Eternal Wind, New Fire – Sermon on Acts 2:1-21 for the Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit came with wind and fire. The Holy Spirit came in a special way to enable those believers in Christ—back in Acts 1:15, we read there were about 120 of them—the Holy Spirit enabled those believers to speak in languages from every nation under heaven (Act. 2:5, 8-11) that they didn’t previously know. In those languages, they preached about Jesus to the crowds. And 3,000 souls were added to the Christian Church.

This sermon is going to focus on the Holy Spirit, but I do want to point out that the Holy Spirit doesn’t get mentioned much in this text. You’d think Pentecost would be all about the Holy Spirit, but He’s only mentioned twice in v. 4, and two more times in the passage Peter quotes from the prophet Joel (Act. 2:17-18; see Joel 2:28-32). When you go home today, read the rest of Acts 2, which will give you all of Peter’s sermon and the response of the crowd who hears that preaching. The majority of the text is pointing to Jesus and His death, resurrection, and ascension. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit points people to Jesus as He calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and preserves the entire Christian Church in the true faith.

Dear saints, what that means is that if you want to know if the Holy Spirit is present and working, you simply need to ask, “Am I being pointed to Jesus? Is Jesus is being proclaimed as the crucified, risen, and ascended Savior?” According to Jesus’ clear teaching, when He is being proclaimed, that is how you can know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit is at work (Jn. 15:26; 14:26). More on that later.

There are three things I want to highlight about the Holy Spirit, and they build on each other.

First, the Holy Spirit is a Person. He is not some force, electrical current, or emotion that bubbles up from inside us. He is a person. It can be easy to forget this about the Third Person of the Trinity. We know persons who are fathers. We know persons who are sons. The Holy Spirit is also a person of the one true God. He is not simply the Father or the Son at work in a new way. The Holy Spirit shares the same divine being with the Father and the Son. Scripture shows us this in clear ways.

At the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove while the Father spoke from heaven (Mt. 3:16). Later in Acts, Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, get asked, “Why are you lying to the Holy Spirit?” (Act. 5:1-11). You don’t lie to a force. You can only lie to a person. Scripture clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit is the third Person who is distinguishable from the Father and the Son. Jesus Himself calls Him the “Comforter” (Jn. 14:16), and He says the Spirit “proceeds from the Father” and is sent by the Son (Jn. 15:26; Gal. 4:6). All of this shows us that the Holy Spirit is not just stirring of our heart or a power or force. He is the Third Person of the one true God, and He works according to His own divine will (1 Co. 2:10-12).

We must also be careful to distinguish the Person of the Holy Spirit from the gifts He gives. Paul writes, “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:4). The Spirit Himself is not the same as the gifts He distributes. He is the Giver, not the gift. Knowing this preserves us from chasing after dramatic experiences or thinking the Spirit is only present when something unusual happens. The Holy Spirit is always the same, whether He works quietly or with visible signs.

The first point is the Holy Spirit is a person. The second point is this: the Person of the Holy Spirit has always been at work. It isn’t as though He was twiddling His thumbs from eternity past and only got going at Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit who appeared at Pentecost was already active long before. He was hovering over the waters at creation (Gen. 1:2). He led Moses and the people through the desert (Is. 63:11-14; Neh. 9:19-21). He was in the prophets, moving them to speak God’s Word (2 Pet. 1:21). Isaiah promises that the Spirit who is upon the prophet will remain upon the Church forever (Is. 59:21). The Spirit has always been at work to make believers holy. That’s why David prayed, “Take not Your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11). The Spirit who gives faith and new life has never been absent from God’s people.

Scripture even talks about the Holy Spirit’s work in and through people who aren’t believers. The evil prophet Balaam prophesied by the Spirit, though he was an unholy man (Num 24:2ff). King Saul and his men prophesied under the Spirit’s power. In 1 Samuel 19, Saul was hunting David. He sent out a band of men to find David, but they find Samuel instead. The Holy Spirit comes upon them and they start to prophesy. Saul sends a second and third wave of men and they begin to prophesy too. So, King Saul goes himself, and the same thing happens to him. But listen to what Scripture says, “[Saul] stripped off his clothes and prophesied… and lay naked all that day and all that night” (1 Sam. 19:18-24). That’s crazy! That’s not a good way to prophesy. But what that shows is that the Holy Spirit can work through a deranged Saul as a mark of the Spirit’s judgment upon Israel’s first king.

Before Jesus was crucified, Scripture tells us that the high priest, Caiaphas, spoke a true prophecy by the Spirit, even though he opposed Jesus (Jn. 11:47-53). The Spirit can work where and how He wills. But this is the point: the Holy Spirit has always been at work in the world and in the Church. Pentecost was not the beginning of His activity. Instead, it was a new and visible outpouring of the same eternal Spirit for the sake of spreading the Gospel to all people.

So, first: the Holy Spirit is a person. Second, the Holy Spirit has always been at work. Now, third: the Holy Spirit’s main work is to point you to Jesus, your Savior.

Everything the Spirit does serves this one purpose. At Pentecost, the signs—the sound of the eternal wind and the tongues of new fire—served to draw attention to and gather people for the preaching that followed. Peter stood up and preached an ordinary Christian sermon about the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Through that preaching the Holy Spirit worked repentance and faith in 3,000 hearts. The signs pointed people to the Word, and the Word pointed to Jesus.

That is still how the Holy Spirit works today. He does not point us to ourselves, to our feelings, or to dramatic experiences. He points us to Jesus. Jesus said, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me” (Jn. 15:26). Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn. 14:26). The test is simple: if Jesus is being proclaimed as the crucified, risen, and ascended Savior, the Holy Spirit is at work. If the focus has shifted somewhere else, the Spirit is not the one driving it.

The Holy Spirit reorients us so that we see Jesus more clearly, but He does not erase who we are. The apostles were still the same men after Pentecost. Peter was still Peter and those fishermen were still fishermen. But now their understanding, their gifts, and their direction in life were reoriented around Christ and His mission. In just fifty-three days, Peter went from being someone who wouldn’t even admit that he knew Jesus before a servant girl by a campfire (Jn. 18:17-18) to someone who openly declared to a massive crowd that they had killed the Lord and Christ (Act. 2:36).

Dear saints, the same Spirit works in you. He takes your personality, your background, your gifts, and even your weaknesses, and He reorients them so that you serve the mission of proclaiming Jesus to a lost world. That intentional proclamation of the Gospel is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and what? Self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Dear saints, don’t forget that self-control is the result and visible fruit of the Spirit’s work. A sort of chaotic spontaneity is not evidence of the Holy Spirit. Self-control is. The Spirit produces the self-control in you to use who you in an ordered, faithful way for the good of others and the glory of Christ.

The Holy Spirit still comes to us today through the ordinary means He has given—through Word and Sacrament. In Baptism He pours out the washing of regeneration and renewal (Titus 3:5). He gives new birth (Jn. 3:5) and true faith in the heart. The Holy Spirit continually points you to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. In the Lord’s Supper He strengthens that faith and keeps you in the one true faith. Through these gifts the same personal Holy Spirit who has always been at work continues to call, gather, enlighten, sanctify, and preserve you in Jesus Christ.

Dear saints, on this Day of Pentecost give thanks to God for the Holy Spirit. He is the Third Person of the one true God, sharing the same divine being with the Father and the Son. He has always been at work in the Church and in the world. His main work is to point you to Jesus, your crucified, risen, and ascended Savior. And He does that work still today right here, as He reorients you with self-control so that your life serves the mission of Christ.

The eternal wind still blows. That new fire still burns. If you want to know if the Holy Spirit is present and working, do not look for any wind and fire. Look to Jesus. Is He being proclaimed as the Savior who died for your sins, rose for your justification, and ascended to rule over creation for your benefit? If that is what you are hearing, then you can be certain the Holy Spirit is at work. He is pointing you to Jesus, and in Jesus you have forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful people and kindle in us the fire of Your love. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Eternal Dominion – Sermon on Daniel 7:1, 9-10, 13-14 for the Ascension of Our Lord (Observed)

Daniel 7:1, 9-10, 13-14

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

They say, “Repetition is the mother of learning.” Well, today, you’ve heard the same event, Jesus’ ascension, described three times. You heard it twice from Luke’s two books of the Bible (Act. 1:1-11; Lk. 24:44-53). And you just now heard it from the prophet Daniel. This past Thursday marked the 1,993rd anniversary of Jesus’ ascension to the throne of all creation. The gospel of Luke ends with the disciples seeing Jesus ascend, and Luke makes this comment, “They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God” (Lk. 24:52-53). The reason they were filled with joy was that they knew what Jesus’ ascension meant.

Jesus had opened the disciples’ minds to understand everything that had been written about Him in the Old Testament (Lk. 24:44-45). So, the disciples got to see Jesus ascend with their own eyes, but they also knew what that meant because Jesus had opened their minds to understand the vision we just heard from Daniel. This text is what happens at Jesus’ ascension—not from the view of earth that Luke records. Daniel records what happens in heaven at Jesus’ ascension. And really, it’s what happens in the entire cosmos.

So today, fellow disciples of Jesus, let’s be filled with the same joy that the disciples had because of Jesus’ ascension by considering this text from Daniel.

Daniel wants us to know about this vision he saw around 552 BC. Daniel had multiple visions that night, but what I just read was the final and greatest vision he saw. He sees God the Father, but Daniel calls Him “the Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:9). His clothing is white as snow. His hair like pure wool. His throne is ablaze with fire. God is sitting there in judgment. Holy. Majestic. Perfect. Glorious. But the Ancient of Days isn’t alone. There are angels present there. Daniel says there are a thousand thousands angels serving Him (Dan. 7:10). That’s one million angels. How did he count them all? A million seconds is 11.5 days. But then, there’s more. Daniel says there’s 10,000 times 10,000 angels standing before Him. That’s 100 million more angels. How do they all fit in that throne room? They’re all gathered around that fiery throne. Again, think of the beauty and sheer holiness of this place.

Then what does Daniel see? “With the clouds of heaven, there came one like a Son of Man” (Dan. 7:13). Don’t get confused here by the word ‘like.’ This isn’t a being that merely appears like a man. The translation would be better if it said, “There came one as a Son of Man.” Or even, “I saw a Human come up into that scene in heaven.” What business does a human have there?

Remember how Adam fled in his own home that God had made for him in the Garden of Eden because he merely heard the sound of God walking there (Gen. 3:8) Remember how Isaiah saw God on the throne. He saw some angels—some seraphim. But Isaiah doesn’t say he saw 100 million. And he cowered in fear (Is. 6:1-5). Remember how the millions of people God brought out of slavery in Egypt heard God speaking from Mt. Sinai and asked to not even hear His voice (Ex. 20:18-19). Remember all the people in Scripture who are terrified even when they see one angel (Num. 22:31; Jdg. 6:22-23; Lk. 1:11-12, 26-29; Mt. 28:2-4). This Man isn’t acting like any of them.

He doesn’t run. He doesn’t fall down in fear. He isn’t ashamed or afraid. He enters that room. He doesn’t sneak in to find a quiet, obscure corner in the back to simply see everything. He goes higher. He keeps approaching, walking through those millions of angels as they make a path for Him. Closer and closer He walks with His human body and stands there before the Ancient of Days Himself (Dan 7:13).

Pause here for a minute before we get to the rest of the vision because Daniel’s probably thinking, “What is this guy doing? He’s going to be incinerated!” You, of course, know that this is Jesus, so you know that this is the Son of God approaching the Ancient of Days. But don’t forget that this Jesus became man, true man. Christ is Man as we were intended to be. Sadly, it’s easy to forget Jesus’ humanity. Remember Daniel describes Him as “a Son of Man.” And Daniel knows that all humans have been stained by sin, so he probably thinks this Man had been too. And He actually was, but not in the way the rest of us have been stained.

This is Jesus, the One Isaiah says, “the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:6). Paul tells us that He became sin (2 Co. 5:21). He didn’t commit any sin, but He definitely got tangled up in them. Who is more familiar with sin? You who committed them? Or the One who bears them, suffers God’s wrath against them, and paid for them with His precious blood and death (1 Pet. 2:24)? Jesus knows the weight of your sin. He’s your great High Priest who bears with you in your weaknesses (Heb. 4:15).

Dear saints, this Jesus, this Son of Man that Daniel sees, He doesn’t approach the Ancient of Days because He avoidedsin. He approaches the Ancient of Days because He triumphed over it by His blood (Col. 1:20). He canceled the record of debt that stood against us by nailing it to the cross (Col. 2:14). He left those sins in the grave, which forever stands empty. That’s why He approaches the throne. And what happens? 

Daniel sees that this Man is the center of attention in that great throne room. He is there to receive dominion and glory and a kingdom (Dan. 7:14). Jesus doesn’t go to just be there or because His work is done here. He goes to receive what belongs to Him. This isn’t a gift. Jesus takes possession of what He has purchased. He’s earned this.

This Man, Jesus, takes possession of the kingdom of all peoples, nations, and languages. This all-encompassing kingdom and dominion is everlasting. It will not pass away or be destroyed.

Daniel saw kingdoms get destroyed in his days. History is full of kingdoms that have risen to great power, but all of them eventually fall—Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, the British Empire. Enough time passes and they all fade away. But not this kingdom. Not Jesus’ dominion. It lasts to eternity. It spans any boundary you can imagine, either physical or ethnic. Again, this kingdom is over all peoples, nations, and languages. In other words, this kingdom is also over you.

In Philippians 2, Paul says that Jesus is highly exalted and has the name above every name. And that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Php. 2:9-11). Christian, for you this is the best news. Your Savior sits on the throne of the eternal kingdom of God. But, sadly, for those who reject or deny Him, for those who don’t believe, well… they’re fighting in a battle they’ve already lost.

That’s the Ascension. But I want to leave you today with a call from Scripture that relates to Jesus’ ascension. It’s from Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Scripture repeatedly calls us to draw near to God (Jas. 4:8; Is. 55:6; Jer. 29:13). But in Heb. 4:16, it says to draw near to the throne. That’s different. How do we do that? What do we do to draw near to the throne? Do we need to get ourselves into this throne room that Daniel is seeing? Nope!

The throne of grace is here—right here—at church. When you come to church, you are drawing near to the throne of grace because here Jesus is preached. You are drawing near to the place Jesus gives Himself to you, Body and Blood. Jesus is not somewhere far away. He promises that where two or three are gathered in His name, there He is (Mt. 18:20).

Dear saints, you have a place in Daniel’s vision here. As you approach Jesus, the Ruler of all creation smiles and welcomes you as His redeemed child.

Later in Hebrews, you are told that you have come to Mount Zion. You have come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Here are innumerable angels in festal gathering. This is the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. Right here is God, the judge of all, and the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Here is Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant (Heb. 12:22-24).

No, you can’t see all of that. But Scripture is clear that you go wherever Jesus goes. He is the Head, and you are His Body (Eph. 5:23). The day will come when He will return, and you will see Him and everything else Daniel saw. But for now, know that He is present here for you, right now, in His Body and Blood. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Pure Religion – Sermon on James 1:22-27 for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

James 1:22-27

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Pop quiz. You’ve probably heard this phrase, so finish it for me, “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a [relationship].” I’m going to push back on that. But before I do, I have to say two things. First, I understand the sentiment behind calling Christianity a relationship. I really do. Scripture does talk about believers in relational terms. The Bible is clear that God is our Father (Mt. 6:9), and we are His children (1 Jn. 3:1). Because Christ has come in the flesh, He is our Brother (Jn. 20:17; Heb. 2:11). Through faith, believers are the Bride of Christ (Eph. 5:31-32; Hos. 2:19-20). All of those are relationships. That relational language is clear, important, and Scriptural. The thing I want to point out is that those relationships only exist when a person has the right religion.

Second, the word ‘relationship’ doesn’t actually occur in the Bible—at least not in the Hebrew or Greek. There are a couple modern translations that use it. But the word ‘religion’ is a word the Bible uses. Here, James talks about a ‘worthless’ (lit. ‘vain, vaporous’) religion and a ‘pure’ religion, and there is only one.

Today when people use the word ‘religion’, they often focus on the practices people have. But ‘religion’ mainly has to do with the set of beliefs a person has, and, yes, those beliefs result in practices. We could talk about the different religions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hindu, and a myriad of others. But we can distill all religions down to two beliefs. On the one hand, there’s the Christian religion that believes people are made right through faith in Christ. Every other religion believes you have to do something to make yourself right. We can shorten that down even further—there’s the religion of the Gospel and a myriad of religions of law. Or, even more simply, we can say there’s true religion, Christianity, and false religions, everything else. In this text, James wants us to focus on pure, undefiled, true religion.

This text begins with a clear call, “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Jam. 1:22). Notice what James does not say. He doesn’t divide humanity into people who hear and people who do not hear. Instead, he says there are 1) hearers who become doers and 2) hearers who forget and are not doers. You can’t be a doer without first being a hearer.

The verse right before our text, which you heard in last week’s epistle reading, makes that clear. “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (Jam. 1:21). The Holy Spirit takes God’s Word, plants it in you, and you grow and produce fruit (Mt. 13:19-23). That Word gives you faith and is able to save your soul (Ro. 10:17). Everything James says in our text today grows out of that implanted Word. 

James helps us understand what this kind of hearing looks like with a vivid analogy that can be confusing. It might feel like he’s mixing metaphors, but he isn’t. James is actually talking about hearing the Word, but he uses the image of seeingin a mirror to show what happens—or doesn’t happen—when we hear. God’s Word is the crystal-clear mirror. You stand before it, and it shows you exactly who you are. All of God’s Word, both Law and Gospel, show you who you are and set you at liberty. 

For example, even the Ten Commandments set us at liberty because they begin, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:2). Before God gives a single command, He tells us who we really are. We are His people, rescued by His mighty hand. To be a doer of that Word is to say back to God and others, “Yes. You are God; we are Your people.”

The only alternative is to turn away and say, “You are not our God; we are not your people.” But to do that is to be the hearer who forgets. He looks in the mirror of the Word, sees his face, and then walks away forgetting what he just saw. Nothing changes, and that makes his religion worthless. He deceives his own heart.

But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of liberty and remains steadfast—he does not forget. He is a doer of the Word. And James promises: this one will be blessed in his doing. Not because the doing earns God’s favor—faith alone saves (Ro. 1:17; Eph. 2:8-9)—but because the doing flows from the gift already received. Faith alone saves, but true faith is never alone.

And that perfect law of liberty is freeing in the deepest sense. The Ten Commandments show us how creation itself works. They are not a ladder by which we to climb up to God. They are the guardrails of the life God has already given us in Christ. They teach us how to love God with all our heart and how to love our neighbor as ourselves. They show us the shape of freedom and of a life of love that reflects the love of God who first loved us.

And when we break those commands and get out of line with how God created us to live, the perfect law of liberty is still freeing. The Gospel comes to tell us that we have a Savior. We have Jesus who died and rose again for us. We have redemption and forgiveness through His blood. God’s Word makes those promises, and we become doers by believing and trusting that what God has said is true.

That is why James can define pure and undefiled religion so clearly in Jam. 1:26-27. Pure religion is to bridle our tongues, so our words give life by confessing the truth of God’s Word instead of tearing down. Pure religion is visiting orphans and widows in their affliction and keeping oneself untainted from the world. These are not new laws that we have to obey to earn God’s love. They are the natural fruit of a faith that remembers who it is in the mirror of the Word. 

In your daily vocations—whether you are a parent, a neighbor, a coworker, a citizen, or a friend—pure religion takes a shape. You notice the outcast and hurting and invite them to lunch. You see the struggling family down the street and drop off a meal or watch their kids so the parents can go on a date. You sit with the widow in the pew and listen to her stories. You advocate for the vulnerable instead of looking the other way. You live in the world but refuse to let its godless values stain your heart. You calmly but boldly speak truth. You show mercy because Christ has first given His mercy to you. And you walk in the freedom Christ has won for you.

Dear saints, that is pure religion—the religion that is pure, and the religion that makes you pure. That religion sets you into a right relationship with God as your Father and you as His children. That relationship only exists because we have the right religion—the religion of the Gospel of Christ.

Jason, that brings me to you. Jason, today is a day of pure joy. You are now Baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God has implanted His Word in you which is able to save your soul. You have received the new birth of water and the Spirit that Jesus promised (Jn. 3:3-6). You are joined to Christ’s death and resurrection (Ro. 6:3-7). As the Holy Spirit continues to work in you, you become more and more a doer of the Word.

Jason and all of you, dear saints, keep looking intently into this perfect law of liberty. Come back to it every day in the Scriptures, in the preaching, in the Lord’s Supper. Remember who you are. You are beloved children of the Father, brothers and sisters of the risen Christ, and you are the Bride He has washed clean. Continue to live as doers. Care for the lonely and the hurting. Bridle your tongue and speak life and the forgiveness of Christ. Live in the world but refuse to be stained by it. Do the good works God has prepared for you to walk in—not to earn His favor, but because you already have that favor in full.

This is pure religion. This is true faith. This is the life that is blessed in the doing, all because of the One who lived, died, and rose for you. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Advantageous – Sermon on John 16:5-15 for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

John 16:5-15

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

One of those phrases we just heard from our Lord’s lips comes and goes so fast, it’s easy to miss. But it is one of the most comforting things in all of Scripture. Look again at the end of v. 11. Jesus says that the ruler of this world is judged. That’s a good translation. I’ll just add this. The verb there for the word ‘judged’ is in the perfect tense. That means it’s something that happened in the past, but it has ongoing, lasting results. Jesus says that Satan, your accuser (Rev. 12:10), has been, and forever remains, judged.

To our eyes, it often doesn’t look like that’s the case. We see everything going on in the world, and we’re tempted to think that the devil keeps winning. That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to keep doing His work of convicting us of judgment—not our judgment, but the devil’s judgment. The word translated ‘convict’ means ‘to reveal, expose, or convince.’ ‘Convict’ here is like when we talk about someone who has deep conviction. The Holy Spirit comes to convince us that the one found guilty is the devil. Satan has been judged, condemned.

That means, dear saints, that the devil is not winning. He isn’t losing either. No. He’s already lost. He has no power.

If the devil had any power at all and got his way in the world, do you think that we’d be able to gather here this morning to hear God’s Word? If the devil was getting his way, there’s no way that you would have heard at the beginning of our service that your sins are entirely forgiven for the sake of Jesus. If the devil was getting his way, you wouldn’t be able to come up here to Christ’s table to receive Jesus’ Body and Blood for the forgiveness of all your sins. All those things would go away if the devil had any power.

That worm would gladly give up the desecration of marriage in our culture. He’d be happy to let abortion be outlawed if he could stop the Gospel being proclaimed. He’d stop tempting people to be violent, rebellious, and depraved if he could prevent the Gospel ringing forth from this and other Christian pulpits. Satan would gladly make that trade. But the devil can’t make that happen. He can’t defeat the preaching of the Gospel. It isn’t possible.

This is why Jesus calls the Holy Spirit’s coming advantageous for you. I’m sure the disciples were stunned and confused when Jesus told them, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you”(Jn. 16:7).

To the disciples this sounded like loss, not advantage. Their beloved Teacher was leaving. Their Friend was going to the cross. How could that possibly be better? Yet Jesus insists it is advantageous, profitable, and beneficial for them. Why? Because this departure isn’t referring to His ascension to God’s right hand. The departure Jesus talks about is His death on the cross where He pays the full price for all your sins. And when that price was paid, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two (Mt. 27:51; Heb. 10:19-20). The separation between us sinners and the holy God was no longer needed. Jesus’ departure and death won your full, complete salvation and resulted in the sending of the Holy Spirit, who now takes everything Jesus won for us and delivers it personally to you and me.

That’s the advantage. The devil stands judged, and you stand forgiven. The accuser has been thrown down, and the Comforter has been poured out. The ruler of this world has lost his throne, and the Spirit of truth now rules in your heart.

We see the evidence of this advantage all around us, even though the world looks dark. Every time a sinner is baptized and believes, the devil loses another captive. Every time the absolution is spoken, Satan’s accusations are silenced. Every time God’s people gather around the Lord’s Table, the victory of the cross is proclaimed (1 Co. 11:26). And these are not small things. They are the direct result of the Holy Spirit’s work, and they prove that the judgment of Satan that Jesus announced has already taken place.

And the Holy Spirit does even more. He brings us back into harmony with God and with His creation. Remember how sin shattered that harmony in the beginning. Adam and Eve were created to live in perfect harmony with God, but they hid in fear (Gen. 3:8). Sin brought discord into creation. The ground was cursed. Now, it produces thorns and thistles. Sin brought pain in childbirth, hostility between brothers. All of that is the result of that first act of rebellion. The devil’s lie had introduced discord into every relationship—between God and man; between husband and wife, parents and children; between humanity and the creation we were meant to steward.

But now Christ has reversed the curse. On the cross He bore the judgment we deserved. In His resurrection He declared peace (Jn. 20:19, 21, 26). Now, the Holy Spirit takes that victory and convinces you of it so that you are reconciled to the Father. You are no longer God’s enemies. You are His beloved children. You are brought back into harmony with God.

And that harmony begins to echo outward. The same Spirit who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment also renews your minds so you see people and creation differently. Instead of viewing your neighbor as competition or threat, you see someone for whom Christ shed His blood. The Spirit leads you to live as a citizen of the new creation even while you still live in the old (2 Co. 5:17).

This is the advantage Jesus purchased for you. Because the devil is judged, you are free to live without fear. When anxiety creeps in about the future of the Church or the direction of our culture, the Spirit reminds you that the outcome is already decided. When guilt over past sins weighs heavy, the Spirit points you to the cross to remind you, “It is finished”(Jn. 19:30). And that verdict stands. When loneliness or grief press close, the Spirit comforts you with the presence of Christ who has not left you as orphans (Jn. 14:18).

This advantage also equips you to share this Good News with others. The Holy Spirit uses you as His voice to declare this Gospel to a confused world because you know the ruler of this world has been judged. You can love your enemy because you know Satan is the real enemy, and he has been defeated. You can love and serve your neighbor generously because you know your Father owns all things and delights to provide for His children.

Dear saints, the Holy Spirit is at work now and is doing exactly what Jesus promised. He is still convicting, still comforting, still guiding into all truth. He is still taking what belongs to Jesus—His victory, His forgiveness, His life—and declaring it to you. That is why you can leave this sanctuary not as victims of the devil’s schemes, but as victors in Christ.

Hear the good news again this morning. The devil has been judged. Your sins are forgiven. You are covered in Jesus’ righteousness. You have peace with God (Ro. 5:1). You are restored to harmony with your Creator and His creation. That is the advantage Christ has won. This is your reality because Christ has risen, the Spirit has come, and the battle is over.

Go in that peace. Live in that advantage. Wherever you go, proclaim with confidence what the Holy Spirit has declared to you. The ruler of this world is judged, and in Jesus Christ you are free indeed (Jn. 8:36). Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Holy Hope – Sermon on 1 John 3:1-3 for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

1 John 3:1-3

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

At some point every child learns that plants come from seeds. I can’t tell you exactly when I learned it, but I must have been very young. When I was four years old, my friends and I had epic watermelon seed fights at Blue Dog Lake near Waubay, SD. We’d take a big ol’ bite and spit the seeds at each other like tiny black bullets. A grandpa who was there warned me, “Don’t swallow one of those seeds or a watermelon plant will grow out of your stomach!” Of course that isn’t actually possible, but I did know those seeds could grow into watermelons. So that warning terrified me, and I made sure I spit out every single seed.

But just imagine for a moment that you never learned that plants came from seeds. If you saw those tiny black seeds, you would simply think they were annoying little inconveniences that come with enjoying the sweet fruit. You wouldn’t guess that inside that little shell is everything needed for a sprawling vine that will produce two to four melons, each weighing fifteen pounds that are bursting with hundreds of more seeds. The potential is hidden.

This touches on the picture of what it is to be a child of God right now. Now, please know that this is not a perfect analogy. It fits with this text, but don’t use it with other texts like Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the Seed. Fair?

Dear saints, see what the kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God—and we are. The world glances at you and sees nothing special. Sometimes, we look in the mirror and wonder the same thing: “Am I really God’s child?” But don’t let the world fool you. The world did not recognize the eternal Son of God when He came, so it should come as no surprise that it does not recognize us either (1 Jn. 3:1). That’s why the apostle John presses his point. “Beloved, we are God’s children now” (1 Jn. 3:2). The living DNA of Jesus’ divine sonship is alive inside of you. It’s growing. It’s maturing. It’s advancing—even when no one else can see it.

But there is more still to come. “What we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when Jesus appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn. 3:2). One day Jesus will appear in glory, and suddenly the full-grown plant will be plain for everyone to see. No more hidden potential. Fully ripened. Glorified. Pure. Perfect. Recognizable as the Father’s own.

Even now, before Christ returns, this hope is doing something powerful in you. Listen to v. 3 again, “Everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.” The words translated ‘purifies’ and ‘pure’ both have the root word ‘holy,’ so ‘pure’ is a good translation. That means this hope is active and purifies you right now. It purifies you as Jesus Himself is pure. This hope works like sunlight and steady rain on that buried seed. It draws outward and upward from the life of Christ. It cleanses your thoughts, words, and choices. It makes you holy today because you know what you will be on the day of Christ’s return.

When temptation rises and anger spills out, this hope remembers, “I am a child of Jesus, the Pure One. I don’t need to live like the world lives.” When guilt tries to bury you, this hope declares, “My sins are already washed away in the blood of the Lamb.” When the world mocks your faith or you begin to doubt your own identity, this hope lifts your eyes to Christ, “The world didn’t know Him, so it doesn’t know me. But He knows me. And one day everyone will see what He has been growing all along.”

That brings me to each of you confirmands. Today, you stood before us to say, “Yes, this holy hope is mine.” The seed planted in your Baptism is still growing, and this hope will keep purifying you until Jesus appears.

Wes, you were made God’s child on December 9th, 2012, right over there when God used my hands to Baptize you. Whenever fears or doubts creep in, keep hearing the promise that nothing is impossible for your God (Lk. 1:37).

Graeham, you were made God’s child on August 4th, 2013, at your home in Fargo when your grandpa, Pr. Steve Papillon, Baptized you. Keep confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart that Jesus died and rose for you (Ro. 10:9).

Taavi, you were made God’s child on January 19th, 2014, when I placed those waters on your head from that font. Remain strong and courageous. Do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Josh. 1:9).

Sutton, you were made God’s child on November 23rd, 2014, when I Baptized you right here. All of your life, cast every anxiety and care on your God who cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7).

Alex, you were made God’s child on March 3rd, 2015, when I had the joy of Baptizing you. Always call on your God who answers and is always by your side (Is. 58:9).

Syneva, you were made God’s child on June 28th, 2015, at Trinity Free Lutheran Church in Grand Forks when Pr. Dan Antal Baptized you. Continue to be adorned by the gentle, quiet spirit God has given you (1 Pet. 3:3-4).

You Confirmands and all you saints, when the world fails to recognize you and when you even fail to recognize yourself, remember the seed. The Father planted it. Christ is tending it. And the Holy Spirit is causing it to grow. This holy hope purifies you today, tomorrow, and every day until Jesus returns. Live in it. Abide in it. Let it shape your thoughts, your words, your choices, and your love for others.

Dear saints, you are God’s children now. And there is even more to come. Hold fast to this holy hope. Let it purify you as Jesus is pure. The day is coming when we will see Him as He is. On that great day, we will be like Him. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Following the Shepherd – Sermon on 1 Peter 2:21-25 for the Third Sunday of Easter

1 Peter 2:21-25

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This may or may not shock some of you, but I am old enough that I learned how to write in cursive in elementary school. My 2nd Grade teacher, Mrs. Ranum, would walk across the front of the classroom, lick her fingers to count out the right number of worksheets, plop them on the front desk of each row, and say, “Take one and pass the rest back.” Then we would spend time tracing those dotted lines with all the curves and loops. We’d swoop and swish across those lines again and again. All of that tracing was designed to give our young fingers and wrists the muscle memory so our letters would be legible.

Those dotted lines were the standard we all started with. But over time each of us developed our own unique style—some more legible than others. No two people have identical handwriting. 

Here in our text from 1 Peter, the apostle refers to Jesus as our “example,” and the Greek word he uses is hypogrammos. This word appears only here in the entire New Testament. Literally, it means something you write over or trace—like those dotted lines on the worksheets Mrs. Ranum handed out. When you trace something, there are many different ways to start and finish the strokes. Some are smoother than others. But the goal is always the same: your writing should resemble the the original.

Notice that Jesus is our hypogrammos in a very particular way. Peter is not calling us to trace Jesus in every way. You don’t trace Him so that you get left in the temple at age twelve, or walk on water, or multiply loaves for thousands of people, or heal the sick, or raise the dead. And it’s good that Peter isn’t calling you to trace Jesus in those ways, because you can’t do any of those things. Sure, God could do some of them through you, but none of those things are on Peter’s radar here.

Instead, the focus is to trace Jesus in the way He endured suffering—like a sheep before its shearers is silent (Is. 53:7). The verse just before our text says that when you do good and suffer for it and endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God (1 Pet. 2:20).

That is the kind of suffering to which you have been called. Because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example—a hypogrammos, a pattern to trace—so that you might follow in His steps. Jesus committed no sin, and absolutely no deceit in was found in His mouth. He spoke pure, unfiltered truth. And He suffered for it. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He didn’t threaten. He simply trusted that God would judge justly. In and through all of that, Jesus Himself bore your sins in His body on the tree, that you might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds, you are healed (1 Pet. 2:21-24).

Dear saints, Peter wrote these words to Christians who felt like exiles and aliens in their own world and like scattered sheep far from home. Many of them were servants living under masters who could be harsh and unfair. For them, suffering was not theoretical. It was a daily reality. And Peter doesn’t coat it. He says plainly, “This is what you have been called to do.” Because following Jesus, your Shepherd, means walking in His steps, and those steps often lead through pain and suffering because we still live in a broken world.

But look at the pattern your Shepherd left—the hypogrammos that we are to trace. First, He was completely innocent. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.” That’s an echo of the Suffering Servant song in Is. 53. Jesus didn’t deserve a single lash, a single insult, a single nail. Yet He took it all like a lamb led to the slaughter (Is. 53:7) without fighting back.

When they hurled insults at Him during His trial and on the cross, He didn’t fire back with clever comebacks or righteous anger. The soldiers mocked Him. The crowd shouted, “Crucify!” Even the thieves crucified beside Him joined in the abuse (Mt. 27:44). Yet, through all of that, Jesus remained silent. He didn’t threaten. Instead, He entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly. He prayed, “Father, forgive them” (Lk. 23:34). He handed all of His suffering over to His heavenly Father.

You and I can’t do exactly as Jesus did. We can’t do this without sin. We can’t shed holy, perfect blood to pay the price for the sins of the world. We can’t do that. But we can trace His pattern and follow His steps. We don’t have to demand our rights. Instead, we can quietly entrust ourselves to the God who sees every injustice.

Now, before we go any further, let’s be clear about what this is not. This is not a call to ignore evil. It does not mean you must stay in situations where you or your children are in danger. Peter is not giving a blank check for evil to run rampant. Instead, he is speaking to believers who are already doing good and suffering for it anyway. When the world hates you simply because you belong to Christ; when standing for truth costs you friends, or a promotion, or respect in the community—keep tracing your Shepherd’s steps. Do not repay evil with evil. Do not let bitterness take root. Instead, entrust yourself to the Judge who sees it all.

The reason we can do this is that Jesus didn’t just leave us an example. He has also given us the power to follow Him. The power of His own resurrected life. Look again at v. 24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.”

Jesus is more than a model on the page. He is your Substitute. Dear saints, you have the comfort of knowing what Christ accomplished on the cross is for you and your eternal destiny. He took your wandering. He took your straying like sheep. He took your selfish instincts to either strike back or run away—He carried all of it in His own body to the cross. The stripes that should have fallen on us fell on Him. The death we deserved, He swallowed whole. And by those wounds you are healed. You are forgiven. You are made new.

That healing isn’t just a feeling in your heart. It’s a real dying and rising that happens every day. You die to sin and to the urge to lash out. You die to the desire to demand your own way and to nurse grudges. Now, you live to righteousness. You live in the freedom of those who know their Shepherd has already won the victory. So you don’t need to win or prove anything. It is done. Finished.

Whatever your suffering is—whether it’s physical, emotional, or the ache of loneliness—know that it is known by your God and Savior. Know that He isn’t ignoring you or your pain. Instead, He is using that pain to shape you to look more and more like your Shepherd.

You don’t trace those dotted lines alone. Through faith you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. Jesus isn’t standing at a distance shouting instructions. He is your living Shepherd who goes before you. He knows every valley because He walked through the darkest one first. He gathers you when you stray. He binds up your wounds with the same hands that still bear the scars. He leads you beside still waters even when the world feels like a raging storm.

Dear saints, the call to follow the Shepherd in suffering is not a burden meant to crush you. It is an invitation into the life Jesus has already lived for you and now lives in you by His Spirit. When you fail—and we all do—He does not cast you out. He brings you back, again and again, because His sheep hear His voice and follow Him (Jn. 10:27-28).

Dear saints, whatever suffering or injustice or hardship you face, look to your hypogrammos. Trace the steps of the One who suffered for you. Entrust yourself to the Father who judges justly. Die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. You belong to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. And He will not—never, not ever—lose one of His sheep. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Unexpected Peace – Sermon on John 20:19-31 for the Second Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-31

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

To get where we’re going, I want to pick up right where last week’s sermon left off with a little more ‘storytelling’ (true ‘storytelling’) about the day of Christ’s resurrection. Last week, we walked through the events of that first Easter morning, ending with Jesus meeting Mary Magdalene in the garden. Today’s Gospel text takes us the events of that same evening. But what happened in between?

Sometime after Jesus left the garden, He caught up with two disciples, who aren’t numbered with the Twelve, as they walked to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-35). One was named Cleopas, but Scripture leaves the other unnamed. Emmaus was a small village, probably just a cluster of houses that were about an hour’s walk west of Jerusalem.[1] Like Mary in the garden, these two disciples didn’t recognize Jesus at first. Mark tells us He appeared to them in “another form” (Mk. 16:12). In other words, Jesus intentionally made Himself unrecognizable—at least at first.

Only when they reached Emmaus and sat down for a meal did it happen. Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened. They recognized Him, and He immediately vanished from their sight (Lk. 24:30-31). They rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the Eleven and everyone gathered with them (Lk. 24:33). It wasn’t just the Eleven. There were also the women who had been at the tomb that morning were there too, along with others. 

I also have to mention that sometime in the middle of all this, Jesus had appeared to Peter. We’re not sure when because Scripture doesn’t give any details of that meeting, but it clearly states in two separate places that it happened (Lk. 24:34; 1 Co. 15:5). As the two disciples from Emmaus are telling the others about how they had walked with Jesus, eaten with Him, and finally recognized Him “in the breaking of the bread,” suddenly Christ appears right in their midst (compare Lk. 24:36; Jn. 20:19). Jesus just popped into the room.

It shouldn’t have been possible. They had locked the doors—barricaded them, really. In those days, they didn’t have doorknobs or deadbolts like we do. Instead, they would lay a heavy beam across the door to keep it shut, but that didn’t stop the risen Jesus. He didn’t knock. He didn’t ask to be let in. He simply appeared. Unexpected, unannounced, and fullyrecognizable. He’s nothiding Himself from them. They know it’s Him.

Imagine the emotional rollercoaster they had ridden over the past 72 hours. The disciples had all vowed to follow Him even to death (Mt. 26:35; Mk. 14:31). Yet when Jesus was arrested, they all fled (Mt. 26:56; Mk. 14:50). They had abandoned Him. He had been brutally beaten, crucified, and buried. In their minds, all their hopes for salvation were buried with Jesus (Lk. 24:21). For them, it seemed that heaven was forever closed. But that morning, they heard from the women that He was alive. Raised. Resurrected. On the one hand, it seemed too good to be true (Lk. 24:41). On the other hand, it was terrifying because they knew how badly they had failed Him.

There He stood in their midst. But they didn’t know why He had come. They didn’t know what He was going to say or do to them.

Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After they ate from the tree, they sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness and shame. Then they heard the sound of God walking in the Garden that evening, and they hid (Gen. 3:7-8). They hid because when you have utterly failed someone, the last place you want to be is with that person. But God was seeking them out. He still wanted to be with them. He called out, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9) and gave them chance after chance to repent (Gen. 3:9-13). Even though Adam and Eve didn’t repent and passed the blame around—Eve to the serpent, Adam to his wife and even to God Himself. They didn’t know that God had come to give them the promise that He would crush the serpent’s head through the Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15).

Here, Jesus had come to announce that crushing was done. He came to proclaim that sin, death, and Satan were defeated by His death and resurrection. So, He doesn’t wait for them to come to Him. Again, He seeks them out and steps right into the middle of their fear and failure. Christ opens His mouth, and His first words aren’t, “What happened?” or “Why did you fail so badly?” or “How could you?” Even before they can get out an, “I’m sorry,” Jesus unexpectedly says to them, “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20:19).

This isn’t just a normal greeting. This is Jesus’ full, total, complete absolution. He had come to bring peace. His words deliver the wholeness and reconciliation that He had purchased with His own Blood on the cross. The peace that the angels had announced at His birth is now fulfilled in His resurrection.

To drive the point home, Jesus shows them His hands and side (Jn. 20:20). The nail prints. The spear wound. They are still there. But they are not marks of defeat. They are badges of His victory. By those wounds you are healed (Is. 53:5). Now, seeing those wounds doesn’t cause them regret or sadness. Instead, they are changed. Terror turns to gladness. Fear gives way to joy.

Then Jesus says it again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Just as God had breathed life into Adam at the beginning of creation (Gen. 2:7), Jesus, the Son of God and new Adam, breathes the Holy Spirit into His people that first day of the new creation (2 Co. 5:17). And He gives them—and through them His whole church—the authority to deliver forgiveness in His name.

Dear saints, this unexpected peace is for you too. Jesus still comes unexpectedly into our locked-up lives and spaces we barricade because of fear, guilt, and regret. He comes through every barrier you can put up because He loves you. He brings you His absolution because the price has been paid. His peace is for you. Your sin Is forgiven. The tomb is empty. Death is defeated.

Because He has given you this peace, Jesus also sends you with it. As He was sent to seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10), so He sends you. In your homes, schools, neighborhoods, you are ambassadors of Christ’s peace (2 Co. 5:18-20). When your husband or wife, children or parents, coworker or classmate fails you, you get to deliver and speak Christ’s forgiveness.

Oakley, that brings me to you. Today you are Baptized. Jesus has placed His name upon you (Mt. 28:19) and joined you to His death and resurrection (Ro. 6:3-5). Christ has breathed His life into you and given you the Holy Spirit (Act. 2:38-39). Even when you sin and fail, Christ repeatedly comes to you bringing you the peace of His absolution.

Oakley and all you saints, keep close to Him. Hear His Word so you don’t run from Him but to Him in faith. Hear from Him again and again, “Peace be with you. I have died for you. I am risen for you. In Me, you have life both now and forever.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

[1]Luke 24:13 (ESV) mentions that the distance from Jerusalem to Emmaus is “about seven miles.” There are four possible sites for Emmaus. The one that seems most likely is current day Mozah which is 3.5 miles from Jerusalem. It is possible that Luke calculated the round-trip distance.

Replay – Sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord

Today’s sermon is a chronology of the morning of our Lord’s resurrection from Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; and John 20:1-18.

A .pdf showing the Scriptural references for the chronological events of our Lord’s resurrection can be found here.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Because Jesus is risen, your sin and your guilt are forgiven. They are removed from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). Jesus has died for you. He is risen. Now, nothing can keep you in the grave. Nothing can legitimately cause you fear. The victory is won. God be praised.

This Easter sermon is going to be a little different than what I normally do on Easter. As a preacher, it’s easy for me to jump to the meaning of Christ’s Resurrection to the neglect of the fact of the Resurrection. After He died a real death on Good Friday, Jesus really rose and came out of His tomb. This happened. As surely as you walked through those front doors, picked up a bulletin, and are now in this sanctuary, Jesus walked out of the tomb on this very day, 1,993 years ago.

I want to impress this on you because you can hear all sorts of false preachers who will say stupid things like, “Jesus may or may not have risen. We’re not really sure. But Easter isn’t about the event; it’s about the message.” That’s terrible. You can’t say that and still claim to be a Christian. Who cares about the message if the event didn’t happen? Today, we’re going to simply let Easter be what it is: Jesus is risen.

To do that, imagine that we could sit in that garden, looking toward Jesus’ tomb, and watch everything that happens that morning. While you settle into your lawn chair, let me say this quickly: The year is 33 AD. It is April 5th. Yes, April 5th of 33 AD, the same date as today. I know the date we celebrate Easter moves around on our calendar. That’s simply because we use a slightly different calendar than the Jewish people used back then.

Anyway. We’re there in the garden, and it’s well before sunrise. Ready?

As you look toward the tomb, you will see that there are soldiers. They’re awake, probably mumbling to each other because they’ve been assigned to guard a dead body. They probably think it’s a demotion or something. They’ve been assigned to keep people from stealing the body (Mt. 27:62-66). You can also see the stone rolled across the entrance and it’s sealed tight.

Now, you can’t see this part, but behind that stone Jesus’ human soul is reunited to His human body. And His body is perfected. Jesus opens His eyes. He breathes again. He stands up and walks out of the tomb through the stone. The stone has not been rolled away—not yet. Jesus passes right through it and walks away. You don’t follow Him. You couldn’t—even if you tried. In 1 Peter 3:18-19, Peter tells us that Jesus, in His risen body, descends into hell to proclaim His victory over death.

But you’re still at the tomb. Soon after Jesus leaves the tomb, angels come down from heaven. One of those angels is a little rambunctious. He causes an earthquake, rolls the stone away, and sits on it (Mt. 28:2). He doesn’t sit on it because he’s tired. He’s mocking the stone. He’s laughing at it because it already failed to hold Jesus. This angel is bright like lightning, and his clothes are white as snow (Mt. 28:3).

The soldiers feel the earthquake, see this angel, and they are terrified. These big, strong, armed soldiers begin to shake in fear and fall down like dead men (Mt. 28:4). At some point—and I think it makes here before the women show up—the soldiers wake up again. They check the tomb, and it’s empty. This terrifies them even more. They’ve failed in their mission. They run off to tell the chief priests what happened (Mt. 28:11)

Now, the sun is starting to rise. You can hear footsteps and voices. The women are coming. There are at least five of them: Mary Magdalene, another Mary (the mother of James and Joseph [Mt. 27:56], the wife of Clopas [Jn. 19:25]), Salome, Joanna, and Luke says there are ‘others’ (Mt. 28:1; Mk. 16:1; Lk. 24:10; Jn. 20:1). They’ve prepared their spices (Mk. 16:1; Lk. 24:1) but forgot an important detail. Only as they get close do they realize they have no one to roll away the stone (Mk. 16:3).

But when they get close enough, they see that the stone is already rolled away (Mk. 16:4; Lk. 24:2). That’s not what they expected. At this point Mary Magdalene turns and sprints away to tell Peter and John (Jn. 20:2). She’s going to tell them that someone has taken Jesus’ body. That’s what she assumes because she hasn’t seen the angels or heard them proclaim that Jesus is risen.

The rest of the women walk into the tomb (Mk. 16:5; Lk. 24:3). It must have been a big tomb for all of them to fit inside. They enter and see two angels (Lk. 24:4). God gave one of them the task of announcing the Resurrection. (I wonder what race he won to get this privilege.) I like to imagine this angel has been rehearsing his speech for a while. He begins with a gentle joke (Lk. 24:5): “Why do you seek the Living One among the dead ones?” It’s almost like they are at the grocery store and he’s saying they’re in the wrong aisle. “You’re looking for avocados and salsa, but you’re in the aisle with cleaning chemicals.” “Why are you in a cemetery looking for the Living One? Silly ladies! That doesn’t make any sense.” Then, he goes on as we heard from Mark’s Gospel, “Don’t be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. Go. Tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you” (Mk. 16:6-7; Mt. 28:5-7; Lk. 24:5-7).

Now those women run back to tell the disciples. As they’re going—so we don’t see this from our lawn chairs—Jesus appears to them and tells them the same good news the angel had (Mt. 28:8-10). Now, for a little while, it’s just us and the angels in the garden.

It’s maybe another half hour or longer—depending on how fast Peter and John can run. John comes running into the garden first because he’s a little younger than Peter. Remember, Mary Magdalene had run back to tell them. John wins the footrace and makes sure to record his victory in his Gospel (Jn. 20:3-4). John stops at the entrance and looks in. But Peter thinks the entrance of the tomb is the finish line and barges right in (Jn. 20:5-6). Peter doesn’t see any angels. He and John only see the burial cloth folded up neatly—as though Jesus simply made His bed (Jn. 20:7). It seems like Peter reaches the same conclusion that Mary Magdalene had: someone has stolen the body (Lk. 24:12). But John has a different look on his face. He begins to believe—even though he didn’t hear any angel announce it (Jn. 20:8). He simply remembers what Jesus had said and is the first to believe. Peter and John catch their breath and head back to where they were staying (Jn. 20:9). 

Now comes final scene of the morning. Mary Magdalene arrives back at the tomb. She’s all alone (Jn. 20:11-12). This is her second trip to the tomb. She’s probably walked or run about five miles this morning. She stands at the entrance and sees the two angels, but she is not afraid. The angels ask her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She says, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him” (Jn. 20:13).

Then, she turns around and sees Jesus standing there, but she doesn’t recognize Him. She thinks He’s the gardener (Jn. 20:14-15). Of course she thinks He’s the gardener! She sees the resurrected Jesus, the New Adam (1 Co. 15:45-49; Ro. 5:14) in His perfected Body. Anyone who looked at Him would think He is a gardener. Like the angels, Jesus asks, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Then He adds, “Whom are you seeking?” (Jn. 20:15). She thinks that this gardener has taken Him, so she pleads, “Sir, if you have carried Him away tell me where you have laid Him” (Jn. 20:15).

Then Jesus simply says, “Mary” (Jn. 20:16). Only when she hears Jesus speak her name does she recognize Him. She falls at His feet. But Jesus says, “Don’t cling to Me yet. I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go and tell My brothers (i.e. the disciples) that I’m going to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God” (Jn. 20:17). It’s beautiful. The very men who had abandoned Him—Jesus now calls them His brothers. Mary turns from the tomb, leaves the garden, and runs back again to tell them that she has seen the risen Lord (Jn. 20:18).

Then Jesus Himself leaves the tomb. He never comes back. That’s it. That’s everything that happens in the garden that morning. You can pack up your lawn chair. Jesus isn’t coming back to the grave—never, ever, ever. Well… not until He returns to your grave, to your burial spot. In His resurrected and glorified body, Jesus will stand at your grave and call you out. And you won’t have to imagine it. You’ll see it with your own eyes (Job 19:27). Your Redeemer lives. And through faith in Him, so will you—for all eternity.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Already Through – Sermon on Exodus 14:10-15:1 and Matthew 28:1-7 for the Vigil of Easter

The bulletin for tonight’s service can be found here.

Exodus 14:10-15:1 & Matthew 28:1-7.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Picture that scene at the edge of the Red Sea. The people of Israel stand with their backs against the water. Pharaoh’s army is bearing down on them. Chariots thundering. Horses snorting. Spears pointed forward to charge. Fear grips their hearts. They cry to the Lord and turn to Moses in panic: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?” (Ex. 14:11).

But Moses says, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Ex. 14:13-14).

The Lord does exactly what He promises. He fights for them. The angel of the Lord moves behind His people and stands between them and Egypt’s host. The sea parts. The people walk through on dry ground—a wall of water on their right and on their left. God Himself protects them. They pass through the sea.

Only when they are already through do the Egyptians pursue them. But the Lord throws them into confusion, clogs their chariot wheels, and crashes the sea on top of them. Not one of them remains. Then Moses and the people of Israel go on their way singing. “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea” (Ex. 15:1).

Dear saints, this is more than ancient history. It is a picture of your deliverance won by Christ on Good Friday and revealed the morning of the Resurrection.

The women make their way to the tomb. Their hearts are heavy with grief. They have watched their Lord be crucified. They arrive at the tomb expecting only death.

But suddenly an angel causes a great earthquake. He rolls back the stone, and sits on it. The guards tremble and become like dead men. But the angel turns to the women with the same kind of urgent comfort Moses had given to Israel: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen and is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him.” (Mt. 28:5-7).

Just as the people of Israel needed Moses to urge them forward, the women at the tomb also needed the angel to urge them forward. “Do not be afraid… go quickly and tell.” In both instances God had already fought the battle. The victory was already won. When the Lord fights for His people, He also calls them to leave fear behind and step into the new life He has already given.

Jesus, your Lord and Savior, has fought for you. On the cross He battled sin, death, and the devil—enemies much greater than Pharaoh and his whole army. And now, like then, He has triumphed gloriously.

By His death and resurrection, you have been delivered. Through the waters of Holy Baptism, you have passed through the sea on dry ground. Now, the devil and all his hosts have been drowned. In Christ you are already through—free because of His Blood.

Too often we fail to live as though this deliverance has actually happened. We stay stuck in the same old ruts. The accusations of the devil still echo in our ears. The fear of death looms over us. Sin and temptation still pull us back toward slavery. We grumble like the Israelites. We hesitate like the women at the tomb—slow to believe, slow to speak, slow to go. Too often we live as though the sea is still closed, as though the tomb is still sealed, as though Christ has not risen.

Dear saints, Christ calls you forward. He is already through the sea of death. Jesus has fought for you. He has won. In Him you are already through. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. Live as those who have been delivered.

On this night, Christ burst the bonds of death. We are not stuck. We are not defeated. We have been brought out of slavery into the glorious freedom He has won. Jesus is already through, and He will bring you safely through.

Like Moses and the people of Israel did, we can sing. Like the women who ran from the tomb with fear and great joy, we can go and tell. We can sing all the way into the Promised Land of the resurrection and the life of the world to come.

Right now, Christ comes to you with His true Body and Blood for the forgiveness of all your sins. He strengthens you for the journey ahead. One day soon we will sing with all the saints the song of Moses and of the Lamb.

Dear saints, the Lord has fought for you, and He fights for you still. In Christ you are already through. So, go in peace. Go with joy. Go singing. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

I Am the Resurrection & the Life – Sermon on John 11:17-27 for Good Friday

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Isaiah 53:4-6; Psalm 102:1-2, 12; John 11:17-27; Luke 23:33-38; Luke 23:39-43; John 19:25-27; Mark 15:33-35; John 19:28-29; John 19:30; and Luke 23:45b-47.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear saints, on this Good Friday—just before we hear the seven words of Jesus from the cross—Jesus says to us, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.”The first thing we need to have straight in our minds is that the Resurrection isn’t just a future event on God’s calendar. It isn’t only something that will happen on a particular day of a particular month of a particular year. No. The Resurrection is much more definite than that.

Instead of saying that He will cause a resurrection to happen, Jesus says that He is the embodiment of Resurrection and Life. The Resurrection is a Person. The Resurrection and the Life is your Savior, your Redeemer, your God who took on your flesh and blood. That means where Jesus is, there is the Resurrection and there is the Life.

It certainly is true that the Resurrection of all flesh is also something that will happen in the future. Jesus says, “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear My voice and come out”(Jn. 5:28-29). Christian, you rightly confess in the Creeds that you believe in “the Resurrection of the body, and the Life everlasting” (Apostles’) and that you “look for the Resurrection of the dead, and the Life of the world to come” (Nicene). But even now, believer, you are in the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus promises that though your heart may stop beating and you die, yet shall you live. Even better—Jesus goes one step further—you who live through faith in Christ shall never die (Jn. 11:25-26).

This is one of the most profound and comforting promises Jesus makes, but it is not easy to believe. After Jesus makes this promise, He asks Martha, “Do you believe this?” I don’t think there is any question that Jesus is asking Martha if she believes all four things He just said. 1) That He is the Resurrection. 2) That He is the Life. 3) That everyone who believes in Him will live even though he dies. And 4) That everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never die.

Martha’s answer seems incomplete. Notice, she doesn’t say, “Yes, Lord. I believe You are the Resurrection and the Life.” Instead, she answers, “Yes, Lord. I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, Who is coming into the world.” With that answer, there’s no question that Martha is a Christian. But she doesn’t—at least not yet—have the comfort that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. She believes Jesus is the Messiah. She believes that He is the Son of God who has come into the world. But it sounds like Martha doesn’t think that Jesus has the power to give life right now, right in the middle of her grief over losing her brother to death. 

I say that because in just a few verses, Jesus arrives at Lazarus’ tomb and tells the people to roll the stone away. And Martha says, “Lord, he’s been dead four days. If we roll the stone away, it’s going to stink” (Jn. 11:39). In other words, Martha thought it was too late for Jesus to do anything for her brother. But Jesus is about to show her the full reality of what she had confessed. Because Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, He is also the Resurrection and the Life, and everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never die (Jn. 11:26).

Jesus arrives at Lazarus’ grave. The stone blocking the entrance to Lazarus’ tomb is rolled away. Jesus prays to His heavenly Father and cries out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” And I agree with whoever was the first to say that, if Jesus hadn’t called Lazarus—and only Lazarus—by name, then all the dead would have come out of the grave. “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus comes out from his grave alive (Jn. 11:41-46).

That day in the village of Bethany, death had to obey its Superior. But it isn’t long after this that the Resurrection and the Life marches straight into death’s jaws. On Good Friday, Jesus meets death face to face, not to demand the release of one man. He goes to defeat death once for all by giving Himself unto death.

It was the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead that stirred the chief priests and Pharisees to plot Jesus’ death (Jn. 11:53). And our Lord wasn’t surprised by this. In fact, He had been repeatedly saying it would happen for much of His ministry. Jesus wasn’t surprised by their plot. It was the very reason He had come to earth. So tonight, we remember that the One who called Lazarus out of the tomb willingly goes into the tomb for you.

This also means, dear saints, that there is nowhere you can go that your Savior, who is the Resurrection and the Life, hasn’t been before. He knows what it is to be human—in every aspect—from conception to adulthood. He knows what it is to have friends and family who sometimes fail Him. He knows what it is to be hungry, thirsty, and tired. He knows what it is to be tempted (Heb. 4:15). He knows how it feels to mourn the death of loved ones (Jn. 11:34-36). He even knows death (Jn. 11:30).

Because the Resurrection and the Life has been in all those places, His holiness has sanctified them and left resurrection and life in His wake.

So tonight, dear saints, as you hear the seven words of Jesus from the cross, don’t hear them as the pitiful cries of a dying man. Instead, hear them for what they really are. They are the words of the Resurrection and the Life accomplishing your salvation and defeating death for you.

The Resurrection and the Life prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34) because He pays the full price for your forgiveness.

The Resurrection and the Life says to the thief on the cross, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43) because He is opening heaven even while He hangs under the sentence of death.

The Resurrection and the Life says, “It is finished,”(Jn. 19:30) because He has broken death’s power over you forever.

And the Resurrection and the Life says, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit” (Lk. 23:46). His Body will be in the tomb for three days, but that same Body will rise again to bring Resurrection and Life to all who believe in Him.

Dear saints, tonight is not a funeral for Jesus because He is the Resurrection and the Life. Even though death is a powerful enemy, it is not possible for death to hold Christ (Act. 2:24). In Jesus’ crucifixion, death swallowed more than it could chew. His death has caused death itself to die. By Christ’s death, death itself is forever swallowed up in Resurrection victory (Is. 25:8; 1 Co. 15:54).

Because you are joined to Him in faith, it cannot hold you either. As surely as He called Lazarus from the grave, He will also call you from yours. 

Believer, tonight, Jesus says to you, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). By the power of His life-giving Word, you can believe it. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.