Philip and Nathanael were people who read the bible. They must have studied the Scriptures carefully in the synagogue, and they were eager to learn God’s word. They had read or heard the law of Moses and the prophets. And Nathanael asks the question: Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Now, it was well known by Jewish people that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem, and Jesus was in fact born in Bethlehem. The prophet Micah says very clearly that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem. Nathanael knew this too, and so when he heard from Philip that Jesus was from Nazareth, he asked the question: Can anything good come from Nazareth? And so Philip says to him: Come and see.

Nathanael is testing everything according to the Scripture. And when Nathanael comes to Jesus, Jesus says: Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit! Jesus praises Nathanael. Jesus knows that Nathanael is not being a smart-aleck, or being cynical, as if nothing of any worth can come from a small place like Nazareth! Many things of great worth can come from small places—small places even like Maryborough or Childers! No, Jesus knows that Nathanael is testing everything according to the Scripture, and Jesus praises and commends him for it. Jesus recognises that Nathanael is not being deceitful, but that he is honestly trying to work things out from the Scripture.

Now this is a very important thing, which we should stop and think about for a while. One of the greatest issues amongst Christians today is this one question: What is our attitude towards the Scripture? There are many things going on in the world, many things going on in the church, but they all seem to come back to one thing: Do we hold the Scripture, the bible, as the Word of God? Is the bible our authority? When we read something in the bible that doesn’t sit well with us, do we try to change the bible, or do we let the bible change us? Do we treat the bible as the word of men, or do we consider it the word of God?

In the last year, we have been celebrating the 500^th year of the Reformation. And one of the greatest achievements of Martin Luther was translating the bible into German, so that the people of Germany could understand it and believe it. Also, from that time, the bible has been translated into many different languages, and there are many different versions in English—probably far too many versions! In some parts of the world, especially in new mission fields, translating the bible is what gave the opportunity for people to write down their language for the first time. In some places, the only significant book that is published is the bible, which means that if people wanted to learn how to read, the only reason for doing that was so that they could read the bible.

So let me encourage you: we have been so incredibly blessed to be able to have great access to the bible, and the ability to read it. If you don’t have time to read it, remember that there are people in the world who are saving up every last cent they have just so that they can put their hands on one and read it every day. If you don’t feel as though you understand it all, don’t worry: just give it a go, and remember that there are a lot more people around the world who have a lot less education than you that try to read the bible constantly, even one word at a time.

I wonder whether one of the reasons why the Reformation was even able to happen 500 years ago is because people generally still believed that the bible was the word of God. Today in our country, there is no way that anything like that could happen so long as people say: That’s your opinion, I’ll have my opinion. When we realise just what it means to say: Thus says the Lord, then things are completely different, because everything we say comes with all the power and authority of God himself. We need leaders in the church today. We need a strong church. But we won’t have one, and we won’t have good leaders in the church if we don’t seek to learn the bible as best as we can. One of my seminary lecturers said to us students once that it is our duty as future pastors of the church to seek to be experts of the bible. But wouldn’t it be a great thing if not only our pastors would study the bible thoroughly, but also all the people in the church? What a church that would be! The Lutheran Church always used to be known as a church of the word. What about today?

Now, none of us are the people of the word that we should be. Jesus died for all our failures to learn his word too. And yet, that wonderful word teaches us and shows us our Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth, our Messiah, our Lord. The Scripture tells us of his wonderful work for us, his resurrection, our salvation.

And so we take notice of the wonderful example of Philip and Nathanael, as they study and learn the Scriptures, and seek to discern from the Scriptures whether Jesus is the Messiah. We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Now, we come to a part in our reading about the conversation between Jesus and Nathanael. We read: Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Now, this is a very strange conversation. First of all, Jesus compliments him on his respect and regard from the Scripture. Jesus calls him an Israelite indeed, not an Israelite in name and nationality only, but an Israelite who respected and regarded the word of God. But also remember, that Jesus wasn’t there when Philip and Nathanael were talking about this. And so Nathanael is puzzled by this compliment from Jesus. He says to him: How do you know me? Jesus says to him: Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Now, this is amazing. Jesus first of all knew, before Philip or Nathanael had said anything to him, that Philip had encouraged Nathanael to come and meet him. Also, Jesus knew who Nathanael was before he knew him, when he was standing under a certain fig tree. Nathanael knew that Jesus wasn’t there when he had the conversation with Philip, he knew that Jesus wasn’t there when he was under the fig tree, and yet Jesus says: I saw you.

This is an amazing thing. Here we see Jesus having a conversation with Nathanael, just like they have been old friends for many years. Jesus is so friendly and gentle with Nathanael. And yet, Jesus tells Nathanael about the miraculous way in which he saw him, even when he wasn’t there. And so, Nathanael is completely overwhelmed, and from this little detail he makes a wonderful confession of faith: Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!

Now, how is it that Jesus was able to see Nathanael even when he wasn’t there? You see, Jesus wasn’t simply a man like any other man. He was both true man and true God at the same time. Earlier in the chapter we read: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And this man, Jesus, had a true human body and a true human soul, just like us in every way, except without sin. And at the same time, this man was also true God, so that his body and his soul were united inseparably with his divine nature. Sometimes in wonderful ways, we see Jesus’ human body transformed and glorified in such a way that it takes on particular powers above and beyond the normal laws of nature because he is also true God. And so, at the Transfiguration, Jesus’ face and clothes shone with the wonderful divine light that belonged to him. After his resurrection, he walked through closed doors to visit his disciples. We read that he walked on water, calmed the storm with his word, raised the dead, healed the sick, and so on. Even in the church today, Jesus’ lets his body and blood take on a supernatural ability to be present for us in the church in the Lord’s Supper so that we can eat and drink it. This all happens because Jesus is also true God, or as we say in the creed: God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Here in our reading we see how Jesus’ eyes and soul and heart could look straight into the heart and mind of someone far away and knew everything that was going on with him, and could hear all of his personal conversations. Normally, this is not possible for us human beings. But it is possible with this man Jesus, because he is also true God.

Sometimes there are people who claim to be psychic who try to “read people”, and give them hidden messages about their personality, or their future. They often do this by using astrology, or star-signs. This is not the same thing, because these people have to make use of demonic power in order to do things like this. Remember that the devil said to Eve when he tempted her: you will be like God. Sometimes the devil tries to trick people into giving themselves over to him, and giving them some strange powers and insights. Some psychics are frauds too. But some psychics who strangely know things that other people don’t. But they only know certain things—they don’t know everything. We need to avoid this kind of thing like the plague, and not make use of people like this. There are a lot of people in our society today who are interested in these things, and who try to look for these things. (Only in the last week, I saw prominent advertisements on TV for a large psychic expo in Bundaberg.)

Jesus is not like this at all, and he is not a psychic. He is true God, and he has access to everything and knows everything. He is not a psychic man, but he is true man and true God in one person. And so what Jesus does here is not simply a special superhuman power which he received from somewhere, but all power belongs to him as God. John writes about Jesus: All things were made through him. At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

And so Nathanael recognises Jesus’ insight and his power, and he says: Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel! Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus tells him that he is not just the King of Israel, but also the King of the world. And not only the King of the whole world and the whole earth, but the king of heaven as well. Jesus is the king of angels too. And we see so many times in Jesus life where the angels show up: at his conception, at his birth, when he was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, when he was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the empty tomb, and when Jesus ascended into heaven. And also, in the book of Revelation, we see the angels praising God continually before Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, in heaven. We praise Jesus even in our church today with the angels, the archangels and all the company of heaven. Jesus sends his angels to guard and defend you constantly day by day, because you have been saved by him and his blood, and the angels are ascending and descending on this Jesus, this Saviour, who has pledged and promised himself to you.

And so in our reading today, we have this wonderful simply call of two of Jesus’ disciples: Philip and Nathanael. We see his friendly conversations, one person to another. But we also have this amazing teaching about Jesus’ divinity, the divine insight into people’s hearts that he has, which Jesus uses not to condemn Nathanael, but to call him. Jesus knows our hearts too… he know the sin there, and the dirt, and the shame. But he is our Saviour who has died for us, and as true God he has the power to bring us with him to heaven, knowing that he has paid the price with his blood for us. He is the Son of God, the King of Israel, and the Lord of hosts, the King of the angels! Amen.

Dear Jesus, we thank you for calling us to be your people. Send your angels to watch over us and defend us, and keep us strong in your word and Holy Spirit. Amen.