The Lamb Lives!

Easter Morning

March 27, 2016

Mark 16:1-8

The Lamb Lives!

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

They weren't there for His beginning, for He has no beginning. He was created them in the beginning of this world. And since then, He has sent them to drop bombshells on His world.

I'm talking about Christ and His angels. The Lord sent an angel to the Virgin to tell her that she would carry God's Son in her womb. And nine months later, His angels announced His birth.

But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. (Luke 2 HCSB)

But just as at the beginning of His life, angels dropped the mysterious bombshell on confused people at His resurrection. Like the shepherds, the Marys and Salome weren't expecting what the angels told them.

“Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.” (Mark 16:6 HCSB)

Neither the shepherds or the people of Bethlehem or the Marys or the people of Jerusalem were expecting the news that Jesus was alive and well. But not because they hadn't been told.

Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity. (Micah 5:2 HCSB)

From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. (Matthew 16:21 HCSB)

Why had they been told that God's Son had to be born, die, and return to life? Because without His suffering and death, our sin would destroy us. We see this destruction all around us and yes, even inside of us.

But the Lamb has been sacrificed and is now alive again. Jesus' resurrection is the Life that makes all other life alive. And so the angels were sent to speak this life to us: the Holy Lamb of God who has no beginning or end, who sacrificed Himself to take away your sin, has come back to life just as He promised. So we no longer fear death. So we no longer fear life because He is alive and forgives our fear, our sin, our pride.

He is not in the tomb for the Lamb lives forever and ever!

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

The Lamb Quenches Our Thirst

Maundy Thursday

March 24, 2016

Mark 14:24

The Lamb Quenches Our Thirst

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The thirsty “they” in Psalm 107 is us.

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;

They did not find a way to an inhabited city.

They were hungry and thirsty;

Their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He delivered them out of their distresses.

He led them also by a straight way,

To go to an inhabited city.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,

And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. (Psalm 107:4-9 NASB)

Our concept of physical thirst is limited. Since we have plenty of water, it's difficult to grasp what this psalm is saying about us. But anyone who has traveled in a desert knows thirst.

Once there was a soldier named Lawrence who led a band of warriors across a desert to surprise their enemy from a direction they didn't expect. Crossing this desert was thought impossible because there wasn't any water for days and days (which was why their enemy didn't even bother with lookouts in that direction). Crossing this desert was considered a suicide mission.

This is why Lawrence hatched this daring plan. But after days in the desert, his big idea didn't seem so hot. After days of burning sun and little to no water, you start seeing things. You start to become confused and think you see things that aren't real. We call them mirages.

We've never seen a “real” mirage, but we are surrounded by confusing things that seem to be real. Our mirages may sound like “God just wants me to be happy.” This idea that isn't real leads many to be so comfortable in our sins that we refuse to confess them as sins. Instead of God's Word as the authority for our souls, our feelings of happiness lead us around by our noses.

In turn we “happiness vampires” force others to scurry along to another mirage that sounds like “God doesn't want me to judge people.” And so we remain silent when we see sinners sinning away to their hearts' content. And mostly this means being silent about our own sins.

But the reality is that Jesus tells us to judge ourselves, so that we might see Him as our merciful Savior and then help others away from the mirages that they are dying from.

First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:5 NASB)

Lawrence made it to enemy camp in Aqaba, but not before saving a man's life in the desert. The man had fallen behind and had no hope of survival. But Lawrence went back for him and found him and gave him water. Quite a savior, though if we are believe the myth of the movie, Lawrence went a bit mad, a bit crazy, thinking of himself as an actual living messiah.

Dear eternal friends, the true Messiah has found us, dying of thirst in the deserted world. He finds us, He bathes us in water, and He gives us something to drink. And that something is His own Word and His own blood.

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” (John 7:37 NASB)

Therefore, thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, My servants will eat . . .

Behold, My servants will drink . . .

Behold, My servants will rejoice . . .

Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart” (Isaiah 65:13,14 NASB)

And Jesus said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out on behalf of many.” (Mark 14:24 LJB)

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

The Lamb Rides Forth Quietly on a Donkey

Palm Sunday

March 20, 2016

Matthew 21:1-17

The Lamb Rides Forth Quietly on a Donkey

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who went forth to die for our sins and today He is riding on a donkey.

And He didn't say anything.

This might seem strange to us because this would seem like the perfect time to pause and preach and teach to the crowds. You can't buy publicity like this. And if this had been anyone else, we might have said that He had wasted an opportunity to preach the Gospel.

But this is Jesus, the Lamb. He never misses anything.

The purpose of this procession was to show the world that He is the King of Kings and the Son of David. He is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. This royal Son of David was the Lord's chosen One who would be sacrificed to make atonement for all sinners. The prophet Isaiah predicted about Jesus:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7 NASB)

And John the Forerunner, 700 years after Isaiah's prophecy, pointed right at Jesus and said:

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

For three years God's Lamb had traveled all across the Holy Land. He spoke and taught publicly for all three years. The only times He had to hide Himself when the mob wanted to grab Him bodily and shove Him onto a royal throne or when they tried to throw big rocks at His face to kill Him.

But now the Lamb of God wanted the crowds in Jerusalem to lay their eyes on Him. He wanted them to know exactly who they were going to nail to a tree in few days' time. He wantd them to see the Lamb quietly riding on a donkey.

But in a way He didn't need to speak; the crowds spoke for Him. They provided the commentary for the parade as they shouted the sermon:

Hosanna to the Son of David;

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;

Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9)

Angels had sung to the shepherds who tending their sheep in the fields nearby to Jesus' birth, and now the crowds were bookending that hymn of praise. Even though many in the chorus that Sunday did not grasp what they were saying, their shouts are still true.

This is the Lamb who rides on a donkey. He is our merciful King who laid down His life for us.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth: The Savior Lamented

Midweek Homily No. 5

March 16, 2016

A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth

The Savior Lamented

Adapted from Adolph Hoenecke

Luke 23:27-31

New American Standard Bible

27 And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him.

28 But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It was Palm Sunday in reverse. A large crowd followed Jesus, but there were no branches or coats laid before Him. No one was shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” He wasn't riding on a donkey; rather, He was the beast of burden, carrying His own cross. And He was a brutal mess.

Pilate had cried out, “Behold the man!” Jesus was a man of dripping blood and torn flesh under a crown of thorns. He was so empty of strength that He couldn't even carry His own cross.

This is the man that the people followed. Some came to mock Him on His way as He hung on the cross. Others who followed were silent and did not come to mock. If not for the soldiers and the mob of haters, they may have cried out. But they were cowards like Peter—they were afraid of the opinion of their fellow man.

Then there were the women. They wept openly and loudly. They saw a poor brutalized man and were filled with sadness. If not for Jesus' response to their tears, we would have assumed that their tears had brought Him some comfort. “At least somebody cares,” we might imagine Him thinking.

But He used His strength to turn around and say,

“Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” (Luke 23:28)

He rejected their tears. He didn't want their laments. He rebuked their sadness because it didn't come from repentance.

Ten years ago the film The Passion of the Christ was released. It received a great deal of reaction from moviegoers and critics. Many believers and unbelievers alike who watched the movie were moved to tears because of the physical suffering of Jesus that was depicted. Tears that flow when faced with someone else's physical pain are natural, but these tears on the way to Golgotha didn't flow from faith in His cross.

Jesus instead called on these women to weep tears from themselves and for their children. He wished them to confess their sins and weep over them, and so seek out the One who sends sin away.

Think about how quick you might be to weep over the pain and suffering of those whose lives are upended by a tornado. But consider how seldom we weep over our sins. And often the times we have wept over our sins are really because we have been caught in one of them.

Yes, our tears run deep into this world. This is our sinful flesh, that Christ calls on us to crucify and deny. He is the green tree who brings life to His faithful followers, who weep tears of sorrow over our sinfulness and tears of joy for the Savior who went forth like a Lamb.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

Father Abraham Had Just One Son

Fifth Sunday in Lent

March 13, 2016

John 8:46-59

Father Abraham Had Just One Son

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Abraham had just one son with his wife Sarah. His name was Isaac. Isaac was the son that the Lord had promised to this old couple. And he was a good kid, a real blessing to his grandparent-aged parents (they were around 100 years old!).

As he got older, Isaac would come to sin against his own family. This is the opposite of the way things are supposed to be. In every culture, except for ours perhaps, the young do not possess wisdom, but the old do. Yet Isaac was the Boy Who Lived—the child who offered his life on an altar and was spared by Christ Jesus—but as a father himself he played favorites with his sons.

This is one of our great sins today. Assuming wisdom based on age, the lack of age or the possession of it. True wisdom comes from receiving the Word of God. The very first psalm says:

His delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water (Psalm 1:2)

But just like Isaac, we often become foolish with age. Many of us older folks think that lifelong study of God's promises is for the young. We think that we know it all and have seen it all.

But Abraham kept seeing new things. Nearing 100 he probably thought that he'd seen it all, then the Lord gave him a promised son with his wife Sarah. Later God told him to sacrifice Isaac on a pile of rocks up in a mountain. Finally Isaac is spared and they all return home, having seen that the Lord provided for them.

You too will keep seeing new things. Your walk to the mountain of trail may be much longer than three days. Perhaps your operation went well, but you got an infection. Maybe you suffer from chronic pain and the many approaches the doctors have tried, have all failed. Maybe you suffer from children who lose their temper, who learned how to lose their temper from you.

We find new ways to be disappointed. The people in our life find new ways to make us angry or sad. So do what Abraham no doubt did. As he walked to the mountain of death, he by faith focused on the promises of Christ given to Adam and to his sons. Promises of salvation in the God-Man savior; promises of resurrection out of death through His forgiveness.

And this God-Man savior would be Abraham's one son that would save all the others. When Abraham doubted this promise, Christ came to him,

And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6)

This is what Jesus meant when He told the Jews, who were physical sons of Abraham, that

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56)

Abraham looked ahead to the fulfillment of the promise of the Savior and was filled with joy. By faith Abraham knew salvation was as done, because His most important Son, Jesus Christ, was coming into the world. The Son of God who always IS was going to become the Son of Abraham and grow up with the sons of Abraham and select twelve of them to be His disciples and feed thousands of them and be verbally attacked by many of their leaders and even some would try and throw rocks at Abraham's only Son who would save them.

Abraham died at 175 years old, because he was miserable old sinner. His body lies in the ground as does the body of fellow sinners: Isaac and their wives and children. However many of their souls are alive in the heaven of Jesus. They all sinned, but they live for His sake, the Son of Abraham who is greater than all others.

He is eternally honored by His Father because He laid down His life as the perfect Son. We honor Abraham's only Son, too, because by His death we will never die, even though our bodies might. And by His rising from death, so will the many children of Abraham.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son… He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead (Hebrews 11:17, 19a)

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God!

2 Corinthians 5:21

A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth: The Savior Denied

Third Midweek Homily

March 2, 2016

Matthew 26:58, 69-75

A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth

The Savior Denied

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. . . .

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed.

And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:58, 69-75 NASB)

Peter followed Jesus at a distance, which is odd when we compare this far-away Peter to the up-close big-talking into Jesus' ear Peter.

“Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” (Matthew 26:33)

“Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” (Matthew 26:35)

How sad when we see Peter skulking along in the shadows, distantly following His rabbi to the courtyard of sinners and enemies. Here he is no longer in the shadows, but in firelight. Why did Peter enter this place? Was he cold? Was he curious? Was he worried that Jesus might have named names and fingered Peter as one of His followers? We don't know.

But there he was, warming himself by the fire, when he was confronted with the accusation:

“You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”

And we hear Peter's shocking denial:

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

His denial is shocking because he was a believer. We, as Christians, are certainly comfortable thinking of Jesus' deniers as unbelievers, but we miss something if we don't look more closely. By definition you can't deny something unless you first believe it; you can't say no until you've already said yes.

Peter had said yes to Jesus many times; this night he said no to Jesus. And he didn't just say no; he swore it. He promised to go to hell if he was lying about Jesus. Indeed Peter could not even say his Savior's name.

“I do not know the man.”

“I do not know the man!”

And in the end Peter denied Jesus to His face.

Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And [Peter] went out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:60-62)

We have learned and confess that Jesus is always among us; He is truly present with us. So as our sinful flesh produces sin after sin, we are sinning in the presence of Jesus Christ. So like Peter, we deny Jesus to His face.

And just like Peter we also keep company all too much with the enemies of Jesus. In what we watch in the media to the books we read, we condone sin.

But unlike Peter, we often deny Jesus, not with curses, but with our silence. We silently consume media that advocates ways of looking at the world that are false and harmful. We silently allow members of our families to slide into dangerous lifestyles. We silently endorse quick fixes to the health of our churches and homes, and refuse to confront our own individual guilt in our collective shame.

And Jesus sees us all.

In faith, repent: “I am ashamed of my silent denials of You, dear Lord.” And He rejoices to forgive us, just like He mercifully forgave His closest denier and dearest friend, Peter.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!