What a week it has been. Jesus rode into Jerusalem, hailed as a king. He was captured by the representatives of the temple, beaten and mocked. He was brought before the Roman governor, found innocent, before Herod, found innocent, before the Roman governor, found innocent…innocent, innocent, then guilty of nothing. He was beaten and mocked again, scourged to within an inch of his life, and ultimately, crucified.

The day was getting late, so the people asked Pilate to have the legs of the three men broken so that they would die faster, so that they would die before the Sabbath. The two criminals on either side of Jesus had their legs broken, but the soldiers found Jesus already dead. His bones they did not break. To confirm that He was dead, one took a spear and pierced His side, and at once, blood and water came forth.

He was dead. He was brought down from the cross. He was covered in spices and oils and wrapped in linen cloths. He was put into a tomb in which no one had yet been buried. A stone was placed in front of the entrance to the tomb. The deed was done.

These things you have heard over and over again every Wednesday in Lent, then all over again last week.

“Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.” (Luke 23:56) It was the Sabbath—the seventh day. Even in death, Jesus obeyed the Law perfectly—He rested in a tomb.

The next day, the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb to do what was expected of them. These women—among whom is Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, but also many other women who had followed Jesus and attended to Him—they brought their spices and oils—their myrrh and aloes. They approached the tomb and find a frightening sight: the stone had been removed from in front of the entrance! They had gone to “spice up” Jesus’ body, and then wonder if the body is even there.

I like to say that the door was pushed aside not to let Jesus out, but to let people in (as I said last night). It makes sense: the risen Lord was twice able to appear to the disciples hiding in the upper room with the doors locked—He made it in without an open door (as you’ll hear next week, cf. John 20:19-30). Therefore, He didn’t need an open tomb to get out. But for these women, and later for Peter and John, the stone was pushed aside so that they could go in and look.

So, these women went into or peered into the tomb. They found that Jesus’ body was not there. Others wrote that they thought that His body had been stolen. They were troubled by what they had found—an empty tomb, bereft of a body—they were greatly perplexed by it.

And that’s when it happened. Two men appeared before them in dazzling white clothes. The women, having a mountain-top experience not unlike that of Peter, James, and John, fell to the ground. The Divine was manifesting in their presence—He had sent representatives, messengers, to them—and the women were afraid.

And they ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” These are words designed to allay fears. “He is not here, but has risen!” These are words designed to change their perception of the empty tomb. “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” These are words designed to bring to mind what was taught to them…what was spoken to them.

They recalled the Jesus’ words. They dropped their spices. They hurried to report what they had found.

What they had found… Such simple words turn a frightening and saddening and perplexing situation into one of immense joy and hope. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” They went to the tomb expecting a dead body to “spice it up;” they depart from the tomb with joyous news: “Christ is risen!” Dr. Arthur Just wrote,

Such simple words can turn a hopeless situation in this world around, especially if they are received in faith. Life is so often sought among the dead: dead works, dead people, dead religions, even in one’s dead self. All your works amount to nothing, they do not bring life. People around you, no matter how much charisma they may possess, do not bring life. Being good, doing things the right way, keeping to a good pattern of living or set of habits does not bring life. Finding your “inner self” and “inner peace” does not bring life. Following these “dead things” is death. Why look for the living among these dead things? He is not in them, but Christ has died and Christ is risen, as He said.

As He said… It is as Peter once said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You,” You alone, “have the words of eternal life” (cf. John 6:68), even as Jesus before that had said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63) And so the words He spoke are spoken again: “[T]he Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” “Remember these words,” the angels instructed the women. In them are life. They are the words of eternal life. They are life!

Oh, to be sure, you can get great examples of good works from motivational speakers and spiritual leaders, but there is no dying and rising there. You can get a good set of rituals to follow from other religions, but there is no dying and rising there. You can even meditate to bring about what others would call “harmony” or “peace” within yourself, but there is no dying and rising there. The answer to that dreaded question “What would Jesus do?” is die and rise from the dead.

Dying and rising is uniquely Jesus. It is what He said. It is how He saved the world. He didn’t come to set a good example of good works. He didn’t come to establish a new religion. He didn’t come to teach you how to search within yourself for true peace and happiness. These are dead things. Christ died to them that you may die to them and rose again that you may pass from death into life with Him. That’s how He deals with you—with your sins and clinging to dead things—by dying in your place and rising from the dead on the third day to give you life. It all goes to show that there is life in nothing else, except Him, so that you can echo Peter’s words, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24) St. Paul explained, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death…For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:4a, 5)

It’s a good thing to hear these words again…to hear them again and again and again. Why? Because you are bombarded by death everywhere you look. You see friends and family die. You see dead animals along the side of the road, and must even endure the death of pets you love. You get the news of a terminal illness, putting your own mortality before you! There are tales of all of those “dead things” mentioned earlier placed before you which constantly entice you. All of this death and mortality can leave you hopeless. Death is an unnatural part of life—natural only to the sinful life—so, you need to hear constantly the news of everlasting life, of that restored perfect life once intended for you—you need to hear constantly the words of eternal life.

You need Easter…constantly. You need to hear the news of the stone pushed aside, that the tomb is empty. You need to hear that, because it is not the distressing fact that someone has taken Jesus’ body, but because of the joyful fact that Jesus is living and not to be found among the dead! You need this constantly because it is life for you, life in the midst of death! “[O]ur Savior Christ Jesus…brought life and immortality to light…,” St. Paul wrote to Timothy. (2 Timothy 1:10)

And so, you need Jesus…always! That’s why you come to this place of the living, where Jesus is, to receive Him. You hear the good news of sins forgiven in the spoken word of the Absolution, and the living Jesus is there. You hear the good news of sins forgiven as you sing hymns of Jesus’ work on your behalf, and the living Jesus is there. You hear the good news of sins forgiven as the Word is proclaimed in the sermon, and the living Jesus is there. You hear the good news of sins forgiven as you receive the very body and blood sacrificed for you on the tree of the cross, and the living Jesus is there. Dear hearers, not only do you hear this good news, but you receive it personally as it is applied to each one of you and does the forgiving thing to each one of you. “For the word of God is living and active…” (cf. Hebrews 4:12)

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Such joyous and hope-filled words. The women rushed to tell this good news. They reported what had happened. Most who heard this good news thought it nonsense, but not Peter.

Hopefully and expectantly, He rushed to the tomb and found only the linen cloths in the tomb. A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes was a sign of the Messiah’s birth; linen cloths alone are a sign of the risen Messiah. He goes back, marveling at all that had happened. Marveling is a reaction to the things Jesus did throughout Luke’s gospel, not of outright rejection or disbelief, but of struggling to understand what one cannot explain. “Christ is risen!” Peter’s hope had been confirmed, even if he had a hard time putting it all together.

It’s a hope you share, even if you fail to comprehend it or comprehend it fully. Thankfully, your life in Christ is not dependent on your comprehension. Thankfully, your comprehension doesn’t cloud the proclamation of the good news the angels announced—“He is risen!”—nor does it dim your hope found in that announcement—“He is risen!”

That is shout of joy this day and every day! It is your word of hope in a lifeless world—a world dead in sin. “Christ is risen—He is alive!” Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…” (John 11:25) St. Paul explained, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22) Therefore, you can look death in the face with joy and hope knowing that since you are in Christ, you will be made alive, you have been made alive—you have life!

Christ has died for you and Christ is risen for you! Hallelujah! You have died and were buried with Christ through Baptism into His death—that is, you have been united with Him in the likeness of His death—therefore, you will be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. Hallelujah! Therefore, you are forgiven for all of your sins! Hallelujah!

It is finished! (John 19:30) Jesus commended His spirit into the Father’s hand, breathed His last, and died. The work of your salvation is accomplished, completed, finished. Christ has died, and in His death is the remission of all of your sins.

The nails have been removed and the corpse taken down from the cross. His tattered body, full of holes, was cared for. A man named Joseph was given the task to care for the boy Jesus; another man named Joseph assumed the task to care for the body of Jesus. (cf. John 19:38)

His body was spiced and wrapped by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, whom Jesus told that he must be born again by water and the Spirit. (cf. John 3:1-8) They placed the body of Jesus in Joseph’s new tomb; no one else had been buried there yet—it was empty. A stone was rolled in front of the tomb, closing in the lone corpse.

The Jews, claiming to be afraid that Jesus’ disciples would rob His grave and claim that Jesus had risen, as He claimed He would, petitioned Pilate to secure the grave. Pilate gave them a guard to place at Joseph’s tomb. (cf. Matthew 27:62-66) One must wonder, though, were they really afraid of people going into the grave or that Jesus might actually rise from the dead?

Jesus rested. It’s the seventh day of the week of Passover, a very holy Sabbath.

Passover Sabbath, the seventh day of the week that commemorates YHWH’s deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage to Egypt. It was the greatest time in the history of Israel; God took His people by the hand and removed them from under the oppression of the task masters in Egypt, and after 40 years brought them into a good land,

It was during those 40 years that God gave His people the Law—Ten Commandments and statutes and decrees. “So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the LORD has said we will do.’” (Exodus 24:3) And the people grumbled against God and against Moses. Throughout those 40 years, they killed and lied, they stole and cheated, they committed acts of adultery. This pattern continued throughout the history of Israel. Still, they commemorated the Passover every year—these same Jews who proclaimed that they have never been in bondage to anyone (cf. John 8:33), every year celebrated their release from bondage in Egypt; they rejoiced that YHWH had rescued them, even recalling their oath to do all the words which the LORD has said—this Law and those statutes and decrees with which God prefaces, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:2)

It’s so easy in faith to say, “Yes, Lord, all that you have said we will do.” You have confessed as much, especially in those times when the pastor asked you before God, “Do you promise that with the aid of the Holy Spirit you will henceforth amend your sinful life?” And you declared so by saying, “I do promise.” It’s the same thing done with every confession of sins, if you think about it. You promised on oath by faith to amend your sinful life with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. So, did you? Or did you transgress the Law of God and His statutes and decrees in the very next moment, if not in word and deed, then certainly in thought? Did you fall right back into your sinful habits as soon as you crossed the threshold of those red double doors? Dear hearers, you have not kept your oath, else you would not have confessed your sins and received absolution the following week, or the week after that, or the week after that; you would not return here week after week, or even in the days between, to confess your sins and receive absolution.

You are right there in the Exodus camp with the children of Israel, killing and lying, stealing and cheating, and committing acts of adultery. You break your oath and turn your back on God. What would prevent God from turning His back on you?

Jesus! On the cross, the Father turned His back on Jesus. “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (Matthew 27:46) To this, Jesus declared, “It is finished!” And He died. The Father’s back is turned once-for-all to His Son on the cross. The Passover is fulfilled, as in Christ’s death and the atonement He won for you on the cross is your own exodus from sin and death and true freedom from ultimate bondage. While you struggle with them, suffer on account of them, and cause others to suffer because of them, they no longer condemn you, for Jesus Christ was condemned in your place and sent to the grave. And there, Jesus rests on the holiest of Sabbaths—“[H]e rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” (Genesis 3:2b)

This might have been the happiest of times for the followers of Jesus, despite His death and burial, especially if they heeded His words. Yet, one must think that the question was constantly going through the minds of the women the entire time, intending to go to the grave to continue to care for the body once the Sabbath had ended. “Who will roll the stone away?” What is in that question? “Here we are, a few women faced with a giant stone in front of Jesus’ tomb, and there is guard posted there to keep people out. How are we going to get in there?” This Sabbath, their minds and hearts are heavy.

Nonetheless, that morning they made their way to the tomb to offer such a loving and kind service to the body of the One who had given them so much. To their amazement, the stone was rolled away. What of the guard? Mark doesn’t mention them. Matthew wrote that the sight of the stone being rolled away and an angel descending from heaven frightened them so that they fainted—they became like dead men. (cf. Matthew 28:2-4) Looking into the tomb, the women found no remains—the tomb is devoid of death! The angel was there and said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5b)

The tomb is empty, Jesus is risen. Christ has died; Christ is risen!

Born once of a woman, born under the Law, this Jesus of Nazareth was born again from the womb of a tomb. The stone and seal could not keep Him in the grave. Bear this in mind, dear hearers, the stone was not rolled away for Jesus’ benefit, but for that of the women and the disciples who stooped in to look. They saw the grave empty!

Dear baptized, Jesus’ death is your death to sin. It is finished! Jesus’ resurrection is your resurrection to new life. Into this you have been baptized, as you have heard tonight from Romans 6. As Christ was raised to life again, born a second time, as it were, from the grave, you have been given new life in the waters of Holy Baptism. There, at the font by water and the Word, you died with Christ to sin. There, at the font by water and the Word, a new man was born again in the way described to Nicodemus to life before God in righteousness and purity forever. There, at the font by water and the Word, you were made a son of God and fellow heir with Christ of forgiveness, life, and salvation. There, at the font by water the Word, you were given faith—faith which lays hold of the grace of God, that forgiveness, life, and salvation, and makes them yours!

By this faith, this New Man, you are made, again and again, to confess your sins, to make the oath to amend your sinful life again and again. This New Man hates the Old Adam with which you struggle, and lays hold of the promise of God to give you all blessings for the life to come, even as it looks forward to the fulfillment of the promise to come again, raise you from the grave at the last day, and take you to be with Himself. Yes, you will go from here and sin again—this is your struggle as the two-natured sinner-saint that you are. But your God is faithful, as He visits you again and again in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ to forgive you for all of your sins.

Such is the beautiful alto aria penned by JS Bach in his St. John Passion. As the choir sings through St. John’s Passion narrative, as you just heard it read, Jesus has been crucified, and the end had come. The salvation of mankind accomplished, Jesus speaks His last words—His second-last word as they are collected from the various Gospels—“It is finished!” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. He breathed His last and died.

As the Kantor from St. Thomas Church in Leipzig put it, “What comfort for all suffering souls!” Jesus proclaimed victory and died, and this is for your comfort. And for more than your comfort, the victory which He won was over your sin, your death, and the devil.

It’s a tear-inducing sight…gruesome and traumatic. The Son of God had died after being brutally tortured. He died because of you. That should have been you that was beaten to within an inch of your life. That should have been you nailed to the cross and suffering on there—struggling to breathe as you deal with the pain of the nails through your hands and feet and the stripes on your back rubbing against the rough wood. That should have been you who died. You’re the sinner, not the Man who died there. As the one thief said to the other, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” (Luke 23:40-41)

So, yes, weep, dear hearers. Weep at the brutality of it all. Weep at the exchange that has taken place. But, as He has bid you (cf. Luke 23:28), do not weep for the Man who dies in your place.

In the first place, He assumed your place on the cross willingly. He went to your death in your place out of a desire for you, that you would not die and suffer for your sins. Why? Because if you had, you would remain dead and eternally separated from Him and His Father. God would not have that, as the prophet Ezekiel exclaimed. (cf. Ezekiel 18:23; 33:11) So, if He would not have you die eternally, then He who is eternal needed to die in your place.

In the second place, since He who died in your place is eternal, His death was only temporary. Yes, what you heard tonight is not the end of the story. In fact, the end of the story hasn’t even been completely revealed, though God certainly knows what it is. No, a mere three days after the events of the Passion you heard, the new tomb He was laid in would be devoid of a body, only the burial cloths remaining. And this Jesus, the Hero of Judah who proclaimed victory when He said, “It is finished,” would appear to His disciples and the women and many others, fully alive, in His own body, still bearing the marks of His Passion—the scars of the victorious battle, the stripes by which you are healed.

So, again, weep, dear hearers. Weep at the brutality of it all. Weep at the exchange that has taken place. But, now, in light of the ultimate end of the story, do not weep for yourselves.

Certainly, it is enough to think that you ought to weep because it should be you who died on the cross, but you can rejoice because it wasn’t. Jesus willingly took your place so that you would not have to, so that you would be in Him the righteousness of God, so that you would live, so that your death would not be eternal death, but that after death, you would have eternal life in Him. Jesus died and rose again, therefore you will not die, but live, and after death, rise to life eternal. Rejoice and be comforted.

Rejoice and be comforted because the end of what you see depicted before you is the forgiveness of all of your sins. He bore your sins, you no longer do; He died, you live. He bore the full wrath of God; you who are in Christ do not—you are forgiven for all of your sins.

Your soul’s suffering is ended. Sure, there is still torment as you grieve over the sinfulness you still struggle with on this side of eternity, but there is joy and comfort in knowing that the victory over these things is won. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. The Hero of Judah has triumphed in His might—the might of His blood of propitiation—and ended the strife. The night of sorrow is over, and you have comfort for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Do not weep, but rejoice and be comforted. It is finished!

For you, Jesus rode into Jerusalem atop a donkey to shouts of Hosanna.

For you, Jesus was betrayed by one of His own disciples, one of His Twelves, a hand-picked follower.

For you, He sat at the table with His Twelve and made the Passover a meal of His own body and blood for the remembrance of His death that is your life.

For you, Jesus was captured, bound, and struck, enduring the scattering of His sheep.

For you, Jesus was tried and rejected by the religious leaders, and tried and found innocent by the governor, yet convicted anyway by a system that didn’t know true justice, even though He was standing right there before him, swapping places with an actual criminal.

For you, Jesus bore His cross through Jerusalem and to a hill outside of town, exhorting the women not to weep for Him but for Himself.

For you, Jesus endured His Passion because He would not see the sinner die. For you… Those words ought to sink in, because everything He did and suffered for you, He did so because you deserve it but He wouldn’t see you die for it, and that because you could not bring yourself back from death. If you die in your trespasses and sins, that’s it—game over—the end! You are the sinner He would not see die! This is the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ for you.

Jesus was incarnate, was born, rode into Jerusalem, was betrayed, celebrated the Last Supper, was captured, bound, and beaten, was tried and convicted, was led to Golgotha, was crucified, and was buried for you. His death for sin is your death to sin. The forgiveness He won on the cross as He spilled His blood covers your sin. To you, the blood of the Lamb was applied for life and you were declared righteous as you were washed in the water and the Word, and it is your daily sign and seal of a life redeemed from this Vale of Tears. For by that water, blood, and Word, you are the righteousness of God; you are forgiven for all of your sins.

Now, if you die with your sins covered in the blood of the Lamb, death is not the end. It isn’t game over. For you will rise in a resurrection like His to everlasting life. That’s salvation.

God is passionate to save. Salvation is His passion: forgiving sinners; raising the dead. He doesn’t desire the destruction of anyone or anything He has created, but His passion is that everyone come to repentance, the re-cognition that in the death of Jesus there is forgiveness, life, and salvation for all without exception. That includes each of you here today. Take Passion Sunday personally, the passion of Jesus to save you. He had you in mind, and did it all for you.

Throughout the Wednesday Divine Services in Lent, you’ve heard of one stop or another along the way in Jesus’ Passion. Today, you heard the entire thing…two long chapters in St. Luke’s Gospel. It finally ends with Jesus’ death and burial. At the heart of it all is forgiveness. How beautifully did St. Luke encapsulate that with one of Christ’s seven last words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Ignorance of the law is no excuse, right? Nor is it here. All those who conspired, convicted, and executed the punishment against Jesus are guilty of His blood. They have all worked together to take an innocent Man’s life, even though He died with the sins of the world in His own flesh. Even in the agony of His Passion, though, Jesus pleads for their forgiveness, for they didn’t know what they were doing.

They were instruments of God’s wrath against the sins of the world. While they may have reveled in the death of someone they perceived to be a troublemaker, a threat to their status quo, a threat to their power and prestige, they had no idea that they were performing the will of God…for you! Even Caiaphas the high priest, who prophesied that it would be better that one die for the people, spoke more than even he intended or knew. (cf. John 11:49-53)

Doesn’t that speak volumes of you, as well?

On the one hand, you have the Psalmist who wrote, “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.” (Psalm 19:12) You may have some idea of the things that you are doing. You may even know some of the things that you have done to be sinful. And you even know, having been catechized, that even the good you do—that which may be called good, as in service to your neighbor—is done by you in a sinful flesh. But you are never fully aware of every bit of iniquity, wickedness, fault, and sin which you commit. So, the Psalm wrote of you, and you can pray that which he wrote.

The Lutheran Confessions speak to this point as well, not only in citing Psalm 19:12 against the papists who demand a full accounting of sins committed when one goes to Confession, but also that original sin is a “deep, wicked, horrible, fathomless, mysterious, and unspeakable corruption of the entire nature and all its powers.” (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article 1.11) It is so fathomless and mysterious that you could say that you are are blissfully and blessedly unaware of the full gravity of your sinfulness and even the sins you commit; blissfully and blessedly because if you could see the depth of your corruption, you would drop dead on the spot from sheer terror, so God in His infinite grace and mercy hides it from you. You do not know what you do.

“Declare me innocent from hidden faults,” indeed.

Still, forgiveness is at the heart of Jesus’ Passion, so much so that He prayed to the Father for His torturers’ forgiveness…and for yours. He went to the cross in order to shed His blood as a propitiation for your sins—known and unknown, because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (cf. Hebrews 9:22)—so that you would be covered in His righteousness and declared innocent where He had been declared guilty.

Jesus’ Passion was to make a great exchange for you, because He does not want to see the sinner die. He took your sin and sinfulness from you—from the known to the deepest, most wicked and horrible, most fathomless and mysterious, the most unspeakable—He took it all to the cross and died for it…for you and for all. There is nothing left in you, though you still struggle with your sinful nature to this day, so long as you live on this side of eternity; every bit of it, past, present, and future, died with Jesus on the cross. And it was for your forgiveness, life, and salvation.

To the repentant thief He said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Such a thing is said to all those to whom He has exchanged His righteousness for their guilt and shame. This exchanges grants entrance into Paradise. Dear Baptized, you receive a foretaste of that here, today. Right here, in this moment, in this place, you have Paradise, though you do not yet get to live the fullness of it.

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” With that, He breathed His last. The work of salvation is finished. Jesus has accomplished the salvation of mankind. He has died for the sins of the world…for you. Passion and shedding of blood is followed by burial. The lifeless body once filled with sin is placed into a previously unused grave, and there Jesus rested on the seventh day, having completed all of His work of salvation. He would rise again in three days.

But, the victory is won. Your victory is won. In Christ crucified, you have life and salvation and the forgiveness for all of your sins—and I mean ALL of them.

It’s not often that Jesus says something that sounds so hopeless. About the only time I can think of that comes near to this is when He said of Judas that it would have been better if he had not been born. (cf. Matthew 26:24) With regard to Judas, you know why Jesus said of him what he said. Jesus selected him specifically to play the part of betrayer. I won’t say that Jesus condemned the man to that role, but knowing all things in His divinity, He knew that the role would lead the man to faithlessness and condemnation. Jesus desires all men to be saved (cf. 1 Timothy 2:4), and so this hopeless-sounding statement from Christ regarding His disciple must be understood in light of that. Rather than seeing the man condemn Himself, it would have been better had he never been born. At the risk of putting words in Jesus’ mouth, I imagine He might say the same thing about all who are condemned.

In tonight’s text, the hopeless-sounding sentiment isn’t Christ’s own, though spoken by Him, but the people that are weeping for Him. More appropriately, it would be of the residents of Jerusalem.

Jesus had just been condemned to death by Pilate, spurred on by the crowd who demanded that a thief and murderer be released so that Jesus would be crucified. Pilate recognized the Jesus’ innocence, but seeking to quell a riot, condemns Him to death to spare his own life. How about that? Jesus died in place of Pilate?

The innocent Jesus, weighed down with the sin of the world and His own cross beam, was making His way to Golgotha. The cross beam was too much, so they compelled another man bear the burden. “Take up your cross and follow me.” (cf. Luke 9:23) “Bear one another’s burdens.” (cf. Galatians 6:2) If ever there was an example of doing these things, it’s Simon of Cyrene, I guess. Nevertheless, it is along this trek to Golgotha that the women wept and Jesus spoke those hopeless-sounding words. The women knew Jesus to be innocent of all that He was bearing and about to endure.

So, He turned to them and spoke. “[B]ehold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” What was coming would be worse for them than what they are weeping for now. Some 35 or so years later, Rome would sack Jerusalem and destroy the temple. The people would be made to suffer. On that day in tonight’s reading, though, it was only Jesus who would suffer—suffer for them and for you—and He told the women not to weep for Him but for themselves.

Yes, the coming destruction was something over which to weep. And that not because it’s a terrible thing to witness, and even worse to live through, but because of the reason for the destruction. This is a world of sin, and as such, it is always doomed to destruction. A far greater destruction is coming, one that cannot be matched by what Jerusalem suffered at the hands of Rome, but one to which the destruction of Jerusalem points. Jesus will return in glory, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, heaven and earth will pass away—and to say all of that is putting things extremely lightly. And if you are caught up in all of that destruction and condemned to an eternal existence of suffering in the Lake of Fire, it would be because you never acknowledged your sinfulness and the forgiveness, redemption, and salvation that is found only in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Dear hearers, do not weep for Jesus, weep for yourselves. All that you have heard that Jesus endured these last five weeks, which you will hear in culmination this coming Sunday and the Friday following, can be and is tear-inducing. An innocent Man spills His blood for you. Realizing this and acknowledging it, hearing it all again and again…who wouldn’t waver in voice and shed a tear?

But you know how this all ends for Him.

Yes, He was scourged within an inch of His life, as the whip rips skin and flesh from His bones. Yes, He was nailed to the cross, crying out in agony as nails pierce through His flesh—the pain must have been excruciating. Yes, He cried out in agony to His Father who had forsaken Him—a grief unlike any you have ever felt or can even imagine. Yes, He died under the weight of your sins and the full wrath of God. Only those who continue to mock Him and deny that He is the Son of God could dare hold back tears at that.

He was buried.

He rose again! Christ is risen! He lives, who once was slain.

Every Lent and Holy Week, you recount the Passion of Christ and His suffering, death, and burial as a believer fully focused on His resurrection. His grave remains empty because He lives!

Don’t weep for Jesus, weep for yourselves. Decry your own sinfulness. Shed tears, because your flesh is corrupt and you have transgressed the Law of God. Cry out in agony because you are completely guilty where Jesus was innocent. Shed tears for yourself and you mortify your flesh. Repent and believe in the Gospel.

Hear the Gospel: your guilt and shame is taken from you. Jesus Christ suffered with it and rose again victorious over death. While you still live in this Vale of Tears, the life you now live you live in faith. You have been crucified with Christ; therefore, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you, so that the life you now live in the flesh you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. (cf. Galatians 2:20) He died, but He lives again, and He has given you the victory so that when you die to this Valley of Death, you will live again forever with Him in the new heavens and new earth. Shed your tears now on this side of eternity, because in life everlasting, the Lord God will wipe away tears from all eyes and faces. (cf. Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 7:17, 21:4) This is the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ for you.

Jesus was incarnate, was born, was led to Golgotha, was crucified, and was buried for you. His death for sin is your death to sin. The forgiveness He won on the cross as He spilled His blood covers your sin. To you, the blood of the Lamb was applied for life and you were declared righteous as you were washed in the water and the Word, and it is your daily sign and seal of a life redeemed from this Vale of Tears. For by that water, blood, and Word, you are the righteousness of God. You are forgiven for all of your sins.

In addition to last week’s parable, Jesus told another parable involving inheritance. A man owns a vineyard, leases it to some tenants, and goes off to a far country. The time comes for the harvest, and the owner sends some servants to collect payment. It’s only fair—it’s his land that they are farming, he’s owed payment for its use. Three times a servant is sent to the tenants; three times the tenants beat the servant and send him back empty-handed. Then, the owner sends his son—his beloved son—figuring that he would receive more respect than his servants. On the contrary, the son is beaten and killed. They figure they will get the land if the son is killed.

How ridiculous! Thinking that killing the land owner’s son will net them the land? But, that’s how Jesus told it: They beat the servants, kill the son, and refuse to pay the rent but expect to get the owner’s land. The land owner has every right to go in there and raze the land and slaughter the tenants.

Thus, Jesus said, “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” His hearers scoffed at this idea.

This is a pretty familiar parable, though not as much as last week’s parable. I would guess that most of you are familiar enough with it that you could recognize who the people in the parable are supposed to represent. The owner is God the Father, the servants are His prophets, the son is the Son, the vineyard is the people of God, and the tenants are the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.

Jesus’ hearers recognized what the parable was teaching, too. St. Luke wrote, “[T]hey perceived that he had told this parable against them…” Hence their response after the parable. God destroying the tenants and giving the vineyard to others doesn’t sit well with their picture of a god who is pleased with them for their works. It doesn’t sit well with them that they are going to be cast out of the vineyard—that is, out of God’s grace.

It’s a response similar to what you could hear today. This picture of a vengeful God doesn’t sit well with a populous that wants to view God only as permissively loving, overlooking and accepting of their sins and faults, even calling them good and right! This picture of a vengeful God doesn’t sit well with people today who think of themselves as pretty good people, who think that God must always love, approve of, and affirm them and will bring them into heaven (sounds much like the Pharisees and teachers of the Law).

But this is God’s Law, proclaimed by God’s Gospel manifest. Man’s good works don’t count for squat before God. Hoping in your good works is to put your faith in something other than God and His Son, it is to put faith in yourself. It’s not trusting in God and His Son, and the wages of this misplaced trust is to be cast out of the vineyard.

There was this thought, and it still exists, that, as it is told in the parable, if the tenants get rid of the son, it proves them right. So, the Pharisees sought to get rid of the Son of God; He was a walking, talking example against their religion; so, if they could kill Him and get Him out of the picture, then that would confirm for them (and for others) that their religion and their picture of God was the right one. It still goes on today as people these days try to prove by faulty science and biased headlines that God does not exist, such that when what they say makes sense, it confirms for them (and they hope for others) that their religion (yes, religion) and idea of the non-existence of God is the right one.

And their arguments are swaying. Given the evidence, both fabricated and actual, the theory of evolution can look plausible. It gets to the point that there are people out there, calling themselves Christian, who hold to a teaching called theistic evolution—that God works on his creation via macro-evolution. They also argue that in the Bible God is visibly active—His voice is heard, He appears in visions, and there are many supernatural events such as water changed to blood, a bush that burns but is not consumed—but in these days, God, if He exists, is hidden and inactive. Therefore, since today’s experience of God differs from the accounts in the Bible, the Bible must be false and God doesn’t exist.

However, killing the son doesn’t get rid of him. The owner of the vineyard still had his way. God still has His way—the only-begotten Son is killed, but He is raised to life again. God does not work through macro-evolution—He created all that you see or that from which is made all that you see in six days. He is still very active today, working through simple, ordinary means: word, water, bread, wine, mouth and hands of a man…creating and sustaining faith.

Now, it would be easy to end the sermon there; early, just like last week. However, I would have failed you as your pastor and teacher if we didn’t look at what Jesus says next: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

It bears repeating: the Son will be killed—He is the stone that the builders rejected—but He will be raised to life again—and by His death He will claim for Himself a Church, become Her cornerstone. She is built on Him and Him only. The scriptures also call the prophets and apostles the foundation—they spoke of and wrote about the Cornerstone so that through them is laid the foundation of the faith upon which believers are built as living stones of a spiritual house.

Therefore, Jesus says, “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” Jesus is speaking of you, dear hearers. Jesus is speaking of everyone when He says this.

On whomever it falls, it will crush him. I want to examine the second part first because, quite frankly, it is nothing but Law and judgment. St. Paul calls Jesus and His crucifixion a stumbling block. “[W]e preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…” (1 Corinthians 1:23)

On those who stumble over Him, who deny Him and His Word, who are not built into the Church, He falls as the Cornerstone. He comes down in judgment on them who reject Him.

Who are these people? Most simply, those who place their trust in another god. These are people who might pray to an idol or even trust in their own works. More difficultly, those who say they believe in Jesus but reject His Word. These people have created for themselves another Jesus who is not proclaimed by that foundation of the prophets and apostles and is really no Jesus at all. There are those who will “pretend to be sincere,” but inwardly have no faith at all. These are people who would “go along” just to “fit in,” who attend church to make mom and dad or a husband or wife happy, say the prayers with everyone and put on a show of having faith, when truthfully they have none. Finally, there are those who are on the membership rolls of a Christian Church, but willfully separate themselves from Him, His Word, and His Sacraments. These are people who have their baptismal certificates, but stuff them away in a sock drawer and forget about them. Worshiping a false god, creating a false Jesus, not worshiping in spirit and in truth, and turning away from forgiveness are the sure and certain ways of stumbling over Jesus. On them, the the chief cornerstone falls, crushing them…

…Unless they fall on Him.

“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces…” As was mentioned, the Church is built upon that Stone. As living stones, believers are built upon Him; they, in essence, fall on Him. And when they fall on Him, when you fall on Him, you are broken to pieces.

Notice all of the passive tenses there, too. Believers do not actively jump onto the Cornerstone. They do not thrust themselves down onto Him and dash themselves to pieces. On the contrary, by the work of the Word and Holy Spirit, they fall onto Him by the power of God’s Law and are broken.

Now, this isn’t the judgment that you may be hearing it as. Recall that St. Paul quoted Isaiah, “[W]hoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” As Dr. Arthur Just wrote, “Those who believe in him…must fall into the brokenness of repentance…” When you fall onto Christ the Cornerstone, you break apart and reveal your lives of sin. Your inner parts are strewn about and revealed. You can no longer hide your sins, but by God’s Law can only confess them in contrition. “Those who believe in him…must fall into the brokenness of repentance,” Dr. Just wrote, “in order to be raised again as new beings, living stones in Christ, the temple of God.”

There is no shame for those who fall on Him and are brought to brokenness of repentance because in Christ the Cornerstone they are raised again forgiven, restored, renewed. The filthiness of that sin in your inner parts that was exposed when you were and are broken was taken from you by the Cornerstone and crucified with Him; He was taken down from the cross, but your sins died eternally there. That filthiness has been washed clean, as signified by the saving flood of Baptism, and continues to be washed clean when God is active to you in the simple means of word, water, bread, wine, and the mouth and hands of a man.

Again, this is all happening to you passively, without any action on your part. You are broken and you are renewed. The Word is spoken to you to show you your sin, and the Word is spoken to you to give you your Savior. You fall on the Cornerstone and are broken and are “raised again as new beings, living stones in Christ, the temple of God.”

Christ is your Cornerstone, “[A] stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24) God sent His Son to the vineyard and He was killed—died for you and made you part of His Church for Himself. Therefore, since Christ is your Cornerstone, since Christ is the power of God to you and the wisdom of God for you, since Christ went to the vineyard and died for you, you are forgiven for all of your sins.

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7) This passage from Isaiah was fulfilled in what you heard from tonight’s Gospel.

The Lamb of God was being led to the slaughter, and on the way, He stood before the council and Pontius Pilate. Every time a false accusation was leveled against Him, He remained silent. Only when He was questioned about the truth of who He is did He ever speak:

• “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
• So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”
• And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”

His answers almost seem indirect, but He did reveal why He doesn’t directly answer in the affirmative to these questions: “If I tell you, you will not believe…” So, while His answers are affirmative, He doesn’t come right out and say, “Yes,” to any of them. It was enough to be accused of blasphemy for saying, “But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

To everything else, however, He remained silent. Even as He was mocked and beaten and blasphemed, He didn’t open His mouth. What exactly the men who were holding Jesus said isn’t recorded; none of the Evangelists do so. Matthew and Mark wrote that the chief priests and council were seeking false testimony against Jesus, and that all that they could find did not agree; many falsely testified against Jesus, but their testimonies weren’t recorded, and none of it agreed. It was enough for Luke to have Jesus respond only to the true statement about Jesus. Anything about the false testimony isn’t there—spare a quick blurb about misleading the people and stirring up the people—and Jesus was otherwise silent, too.

Why?

Well, remember that this is the Passion of the Lord. It’s not simply that He is there to suffer, but that He is there to suffer for you. His Passion is for you because He is passionate for you. His love compels Him to do this for you—suffer, die, and rise again—so that you may life and have it to the fullest, which is in eternity with Him.

In order to do so, He must bear the full brunt of the punishment you deserve. He has taken your sin into the flesh and suffers the consequences for it, which includes the mockings and beatings. But for what was He being mocked and beaten? For what was He suffering the consequences? Was it not anything more than the false accusations, in all of their breadth, uttered falsely for His sake, but would be spoken in truth about you?

St James wrote, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James 2:10) It is for this reason that when Luther taught the Ten Commandments, He began by explaining the First when he said, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things,” then began the explanations to the rest with, “We should fear and love God so that…” Or, think of it this way: God is the giver of the Law; so, when you transgress it at any point, you do not fear and love God in that point, which means that you do not fear, love, or trust in God, which means that you have declared the entirety of God’s Law inconsequential. And given the depth with which Jesus taught the Law—for instance, merely calling someone a name is tantamount to murdering them—then the slightest breach of the Law is entirely an affront to God. You have failed in one point, if only in one point; therefore, you are accountable for all of it!

So, you may not have taken another’s life, but you are a murderer, and you do not fear, love and trust in God above all things. You may not have cheated on your spouse, even if you don’t have one, but you are nonetheless and adulterer, and you do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. You may never utter a word in contempt against God, yet you are most certainly in thought and deed a blasphemer, and you do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. And since you do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things, you worship an idol—the idol of self. Sure enough, the accusations were uttered against Jesus, and He did not say a word in rebuttal, though they were false for His sake, because He received the accusations for your sake.

Your sin is in His flesh, the accusations against you were received by the Lamb of God, and He silently went to the cross for you.

And isn’t it interesting how this all works. Since Jesus received the accusations made against you, you do not. Furthermore, since He bore your sin in His flesh to the cross, He also bore the consequences of that as He suffered, died, and was buried. He suffered the full wrath of God for your sin, exacted against Him by wicked men, acting according to God’s will and plan…for you!

Jesus suffered the wrath of God due you. Therefore, you do not have to. Jesus died the death due you for sin. Therefore, you do not have to. Suffering and death now, for one who is in Christ—for you, dear Baptized—is transitory. You suffer in this Vale of Tears in order that you might be reminded and turned again and again to the grace of God, who is preparing a place for you in the world to come. You die in this Valley of Death in order to pass from here and into the life of the world to come—the eternal life. All of this for you, for the sake of Christ.

The Lamb before the shearers was silent. He opened not His mouth in objection to the false accusations. Jesus, the Lamb of God, received them all for you. This is the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ for you.

Jesus was incarnate, was born, was mocked, beaten, and falsely accused, was crucified, and was buried for you. His death for sin is your death to sin. The forgiveness He won on the cross as He spilled His blood covers your sin, even the sin of…breaking His Law. To you, the blood of the Lamb was applied for life and you were declared righteous as you were washed in the water and the Word, and it is your daily sign and seal of a life redeemed and gathered from the breaking of the Law that your Old Man prefers. For by that water, blood, and Word, you are the righteousness of God. You are forgiven for all of your sins.

Prodigal: adjective; recklessly extravagant, characterized by wasteful expenditure, lavish.

This is perhaps one of the best known parables of Jesus, if not the best known. It has become known as The Prodigal Son, but that title doesn’t fit quite right. The parable is not simply about the son, though the story mainly follows his actions. It does so to set up who the parable is about—the father who is prodigal in his own right.

There was a father who had two sons. Now, when it comes to inheritance, parents these days tend to stipulate that their assets and belongings are divided equally among all of their children; however, in that time, the law stated that inheritances fell to the eldest son. He could do whatever he wanted with it, but it was almost expected that he would use the inheritance to support the family—his mother and any unwed sisters (that’s how it went for daughters—they were married off, becoming the responsibility of their husbands). In any case, everything that the father owned was passed down to his oldest son when he died—land, property, and money—all of it.

Younger sons might have gotten a little bit of cash and help starting a family. And this usually happened while the father was still living. Eldest sons were expected to take over for their fathers, living in the same house, working the same land or vocation, using all of the same tools, etc., which is why they got all the inheritance. Younger sons were expected to start off on their own.

So, it’s amazing that the younger son went to his father and demanded his share of the inheritance. For one thing, as was just mentioned, younger sons didn’t get much of anything—a little help to get out of the house, if anything. He could hope that his older brother would use the inheritance to help him out, but, honestly, he shouldn’t expect much from either his father or his brother. For another thing, demanding an inheritance of one’s father is akin to telling him to die; it’s like telling him that he’s not needed any more, and the only thing he’s important for is what he owns—that is, what he would hand down.

Even more amazingly, the father complied! He died, right there on the spot…at least, to the type of life he was living. Mark this well: both sons got their inheritance at that moment. Even though their father was still living, “[H]e divided his property between them,” Jesus said. The older son gets the land and property—everything that the father owns is his. The younger son gets some cash—everything that the father wanted to give him—and this son recklessly strikes out on his own.

It only seems appropriate behavior—appropriate in the sense that that’s how younger sons generally tend to act. First-born sons tend to be the responsible type—they adhere to rules, make honor rolls, become leaders and CEOs—generally speaking. Younger sons tend to be more reckless—they push the envelope, are C and B students, get into trouble easier (but can easily talk their way out of it), and tend to be more popular—generally speaking. It makes sense, in a way; if the number one son is going to be all of those things, why should number two (and on down the line) be the same—why should they compete?

So, the younger son took the money and ran. He saw the world, so to speak, lived lavishly, spent extravagantly—his little bit of money must have been a lot! Jesus didn’t give specifics; that’s not important. All He says is that the son scattered his wealth wastefully. Your minds fill in the gaps—wine and women, late nights and lavish parties, playing slots and casting lots. It almost makes him sound prodigal, doesn’t it. And he spent it all; it didn’t take but half a verse for his part of the inheritance to be gone.

And, wouldn’t you know it: after it was spent, a severe famine gripped the country. The son quickly found himself not only lacking, but needing. Work was scarce, but he found a job—a job which would have made Jesus’ hearers cringe—feeding pigs. He even got to the point where the food he was feeding the pigs looked desirable and appetizing—you might imagine Jesus’ hearers making gagging sounds and dry heaving.

“This is ridiculous,” the young son thought. “Here I am feeding pigs, longing for the food they eat, and my father’s hired hands have it better than this. I can’t go back as his son, though, but if I could be hired on as one of his workers… I know, I’ll go back and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’” He left the pig farm and the foreign country and returned home.

Before he could get home, though, his father saw him coming, still a far distance off. You might imagine that the father would sit on the porch and gaze of into the distance hopefully and expectantly every day. After all, he had nothing else to do, the farm was his eldest son’s now. So, in what was also amazing to Jesus’ hearers, the father got up and ran to his younger son, embraced him and planted a big kiss on the young man’s cheek. It was amazing, for one thing, because old men didn’t run—they had lived long lives, it was now time to let stuff come to them. But not this father; compassion compelled him to go to what he wants—to run to it.

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son…” The son could go no further; the father’s response wouldn’t allow it. The son didn’t need to go any further; he had made a contrite confession.

In an act befitting forgiveness, the father restored the son to the family, clothing him and having a signet ring placed back on his hand, and celebrating the return of the lost son with a feast. The father called for this before the son could complete his line. No, he couldn’t become a hired hand because he is a son—a son to a most prodigal father—and always has been!

You are like that lost son…how? God lavishes so much on you. Daily, you pray the Fourth Petition, but how often do you mean it? I mean, God certainly gives daily bread—everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body (and you can list them all if you want)—and He does so even without your prayer…to everyone. But when you pray it, are you sincerely asking Him to lead you to know this; are you sincerely thanking Him for your daily bread? And what do you do with everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body? You extravagantly spend it, like the young son did his portion of the inheritance. You scatter your wealth wastefully—fill in the gaps all you want—to one extent or another. You so often use these temporal blessings from God without a second thought as to where they came from and why they are given. God gives much and you waste much.

It can easily get to the point (and so often does) that one wishes God dead. Oh, not directly. No, you won’t go to the Father and demand your inheritance, but by your actions, you proclaim that what you have is a result of your effort, your labor, your doing. It is as if you are saying, “I have gained what I have by my deeds; God is not in the picture.” In reality, it’s nothing more than feeding pigs and calling what they get desirable.

So, in His wisdom God allows famines and financial recessions. He allows these things to teach a lesson. Oh, it is by no means vengeful or spiteful. He’s not saying, “Now, let’s see you make it in difficult times. See what you get without a job, without money. See how far you can get without food.” No, He allows these things to happen so that you are led to recognize that what you had and all that you still have is a gift from Him. He allows these things to happen so that you can have our “Aha!” moment as the young son did in the parable.

In fact, that’s why God allows and sometimes even sends all kinds of suffering and every kind of loss. Sin drives you away from Him, so God allows suffering, and suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. (cf. Romans 5:3-4) By way of God-given faith, then, you come to your senses.

And, like the young son, you are led to return to your Father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son…” And, like the young son, you can get no farther than the confession. Like the father in the parable, the Heavenly Father is quick to forgive, eager to do so, running to you before you can get to Him (because you can’t); He throws His arms around you, clothes you in the robes of His only-begotten Son’s righteousness, and reminds you of the sign of the cross placed upon head and heart, marking you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. Then, as if to top it all off, your return from sin is marked by a feast. For now, a foretaste of that feast, as you receive the forgiveness of your sin in a most tangible way, eating and drinking Christ’s body and blood given and shed for you on the tree of the cross. No, you can’t get to the part about becoming a hired servant, there’s no way you would be a hired servant, because you are sons of a most prodigal Father who always lavishes His grace on you—and you always have been!

This is what happens every week in this place…sometimes twice a week: coming to your senses, making a confession, receiving absolution, having a foretaste of the feast to come.

Now, it would be easy to end this sermon there. After all, you’ve heard and experienced the Law. And that Law has been countered by the Gospel of God’s grace. But, the parable had two sons; so, I must continue.

The older son was working in his field. He had been all day. At the end of the day, he returned to the house, but as he got near it, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He asked one of the servants what was going on. “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.”

This angered the older son. He didn’t want to be a part of this party. How could that good-for-nothing brother of his deserve such a party?

Notice again, though, that the father went to the son. And, going out to him, the father pleaded with him. The son replied, “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” Talk about filling in the gaps… But his father answered him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

Now, it is well to note that Jesus told this parable, the third in Luke 15, to the Pharisees. They had complained that Jesus received and ate with sinners and tax collectors, people much like the younger son in today’s parable. Because of this, the Pharisees are easily recognizable in the older son. His response could easily be tweaked to be something they would say: “God, we have served you all our lives. We keep your Laws; we do all that you require of us. Why do you not show us more respect and love than those who transgress your Laws and constantly break your commandments? Why do you celebrate more over them who disobey you than us who work our hardest to obey you?”

You are so much like that lost son, too. I mean, I’m sure you can, to some extent, agree with these sayings: you come to church every Sunday, at least the Sundays that you can; you read your Bibles all the time; you pray everyday; you especially pray the Lord’s Prayer everyday, since He told you to pray it. You should get some sort of preferential treatment over the “C’n’E” Christians (those who only come to church on Christmas and Easter). Why should you rejoice that they made it to church that one time in a blue moon when you’ve been coming more often? You have been here longer!

So, listen once again to the father’s response, for it is also the Father’s response: “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” Or, to you He could say, “Son, you have always been with me. I have given all for you. I have also given all for your lost and found brother. Therefore, it is right that we should rejoice over this one who was dead to us, but is alive again in your Lord, Jesus Christ. He was lost, as you were, but is found, as you are.”

The parable ends with the father’s words to the older son. Did he join the party for his younger brother? Did he ever recognize that he was lost as his younger brother was? Did he ever accept and rejoice over his lost and found brother, and receive his father who is a prodigal, gracious father? Jesus never said. It’s an open-ended parable. Why? Because He was talking to the Pharisees. Did they ever do any of these things over the sinners and tax collectors and gentiles? It’s probably safe to say that most did not, but some certainly could have, and there is an example of one who did—St. Paul, who recognized that he was lost, chief of sinners, and is found, restored and forgiven in Christ crucified, and wrote:

and

You see, that St. Paul also wrote, “God our Savior...desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) He wants all to come to repentance, from the younger son who squanders all that God gives him and doesn’t recognize God as the giver of all, to the older son who believes he has earned God’s favor over the younger son for his continued obedience (or attempts at obedience). Both are lost and in need of God’s grace.

God is passionate for the lost—like the Father who runs down the road to embrace his young son and out of the house to plead with his older son. He welcomes sinners—younger sons, older sons, tax collectors, Pharisees, Gentiles, Jews, Paul, you, and me—and He eats with them; the Lamb of God is slain, and the feast is spread. God the Father is prodigal—extravagantly gracious! He finds the lost in the death of His only-begotten Son; He finds you in the death of His only-begotten Son. Since you are found, you are a son of God—forever! You are embraced, robed, marked with the sign, forgiven for all of your sins.

The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel had spoken against the shepherds of Israel and Judah. These men—prophets, priests, and kings—whom God had set up to lead His people, care for them, feed them with His Word were not seeing to the tasks to which He had sent them. So He declared woe upon them.

Because they had done this, God declared that He will be their shepherd. (cf. Ezekiel 34:23; Micah 5:2) In a stable outside the little town of Bethlehem, that Shepherd was born. Conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus is God-with-us, the Shepherd promised of old. He is the one who fulfilled the promise made through the prophet Ezekiel:

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who feeds His people with the pure Word. He guards and protects them. He gives them everything they need to support this body and life. This you confess as you confess the Creed, speak the Lord’s Prayer, and recite the Ten Commandments and meanings. Jesus is and was everything the prophets, priests, and kings who came before never were and what those who come after Him never can be.

But it wasn’t just God’s coming in the flesh by which He accomplished this.

Jesus’ life was one of hardship. You Christians have reaped the same rewards as He had for the kind of life He lived. He lived a life of perfect obedience to His own law. You bear His name upon your brow and heart; you are claimed by Him. He was mocked and scorned for His life. You are mocked and scorned for being His. He suffered and died as a result, you might say, of disrupting the religious status quo. You are constantly under the threat of death, and many of your brothers and sisters in Christ have given their lives for the confession of faith in Christ, even to this day. Your life as a Christian is hard for the sake of Jesus Christ; His life was immeasurably more difficult.

But His difficult life was one He endured willingly for you. You are a sheep, having been scattered, as it were, under the false pretenses of those who would teach you falsely about God and His Christ. Daily, you are bombarded with false messages of salvation from left and right, front and behind, in your minds and from those whom you encounter. It’s enough to make one run away screaming in confusion and delusion. To what do you run? Perhaps its the latest fad or something that makes you feel comfortable or relaxed. Perhaps you feel more comfortable just cowering in a corner. Whatever it is, off you go, running from Jesus.

His sheep still scatter. Jesus’ life of hardship, suffering, and death for you resulted in the scattering of the sheep, too—this time, for all of the right reasons, not the false teaching of the deceitful shepherds of the past. After Jesus and the disciples had celebrated the Passover meal, they made their way to the Mount of Olives. Luke left this point out, but from there, they would all scatter. Mark wrote that Jesus even told them that they would be made to scatter.

The sheep would scatter because the Good Shepherd will be struck. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered…” (Zechariah 13:7)

Sorrowful to the point of death—He was looking His own death squarely in the eyes—He went off to pray in solitude. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Who wouldn’t sorrow over all that is going to happen, if you knew it was going to happen? I speak not merely of Christ’s crucifixion, but of His entire Passion—the binding that will happen, the beating and being spat upon that will happen, and even the scattering of the sheep. It’s enough to make a grown man cry. These things had to happen, though.

It’s a symptom of this fallen nature. Imagine, if you will, being one of Jesus’ disciple. Jesus is a pretty neat guy, if you get to know Him, learn from Him, and receive from Him. You wouldn’t want Him bound, struck, and killed. You may even try to get in the way when He says that it will happen (cf. Matthew 16:22)—that it MUST happen. And even knowing that it will happen, when it does happen, in fright you scatter.

But these things had to happen, Jesus declared. And the hour had come. Judas, that wolf in sheep’s clothing, arrived in the garden with the guard, and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. The guards laid their hands on Jesus and took Him. They bound Him and led Him to the chief priests and scribes to be put on trial. Along the way, they beat Him bloody. Not even on the cross yet, not even before the Praetorian guard yet, Jesus already shed His blood for you in His Passion.

It’s a gruesome sight to behold, and it’s only going to get worse. I sympathize with those who try to recreate Jesus’ Passion and Crucifixion, who try to find a balance between portraying the violent death He endured and toning down that violence so that it can be watched. Only one production that I am aware of doesn’t strike a balance, leaning more to one side, and it is violent in much the same way that Jesus endured violence. And if you watch it, you will be tempted to scatter your looks away. You can hardly bear to watch Jesus—even if just an actor—undergo the treatment that you for your sins deserve. One viewing is enough—more than enough, perhaps—for some.

And the disciples fled. “Then all the disciples left him and fled,” Matthew wrote. (Matthew 26:56) According to Luke, only Peter followed him, and that at a distance. Were you there, you would have high tailed it away, too, fearful for your own life, frightened over what is happening to your teacher. Though you may have said like Peter, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death,” you, too, would forsake Him, and even deny Him thrice before the rooster crowed.

But the Shepherd does not deny you. He has not, nor will He ever. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, not merely for being everything the shepherds of the past were not, but because, as Jesus put it, “I lay down my life for the sheep…The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:15, 11) Jesus, the Good Shepherd, must give His life for the sheep, for in His life given for them—for you—they have redemption, life, and forgiveness. No, this Good Shepherd doesn’t deny you; though all would forsake Him and flee, He goes steadfastly to the cross…for all—for you.

The Good Shepherd doesn’t deny you. Though all forsake Him and scatter, He still gathers those who believe in Him. His suffering and crucifixion are frightening and life-threatening events, even to this day, but Jesus has suffered and died for you, that you may be forgiven, and live as one of His own. It was on a dark, Good Friday, as Jesus was lifted up on a cross, that He drew all men to Himself. (cf. John 12:32)

Though scattered, you are drawn to and into the Lord, Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, because you are covered in the blood that He shed there. On the cross, He sought you out, lost, driven away, broken, and sick—all sin—and He found you, brought you back, bound you up, and strengthened you, all by grace, without any worthiness or merit in you, all because of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. This speaks volumes about your God and His love for you.

And in order that you may be His own, He rose again from the dead that your place in eternity would be secure. Jesus lived, died, and lives again, and you are in Him so that in Him you live, die, and live again. Jesus gathers you back to Himself, who would, for myriad, selfish, sinful reasons, abandon, deny, and forsake Him—and His gathering you is accomplished by the forgiveness of your sins, which He won for you as He was struck and pierced on the tree of the cross. This is the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ for you.

Jesus was incarnate, was born, was betrayed, captured, and struck, was crucified, and was buried for you. His death for sin is your death to sin. The forgiveness He won on the cross as He spilled His blood covers your sin, even the sin of forsaking Him. To you, the blood of the Lamb was applied for life and you were declared righteous as you were washed in the water and the Word, and it is your daily sign and seal of a life redeemed and gathered from the scattering your Old Man prefers. For by that water, blood, and Word, you are the righteousness of God. You are forgiven for all of your sins.

The same question and answer almost always come up when there is some sort of tragedy or disaster. Unfortunately, they are the wrong question and answer.

Let's look at the answer first: “Those people who died in the disaster deserved it. They had been living lives of manifest sin for too long, and God had had enough and brought destruction and desolation on them.”

There are some, even today, who continue to say the same things. After every earthquake and hurricane, there are those who proclaim that the natural disaster is the wrath of God. Even after less-than-natural disasters (such as the attacks on September 11, 2001), you might remember hearing so-called preachers proclaiming that God is acting out of anger on the people.

And lest you think it’s only those people out there who say and think such things, how often does your mind wander off when something like those things happen? Or even when, say, a drunk driver dies in a horrific accident? When something tragic, devastating, or disastrous happens, it must be the wrath of God against those people for the sins they committed. And because you hear and think it, you may just be led to ask the wrong question the moment you hear such news or witness such a horror. Now, there are certainly consequences for actions, such as a drunk driver being injured or killed in an accident. Still, the thought pervades just about every time something bad happens to someone or a group of people: “What did they do to deserve this?”

At the same time, there were times when something disastrous happened by way of the wrath of God. The two greatest examples are the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom and the Babylonian exile. The difference between these two and today’s examples is that God sent prophets to warn the people that destruction was coming by way of the Assyrians and Babylonians if the people didn’t repent and turn from their evil ways. Such was not the case with the two groups of people in today’s Gospel nor the people of New York on September 11. Nevertheless, the though always pervades: “What did these people do to deserve this?”

Such was the thought posed to Jesus in this morning’s Gospel. He had been informed of the tragedy that befell some Galileans while they were making their sacrifices. Pilate’s men had entered the temple grounds and executed these Galileans. Their blood was spilled and mixed with that of their sacrifice, an affront and offense; a statement by Pilate that he was in charge.

So, the question was on the minds of the people who told Jesus of this. “What sins did they commit that God would have their blood mixed with that of their sacrifices? How bad must it have been if God allowed this to happen at the hands of Gentile overlords?” Therefore Jesus, knowing their minds, asked the question for them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?” And, so that they are not left wondering, He answers the question right away: “No, I tell you…”

He then takes it out of the political realm. For you see, those Galileans were murdered at the hands of the Romans, who had a reason to do so. They were rebels against Roman rule, and by Roman law, deserved to die. So, from a political point of view, they got what was coming to them. That’s why Jesus brought up the tower in Siloam that fell on 18 people, killing them. “[D]o you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?” Again, Jesus quickly answers the question: “No, I tell you…”

In other words, Jesus was telling the people that they were thinking the wrong question. When people die due to political might or tragedy, unless a prophet warns them first, they didn’t die because of some gross sins. He is telling you that when people die because of a natural disaster or act of terrorism, they didn’t die because they sinned greater than the rest of humanity. He is telling you that tragedies, devastation, or disasters do not happen as an act of God’s wrath upon the people who died in them because they were grievous sinners.

“But wait, pastor,” you might be thinking right now, “Didn’t the Prophet Jesus warn His hearers? Didn’t He continue, ‘[B]ut unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’ If sins, and especially bad sins, do not exact God’s wrath, why does Jesus warn the people they would perish like the Galileans and the Siloamites?” For the answer, let me delve into the parable Jesus tells:

In order to understand sin and wrath, and also grace and mercy, Jesus told this parable.

Fig trees and vineyards are common Old Testament metaphors for Jerusalem and Israel. In using both, Jesus is driving home the fact that He is speaking to the people of Israel. In other words, the people being referenced in this parable are the people called by God’s name.

The owner of the vineyard and fig tree goes to the tree looking for fruit, but finds none. In frustration, the man, who represents God in His wrath, wants the tree cut down. No need for the fruitless to waste the good earth God gives it.

That’s the Law talking. The Law demands obedience, and in that obedience demands outward proof. Do what it says, or die. Produce fruit, or be cut down. Do good according to the Law and be rewarded; do evil and be punished. The Law is logical like that. And because the Law is logical, it’s easier to grasp (though that doesn’t directly translate into being easier to obey).

It’s this logic which leads one to ask the question, “What did they do to deserve that?” at a time of catastrophe. It’s that logic that leads one to think and some to exclaim that God is especially angry at the victims of a disaster for some gross, grievous, manifest, or continual sins.

The keeper in the parable, who represents God’s mercy, has a different idea. He wants to leave it alone for a time and nurture the tree. The Greek word used for “leave it alone” has another meaning: forgive. “Let’s forgive the tree and give it some extra nourishment for a time.”

That’s Gospel talk. In the face of sin and not bearing fruit, the Gospel comes along and says, “you’re forgiven.” It gives nourishment in the Word and by it the power to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and receive the forgiveness it so freely gives. It is patient and forbearing and merciful!

Mercifulness is illogical. The Law says those who do wrong get punished; they get what they deserve. Mercy says those who do wrong do not get punished; they do not get what they deserve. Then grace comes along, forgiving those who do wrong; giving them what they do not deserve. Grace is even more illogical. And because mercy and grace are illogical, they are difficult to grasp (though that does not directly translate into difficult or impossible to receive).

When Jesus spoke this parable, He spoke it with eyes fixed on Jerusalem, as you heard me say many time last week. In fact, last week’s Gospel is just a few short verses after what was read today, wherein Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” God would seek from the fig tree of Jerusalem and Israel the fruit of faith, of trust in Him and His promises; He would send prophet after prophet to Jerusalem. Every time, however, all He found was religion and politics. Yet, He bears with it; He is merciful and gracious, because that’s how God does things—so, He gives them more time. “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” the Psalmist wrote. (Psalm 103:8) St. Peter explains, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

That’s the reason why Jesus twice said, “[B]ut unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” The sins of the Galileans and Siloamites were no worse than the sins of any one else in Galilee or Jerusalem. On the contrary, the tragedies served as reminders that they lived in a sinful world—a world tainted by sin (not any particular sin, but the fallen, imperfect, and unholy condition). The Galileans and Siloamites did not die because of any particular sins they had committed; they died because they lived in a sinful world. Such a tragedy could happen to anyone else living in Galilee or Jerusalem.

It hasn’t changed. The victims of natural or less-than-natural disasters commit sins no worse than anyone else. The people of Las Vegas—that so-called sin city—are no more or less sinful than the people of Elizabeth, or any other place in between, whether some disaster befalls the place or the people or not. Among other things, tragic events serve to remind you that you still live in a sinful world. Sometimes, they give you an opportunity to be neighborly to someone in need. (cf. Luke 10:30-37)

The wages of sin is death. So, Jesus calls you to repent. Repent, because worse can happen. Death happens because of sin in the world, but eternal death can happen because of unrepentant sins. The word for repent means to have a change of mind, to re-cognize as I have often heard it described. In repentance, you recognize that death in the here and now is not the worst kind of death, but that there is a death worse than that which happened to the Galileans and Siloamites.

God’s wrath for sin is just. Sin is what separates man from God, and He is completely justified in making that separation eternal for sin’s sake—the worst death. So, represented by the owner of the vineyard, God is justified in wanting to lay waste the sinful, unfruitful tree. God’s love for the sinner is merciful. God’s grace is what reunites you with Him, and He is completely merciful in bridging that separation for Christ’s sake. So, represented by the keeper, God is merciful to forgive the sinful, unfruitful tree, and gracious to nurture it.

For Christ’s sake, God is merciful to bridge the gap of sin that separates you from Him. That bridge is the cross on which Jesus died. That death on the cross is what reunites you with God, what reconciles you to Him.

You can think of it this way: Was Jesus’ a worse sinner than anyone else who had died? Did He commit some great offense to deserve to die an excruciating death as a criminal? Absolutely not! Jesus was the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. (cf. Isaiah 53:9) So, if He was sinless, then there is no way His sins could be worse than those of anyone else. And…absolutely yes! “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin…[who] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…” (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24) So, if He was made to be sin for you and bore your sins—all your sins and the sins of all—in His own body on the tree of the cross, then He was the most despicably vile sinner the world has ever known.

Jesus did not get what He deserved, but it was in no way merciful…for Him. He laid aside receiving what He deserved, eternal life, electing to give it to you who receive Him, and took upon Himself what you deserved, eternal death and separation from God. He was, in essence, the tree cut down, even though He bore the fruit of faithfulness; cut down in the stead of the fruitless tree in the vineyard. However, being God Himself, He would not remain that way for long, for He rose again on the third day so that you who receive Him, who repent of your sins, and are nourished by the fruit of His sacrificial death—forgiveness of sins—would receive the fruit of His resurrection—life eternal in Him.

Therefore, death is not something to be feared. On the contrary, viewing death as the gate to life eternal, we can say with St. Paul and an anonymous poet (Philippians 1:21):

While on tour, the Seminary Chorus director would often tell us, “Your job as pastor is to teach your people to die well; for when you’ve taught them to die well, you’ve taught them to live well.” Therefore, dear hearers, know this: with Jesus, Baptized into His death and resurrection, receiving His Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, living in His mercy, you can die knowing that you will not die eternally—you become one of the blessed dead in Christ. No, you will not die the eternal death; Christ has borne that punishment for you, and if He has borne it all, there is none left for you. And after you have died, and Jesus returns, you will rise again as He has, fruitful trees in God’s eternal vineyard, because you are forgiven for all of your sins.