Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
“So what you
preach on today, Dad? Jesus?”
I don’t know how
many times I’ve heard that from my kids on a Sunday afternoon. It’s a safe bet. Even when I don’t mention Jesus by name, to
speak about God’s word is to speak about Jesus as the Word, and so he’s always
the subject.
And if the sermon
has anything to do with what God is doing, and I’d like to believe every sermon
I preach does, it’s also then about what Jesus is doing, for he and the Father are
one.
On Christmas Eve I
explored Mary’s question, “How can this be?”, and shared that I believe the
biggest miracle of all in the Christmas story is that through Jesus, that baby
lying in a manger full of grace, God could bring salvation to all. To all.
Not just to some, but to all. A
gift freely given.
If the question
on Christmas was “How?” the question today, based on the Hebrews text, is “Why?” “Why did he come? And What did he do?”
In answering the “Why?”
and the “What?” of Jesus life the Church, the Bible, and Christian teaching has
focused on three different dimensions of
Jesus’ life and work.
Each of these
understandings is very different from the other, yet all of them speak to the
truth of who Jesus is. There’s not one
right answer, but many right answers because each of them employs human
analogies, none of which are sufficient to convey the mystery of God in Jesus.
And so, from
three different directions, each image sheds light on Jesus, even if only
partially.
They also work
off each other as correctives. By having
three different understanding of the “Why?” and the “What?” of Jesus life it
helps to prevent us from pushing any of these images too far.
The three
understands of Jesus are all present in the passage from Hebrews. They are:
Jesus, our
Brother.
Jesus, our
Savior.
And finally,
Jesus, Lamb of God. That is, Jesus the
sacrificial lamb that died to take away our sin.
Jesus, our
Brother:
“10It was fitting that God, for whom and
through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make
the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who
sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason
Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12saying, “I will
proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation
I will praise you.” 13And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Here
am I and the children whom God has given me.” 14Since, therefore, the children
share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, .
. .”
Jesus, our
Savior:
“so that through death he might destroy the
one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and free those who all
their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16For it is clear that
he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.”
And finally,
Jesus the sacrificial lamb:
“Therefore he had to become like his
brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement
for the sins of the people. 18Because he himself was tested by what he suffered,
he is able to help those who are being tested.”
And of course we
know that when we speak of Jesus making the sacrifice of atonement, he speaks
of the sacrifice of his own life.
When we speak of
Jesus as our brother, and God as our Father, we are in a relational model, a family
model, and the end game is an intimate oneness between all of us.
The ‘evil’ in
this relationship model is separation and estrangement from God as our Father,
and Jesus our brother, and also all our other brothers and sisters.
When we speak of
Jesus as our Savior, the evil of which we are concerned is an evil that is
beyond ourself. It is an enemy that
threatens to undo us. It is that evil
power that must be defeated, whether we speak of it as the devil or death
itself. The end game here is that we are
freed from our bondage and slavery to these evil powers.
And finally, when
we speak about Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, we speak of evil as the sin
within us that must be atoned for. Our
guilt and shame are the problem. Jesus
offers himself as a sacrifice to atone for our sins and achieve forgiveness for
us.
Well, what is
true?
The answer is
that all of these understandings are true, even though quite different.
Well, what is
most helpful?
That depends on
your situation in life.
If you feel
lonely and afraid, like an outsider, then Jesus as your brother who
reconciles you to your Father in Heaven and your brothers and sisters on earth
will ring especially true and helpful.
If you feel
under attack from evil beyond yourselves, including every form of earthly
evil including our own mortality and death, as well as evil powers and
principalities, then Jesus as our Savior will bring great comfort to you.
And if you are
overwhelmed with your own failures, the Jesus the atoning sacrifice for
your sin will bring you peace of mind and wellness.
We see all of
these situations in life expressed in the Gospel lesson for today that speaks
about Mary and Joseph fleeing into Egypt following Jesus’ birth.
When they were
refugees who sought asylum in Egypt they experienced isolation from their
family as they waited for the time when they might return home, once
again.
Both they and the
people of Bethlehem were victims of the oppressive and evil reign of Herod, who
sought to kill Jesus and did murder all those children in Bethlehem.
And finally Herod
was guilty of a great sin and needed forgiveness.
In speaking of
these three dimensions of Christ’s work, it is important to remember that
whether we speak of Christ as our brother, or savior, or as the One who died
for us, we are speaking of what Jesus did, not us.
It’s all about
Jesus.
We talk about the
Law and the Gospel.
When we speak
about the Law, it is always about what we do or fail to do, and the judgment
that results. And rather than being
found righteous, we will always fall short.
We stand condemned in the face of the Law.
On the other
hand, when we speak of the Gospel it is always about what Jesus has done and
Jesus did not fail. That’s what makes
the Gospel good news.
And finally,
because the Gospel is and always will be the work of Christ, not us, we do not
get to judge. Period. It’s above our pay grade.
We don’t get to
judge who Jesus reconciled to the Father.
We don’t get to
judge who Jesus set free from the power of evil.
And we don’t get
to judge to whom Jesus offered forgiveness.
You see, all
these things are the work of Jesus; it’s why he came and what he did. For us to judge one another is for us to
judge Jesus himself.
Let’s just pause
and let that sink in.
If I ever say
that you, or anyone else including myself, are not saved, I am judging Jesus as
a failure.
I am judging
Jesus.
That’s not
something I’m qualified to do.
What we are
called to do is not judge Jesus, but to proclaim Jesus and the work that he
does.
Jesus reconciles
us with God and one another.
Jesus defeats
evil.
Jesus atones for
our sin.
In the end, any
judgment belongs exclusively to Jesus, not us.
Exclusively.
And should we
ever fear that judgment, we need only remember that the judge, Jesus, is also
the one who came to save us.
Amen
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