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.

Transfiguration B [Mark 9:2-9] (11-Feb-2018)

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

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

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen 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 an event recorded in the Gospels which we call the Transfiguration. In this reading we read about how Jesus appeared to Peter, James and John in a particularly amazing way, where his face and clothes became to shine with bright white light. We also read about how Peter, James and John also saw Moses and Elijah, two well-known figures from the Old Testament who have lived long ago, talking with Jesus. And then, we also read about how a cloud covered them, and God the Father spoke, declaring Jesus to be his Son, and giving the command that we should listen to him. And so, we’re going to look at these three things in our sermon:

I.                Firstly, the amazing light that came across Jesus and changed his appearance.

II.                 Secondly, the fact that Moses and Elijah appeared, and

III.              Thirdly, the words that God the Father spoke from the cloud.

So let’s come to the first part of our reading, where we read about

I.                   The amazing light that came across Jesus and changed his appearance.

We read in our Gospel reading today: Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and let them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. This is how the evangelist Mark describes it in his gospel which we read today. He makes a particular emphasis about Jesus and his clothes. Matthew also tells us that his face shone like the sun. And also Luke, says that Jesus was praying, and that the appearance of his face was altered.

This is an amazing thing that happened. John also makes mention of this event, when he says the well-known words at the beginning of his gospel: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory… Here in our reading today, we get a little picture of that glory that John saw, together with Peter and James. Peter, who was also there on this occasion, wrote about this event in his second letter, where is says: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honour and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. Do you see what kind of an impression this event made on John and Peter? You can almost sense that their amazement hadn’t worn off even by the time they wrote it.

This event in our reading teaches us something wonderful about Jesus. It teaches us that Jesus is a human being whom we can see and touch, but that also he is true God. He is the light of the world, who existed right from the beginning of time together with his Father. The Book of Hebrews calls Jesus the radiance of the glory of God. Jesus is 100% man and 100% God 100% of the time, but he most of the time, he hides his glory and his majesty and his brightness under the humble form of a human being like us. It’s almost like a burning coal, or a hot piece of iron that a blacksmith uses. Jesus is true God, and this divinity of Jesus shines out through his human body, just like fire and heat make a charcoal or a piece of iron glow red hot.

But the miracle of the Transfiguration is not this happened to Jesus. The miracle is that the disciples were allowed to see it. Everything that Jesus did or said glows and radiates and shines with all of his wonderful divine power and energy. Here in our reading, Jesus makes it clear to the disciples exactly who he is. Like a true man, made in the image of God, he prays, he has a face, a body, clothes. But as true God, shining with brilliant light, he glows and shines and sends out his rays. When Jesus asked Peter who the Son of Man is, Peter replied: You are the Son of the living God. The Son of Man is the Son of God—this is who Jesus is. When Thomas after Easter saw Jesus standing in front of him, with the wounds in his hands and his side, what did he say? He said: You are my Lord and my God.

We learn here just who this Jesus is that we worship. He came down from heaven to live a life among us. This is the Jesus who lives with us each day, who baptised you personally, and who gives you the Lord’s Supper each Sunday. You are his bride, and he is your bridegroom. And all of this wonderful glory and power he shares with you, he uses this power to die and cancel your sin, he unites himself with you, and he shows you a little taste of what he will be like when you see him in heaven. But we might think: but I am so ordinary, so sinful. I carry a lifetime of burdens, and shame, and sadness, and worries and guilt. Does this Jesus with all of that brilliant heavenly light want to enter into my life? Yes—he has died for you, he has shed his blood for you, that body shining with light was nailed and pierced and whipped and crucified for you, and now he is risen from the dead. He gives you his forgiveness and his promise of eternal life and his victory as a wonderful robe and clothing of righteousness and holiness, so that you can stand before God, and wrap yourself up completely in that robe. You can stand before God the Father, not because you are so holy and perfect. Far from it—you are not holy and perfect. But this Jesus is—and let’s you wrap yourself up in his robe of righteousness, that righteousness, that holiness, that purity, that brilliance and radiance that belongs to him.

But also, we get a little taste of what our bodies will be like when Jesus raises us from the dead. In the Apostles’ Creed it says: I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Sometime after we have died and gone to be with Jesus in heaven, he will gather up all of the dust and ashes of our bodies and transform them and glorify them. Paul says in Philippians: Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. Just think about that for a moment—the wonderful glory that we see in our reading today of Christ’s body, he won’t only keep to himself, but he will share that glory with you, and transform your body at the end of the world.

The other thing that happens in our reading today is that it’s not just Jesus’ face that shines with brilliant light, it’s not just his body, but it’s also his clothes. Our reading today says: His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. Now the wonderful thing about Jesus is that, now that he has ascended into heaven, he still wants to meet us and speak to us and be with us even now, here in this lifetime, on this side of the grave. And so he clothes himself. He hides himself here on earth, in such a way that you would only know he were there if he told you. Do you know what these things are, where Jesus clothes himself? First of all, he clothes himself in the words of the bible, the Holy Scripture—not just in the printed words on paper, but also when we read it aloud, and preach it, and sing it, and pray it, and think about it. Jesus clothes himself in the words of the Scripture, and these clothes of his shine with all the brilliance of his divine light. We read: Your word is a lamp—a bright, shining lamp!—to my feet, and a light—a brilliant light!—to my feet.

Also, he clothes himself in the words and the water of Holy Baptism. To us, it looks like just a bit of water in a bowl. But this water and the words of Jesus that we speak—I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit—this baptism is full of wonderful divine light and energy and power, because your baptism gave to you the forgiveness of sins, rescued you from death and the devil, and gave you eternal life. You can put your trust in this solid rock, because Jesus himself has promised that he will clothe himself there, and hide himself there. Also, on Sundays, we hear those wonderful words of absolution spoken by the pastor: I forgive you all your sins. Jesus had said to his apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive anyone their sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness, they are withheld. And so, Jesus has promised to hide and clothe himself in these words of forgiveness, so that when we hear them we know that this is not the words of a mere man standing on earth, but the words of the Lord of heaven and earth himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. And if he has clothed himself with these things, we know that his clothes shine with brilliant divine light.

But then also, he has promised to give us his body and blood to eat and to drink. He clothes himself in this bread and wine, and this bread and wine shines and glows in such a way that they are connected and united to the body and blood of Christ himself, so that when we eat this bread, we are eating Christ’s true transformed, glorified and life-giving body and when we drink this wine, we are drinking Christ’s true, transformed, glorified, and life-giving blood. And Jesus knows that if we came on our own, we would die and be completely overwhelmed by his holiness. Jesus knows our sin and our weakness, so he says to us not just, This is my body, but that it is given for you. He says not just, This is my blood, but that it is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And so we can trust him and his words and joyfully receive the wonderful gifts that he gives to us.

So there are so many wonderful things that we learn in our reading today from the fact that Jesus was transfigured, that his face shone like the sun, and that even his clothes become radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.

Let’s come to the second part of our reading where we read about where

II.                 Moses and Elijah appear.

Moses and Elijah were two historical figures which we read about in the Old Testament. Moses lived about 1500 or 1600 years before this event, and led the Jewish people out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Elijah was a prophet who lived many years later about 800 or 900 years before this event, during the years of one of the worst kings in Israel’s history, King Ahab. And in our reading today, they show up, and they are standing there on the mountain with Jesus.

One of the very strange things about Moses and Elijah is that nobody knew where Moses was buried. His bones were never found. Also, Elijah didn’t die in the normal way, but was carried into heaven with chariots and horses of fire. We also read about another figure in the Old Testament, Enoch, who also didn’t die in the normal way. It simply says: Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.

In our reading today, we get a little glimpse of two saints of the Old Testament, who enjoy being in the presence of Jesus and talking with him. This gives us also a little picture of the way in which we who believe in Jesus will one day enjoy being in the presence of Jesus and talk with him.

Peter at this point, just goes a bit crazy for a while. He is completely overwhelmed and dithers around and doesn’t know what he’s doing. He says to Jesus: Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. Mark also tells us: For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Of course, they were terrified! Here was Moses and Elijah! Did Peter, James and John think that maybe they were even entering into heaven itself?

But there is one thing that Peter’s ramblings teach us. Peter recognised Moses and Elijah—he had never met them before, but when they were there, he recognised them. And this is a wonderful comfort to us about when we enter heaven is that we will recognise people: we will recognise all those people we loved who died with Jesus and that we now miss, and we will recognise all the saints and all the apostles and the martyrs and the prophets, and everyone. It will be a wonderful family reunion, where we won’t need to wear nametags!

But also there is something else that is special about Moses and Elijah. Moses is the person who wrote down God’s law in the Old Testament. Elijah is considered to be one of the most important prophets. And often we read about the Law and the Prophets. In Romans 3, Paul says that Law and the Prophets bear witness to the righteousness of faith in Jesus Christ. Here we see Moses (who represents the law) and Elijah (who represents the prophets) pointing to Jesus. After Jesus rose from the dead, we read in Luke: Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. What this shows us is that the whole of human history, and all of God’s people, were all looking forward to this moment, and this person, Jesus Christ. And even today, he is our wonderful Saviour, our King, our Lord, our Mediator, our Advocate, and our Redeemer. When we look to Jesus and point to him, we even have Elijah and Moses on our side.

But let’s come to the last part of our reading, about where:

III.              God the Father speaks from the cloud.

We read: And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

Here is God the Father’s voice: and he points to his Son, and tells us not simply to look at him, or to touch him, but to listen to him. All the power is in Jesus’ words. John calls Jesus the Word of God. He says: The word became flesh. But Jesus is not the word of God who keeps his mouth shut. He is the word of God who continually opens his mouth. He was speaking even through Moses, and Elijah, and throughout the Old Testament. And when he rose from the dead, he sent out his apostles to give an eyewitness of him. He says: He who hears you hears me. And this Jesus calls takes every that Moses said and everything that Elijah said, all of God’s law and all the cries of the prophets, and preaches it right into the very centre of our hearts, and calls us to repent, to completely change our lives, and our whole way of thinking. But God the Father also points to his Son, and says: Listen to him, because of a new word that will be spoken. This word is the Gospel, and this word shows us Jesus as our Saviour, as the one who has fulfilled the whole law for us, and now gives forgiveness and eternal life as a gift completely and totally freely to everyone who believes in him.

And so, when God spoke to Moses, he gave him the Ten Commandments. The First Commandment says: You shall have no other Gods before me. And now the same God who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai now speaks from the cloud and says: Listen to him. If you want to have me as your God, you must listen to my Son. You will get to me and come to me in no other way! This is my beloved Son. Jesus says: I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. Peter said: There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And so, the disciples look up and see Jesus by himself, alone. They see his kind face, and a gentle hand on their shoulder of a friend. But more importantly, they have a word from the Father: Listen to him. And Jesus says: Rise, and have no fear. Have no fear, for I will suffer and die for you, I will rise for you, and I will forgive you, and lead you, and strengthen you, and bless you, and be with you always to the end of the age. This is Jesus, our wonderful Saviour! Amen.

Dear Jesus, how good it is to be here with you today, together with all the angels and saints of heaven, in your glorious presence. Speak to us in your word, and fill us with your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Midweek Advent Service II [Humanity of Christ] (13-Dec-2017)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 5.15pm.

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

Jesus says: See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. (Luke 24:39)

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.

Tonight we’re following on from where we left off last week, and continuing our series of three midweek services about Jesus. Last week, we were particularly looking at the fact that Jesus is true God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Tonight we’re going to be looking at Jesus’ humanity, or we might say, his human nature. Next, we’re going to talk about the fact that Christ is one person, and how his divinity and humanity are united in one person.

Let’s read the summary of this in Luther’s Small Catechism: I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. Last week we were looking at the fact that Jesus is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity. And so this week, we’re going to focus on the fact that Jesus is true man, born of the Virgin Mary.

Last week, we were looking at a verse in the book of Hebrews, chapter 1, which spoke of Jesus as truly God. It says that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Now what we believe as Christians is that this Son of God, who existed right from the beginning of time—in fact, before that: who existed from eternity—took on human flesh, and a human body, and human nature. He took on something that he didn’t have before, and joined himself to it. One of the most well-known passages that we have about this is where it says in the first chapter of John: The Word became flesh. This action where the Son of God took on human nature is what we call the incarnation. The word incarnation means taking on flesh. This is what we mean when we say in the Creed on Sundays that he was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

In Hebrews, chapter 2, we also read a couple of other things about this. It says: Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things. It says that human beings, like you and me, share in flesh and blood. And Jesus partook of the same things. Jesus partook of something that he had never partaken of before—he shared in flesh and blood. Also, it says in Hebrew 2:16, that it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. That word “helps” can also mean that “he took on their nature”. We might say that Jesus did not take on the nature of the angels, but he took on the offspring of Abraham. And so, these verses clearly state that on one hand, Jesus took on flesh and blood, partook of these things, and shared these things, and did not become an angel.

Another passage from the book of Hebrews which tells us about Jesus’ human nature is in chapter 4:15, where it says: We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. This little verse has all kinds of wonderful things in it, but I’d like to focus on one part of it, where is says that Jesus is one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. What this means is that when the Son of God took on a human nature, he took on everything about us. But there was one thing he didn’t take on and that was sin. But then even though Jesus was not a sinner, he lived with the full effects of sin, and suffered the punishment for sin, and atoned and died for sin. And so, last week we were talking about how Jesus is just like God the Father. This week, we are talking about how Jesus is just like us.

For the rest of our sermon tonight, we’re going to look at all kinds of different aspects of what it means to be a human being, and how Jesus took on all these things in becoming a man.

The first thing we’re going to look at is that fact that Jesus had a family tree. Every human being on this earth has a family, and we all have parents and ancestors. Jesus, as a true human being, also had a family and a family tree. In fact, if you open up the beginning of the New Testament, at Matthew chapter 1, this is the first thing we are confronted with: Jesus’ family tree. We read: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Jesus’ family tree is traced all the way back to David, and all the way back even to Abraham. In Luke, Jesus’ family tree is traced all the way back to Adam. So, like all humans, Jesus is a descendant of Adam. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, God says to the serpent: I will put enmity between and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. There is a wonderful prophecy here of Jesus that says that the woman’s offspring will crush the devil’s head—and this is exactly what Jesus did when he died for the sin of the world. But it is important to remember that Jesus is Eve’s offspring, and so is a true human being just like everyone else.

But also, Jesus is called a descendant of Abraham, and a descended of David. There are many passages where Jesus is called the son of David, and David’s offspring. We could look at many passages about this, but let’s leave it here, that Jesus like all members of the human race has a family and a family tree.

Now, Jesus also became a human being in such a way that he took on every stage of life that everyone goes through, until his death. So Jesus did not simply enter the world at age 30 when he was baptised. Instead, he entered his mother’s womb at his conception, and took on human life as a tiniest little human embryo. He grew in his mother’s womb, just like every child, until the time of his birth, and he was born as a normal baby. He grew from being a baby and into a toddler and into a young child and became a teenager and a young man and reached adulthood. This is a wonderful thing to think about, because we can see that in all these stages of life, that Jesus went through exactly what we have gone through.

So right from the beginning of his human life on this earth, Jesus is called that which is conceived in [Mary]. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and had God the Father as his true Father. But Jesus was also conceived in the Virgin Mary’s womb, and took his flesh from her flesh, and had Mary as his true mother. When the angel Gabriel went to Mary, he said: You will conceive in your womb. We learn here as well that conception is part of what it means to be human. Some people today in wanting to justify the practice of abortion say that a child is not really a child until it’s at a certain stage: until it’s heart beats, or until it looks like a baby, or until it can feel. But we know here that when Jesus was conceived, this was the beginning of his incarnation, and the beginning of his human life. This was where he entered in the world. And so, just as we were conceived in our mother’s womb, so also Jesus became like us, and was conceived in his mother’s womb. The only difference with Jesus is that he had no human father and that his mother was a virgin.

Like all of us, Jesus was not only conceived but he was also born. The angel Gabriel said to Mary: You will… bear a son. And like every baby, when he was born he was given a name: You shall call his name Jesus. In Luke 2, we read: And while they were [in Bethlehem], the time came for [Mary] to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Later, we also read that Jesus was a boy. We read about him going into the temple and talking with the teachers there and asking them questions. And we read: Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man. We can see here, that Jesus grew, like all human children. He grew in wisdom, but he also grew in stature. He grew taller—he was a real young growing lad, just like every other young growing lad in this world. And of course, we read about him mostly when he was an adult.

Now there are also a couple of interesting passages that I’d like to mention. Firstly, let’s read Philippians chapter 2:7, where it says that Jesus took the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being in human form, he humbled himself… Also, in Romans 8:3, it says that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. In these passages, it says that Jesus was in the form of a servant, that he was in human form. And that he was born in the likeness of men, in the likeness of sinful flesh. Now sometimes when we hear the words “form” or “likeness”, we might think: Maybe Jesus wasn’t really a true human being, but he just had the appearance of one, or he just looked like one. Maybe he was just had human form or likeness, but that he wasn’t really a true man. Now, this is not what the bible means when it uses these words. When it says that Jesus had human form, and human likeness, it means that he was a truly human. Let’s have a look at a couple more passages which back this up.

It’s very important that we realise that Jesus was a true man, and not some kind of spirit that looked like a man. Sometimes people have visions or apparitions and they are so real, that they think it looks like someone is standing before them. There are a couple of places in the bible, where the disciples had to learn that Jesus was not a spirit or a ghost, but a true man with real flesh and blood. One of these instances was when Jesus walked on the water. We read in Matthew 14 that the disciples were in a boat and there was a storm. We read: In the fourth watch of the night [Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. Do you see here that the disciples thought they could see a ghost, or maybe we would say a spirit, or an apparition, or a vision. Many people who take hallucinogenic drugs or who practice Eastern forms of meditation sometimes go into their minds and think that they can see real spiritual beings. Now let’s see what Jesus has to say about this. We read: But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” The disciples say: It is a ghost, but Jesus contradicts them and says: It is I. It’s me! I’m not a ghost.

Also, after Jesus’ resurrection, it was also important for Jesus to demonstrate that he was really him, and that it was his true human body that was standing before them. There are many false preachers in the world today who believe that Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead. If he didn’t rise from the dead, then they can only worship his ghost. Instead of worshipping the living Son of God who sends the living Holy Spirit, they are worshipping a dead Jesus with a dead spirit. They turn the church of the living God, into a religion of the dead, or a kind of séance. So when Jesus rose from the dead, Thomas wanted to be absolutely sure that it was him, and 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. And then what happened? Jesus came to Thomas 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. This was real—Jesus showed to Thomas his real human body, with the real wounds and scars still there. Jesus wanted to demonstrate to him that he was a real man, and not a spirit or a ghost.

But also, we read in Luke, after Jesus rose from the dead that they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a…what? A spirit. Now let’s look at how Jesus contradicts this idea. We read: And [Jesus] said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” Jesus says that to think that I am a spirit and not a real man is doubt. Then he says: See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. This is as if to say: If you touch me, you will see that your hand won’t pass through me like air. Jesus says: For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And as if that weren’t enough, Jesus wants to show them further that he is a true human being, and not a spirit. We read: And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marvelling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They have him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. The fact that Jesus eats a piece of fish shows to the disciples that he is not a spirit, but a true man.

So we can see that Jesus had real flesh, real bones, real wounds, real scars, and ate real food. Also, just like all of us, Jesus really got tired, and slept, and woke up again! We read in Mark chapter 4, where the disciples were in the boat and Jesus calmed the storm. It says: A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. Yes, even Jesus need to take a nap, just like all of us!

Now, we’ve talked a lot about the physical aspects to being a human being. But humans are created by God not just as a body, but we also have a soul. Did Jesus have a human soul? Let’s look at a few passages. In John 12, we read about after Jesus had rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday where he is talking to his disciples and says: Now is my soul troubled. Jesus speaks here about his own soul. Later on, we read where Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and we read that he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” This is a wonderful passage, where Jesus talks about his soul again. I remember studying this passage once, and on the following Sunday, a man came to me at the church door and said: “Pastor, I’ve been feeling really depressed.” And I said to him, “Just like Jesus, hey?” And he said, “What?” And I quoted to him where Jesus says: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” He went away quite encouraged, because he realised that Jesus had been through something similar to what he had been through.

But also, we read when Lazarus had died and he went out to the tomb, we see another reference to his soul, where it says: When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. Even we read that he shared in their grief and their emotions, where it says: Jesus wept. These two verses are the shortest verse in the whole bible, but what a wonderful way in which it shows the depth of Jesus’ human nature. So we read in these passages, which are about sorrow and trouble and grief, that Jesus had a true human soul.

What about his will? Did Jesus have a human will? In John 5:30, we read that Jesus says: I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. Also, once again in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read where Jesus was praying and he says: My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. You can see here from the fact that Jesus submits himself to his Father’s will, means that he also has a true human will, just like us.

We could go on, and talk about all the passages about Jesus’ suffering, which shows how he experienced true pain, and truly suffered. He received real whippings which had the normal effect on him that it would have on us, real beatings, real nails were nails were nailed through his real hands, a real spear was shoved into his real side. The most important thing we believe here is that he shed real blood. Let’s leave it here for now, but we there are so many other passages we could look at that demonstrate that Jesus is true man.

Let’s ask the question though—what difference does it make? So what that Jesus is true man? Well, we are humans, and when Jesus became a true man, he became just like. He is a perfect mediator between God and man, because he has entered into the depths of human existence. He is our brother, and he is just like us. He is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. He is our Redeemer, and he has delivered us with the price of his own blood, and his own death. And what a wonderful thing it is to know that we have a high priest, and a helper, and a Saviour, who is not unable to sympathise with us in our weakness, but who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. What a wonderful comfort this is for sinful human beings like us! What a wonderful thing that Jesus entered into this world and took on our human flesh, our human sufferings, our human problems, our human sorrows and griefs, and died for all of it! Amen.

Dear Jesus, we thank you for taking on human flesh, for partaking of flesh and blood, and for being made in the likeness of human flesh. Amen.