Lent
5/Judica (March 29, 2020)
“Seeing and
Tasting Death” (John 8:51)
I’m reading the autobiography of a
Lutheran pastor who graduated from Concordia Seminary St. Louis in 1918. His first call was to a small, struggling
parish in the slums north of St. Louis. After
many home visits in his first few months as the pastor, things looked
promising. He started a Sunday School
and an adult instruction class. The church
hired a talented organist. But then, he
writes:
Then an extraordinary
thing happened: the war was over and an influenza epidemic spread throughout the
country. People were dying daily by the
thousands. No public meetings were
permitted, not even a confirmation class could meet. All my work was now in vain. I visited people and buried the dead. Then I had an idea. Pastors at that time did not use the mail,
nor did congregations know what advertising was. I think this was due to the fact that our
Lutheran churches were generally considered German churches by most
people. English services were on the
increase during the war because it was considered unpatriotic to preach in
German. Sauerkraut had to be renamed “Liberty
Cabbage.”
Every week I sent out
prayers, a short sermonette, and comforting Bible verses. I sent these publications not only to
members, but also to those whose names I had gathered in the missionary canvassing. When, after two months, we were permitted by
the government to assemble again for public worship, my publicity had paid
off. It was the beginning of a religious
revival.[i]
Sound familiar? Change the date to 2020, change the disease
from influenza to coronavirus, change mail and advertising to email and Facebook
and YouTube, and it sounds a lot like what many congregations are doing today. Whether there will be a religious revival
after all this is over remains to be seen.
That’s not our job. That’s the
job of the Holy Spirit working through the message the Church proclaims.
One part of that message is the word
of the Lord Jesus today, where he answers the Jewish leaders who accused him of
being a demon-possessed, half-breed, apostate Samaritan. He says, “I do not have a demon, but I honor
my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do
not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps
my word, he will never see death” (John 8:51).
The Jewish leaders responded in mockery: “Now we know you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you
say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death’” (John 8:52).
“If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death”
… or “taste” death, as the case may be. What
does death “look” like? What does it “taste”
like? It can be ugly. It can be bloody. It can be painful and agonizing. It can be bitter and bilious and nauseating. We are “seeing” death all around us. Thousands around the world are “seeing” and “tasting”
death right now.
What did it look like and taste like for the
individuals in our readings today? For Abraham,
it involved emotional pain and grief and confusion. God told him to sacrifice his beloved son,
Isaac … the very child whom God had promised would be his heir and through whom
all nations would be blessed. Abraham
may have even been angry with God, at first, for making such an outrageous
demand.
For Isaac, there was also confusion and maybe fear. “Where’s the lamb for the sacrifice, dad?” Then, when his father tied him up and placed him
on the altar and reached for his knife, Isaac may have felt a terrible breach
of trust, a betrayal by his father, especially after hearing his father reassure
him, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis
22:8).
“If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews thought Jesus was crazy for making
such a claim … so crazy that the idea must come from the devil himself. Yet Jesus seemed even more insane to them
when he claimed to be God. “Truly, truly,
I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
And they picked up stones to stone him to death, because they knew
exactly what he was saying. He was
claiming to have existed before Abraham.
He was claiming to be eternal. He
was saying that the same God who told Moses at the burning bush that he is the great
“I AM” was standing before them at that very moment. Jesus basically admitted to them, “I am God.”
But this is the hope we have in the face of
death. Only God himself can overcome death
for us. And Jesus of Nazareth – God in
the flesh, the great I AM, the most sane and only sinless man to have ever
lived – looked death right in the eyes and tasted death for us at the cross. Jesus drank the cup of his Father’s wrath
over our sin and the sins of all people to the last bitter dregs. Death swallowed Jesus up … but in allowing himself
to be swallowed up by death, Jesus in turn swallowed up death and did away with
it for us … both physical death and eternal death, that is to say, eternal
separation from God and his love and gracious presence because of the curse of
sin.
Jesus is the Lamb that God provided
to take the place of all of us Isaacs.
Jesus was sacrificed for our sins.
You and I get to go free and live.
Abraham rejoiced to see his day.
How did he see it? He saw it from
afar by faith in God’s promises. Abraham
knew that God had promised to send a Savior one day. And he knew that his son had a part to play
in that promise. That’s why Abraham was
willing to sacrifice his son when God told him to do so as a test of his
faith. The author of Hebrews tells us
that, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had
received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it
was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise
him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back”
(Hebrews 11:17-19). I don’t know about
you, but I find that a remarkable statement … that Abraham had such confidence
in God’s promises, that he fully expected God to raise Isaac from the dead.
Death was never a part of God’s plan for his
creation. It entered because of the Fall
into sin back in the Garden of Eden. It leaves
a bitter taste in our mouths. It is
painful … both in body and in soul. The
pain lingers. Grief comes in waves, like
a storm at first, crashing down hard upon you … and later as the surf hits you
at unexpected times and upends you so that you feel that old, familiar sadness
over someone you love and miss. And even
though you and I know that Jesus has conquered death for us, it is still painful
for the Christian, because it is out of order, it strains against life, it
seeks to defeat life, it is the complete opposite of what God is all about, which
is being life and giving life.
But there is another truth about death for the Christian. Yes, death is the enemy. But in another sense, it is the gateway to Paradise,
just as Jesus told the thief on the cross who confessed faith in him, “Today
you will be with me in Paradise.” We
should never hasten death for ourselves or for others. But we can welcome it when it approaches. We can sing with the hymnwriters:
· Hymn 724: For me to live is Jesus, To die is gain for me; So when my Savior pleases, I meet death willingly. (LSB 724 stanza 1)
· Hymn 878: I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness. Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still if Thou abide with me! (LSB 878 stanza 5)
· Hymn 679: Oh, how blest are they whose toils are ended, Who through death have unto God ascended! They have arisen From the cares which keep us still in prison. (LSB 679 stanza 1)
· Hymn 938: In peace and joy I now depart Since God so wills it. Serene and confident my heart; Stillness fills it. For the Lord has promised me That death is but a slumber. (LSB 938 stanza 1)
“Ills have no weight and
tears no bitterness.” Death’s sting has
been taken away. Jesus has conquered the
grave for us. The Lamb of God was slain for
us so that we Isaacs get to live. The
Lamb of God rose for us. Therefore, death
can also be called “sweet” by the Christian, as in these words from an aria by
Johann Sebastian Bach:
Come, sweet death, come, blessed rest!Come lead me to peacebecause I am weary of the world,O come! I wait for you,come soon and lead me,close my eyes.Come, blessed rest!
“If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Trust in Jesus. Trust in him as the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. Trust in him
who forgives YOUR sin. In this way, you
keep his Word. In this way, you will
never see eternal death. You will never
taste eternal death. In his death and
resurrection, Jesus conquered death for you.
And, though you will see and taste the bitterness of physical death, it
will also taste sweet for you as you are led into the nearer presence of your
Savior Jesus to await the day when you will rise to life again, following in
the footsteps of the one who rose on Easter morning.
INI
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