St John 8:46-57/Genesis 22:1-14/Hebrews 9:11-15
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The Jews were wrong. Abraham is not dead. Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. The Lord provided. Abraham and Isaac went free.
But the faith that credited righteousness to Abraham was not easy. Believing is never easy. Abraham was an old man, and old men know about life’s disappointments, how dreams fade, how promises are broken, how violence permeates, how greed and lust corrupt, how ignorance dominates, and how the best days are already gone.
Abraham knew about death. All old men do. And all old men know about regret. The whole fiasco with Abimelech must have still grieved his conscience.
Yet God had told him that he would be the father of a great nation. His descendants would number more than the sands on the seashore; more than the stars in the sky. But he was old. He had only one son; and that son was a miracle. Isaac was a small glimmer of hope that somehow his family line would continue; that God can make the desert bloom and cause barren women and virgins to give birth.
Then God told him to kill his son, to end his hope. Isaac would not survive being a burnt offering. Abraham would use the knife to slit his throat and then set his son on fire and watch him burn. Abraham believed in the resurrection. But still this didn’t make any sense. And it would be painful beyond what fathers can endure. God had asked too much of him.
But by grace Abraham trusted. He knew that God was good, that God was merciful, that the Lord would provide. So he suffered this indignity. He shared it with no one; told no one his plan. They would have though him insane anyway. He submitted to the will of God; subjected his reason and his own notions of justice and fairness to the Word of the Lord. He may have even prayed Job’s famous line, The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.
By grace Abraham believed. He waited. He hiked up the mountain with that awful knife, too scared to even look his little boy in the eye. He hoped against hope. He held God to His Word. He is a man of faith. In light of all this the Jews dishonor him by saying he is dead. Abraham is not dead. Abraham believed. It was reckoned to him as righteousness. A righteousness not his own; unearned and unmerited; one given freely by the Lord. For it is the Lord who provides – righteousness to Abraham and freedom to Isaac.
Moses and Elijah are not dead either. This is not speculation because of their unique ends – Moses buried by God and Elijah taken by the fiery chariot. They are not dead because Jesus is not dead. Jesus lives. They were with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. And Peter, James, and John, probably none of them yet fifty, saw them.
Jesus seeing Abraham is not so much about the age of Jesus as it is about the state of Abraham. He is not dead. That is a lie. Those who die in Christ are not dead. A paradox, I know. But faith revels in paradoxes. Abraham passed through death and into life. Heaven is his promised land. We are his children. He lives, in Christ, and still exists, with our Lord, for eternity.
This is true not only for Abraham and Moses and Elijah, or Peter and James and John, but this is true for our beloved sister in Christ, Edna Halas; who was called home this past week. She too has passed through death and into life. She lives. She is in Christ. I do not want you to be uninformed, dear ones, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
Jesus is older than Abraham, though. Before Abraham was, Jesus is. He is the One who is, who was, and who always will be. He is without beginning and without end. Yet today, March 25, nine months from Christmas, we celebrate the Annunciation of Our Lord. He who is without beginning of end, took up our flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Lord who stayed the hand of Abraham from sacrificing his little boy, became a Child in order to make Himself a Sacrifice for you. Ah, paradoxes.
He entered our world to suffer what we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted, and to die as we die – only worse. Abraham was spared the sacrifice of his son. Not so the Father of us all. For while Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness; Jesus believed and it was reckoned to Him as sin and guilt.
The Father sacrificed the Son. Jesus obeyed His Father’s will. He was without sin and the perfect Substitute and payment for sinners who could not save themselves. Abraham passed through death and into heaven. That is the reward of the righteousness reckoned to him.
Jesus went to Hell on the Cross. He was forsaken by His Father. He felt the bitter agony and guilt foreign to Him in the very depths of His soul. He endured the abuse and mockery of violent men and demons who had their way with Him. He is the ram caught in the thicket. He is the innocent One who dies for the guilty. His death is our Life. His Flesh is our Bread. His Blood sustains us.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The Lord provided. He provided Jesus.
But Jesus is not dead either. He came through death also, though in a different way. He paid the ransom, emptied the devil of his strength, and reconciled all mankind to His Father. His love for the Father and for you never wavered, never doubted, never weakened. For this reason the Father glorified Him by raising Him from the dead.
Righteousness was not reckoned to Him. It is who He is. He is the Righteous One. He rested in the tomb for three days. Then He took up His Life again and as a Man He rose from the dead. Death was spent; it had done its worst, it has no more power. And death could not hold Him. He brings life out of death.
Before Abraham was, I AM. He is the God of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, who are not dead, but living. For He is the life-giving living God of the living. He is also and will now forever be, a Man; one of us, joined to our flesh, bone of our bones. And now, as true God and true Man, having completed the work of His Father, He is seated at the right hand of power and will raise men from the dust on the last day.
And as the Father had sent Him, so now the crucified and risen Christ sends His Apostles, with His Spirit, in His stead and by His command, to all the earth to make you His. He died and rose for you. By His grace you believe and are baptized. You hear His Word which creates and sustains faith. And it is reckoned to you as righteousness. He declares you to be His child.
Whoever keeps My Word will never see death. This is for you, and your children and grandchildren, for all those whom our Lord calls to Himself. This is the fate of all who believe in Christ. Abraham is not dead. Neither is Edna, nor any of your loved ones who have preceded you in the faith. They live. They kept Jesus’ Word in their hearts. They said their “Amens” to His truth and, though we set ours aside for a couple weeks in anticipation of the Resurrection, they now they sing their “Glorias” with all the saints and angels. They have not seen death.
Jesus’ Word is true. You will pass through death and go on to the bosom of Abraham, to the company of saints, to life eternal in Jesus. Even now you will join your voice to theirs around the holy Altar of Christ, your High Priest and Mediator. He brings the Holy Place to you in His Body and Blood. The Lord provides.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The Jews were wrong. Abraham is not dead. Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. The Lord provided. Abraham and Isaac went free.
But the faith that credited righteousness to Abraham was not easy. Believing is never easy. Abraham was an old man, and old men know about life’s disappointments, how dreams fade, how promises are broken, how violence permeates, how greed and lust corrupt, how ignorance dominates, and how the best days are already gone.
Abraham knew about death. All old men do. And all old men know about regret. The whole fiasco with Abimelech must have still grieved his conscience.
Yet God had told him that he would be the father of a great nation. His descendants would number more than the sands on the seashore; more than the stars in the sky. But he was old. He had only one son; and that son was a miracle. Isaac was a small glimmer of hope that somehow his family line would continue; that God can make the desert bloom and cause barren women and virgins to give birth.
Then God told him to kill his son, to end his hope. Isaac would not survive being a burnt offering. Abraham would use the knife to slit his throat and then set his son on fire and watch him burn. Abraham believed in the resurrection. But still this didn’t make any sense. And it would be painful beyond what fathers can endure. God had asked too much of him.
But by grace Abraham trusted. He knew that God was good, that God was merciful, that the Lord would provide. So he suffered this indignity. He shared it with no one; told no one his plan. They would have though him insane anyway. He submitted to the will of God; subjected his reason and his own notions of justice and fairness to the Word of the Lord. He may have even prayed Job’s famous line, The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.
By grace Abraham believed. He waited. He hiked up the mountain with that awful knife, too scared to even look his little boy in the eye. He hoped against hope. He held God to His Word. He is a man of faith. In light of all this the Jews dishonor him by saying he is dead. Abraham is not dead. Abraham believed. It was reckoned to him as righteousness. A righteousness not his own; unearned and unmerited; one given freely by the Lord. For it is the Lord who provides – righteousness to Abraham and freedom to Isaac.
Moses and Elijah are not dead either. This is not speculation because of their unique ends – Moses buried by God and Elijah taken by the fiery chariot. They are not dead because Jesus is not dead. Jesus lives. They were with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. And Peter, James, and John, probably none of them yet fifty, saw them.
Jesus seeing Abraham is not so much about the age of Jesus as it is about the state of Abraham. He is not dead. That is a lie. Those who die in Christ are not dead. A paradox, I know. But faith revels in paradoxes. Abraham passed through death and into life. Heaven is his promised land. We are his children. He lives, in Christ, and still exists, with our Lord, for eternity.
This is true not only for Abraham and Moses and Elijah, or Peter and James and John, but this is true for our beloved sister in Christ, Edna Halas; who was called home this past week. She too has passed through death and into life. She lives. She is in Christ. I do not want you to be uninformed, dear ones, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
Jesus is older than Abraham, though. Before Abraham was, Jesus is. He is the One who is, who was, and who always will be. He is without beginning and without end. Yet today, March 25, nine months from Christmas, we celebrate the Annunciation of Our Lord. He who is without beginning of end, took up our flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Lord who stayed the hand of Abraham from sacrificing his little boy, became a Child in order to make Himself a Sacrifice for you. Ah, paradoxes.
He entered our world to suffer what we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted, and to die as we die – only worse. Abraham was spared the sacrifice of his son. Not so the Father of us all. For while Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness; Jesus believed and it was reckoned to Him as sin and guilt.
The Father sacrificed the Son. Jesus obeyed His Father’s will. He was without sin and the perfect Substitute and payment for sinners who could not save themselves. Abraham passed through death and into heaven. That is the reward of the righteousness reckoned to him.
Jesus went to Hell on the Cross. He was forsaken by His Father. He felt the bitter agony and guilt foreign to Him in the very depths of His soul. He endured the abuse and mockery of violent men and demons who had their way with Him. He is the ram caught in the thicket. He is the innocent One who dies for the guilty. His death is our Life. His Flesh is our Bread. His Blood sustains us.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The Lord provided. He provided Jesus.
But Jesus is not dead either. He came through death also, though in a different way. He paid the ransom, emptied the devil of his strength, and reconciled all mankind to His Father. His love for the Father and for you never wavered, never doubted, never weakened. For this reason the Father glorified Him by raising Him from the dead.
Righteousness was not reckoned to Him. It is who He is. He is the Righteous One. He rested in the tomb for three days. Then He took up His Life again and as a Man He rose from the dead. Death was spent; it had done its worst, it has no more power. And death could not hold Him. He brings life out of death.
Before Abraham was, I AM. He is the God of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, who are not dead, but living. For He is the life-giving living God of the living. He is also and will now forever be, a Man; one of us, joined to our flesh, bone of our bones. And now, as true God and true Man, having completed the work of His Father, He is seated at the right hand of power and will raise men from the dust on the last day.
And as the Father had sent Him, so now the crucified and risen Christ sends His Apostles, with His Spirit, in His stead and by His command, to all the earth to make you His. He died and rose for you. By His grace you believe and are baptized. You hear His Word which creates and sustains faith. And it is reckoned to you as righteousness. He declares you to be His child.
Whoever keeps My Word will never see death. This is for you, and your children and grandchildren, for all those whom our Lord calls to Himself. This is the fate of all who believe in Christ. Abraham is not dead. Neither is Edna, nor any of your loved ones who have preceded you in the faith. They live. They kept Jesus’ Word in their hearts. They said their “Amens” to His truth and, though we set ours aside for a couple weeks in anticipation of the Resurrection, they now they sing their “Glorias” with all the saints and angels. They have not seen death.
Jesus’ Word is true. You will pass through death and go on to the bosom of Abraham, to the company of saints, to life eternal in Jesus. Even now you will join your voice to theirs around the holy Altar of Christ, your High Priest and Mediator. He brings the Holy Place to you in His Body and Blood. The Lord provides.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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