Saturday Prayer Meeting

Due to the pastor having to be at a training session on Saturday, there will not be a prayer meeting at the church.  Gather on your own or in groups, and we will resme at the church, D.V., next week.

Tuesday Evening Study

There will be no evening study tonight as the pastor works on where we will go next.  D.V., we will continued our Tuesday evening studies on Tuesday, April 17th.

"He Must Rise" Sermon: John 20:1-18

“He Must Rise”

[John 20:1-18]

April 8, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            And so Jesus, after being crucified – impaled on the horns of a tree, forsaken, and despised by all those around Him, took confidence in His Father:  “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46, ESV). 

            Ah, but was He really dead?  There are still people who hear the Easter history and say, “Oh well, Jesus just fainted from the pain and blood loss; He didn’t really die, and when He came to, He ran from the tomb and hid in Sherwood Forest with His wife and children.”  Nonsense.

            We are told that Jesus really died.  It certainly was in the interest of the both the Jews and the Romans to make sure this rabble-rouser was dead.  And, in deference to the Jews, who would not have a body impaled on a tree during the Sabbath, the Romans went around to break the legs of the crucified to hasten their deaths.  But we read, “So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:32-34, ESV).

            Jesus looked dead to the soldiers, so they did not break His legs, but to make absolutely sure, one of them took a spear and thrust it into His side, and blood and water rushed out.

            And if Jesus had only fainted – after two days of blood loss and dehydration, some still believe that He awoke in the tomb, rolled the stone up and out from covering the tomb and then overcame a company of Roman centurions.

            Jesus died on the cross on that first Good Friday; He was buried in the tomb, and a stone was rolled down across the opening to the tomb, and a company of Roman centurions were set as a guard on the tomb to make sure no one stole the body and said that Jesus had risen from the dead.

            Jesus remained in the tomb on the Sabbath, but on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, hoping to finish the embalming that they had begun late that Friday:

            “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’”

            Mary’s immediate response to the tomb being empty was to tell the others – to run and get Peter and John – Peter, who was wracked with guilt over having denied Jesus, and John, the disciple that Jesus loved.

“So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.”

Can we picture Peter and John running?  Peter, the elder statesman, being out-run by the younger, John.  Yet John, out of respect for Peter’s age or out of awe of what he saw, stopped and did not enter the tomb.  So, Peter came – non-stop – as He always did, and ran into the tomb with hardly a thought, and then he saw:

“He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.”

The face cloth was folded up, but the linen burial cloths that Jesus had been wrapped in were lying as though Jesus had walked through them – they were still arranged as though on a body, but lying there with no body in them. 

And John went into the tomb with Peter, and he saw the cloths and he saw that Jesus’ body was not there.  And he believed.  What did he believe?

He did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead!  Look at the text:  “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.”

What did he believe?  He believed Mary’s report:  the tomb was empty; Jesus’ body was gone.  He did not – yet – believe – or even understand that there must be a resurrection.  They believed Mary that the tomb was empty – they saw for themselves that the tomb was empty – but they didn’t understand that Jesus must rise from the dead.

Why?  Why must he rise?

Paul explained:  “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ESV).

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we who believe in Jesus will not be raised from the dead.  In other words, if we don’t rise from the dead, we just stay in our graves like the pagans teach.  You live, you die, and this is it.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then my preaching is in vain and our faith is in vain.  Remember what we have said the Gospel is:  Jesus came to earth, lived, died for our sins, and rose from the dead.  If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, what we preach and teach as the Gospel is meaningless.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we have been telling lies about God.  Because, in the Gospel, we preach and teach and confess that God raised Jesus from the dead.  And if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we are lying if we say God raised Him from the dead.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we are still in our sins – we are not forgiven – the whole Wrath of God against us for our sins is still coming down on us, and we will experience eternal suffering.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then all those people who died believing in Jesus are dead in the ground, and we have lied to their family members in telling them that they are in Paradise – in the Kingdom of God.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead – if this life is all there is – if we have been living striving to be Christ-like, and it is all a lie, we are the greatest fools who ever lived.

“Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:29-34, ESV).

The Corinthians were engaging in a pagan practice of baptizing living people on behalf of the dead – the Mormons do this even today.  And Paul turns the tables on them and asks them, “If you are baptizing people on behalf of the dead, and they are dead in the ground never to rise – that there is no consciousness, no life after dead, why in the world are you baptizing on their behalf?”  If just didn’t make any sense.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, if the dead stay in their graves, what good can we who are alive do for the dead?

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, Paul asks, why am I putting my life in danger?  Why am I fighting for Christ and His Gospel?  Why are we Christians subjecting ourselves to slaughter by the Romans and the Jews if Jesus didn’t achieve anything for us?

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, why shouldn’t we just eat and drink, for tomorrow we die?  Doesn’t it make more sense, if this world is all there is, to do everything you can to have pleasure and then burn out?

Peter and John believed Mary – Jesus’ body was gone.  But where was it?  What did it mean?  They certainly didn’t believe – yet – that Jesus had risen from the dead.

            “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’”

            Mary returned to the tomb after Peter and John had left.  She was looking for some sign as to what had happened – where the body was.  And two angels appeared to her and asked her why she was crying.  And she told them that she didn’t know where the dead body of Jesus was – that she had come to finish the burial preparation, but someone – for some reason – had moved His body during the night and she didn’t know where.

“Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’”

Notice that in some way, Jesus’ appearance was changed in rising from the dead.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’—and that he had said these things to her.”

            But she knew His Voice – that tone of love that she had known for the past three years.  When He spoke her name, she understood that this was Jesus – He had risen from the dead – that’s why His body was not in the tomb, because He stood up and walked out – He was alive!

            And we might briefly ask ourselves what that means – what does it mean to say that Jesus has risen from the dead?  From our text, it is obvious that something about Jesus was different – Mary did not recognize Him at first.  And He told her not to touch Him.

            Some people say that this is because Jesus was now a sprit-being; He did not have a physical body any more.  Some say that Jesus had become and angel.  But what does the Scripture tells us?

            Later, Jesus went to the place where the disciples were hiding, “And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him”

(Matthew 28:9, ESV).  He had real feet that they could hold on to.

            Eight days later, Thomas saw the risen Jesus.  And Jesus, knowing that Thomas had doubted and said that he wanted proof that Jesus was physically alive “[Then he] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe’” (John 20:27, ESV).  Jesus invited Thomas to put his fingers – his hands – to examine His body – to see that He was flesh and blood and bore the marks of the crucifixion.

            After Jesus appear to the two on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and the other disciple went and told the apostles what had happened.  “As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you!’ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

            “Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:36-47, ESV).

            Although the disciples had seen people rise from the dead before, knowing the horrific death that Jesus had died, there were afraid.  But Jesus assured them that He had really – physically – risen from the dead.  He again invited them to touch Him and put their hands in His wounds.  And He told them that He was flesh and blood, not a spirit.  And to prove it to them, He asked them for some food, and He ate with them.  Spirits don’t eat, only flesh and blood eats.

            Somehow, in some way, Jesus did not look exactly like He had, but Jesus had physically risen from the dead – He rose from the dead in the same body He lived and died in, though it was changed in some way.  He proved that He was really flesh and blood by letting them feel His body and having Him eat with them.  He explained to them that it was necessary for the Savior to be put to death and that He must also rise – victorious.

            And so Paul writes, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 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. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, ESV).

            Why must Jesus physically rise from the dead?

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then the Gospel is true, and we will physically rise from the dead.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then we who believe are forgiven for our sin – we are no longer under the curse of Adam.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, the Jesus is reigning as the Sovereign God over all Creation.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then Jesus is putting all of His enemies – and ours – under His feet – defeating them, until at least, He will put death under His feet, and death will be no more.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then He is restoring the entire Creation, bringing His Kingdom to earth, and bringing every one of the elect – everyone who will ever believe throughout time and space – into His Kingdom, where we will live eternally with Him.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then this life, despite anything and everything that might happen to us is a life of joy.

            Do you understand that it was necessary that Jesus physically rise from the dead?

            Let us pray:

            Eternal and Risen God, Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever and ever.  Help us to understand that just as it was necessary for Jesus to physically die in our place, it was also necessary for Him to physically rise to be victorious over sin and death and Hell.  As we receive the bread and the cup, help us to know that Jesus, Who meets with us in the elements, is not merely a spirit, but is physically seated on His Throne in Heaven, even as He meets with us spiritually in the bread and the cup.  Raise us up, O Lord.  Assure us of the Resurrection and make us witnesses to Your Body and Blood.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

"Forsaken" Sermon: Psalm 22

“Forsaken”

[Psalm 22]

April 6, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            Psalm 22 is one of David’s Psalms.  It is, perhaps above all others, the Psalm of the Cross.  We know from the Gospels that Jesus quoted parts of this psalm and fulfilled its prophecies on that ghastly Friday; Jesus may have quoted the entire psalm as He hung on the cross.

            It’s not certain what event inspired David to write this psalm, but we ought to understand that this is not merely prophecy about the Savior, Jesus.  It is also something that occurred to David.  We are hearing David’s anguish as well as the prophetic word which was fulfilled in Jesus.

            “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?  O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”

            David found himself in a desperate situation.  Something or someone was upon him and he was crying out – groaning – to God day and night for deliverance, but no word came from God – no deliverance came from God.  All there was was a terrifying silence that left David thinking that God had deserted him – as God once deserted Saul.  The sweet communion that David had known with His Lord was violently disrupted, and he didn’t know why.

            Jesus had been betrayed the night before.  Judas had sold Him to the Jews and the Romans.  The Jews had taken Him and tried Him overnight – illegally, abusively – and found Him guilty of heresy.  But that would not have held up in a Roman court – and they were subjects of Rome – Rome had to hand down the sentence of death.  And so Jesus was charged with trying to overthrow the Roman government.  And He was mocked by Herod, quizzed and tortured under Pontius Pilate, and sentenced to death by crucifixion – perhaps the most horrible way to die ever invented.

            Jesus carried His cross and marched up to the hill where He would be crucified with others, and the Romans pounded spikes through His wrists and ankles, and thrust the cross up into the air and into a hole, and there He hung.

            “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46, ESV).

            Perhaps we can imagine the desperate cry of David and how he felt deserted by God – but how can we understand these words on the lips of Jesus?  Jesus is God.  How could God be separated – forsaken – deserted – by God?  How could the Loving Father forsake His Beloved Son?

            We can only turn to the mysteries of the Incarnation and the Trinity and grasp at the answer:  Jesus is 100% human and 100% God in One Person.  God is One God, yet God is Three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Although Jesus is both God and human, He has one nature – it is not like us who have God living within us, but Jesus is God and human at the same time.  We are human and God lives in us – our nature and God’s Nature are different.

            So we, through sin or under disciple, may despair of God’s Presence with us and in us, but Jesus Who is God and Human at the same time in the same Person with one nature?  We cannot say that “part” of Jesus deserted Him, because Jesus is One.

            Some people want to solve the question by saying Jesus was not really forsaken by God – saying it’s just an expression.  But that can’t be; Jesus had to suffer the fullness of God’s Wrath for every sin of every person who would ever believe in Him.  If Jesus did not experience the full horror and suffering of eternal Hell on the cross for each person who would believe and each sin that we would ever commit, then Jesus didn’t save us – He didn’t do enough.

            We come understanding that Jesus had to receive the full penalty on our behalf for us to be free – to be right with God – so, somehow, as Jesus received the full Wrath of God upon Him, satisfying God’s Justice – somehow – God really deserted Jesus – He turned His Face away – and somehow – Jesus endured Hell alone.

            If Jesus was truly forsaken, then we can be assured that we will never be forsaken by God.  Jesus promised:  “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, ESV).  Jesus can only make that promise if He was truly forsaken by God for us.

            And, in those times when we experience something less than the forsakenness of Jesus on the cross – when we are experiencing a separation from God – since Jesus has been forsaken in our place, we can call out to God for help, and He will hear us.

            “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.  In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.”

            David acknowledged that the problem is not with God – it is never with God.  God is forever Holy; it is we humans who disrupt the communion we have with God.  We rebel and through our fists up in the air.  Yet, David recalls the history of Israel – how Israel trusted in the Lord, and when they cried out to God and trusted in Him, He rescued them.  Based on this pattern in history, David cried out in the Name of God’s Holiness to save him.

            God did not forsake Jesus due to sin on either part of the Godhead – God forbid!  No, it is because God is Holy and cannot tolerate sin in His Presence that before the foundation of the world the Triune God planned that the Son would come to earth and pay the debt for His people.  God would not be holy or just if He just “forgot” our sin.  We are forgiven, not because God forgot our sin, but because Jesus was punished for all of our sin.  God’s Justice had to be met – the debt to God had to be paid, and God chose to pay it Himself, and because He is Holy, He could pay the debt and live, being our Substitute that we also may live in the presence of our Holy God.

            “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.  All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; ‘He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!’”

            The moment a believer suffers – the moment we cry out despairing of God’s Presence, the world is at our side to condemn our faith and lead us to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9b, ESV).

            And so David recounts that he was treated not as a man, but a worm as he suffered and waited on God.  And those around him, rather than encouraging him to hold fast to the promises of God, jeered at him and ridiculed his faith.

            Even more tragically, the crowd at the foot of the cross, the priests, even the others dying with Him, blindly called out at Jesus, having no concept of what was happening from Heaven to earth:  “And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, “I am the Son of God.” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way’” (Matthew 27:39-44, ESV).

            “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.  On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.  Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.”

            David turned his mind to the blessing of God from his conception.  God caused David to come to fruition and survive birth into this world.  God gave him a mother and father who nourished and raised him physically and spiritually – that he knew the One God of Israel.  David – in the midst of his desperation – could look back and see how merciful and blessed God had been to him in the past and take hope in that as he cried out.

            How much greater did Jesus remember His own birth – the very Incarnation of God on earth!  What more blessed, more wonderful, more incomprehensibly amazing joy could there be as He reflected back to His volunteering to come to earth in the form of a man – to live under His own Law and then die for the sin of His people that we might be saved.

            Jesus could have remembered the day when “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end’ (Luke 1:26-33, ESV). 

Reflecting on His Incarnation and life with Mary and Joseph – given to Him by God – He could be assured that the God Who brought Him into the world and declared Him to be His Beloved Son is worthy of trust, no matter what He might endure.

The author of Hebrews writes, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).

            “Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me,       like a ravening and roaring lion.  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.  For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them,    and for my clothing they cast lots.”

            David was starving, without water.  He was dehydrated and faint – dizzy.  He was physically falling apart under the assault of whomever or whatever this event was.  He felt himself near death.  Those who came against him had the strength of bulls and the viciousness of dogs.

            And so we see these same things on the cross with Jesus:

            “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst’ (John 19:28, ESV).

            “And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots” (Matthew 27:35, ESV).

            “so they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.’ This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, ‘They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.’  So the soldiers did these things,” (John 19:24, ESV).

            The Greek Orthodox Church, recognizing the unimaginable torture of crucifixion, has a prayer in their Good Friday liturgy which translates:  “By Thine unknown sorrows and sufferings, felt by Thee, but not distinctly known by us, have mercy upon us and save us” (in The Treasury of David, 1.343)

            “But you, O LORD, do not be far off!  O you my help, come quickly to my aid!  Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!  Save me from the mouth of the lion!  You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!”

            David cried out that God would deliver him from the vicious, evil dogs that attacked him – humans who viciously opposed God.  He prayed for deliverance from the lion – from the devil and his minions.  And he declares the impending rescue – that God would save him, even as he is impaled on the horns of the ox.

            And so Jesus, after being crucified – impaled on the horns of a tree, forsaken, and despised by all those around Him, took confidence in His Father:  “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46, ESV). 

“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:  You who fear the LORD, praise him!  All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!” 

            “For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.  From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.  The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD!  May your hearts live forever!  All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.  For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.  All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.  Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.”

            David rejoices at the end of his psalm that God delivered him.  God was faithful and heard his cries and so, David, and all of Israel would praise God.  God did not despise David, even though he was a sinner, because He repented and was forgiven through the Savior Who was to come.

            In the end, David tells of a day when the entire world will turn and worship the Lord.  All the nations will bow down and praise Him.  Even those who have died will rise up and praise God – and those who have not yet been born will also rise up to praise the Lord.

            But on that first Good Friday, as Jesus breathed His last, and then His dead body was removed from the cross and placed in the tomb, the disciples didn’t understand there was victory coming.  They didn’t realize why Jesus had to be forsaken by God.

            But soon they would remember His Words, “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:32-33, ESV).

            As we receive the bread and the cup and meet with Jesus in the elements, let us remember that Jesus’s Body was torn apart on the cross, and more horrifically, Jesus was forsaken by God  – God deserted Jesus as He bore all of God’s Wrath against us on Himself.  That we would be forgiven, that we could cry out to God and be heard, and, as the disciples found out on Sunday:  Jesus overcame the world.

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God and Savior, we cannot imagine what it was like to be crucified.  Even less can we imagine what it was for Jesus to be forsaken by You.  The physical horror causes us to melt in fear; trying to grasp that the Incarnate God was deserted by God leaves us in denial or in a daze.  Help us to understand something of the enormity of the Work Jesus accomplished on the cross, and help us to go out from this place, not despairing, not looking for a cheap, American holiday, but, having met You in the Sacrament, may we go out praising You and announcing that You are victorious over the world.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Psalm 22:7

"Cruel Romans! and ye, regicidal Jews!  Was not death enough?  Must mockery and scorn be added?  On this sad day Christ made you one indeed!  Dreadful unity -- which constituted you the joint mockers and murderers of the Lord of glory!"  -- John Stevenson in Charles Spurgeon, The Tresury of David.

Psalm 22:6

Ego vermis et non homo.

Good Friday Worship

Join us this evening for our Good Friday worsip service at 7 PM.  D.V., I will be preaching on Psalm 22 in a sermon entitlted, "Forsaken."

"Wash My Feet" Sermon: John 13:1-17; 31b-35

“Wash My Feet”

[John 13:1-17; 31b-35]

April 5, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            “Now before the Feast of the Passover,” Our Scripture this evening takes us to the night of the Passover – that Thursday evening when Jesus celebrated the Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper.  Our text takes place before the Passover meal – they had not joined together in receiving the Passover yet.  They had gathered to eat and be taught that night, as well as receive the Passover with their Teacher – their Rabbi, Jesus.

“when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.”

This scene occurred as Jesus understood that it was now time for Him to leave this world and return to the Father.  It occurred as a witness to the fact that Jesus loves all those who were His in the world, and He would continue to love them – to the end of His Life – to the end of their lives – to the end of the world – to the end of this sinful brokenness which made God’s coming to earth necessary for our salvation – for us to be made right with God.

While they were eating their meal, Jesus knew that the devil had taken Judas, and Judas had betrayed Jesus.  Even so, everything that belongs to God also belongs to Jesus.  Jesus had come from God, because He is God, and He was going to return to God – to sit on His Rightful Throne.  All things were in Jesus’ hand.  He was not surprised.  As He said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18, ESV).

All things had come together according to the Eternal and Triune Plan.  The hour had come.  Jesus would lay down His Life for His people.  But first: 

“He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

We must remember that people in Jesus’ day walked barefoot or with sandals.  They did not have shoes and sneakers like we do.  And the roads were mostly dusty or dirt roads.  Most of the roads were not paved in any way that we would understand paving.  So, if you walked from one place to another in Jesus’ day, your feet would get dirty.  It was customary, then, for the host to provide water to wash your feet in when you arrived – to cool off your feet and clean off the grit and grime.  Jesus rebuked a Pharisee who did not show Him that courtesy:  “Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair’” (Luke 7:44, ESV).

“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’”

The problem for Peter was one of rank.  Jesus was his Teacher – his Rabbi.  If anything, the disciples should wash the Teacher’s feet.  It seemed to him completely backwards and inappropriate for the Teacher to wash His disciples’ feet.  So Peter objected.

“Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’”

In Jesus saying this, we understand that the point of what Jesus did was not foot-washing.  Peter understood very well that Jesus was washing his feet, and he was appalled, because the Teacher ought not to stoop to wash the disciples’ feet.  That he understood, so Jesus meant something more in this action than simple foot-washing.

“Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’”

So, Peter jumps in and tries to forbid Jesus from washing his feet.  And Jesus tells him that if he does not allow Him to wash his feet, then Peter has no share with Him – Peter has no salvation.  How can that be?  Isn’t salvation by faith alone?

            Paul wrote, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:15-16, ESV).

            And the writer of Hebrews confirms that Jesus Alone brings us to a state of holiness, not our works:  “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12, ESV).

            We are saved through the Work of Jesus.  We are saved from the Wrath of God because Jesus lived a holy life and died for the sins of all those who will ever believe in Him.  We see this taught again and again in the Scripture:  “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31, ESV).

            Salvation is not by our works but by faith alone through Jesus Alone.  God gives us faith to believe in Jesus and His Work on our behalf.  That is salvation.  So what did Jesus mean that Peter would not have a share with Him if Peter did not allow Him to wash his feet?

            Peter obviously didn’t understand yet either – let us continue:

            “Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’  Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’”

            Peter jumped again and asked Jesus to completely bath him, then.  If Jesus was going to stoop to the humility of washing Peter’s feet, then why not completely bathe Peter?  And Jesus explained that eleven of them were already clean – only Judas was unclean.  There was no need to be completely bathed – they had been bathed – only their feet were dirty – except for Judas who was completely unclean.

            Was Jesus saying that Judas forgot to take a bath?  Of course not – here we begin to understand.  The eleven apostles believed Jesus and His Gospel; Judas did not.  The eleven were cleaned through baptism and through the Blood that Jesus would shed.  Judas was unclean – he was an apostate – he renounced Jesus and His Salvation.  Judas repudiated – despised – Jesus.

We are cleansed through the Blood of Jesus and through baptism, as the sign and seal of those who believe in Jesus.  Baptism is once.  Jesus shed His Blood once.

            “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’”

            Jesus finished washing the apostles’ feet and resumed His seat at the table as their Teacher – as their Lord.  And Jesus told them that if He has done this for them, they should do it for each other.  If Jesus as their acknowledged superior did this, they should also do it for each other. 

What did Jesus do?  Jesus washed their feet.  But we said the point cannot be washing feet, because Jesus said that Peter would not be saved, and we are not saved by our works.

We have the image of being washed in Blood and washed with water associated with salvation, but we said that both of those acts are one-time acts.  Peter and the rest of the eleven were washed – they were clean – they were physically clean – they were believers.

We said that it was customary for the host to wash his guests’ feet, because they had walked on the dirty road and their feet were hot and grimy.  It would not have been customary for the host to completely bathe his guests – they would have bathed before they came to the banquet.

We find a clue in the construction of the Tabernacle:

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations’” (Exodus 30:17-21, ESV).

What did the washing of Aaron’s hands and feet symbolize?  What would change from day to day that would necessitate his being cleansed – not totally bathed – cleaned – washed – but just his hands and feet?

What changes about us from day to day that we would need to address that does not save us or take salvation away from us, but indicates that we have been saved?  What is the dirt that clings to us day by day that we must wash away?

            Do we understand?

            We are saved by Jesus’ Work Alone.  We contribute nothing to our salvation.  And even after salvation, we sin – we continue to step into it, and our feet become dirty.  We need to have our feet washed daily because we sin daily and must go to God in repentance and faith believing that Jesus did not just pay the debt for our sin in the past, but the debt for our sin today and the debt for every day that we walk on this earth.

            And Jesus told them that they are to wash each other’s feet.  There are churches that take this literally and actually join in washing the feet of each other as part of the worship service.  There is nothing wrong with doing that – it is certainly a humbling thing.  But since foot washing cannot be the point of what Jesus did, His instruction did not mean that we literally have to wash each other’s feet.  What Jesus meant is that we have to forgive each other and ask for forgiveness from each other day by day.

            We are forgiven for all of our sin by Jesus, still He calls us to repent of our sins daily and to ask for forgiveness and to forgive our brothers and sisters daily.

            This is the daily cleansing that is part of our sanctification – part of the process of our becoming holy like Jesus.  As John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV).

            Paul wrote, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:12-13, ESV).

            And remember how Jesus taught us to pray:  “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12, ESV).  Forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven the sins of others against us.  Wash our feet, as we have also washed the feet of others.

A. W. Pink, in his commentary on this passage, says to think of it this way:  Imagine you are on holiday at the shore.  In the morning, you get up and shower, and the shower cleanses you.  This is what Jesus has done for us.  Then you dress in your suit and tie and ready yourself for a walk on the beach.  You walk down to the beach, take off your shoes, and walk along in the sand and the surf, enjoying the Glory of God in Creation.  Then it is time for you to return home, and you walk off the beach, but your feet are dirty with sand.  This is how sins and the guilt of it cling to the Christian.  So you wash your feet in the spigots on the boardwalk, and your feet are cleansed.  This is what Jesus is talking about in this passage.

Finally, we skip down and read:

            “When [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, “Where I am going you cannot come.” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’”

            With Judas gone to fulfill his betrayal of Jesus – with the Passover meal, now the Lord’s Supper having been eaten – with the troops readying to march to take Jesus into captivity for an illegal night trial, after which He would be turned over to be tortured and then put to death on the cross – now, with all of this coming to pass – with Jesus performing the greatest act in human history – the act that changed all of human history – Jesus said He was now glorified.  Now the Son of Man was being revealed.  Now it would be the Creation-wide declaration of Jesus being God the Savior, the Only Savior.

            And Jesus told His beloved, little children that they could not go with Him.  For a short time, the apostles and all the disciples would be thrown into confusion until they saw the Plan of God come to pass.

            Even so, and from now on, love one another.  Love each other as much as you love yourselves.  Do for others what you would do for yourself.  Forgive each other in love, as brothers and sisters.  And then the world will know who you belong to.

            Let us remember several things as we prepare to receive the bread and the cup as the apostles did that evening:

First, since Jesus told Peter he didn’t understand what He was doing, the foot-washing signified something other than merely foot-washing.

Second, salvation is once through the Work of Jesus – through His Blood shed once for all those who would ever believe – as symbolized through the one-time act of baptism which is a sign and seal of salvation for the believer.

Third, just as dirt clings to the feet of a person walking on the road, so sin clings to the Christian, and it must needs to be confessed and repented of – washed – each day.

Fourth, Christians are not merely to wash their own feet – to confess and repent of their sin to God – but we are to confess sins that we have committed against others to them and ask their forgiveness, as well as hear others’ confession and forgive them.

And finally, just as we are to forgive one another, we are to love one another.  This is part of what it means to Glorify God.  And as we forgive each other and love each other, the world will know Whose we are.

Wash each other’s feet.  Wash my feet.

Let us pray:

Almighty God and Savior, You came to earth, not to be served, but to serve.  On the night before Your Crucifixion, You taught Your apostles that they – and all we who believe – sin every day, and need to be forgiven every day, and we need to forgive each other every day – in love.  As we receive the bread and the cup, we ask that Your Love would well up in us, that we would be better examples of You to the world that others would see us and glorify You.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.