Genesis 22:1-14; Hebrews 9:11-15; St John 8:42-59
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Since the beginning of Epiphany we have been following our Lord in His ministry to the crowds and apostles. Ash Wednesday heightened our attention not only to Christ Jesus, His person and work, but also increased our focus on and repentance of our own sin. It is in love for His Father and for you that drove our Lord Christ, in faithful obedience, to the Cross to be your one Mediator and Atoning Sacrifice for the forgiveness of all your sins. Hence your song is a love unknown among men, on earth or in heaven, your Savior’s love to you.
Today is Judica. Passion Sunday. We begin to contemplate more directly the sorrowful happenings of the last year of our Lord’s earthly life. This morning you hear the vehement hatred with which the enemies of our Lord Jesus attack Him. Saying He has a demon and blaspheming God in order to falsely condemn Jesus. This all finally breaks out on Good Friday in the most frightful of all crimes, in the vilest abuse of justice in all the sad history of men. Then all time seems to wane to a slow walk during the holiest week of the year (even more so than any spring break) culminating in the glory of the Cross on which hung the Salvation of the world.
The liturgy accents our grief. The Alleluias were dropped in Pre-Lent. They are unsung for 70 days. The Gloria in Excelsis left on Ash Wednesday. Today the Gloria Patri is taken away and the crucifixes are already veiled in mourning, corresponding to our Lord’s own action from the Gospel: They pick up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple. He will return. He shall come and clear the Temple of its idolatry and works righteousness in order to make room for Himself, for the Once-For-All-Sacrifice.
And so our hearts are overcast and penetrated with shame as we think on the price of our sins. The storm is rising and it is not only the evil rabbis and the lustful mob that yell “crucify Him,” it is also the Father who hates Jesus. His wrath strikes out at the Man made a worm. The Holy One has become sin and a curse for the sake of His guilty brethren. For us. “Oh who am I, that for my sake, my Lord should take frail flesh and die?” Who dares think on such a thing?
Consider the Epistle to the Hebrews: When Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect skeine (the tent not made with hands) He entered once for all into the Holy Places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. He is the Mediator of the New Testament in His Blood. For He is the Lamb of God slain for the sins of the world. He is not an unblemished offering for the rich, or a goat or a bull, but the Lamb, provided by God Himself, which is God Himself in the flesh, offered as Substitute for all you Isaacs. He is your Christ.
This is why He came to the Temple, built on Mount Moriah, the same place God had commanded Abraham to take his only son, whom he loved, and offer him as a whole burnt offering. The Angel of the Lord who redeemed the child of Abraham now comes as a Man to offer proof of His divinity to the children of Abraham. But they would not. Unlike their father according to the flesh, but not in faith, their hearts are hard, their consciences calloused.
They are not children of Abraham. They are begotten of their father the devil. A liar and murderer from the beginning. And as hard as it is to hear, their genealogy is ours as well. You are conceived and born in sin. By nature an enemy and hater of God. Lacking fear, love, and trust in Him above all things. You receive the very inheritance of the devil in your own body, marked nearly forty days ago with ash: death.
This is why the Old Testament sacrifices were instituted: to give you a bloody picture of the cost of your redemption. Every goat whose throat was slit, every lamb who was set on fire, every messy clump of meat bloodily sacrificed preached what you deserved - death. Do not wriggle in disgust. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
But the blood of goats and calves can no more redeem than the blood of a beloved son of a father. It can no more redeem you than Abraham being stained with Isaac’s blood could have redeemed him. This is why Christ comes to the Temple, to the Mercy Seat, to prepare Himself for the once for all Sacrifice that purifies your conscience from dead works and dead idols to serve the living God in everlasting righteousness and innocence forever.
So He refers to Himself by the Divine Name, and rather than falling down in worship and praise, selfish men pick up stones in order to kill Him.
Abraham, the father of God’s people, trusted in the divine promises of the Seed. He longed for and rejoiced to see the day of the Messiah’s Incarnation and Atonement. He saw it and was glad.
Did he see it in the near sacrifice of Isaac and in the providence of the ram caught in the thicket? He named that placed not “the Lord provided,” but The Lord will provide. Abraham saw more than the temporary reprieve of Isaac. By faith he saw the future.
The Lord will provide in the Temple built on that same mountain. He provides the ram, so also He provides on Mount Golgotha the sacrifice of His only Son, His beloved Son, the Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world. Did Abraham see Good Friday in a vision or in some other prophecy or type and so rejoice? Did he see it from heaven like Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration? Or the prophets who stood in the council of the Lord?
I don’t know. Perhaps the answer is all, or any, or some other way. All that matters is that Abraham saw it and rejoiced.
So should we. We should rejoice in the death of Jesus Christ because it is that unjust death that causes Abraham to believe and live. By the substitute for his son, Abraham received Isaac back alive. They see and rejoice.
But the Jews in our Gospel text do not. They do not rejoice, but revolt. Why? Well, I’m afraid I need to drag you into some grammar here. It can’t be helped. The Word became Flesh. Language matters. Precision saves lives.
Firstly, the Name our Lord gives to Moses from the burning bush, “I AM WHO I AM,” is spoken in the first person. The LORD says, I AM. That is His Name. He is the One who is. The living, true God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - in contrast to all idols and creatures. Pharaoh isn’t. His gods aren’t. We aren’t. Only God is. He says, I AM.
But Moses immediately changes the name in Hebrew from I AM to HE IS. He conjugates the verb. Moses isn’t speaking of himself; he is speaking of the LORD. So he doesn’t say I AM, but HE IS. The name YHWH or in your KJV, Jehovah, is the Divine Name. A Name the Jews, in fear of God according to the Second Commandment, refused to say aloud. When they read Scripture and came across the Name YHWH they’d substitute Adonai, the Hebrew word Lord. Lower case. When you read LORD in all capitals in your Bible, or bulletin, or hymnal - it really ought to be this way in the Benediction, but for some reason its not - that is this name, I AM.
Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it.
The ESV gets the translation of Abraham’s verb wrong. Jesus doesn’t say, Before Abraham was, I was, using the past tense of ‘is’ for Abraham or Himself. He actually says, Before Abraham came to be, I AM. Jesus isn’t just saying He’s older than Abraham. He is saying that before Abraham was even born, HE IS. He isn’t created, nor made, but begotten from all eternity by His Father who glorifies Him. Before Abraham came to be, our LORD is. He never wasn’t. He always will be.
Its subtle, but important. The Jews picked up on it. That’s why they picked up stones to stone Him. The Name they refused to say, to even take on their lips when reading Holy Scripture aloud, they Name that Moses conjugated, the Divine Name, Jesus not only speaks, but applies to Himself. HE IS the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. HE IS the God who stopped Abraham from sacrificing his little boy. HE IS the God who swore by Himself to make an oath with Abraham. Jesus didn’t say what Moses said. He said what was said from the burning bush. Before Abraham, I AM.
That’s why they wanted to stone Him. Blasphemy. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple. But He would be back. For the LORD provides Himself the Sacrifice. He is the scapegoat. He is the peace offering. He is the whole burnt offering and the grain offering and the meal offering. He is the Promise and the Fulfillment. He is the Messiah. He is the Seed of the Woman who crushes the head of the serpent.
And He comes to the Temple to show Himself, that He might fulfill all things and redeem man. He becomes sin order to take the place of all your Isaacs, to be the Great High Priest, to rescue you from your false father the devil and reconcile you to your Father in heaven who adopts you as children and heirs with Abraham of the promise.
The liturgy is accented with grief, to be sure, for we are sinful men, full of vice, hatred, and lust. But the liturgy also hints at joy. It expects with eagerness the King of Glory who comes to save us. He has sent out His Light and Truth. He leads you to His Holy Hill and the Altar of God, to God your exceeding joy. To the New Testament in His Blood which purifies your conscience and upholds you with His free Spirit. Why are you cast down, dear Christian, why are you in turmoil? Here might you stay and sing, no story so divine! You shall spend all your days in sweet praise of your King.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Since the beginning of Epiphany we have been following our Lord in His ministry to the crowds and apostles. Ash Wednesday heightened our attention not only to Christ Jesus, His person and work, but also increased our focus on and repentance of our own sin. It is in love for His Father and for you that drove our Lord Christ, in faithful obedience, to the Cross to be your one Mediator and Atoning Sacrifice for the forgiveness of all your sins. Hence your song is a love unknown among men, on earth or in heaven, your Savior’s love to you.
Today is Judica. Passion Sunday. We begin to contemplate more directly the sorrowful happenings of the last year of our Lord’s earthly life. This morning you hear the vehement hatred with which the enemies of our Lord Jesus attack Him. Saying He has a demon and blaspheming God in order to falsely condemn Jesus. This all finally breaks out on Good Friday in the most frightful of all crimes, in the vilest abuse of justice in all the sad history of men. Then all time seems to wane to a slow walk during the holiest week of the year (even more so than any spring break) culminating in the glory of the Cross on which hung the Salvation of the world.
The liturgy accents our grief. The Alleluias were dropped in Pre-Lent. They are unsung for 70 days. The Gloria in Excelsis left on Ash Wednesday. Today the Gloria Patri is taken away and the crucifixes are already veiled in mourning, corresponding to our Lord’s own action from the Gospel: They pick up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple. He will return. He shall come and clear the Temple of its idolatry and works righteousness in order to make room for Himself, for the Once-For-All-Sacrifice.
And so our hearts are overcast and penetrated with shame as we think on the price of our sins. The storm is rising and it is not only the evil rabbis and the lustful mob that yell “crucify Him,” it is also the Father who hates Jesus. His wrath strikes out at the Man made a worm. The Holy One has become sin and a curse for the sake of His guilty brethren. For us. “Oh who am I, that for my sake, my Lord should take frail flesh and die?” Who dares think on such a thing?
Consider the Epistle to the Hebrews: When Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect skeine (the tent not made with hands) He entered once for all into the Holy Places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. He is the Mediator of the New Testament in His Blood. For He is the Lamb of God slain for the sins of the world. He is not an unblemished offering for the rich, or a goat or a bull, but the Lamb, provided by God Himself, which is God Himself in the flesh, offered as Substitute for all you Isaacs. He is your Christ.
This is why He came to the Temple, built on Mount Moriah, the same place God had commanded Abraham to take his only son, whom he loved, and offer him as a whole burnt offering. The Angel of the Lord who redeemed the child of Abraham now comes as a Man to offer proof of His divinity to the children of Abraham. But they would not. Unlike their father according to the flesh, but not in faith, their hearts are hard, their consciences calloused.
They are not children of Abraham. They are begotten of their father the devil. A liar and murderer from the beginning. And as hard as it is to hear, their genealogy is ours as well. You are conceived and born in sin. By nature an enemy and hater of God. Lacking fear, love, and trust in Him above all things. You receive the very inheritance of the devil in your own body, marked nearly forty days ago with ash: death.
This is why the Old Testament sacrifices were instituted: to give you a bloody picture of the cost of your redemption. Every goat whose throat was slit, every lamb who was set on fire, every messy clump of meat bloodily sacrificed preached what you deserved - death. Do not wriggle in disgust. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
But the blood of goats and calves can no more redeem than the blood of a beloved son of a father. It can no more redeem you than Abraham being stained with Isaac’s blood could have redeemed him. This is why Christ comes to the Temple, to the Mercy Seat, to prepare Himself for the once for all Sacrifice that purifies your conscience from dead works and dead idols to serve the living God in everlasting righteousness and innocence forever.
So He refers to Himself by the Divine Name, and rather than falling down in worship and praise, selfish men pick up stones in order to kill Him.
Abraham, the father of God’s people, trusted in the divine promises of the Seed. He longed for and rejoiced to see the day of the Messiah’s Incarnation and Atonement. He saw it and was glad.
Did he see it in the near sacrifice of Isaac and in the providence of the ram caught in the thicket? He named that placed not “the Lord provided,” but The Lord will provide. Abraham saw more than the temporary reprieve of Isaac. By faith he saw the future.
The Lord will provide in the Temple built on that same mountain. He provides the ram, so also He provides on Mount Golgotha the sacrifice of His only Son, His beloved Son, the Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world. Did Abraham see Good Friday in a vision or in some other prophecy or type and so rejoice? Did he see it from heaven like Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration? Or the prophets who stood in the council of the Lord?
I don’t know. Perhaps the answer is all, or any, or some other way. All that matters is that Abraham saw it and rejoiced.
So should we. We should rejoice in the death of Jesus Christ because it is that unjust death that causes Abraham to believe and live. By the substitute for his son, Abraham received Isaac back alive. They see and rejoice.
But the Jews in our Gospel text do not. They do not rejoice, but revolt. Why? Well, I’m afraid I need to drag you into some grammar here. It can’t be helped. The Word became Flesh. Language matters. Precision saves lives.
Firstly, the Name our Lord gives to Moses from the burning bush, “I AM WHO I AM,” is spoken in the first person. The LORD says, I AM. That is His Name. He is the One who is. The living, true God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - in contrast to all idols and creatures. Pharaoh isn’t. His gods aren’t. We aren’t. Only God is. He says, I AM.
But Moses immediately changes the name in Hebrew from I AM to HE IS. He conjugates the verb. Moses isn’t speaking of himself; he is speaking of the LORD. So he doesn’t say I AM, but HE IS. The name YHWH or in your KJV, Jehovah, is the Divine Name. A Name the Jews, in fear of God according to the Second Commandment, refused to say aloud. When they read Scripture and came across the Name YHWH they’d substitute Adonai, the Hebrew word Lord. Lower case. When you read LORD in all capitals in your Bible, or bulletin, or hymnal - it really ought to be this way in the Benediction, but for some reason its not - that is this name, I AM.
Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it.
The ESV gets the translation of Abraham’s verb wrong. Jesus doesn’t say, Before Abraham was, I was, using the past tense of ‘is’ for Abraham or Himself. He actually says, Before Abraham came to be, I AM. Jesus isn’t just saying He’s older than Abraham. He is saying that before Abraham was even born, HE IS. He isn’t created, nor made, but begotten from all eternity by His Father who glorifies Him. Before Abraham came to be, our LORD is. He never wasn’t. He always will be.
Its subtle, but important. The Jews picked up on it. That’s why they picked up stones to stone Him. The Name they refused to say, to even take on their lips when reading Holy Scripture aloud, they Name that Moses conjugated, the Divine Name, Jesus not only speaks, but applies to Himself. HE IS the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. HE IS the God who stopped Abraham from sacrificing his little boy. HE IS the God who swore by Himself to make an oath with Abraham. Jesus didn’t say what Moses said. He said what was said from the burning bush. Before Abraham, I AM.
That’s why they wanted to stone Him. Blasphemy. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple. But He would be back. For the LORD provides Himself the Sacrifice. He is the scapegoat. He is the peace offering. He is the whole burnt offering and the grain offering and the meal offering. He is the Promise and the Fulfillment. He is the Messiah. He is the Seed of the Woman who crushes the head of the serpent.
And He comes to the Temple to show Himself, that He might fulfill all things and redeem man. He becomes sin order to take the place of all your Isaacs, to be the Great High Priest, to rescue you from your false father the devil and reconcile you to your Father in heaven who adopts you as children and heirs with Abraham of the promise.
The liturgy is accented with grief, to be sure, for we are sinful men, full of vice, hatred, and lust. But the liturgy also hints at joy. It expects with eagerness the King of Glory who comes to save us. He has sent out His Light and Truth. He leads you to His Holy Hill and the Altar of God, to God your exceeding joy. To the New Testament in His Blood which purifies your conscience and upholds you with His free Spirit. Why are you cast down, dear Christian, why are you in turmoil? Here might you stay and sing, no story so divine! You shall spend all your days in sweet praise of your King.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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