NOTE: This sermon was written by Rev. David Petersen (Redeemer, Ft. Wayne), with slight editing by Pastor Messer. In Pastor Messer's absence, it was read by Elder Terry Luplow during the Service of Prayer and Preaching.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Lord's visit
to Jerusalem is
like a woman who plans and prepares a gourmet meal, decorates the table and
pours the wine for her lover, eager for the romantic time they will have
together. But she waits all alone while
he is in the bed of another. It is like
a child who brings home a school art project and a bunch of flowers to find his
mother on the phone. He says, "You're
pretty. I made these for you.” But she turns away, answers not a word,
dismisses him with a wave, and she drops his gifts into the trash.
Our Lord took up
our flesh, became a man like us, and walked this earth. He suffered blisters and calluses, rashes and
insect bites. He knew hunger and thirst
and grief. He buried St. Joseph, His step-father and caretaker. He knew also betrayal from friends, prejudice,
and irrational hatred. He knew all the
sorrows, pain, and losses of men. But
the worst of all this was not when they stretched out His arms and bent back
His wrists to drive nails through His flesh into the boards. It was not being hoisted up so that He had to
lift Himself up and tear at those nails for each breath. Even as His life ebbed away among the jeering
and the blasphemy, what hurt most was that He was rejected by those He loved. They did not want His gifts.
That is why
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. He knows what He must do, but weeps over why
He must do it, and over knowing that most will reject the gift of salvation He
will procure for them on the cross. He
weeps because the City of Peace
will reject the Prince of Peace. He
weeps because He is entering that city to save its inhabitants - and, indeed,
the inhabitants of the whole world - and they fail to realize it. They don't know that He comes to bring them
peace, to set them free from their sins, and open to them the way to
everlasting life. They don't know the
things that make for peace.
The things that
make for peace: nails and thorns, a
scourge and spear. The great irony is that the chief priests and
scribes sought to destroy Jesus. They
could not stand His teaching. They knew
it was true, for He spoke with authority, and there was nothing contrary to
Moses or the prophets. No one could
argue with Him - He even slipped through their traps of logic and ethics. Nor could they dispute or deny his miracles. They could not find any moral failure in Him
at all. Imagine a man in whom there was
no sin, in whom there was no error, who was going about helping people, healing
them. Why would you want to destroy Him?
Because He was perfect and they were
not. Because His Word cut at their
hearts, it endangered their place in society. He called them to give up their lives and they
didn't want to. He held up the Law as a
standard and they knew they had failed. They
were guilty and ashamed. The accusations
were too true and too many and they knew the Law would destroy them. So they sought to destroy it. They sought to destroy Jesus in order to be
free of the Law, free of God's demands, free of accusations and the curse.
Here is the
irony: it worked. They meant it for evil, He meant it for good. They did it in hate, He suffered it in love. They did it so that they could sin without
judgment or punishment, He did it to forgive their sins and create in them a
new heart and life for God. The things
that make for peace: nails and thorns, a scourge and spear, two cruel logs
hoisting the Word of God up from the earth, to satisfy the demands of Justice,
to be forsaken by the Father, to draw all men to Christ. Father forgive them for they know not what
they do. There is the peace that passes
all understanding.
Now is the hour
of visitation for you, dear friends. No
man knows what the future holds. Amend your ways and your doings. God has good things for you. Don't trust in the lying words of your heart,
which tell you, "Calm down. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're not half as bad as some others. You are confirmed. You pay your dues.” Don't allow the deception of your heart and
the flawed logic of your sinful human reason to keep hidden from you the the
things that make for peace: nails and
thorns, a scourge and spear.
Instead, remember
Jerusalem, O
Sinner, and repent. Your sins are many
and are frequent. Call upon God. He will hear your voice. Ask for forgiveness. Cast your burden upon Him, for He will sustain
you. Confess. The temple of your heart has become a den of
thieves. Swing open the doors of your
lips and Christ will enter in, whip in hand, to drive out everything with which
you have defiled yourself. His Body and
His Blood will purge your soul and cleanse your heart. He is long-suffering, patient, gracious, and
merciful. He loves you. He will redeem your soul in peace. He will save you and your children, gathering
you about Himself and covering you with the wings of His Holy Spirit. For this great, suffering God has always loved
you. He never holds a grudge. It is not too late. He wants you even now and is eager to commune
with you, to be your God.
The things that
make for your peace: nails and thorns, a scourge and spear, Jesus, alive, out
of the grave and at the right hand of God, your Advocate and Defender. He is your peace. He entered Jerusalem for you. He took your rejection, your hatred, your
defilement, your greed, your lust, your selfishness - all of your sins - upon
Himself to secure your peace. And,
still, He comes for you. He enters the
heavenly Jerusalem of His Church, bringing with Him still the things that make
for peace, for those instruments of torture and death - the nails and thorns, a
scourge and spear - are the very instruments that bring you peace and life. Jesus' cross has become a life-giving tree
for all who believe and trust in Him. He
enters here to deliver unto you, and into you, the fruits of that life-giving
tree - His very Body and Blood. Receive
these fruits as those who recognize that they make for your peace, for these
fruits deliver unto you forgiveness, life, and salvation. Then, depart in that peace, covered in the
Blood of the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. In His Holy and Precious Name. Amen.
Now the peace of God that passes all understanding keep our hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.
Amen.
