Isaiah 40:25-31; 1 Peter 2:11-20; St John 16:16-22
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
They misunderstood much that fateful night. Why He washed their feet. Of what true greatness consists. Of prayer in the garden and obedient sacrifice. His true glory and exodus to the Father. Minds consumed by selfishness, hearts warped by sin, and consciences timid with guilt cannot comprehend the things of God. Indeed they are folly to them. What does He mean by ‘a little while?’ We do not know what He is talking about.
But having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Listen how, in true, sacrificial love, our Lord Jesus tenderly and compassionately catechizes His disciples. He prepares them for the future. He gently instructs them in what is to come. With an oath He prophesies concerning their plight. Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
For in a little while, mere hours, He will be violently taken from them. Clapped in chains, prodded with clubs and swords, their dear Lord Jesus will be hauled before the Sanhedrin, then before the governor, then before the Tetrarch.
Finally, He shall be brutally killed by vengeful men who sought His life. He will be splayed out on the Cross like some grotesque trophy of their evil machinations. This is what sin has wrought. Our sin. Amen, I tell you, the devil and the world will mock and rejoice; laughing as they dance on the grave of our Lord. They will think they have won. But the disciples of Jesus will be consumed with grief and guilt, sorrow and pain.
The little while of three short days will feel like an eternity. Remember how He met the two on the Emmaus Road? Remember how their hearts were downcast, despondent, as their eyes were kept from recognizing Him? How they spoke with hollow hope and dashed dreams. We had hoped that He was the One to redeem Israel (Lk 24:21). Had hoped. Its gone now. Our hope is clean cut off. My Lord, my Hope has been slain. His lifeless Body was laid in the tomb. It is now the third day, since. . . Some women in our number claim to have seen Him, but . . . They trail off in hopelessness. What’s the point now? How shall they go on?
Consider how our Lord cares for these two, Cleopas and probably Peter, but they might as well be you and your friend. He confronts their grief with the conviction of His Word. He draws them out of themselves, out of their depression and deep sorrow. Still hidden from your sight, He draws you away from your own hearts to the comforting truth of His Word. O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory? All the Scriptures testify of Him. He sends you men to interpret them to you, for your good, for your comfort and joy.
This is what He did for them as they lived in the little while between Good Friday and Easter, then between Easter and the Ascension, and the Ascension and Pentecost. You now live in this little while between the Ascension and the Eschaton, between His returning to the Father and His coming again to judge the living and the dead. You do not see Him. He is hidden from your sight. And so you are filled with sorrow.
Sorrow over your sin, against which you fight and wrestle each day, but cannot seem to shake. You endure grief and pain, heartache and loss. They say time heals all wounds, but the days tick by they still feel as fresh as ever. You weep and lament. And truly the world rejoices. It continues to rejoice! For your Jesus has gone away. And they mock and ridicule. They say, “Where is His coming?” Nothing seems to change. Everything stays the same. And the heart of man and the evil of the world seem to grow worse.
St Peter knew of such grief and sorrow. His congregations and fellow Christians struggled with anguish and pain, fear and turmoil. They had been ransomed from their futile ways, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ which brought them out of death and the destruction of the ungodly and wicked. And yet they were surrounded by a world continually rejoicing that it had killed God and now lived in open rebellion to His Word. Beyond this even their own flesh hounded and attacked them, arousing the passions and tempting the soul.
Do you not live as they? Centuries removed, geographically distant, yet culturally reminiscent. Are you not struggling to live as sojourners and exiles, as strangers in a strange land? Asking yourselves, “How do I obey authorities who are hostile to what I believe and how I live?” Do you not discipline your body in order to keep your character and conduct among the pagans honorable, that you may not stoop to such degradation and cynicism? Are you not called to live as salt and light in the world, that others may see your good deeds and give glory to you Father who is in heaven? Is this what you are asking yourselves, “Why does it have to be so hard? Why does it feel as though the whole world is against us?”
Beloved, your Christian live of faith and love is not easy. As you await this little while until your Lord’s return, you are inundated with temptation and vice, sin masquerading as virtue, lies paraded as truth, a world which seems increasingly hellbent on its own self-destruction, and no end in sight to the madness and confusion. You cry out with the psalmist, How long, O Lord? (Ps 90:13).
Listen to the words of the Apostle as he has written elsewhere, Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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 Pt 3:8-9).
The little while passed for the disciples. Three days. They saw Jesus again. They put their fingers in the marks of His hands. They placed their hands into His side. He ate and drank with them. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Their hearts rejoiced with exceeding joy as they beheld the Lord, crucified and risen, alive from death forevermore.
But what about you? You wait during this little while. Two thousand years. How long, O Lord? You wait. And as the song says, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Mr Petty knew.
But more importantly, your Lord Jesus knows. Isaiah says faith is waiting. Even youths shall faint and be weary; and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength. Faith is waiting on the promises of the Lord. Trusting in His Word and the certainty of His truth.
You await the redemption of your bodies and the consummation of the close of the age, the resurrection of perfected, glorious, immortal, pain free, sorrow less, joyful bodies and hearts and minds. You await these things and hasten the coming of the day of God through innocent suffering, by unjust mockery, as maligned evildoers, always living as people who are free, servants of God.
For this is the manner in which our Lord Jesus went to the Father: by way of His Cross and Passion, through innocent suffering and death, unjust beating, treated as an imposter and evildoer, yet as the truly free Servant of the Lord God. For the joy set before Him, Christ Jesus endured the Cross, despising the shame. That is, for the joy of your redemption He is abandoned and neglected, having His cries unheard by the Father, yet refusing to let go, clinging in faithful obedience to the Word and promise of His Father. Until He hands over His Spirit and then is raised from the dead in joyous victory.
But you see Him again! Not only in the Parousia, riding on the clouds of heaven, coming as a thief in the night, dissolving the heavenly bodies and exposing the works of mankind.
Beloved, you see Him as He is made known to you in the preaching of His Word and the breaking of the Bread. For you live in the little while not only between the Ascension and the Second Coming, but in the little while of last Sunday to today, between the days of the Lord when He comes to you by way of His Preaching and His Supper. You live from and between these little whiles when you see Him and your heart rejoices.
For though He has gone away, He has not abandoned you, but is with you and gives you to share in His life and love and joy, here, in His Divine Service. The world may mock and deride and scorn. You may ask, What does this mean? But through gentle catechesis and in care and love our Lord serves you here. Consider how the liturgy of heaven is permeated with sin-destroying, Easter joy, as Christ Jesus catechizes you and serve you in compassion.
You confess your sins and there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Lk 15:7). In faith you receive the absolution, the joyous pronouncement that you shall not die, but live in and from the joyous resurrection of Christ Jesus.
You sing Psalm 66: Jubilate! Sing for joy to God! Sing the glory of His Name! Tell of His wondrous deeds! The Easter Alleluias invade and permeate the song of the Introit.
And then the readings, Isaiah leading the way, the joyous promise that even in the midst of suffering and sorrow, the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow faint or weary. He gives power to the faint, and strength to those who wait on Him in faith.
The Psalm and Epistle far from being bleak and dower, admit the sorrow and difficulties of this present age, the reality of the effects of sin, and speak comfort: For this is gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly, even as Christ our Lord did.
We can’t neglect the Easter sequence hymn, that expanded Alleluia, “Christians to the Paschal Victim.” “Christ is arisen, so let our joy rise full and free; Christ our comfort true will be!” This leads right into the Gospel - a little while and they saw Him, back from death to life, passing through that narrow ascent of the grave to life and immortality, their hearts rejoicing and joy abounding!
After the readings and the sermon, you sing with King David, Restore to me the joy of your salvation. And again, in the Prayer of the Church, in joyful thanksgiving you make your petitions to the Father through the Son in the Spirit. And by the self-same Trinity lift up your hearts in joy unto the Lord, taking the Cup of Salvation and joyfully calling on the Name of the Lord.
In the joy of sins forgiven and life and salvation bestowed, you give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and mercy that endureth forever. He puts His Name upon you, Father-Son-Holy Spirit, blessing and keeping you, granting you His peace, and so too all the other fruits of the Spirit: love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, and joy!
Do you see? This is a joy that cannot be manufactured. It cannot be conjured up or faked. And it cannot be chased down, caught, and contained. As we race through the Divine Service we aren’t chasing an elusive joy, but rather the source of all joy: Jesus Christ and the full and free forgiveness of sins that comes in His shed blood. In a joy that cannot be taken away, faith clings to Christ, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Heb 12).
You, beloved, are the joy of the Lord. The joy for which Christ Jesus endured the Cross. The joy for which He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and intercedes for you. The joy for which He will come again and take you to be with Him. You will see Him again, your Jesus, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
They misunderstood much that fateful night. Why He washed their feet. Of what true greatness consists. Of prayer in the garden and obedient sacrifice. His true glory and exodus to the Father. Minds consumed by selfishness, hearts warped by sin, and consciences timid with guilt cannot comprehend the things of God. Indeed they are folly to them. What does He mean by ‘a little while?’ We do not know what He is talking about.
But having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Listen how, in true, sacrificial love, our Lord Jesus tenderly and compassionately catechizes His disciples. He prepares them for the future. He gently instructs them in what is to come. With an oath He prophesies concerning their plight. Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
For in a little while, mere hours, He will be violently taken from them. Clapped in chains, prodded with clubs and swords, their dear Lord Jesus will be hauled before the Sanhedrin, then before the governor, then before the Tetrarch.
Finally, He shall be brutally killed by vengeful men who sought His life. He will be splayed out on the Cross like some grotesque trophy of their evil machinations. This is what sin has wrought. Our sin. Amen, I tell you, the devil and the world will mock and rejoice; laughing as they dance on the grave of our Lord. They will think they have won. But the disciples of Jesus will be consumed with grief and guilt, sorrow and pain.
The little while of three short days will feel like an eternity. Remember how He met the two on the Emmaus Road? Remember how their hearts were downcast, despondent, as their eyes were kept from recognizing Him? How they spoke with hollow hope and dashed dreams. We had hoped that He was the One to redeem Israel (Lk 24:21). Had hoped. Its gone now. Our hope is clean cut off. My Lord, my Hope has been slain. His lifeless Body was laid in the tomb. It is now the third day, since. . . Some women in our number claim to have seen Him, but . . . They trail off in hopelessness. What’s the point now? How shall they go on?
Consider how our Lord cares for these two, Cleopas and probably Peter, but they might as well be you and your friend. He confronts their grief with the conviction of His Word. He draws them out of themselves, out of their depression and deep sorrow. Still hidden from your sight, He draws you away from your own hearts to the comforting truth of His Word. O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory? All the Scriptures testify of Him. He sends you men to interpret them to you, for your good, for your comfort and joy.
This is what He did for them as they lived in the little while between Good Friday and Easter, then between Easter and the Ascension, and the Ascension and Pentecost. You now live in this little while between the Ascension and the Eschaton, between His returning to the Father and His coming again to judge the living and the dead. You do not see Him. He is hidden from your sight. And so you are filled with sorrow.
Sorrow over your sin, against which you fight and wrestle each day, but cannot seem to shake. You endure grief and pain, heartache and loss. They say time heals all wounds, but the days tick by they still feel as fresh as ever. You weep and lament. And truly the world rejoices. It continues to rejoice! For your Jesus has gone away. And they mock and ridicule. They say, “Where is His coming?” Nothing seems to change. Everything stays the same. And the heart of man and the evil of the world seem to grow worse.
St Peter knew of such grief and sorrow. His congregations and fellow Christians struggled with anguish and pain, fear and turmoil. They had been ransomed from their futile ways, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ which brought them out of death and the destruction of the ungodly and wicked. And yet they were surrounded by a world continually rejoicing that it had killed God and now lived in open rebellion to His Word. Beyond this even their own flesh hounded and attacked them, arousing the passions and tempting the soul.
Do you not live as they? Centuries removed, geographically distant, yet culturally reminiscent. Are you not struggling to live as sojourners and exiles, as strangers in a strange land? Asking yourselves, “How do I obey authorities who are hostile to what I believe and how I live?” Do you not discipline your body in order to keep your character and conduct among the pagans honorable, that you may not stoop to such degradation and cynicism? Are you not called to live as salt and light in the world, that others may see your good deeds and give glory to you Father who is in heaven? Is this what you are asking yourselves, “Why does it have to be so hard? Why does it feel as though the whole world is against us?”
Beloved, your Christian live of faith and love is not easy. As you await this little while until your Lord’s return, you are inundated with temptation and vice, sin masquerading as virtue, lies paraded as truth, a world which seems increasingly hellbent on its own self-destruction, and no end in sight to the madness and confusion. You cry out with the psalmist, How long, O Lord? (Ps 90:13).
Listen to the words of the Apostle as he has written elsewhere, Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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 Pt 3:8-9).
The little while passed for the disciples. Three days. They saw Jesus again. They put their fingers in the marks of His hands. They placed their hands into His side. He ate and drank with them. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Their hearts rejoiced with exceeding joy as they beheld the Lord, crucified and risen, alive from death forevermore.
But what about you? You wait during this little while. Two thousand years. How long, O Lord? You wait. And as the song says, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Mr Petty knew.
But more importantly, your Lord Jesus knows. Isaiah says faith is waiting. Even youths shall faint and be weary; and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength. Faith is waiting on the promises of the Lord. Trusting in His Word and the certainty of His truth.
You await the redemption of your bodies and the consummation of the close of the age, the resurrection of perfected, glorious, immortal, pain free, sorrow less, joyful bodies and hearts and minds. You await these things and hasten the coming of the day of God through innocent suffering, by unjust mockery, as maligned evildoers, always living as people who are free, servants of God.
For this is the manner in which our Lord Jesus went to the Father: by way of His Cross and Passion, through innocent suffering and death, unjust beating, treated as an imposter and evildoer, yet as the truly free Servant of the Lord God. For the joy set before Him, Christ Jesus endured the Cross, despising the shame. That is, for the joy of your redemption He is abandoned and neglected, having His cries unheard by the Father, yet refusing to let go, clinging in faithful obedience to the Word and promise of His Father. Until He hands over His Spirit and then is raised from the dead in joyous victory.
But you see Him again! Not only in the Parousia, riding on the clouds of heaven, coming as a thief in the night, dissolving the heavenly bodies and exposing the works of mankind.
Beloved, you see Him as He is made known to you in the preaching of His Word and the breaking of the Bread. For you live in the little while not only between the Ascension and the Second Coming, but in the little while of last Sunday to today, between the days of the Lord when He comes to you by way of His Preaching and His Supper. You live from and between these little whiles when you see Him and your heart rejoices.
For though He has gone away, He has not abandoned you, but is with you and gives you to share in His life and love and joy, here, in His Divine Service. The world may mock and deride and scorn. You may ask, What does this mean? But through gentle catechesis and in care and love our Lord serves you here. Consider how the liturgy of heaven is permeated with sin-destroying, Easter joy, as Christ Jesus catechizes you and serve you in compassion.
You confess your sins and there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Lk 15:7). In faith you receive the absolution, the joyous pronouncement that you shall not die, but live in and from the joyous resurrection of Christ Jesus.
You sing Psalm 66: Jubilate! Sing for joy to God! Sing the glory of His Name! Tell of His wondrous deeds! The Easter Alleluias invade and permeate the song of the Introit.
And then the readings, Isaiah leading the way, the joyous promise that even in the midst of suffering and sorrow, the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow faint or weary. He gives power to the faint, and strength to those who wait on Him in faith.
The Psalm and Epistle far from being bleak and dower, admit the sorrow and difficulties of this present age, the reality of the effects of sin, and speak comfort: For this is gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly, even as Christ our Lord did.
We can’t neglect the Easter sequence hymn, that expanded Alleluia, “Christians to the Paschal Victim.” “Christ is arisen, so let our joy rise full and free; Christ our comfort true will be!” This leads right into the Gospel - a little while and they saw Him, back from death to life, passing through that narrow ascent of the grave to life and immortality, their hearts rejoicing and joy abounding!
After the readings and the sermon, you sing with King David, Restore to me the joy of your salvation. And again, in the Prayer of the Church, in joyful thanksgiving you make your petitions to the Father through the Son in the Spirit. And by the self-same Trinity lift up your hearts in joy unto the Lord, taking the Cup of Salvation and joyfully calling on the Name of the Lord.
In the joy of sins forgiven and life and salvation bestowed, you give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and mercy that endureth forever. He puts His Name upon you, Father-Son-Holy Spirit, blessing and keeping you, granting you His peace, and so too all the other fruits of the Spirit: love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, and joy!
Do you see? This is a joy that cannot be manufactured. It cannot be conjured up or faked. And it cannot be chased down, caught, and contained. As we race through the Divine Service we aren’t chasing an elusive joy, but rather the source of all joy: Jesus Christ and the full and free forgiveness of sins that comes in His shed blood. In a joy that cannot be taken away, faith clings to Christ, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Heb 12).
You, beloved, are the joy of the Lord. The joy for which Christ Jesus endured the Cross. The joy for which He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and intercedes for you. The joy for which He will come again and take you to be with Him. You will see Him again, your Jesus, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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