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Introduction Sounds a bit cliché I know, but life is a journey. As with all journeys, it’s always nice to know where you’re going. Knowing the destination makes all the difference in how you travel.

The life of Christ is a journey. If the dating is correct, which it probably isn't, Christ came down from heaven on March 25th when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Nine months later He was born of the Virgin Mary. 33 years later He ascended into heaven. His journey was full circle.

Jesus describes the course of His life to His disciples like this, “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” (John 16:28). He knows the path that His Father has sent Him to follow. And He knows what He will encounter along the way – trials, troubles, suffering and the cross. He knows that the journey will not end in a tomb, which is what everyone else thought. The tomb was only a three day rest before the journey resumed.

He came into this world to overcome death, which would be the end of the road for all of us if He hadn't come into this world and conquered it. He could have taken a path that bypassed death. We can't but He could have because He is God. But He took the path that led directly to death so that He might pull the stinger out of it and render it harmless. Now, when the path of our own life comes to death, we no longer think for a second that its the end of the journey. Because of Jesus we know that death is just a final, brief stop before we come to the final destination which is heaven.

I. Great Joy / His Hands Last Sunday we touched on Jesus' words to His disciples in the Upper Room where He said, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) This coming Sunday, we will hear Jesus once pray to the Father saying, “Now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” (John 17:13).

Luke reports that after the disciples witnessed Jesus’ ascension, “they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with GREAT JOY.”

Interestingly, this is the only time in all the gospels that there is mention of the disciples actually having that “great joy” that Jesus had desired for them. Certainly, His crucifixion and death produced in them “great fear.” Even His resurrection does not produce the great joy that we might have expected. We’re told that they were “startled,” and “amazed” and even “troubled.”

But here, as He parted from them, they returned to Jerusalem with “great joy.” What is the connection?

Luke carefully notes the details, and the gospel is in the details. “He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them.” There’s something about those hands that assure them that His blessing is real and cause for genuine joy.

With those hands, He had touched the eyes of a blind man and the tongue of a deaf mute and gave them their sight and speech and hearing. With those hands, He reached up to the dead boy being carried to his grave in Nain and the boy sat up and hugged his mother.

There was that day that Luke reports, “when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many.” (Luke 4:40). And there was great joy.

These are the hands that reached out to grab hold of Peter as he was drowning in the stormy sea and lifted him safely into the boat. With these hands, He took bread, gave thanks and broke it and fed 5000 and 4000. What blessing comes from those hands of Christ.

All of this and we haven’t yet mentioned the fact that there were holes in those hands where the nails had pierced Him. By those hands uplifted on the cross, He took the punishment that was ours upon Himself. By those hands, He received the wrath of God for our sin in our place. He reconciled the Father to us by those hands.

And so, when Luke says, “He lifted His hands and blessed them,” he means all of this that comes from those hands of Jesus.

But this has not yet touched on the meaning of His ascension as it applies to those hands and the disciples great joy. The great blessing He bestows on us all by those hands is that He returns to the Father in heaven with them. The humanity He took upon Himself in coming into the world, He takes with Him into heaven. When Jesus lifts His nail scared hands to His Father in heaven, all humanity stands before the Father, and for the sake of Jesus and all that He suffered as evidenced by those hands, the Father has pity and mercy upon all who are in Christ.

“While He blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”

1 II. The Cloud Luke overlaps his Gospel with his Acts of the Apostles with the Ascension of Christ. In Acts, Luke writes, “as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” More little details that turn out to be pretty big.

When Old Testament Israel made journey to the Promised Land, they followed a cloud the whole way. As long as Israel saw the cloud they knew that God was present with them. God was truly present in the cloud. Not symbolically or spiritually present but His real presence was in the cloud. Sounds sacramental, and it is.

Sadly however, all those Israelites who followed the cloud on their journey though the desert except for just a few, never entered the Promised Land. They died in the desert because of the sin and rebellion and death was the end of their journey. How sad. How disappointing. Certainly no 'great joy' in that.

But here we see Jesus follow the cloud all the way into the Promised Land where He is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Jesus is the new Israel, and He enters into the promised land because in Him there is no sin. In Him is perfect and willing obedience to the Father. And in Him, the true Israel has entered the promised land.

The true Israel is all of those, whether on the Old Testament or New Testament side of history, are all those who believe in the promise of God – given in days of old, made flesh and fulfilled, now in these last days.

  III.  He Leads The Way

“As they were looking on, he was lifted up…” It took two angels to explain things to them, just as it had required angels to explain things at His conception and birth and at His resurrection. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.”

First, the angels tell us WHERE Christ has ascended to. He ascended INTO HEAVEN. The Head of the Body has gone into heaven. There, the Father has put all things under the feet of the Son, fulfilling what the Psalmist had written, “The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." (Psalm 110:1)

In the beginning, God gave the 1st Adam dominion over His whole creation, a dominion that he exercised poorly. But now, all dominion is given to the 2nd Adam who exercises it perfectly in perfect obedience to the Word.

Second, the angels tell us HOW Christ ascended into heaven. This Jesus… will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” He did not ‘disappear’ from their sight or vanish into thin air. The “SAW” Him go upwards. He did not leave His body behind. He ascended bodily, with the same glorified body with which He rose from the dead. And He keeps this glorified body in heaven. As we said, with His body that still bears the marks of the cross, He intercedes for us with the Father. And when He comes again, it will be just as they SAW Him go, in the flesh.

When Christ descended from heaven He took on our human flesh. He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. If this is starting to sound a bit like marriage, it should, because it is. God became one flesh with us, and what God has joined together He will not be rend asunder – not even by His parting. Just as the Head was joined to the Body where the Body now is, here on earth, so the Body will be joined to the Head where the Head now is, in heaven.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews explains the angel’s words like this. “For Christ has entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf… And just as it was appointed for men to die once and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Heb.9:24,26).

We could summarize the journey of Jesus like this; God left God to come to sinful mankind. And God returned to God bringing forgiven mankind with Him. And for all who know that they are sinners, and for all who cling to Christ, trusting in Him to save us, we share in the disciples “great joy.”

It gives us “great joy” to hear Jesus say, “I go to prepare a place for you in My Father’s house. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3).

He has not abandoned us nor forsaken us. “I am with you always, even to the end of the earth.” And then, He will come again IN THE FLESH, and take us to be with Him in heaven.

Knowing the destination of the journey you’re on sure does effect the way you travel. And you know the destination of your journey. In your baptism, you were united to Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father. That’s your destination. That's your destiny. You’re there right now, already, but not yet. Therefore we “set our minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and not on earthly things.” (Col.3:1).

Happy trails, enjoy the journey, travel in peace.

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“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

Our celebration of Easter picks up right where it left off last Sunday. Jesus is leading His disciples from the Upper Room in Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane where He will be handed over and led to His execution.

I. Love to the end. John introduces that night that began in the Upper Room like this, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

“To the end.” The word here is “telos.” It’s the same word that Christ cried out from the cross, “It is finished.” “Ended.” It’s got nothing to do with the thought that all of the humiliation and suffering and pain are finally over, which it is.

“Telos” means, “it is totally complete, fully accomplished.” You can’t improve on it no matter what you do or how hard you try, and to try to improve on it means that you screw the whole thing up and lose it all.” “He loved them to the end.” “Totally complete, fully accomplished” love.

II. Love and Commandments “Love” is the dominant word in our Gospel reading this morning. It’s the same sermon as last Sunday, where Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” But last week we didn’t hear the word “love” once from Jesus. The focus was on “abide in ME” and “abide in my WORD.” Today however, nine times in eight verses, it’s “love” and “abide in my LOVE.” Four more times in our Epistle reading from 1 John and we’ve heard “abide in my LOVE”13 times this morning.

And as long as we’re counting, we should also point out that the word “command” and “commandment” is repeated five times in the gospel reading plus three more times in the Epistle reading. “Abide in my love” and “keep my commandments” are closely connected.

If ever there were a pair of words in search of a biblical clarity in our day, “love” and “obedience” and how they relate to each other would certainly be right at the top of the list. I’m a child of the 60’s and the ‘age of Aquarius.” We were told that ‘love’ is ‘free.’ ‘Free,’ as in, ‘no rules,’ ‘no boundaries,’ especially God’s boundaries. Well, what was ‘free’ back then we paying for big time, now.

The Greeks avoided some of the confusion that we have with this ‘crazy thing called love’ by distinguishing four different kinds of ‘love’ with four separate words.

A. Storge There is “storge.” “Storge” is a “needy love” or a “dependant love.” This is the instinctual love of a mother for her child and a child for his / her parents. Even when parents are cruel and abusive, children still have a special love for them. Parents love their children no matter what becomes of them just because they are their children. You don’t command this kind of love or teach it. It happens naturally. It’s instinctual.

B. Eros Then there’s “eros.” “Eros” is erotic, passionate, sexual, romantic love, filled with feelings and emotions. This is the “love” that “fall into” when we “fall in love.” It’s the kind of ‘love’ that the TV and movies seem to think is the “telos” of ‘love.’ “Eros” is the kind of ‘love’ that has to have boundaries attached to it because its easily abused, something that TV and movies are always trying to ignore. You don’t have to ‘command’ people to engage in this kind of love. Just to keep it within its proper boundaries.

C. Philos “Philos” is the love of friends for each other. It’s ‘brotherly love,’ as in Philadelphia where I’m from – ‘the city of brother love’ and the Philadelphia Phillies and soft pretzels and cheese steaks. But I digress. There’s lots of confusion about the meaning of ‘friendship’ these days too. We have lots of Facebook ‘friends,’ who ‘like’ us. But for all the Facebook “friends,” there’s still a lot of loneliness out there.

“Philos” goes much deeper than that. “Friend love” is real COMPANIONSHIP. David and Jonathan were ‘friends.’ They enjoyed each other’s companionship and had each other’s back. “Friend love” doesn’t happen automatically. You have to work at it. But you don’t have to ‘command’ this kind of love. Everyone wants it.

D. Agape Then there’s the big one, “agape.” This is the ‘love’ that we’ve heard mentioned 13 times today. “Agape” is ‘sacrificial’ love. Two weeks ago, we heard Jesus say, “I am the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep.” That’s agape.

It’s different than “Philos” in that Philos is reciprocal love – friendship goes both ways. But “agape” love doesn’t expect anything in return. It’s UNCONDITIONAL. It’s love for another with no conditions attached; love for the loveless, unworthy, ungrateful, unfriendly, with no thought of reciprocation or appreciation.

That’s the “love that Jesus has for His own, with which He loved them to the end.” This is the ‘love’ that John points to when he writes, “God is love.” (1Jn.4). This is the ‘DIVINE LOVE’ that defines the essence of the Triune God. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. The Father so “loves” the world that He sends His Son to ‘LAY DOWN HIS LIFE’ – agape.

In God’s case, ‘agape’ comes naturally because it is who He is. And it should come naturally to us because God made man in His image. But the divine image in us has been totally lost because of our sin. And so, this ‘love of God,’ this ‘agape love’ does not come naturally as it should. So it must be commanded. No where in the Scriptures do we hear God command ‘storge,’ or ‘eros’ or even ‘philos.’ But ‘agape’ He attaches to a command. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Listen carefully to what He says here. “Love one another as I have loved you.” “I have loved you as the Father has loved me.” His love for us always comes first. Before we ever get down to the business of loving one another Jesus has already loved us. Before we ever get to the business of laying down our life for another, Jesus has already laid down His life for us. His love has to come first because He is love and we are not. Apart from Him we don’t have any love to love one another with.

So He says, “Abide in my love.” You have to receive before you can give.

E. Abide in My Love How do we do this? How do we “abide in His love?” Lot’s of confusion about this these days too. We ‘abide in His love’ by ‘abiding’ in those places where He says He pours out His love into us. Abide in your BAPTISM where the LOVE OF GOD was poured over your head and He joined you to His death and resurrection. Abide in the WORD where the LOVE OF GOD continues to be poured into your ears and He joins His absolution to your sin and breathes His breath of life into your dying heart. Abide in His SUPPER where the LOVE OF GOD is poured over your lips and tongue and He joins His physical body and blood GIVEN FOR YOU, to your physical body that He may be the source of love within you.

Like we said last week, that’s the Commandment. “Abide in my love” is the law. “Love one another” is the promise, the gospel. “Love one another” is the fruit of “abide in my love.”

Our English translation isn’t very helpful here. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” It’s those little words “this” and “that” that are the problem. You’ve got to be sure what “this” refers to. “Abide in my love, THIS is my commandment. With the result THAT or for the purpose THAT you love one another as I have loved you.”

III. Two ways to hear this. A. For the Unloving We need to hear what Jesus says here in two ways. First, when we ‘abide in His love,’ we are to produce the fruit of love, which is, ‘love one another.’ Abiding in your Baptism and the Absolution and the Supper and yet refusing to ‘love’ one another with the love of Christ, is a sin, its outright rebellion against God.

If I can put it this way, when Jesus intends to love your neighbor He carries out His love for them through you. You become His love to your neighbor, and your neighbor may well be the person sitting next to you, your own child, a person who’s name you don’t know and have never met, it may be your enemy.

To receive His love and refuse to love one another is a rebellion against the whole second table of the 10 Commandments. Commandments 4 through 10 are summarized by Jesus, “love your neighbor as yourself.” We think that we’re free to love our neighbor as LITTLE as we love ourselves. Better to think about this as “loving your neighbor as you yourself have been loved.’ If you want to pin this down to one commandment in particular, we could say that we break the 7th Commandment, ‘thou shall not steal’ when we keep for ourselves what has been given to us to be shared with our neighbor.

B. For the Unloved The second way that we need to hear this ‘commandment’ from Jesus is when we are the one who is not loved by our neighbor. When we are unloved by our neighbor, we must not think that we are unloved by God. God loves you. “Abide in His love” and persevere in faith, trust that He will work though the lives of others that you might receive His love through them.

IV. Joy Fulfilled. Sometimes, we Christians are accused of taking all the fun out of love. I think this comes mostly from those who reject the boundaries lines of ‘eros’ that we say are important to live within.

Certainly ‘agape’ love, laying down your life for another, unconditionally, sounds like something that is dreadfully painful and burdensome. Certainly it was painful for Jesus to lay down His life unto death, even death on a cross for us.

But Jesus makes it very clear that we dare not think of His love for us and through us as either fun or drudgery. A love that is rooted in something so deep and mysterious as the death of the Son of God could never be for the shallow or momentary experience of ‘fun’ or ‘pleasure.’ Likewise, to think of our participation in God’s great love for the world as drudgery and toilsome is equally absurd.

Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may be in you and your JOY may be full.”

“Joy!” That wonderful emotion of deep satisfaction that lifts up our hearts. The bible is filled with ‘joy,’ and ‘rejoicing’ and God’s ‘joyful’ people.

The “joy of Jesus” is the reward for loving others as we have been loved.

Once again, Jesus first of all talks about HIS JOY. His joy is a perfect joy just as His love is a perfect love. As He goes to the cross, He already sees the completion of His work and the renewing of His creation. Which right away tells us that this ‘joy’ that Jesus is talking about is something much more than just ‘pleasure’ or ‘happiness.’ In Jesus, we see real joy even in the midst of real pain and real sacrifice.

His joy is “FULL,” which means that there is no room for worry or sorrow or fear or regret. “Full” joy is “complete” joy, “perfect” joy. Joy that has reached its “telos.”

“THESE things.” What THINGS? “Love one another as I have loved you.” THESE things, I have spoken to you THAT…” “For the purpose THAT, with the result THAT, “your joy may be full.”

This is Easter joy, friends; the joy of participating in Christ’s victory over our sin and loveless and unloved lives; the joy loving one another as He has loved us; the joy of being loved “to the end.”

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Our gospel reading takes place as Jesus is leading His disciples from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane. He has just become their servant and washed their feet and instructed them to imitate His example and be a servant to one another. “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Then, He brought an end to the Passover meal by replacing it with the Lord’s Supper. He ends the symbolic and begins the real thing. In the Supper, He binds Himself to them by giving them His body and blood in the bread and wine. And He tells them that every time that they eat this Supper, they are being bound to Him.

In giving them His body and blood, He is giving them Himself and all who He is. He is the Creator of all things and the Sustainer of all things. In Him the Godhead dwells bodily and He possesses all of the attributes of God. He is “unchangeable,” “almighty,” “omniscient,” “omnipresent,” “just,” “faithful,” “good,” “merciful,” “gracious,” and “love.”

This is who He is. And He binds Himself to His disciples and they are bound to Him in this HOLY COMMUNION.

Another way to describe this would like this, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” The PARABLE is about a vine and it’s branches. The interpretation of the parable is, the Vine is Christ and the branches are all who are bound to Christ in this HOLY COMMUNION.

For you and me, the branches, that Jesus Christ binds Himself to us means that He gives Himself to us and we receive all who He is. We receive His life, and with His life comes His grace and mercy and forgiveness for all of our sins, His love and care. He intercedes before the Father for us. He gives us the Holy Spirit whose work it is to keep us bound to Jesus.

We talk a lot about having ‘connections’ and having the ‘right connections.’ Think about what it means that the God / Man Jesus Christ connects Himself to us and us to Him. It means that we have access to the Father through the Son and we may “ask for whatever we wish and it will be done for you.” It means that we are intimately connected to His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful and self control. It means that we are connected to His power, His power to work all things for good in our life, even the power to work raise us from the dead and unite our dead body to our living soul in the final restoration of all things.

For Jesus however, this means something entirely different. When we are bound to Jesus in this Holy Communion, He receives from us all that we are. And we are “by nature sinful and unclean, sinners in thought, word and deed.” As we are bound to Him He receives our life, and our life falls short of the glory of God. He receives our sin that makes us guilty before God our Creator. He receives our guilt, which must be punished before a just God. He receives our death, which is the result of our sin and guilt.

You see, the sap flows both ways between the vine and the branches. It never just flows one way. It’s a circulatory system. It flows from the vine to the branches and from the branches to the vine. “I am the true vine and you are the branches.”

This doesn’t seem like a very good thing for Jesus does it? And yet He is the One who establishes this HOLY COMMUNION and insists that you “Abide in Me.” Eight times in these eight verses He says, “Abide in me and I in you.”

We have nothing to give to Jesus in this HOLY COMMUNION except for our sin and guilt and death. Whether we realize it or not, this is what we mean when we say, ‘I gave my life to Jesus.’ It’s nothing to be proud of for sure.

But this is just what He insists on when He says, “Abide in Me.” Apart from Jesus Christ, you are cut off from the only outlet for your sin there is. Unless your sins flow into the Vine, they remain in you. And the fruit of sin is guilt and guilt will eat you up until you wither and die.

But He insists, “Abide in Me and I in you.” In the HOLY COMMUNION of the True Vine and its Branches, all of your sins flow into Him and He atones for it for you. All of your guilt flows into Him and He is punished for you. All of your death flows into Him and He dies for you.

And this, He says, is as it should be. The sap flows both ways. “Abide in Me and I in you.” Our sins flow into Him and His forgiveness and life flows into us. His holy blood flows into us and “cleanses us from all unrighteousness.”

His life flows into us and our death is swallowed up in His victory. What was withered is refreshed, streams of living water gushing through the desert, dry bones rehydrated, reconnected and raised up, a great army, “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them.” (Luke 7:22).

“Abide in me and I in you.” To ABIDE does not mean to VISIT occasionally or even regularly. To ABIDE doesn’t mean to keep in touch and let me know if you need anything. To ABIDE means to make Him your ABODE. Where you ABIDE is where you live and move and have your being. Not just until you’re old enough to move out and get a place and a life of your own or until you’re confirmed.

This HOLY COMMUNION between the true Vine and the Branches takes place in two ways. Christ does not bind Himself to us in the same way that we are bound to Him.

Christ binds Himself to His Christians is His Word. His Word is His Word and when He gives us His Word there is no changing it or breaking it. His Word is INFALLIBLE. It does what it says. He said He would be handed over to death on the cross and rise again on the 3rd day and He did. His Word is trustworthy and true because He is God and God is trustworthy and true.

And so, He binds Himself to us by His Word that He binds to the water in Holy Baptism, that He binds to the preaching of the preacher, that He binds to the bread and wine in the Holy Supper. “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” (John 8:31)

To ABIDE in His Word is much more than simply reading your bible and knowing the Scriptures. You can know the Bible inside and out and still never ABIDE in the Word. You ABIDE in it when you believe it and find your hope and joy in it. Which is something that Jesus says only happens when we become like little children.

We on the other hand, are bound to Christ, not by our word. Our word is not INFALLIBLE. Our word does not do what it says. We say that we will love the Lord our God with all of our heart and soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves, but we don’t.

The branches are bound to the Vine by FAITH. FAITH simply clings to His Word. “Apart from faith, there can be no “abiding in Him” because there is no “abiding in His Word.”

“Faith” is not our part in this HOLY COMMUNION. The “faith” that binds us to Jesus is a gift, lest anyone should boast. It sounds like circular reasoning I know, but “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Rom.10:17).

So Jesus says, “If you abide in Me and My word abide in you,” you will have the faith to ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.”

There is no question that in this HOLY COMMUNION, the branches are to “bear fruit” as Jesus puts it. “Bearing fruit” is the parable. The interpretation of “fruit” is a little harder to pin down than is the “True Vine” and the “branches.” Unfortunately, Jesus doesn’t define it. And so we probably shouldn’t try to put too much definition to this either.

It’s easy to get carried away with defining what “fruit” is or what it should be. Trouble is, we tend to want to define it so that we can count it and measure our productivity. The trouble with focusing too much on the “fruit” is that we either sink into despair because we aren’t bearing enough fruit. Or we become puffed up with prideful because we we’re doing just fine, maybe even surpassing the goal.

Our problem is that we easily confuse Law and Gospel. We think that when Jesus says, “bear fruit,” that He’s giving us His Law, telling us what we must do, as though this were our part in this HOLY COMMUNION. And we think that it is only if we “bear fruit,” whatever that is and however much we’re supposed to bear, that then, we’ll “abide in Him and He in us.”

Which of course it to get the whole thing exactly backwards which leads to disaster. The Law here is, “Abide in Me and I in you.” “Let my Word abide in you. Let it create a living faith in you. Confess your sins to me and receive my Absolution. Confess your fears to me and receive my peace. Confess your guilt to me and receive my refreshment and freedom.”

The Gospel is, “bear fruit.” This is the promise that His Word accomplishes in us when we ABIDE IN HIM. “Whoever abides in me and I in him he it is that bears much fruit.”

Rather than fixing our eyes on the results, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, and let His life produce His fruit through us in ways that we may never realize. And it’s probably best that we don’t. It’s for our own good that Jesus says, “do not let you left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

The “fruit” itself may not be at all spectacular or exciting in our eyes or they opinion of others. But God is pleased with the ‘fruit’ that our ABIDING IN HIM produces simply because it comes from the faith that we have received from Him in His HOLY COMMUNION with us.

So, whether its changing diapers or managing corporations, we do everything as branches connected to the True Vine. As we abide in Christ and He in us, we WILL bear much fruit. And it will be good fruit, the kind of fruit that God is pleased with.

“Abide in me.” That’s the command. “You will bear much fruit.” That’s the promise. God does not do His work on us from the outside in, by pressuring us to produce. He works on us from the inside out, pruning us here and there where it is necessary; changing us by the power of His Word.

As He changes us within, we begin to ask God for what He wants to give us and He gives us what we ask for. We ask for Jesus and His Word so that our faith in His Word may grow stronger and stronger. Apart from Him we can do nothing, but by Him we can do all things.

This is what Easter is all about. It’s not just the promise of living with Christ when we die, but the assurance that we live in HOLY COMMUNION with the risen Christ now. As He is eternal, He gives us eternal life and we start living it now.

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

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“I am the good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

That’s Jesus who’s talking. He is the “I am.” The same “I am who I am” who spoke to Moses in the desert. “I am the bread of life,” “I am the vine,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the way and the truth and the life,” “I am the door of the sheep,” “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” “I am the good shepherd.”

He is the “GOOD” Shepherd. “GOOD” as in the beginning when He saw what He made by the power of His Word and called it GOOD. “GOOD” as in “tov.” Exactly the way it’s supposed to be. “GOOD” light. “GOOD” dry land and seas. “GOOD” fruit trees bearing fruit and vegetation. “GOOD” stars in the sky and creatures on the earth. “GOOD” man and GOOD woman. “I am the GOOD Shepherd.” Exactly what a Shepherd is supposed to be.

A shepherd is supposed to take care of the sheep of his flock. And we all know what sheep are for. Shepherds are hired to bring the sheep entrusted to their care to the market in good shape, well fed, well watered, healthy, the fatter the better. And shepherds darn well better bring as many sheep to the market as they were entrusted with in the beginning. If they were given 100 sheep to care for and one, even one, goes astray, they better get out there and look for it until they find it and carry it if they must, all the way back to the fold. Any shepherd who comes in with fewer sheep than he was entrusted with is going to have a hard time getting hired again.

“I am the GOOD shepherd.” “Of those whom You gave me I have lost not one.” (John 18:9)

But He is not a ‘hired hand.’ “The hired hand cares nothing for the sheep.” The hired hand is only interested in the paycheck and his 403B retirement program and whether or not Social Security will still be around when it comes his time to collect.

The Good Shepherd is not a ‘hired hand.’ The sheep BELONG to Him. “I know MY OWN, and My own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” This is not a business and it’s certainly not about personal security. This is personal, very personal. If anything happens to the sheep, to HIS SHEEP, He suffers. He suffers in their suffering. He delights in their joy. He is as personal with His sheep as the Father is personal with the Son and the Son with the Father. The good shepherd LOVES His sheep. It’s that personal.

Sadly, the sheep do not comprehend much of this. They are after all, sheep. The best that you can expect of them is that they listen to the voice of their shepherd and follow Him. The closest they come to what you might call “a relationship” with their shepherd is that they know the sound of His voice and as long as they hear His voice they feel safe and secure. But for the sheep, it’s all about what the Shepherd can do for them. After all, what does a sheep have to offer a shepherd except obey? And so He says, “If you love me you will obey my word.”

So, it’s not because the sheep love their good shepherd that the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He lays down His life for the sheep in spite of the fact that they cannot begin to appreciate the “breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” (Eph.3:19). He loves His sheep simply because THEY ARE HIS OWN.

The “sheep” that Jesus us referring to is you. Not because you were baptized. Not even because you believe. Certainly not because you’re so darn cute and adorable. You are one of His sheep because He laid down His life for you. I know that He laid down His life for you because He laid down His life for the whole world. Every single one, from the first to the last, the young and the old, the conceived who are born and the conceived who are robbed of their birth, the old who are with it and the old who are without it. They’re all His and He laid down His life for all. Not because they deserve it or appreciate it. Just because He is the GOOD SHEPHERD, and that’s what shepherds are supposed to do.

It is however through Holy Baptism that it gets personal for you. In your baptism, the Holy Spirit opened your ears so that you are able recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd in distinction to all others as the voice of One who loves you. Who loves you like not one else loves you.

In your Baptism, the Holy Spirit opened your heart so that when you hear His voice you feel safe and secure. The sound of His voice gives a peace which this world cannot give and that surpasses all human understanding.

He has laid down His life for the unbaptized and unbelieving sheep for sure. But they neither listen to His voice nor do they find any security or peace in it, nor do they follow Him. But you desire to listen to His voice and no other. You desire to follow Him and no other. For you, it’s personal.

Which is not to say that always you do listen to His voice and no other and follow Him and no other. We are after all, sheep. “And all we, like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way.” But even in this, you know that “when your heart condemns you, that God is greater you’re your heart.” And He brings you back and forgives your sins. And your condemned heart is filled with joy and full of confidence before God to believe, “The Lord is MY shepherd.” And I am His little lamb. It’s pretty personal.

Of all of the many analogies that are found in the Scriptures for the relationship between the Christ and His Christians, the one of Shepherd and sheep may be the most endearing.

Compared to the ‘vine and its branches,’ or the ‘cornerstone’ and the building built on top of it, this is so much more appealing. But its appeal may also be its problem. The wonderful imagery of the good shepherd leading His adoring sheep ‘beside still water’ and ‘to lie down in green pastures,’ ‘who lack nothing,’ risks missing the point that all of this takes place in the ‘midst of enemies.’ “He prepares a table IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES.” It is not through a botanical paradise that He leads us but “through the valley of the shadow of death.”

There is a hungry wolf prowling around looking for sheep to devour. “The wolf snatches them and scatters them.” The point it, the good Shepherd has not come into an otherwise safe and peaceful world to offer you more safety or more peace than you already have as though whether He came or not, life would still go on just fine. Apart from Him, you are wolf food.

Easter is not simply a happy day among many happy days. Easter is Christ’s victory over death and hell for the sake of His sheep. He has won the victory over the “rulers and authorities and the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph.6:12).

Easter is the victory of the Shepherd from heaven over the wolf from hell and the prize is you. “I give them eternal life AND NO ONE WILL SNATCH THEM OUT OF MY HAND.” (John 10:28).

But the victory comes at a heavy price. Four times in the eight verses of our gospel reading for this “Good Shepherd Sunday,” Jesus declares, “He lays down His life for the sheep.” This is not a pretty picture of a grandfatherly shepherd surrounded by His adoring sheep. This is a terrible fight between THE Shepherd and THE Wolf. It’s a picture that is filled with pain and suffering, spit and sweat, with torn flesh and blood and death. And not of the wolf, and not of the sheep. But of the Shepherd, the GOOD Shepherd, who LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP.

If this were any other story than His Story, this would be total disaster. If a shepherd lays down his life for his sheep and he dies, he leaves them in a terrible situation. The death of the shepherd means the death of the sheep. But in this story, the death of the Good Shepherd means the life of the sheep.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Listen carefully to what He says. “The good Shepherd LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE for the sheep.” The verb is “tithaymee.” It’s in the active – indicative, not passive. His life was not taken from Him. He laid it down. Intentionally, purposefully, according to His eternal will from before the creation. “No one takes my life from me but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again.” There is nothing accidental or coincidental about any of this.

This is the victory of Easter that we celebrate. Not just that our Good Shepherd laid down His life for us. That would not be very good news for us if that were as far as it went. But He also took it up again, and He lives and reigns to all eternity. He has broken the wolf’s teeth. The Shepherd has crushed the wolf’s head, just as it is written, “and He shall crush your head.”

Now, the sheep may live in safety and security even in the “presence of their enemies.” They who are known by the good Shepherd and who know Him and His death and resurrection for them, walk through even “the valley of the shadow of death” with peace in their heart and a song on their lips, “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Writing to the sheep, St. John says, “By this we know love.” You want to know what real love looks like? “By this we know love, that he laid down His life for us.” Jesus said, “greater love has no MAN than his, than that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) So, if that is the standard for love among men, what do you think it means when the GOD / MAN lays down His life for you?

John says, “we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” This is what it means to “follow Jesus” like a faithful sheep. He laid down His life for us. So we lay down our lives for one another. “By this we know love.” By this, the world gets a chance to see what real love looks like too.

Occasionally, we great acts of heroism when someone willingly puts himself / herself in harms way solely to save someone else’s life. Our military men and women are trained to think like this. One will willingly fall on a grenade to shield his brothers from its blast. “We ought to lay down our life for the brothers.”

But this “ought” is not restricted to those rare, extreme moments of sacrifice that require physical death. John applies this “ought” to the experience of everyday life in the world. “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him how does God’s love abide in him?”

Maybe for some of us, the old Jack Benny skit is too true and we’d have to give some serious thought as to whether we’d rather die or hand over our money. How often do we tell someone in need that we will pray for them when the answer to our prayer has already been given to us and all we have to do is share “the world’s goods” with the one in need? “Little children, let us not love in word and talk but in deed and in truth.”

We love others as Christ loved us right in our daily life and in the particular vocations of our particular life. Husbands and wives lay down their lives for each other. Parents lay down their lives for their children. Grown children lay down their lives for their aging parents. Employees lay down their lives for their fellow employees and those who depend on the services that they provide. Brothers and sisters in Christ lay down their lives for one another in the congregation.

We are not ‘hired hands.” “Hired hands” care only about themselves. We are the sheep of the Good Shepherd. And He has laid down His life for us. He has given us everything that we need. “Our cup overflows.” We, of all people ought to show the world what real love looks like.

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On the day that we call “Maundy Thursday,” Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples in the Upper Room and transformed the Passover meal into the Lord’s Supper. After the meal came to its conclusion, Jesus led the 11 disciples minus Judas to the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s about two miles from Jerusalem, up the Mount of Olives to the Garden. As they walked, Jesus had a lot to say.

St. John records much of what Jesus says along the way. In fact, half of chapter 13 and all of chapters 14,15,16 record Jesus words to His disciples as they follow Him to His arrest. Some of what He wants them to know is that He must leave them, and that He will rejoin them. “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again in a little while you will see me. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”

He compares their experience to a woman in labor. “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:20-23).

When Jesus was taken away from them and brutally abused and crucified, they were in great sorrow and severe distress. The whole world had collapsed. All of their hopes and dreams where crushed and they were deeply disappointed and depressed. They were like sheep whose shepherd was suddenly taken from them and they were all alone and terrified.

I’m tempted to say, ‘maybe some of you can identify with the disciples.’ But none of us can. All of their trouble was due to the fact that Jesus had left them. But He has never left us. We will never experience the fear and despair that they experienced.

Their tribulation however was only for a short time. “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again in a little while you will see me.” Jesus never fails to keep His promise.

Can we begin to imagine what those words of His must have meant to them? “Peace be with you.” “Shalom.” The world is coming apart at the seams, the foundations are crumbling under our feet, everything that I hoped and dreamed for my life has come undone. And here stands this man who says, “Peace be with you.” What good are words at a time like this – whoever you are and however you got in here?

“When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.” This is Jesus, the crucified Jesus. The “he breathed His last” Jesus. This is their shepherd.

“Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” The world has gone mad and nothing makes sense. The danger and disappointment is all still there. BUT JESUS IS HERE. MY JESUS IS HERE. And all is well.

“I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” What a night that must have been. What an Easter that must have been.

A second time Jesus speaks His Word of peace. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.” With His first word of “peace” He sets them free from all of their fear and fills their heart with joy. Now with the second word of “peace” He sends them to feed others with His forgiveness and love. They’re not to stay in this little room and keep their joy to themselves. It’s meant to be shared, because there’s a world of people who live in fear and with deep disappointment and despair and who need to know that JESUS IS HERE. YOUR JESUS IS WITH YOU.

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” The Father sent His only begotten Son into the world, not to condemn the world but because He so loved the world. “So I am sending you.”

“And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.” It’s a ‘little Pentecost,’ 50 days before the ‘big Pentecost.’ They can do nothing apart from the Holy Spirit.

Here, in this ‘little Pentecost,’ Jesus gives them the authority of the Holy Spirit to preach and to speak in His name. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Some people have a problem with the fact that the ‘called and ordained servant to of the Word,’ should have the arrogance to say, “I forgive you all of your sins.” ‘Don’t you know that only God can forgive sins?’ ‘Yes, of course I know that. But I am not speaking for myself. I am speaking for Jesus. When you hear me say what only Jesus can say, you should know, JESUS IS HERE. YOUR JESUS IS HERE.’

The first one that these ‘called and ordained servants’ exercise their new office with is Thomas. Thomas was one of the twelve, but he wasn’t in with the others on that first Easter night. See what you miss when you miss church.

“The disciples told him, ‘we have seen the Lord.’” That’s the first recorded sermon that the disciples preach after their commission from Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Short and sweet. After the ‘big Pentecost’ sermons get much longer. But here, it’s simply a matter of the eyewitnesses saying what their eye has witnessed. ‘We have seen the Lord.’ It’s an incredible sermon really.

“But Thomas said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

Thomas has a problem with believing the word that comes from the Apostles. In the Nicene Creed, we say that we believe in “the one, holy Christian and APOLSTOLIC church.” That means that we believe the word of the Apostles. That’s what the New Testament is really.

But Thomas wasn’t ready to confess the Nicene Creed just yet. He couldn’t bring himself to say, “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ… He suffered and was buried. AND ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN…” And he didn’t believe that BECAUSE he didn’t believe the Apostolic word. Belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is inseparably connected to believe in the Apostolic Word.

The Apostolic word is not enough for Thomas. Thomas is a charismatic. The Word is not enough for him. He’s got to feel, touch, see. He wants a word directly from Jesus.

To be sure, Thomas’ doubt is not just ‘weak faith.’ It’s full-fledged faithlessness and disbelief. Which kind of makes you wonder why this text for the 2nd Sunday after Easter every year, even in the three-year cycle. You would think that Thomas might be discreetly kept out of sight, like crazy aunt Gertrude who’s behavior is an embarrassment to the whole family. But in fact, Thomas is put before us every year.

What is it that we are supposed to see in Thomas? What are we to learn from him and how are we to be strengthened on our faith and hope by his example?

One of the early church Fathers, St. Gregory the Great, answers our question like this. “The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples.” “In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief.”

In other words, Thomas is someone in whom we can all see ourselves. It’s not a pretty picture and its nothing to be proud of, for sure. How often have we put demands before our Lord and spell out the terms that the Lord must meet if He expects us to believe?

But Gregory directs us not so much to how Thomas doubts the Apostolic Word, but to how Jesus responds to doubting Thomas.

Jesus comes and meets Him right where he is, even in his disbelief. “Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ And then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it into my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’

There is no scolding or reprimand of Thomas. No lecture on what a disappointment he is. No penance dolled out that must be paid just to be sure that his is sufficiently contrite of heart. Not even a, “why weren’t you in church last Sunday.”

This is just the way it is with Jesus. His grace is greater than our doubts. He doesn’t leave Thomas to drown in his doubts or perish in his disbelief but comes to him and offers His side to Thomas’ hand and speaks His forgiving word into his ears – just as He does for you.

“Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God.’ There is more here than meets the eye and we dare not miss it. What Thomas sees with his eyes and touches with his hands is the humanity of Jesus Christ. That is, he sees and touches a human being. But what Thomas says is, “my Lord and my God.” He sees true man and confesses true God. In other words, Jesus gives Thomas all he had demanded and much, much more.

Historians record that after the ‘big Pentecost,’ Thomas went to India where he preached the good news about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and died a martyr’s death. The Christian Church in India to this day holds Thomas to be its patron saint.

Listen to St. Gregory again.
“What follows is reason for great joy: Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. There is here a particular reference to ourselves; for we hold in our hearts one we have not seen in the flesh. We are included in these words…”

We are not ‘eyewitnesses’ of Jesus. The old spiritual asks, ‘where you there when they crucified my Lord?’ And we can only answer, ‘no, I wasn’t there.’ We’ve only heard about it.

Peter writes to the Christian Church saying, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1Peter 1:8-9).

According to that same APOSTOLIC, we believe that we will one day see Jesus “as He is.” But for now, we live by faith and not sight. We hear His voice, spoken through a called servant, “I forgive you all of your sins.” We receive His crucified body and death defying blood hidden under bread and wine. And we believe. And we have His peace. And we have His joy. JESUS IS HERE. MY JESUS IS HERE.

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I can’t remember where I read it or who wrote it, but someone once said, “there has got to be something wrong with a theology that doesn’t set men to singing.” Very true. Today, the one, holy, Christian and Apostolic Church sings. We sing “the song of victory to our God that has been suppressed for these last 40 days. We’ll explode if we had to keep in any longer – Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)

This is “the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia!” And we “sing with all the people of God and join in the hymn of ALL CREATION…”

Talk about pent-up joy ready to explode. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Rom.8:22). But today the wait is over and “ALL CREATION” sings their hymn of praise to the One who has set it free from it’s bondage to decay that man’s sin has subjected it to.

In his revelation of heaven, St. John hears and sees all of heaven singing. There’s the quartet of “four living creatures… that day and night they never cease to sing, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev.4:8)

There’s the choir of 24 Elders who, every time they hear the 4 Living Creatures sing the Sanctus, “they cast their crowns before the throne and sing, ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power…For you were slain, and by Your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation…” (Rev.4:11; 5:9).

From a quartet to a choir, John writes, “Then I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude, like the roar or many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory…” (Rev.19:6-7)

I. The Heavenly Choir St. John doesn’t identify any of the individuals in this heavenly choir. But we know who they are.

A. Adam and Eve Adam and Eve are in that choir. The garden where they lived was filled with the singing of “all creation.” The waves of the sea sang to the sand on the shore and the wind in the air sang to the leaves on the trees. The “morning stars sang together all the sons of God shouted for joy” in the HYMN OF ALL CREATION, praising God for making them so wonderfully out of nothing. (Job 38:7)

But there was one voice in the Garden that refused to sing with the choir and insisted on singing solo. And it sang so beautifully that you’d swear it must be the voice of an angel. But it sang a different song than all the other songs. It sang a ‘protest song,’ ‘a song of rebellion,’ a song that called men to rise up and sing against their God and Creator.

And Adam and Eve listened to this angel sing. And it was a catchy song and they found themselves tapping their foot to it and then, before they realized what they were doing, they were singing this song themselves and they couldn’t get it out of their heads or their hearts.

And suddenly there was the sound of static in the air and for the very first time, songs were sung in a minor key and nothing was in tune and all the beautiful harmony was gone. And men and women began to sing the blues, and funeral dirges became the most popular songs sung.

Who will put an end to these funeral songs and who will restore the world to its original harmony? Who will crush the head of that deceiving angel who sings its song of sin and death and damnation?

Jesus Christ will, and He has done it. St. John hears the heavenly choir sing, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God, for His judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” (Rev.19:2)

So, sing Adam and sing Eve. Your sin has been avenged. The One in whose image you were created has taken your image upon Himself. “The Lord has destroyed death by enduring it. The Lord has vanquished hell by descending into it.”(St. John Chrysostom) Christ has silenced the demons. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Behold, He has made all things new.

B. Noah Noah and his family are in that choir. The Lord told Noah to build an ark. For 120 years, Noah cut the wood and hammered the nails and caulked the joints and trimmed the sails. And all the time he preached, “Repent, for the judgment of the Lord is at hand. Come into the ark and be saved.” And after 120 years, only Noah and his wife and Noah’s three sons and their wives believed, eight souls in all. And the Lord shut the door.

Sing Noah. And sing you sons of Noah and your wives. God has made an ark out of the body of His Son, Jesus Christ and He has carried you through the flood of death and destruction and brought you safely into His new creation. Sing Noah, for your faith and your preaching was not in vain. “Behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… singing, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9-10)

C. Abraham Abraham and Sarah and Isaac are in that heavenly choir. When Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah was, in her own words, “worn out,” the angel of the Lord came to them promising that within the year they would have a son. Sarah laughed, which is Hebrews is “Yitzcach.”

Then, “God told Abraham to take his son, his only son, “Ytizcach”, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord cried out, ‘Abraham, Abraham,’ do not harm the boy.” (Gen 22:1-2).

Sing Abraham, sing Sarah and sing Isaac. God has sacrificed His Son, His only Son, Jesus, whom He loves, and has raised Him from the dead. The Lord has renewed your laughter Sarah. He has turned your mourning into joy, Abraham. He has raised you from your grave, Isaac. “Sing with all the saints in glory, sing the resurrection song. Death and sorrow, earth’s dark story, to the former days belong.” (LSB #671).

D. Moses and Miriam Moses and Miriam are in that choir. The Lord heard Israel’s groaning under the harsh rule of Pharaoh in Egypt. God sent them a savior by the name of Moses. And Moses led the people of God out of Egypt by way of the Red Sea. And Pharaoh pursued them with all of his chariots and horsemen.

“And when Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” “And Moses said, ‘Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today… The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Ex.14:10-14).

Sing Moses. Sing Miriam. Sing Israel. The Lord, has not taken you to DIE in the wilderness. He has taken His Son to DIE in the wilderness. He has gone before you, and leads you through death and into life. He has drown Pharaoh’s Pharaoh in the Red Sea of His blood and delivered you safely through the same. Sing with all the people of God, “for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation.” (Ex.15:1-2).

E. David David is in that heavenly choir. David, the mighty warrior king of Israel, fought the good fight against Israel’s enemies. He slew the giant Goliath with a sling shot. He defended Israel against all her enemies.

But he couldn’t defend himself against his own sinful lust and he committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband to cover up his crime. But he couldn’t hide from God. “You are the man,” said Nathan. “The child that is born to you shall die.” (2 Sam. 12:7,14).

Sing David. For God has credited all of your guilt to His Son, Jesus Christ. “He is the man.” God has raised this “Son of David” from the dead and all of your sin has been atoned for and your guilt has been canceled. Sing David, sing Bathsheba, “for your warfare is ended, your iniquity is pardoned, you have received from the Lord’s hand, double for all of your sins.” (Is. 40:2)

F. Prophets And in that heavenly choir are all of the prophets martyrs who faithfully preached and witnessed to the truth. “Some were tortured, others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with sword. They were destitute, afflicted, mistreated – of whom the world was not worthy.” (Heb. 11:35-38). Sing Isaiah, sing Jeremiah, sing Ezekiel and Daniel and all you prophets. Sing Gideon and Barak. Sing Samson and Samuel and all you faithful martyrs. Your faith was not in vain. The Word that you spoke has come to pass and the Messiah you promised has come and saved His people from their sin and death by dying and rising from the dead in their stead.

G. The Mary’s and Salome “When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" (Mark 16:1-6)

Sing you Marys and Salome. The great stone has been rolled away and an angel awaits you with good news. “You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen!” Keep your spices. He doesn’t need them. “God, His God has anointed Him with the oil of gladness,” His Holy Spirit and His body is glorified just as yours will one day be glorified. (Ps.45:7).

H. Peter “But go and tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him just as He told you.” Tell Peter in particular. Peter, who by his repeated denial of the Lord believes that he will never sing again.

But sing Peter. Sing you disciples of the Lord. For your Lord had called you to meet Him. He has prepared a feast for you, and for all peoples. A feast of rich food, of well-aged wine, His very body and blood, given and shed and risen from the dead, for you.

Sing Peter. Sing you faithful and unfaithful, you confessors of the faith and deniers of the Lord, for the Lord has forgiven you all of your sins. Sing all you who have kept the fast and those who have not. “At the Lamb’s high feast we sing, praise to our victorious King. Who has washed us in the tide, flowing from His pierced side.” (LSB 633:1).

I. Jim, George, John There are many others in that heavenly choir whom we recognize. In fact, some whom we knew and loved while they were in this world with us. They were husbands and fathers and mothers and friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. There’s Jim Grant, and George Kohl and Sue Niles and John Poirier. Sing Jim. Sing George. Sing Sue. Sing John.

“For the Lord has swallowed up the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He has swallowed up death forever.”

J. All Peoples This is a day for ALL CREATION to sing! Let all the devout lovers of God as well as the doubting and lukewarm sing. Let all the grateful servants of the Lord as well as those who have never stopped to recognize all that the Lord has done for you, sing. Let all who have taken up their cross and followed Jesus as well as those who have forsaken the cross sing.

Let those who have worked in the vineyard of the Lord from the first hour sing, for you are receiving the reward of your faith. But let those who delayed and did not come into the vineyard until the third hour or the 6th hour or the 9th hour or even the 11th hour, and those who are still waiting to be called, sing. For the Lord is gracious and merciful and receives the last as joyfully as the first.

“This is the feast of victory for our God. Sing with all the people of God and join in the hymn of all creation…” Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

The name comes from St. John's gospel, the 13th chapter, which we will hear later this evening. Of the four gospels, John is the only one that does not give us the account of the actual eating of the Passover meal and the words of institution that Jesus speaks over the bread and wine.

But John is the only one of the four who gives us the account of Jesus’ washing of the disciples feet and His explanation of what this means. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34). The word “commandment” in Latin is “mandatum” which has elided into “Maundy” in English. “Maundy” refers to the 'new commandment’ that Jesus lays down in the Upper Room. “Love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

When Jesus calls this a “new” commandment, He doesn’t mean that He is adding something to the 10 Commandments that hadn’t been there all along. The commandment that we should love one another is the summary of the 2nd Table of the 10 Commandments that Jesus had previously summarized saying “love your neighbor as yourself.”

When Jesus calls this a “new” commandment, He means that even as He gives this commandment to us to keep, He Himself is already keeping it for us, and by the laying down of His life unto death for His friends, will keep it in the fullest sense.

By naming this night “Maundy Thursday” the Church is telling us that the new commandment to love one another is inseparably connected to the receiving of Christ’s body and blood who has kept this commandment for us, in our place, on our behalf.

Our goal this evening is to commemorate the institution of the Lord's Supper, both by reminding ourselves of what took place, which we will do in this sermon and by washing Jacob's feet, as well as participating in this sacrament which is the very purpose for which Christ instituted it.

The Words of Institution that we use in the Divine Service is a compilation of what we are given in Matthew, Mark and Luke as well as 1st Corinthians 11.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to them saying, "Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same manner also he took the cup, after supper, and when He had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, "Drink of it all of you. This is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

I. Night Betrayed The first thing that we reminded of every time we celebrate this Sacrament is that Jesus gives this precious gift to His disciples and through them to His Church forever in the very midst of man’s betrayal and rejection of Him. Certainly, these words were not spoken by Jesus when He instituted the sacrament. Yet St. Paul includes this historical detail as part of what “I received from the Lord and what I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed…”

Every time we administer this meal and receive this sacrament, we are reminded first of all that this is NOT a celebration of our loyalty and faithfulness to God, but of His loyalty and faithfulness and love for us. He gives us His body and blood while we were and still are sinners.

II. He took bread. “He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them…”

We use the word 'bread' in a couple of different ways. “Bread” can stand for the things that we need for our physical survival. In the Lord's Prayer, we ask Our Father to provide us with our “daily bread.” Luther says that this includes the following: 'clothing, shoes, food, drink, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self control, good weather, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors and the like.’

To 'break bread' is understood in a several different ways as well. Usually, when we talk about 'breaking bread' with someone, we mean that we ate a meal together. How many times had Jesus 'broke bread' with His disciples over the course of the three plus years He had been with them?

“Breaking bread” isn't just the act of eating a meal with someone. When we “break bread” with someone, we enter into a close 'fellowship' with them. One of the things that irritated the Pharisees and Scribes of Israel was that Jesus 'ate with sinners.' He 'broke bread' with them. It wasn't the eating in and of itself that bothered them but the fact that by eating with sinners, Jesus was entering into a fellowship with them. Something that a REAL Rabbi would never do. To come into contact with sinners made you a sinner. To dip your bread into the same bowl that a sinner dipped his bread into was just as effective as actual touching.

So when the Apostles introduce the very words that Jesus used in the Lord's Supper by saying that 'He took bread and after giving thanks He broke it and gave it to them,” they have in mind a lot of these things. This “bread” is the sustenance that we need to survive – not for our physical needs, but for our spiritual needs.

And, in the “breaking of the bread,” Jesus is entering into a personal fellowship with those whom He is eating with.

But the Lord's Supper is also clearly different and more significant than every other meal that Jesus has eaten with His disciples or anyone else. This is the only meal in which Jesus adds a new meaning to the word “bread” and a new meaning to “breaking bread.”

He says of the bread, “This is my body.” This gives an entirely new meaning to the bread. Because the body of Jesus is holy, the bread is holy bread. Not because of the bread but because of His body. Earlier, Jesus had this night in mind when He said, For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." (John 6:33,51)

So, when Jesus 'breaks' this bread and 'gives it to them,' and they 'take and eat' as they are told to do, Jesus is entering into fellowship with sinners, and sinners enter into fellowship with Him. He is uniting His holy body to sinners that sinners, by eating it, may receive His holy body into their sinful body. There is only ONE body of Christ, since there is only ONE Christ. Therefore this is the same body that is crucified for the sins of the world and raised from the dead for the justification and salvation of sinners.

The Pharisees and Scribes thought that when a holy man ate with sinners, the holy man became a sinner. But Jesus turns that around. Now, in this particular meal, when sinners eat the holy body of Jesus, they become holy.

So, this is no ordinary bread. And yet, it is ordinary bread. There are three ways to go wrong here. One way is to say that the bread “becomes” the body of Jesus, which is not what Jesus says. He says, “this is My body.” It “is” His very body even while it is also true bread.

Nor does this bread symbolize the body of Jesus. He says, “this is My body.” “Is” indicates true essence and being. If He had meant that the bread was a symbol of His body, He would have said “this is LIKE My body.” But this is not what He says.

Nor are we permitted to say that the body and the bread together create some kind of third substance. Jesus gives His body WITH the bread and both are the real things. Real bread AND real body of Christ.

II. He took the cup. After Jesus took bread, 'He took the cup.' “The cup” is a figure of speech. This is not really about 'the cup' but about what is in the cup. Wine was the beverage of the Passover meal. Just as it was the beverage of every feast and banquet, wedding banquets especially. While Jesus as at the wedding banquet in Cana, the wine ran out and that presented a real problem. Without wine, the integrity of the banquet and even the marriage was threatened. So, Jesus turned water into wine.

When the Pharisees and Scribes question Jesus as to why His disciples never fast like other Rabbis have their disciples do, Jesus compares their situation to guests at a wedding banquet. When the Bridegroom is present, you celebrate.

Just like with the bread, Jesus gives the wine of this particular banquet a whole new meaning that builds on the connection of wine and wedding banquet. He says, “This is my blood, shed for you.” This banquet is the celebration of the union of the Bridegroom to His Bride, who gives Himself to Her even unto death, for Her sake so that she may not die, but have eternal life.

He says, “this is My blood of the NEW COVENANT.” Not that this is something new. God has pledged Himself to us in unfailing love and devotion from the beginning. But here, in this particular meal, this marriage covenant is perfectly fulfilled and sealed by the blood of God, shed for His beloved Bride.

Again, this is real wine AND this is the true blood of Jesus Christ. In drinking the wine, we receive the blood of Christ, shed for us from the cross for the forgiveness of all of our sins.

III. In Remembrance With both the bread and the wine, Jesus repeats this command, “This do, in remembrance of Me.”

Jesus says that the Lord’s Supper is to be an occasion for ‘remembrance’ like a memorial reminds us of something important that happened. The question is, who is to do the remembering in this meal. Is it God who is to remember us as we eat the body and blood of His dear Son? Or is it we who are to remember Christ’s suffering and death for our salvation as we eat His flesh and drink His blood? And of course the answer is both.

It is always first and foremost God's remembrance of us for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ that is the basis for all of our hope and peace. He REMEMBERS His promises to us and the new covenant that He made with us, which is sealed and unchangeable in the death of Christ.

And WE REMEMBER all that Jesus has done for us, not as fond memories of a past event, but of a past event that is always in the present. As we eat and drink “IN REMEMBRANCE OF HIM,” His death and resurrection become a part of our present life, here and now.

And just as Christ comes to us in the bread and wine in the present, we also remember that He is eternal. And so as we “DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF HIM,” we not only bring the past into the present but we also bring the present into the future and the Lord’s Supper becomes, what we like to call, 'a foretaste of the feast to come.'

Let us then administer and receive this precious sacrament.

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I. Introduction We have come quite a way during these mid-week Lenten services. We began just outside of Jerusalem at the home of Simon the Leper where Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with her expensive perfume a week before His death and burial. We followed Judas to the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter to the High Priest's courtyard, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin to Pontius Pilate's headquarters. And last week we concluded right at the foot of the cross. “So they delivered him over to them to be crucified.” (John 19:16)

This evening, we find ourselves at the foot of the cross where Christ has been crucified. There are several present here. His mother, Mary and the disciple John are here. Simon of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry His cross is here. The two thieves crucified with him are here. The Romans soldier who pierced Jesus' side and made the good confession “truly this was the Son of God,” is here. Several of the women who accompanied Jesus and supported Him are here as well.

It is one of those women whom we want to follow this evening. Her name is Mary Magdalene.

II. Mary Magdalene – 7 Demons A. Background on Mary We don't know a whole lot about her. Some people think that Mary Magdalene was the woman caught in adultery whom Jesus defended and told to “go and sin no more.” But there is nothing in the record that connects her to that account at all.

St. Luke gives us the only bit of background that we have on her. In the 8th chapter of his gospel, Luke writes that while Jesus is in the region of Galilee, “He went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out. (Luke 8:1-2)

From that brief bit of background, we can say a few things about Mary in order to get to know her better. The women whom we meet in the Scriptures are identified one from another in various ways, usually by their husband's name or by a name of a son or daughter, or some other family member. So, the most famous woman is “Mary the mother of Jesus.” Another Mary who was at the cross was known as “Mary the wife of Clopas.” Even the Mary whom we called “Mary of Bethany” is never really called that in the Scriptures. She would have been called either “Mary, the sister of Martha” or certainly after his resurrection, “Mary the sister of Lazarus.”

Mary Magdalene is not known by any personal connection to anyone. There is a village in the region of Galilee called Magdala or Migdal. She is simply known by where she is from.

Luke says that she had “seven demons.”

One of the things that Jesus does from the very beginning of His ministry is cast out demons from the demon possessed. Right after His baptism and temptation in the wilderness Jesus goes to Galilee, to the village of Capernaum where there is a synagogue. As soon as Jesus enters the synagogue a man with the demon cries out, “Ha! 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!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.” (Luke 4:34-35).

Later that same night, Jesus is at Peter's mother-in-law's house, and Luke report “when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him and he healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” (Luke 4:40-41).

Keep in mind that all of this happened in Capernaum which is in the region of Galilee, not too far away from the village of Magdala. Maybe a woman from Magdala named Mary was one of those in that crowd, whom Jesus cast the demons out of.

B. Demon Possession Let's talk about this whole business of 'demon possession.' In our sophisticated and enlightened day, we're not so sure what to make of 'demons' and 'demon possession.' Talk about 'casting out demons' brings to mind 'voodoo' and 'witch doctors.'

So, I'd suggest we think about this like this. The fact that there are indeed such things as 'demons' and that Jesus Christ has the authority over even the 'demons' is perfectly in line with the work of Satan in this world and the work of Christ in this world according to the Scriptures. So that really shouldn't bother us.

But let's also be willing to consider that with the development of modern science, we understand the how the human body and brain works today better than they did 2000 years ago. And what they may have called demon possession then, we may call schizophrenia or manic-depressive or mental illness today. Some of the ways that the demon-possessed act in the bible actually looks a whole lot like the way someone with seizures might act. What they attributed to demons, we might attribute to a neurological or chemical disorder.

Here's my point. Rather than trying to diagnose the specific cause of Mary's problem, whether it was actual demons or mental illness, Mary was living in the darkness like a person held captive by evil forces unable to escape.

When Luke says that she had “seven demons,” he may be using the number seven in a symbolic way as to mean 'completeness.' She might have been so out of her mind that those who had once known her didn't know her at all anymore. It was as though there was nothing of the real Mary. Haven’t we seen or known people with Alzheimer’s of whom we have said just that. “It’s not her.” Mary was lost in the confusion and chaos of forces beyond her control.

But then Jesus came along and set her free. Simply by the word of His command or the touch of His hand, He shattered the darkness. He unloosed the chains that bound her and the prison door came right off its hinges. Jesus came to her and spoke His famous, “let there be light!” upon her, just as He had done over the ‘formless and void’ creation in the beginning. And just like that, the confusion and chaos gave way to order and peace, and Mary was back again.

It is important to notice, that when the gospel writers report one of these episodes of Jesus casting out demons from the possessed, they always say, “he released them.” He didn't “forgive them.” They weren't 'wicked people.' They were 'afflicted people,' prisoners to evil forces that inflicted all kinds of terrible physical and psychological harm on them. Jesus 'released them.'

One of the prophetic signs of the Messiah's coming into the world, you'll recall, was that the Christ would set the prisoners free. The Prophet Isaiah writes about the coming Messiah, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7) Mary Magdalene was one of those prisoners for whom the Christ came into the world.

C. What was it like for Mary after she was set free? So, now we want to ask ourselves, what was it like for Mary after she was set free from the demons? It must have been like being ‘born again.' It must have been like Lazarus’ being raised from the dead.

Jesus gave Mary back to herself. After Jesus cast out her seven demons, her friends must have said, “Mary, your back.”

And what did Mary do when she got herself back again. She gave herself to Jesus. Mary Magdalene becomes one of the most loyal followers that Jesus has.

As she follows Jesus, she sees the crowds coming to Him, just as she once had. And those who are possessed as she was are set free from their demons. Everywhere Jesus goes, she sees the darkness being shattered by the light, prisoners streaming out of their dungeons by the multitudes, The ‘lost,’ those lost to themselves, are found.

The “strong man” was breaking into Satan's house and throwing out the evil tyrant. The Kingdom of God was coming into the world and it was an incredible thing to behold and be a part of.

D. What was it like for Mary at the foot of the cross? But now we must ask ourselves another question. What must it have been like for Mary at the foot of the cross? John writes, “Standing by the cross of Jesus was his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25).

What must she have been thinking? What was going on inside of Mary when, as St. Mark reports, “when the 6th hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour”? (Mark 15:33)

What was happening? The One who had set her free from her darkness and captivity was Himself taken captive and consumed by the darkness. She had firmly believed that Jesus had initiated the great turning point in the war and that the final victory lie just ahead. But there He hangs. Had the darkness overcome the light after all?

There is something very special about Mary that we want to be sure to notice here. First, Mary doesn't return to the demonic state of mind that she had been in before Jesus released her. We don't see Mary going crazy when the foundations crumble around her.

What we do see is simply that Mary remains there at the cross. She remains right there through the three hours of darkness and the earthquake that immediately follows His death. What is it that keeps her there? Why does she simply stay right there?

What else could it be but her love and devotion for Jesus? He had entered into her darkness and delivered her from it. Now she, in loving devotion to Him, enters into His darkness. She couldn't deliver Him from His darkness as He had delivered her. All she could do is remain with Him. In her total hopelessness and despair, she would remain with Jesus.

At the end of the day, when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus the member of the Sanhedrin came to take the body of Jesus down from the cross and place it in the tomb, Mary Magdalene is right there. Mark writes, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.” (Mark 15:47)

E. Mary’s return to the tomb It is Mary Magdalene who is the first to return to the tomb as soon as the Sabbath day was officially ended. John writes, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

Oh, this must have been deep insult upon deep injury for Mary. The darkness of His death was compounded by an even deeper darkness that His body would have been stolen. Now there was not even a body to remain with.

She runs back into the city where the disciples are all staying and informs them of the terrible news. Peter and John race to the tomb to find it empty. Mary Magdalene is right behind them. The men leave.

But Mary stays. She stays right there at the tomb, weeping. Somehow she summons the courage to actually look inside the tomb. “And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away MY LORD, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

She did not know what we know. She did not know that Jesus, 'her Lord,' had entered into the darkness in order to defeat it once and for all. She didn't know that what 'her Lord' had done for her He came to do for all people. For haven't we all been taken captive by the demons in one form or another?

The bible says that we are all so completely possessed by our sin that we have lost touch with ourselves. We were created in the image of God. But we are lost to ourselves. Sin and Satan have taken us captive and there is nothing that we can do to free ourselves. The bible says that we are all so totally possessed by evil, that we have fallen in love with the darkness and think that it is good and hate the light and refuse to come into it.

So it's not a matter of Jesus calling us to come out of the darkness and into the light. He must come into the darkness and 'release us' from its grip breaking its hold on us, even against our will.

The great mystery of the faith is that Jesus did not overcome the darkness by waving a magic wand or by speaking into the chaos and confusion. He entered into it. He became as helpless and hopeless in His captivity to the forces of evil as Mary Magdalene was, and as all of us are.

In a way that may relate more closely to Mary Magdalene, haven't we all, at one time or another, to one degree or another, a time when it seemed as though darkness and evil had overcome the world; a time of depression, of grief, or loneliness, or rejection. Worst of all, maybe even the loss of the sense of the Lord's presence with us. Have we ever felt the darkness that covers our society and our culture and seriously wondered if evil has not conquered over good?

Sometimes, like Mary, all that we can do is remain in the darkness and wait, not really knowing what we are waiting for, only that in love for “our Lord,” and faith in Him, it is all that we can do.

It is in Mary's patient 'waiting in the darkness' that she hears a voice from behind her. “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking him to be the gardener, she said to him, 'Sir, if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.' Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

Mary turned, and the darkness was shattered, and the sun (son) had risen, never to set again.

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This is the 5th Sunday in Lent. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, the door through which we enter into Holy Week. Our gospel text for this morning comes from the 10th chapter of St. Mark’s gospel. The 11th chapter starts off with Palm Sunday. Jesus is at the door. For Jesus it’s like coming up to a check-point in Afghanistan knowing that He’s on the ‘most wanted list.’

This morning, we heard Him remind His disciples that He is well aware of what awaits Him when goes to Jerusalem for this third and final celebration of the Passover festival. They too have a clear idea of what lies ahead as they are aware that the Sanhedrin has put out the word that anyone who information about His whereabouts should report Him to the authorities.

Mark writes, “And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them.” He’s a man on a mission. The whole reason for His coming into this world was immanent. “Let’s do this.”

Mark writes, “they were amazed.” Despite danger that lies ahead He goes forward into battle.

Mark writes, “those who followed were afraid.” If He wasn’t AFRAID, they sure were. Afraid of what will happen to Him. And afraid of what will become of them, His followers.

Three times, Jesus has made it clear that He is fully aware of what awaits Him in Jerusalem. St. Mark has arranged these three “passion predictions” of Jesus in such a way that they form the cornerstone of Gospel, holding together the miracles and teaching of Jesus in the first half of the gospel to the suffer and death of Jesus in the second half of the gospel.

It might be helpful if you were to take out your bible and turn to Mark 8:31 (page 844 in the pew bible.) This was our gospel reading way back on the 2nd Sunday in Lent.

We read: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes an be killed, and after three days rise again.”

“Immediately,” to use a Markism, Peter corrects Jesus, telling Him that the idea that the Christ should suffer and die is inconceivable. And Jesus corrects him.

Now lets turn over to Mark 9:30-32. (next page). “Then from there they passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know for he was teaching his disciples saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” This is the 2nd “Passion Prediction” of our Lord. Basically the same as the 1st.

And once again, the disciples are utterly confused. “But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.” They “immediately” begin arguing about which one of the them is the greatest disciple. And Jesus corrects them.

Now to our gospel reading for this morning, Mark 10:32-34. (page 846). And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise."

This is the 3rd Passion Prediction, which contains all of the same information as the previous two with the additional detail that the Gentiles will also be involved in His death.

And once again, the disciples just don’t get it. It’s like they don’t want to hear about His suffering and death. James and John request positions of honor when He comes into His kingdom. And Jesus corrects them.

So, if Jesus’ disciples can be confused about why the Christ must suffer and die, then so can we. So lets take this opportunity to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead by considering the meaning and the purpose of Christ’s suffering and death.

We all know what suffering is because we have experienced it to one degree or another. The author Nicolas Woltersdorff, in his book “Lament For A Son,” in which he describes his experience with suffering at the death of his son, say, “suffering is the shout of NO by nerves and gut and gland and heart, to pain, to death, to injustice, and abandonment.”

Countless books have been written on the “meaning of human suffering.” Some say that suffering serves an important purpose in life and that without suffering, life would be so shallow and dull that it would be practically meaningless. Others say that all suffering is meaningless and that we should do all that we can to avoid it ourselves and eliminate it for others.

Entire religions have been founded on the idea that suffering not only should be avoided but that it can be avoided. Buddhism claims that ‘human desire’ is the reason and cause for all suffering and therefore the goal of the eightfold path is the elimination of suffering through the elimination of all ‘desire.’ Even the desire to live and the desire to do good and to love and be loved causes suffering and therefore must be eliminated if you want to experience Nirvana.

Christianity on the other hand says that love is the ultimate goal of life. Love of God and love of neighbor. And love and suffering are joined at the hip. To love God sometimes requires personal suffering and rejection, suffering and rejection that we could avoid if we did not love God. Let’s call it ‘suffering for love.’

To love your neighbor, which may be as close as our own spouse or children can very often require personal suffering and pain. We could avoid the suffering by not loving them. But that would not be a better life would it?

So, when we willingly enter into this ‘suffering for love; for the love of God and the love of our neighbor, we are, like the disciples, following Jesus who willingly entered into suffering because of His love for His Father and His love for us. This ‘suffering for love’ pleases God because God is love and in Christ crucified, we see how He was willing to suffer for the sake of love. So we, by our ‘suffering for love,’ glorify God.

But love is not the only reason we experience suffering. We also suffer because we are sinful, fallen people who live in a sinful and fallen world. This is suffering for sin. Our sin causes us to suffer physically, emotionally, psychologically, both because of what we do to ourselves and because of what others who are sinful do to us.

None of this kind of suffering comes to us because we love or because we are Christians. Grant it, there are some who would have us believe that if you were really a real Christian, you wouldn’t suffer with these things. But we know that’s nonsense. This kind of suffering comes to everyone, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, atheist because we are sinners in a sinful world.

Yet as Christians we are to deal even with this kind of ‘suffering for sin’ in a way that gives glory to God. Rather than shaking our fist at God for letting this happen to us or to our loved ones, we pray to God that He would somehow bring something good our of this suffering. St. Paul goes so far as to say, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

When, in the middle of our suffering, we say with St. Paul, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” we glorify God in our ‘suffering for sin’ just as much as we do in our ‘suffering for love.’ (Romans 8:18) And that is the chief purpose for our suffering – that we may glorify God.

And it is right here were we need to make an important distinction between our suffering and the Jesus’ suffering. Jesus also ‘suffers for love’ and He certainly ‘suffers for sin,’ not His own but the sin of the world into which He has come. But there is a reason and purpose for His suffering that is entirely separate than ours. He suffers and dies for our salvation.

· None of our suffering accomplishes anything for our salvation. But His does.
· My suffering does nothing to win me favor with God. But His does.
· No one else’s suffering, no matter how holy and saintly they may be, can earn God’s forgiveness for my sins. But His
does.
· The blood of the martyrs glorifies God and makes a bold witness to the world, but none of it cleanses me of my sin. But His does.
· If I should be persecuted and even die for my witness and testimony to Jesus, I glorify God with my body, but that does not save me or anyone else. But His suffering and death does.

We suffer because we are sinners from head to toe. To say that we should not suffer is to deny that we are sinful, which John says, is pure self-deception and lacking in all truth. To say that we have experienced more suffering that we deserve is to deeply misunderstand the severity of our sinful nature.

But Jesus is without sin. There is no reason in Him that He should suffer. He suffers because of our sin. HE SUFFERS BECAUSE OF US.

No other suffering has ever been like His suffering. By His suffering, He enters into our suffering and bears it along side of us. But no matter how brave and bold we may think we are, we cannot bear His suffering along with Him. Our suffering does nothing to help Him in His suffering, but His suffering supports and carries us in ours. HE SUFFERS WITH US.

Jesus tells His disciples, “The Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for many.” His holy bride has been taken hostage by her own sinful nature and the devil guards the door. He has come to set us free. God, His Father has sent Him into the world “be the ransom for many.” And that is what He does. And it cost Him great suffering and a terrible death. HE SUFFERS FOR US.

The Old Testament is filled with “passion predictions” that the Christ, when He comes into the world, comes to suffer and die for us. “He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)

If Christ does not suffer then the Scriptures are not fulfilled and you and I are still in our sins, and suffering and death is all that we will ever know.

So, we follow our Lord into Jerusalem, neither amazed nor afraid, nor confused like the disciples. We understand why He suffers and the reason that He must die. When He suffers “by nerves and gut and gland and heart to pain, to death, and to injustice and abandonment,” it is His YES to His heavenly Father and to you. By His suffering, “the whole world is redeemed, the captives are set free, heaven is opened, hell is closed, and eternal life is won.” (Luther. House Postils 5:375)

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This is now the 5th stop that we are making in our journey with Jesus on His way to the cross. Each step along the way has brought a little closer to the terrible destination that awaits Him. Tonight we will finally come right to that destination.

Last week followed Jesus through the chief priest of Israel – Caiaphas. Tonight we follow Him through the governor of Judea – Pontius Pilate. Put these two together and what we see is that both the Church, represented by Caiaphas, and State, represented by Pilate, reject Jesus.

And as we will see, both reject Him for exactly the same reason. Jesus threatens their position among men. To follow Jesus would require them to forsake their reputation and position in society that they have worked so hard to attain. This is something that neither Caiaphas nor, as we will see, Pilate is willing to do.

This is the question that we must deal with as we continue this journey to the cross.

I. Introduction of Pilate St. Luke is the only one of the four gospel writers to mention Pilate’s name before that early Friday morning when the Sanhedrin bring Jesus to him for crucifixion. In the third chapter Luke writes, “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea…” Luke anchors Pilate into the coordinates of world history just as the Christian Church has done in the Apostles Creed when it says, “he was crucified under Pontius Pilate.”

In 1961, while archeologists were excavating a site called “Caesarea Maritima,” “Caesarea by the Sea,” they uncovered a block of stone that was a part of a pagan temple dedicated to Tiberius Caesar. There was an inscription on the stone identifying the building and dating it to the governor in office. “Tiberium, Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea.” Once again, as we saw last week, archeology bears witness to the historical accuracy of the biblical text.

Pilate was appointed governor of Judea in 26 AD, just seven years before the events that we will explore this evening.

The second time that Luke refers to Pilate's name is in the 13th chapter, where he writes, “there were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” (Luke 13:1). Pilate made a decision to establish his authority with the Jews that went all wrong and resulted in bad blood between he and the Jews and a damaged political reputation with Rome. Something that the Sanhedrin will not hesitate exploiting to their advantage if it comes to it.

II. Dialog #1 – Sanhedrin bring Jesus to Pilate From John's gospel we read, “Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning.” (John 18:28). This was Friday morning. The day that we call 'Good Friday.' By the end of this day, Jesus would be crucified.

As we said last week, the Sanhedrin consisted of 70 of the elders of Israel plus the High Priest. If you add others who may have worked for the Sanhedrin and the Chief Priest and his staff, this could have been quite a crowd, possibly over 100 in all. Very possibly, this is the crowd that Pilate appeals to and that makes its terrible demand that Jesus be crucified.

As they bring Jesus to Pilate, he asks for the charges against him. “What accusation do you bring against this man.” (John 18:29) It's as if he were confused, maybe he hasn't had his morning coffee yet. They’ve brought this man to him but haven’t told him what the charges are.

And it's almost as though the Sanhedrin is caught off guard by this. Maybe they thought that the size of the group would be enough. They reply, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” As if to say, ‘Don't you think we know what we're doing?”

Pilate responds, “Take Him yourself and judge Him by your own law.” The Sanhedrin had the authority to have their own court system and administer justice within limits. But they quickly let Pilate know that this is a case that supersedes those limits. “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”

Realizing that Pilate would not simply go along with their demands just because they said so, they come up with three charges against Jesus. “We found this man misleading our nation; and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar; and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” (Luke 23:2).

Of course, the first two of these are blatant lies. The third is taken totally out of its proper context. But it is the one that Pilate decides to investigate further, even if it’s just to seem like he’s interested in their problem.

III. Dialog #2 – Pilate and Jesus in Pilate's Chambers

John writes, “So Pilate entered his quarters again and called Jesus and said to him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate had been well versed in the Jewish Messianic hope that their God would send a king like David who would free them from foreign domination and restore Israel to the former days of domestic prosperity and international glory.

Jesus answered Pilate, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Is Pilate asking because he thinks that Jesus is a rebel who plans to overthrow the Roman government? Or, is he asking if Jesus is the Jewish messiah?

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? As if to say, 'I know that this is about your religion. But I don’t understand what it’s really all about.'

“Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Pilate’s not really interested in discussing theology. He wants to know what Jesus has done to get the Sanhedrin so hopin’ mad.

But rather than plead his case with the Sanhedrin, Jesus testifies to Pilate about Himself, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from this world.” Three times Jesus repeats the same point, the kingdom that He is talking about is not OF THIS WORLD.

The kingdoms of this world have geographical boundaries and the kings of this world use military force to protect those boundaries. But His 'kingdom' knows no geographical boundaries. It’s made up of people from every nation on earth regardless of their nationality.

Citizens of the kingdoms of this world become citizens by natural birth. But citizenship in His kingdom comes only by being 'born again' an action that only the Holy Spirit can make happen.

Citizens of His kingdom are not out to overthrow the kingdoms of this world, but to live within them as good citizens, good families, faithful neighbors and the like.

Pilate hears none of this little sermon but responds to Jesus, “So you are a king?” Here is one of those places where the written word is a problem compared to the spoken word. Pilate's reply can be interpreted in two different ways depending on voice inflection. “So, you ARE a king?” Pilate has found grounds for Roman law to be concerned about Jesus. Or, “So, YOU are a king?” Pilate can't believe that this pathetic individual standing before him could possibly think that he is a king.

Jesus answers, “You say that I am a king.” As if to say, “you are using the word 'king,' not me.” In fact, a quick word search through the gospels reveals that Jesus never directly refers to himself as a king.

Kings have their particular purpose, but “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Is Jesus preaching to Pilate? Sure sounds like it. “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Will Pilate listen to His voice? Will he repent and believe? Will he believe and be saved? Frankly, isn't that the purpose of every word that comes from the mouth of Jesus?

But Pilate responds, “what is truth?” (John 18:33-38). Rather than repent and believe, Pilate wants to turn this into a philosophical debate. Some make it a debate about science, or history, or reason or their own personal experience. Others make it all about politics or economics or why bad things happen to good people. Anything but actually LISTEN to the truth; the truth about our sinfully hopeless condition before God; the truth about God's radical acceptance and forgiveness and love for sinners.

IV. Dialog #3 – Pilate and Sanhedrin Not really interested in pursuing this any further, Pilate 'went back outside to the Jews and told them, 'I find no guilt in him.'

The irony of what is happening here is almost unbearable. It was the mission of Israel to be a 'light to the gentiles,' just as it is the mission of the Christian Church today. They were to the 'mouth of God' in the world, proclaiming the truth, just as we are. Jesus said, “"The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me." (Luke 10:16) We are to speak the truth to this world that doesn’t know it because it doesn’t know Jesus.

But now, at this most critical point, they refuse to be the people whom they have been called to be and it is the gentile, Pontius Pilate who preaches to them. “I find no guilt in this man.”

Without his knowing it, Pilate proclaims the truth about Jesus to the Jews. Jesus has no guilt in Him. He is the 'guiltless' man. And we don’t just mean that He has no 'moral' guilt or 'legal' guilt. But we also mean that Jesus is without the 'original guilt' that every other man and woman is born with, regardless of how morally or legally guiltless they may be. Crazy as it sounds, Pilate is proclaiming Jesus' divinity to the Jews.

V. Dialog #4 – Pilate and Sanhedrin They of course, don’t want to hear of it. So Pilate offers them the opportunity to select Jesus as the yearly prisoner release that the governor of Judea was famous for doing. That way they can say that He is guilty, but that Pilate pardoned them, Jesus is totally discredited and everyone is happy. He even puts the worse criminal next to Jesus just to make the choice that much easier for them. But this doesn't work at all. They choose Barabbas.

Next, Pilate has Jesus flogged, hoping that this will appease them. When Jesus is returned to Pilate, He is a bloody mess, and wearing a ridiculous crown made of thorns. “Pilate said to them, 'Behold the man.'” No doubt Pilate is appealing to the mercy of the crowd. 'Look at him! Will this satisfy your thirst for punishment?'

But here again, Pilate unwittingly preaches the truth about the Christ to the Jews. “Behold, THE man.” Not 'a' man but THE man. TRUE MAN. All mankind is wrapped up in this one man. What happens to THE man is credited to every man. The sin He is about to be punished for is the sin of every man, concentrated in THE man. The death that He dies, He dies once, for ALL men. By His death, sinful men are credited as having received the full punishment for their sin. By His resurrection from the dead, sinful men are reckoned as righteous before God.

What a sermon Pilate is preaching to the Jews! First, he preached to them about the divinity of Christ. Now he preaches to them about the humanity of Christ. True God and true Man.

How does Pilate’s congregation respond to such a wonderful sermon? “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, 'Take him yourselves and crucify him.' The Jews answered him, 'We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.' Now finally, they speak the real reason that they are so upset with Jesus. “He has made himself the Son of God.”

And then we read, “when Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.” Even in the polytheistic religion of the Greeks, the gods were known to come down from heaven to earth disguised as mortals. In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas visit Lystra and heal a man born lame. And the people, in great fear say, “the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.” (Acts 14:11).

VI. Dialog #5 – Pilate and Jesus Now, the same thought is running through Pilate's mind. “He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, 'Where are you from?' Look how close to the truth Pilate is! Throughout His ministry Jesus had made it clear that He came down from heaven. He is Immanuel, God with us. He is true God dwelling among us. Pilate has touched on the two natures of Christ. Now he is about to touch on the unity of those two natures in the incarnation of God becoming man. “But Jesus gave him no answer.” He is a jealous God and He will not be lumped together with the Roman gods or any others.

So Pilate said to him, 'You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered, '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.”

VII. Dialog #6 – Pilate and Sanhedrin “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.” So, the high priest plays his trump card and strikes Pilate's Achilles heel. He knows what god Pilate worships, his political career. It is the one thing that he will not deny when it comes right down to it.

Jesus had told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) Pilate will not deny himself. And neither will we. There is no other way for us to be saved than for Jesus to die.

“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 (about 12 noon). He said to the Jews, 'Behold your King.' 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.' So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.' (John 19:1-16)