Tag Archives: son

The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Exaudi)

by steve Posted on June 5, 2011
Easter 7 [ 19:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is the sermon for The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Exaudi). The sermon text is: Luke 7:11-17. The sermon theme is: See The Showdown! Here is the Written Sermon.

Compassion
Compassion

See The Showdown!


Jesus was no wimp. If you talk to people on the street, or read magazines or watch movies, when the topic of Jesus is brought up, the world has a very interesting picture of who he was. There are many people out there who picture Jesus as this man who always had a smile on his face. They picture him as a person who looked the other way when people sinned—and the whole while there is that smile on his face. In short, there are many out there who picture Jesus as a wimp. But very quickly, as we read God’s word, we see that Jesus was no wimp. Whenever there was sin and death Jesus faced it. Whenever there was a showdown Jesus threw down. And if we want to see one of those showdowns, here, this morning in the words of Luke, chapter 7, we find them: “Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”” (Luke 7:11–13 NIV)


Like so many sections of scripture, these are words we need to picture. Picture Jesus with a large mob of people following him. Then picture a woman with a sizable group of people with her. They don’t see each other until one mob meets the other at a small, narrow opening in the city wall, the town gate.


And there’s the showdown. Do you see it? Jesus, the Lord of Life is on one side. And Luke goes out of his way to painstakingly make us understand what is on the other. Word by word he makes us understand what is going on. Who is at the head of the other mob? A dead person.1 Who is this dead person? He is the son of his mother. How sad to think of any mother losing her child to death! But it gets worse. He wasn’t just a son. He was her only son.2 Oh, what sadness must have been there in her heart! And as if it couldn’t get even worse, Luke gives us the last detail. This woman was already a widow.3 Death stole her only husband. And now he stole her only son.


Now doe you see the showdown? Now do you see the struggle? What I find so fascinating about these words is that Jesus doesn’t have to do anything. The boy dies. Through faith in Jesus’ and what Jesus has done for him, the boy is in heaven. Jesus doesn’t have to do anything. But he does. Jesus doesn’t just allow a showdown–he forces a showdown.


Why? From these words we can see two real reasons. First, he forces this showdown because he doesn’t want to be bullied around by Satan and he wants to rob him of his joy. And make no mistake, my fellow saints in Christ, whenever someone dies, Satan is happy. He is ever-so happy to pour out pain on us. And how much joy he must have had this day when this woman’s son—her only son died—after her only husband died.


Jesus forces this showdown to rob Satan of his joy. But there is another reason. And we read about that reason in verse 13: “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”” (Luke 7:13 NIV)


‘His heart went out to her.’4 The word that Luke uses here is a very descriptive word. It means ‘to feel like your stomach is being torn apart.’ Have you ever felt like that? Every parent feels this. When your child gets hurt, when she gets injured, when he gets insulted, when he gets sick, where do you feel it? You feel pain for your child right here, in your guts. Jesus felt so much pain and sorrow in his guts—not for himself, but for this woman—this widow. For Satan and Death were delighting in her misery.


Now, we need to pause here for a moment and apply them. One of the most dangerous and damaging things to say to a person who has lost a loved one to death is that what he or she is going through is normal. Is that what Jesus did here? Did he walk over to this woman and say ‘there’s no need to weep anymore’ because death isn’t a big deal?5 Sin is not natural. And the death that sin brings is not natural too. What a sin it is to lead a person to think that the loved one that death took from them was like a blade of grass or a bird in the air! it lived; it died; get over it. Sin and death are not natural. They are our Lord’s enemies.


Now, from here, we get to see the showdown itself: “Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” (Luke 7:14–15 NIV)


Jesus goes to the coffin. He speaks to the dead boy as if he were alive. He tells him: “young man, I’m telling you: get up.”6 And what happens? the boy sits up. From this we learn a powerful and important lesson: the words that Jesus speaks have power.


When you were born into this world you were dead. You were spiritually dead. You did not know who God was. You did not go to him. You did not choose him. You did not put your faith in him because you had no faith to put in him. So what does Jesus, our Lord do? He makes you alive.7 But what does he use to make you alive? He uses his word–the same powerful word he uses here to bring this boy to life.8


He brings you into his kingdom with his word. And he will take you into his eternal kingdom, heaven with that same word. The Apostle Paul writes: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16 NIV)


So, my brothers and sisters, our first day in Christ’s kingdom Jesus uses he word. And our last day in this world he uses his word to bring you to heaven. But, what’s vitally important for us to understand is that it isn’t just our first day of faith and our last day on this earth that God uses his word. He uses he powerful word every day in-between.


This is so vitally important to understand, because the day might come when death comes into your family and you lose one close to you. And there will be that voice which says ‘where is Jesus now?’ And in truth, will Jesus come down from heaven and stop at the coffin of the person you love? And will he make your loved one rise from the dead? I wouldn’t bet on it.


But, my brothers and sisters, this is where Jesus’ ascension has so much meaning for us. Jesus rose into heaven not to abandon us. He rose into heaven to fill all things with his presence.9 He rose into heaven to give you his word. And just as Jesus is not wimpy, so also his word is not wimpy too.


And it is that word which Jesus attaches to things here on this earth. So then, when death draws near, there is no need for fear. Why? Because Jesus brought us to life through water and word. When we are torn up inside with grief, we will find relief. We will find it where his word is. We will find it in the Lord’s Supper, where Jesus promises to be. Our hymn writers understood this. In one of our communion hymns we sing:10



Though reason cannot understand,
Yet faith this truth embraces:
Your body, Lord is ev’rywhere
At once in many places.
I leave to you how this can be;
Your Word alone suffices me;
I trust its truth unfailing.



For your consoling supper, Lord,
Be praised throughout all ages!
Preserve it, for in ev’ry place
The world against it rages.
Grant that this sacrament may be
A blessed comfort unto me
When living and when dying.



Notice the point that we so often miss. How do we know that Jesus will comfort us? How do we know that Jesus washed away our sins in baptism? How do we know that Jesus will have compassion on us and forgive our sins in the Lord’s Supper? The answer is God’s word. The same word that Jesus used to breathe life into that dead boy he uses today. He breathes life into us.


On that day, so many years ago there was a showdown. What gives us comfort and strength is that he used the same tool back then as he does today. He uses his word. Let his word be your comfort when living and when dying. Amen.


1 τεθνηκὼς

2 μονογενὴς

3 αὕτη ἦν χήρα

4 ἐσπλαγχνίσθη ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ

5 μὴ κλαῖε

6 νεανίσκε, σοὶ λέγω, ἐγέρθητι.

7 Eph. 2:5, Col. 2:13

8 1Pet. 1:23; James 1:17-18

9 Eph. 1:23

10 CW 312, vss 5, 8

Image courtesy of Stock Xchange

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The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

by steve Posted on February 13, 2011
Epiphany 6 [ 18:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is the sermon for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. The sermon text is: John 4:43-54. The sermon theme is Which Is Better: Proof or a Promise? Here is the Written Sermon.

The Death of Samson
The Death of Samson

Which Is Better: Proof or a Promise?


Have you ever heard a joke you didn’t get? All those years of college and training I remember countless jokes that I didn’t get. I remember a professor of mine once saying “And there is the latin, sandwiched between the greek and the hebrew like Jesus between the two malefactors on the cross.”1 The professor paused and looked around the classroom expectantly. And there was nothing but the sound of crickets. Why is it that we don’t get jokes? We don’t get them because we don’t have the context. Thankfully, in the words we are about to read, John doesn’t tell us a joke. But he does give us the context. He gives us a key detail to bear in mind before he tells of this true event in Jesus’ life: “After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)” (John 4:43–44 NIV)


There’s the key detail. A prophet is has no honor in his home town. There’s a reason why, when a man graduates from our Seminary, he is not called to his home congregation. It is all too tempting to reject the message because we know to much about the pastor. A prophet is has no honor in his home town. Keep that detail in mind as John now tells us what happened on that day: “Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.” (John 4:46–47 NIV)


As we learned last week, Jesus performed his first miracle in Cana in Galilee. But he didn’t stay there. He went south into Judea. He went north into Phoenicia. And finally then he came back to the region he grew up in. He came back to Galilee. And when he comes back to Cana, where he turned the water into wine, a man goes out to find Jesus. Throughout all these words we don’t learn the man’s name. But we do know his position. He wore a royal robe.2 He either was royalty or worked very closely with royalty.


The man was desperate. He showed it not with his words, but with his actions. Instead of sending a servant out to meet Jesus, he, himself goes. He goes out to Jesus himself and asks Jesus to heal his son because his son is so sick he is about to die. And listen to what Jesus says to him: ““Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”” (John 4:48 NIV)


What a strange statement for Jesus to make! Here is this guy whose son is dying who has walked out all the way to Jesus himself to speak to Jesus. The least Jesus could do is to be polite. Now does the detail that John added here at the beginning start to make sense? Jesus wasn’t angry at the man’s effort. He was angry at the man’s attitude. The man was an unbeliever and showed it. Like Naaman wanting to be cured of his leprosy in the Old Testament, this man was looking for a sign. He was looking for proof that Jesus was good enough and trustworthy enough to heal his son. Because, after all, he had walked the several miles from Capernaum to Cana—and he could have just sent a servant. So Jesus says to him “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never, ever believe.”3


Notice how Jesus treats this man. For it is the same way he treats us. God allowed trials and tribulations to come into this man’s life. And he allows trials and tribulations to come into our lives. When these trials come, which would you rather have: proof or a promise? Would you rather have proof from God? Would rather have an angel come down and perform and amazing miracle to prove to you that everything will be all right? Or would you simply want a couple words from scripture recited to you?


I’ll make your decision easy. Learn from this man. God doesn’t give signs and wonders. Jesus doesn’t speak to us through superstition. And as a result, there will be times in your lives when it seems as if God isn’t speaking to you at all. When you lose your job does God send an angel down to tell you exactly how long you’ll be out of work? When you get sick does God tell you how long you are going to be sick or even why you were sick at that time? When God allows someone you know—maybe even someone you care for very deeply to die, does he have you take out your calendar so that he can schedule a time with you that will work out in your schedule?


Our Savior Jesus treats us the same way he treated this royal man. When we ask for a sign, Jesus shows us our sin. When we ask for proof, he shows us our perversity. For what would we do with proof? You know your sinful nature as well as I know mine. If we had proof amidst our struggles we would not be satisfied with the proof. Or worse, we would use the proof as an excuse to sin. This man came looking for proof. But that’s not at all what he left with: “The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” (John 4:49–50 NIV)


The royal man left with a promise. Now, notice what the promise was not. Jesus did not tell him that his son was perfectly healthy again. Jesus did not tell him that his son would recover fully. He simply told the man that his son would not die. And the royal man had to wrestle with this promise. He had no proof to go on, he only had Jesus’ words.


But, my friends, that was enough. That was more than enough. The man heard Jesus’ words and believed them. But here is where we ask a vital, important question: how? How was he able to believe Jesus’ words? The bible is very clear on this important point. Jesus doesn’t share his word with unbelievers so that they can make an informed decision. Jesus shares his word with unbelievers because it is the only tool which can give them faith.4 So here in these words we see a Savior who gave a promise to this desperate man not so that he could make a decision. No, he gave him his word so that he would receive faith, this amazing trust in the promises of God. And that’s exactly what the man received.


And just think of what that faith looked like. The man spent hours walking out to Jesus thinking in his mind: “I need proof. Then, I’ll trust him.” And he went home without proof. But instead he had an amazing trust in Jesus. Imagine how many times he rolled that one promise over again and again in his mind. All he had was a promise. But that promise gave him the trust to know that was all he needed.


Well, what happens next? “While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”” (John 4:51–53 NIV)


Notice what the royal man says and what he does not say. He does not ask “if.” He doesn’t go up to them and say “are you really, truly sure? Give me proof.” He already knows. It doesn’t really surprise him that his son is cured. Instead, what is the man concerned about? He’s not concerned that his son was healed—he knows his son is well. Instead, he’s concerned when he was healed. And you can just see the smile shine on his face as he realizes that the time he was healed was the same time Jesus spoke to him. And no doubt, he thought to himself: “what good is proof when I have Jesus’ promise?”


And so, my brothers and sisters, when evils, trials and hardships ambush you, Jesus gives you his promises instead of proof. With his promises he defeats your doubt, your sin, your shame, your pride and your despair. With his promises he gives to you the same confidence as this man had so that you know that not only will Jesus take away your sin, he will also guide you through all the toils and snares you are enduring.


And when those long hours of frustration plague you—when you desperately cry out for an answer from God and there is none, learn from this man. Jesus used the hours of frustration this man endured to tear away his unbelief which demanded proofs only to disbelieve them. Jesus used these hours of pain to cause him to trust God’s word. Your gracious Savior will do the same for you. Do not be crushed by the silence that answers you when you pray. Instead, be amazed at all the many promises he gives to you in his word. For his promises are worth far more than any proof. Amen.



1 He was speaking about the Complutensian Polyglot

2 βασιλικός, ή, όν (Aeschyl., Hdt.+) royal of a king’s official robe “βασιλικός,” BDAG, 170.

3 εἶπεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς αὐτόν· ἐὰν μὴ σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα ἴδητε, οὐ μὴ πιστεύσητε. Strong Future Negation

4 Rom. 10:17; 1Pet. 1:23; James 1:17-18; Hebrews 12:2, etc.

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