11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
“Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ’Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.’ And having said this [Jesus] breathed His last” (Lk. 23:46).
Hebrews 10:31 tells us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The majority of times that the Bible talks about God stretching out His hand, it means destruction. This is why death is a fearful thing for us. The wages of sin is death (Ro. 6:23). It is appointed for a man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Heb. 9:27). Deep down, everyone knows this (Ro. 1:18-21).
Even the most hardcore atheist who wrongly thinks we are nothing more than a glob of atoms who randomly evolved knows that death is something to be avoided. Over the past few years, we have watched the absurd and, even, the evil things people will do in an attempt to avoid death. But unless Jesus returns first, we will all die (1 Thess. 4:17). And Satan uses the fact that sinners die to his advantage. Hebrews 2:14-15 says that the devil is able to hold all of humanity in bondage and slavery using only one tool, the fear of death. People try to stay alive at all costs and put even the thought of death as far away as possible. Death reminds us that we are not in control and are not in charge.
So, we have to learn from Jesus how to die. Jesus does not go into death as though He is falling into the hands of an enemy, but safely into the hands of His Father. These words of Jesus, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit,” are a quote from Psalm 31:5, and by quoting it, Jesus wants us to consider the entire Psalm. Just like when you hear a line from a song or a movie and, so long as you are familiar with it, the whole song or scene comes to mind, this one line Psalm 31 would have brought the whole Psalm to the minds of those who were there at the cross.
I would encourage you to read all of Psalm 31 tonight with your family and have the crucifixion in mind. For now, hear the first five verses:
1 In You, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in Your righteousness deliver me! 2 Incline Your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! 3 For You are my rock and my fortress; and for Your name’s sake You lead me and guide me; 4 You take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for You are my refuge. 5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Psalm 31:1-5 ESV
With His dying breath, Jesus commits Himself into the hands of the Father, and Christ can do this because He knows God is not angry with Him. And you, when you come to the end of your life, when you are breathing your last, you need to know this as well.
God is not angry with you. His anger over your sin has been satisfied. He has redeemed you through Jesus’ death. He has purchased and won you. Christ has paid the price for your sins. Unless you stubbornly hold on to your sins and refuse to believe that Christ has taken your place, there is no wrath, no judgment from God for you. You, Christian, you are a child of God, a child of the heavenly Father because Jesus has paid the price for your sins. You are no longer a sinner, but a one who has been redeemed and purchased by Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God.
By His blood, Jesus has washed away all your sin. You stand before God in the robe of Christ’s righteousness (Is. 61:10). For you, Christian, it is no longer a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God because God’s hands were nailed to the cross for you. Those are the hands that you commit yourself to.
There is therefore now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus (Ro. 8:1) because your condemnation is in the past. It has already happened as Jesus died on the cross for you.
Jesus died after praying Psalm 31:5a, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” And it is important to notice that Jesus only prays the first line because He could not pray the second line, “You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” Jesus couldn’t pray the second line because He was not redeemed; instead, He was redeeming. He was redeeming you. He was there on the cross paying the price; winning your salvation; forgiving your sins; overcoming sin, death, and the grave. He was doing all of that so you can pray all of Psalm 31:5. The entire thing. Because of what your Lord and Savior has done, you can rightly pray, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”
You belong to Jesus. He is your Brother and God is your Father. At the end of every day, take up these words, “Almighty God, my heavenly Father, like Jesus did before me, into Your hands I commit my spirit, for You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” And as you pray that, know that Jesus, who committed Himself into the hands of God the Father, has gone and prepared a place for you so that where Jesus is, you may be also (Jn. 14:3). Amen.[1]The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] This sermon was adapted from a sermon by Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller.
19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Romans 6:23 might be the most familiar verse in the whole book of Romans. Almost every evangelism class and tract you come across probably has this verse or, at least, a portion of it. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It’s a good verse to point to, but the danger of that verse being so familiar is that, when it is taken out of its context, it becomes little more than a slogan. It has a lot more force when we see it in its context.
When we understand this verse apart from its context – especially the phrase, “the wages of sin is death” – we most often take it to mean that when we do sinful work, the check we cash or the payment we get is death. In other words, we do sinful works and get paid with death. Now, I want to be clear. That interpretation is true, but it can lead to some serious and dangerous drawbacks. It can feed the false notion that some sins aren’t as bad as others. “Well, I only did this little sin, so I won’t get paid as much death as that other guy who did that big sin.”
The idea that sin is the work we do and the payment we get is death doesn’t actually fit the context. Consider your job. You have a boss. You have work and tasks. And a couple times each month your boss pays you for doing the work. When we think that sin is the work we do and death is the payment we get, we lose sight of who our boss is.
What Paul is doing here puts the focus back on the boss. Sin is not just the works we do; instead, sin is the master, the employer, the boss we serve. And your boss pays with the currency of death. Talk about a bad economy. All humanity, all of us sinners, live in the worst economy where the employer is sin, and sin pays with the currency of death.
Sin is our master until Christ redeems us, buys us, and becomes our new master. Verse 22 of this text makes this clear. “Now… you,” you, Christian, “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God.” That means that sin used to own you, and when sin owned you, the wages Master Sin paid were death. But now Jesus is your master.
Now, we might wonder, why would anyone work under such a master as sin? Why not unionize and chose a better master with better benefits? Well, it is because Master Sin is so deceptive, sneaky, and insidious. Master Sin seems harmless, but he is entirely treacherous. Master Sin makes demand after demand after demand, but all of these demands seem so pleasant. Master Sin makes working for him appear to be so appealing and satisfying, but it is all a façade.
When we are working for Master Sin, we feel free. It seems nice and natural. It doesn’t feel like work. Nobody sins out of duty. You don’t sin because you feel like you have to. Serving Master Sin means you just do what comes naturally. You gladly work for Master Sin because it feels good and seems to make life easier. For those outside of Christ, serving Master Sin feels like freedom. And it doesn’t seem like the wages we will be paid matter all that much. We might wrongly think we can simply make a quick change in our lives before payday rolls around and everything will be fine. Beware. That is not the picture that Scripture gives here. Sin is not simply the type of work you do. Sin is your employer, your boss, your master, your owner.
Every moment, Master Sin is sucking the life from you, but while he does that, Master Sin likes to inject good feelings and energy into you every time he takes more blood. Master Sin is sucking your life away while you are enjoying it. But eventually, Master Sin will leave you dead at his feet, sucked completely dry and eternally lifeless and condemned. Repent.
Christian, you ought to hate Master Sin and his slave wages. But remember, as you heard in our Epistle lesson last week, you have been Baptized. You don’t belong to Master Sin anymore. You are no longer his slave. “You must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 6: 11).
Christian, know Master Sin for who he is and hate him. You have been bought and freed by the death and resurrection of Christ. So now, every time Master Sin calls to you from across the plantation lines, you ought to loathe him, his wages, his chains, and his whip more and more. Plug your ears to him, and run back to your new Master, your true Master, Christ Jesus, your Savior.
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God. Yes, the slave wages of Master Sin is death, but the free gift, the free gift, of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ro. 6:22-23). Consider Jesus, your new Master, and how He is toward you. What does He pay? He doesn’t. He doesn’t pay anything.
God doesn’t pay you. Only those who need you and your work pay you, and God doesn’t need anything you could ever give Him. God Himself says, “Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him?” (Job 41:11). God can’t pay you wages, but He can and does give you gifts. And the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus your Lord. With Christ as your master, you leave the worst economy and enter a radically new economy. Ephesians 2:6-7 says, “[God] raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” You think you like God’s grace now? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. None of us have.
Throughout all eternity, God will show you the immeasurable riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. And these riches are incalculable. In this life, riches are always measurable. Even if you owned the whole world, your account would have a certain amount in it. Your net worth would always have a limit. But God’s gifts and riches are immeasurable because they are new every morning (Lam. 3:22). That is true now, and it is true through all eternity.
Think of that! For all eternity God will never have to show you a treasure of His grace and mercy a second time. Every one of them is new and one that you haven’t seen before. It will take an eternity of eternities for God to show you the riches of His love and kindness toward you. In our current economy in this country, it is easy to see the balance sinking lower and lower. But in God’s economy of gifts, He can show you the treasures of His mercy for trillions of trillions of years and all eternity is still before you, and nothing is diminished. There is just as much left as when you started. That is your life now in Christ Jesus, and that is your future.
So, when Master Sin comes knocking on your door whispering to you about his slave wages, send him away; tell him he can take his wages of death and shove them. And rejoice and hope in the gifts God has for you.
Your God desires to give you an infinity of riches and mercies delivered to you on account of the death and resurrection of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and all of it is His free gift for you. And Jesus, your God and Savior, wants to continue to show you the treasures of His mercies now. He invites you now to His table to receive the gifts of His holy and precious Body and Blood given to you for the forgiveness of your sins. Come and receive. Amen.[1]
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Blessed.” Nine times, Jesus proclaims a blessing in this text. Each of these blessings that Jesus speaks is the kind of story that we like – a rags to riches story. The poor, the down and out, the little, and the weak rise from their pitiful condition and get something good.
Other than the Bible, the book my nose has spent the most time in is Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. And, I have to say the obvious, don’t just watch the movies, read the books – they’re infinitely better. The little hobbits “rise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great,” and topple the dark lord, Sauron. We love that kind of story. We love how Cinderella ascends from mopping the floors of her wicked stepmother and waiting on her cruel stepsisters to live in the palace married to Prince Charming.
The stories where the small, weak, despised, and ostracized overcome all the obstacles and live happily ever after capture our attention. They are often a nice escape from reality because we know that not everything works out so perfectly. And even though we like to hear, “and they all lived happily ever after,” we know that real stories don’t end up that way. Cinderella grows old, wrinkly, and dies. The Ugly Duckling turns into a swan, but eventually gets entangled in a windmill. And Bambi either gets chronic wasting disease or shot during hunting season.
So, back to Lord of the Rings for just a moment: Old Bilbo was the one who found the ring of power which gave him an unnaturally long life. He has passed the ring on to his nephew, Frodo, and retired from adventuring at the elven house of Rivendell so he could settle down and write a book about his adventures. But when Bilbo finds out the ring must be taken on a perilous journey to Mount Doom to be destroyed, he figures it’s his job. He mourns for a bit saying, “I was just writing an ending for [my book]…. I had thought of putting: and he lived happily ever afterwards to the end of his days.” That last phrase, “to the end of his days,” is more realistic. Happily ever after can only last so long in this fallen world. Psalm 90:9 says, “we bring our years to an end like a sigh.” Deep down, we know that happily ever after doesn’t come in this world. Rags-to-riches stories rarely happen, and even when they do, those riches don’t last.
So, when Jesus sits down on the top of the mountain and teaches us the Beatitudes, we know our Lord doesn’t lie. We want our own happily ever after, so think we need to try to be what Jesus describes in order to be eternally blessed. But, when we hear who Jesus says is blessed, we take a step back. Who wants to be poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungry, thirsty, and persecuted? We spend so much time and energy trying to avoid being those things. We want to be spiritually strong, not poor in spirit. We want to be happy and joyful, not mourning. We want to be powerful, not meek. And we typically avoid persecution at all costs.
Today, as we observe All Saints’ Day, it is important to remember that the Beatitudes are not attitudes that Jesus commands us to have. They are not Jesus’ advice on how we must arrange our lives to attain our own rags-to-riches, happily ever after ending. That approach turns the blessings Jesus gives here into be-curse-itudes. Instead, the Beatitudes are a description first of Jesus and then of who you are, dear saints, because you are in Jesus.
And we can say that because of what Christ has done. Christ’s story is a better but different kind of story than rags-to-riches. In fact, Christ’s is the only story that even makes rages-to-riches possible. It is the story, the true story, of Jesus who went from riches to rags to save us ragged sinners.
The eternal Son of God left His dwelling in heaven. He humbled Himself to be born in a manger and entered this sin-sick world. Christ endured every temptation, disappointment, and sorrow you have ever and will ever face. He was poor in spirit (Mk. 14:34). He mourned death (Jn. 11:35). He was meek (same Gk. word in Mt. 11:29 and Mt. 21:5). He became hungry (Mt. 4:2) and thirsty (Jn. 19:28). He was merciful, pure in heart, and a peacemaker. And persecuted? Yes, He was persecuted. Abandoned by even His closest friends, betrayed into the hands of evil men, beaten, mocked, scorned. Crucified, forsaken by God the Father, died, and buried. It doesn’t get any lower than that.
Jesus didn’t have to do or experience any of this, but out of His great love for you – He did. “He left His Father’s throne above, so free so infinite His grace. Emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam’s helpless race.” Jesus left the riches of heaven to descend to you and me in the filthy rags (Is. 64:6) of our sin. He came to you to raise you from your rages to His riches. He did that to make you His saints, His holy ones, His beloved, His blessed.
Dear saints, you don’t ever have to wonder if the blessings Jesus proclaims in the Beatitudes are for you. If v. 3-10 were all we had, then, sure, maybe there would be doubt. But Jesus closes the Beatitudes by saying, “Blessed are you.” You are blessed now even when you are reviled, persecuted, and slandered for your faith in Jesus. Rejoice and be glad, your reward is great in heaven.
“Beloved, [you] are God’s children now, and what [you] will be has not yet appeared; but know that when He appears [you] shall be like him, because [you] shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn. 3:2). Blessed Jesus, may that day come soon. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Pastorsamwise 
You must be logged in to post a comment.