Contradict [Easter 6; St. John 16:23-30]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus speaks to you pure doctrine today, in v.25 saying,

“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.”

One of the favorite pastimes of the unbeliever is to point out contradictions in the Bible. Worse than that, is the favorite pastime of the so-called-evangelical Christian who will spend his time pointing out how unchristian the Lutheran church is, and inadvertently reveal a contradiction.

A person who reads the Bible only in a wooden view is called a Fundamentalist. They will take every passage they read quite literally, regardless of what the translation turns out to be. In this way, they end up with contradiction sin the Bible that they need to explain away, however, Jesus doesn’t take too kindly to metaphors.

The latest and greatest example of this comes from the command in Deuteronomy where the Lord says, “Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh” (12:23). The problem comes in when we hear Jesus say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (Jn. 6:53).

To this contradiction, we will say Jesus is using a metaphor and didn’t really mean what He said.

We run into a similar “problem” throughout the entire Bible. More famous is the Abraham debate. Was Abraham justified by faith as we hear in Romans, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (4:2) or by works in James 2, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?”

In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, our Lord states,

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (15:19)

But, in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul states,

“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (10:10)

Here is the contradiction: Jesus has said the heart is evil and yet St. Paul is claiming justification, in front of God, with that same heart. So who is right? Who is using metaphor and who is speaking literally and who is going to say so?

At the outset, we take Jesus at His Word. So, in one sense, reading Jesus literally, in the simplest sense, is ok to do. What its not ok to do, when we are reading like that, is make excuses for Jesus’ words when they get too difficult to understand. If you’re going to read the Bible literally, at least be consistent.

For example, the eating and drinking blood business we just mentioned. If we read the Bible literally, then Jesus contradicts God and there is no reason to believe Him or anything else He says.

If we force on Him the metaphor business, then there is also no reason to believe Him, because then all of Scripture becomes a self-help book of keeping you on the straight and narrow and keeping others out. It becomes of division instead of unity.

Repent. This is the default way we read the Bible. The easy reasonable things Jesus says are easy and reasonable precisely because we can put them into action with out own two hands. We can live a clean and moral life to the best of our ability and attribute it to God working in our lives, thereby showing everyone how great a job we are doing, with God’s help of course.

What then would we have to say about forgiveness, if we continue on this path? No, you say, no. God always forgives there would never be…“And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he [is] an holy God; he [is] a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” (Josh. 24:19).

If one part of the Bible is metaphor, then nothing prevents the rest of it from being a metaphor. If one part of the Bible is true, and another not, then nothing prevents the whole Bible from being untrue and who are you to say otherwise?

Dear Christians, there is a third way to read holy Scripture which employs the two ways already described, combined with a third view: the Christological view. This means Christ is at the center, not just of helping you do all the things you read in the Bible, but is also the subject of all the things you read in the Bible.

So when we hear passages about drinking blood we can agree with the literal sense, don’t be a vampire (it doesn’t work anyway) and don’t eat raw food cuz it makes you sick. And then when Jesus talks about it, we can say also that it is a metaphor for spiritual eating, because faith is necessary.

But now we can also say that because the prohibition was against animals and men and not against Jesus’ Body and Blood, we can be confident that if we can find Jesus’ Body and Blood to eat and drink, that it will give us what He promised it would give us.

Since Christ is the center of Scripture, Abraham can be justified by faith AND by works. By faith, because Jesus went to him first and washed away His uncleanness simply by giving His Word and by works, because by them Abraham shows that he heard God and understood Him.

Since Jesus is the subject of holy Scripture, our hearts can be both evil and justified at the same time. Evil, because we remain in our sin and Justified because Jesus has suffered, died and risen again in order to justify us before God.

In the same way, your sin can remain with you, or rather you keep returning to it, and the promises of God are not affected. The Father can still look on your sin with wrath and disgust, but now because of His Son, He can also view you through the crucifixion of Jesus, that is forgiven.

Jesus does not contradict God. Jesus is God. Jesus says hard figures of speech, but they only offend your reasoned certainties, they do not offend His work of salvation in any way.

You may squirm that you have to eat and drink blood, you may protest that you have to forgive your enemy, you may balk at the idea of free forgiveness, but just because you are offended or “feel” its not right, does not mean you are right.

Jesus speaks to us in our own language and employs it all in the literal, figurative, and mystical sense. If we try to make Jesus simply a man, we replace Him with us and we lose the meaning of the whole Bible.

If we let Jesus be Jesus; if we let Him say what He means and be right (instead of us), then we can begin to see the Light. We can begin to uncover the depth and richness of God Who does all things well. We can say to the skeptic, “Look to Jesus” and all these contradictions fall away.

Jesus can say what He wants, offend Who He wants, and mean it how He wants to mean it and all can be right with the world. We may even find a loving, caring, and forgiving God in the midst of all that and come to understand that He does it all for you.

Historic Jesus [Easter 5; St. John 16:5-15]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Who speaks to us today, saying,

“All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

What this verse basically states is what St. John records Jesus saying in 14:26, that the Holy Spirit teaches us by reaching into the past and causing remembrance. In this way, the Holy Spirit’s realm is the past for this is where all Jesus said and did dwells.

In our recent conversations about Church art and aesthetics, we see this important factor come into play. Our art is not new or innovative, but a retelling of the past. In this way, Church art and decoration is a work of the Holy Spirit, guiding us to the events of the past where Jesus suffered and died for us.

But Church history does not end with what happened for us in the past, but what happened to us through the past. Thus, it is of vital importance to the Church of Christ and to the Christians that dwell in it and live through it, to remember the past, for even the promises for our future with Christ were made in the past.

You can begin to see why history becomes so important in the Church throughout the ages. Why monks painstakingly record history and attendance and why the arguments for the true Gospel, in the Reformation, did not come from new ideas, but from appealing to those from the past; those who had gone before.

Author G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”

This past week, you have been witness to history. The USA is, even now, stepping onto grounds it has never trespassed before and written furiously against so that it never would. But that all ended when New Orleans city council decided it was time to erase history and remove Civil War monuments in the name of tolerance.

We will now be numbered with the totalitarian governments of the past who eradicated any and all opposition for the sake of their vision of the future. We will be numbered with the masses that violently silenced all opposing views because they didn’t fit the narrative.

But it isn’t really about monuments. It’s really about the devil severing any and all ties with God. So he cuts off the past because that’s where God is, in the past. God is in history. Erase history and you erase God. Whoever controls the past, controls the future. If God was there, then the past was about salvation. If He wasn’t, then its dog eat dog.

This is played out over and over again in history. A Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany wrote this
poem:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—

and there was no one left to speak for me.

Jesus is the One who remembers all His people. Jesus is the one who speaks up for all His people. Jesus is then the one, for His troubles, who is forgotten, whom His enemies come for, and no one speaks up about.

This is the perfection of the holy Trinity. The Father speaks up for the Son, the Son speaks the Father’s words, and the Spirit speaks up for the Father and the Son. The unity displayed between the three Persons of the Trinity is a perfect union with no need for anyone else to remember or speak for them.

But now that God has stepped into human history spiritually and bodily, everything changes. Now the perfect unity is made more perfect at the inclusion of you. Now, the Christian does not wait to be spoken up for, because Christ has already spoken up for and marked them as one redeemed.

All that the Father has is mine, Jesus says, and now you are a part of that. You are not to regard yourself as separate, or alone, or forgotten. You have also been brought to the Father and are joined eternally to Jesus, through faith and hope.

And what we are to hope for, the Lord, Who fulfilled this, has shown us in His own flesh; in His own history in which He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, as it is written, “He was handed over for our sins and raised for our justification.” (Rom. 4:25)

The world is now convicted of sin in those who do not believe in Christ and His history; and of justice in those us who will rise again in Christ, for He said, “That we might be made the justice of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). For if justness is not in Him, then it is in no one.

But if it is in Him, He ascends, complete with us (Head and Body) to the Father; and this perfect justness will be completed in us. We have risen with Christ. He takes us to the heights. Being risen with Him then, our final resting place is in heaven.

Jesus praises tradition and history, not just through the work of the Holy ghost, but He also says, “This do in remembrance of me.” Here we see the purpose of all of history come full circle and present itself to the present.

In Christ’s Church, all times collide. We remember the past and it is brought into our hearing. We live in the present and yet are promised a future. We hope in the future and find comfort and peace in the past and the present.

This space-time collision of all of time then is given to you to take, eat, hear, and see. All of Salvation History (a.k.a. the Bible) is compressed into tiny, little St. Luke and you are no longer a rebel or a nobody in sin. You are a somebody in Christ, because now God’s history is your history.

Jesus creates history for you and gives you history not in order for you to go searching for God in it, but so that you find God searching for and finding you.

Who's next? [Easter 4; St. John 16:16-22]

LISTEN TOT HE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus speaks to you today, saying,

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

As you approach a red light in your automobile, you encounter another car in front of you, also turning right. Traffic from the left is preventing that car from making a safe turn. You get anxious waiting as he searches for an opening and when there’s an opening, that space begs the question, “Who’s next?”

You’re on a date at an amusement park. You’ve spent the day standing in line after line, waiting for “your turn”. As the ferris wheel slows to a stop, the operator reaches for the door of the next empty car and shouts, “Who’s next?”

Empty seats, empty spots in line, and the like all point to your chance. If you were waiting, now its your turn. Your turn to take a seat. Your turn to get a chance. Your turn to be your turn. This could be anything we are waiting for, really; job offers, school applications, or even medical treatments. There is nothing better a child loves to hear more during a game than, “Its your turn.”

However, not all empty seats are pleasant and eagerly anticipated. “It’s your turn to change the baby”, “It s your turn to take care of mom, this week”, or “It’s your turn to tell them he died.” We’d rather not have to pull duty for these types of situations, for obvious reasons: they’re unpleasant and downright depressing, but necessary no matter what we think of them.

Abraham was given an unpleasant “seat” to take. He had been called righteous. He followed his God to a far away land to begin making a great nation. He was promised a miraculous son, begotten in his old age. He was promised this son would make him the father of many nations.

Then he was told to kill this son. Having fulfilled and believed all these promises, Abraham is brought to a point in his obedience where he would rather not be. He is told to travel three days to a mountain. He is told to build an altar. He is told to prepare a fire. At this point, the wood is cold and the altar is ready for a sacrifice. “Who’s next?”, it calls.

Jacob also had a son named Joseph, whose brothers threw him in an empty cistern, faked his death, and sold him into slavery. Joseph was pulled out, but when it was empty it cried out to anyone else who would oppose the brothers, “Who’s next?”

When the Egyptian soldiers ransacked Hebrew houses in search of male children to kill, one soldier had no job to do, because Moses was hidden away. His clean sword asked, “Who’s next?” As Babylon rose to power and razed all of Israel to the ground, the smoldering ashes of the city rose to the sky signaling, “Next”.

As you walk into the casket room at the funeral home, you see many caskets. You only need one, but there are so many open and waiting. Who will be the next to need one of those? Then we secretly give a silent “thank you” that it wasn’t our turn, even though it will be someone we know and love in the casket we will buy, it won’t be our turn.

Empty caskets are not comforting, no matter the context. Everyone knows they are for people, not things and everyone knows what you do with them: bury them with a body in it.

In the same way, Jesus approached Golgotha and found an empty cross. It wasn’t a sign of rescue, it wasn’t a sign of comfort, and it sure wasn’t a sign of pleasantness. It was an empty spot and He was next. There were other crosses there, empty crosses, waiting for others to take their turns and the Romans always left them out, just in case anyone needed reminding of what it meant to disobey.

Empty crosses are joyless crosses for this reason. They stare you in the face and demand with deafening authority, “Who’s next?”

Just because we know the rest of the story, does not make an instrument of torture and capital punishment any less threatening to you.

The cross is full. Full of Jesus. There is no “Who’s next” from the cross if Jesus is on it. There is no threat from that full cross, because there is no room for anyone else on it, much less you.

Now, you say, what about the tomb? The tomb is lying empty now, so isn’t that asking the same question? The short answer is no. Because the cross is full and because this tomb was forced to produce life, even if another were to be placed in it, he would simply come out alive.

Because Jesus is on the cross and has been raised from the dead, the grave may stare at us and say we’re next, but because of the resurrection, there is another side to the grave. Now it is simply a way-station to eternal life, instead of a last stop.

Thus, when Jesus tells us that "a little while and you will see me no longer", He is not only speaking to His disciples about His death and resurrection. He is speaking to you and your flimsy flesh, where when you find emptiness in Church you fill it with worldly things, thinking you see one thing or another, with your mind wandering to laundry lists and scorecards.

But, again  little while and you will see Him. We do not fill this church, Jesus does. Jesus fills this church with all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily. Jesus fills this church to overflowing. No matter what we may do to it or think of it, the Gospel purely preached will fill any space to the brim.

Jesus does not leave our imaginations in charge. He gives us time, date, place, who, what, why and how. He specifies that forgiveness received from a pastor is forgiveness received from Him, which fills the space of where we find forgiveness from Jesus.

He details the Font with promises of salvation in the water and the Word, regardless of where or who. Jesus fills that space with His salvation, so there is no mistaking who is next. He specifically maps out that His Body and Blood are to be taken and eaten and drunk, leaving no room for doubt or speculation as to where life and light are to be found.

Jesus fills His Church with His Goodness in this way in order that His Name be great upon the earth, but also that we not mess it up in adding something in that’s not supposed to be there.

In unbelief, I am on the cross and I am in the grave and there is no comfort or salvation there for the entire world, there is only great pain for me and it has nothing to do with anyone else. We didn’t see Jesus in any place or maybe we saw Him everywhere, but either way it meant He was nowhere.

Faith sees Jesus, not everywhere, but here where His Word promises. It is easy to see Jesus in miracles and good feelings. Faith sees Jesus on the cross. Faith sees Jesus in baptism. Faith sees Jesus in His Word. Faith sees Jesus in bread and wine.

Now the question remains, “Who’s next?”, but it is no longer asked with blind eyes. For now, in Christ, we eagerly anticipate our turn as children once again, because we believe His promise of forgiveness and we know that the call is not to emptiness of death and grave, but fullness of life and light.

Though we still wait in the line that leads to the cemetery, we are not afraid, for Christ now fills the line with His salvation. The cry goes up: “Who’s next?” and it is a call to the throne of heaven. For where the King is, Body and Blood, there the kingdom is. There is no empty cross or empty casket in Church, only an empty spot at the rail, ready to be filled with the only thing missing here: you.

The Shepherd smells [Easter 3; St. John 10:11-16]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

The Good Shepherd truly speaks to you all today saying,

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me”

A shepherd smells like the sheep.

Able was called from the fields in order to go to church, to offer a sacrifice to God. Cain thought, what good is he? He does no real work and he smells like the sheep.

Moses was called from the pastures of Midian to stand, not just before Pharaoh and Egypt, but also in front of his own people. All of them, Pharaoh and Israel, looked at Moses and declared, “Why should we listen? He smells like the sheep.”

David was not invited to church when Samuel came to give communion. He was the forgotten son. His father said, “There is yet the youngest”, but he smells like the sheep.

Ben was sent to Rensselaer to stand in front of this community and his flock at St. Luke. They look at him; they listen to him and they conclude: “Isn’t he just one of us? He smells like the sheep.”

The vocation of shepherd is not on any top 10, or even top 500, of the most desired/well paid career lists. The hours are never ending, the pay is bunk, and the flock is stubborn and ungrateful and after a while, they pass their scent on to the shepherd. Though it does not change their disposition, they finally admit, “Huh. He smells just like us.”

Though he doesn’t look or act like a sheep, they can at least distinguish between him and the wolf or the hireling, if only by scent. And what is that scent? Wool. Sweat. Slobber. Feces. Field and barn.

Therefore Jesus says to all of you, “I AM the Good Shepherd” and He has always been here. Since the beginning, Jesus has literally been among His created sheep, both those that follow and those that turn away, even those who turn violently away, as in the case of Cain and Egypt and all the enemies of Israel.

In this way, Jesus is the most sheep-like, because, not only is He covered with all of the sheep-smells of His people, mentioned before, but He is also covered in their blood when it was taken, justly or unjustly.

But this smell is not just physical. It is also the smell of action and behavior, for sin, death, and the devil also have their own distinct stench that lies on the sheep. Thus, when Jesus presents Himself in sheep’s clothing, in the flesh, to stand in front of His own flock, they proclaim, “Don’t we know His mother? And His sisters and brothers are among us as well. He smells like the sheep.”

These are the very accusations we level at Jesus: that He is a sinner. That He is a sheep and no shepherd. That He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He eats and drinks with them. He consorts with them. He has a devil and speaks crazy things, claiming to be God!

Therefore He must also smell of death. He eats, drinks, and sleeps. He gets tired. He shows emotion. This must mean that He can bleed and die just like us.

Repent! What we accuse Jesus of, is that very thing that condemns us. We are the ones who smell of rot and sin. We are the ones who betray and slander each other. We are the hypocrites. We are the ones who die.

Yes, He comes as a sheep. He is born of a virgin and made man. He takes on the sin of the world and acquires its hellish stink. He is tempted by the damning lies of the devil, and He dies a guilty death, just like ours.

Dear Christians, rejoice that your Lord smells just like you, else how would you know it was He? If He was not like you in every way, you would cast Him out like a foreigner. You would ridicule and not believe. You would revile and crucify. And this you did, because He claimed to also be God.

And this you did according to God’s plan for your life: that the Shepherd would lay down His life for His sheep, in order that they would now begin to smell like Him.

“I know my own and my own know me.” You thought this was just a relationship thing, where Jesus talks to you and you talk back to Him. You learn about Him, He learns about you?

Stay close to me, Jesus says, not just in lip-service, but in heart, mind, soul, and body. Cling to His scarred and risen Body. Do this, and you will acquire a new smell. Draw near to Jesus in order that you not only share His mind-set and clothing, but that you also are so close that you share His Blood.

We are starting to get a better idea of what this sheepfold really is, where Jesus keeps His sheep. It is not just a club of like-minded hypocrites, good at hiding their sins from the world, but a sanctuary. Not just any sanctuary; not one made with hands or stone, but one made of Body and Blood.

So, now there is a new smell. One which only the Shepherd has, which the wolf and hireling will never possess. That is the stink of resurrection, of life, of forgiveness. The Good Shepherd has rolled around in death and has come out with only life. Jesus has plumbed the depths of sin, death, and the devil, scraped up the last of their odor, and left them all in hell.

In the Resurrection, only one of the false accusations thrown at Jesus is proved false: the one that said He wasn’t God, for He has died to sin, once for all, never to die again. The smell of life is the smell of God.

Now remember how He said to you, “that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.” (Lk. 24:47)

So now, the smell of God is the smell of forgiveness. The Good Shepherd is distinguished from all others, by His reeking of and giving of forgiveness. Anything else that is preached, in His Name or not, is not from the Good Shepherd. It may even be direct quotes from Him, in His holy Scriptures, but it is not from Him.

If the forgiveness of sins does not have top priority and is not the main point in a sermon, article, whatever, then that is a big red flag for you to say, “That doesn’t smell like the sheep.”

For now, the Good Shepherd not only talks to and herds His sheep, but He gives them new lives that smell like Him; that is forgiveness. They say you are what you eat and what you eat affects how you smell, so what are you going to ingest to begin and continue to smell like your Good Shepherd?

Jesus doesn’t leave behind tunic or cologne for us to splash on. His words and mimicking His actions only take us so far. Much more than those things, a fundamental change must take place in us. Our very constitution must be remade in order to be like Jesus; not only of the mind, but body and soul.

The Sacraments do this great work and those whom Jesus sends points out this great work to the sheep in order that they would come to know their Good Shepherd and not only have to trust their hearts. For Jesus gives us His Word AND Signs: Word and water; Word and bread and wine.

Abel, Moses, Thomas, and the rest sent by Jesus are like the Shepherd because they offer and give the forgiveness of sins. They preached the promise of new life found only in the promise of God’s Messiah. And today, nothing has changed. The same life Abel offered and was offered is offered to you.

The Shepherd elevates His sheep from death to life and you grab hold of this promise, because now you find that you are a sheep baptized into the Shepherd. You are a sheep spoken to and speaking the words of the Shepherd. You are a sheep that feasts on the Shepherd, Himself.

Really, there is only the Shepherd. You are no longer your own. You have been crucified with Christ. You no longer live as a sheep, Christ lives. The life you live, you live in faith, being one with the Shepherd, for the forgiveness of your sins (Gal. 2:20). Alleluia!

The Body [Resurrection Sunday; St. Mark 16:1-8]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

The risen Jesus speaks to us, even today, and we hear,

“Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?”

This Jesus is much more dangerous, now that He is dead. For now people will be after His body. They will cry out for His Blood in vengeance. They will rob His grave and make up a completely impossible story of how He has risen. They will steal it, maybe even eat it, in order to make His Word come to pass at all costs.

Do you believe the women’s story, St. Peter, you who denied Him three times? Do you believe the news, St. Thomas, you who doubted? Do you believe the Romans and priests, Judas, who betrayed Him?

Do you believe or do you also seek the Living One among the dead?

It is easy to determine the truth of the report: go find the body. You can follow where the body went as well as you can follow a body in a funeral procession.

Jesus was in the Temple day and night. He was teaching in the synagogues. He was eating, drinking, healing, preaching. His Body was a public spectacle. The only places He could hide was on top of mountains or walking on water and even there the crowds chased after Him.

Read the police report. His Body was taken into custody. His Body was found guilty. His Body was scourged by whip and rod. His Body was transported to hill and cross, where He was fastened, inescapably, to die, never to move again.

Please sir, tell us where they have taken Jesus. Go ask Joseph of Arimathea. He had Him last. He wrapped Him up in burial cloths and closed the tomb. Go ask the guards. They sealed the tomb tight and set a 3 day watch in front.

The Romans and the Priests keep strict vigil; they keep watch in your place. His death is not enough. Either the Apostles steal the body and claim to have seen the resurrection or the priests stand watch and the followers claim the religious establishment just denied it.

The Body is important. Likewise, at a funeral, the entire service, from start to finish, is focused on the body. We come to it, we offer our respects to it, we pray around it, we sorrow around it, we follow it to the grave, and we place it so securely in the ground that we always know where it is in order that we might return to it.

What a testament Christian burial is to the death and resurrection of Jesus! Better yet, what a testament the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus is to us in how we treat our own bodies.

So, if you have been paying attention since Advent, the focus of all Holy Scripture has been, and still is today, the Body of Christ. Where is it? It is not here? Tell us, where may we find it? You find the Body of Christ where He has promised in His Word.

Every single popular religious leader has a headstone at which their worshipers pay homage, in despair. But we have nothing like that for Jesus, so what is it we do?

We follow the Body.

Now with the Apostles, eating, drinking, and breathing and talking. Now with 500 disciples proclaiming. Now with Thomas. Now with James. Now with Paul.

What about us today? Now the Body of Christ; the Body of a man is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Does that mean He is far away? No. This means that He can be even closer than what we know is physically allowable.

Now, at the right hand, Jesus can be everywhere at once WITH His body and blood. This means that He can appear and dwell among His people and be one with them. This means that each and every Altar that calls upon the Name of the Lord this Easter morning feasts and communes upon the one, holy, true Body of Jesus.

The Body that was on the cross purchasing forgiveness and salvation; the Body that was resting in the tomb from all the work He had done; the Body that appeared and is risen from the dead.

This Body dwells forever with His Church washing Her, speaking to Her, and feeding Her. As your own cardiovascular system carries life to your entire body in the blood, so now does the risen Christ nourish you in the one true faith, to life everlasting.

We follow the Body and the Body goes to Church, is revealed in the Gospel, and is received in the Sacraments. Do not doubt, but firmly believe. The Church holds not the Body of Jesus in a memorial, but in a living Feast of Heaven on Earth, given and shed for you.

Hidden [Palm Sunday; St. Matthew 27:11-54]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

It is a glorious witness to the power of God when we hear the same Gospel reading from Advent 1, on Palm Sunday. Glorious, because Jesus is coming; not just to a Silent Night in Bethlehem, but to fallen creatures singing His praise today, but shouting “Crucify Him” on Friday.

Thus, Jesus speaks today, saying:

“But [Jesus] gave [Pilate] no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.”

Why Advent on Palm Sunday? The same conundrum should also come to your noodle when you see the cross veiled and the church dressed in black on such a joyful Sunday.

The Lord declares to us, through the true prophet Isaiah, that He is truly a God Who hides Himself (Is. 45:15). Because, as my 5 year old loves to point out, she can’t see Jesus because He is invisible, but she wished He was here and Jesus gives her no direct answer.

But He doesn’t. Indeed it appears as if we are left to fend for ourselves and search under every rock for the Lord. Maybe we should just take the advice of those who wish to tell us that true prophets are the poor and the oppressed who rise above their circumstances and give lip service to God.

Its either that or stare at this blank wall another Sunday and pretend that we feel Jesus here. Its either that, or [pretend that God is with us and fumble with some words of positive thinking to offer as proof to those who ask.

And there is some truth to this. St. Paul tells us in a few places that “…we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18)

The Lord also says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

So we are left with a God that appears on the scene as much as a flying spaghetti monster and is just as believable as a unicorn. What do we say then to Jesus Who tells us to love this invisible God with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength? What answer do we give to St. Peter who says, “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” (1 Pet. 1:18)?

Repent! Yes, God hides Himself. He is hidden in every rock, in every tree, in every stream, in every fractal, in every quantum singularity, and in every one of your neighbors. But, He Hides Himself in such a way that you will not find Him, no matter how hard you look.

You may find pieces of Him, or traces of His attributes, but you will never, ever find God in the places where He has hid Himself. Even when He hides behind the death of a son.

Because that is exactly what the Lord of all Creation does: He hides behind His own death on a cross. He will not be found by you as a miracle king, a bread king, a creator king, or a palm king. He is the bloody king, handing over both body and soul to atone for the Father’s wrath against sin.

Though the splendor of creation lies all about us, God is hidden. Though the effects of the Flood still affect the earth, God is hidden. Though Egypt reels from pestilence and plague from heaven, God does not answer. Though Israel conquers the Promised land, God remains silent.

Though Jesus heals the sick and casts out demons and rides with pomp and fervor into the city of Jerusalem; His City, in joy and triumph, the joy and triumph is not that of earth, but of the cross. God hides Himself in Jesus and Jesus hides His one and only greatest work in His sacrifice on the cross.

Though we joyfully and loudly sang out “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” and flitted our own palms through the air in praise and adoration, did you think that this royal march had a happy ending?

Indeed it does, if seen with the eyes of faith. For faith does see a triumphal entry; a conquering march by a victorious hero from eternity. Faith sees the Mighty One, strong to save, on His Warhorse with His legions upon legions of immortal angel warriors; swords unsheathed, spears glinting red, boots tramping; thousands upon thousands marching upon the way.

With the one single mission in their briefing folders: take that hill. The hosts then advance, unrelentingly, and take the hill, the hill of Golgotha. They incite the people, they place Barabbas in prison, they agitate the High Priests, they ignite the Pharisees and Sadducees, and they urge on Judas.

The Palm Sunday crowd is worked into a fervor, clearing the way of naysayers and non-believers, in order that Jesus’ way would be prepared; that His highway in the desert would be made straight. Such that every valley be lifted up and every mountain made low; that the crooked be made straight and the rough places plain. (Is. 40:3-4)

Then, then shall the glory of the Lord be revealed (Is. 40:5). Then shall the true goal, the real God shall unveil Himself in all His glory. The God Who can suffer; the God Who can bleed; the God Who can die.

The reason Jesus hides Himself, never to be found; the reason the Church veils her art for Passion and Holy Weeks is because Christ will be found nowhere else except in His Gospel and in His Sacraments.

The Joy of Palm Sunday is that the King has triumphally entered this place and has conquered. The exaltation of Palm Sunday is Jesus tramping over sin, death, and the devil in your life. The splendor of Palm Sunday is found, not in rapture, but in receiving. Receiving the Word, remembering the Baptism, and taking the Body and Blood given and shed for you.

Jesus hides behind the cross, answering all prayers, all cries for mercy, and all sorrow with His own death and burial. Jesus hides on Palm Sunday in plain sight, to the eyes of faith. Jesus hides in your own life, but in the very place He has promised to be found: His Church, purchased and won not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious Body ad Blood and with His innocent suffering and death.

That is where Jesus answers Pilate’s questions and that is where Jesus answers your questions as well.

"Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior… I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’

I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together… Turn to me and be saved;” (Is. 45:15, 19, 20, 22)

He Who Is [Lent 5; Passion Sunday; St. John 8:46-59]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus speaks to you today, saying:

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

The part of the text we are focusing on today is “whoever is” in the phrase “Whoever is of God…” The reason for this is because “whoever” is a modern attempt at translating the Bible in a gender neutral, PC way in order to sell more copies. What they miss in translation is a very important sacred name for Jesus.

The “whoever is…” should read “He who is…” and I want you to know this because in the ancient church, if you were to find and icon or a crucifix, you would most likely find the two Greek words translated “whoever is…” in the cross-halo of Jesus. They will look like an “o” by itself, followed by a “wv”. (Or "O WN", in capital lettering)

Now, if those two words in Jesus’ halo stood for “whoever is” then that would be very confusing, at least to me. What does “whoever” have to do with Jesus and His cross? What does “whoever is” mean? Does that mean whoever could be on the cross or whoever could be just as holy and sacred as Jesus?

No. The words there are “He Who is” and we hear the rest of the message of the Bible to back us up. In John 6, the One that has seen the Father is He Who is from God (v.46). In Revelation, St. John gives peace from He who is, He who was, and He who is to come (1:4,8).

In the same book, the four living creatures bow down giving glory, honor and thanks to the Lord God almighty, He Who was, and is, and is to come (4:8, 11:17). This is not just idle naming or correct grammar, but a revelation to Who Jesus is. God is the only One Who is, was, and is to come. He is eternal. Thus, this sacred name equates Jesus with God; a necessary Christian belief.

So, what we miss in the English is Jesus. It is not “whoever” on the cross, but it is Jesus. Jesus Who is from God, Who hears God, because who are we? It may make you uncomfortable to hear the demons ask you that question, yet they do in Acts 19.

There, certain Jews were attempting to get back into the exorcism market by using Jesus’ Name, whom Paul preaches, they said. The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this and the demon they encountered said, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:13-16)

They were then possessed themselves and failed in their attempt at the exorcism.

Who are you? Or as we heard today, who do you make yourself out to be? Are you popular? Are you amazing at what you do? Does everyone look up to you and compliment you? Do you have no need for anything except you? Who are you?

Repent. We fill our entire life trying to answer the question to who we are and think that some magical-peace-rainbow lies in wait for us when we finally figure it out. If we could just get to know ourselves better, then our lives would not be the mess we make them.

Indeed, some people spend their entire lives looking for that answer and never find it. Others destroy many lives in their quest for the answer and still are not satisfied.

Who is Jesus? He was and is and is to come, but He is also your brother in the flesh. He is your captain at the helm. He is your God on the cross. He is Lord in the tomb. He Who Is will be the one to not only save you, but give you a real identity in Himself.

Jesus is the man Who is washing away your old self and giving you a new self: Himself. Jesus is the man Who is giving you new words to speak and new songs to sing, which are His Word. Jesus is the Man Who is transforming this lowly body to be like His glorious body (Phil. 3:21).

Jesus is He Who Is and Jesus recreates you to be just like Him. Your identity is now Christ, the only Son of God, inheritor of heaven and earth, eternal Life and eternal wisdom. You may not know how this will be, but by His Word and Sacrament, you will be like Him when He returns for you.

Now, the real question is not, “Who am I”, but “Who am I, in Christ?” and who I am in Christ is exactly like Him: forgiven, sanctified, justified, comforted, loved. This is the comfort we take along with us wherever we go. This is the courage that sees us through the agonizing nights and days of sorrow.

This is the reason for our hope, because He Who Is has given us His life and His Name forever. He Who Is of God hears the Word of God and whoever believes and is baptized is of Jesus.

Jesus is not a “whoever”. He is the most high God, crucified for your sins. In Christ, you are not a “whoever” either, but a beloved heir to the Son’s Kingdom. There is no ambiguity in the Bible. Jesus is the recipient of all the promises of God; every single good thing goes to Jesus alone.

In Jesus, you are assumed into the Godhead that we confessed today. In Jesus, you are now an integral part of the Body of God; the Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity; the uncreated, the infinite, the almighty; He Who Is.

But, you don’t go around saying, “I am He Who is’s” or “His Who Is is”…because the Pharisees, the princes of this world, and the demons will most certainly accuse you and interrogate you concerning your sin, asking, “Who are you”.

However, when that happens, and it will, you already have your answer: “I am a Christian”. For, Christ Who Is has made full atonement and satisfaction for my sins. Christ is He, Who died and shed His blood for me, for the forgiveness of my sins.