The Lamb (Revelation 5:6-10)

Series: Names of Wondrous Love

Maundy Thursday

March 28, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Why is it that little children are so attracted to little lambs?  Though many of them may not have every had the opportunity to see one in real life or stroke its soft fleece, yet in their beds, so many little children clutch a facsimile close to their hearts as they fall asleep.  Even after they have out grown their child’s bed, so often that lamb might still occupy an important position on their dressers, bookshelves, or even display shelves.  What is it that makes lambs so attractive to little children?  I don’t know for sure, but I do know exactly what makes The Lamb attractive to us who are God’s little ones, and children of our heavenly Father.  It is the wondrous love that the Lord reveals to us through his Son—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the Word—that make Jesus, the Lamb so important for us.

This, in fact, is exactly what the Apostle John reveals to us in our lesson today.  For as he writes he describes Jesus as a Lamb, “looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”" (Revelation 5:6–10, NIV84)

In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John calls Jesus “the Lamb” some 20 different times, and for John.  Here, John described Jesus as looking like a Lamb that had been slain, and for John, this was a term packed with meaning.  In fact, this was something that took him back nearly 70 years to the day when he was at the Jordan River with his teach, John the Baptist, and John had pointed to Jesus and proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:29, NIV 84) 

The Apostle John knew what those words meant.  He knew how the angel of the Lord had swept through Egypt on the First Passover so many years before.  He knew how the angel had struck down the firstborn in every home but passed over these homes with the blood of the sacrificial lamb smeared on the doorposts.  John also knew the meaning of the blood of all those lambs, hundreds of them, thousands of them, sacrificed on all of the Passover celebrations since the first one in Egypt.  He knew how the blood of all those lambs pointed to the blood of the real Lamb, Jesus Christ—God’s own Lamb, sent from heaven.  His blood would be so precious that it would cancel all sin.  His blood would be so precious that those covered by the blood of God’s Lamb would be spared when God’s eternal judgment passed over.

This is what the Lamb of God meant to the Apostle John, but what does it mean to you that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?  In answer we look especially at the blessed meal the Lord places before us today. In his Holy Supper, the Lamb himself is present to serve us. In it he offers the very body that he gave and the very blood that he poured out for our sins on Calvary’s cross. With his body and blood, he wants to assure us of the blessed truth that he was indeed slain for us. As we come to his altar, he puts his hand on our shoulders, looks into our eyes, and reassures us individually that he was slain for us. “Here,” he says, “my body, given for you. Here, my blood, shed for you. Your sins are forgiven.  Go home in peace.” In this blessed way, he reassures us of his forgiveness and strengthens our trust in him as our Lamb. Now we can look forward to the day when we have to appear before the judgment seat of a holy God. We can take that step with confidence and joy. Only because of the Lamb who was slain for us. The Father in his grace has washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Father in his wondrous love has made us his little ones through faith in his Lamb. How we look forward to singing eternal praises to such a loving Father and to the Lamb slain for us!

In our lesson John describes those praises as golden bowls full of incense, as he writes, “they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”" (Revelation 5:8–10, NIV84)

Tonight we join in praising the Lamb of God for his wondrous acts of love for us.  We praise him for the forgiveness of sins that he won for us through his death and resurrection.  We praise him that he made us a kingdom of priest who are able to share the message of salvation with all those around us.  We praise him by living our lives in such a way that our words and actions clearly reveal that we belong to the Lamb who was slain for us.  Though it is easy to sing God’s praise here, the Lord wants us to praise him in every aspect of our lives.  So let us do just that!  Let us carry the Lamb of God, our Savior, with us wherever we go, like a child carrying that cherished toy animal.  Let us carry the Lamb of God with us as we enter our workplaces, where unbelieving employees sneer at our words and scoff at our actions. Let us carrying him close to our hearts in the high school hallways and college classrooms, where so many try to scratch through the varnish of our protected childhood religion. Let us carry the Lamb with us on the hospital bed, where reality never takes a nap, in our families, where visually and verbally the love of God’s Lamb needs to be conveyed, in our congregations, where there’s always so much to be done and so few, it seems, to do it, and in our synodical fellowship, where we, as fellow priests in God’s kingdom, join hands to take the gospel to every nation and to train workers to go in our place.

In the same way that little children are so often attracted to little lambs, so also we, as God’s children are attracted to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  What great love he has revealed in our lives by making us his own through faith.  Not only have we been made his own, but we have the opportunity to carry the Lamb of God with us wherever we go.  God grant that we never leave him on the dresser top of our lives, but always hold him close to our hearts, ready to share him with everyone who needs to learn about this special Lamb of God, our Savior.  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

The Hour Has Come for the Son of Man to Be Glorified! (John 12:23)

Sixth Sunday in Lent Palm Sunday

March 24, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Imagine with me, for a moment, what it must have been like to be one of Jesus’ disciples.  Imagine what it must have been like to have Jesus come to you and personally call you to follow him; personally choosing you as a disciple.  For the past 2 ½ - 3 years you’ve been following him, listening to him preach and teach, watching him as he performed miraculous signs and wonders, being amazed as he drove out demons and brought the dead back to life.  For the past 2 ½ - 3 years you’ve been learning from him as he’s taught you about the kingdom of heaven and about himself, the Son of God—the Messiah for whom you had been waiting all your life.  Every day that you followed him you learned more and more about the kingdom of heaven.  Every day that you followed him you grew stronger and stronger in your faith.  Every day that you followed him you were prepared all the better to take the message of salvation to those who needed to hear it the most.  Then, suddenly, Jesus pairs you up with a partner and the two of you go out preaching and teaching the message about Jesus in the towns and villages where he was about to go.  You are given the authority to heal the sick and drive out demons.  You taste the success of sharing the message of salvation with your fellow countrymen, and you can’t wait to come back and tell Jesus all the experiences that you’ve had preaching and teaching in his name.

But lately something has been different.  Jesus has been traveling more and more as of late, and it is clear that he is making his way back to Jerusalem.  Even though the Chief Priests and the teachers of the Law have made it their mission to do away with Jesus, it is clear that you will make it back to Jerusalem for the Passover.  On Friday, you passed through Jericho, where Jesus suddenly stopped to tell a man named Zacchaeus that he had to stay and Zacchaeus’ house that day.  On Saturday you celebrated the Sabbath with your Savior, and later that evening you were part of a banquet given in Jesus’ honor.  It was a banquet at the house of Simon the Leper.  It was a banquet that Lazarus was at, the same Lazarus whom you had seen raised from the dead by Jesus.  It was a banquet that Martha served, and it was a banquet where Mary brought a bottle of expensive perfume and used it to anoint Jesus’ head and feet, drying her feet with her hair.  Though you grew indignant with Judas who thought that it was such a waste, you quickly changed your thoughts as Jesus’ rebuke echoed through the room, ““Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (John 12:7, NIV84)

On Sunday, you were part of the great procession of people traveling from Bethany to Jerusalem for the upcoming Passover.  As you approached Bethphage, you were one of the two disciples to whom Jesus turned and said, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ (Luke 19:30-31, NIV84)  When you went, you found everything just as Jesus had described it.  You said what he told you to say, and they let you take the animals with you.  When you came back to Jesus, you placed your cloak on the donkey for Jesus to sit on and you went along with him, amazed by the celebration of the crowds with you.  Amazed at the people taking off their cloaks and laying them and palm branches in the road for him to ride over.  Amazed at the people shouting out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is He  who comes in the Name of the Lord!”  Amazed as you suddenly began to remember the words of the Prophet Zechariah “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9, NIV84)

On Monday, you were with Jesus when he went to look for fruit on a fig tree, found none and cursed it.  You were with Jesus as he entered the temple area “and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mark 11:15–17, NIV84)

Now it was Tuesday, and you saw the tree that Jesus had cursed, the tree that had shriveled because Jesus had simply said, “May you never bear fruit again.”  It was Tuesday and you had been in the temple with Jesus all day.  You heard him teaching and preaching to the people there.  You heard him answer all the questions and challenges that the religious leaders brought to him either directly or indirectly.  You heard Jesus delivering warnings against the Scribes and proclaiming woes upon the Pharisees, look directly at them and say, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”" (Matthew 23:37–39, NIV84)

You went with him as he left the temple one last time, when suddenly Andrew and Philip came to Jesus and told him about some Greeks who were asking for the opportunity to meet with Jesus, see him and learn from him.  To which Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die." (John 12:23–33, NIV84)

How many times hadn’t you heard Jesus speak about his coming sufferings and death?  How many times hadn’t you heard him talk about it and not wanted to believe it?  How many times hadn’t you heard him talk about his impending sufferings only to hear him say, that the hour was not yet upon him?   But now, this time, Jesus says that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!

Though you did not know it, the hour of his glory was closer at hand than you would have realized.  Yet, if we take a moment to look at it we can see how Jesus was indeed glorified throughout his life, even as he humbled himself to keep God’s Law for us.  Yet, now, as Jesus speaks, he is looking forward to the glory of his suffering, the glory of his crucifixion, the glory, even of his death.  Though for us these may not seem like very glorious events, each one of these events meant that Jesus was fulfilling God’s plan of our salvation and bringing an end to satan’s power over us.  This was the glory that Jesus revealed in the Garden of Gethsemane as he clearly showed the soldiers that he was the one in charge.  This was the glory that Jesus revealed in his trials as he answered very few questions moving the trials along so that he would be found guilty and be put to death.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed before Pilate as it became very clear to him that Jesus had done nothing deserving of death.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed on the cross as he prayed for those who crucified him, as he fulfilled the scriptures, as he cried out for all the world to hear, “It is finished!”, and as he willingly bowed his head and gave up his life.

This is the glory that Jesus revealed in his resurrection from the dead to assure us that we have been set free from all our sins.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed to the women on Easter morning, to the disciples locked together in their room, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to all those to whom he revealed himself in those 40 days after his resurrection.  This is also the glory that the Lord continues to reveal each time his word is proclaimed.  For whenever the word of God is taught and we are convicted of our sins and moved to turn to our Savior for forgiveness, Jesus is glorified.  Whenever the Word is taught and people are called to faith in Jesus as Savior, Jesus is glorified.  Whenever we share our faith with those around us and tell others about the confidence that we have, our Savior is glorified.  Even today, as our children brought palm branches to the front of our church and laid them on the altar, Jesus, our Savior was glorified.

Though Jesus did willingly humble himself for us so that he might live in our place and keep God’s law perfectly for us, by his death and resurrection, he has indeed been glorified forever.  Let us give thanks to the Lord our Savior by growing in our faith through worship and the Word.  Though we must leave this joyful day and walk through the dark and sorrowful days of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we do so, looking forward to the joy of Easter.  We do so, knowing that through everything our Savior did for us, the hour has truly come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

What is Jesus' Humiliation and Exaltation all about?

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace 

Fifth Sunday in Lent  

March 17, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

It was back in 1881 when Mark Twain’s first attempt at historical fiction was published.  Published first in Canada in 1881 and then in the US in 1882, The Prince and the Pauper, was a story that Twain set wrote about two young boys who are identical in appearance.  One is a pauper, a very poor boy, who lives with and abusive father.  The other is Prince Edward, Son of King Henry VIII and heir to the throne of England.  In the course of the story the two boys meet and wind up trading clothes and changing places.  Thus the young pauper finds himself elevated to the status of prince, while the prince finds himself humiliated to the position of a peasant.

In many ways this is a picture of what Jesus, our Savior did for us.  It wasn’t that he traded places with someone who looked exactly like him.  Instead, he humbled himself and made himself just like we are so that he could free us from our sins.  He humbled himself to free us from our sins, and then when his work on earth was complete, he was once again exalted to the highest place in heaven by his heavenly Father.  But what does all of this mean?  What does the Bible tell us about Jesus humiliation and his exaltation? 

To answer that question, we need to start at the beginning.  We need to start with what the Bible has to tell us about Jesus humbling himself, which is what the Apostle Paul explains in his letter to the Philippians, where Paul writes, “Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; (grasped, NIV84) 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6–8, NIV)

Essentially what Paul is telling us is that even though Jesus’ very nature is true God, he did not consider that he had to hang onto his equality with God the Father at all costs.  Instead, he willingly humbled himself; he took on human flesh and blood, and made himself just like one of us.  In doing this, Jesus set aside his divine authority and power and did not make full use of it while he was here on the earth.  Take for example Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He was there with his disciples and he knew everything that was going to happen that night so he went out and met the mob at the entrance.  When Jesus told them that he was the one they were looking for, they all fell over, backward.  But that was all he did.  Had he wanted to he could have had more than six legions of angels at his disposal, but all he did was knock the soldiers backward to show them that he was allowing them to arrest him.  Once they got back to their feet, he allowed them to take him as a prisoner to the High Priest, and in this way Jesus set in motion the events that would lead to our salvation, just as Paul tells us again in 2 Corinthians, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9, NIV84)

During the past weeks of this season of Lent, we have been reminding ourselves of how Jesus did, indeed, become poor for us so that we might become rich by his poverty.  We have been reminding ourselves of how Jesus did, indeed, humble himself so that he might save us from our sins.  But when it comes right down to it, Jesus’ humiliation is not something we save only for the season of Lent.  Rather it is something that we remember each time we confess our faith.  In fact, in just a few minutes, as we take time to confess our faith together according to the Apostle’s Creed, we will confess the very steps of Jesus humiliation here on earth.  We will confess how Jesus humbled himself by being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary.  He humbled himself by being born in the same way that babies have been born since the beginning of time.  There was nothing special or miraculous about his birth  Though it was miraculous that this baby was true God, born as the Savior of the world, he was also born true man—a helpless baby born in a very lowly way—born in a stable and laid in a manger.  Though we don’t confess it in the creed, we also know about Jesus humble life, how he was tempted in every way that we are, but was without sin.  We know how he suffered under Pontius Pilate where he was mocked and whipped and ridiculed and beaten.  He was crucified like a criminal.  He died!  Our true God, who cannot die, humbled himself and became obedient even to death on the cross so that he could free us from our sins.  Then, when he had died, he was buried in the ground.  Just as we bury those who have died, so also Jesus was buried, just like we will all be buried, one day.

It was in this way that Jesus humbled himself for us.  He came to earth lived as a human being.  He proclaimed the Word of God, taking the message of salvation wherever he went.  He moved purposefully, moving always forward, moving ever closer to the moment of giving his life on the cross.  Yet, while on earth he never made full use of his divine glory, power, or authority.  It was not until after his death that he was exalted once again, and began making full use of his heavenly power and glory.  As the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." (Hebrews 2:9, NIV84) Or as Paul tells us, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9–11, NIV84)  Or as Peter tells us, “But [David] was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear… 36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”" (Acts 2:30–36, NIV84)  And again Peter tells us, “God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel." (Acts 5:31, NIV84)

In Twain’s story of The Prince and the Pauper, the prince became a pauper only for a time.  After that he went back to being a prince again.  Now, if you’ve ever read the story it took a bit of doing for the prince to finally return to his rightful position of leadership as the heir to the throne of England.  However, for Jesus it didn’t take all that to do.  Rather, when the time came Jesus began making full use of his divine power and authority, just as we confess in the Apostle’s Creed, “He descended into hell  The third day he rose again from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.  From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I was younger I thought Jesus descended into hell to suffer there for our sins.  But that is not the case because as we learn from Colossians, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13–15, NIV84)

In other words, it was on the cross where Jesus removed our sins and destroyed the power of the devil.  When he cried out, “It is Finished,” we knew his work of salvation had been completed.  Though Jesus died and his body was placed in the grave, the Lord did not allow his body to see decay.  Then, on the third day, Jesus was raised to life by the power of God the Father, and, as Peter tells us, “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." (1 Peter 3:15–22, NIV84)

This was Jesus victory parade!  In the same way that we throw victory parades for Super Bowl champions, World Series winners, and so many others, so also the Bible pictures Jesus’ descent into hell as his victory parade.  He had won the victory over the devil and his evil angels, and now he marched right down the “main street” of hell, so to speak, proclaiming his victory over the devil and all who refused to believe in him.  This, together with the fact that Jesus was raised to life by the power of the Holy Spirit, was the beginning of his exaltation.  This was the beginning of Jesus once again making full use of his divine power and authority. This is our assurance that our Jesus has freed us from our sins. This is our assurance that our salvation is complete in him.  This is our assurance that just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so also will Jesus raise us from the dead, as Paul reminds us, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." (1 Corinthians 15:22–23, NIV84)

What a comfort it is to know that Jesus our Savior who willingly humbled himself to free us from our sins, has now been exalted to the highest place that heaven offers and has been given the name that is above every name.  What a comfort it is for us to know that Jesus, the God-man is exalted forever in his heavenly kingdom where he once again is making full use of his divine authority and power so that he might work in our lives as he leads us on our journey home to heaven.  What a comfort it is to know that in the same way the prince in The Prince and the Pauper did regain his rightful place as King of England, so also our Savior has returned to his throne of Glory.  Though he willingly humbled himself, he did it to redeem us.  When his work of redemption was completed, he was once again exalted to his former glory, demonstrating that he fulfilled his work and that we have salvation through faith in him.  This is what Jesus humiliation and exaltation are all about.  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN