Lent 3 - G - 2014 - Bridegroom and Bride at the Well

The Third Sunday of Lent

March 23, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Exodus 17:1-7             Romans 5:1-8              John 4:5-30, 39-42

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  In today’s world, there are all sorts of place where spouses meet.  Perhaps at a dance hall, or in college.  Maybe on Eharmony.com or Christian Mingle, or one of the other of dozens places advertised on Radio and T.V.  But thousands of years ago, things were a bit different.  In the Old Testament times, wells were the gathering place for people to talk, to gossip, to visit, and most importantly, to meet your future spouse.  Yes, wells in ancient Israel were the hot spots for dating.  Abraham sent a servant to Haran to find a wife for his Son Isaac, and it was there at a well, in the late evening, that the servant first met Rebekah, the future Mrs. Isaac, the very literal answer to the prayer he had just prayed. 

It was not many years later, that Isaacs and Rebekah’s son Jacob too, having run away from his brother Esau who sought to kill him for stealing the birthright, fell down at the same well, and met for the first time his future wife Rachel.  Jacob worked 14 years for Rachel’s father Laban, so that he might marry Rachel. 

Moses, some 400 years later, also fled Egypt, having murdered a slave master.  He too, after wandering in the desert sat down next to a well, and met the seven daughters of Jethro, including one named Zipporah.  Moses helped them water their flocks at the well, and soon he too married Zipporah as his wife. 

And so it is in our Gospel lesson today, that Jesus too, the fulfillment of the nation of Israel sits down at the edge of a well dug by his Father Jacob many years earlier.  And who should come, but a woman, who is not married.  But unlike the virginal young madiens of the Old Testament, the woman who comes to see Jesus is not so seemingly righteous.  She’s been married before, not just once, not just twice, but five times before.  And now, she lives outside of marriage with a man who is in fact not her husband, but instead a live in boyfriends if you will.  And what’s worse, this woman is a Samaritan, a people who were despised by the Israelites. 

The woman comes not in the evening when the sun was setting and it was cool and crisp to draw water, but instead she comes in the middle of the day, when no one will be there to judge her and the life of sin that she has chosen.  After all, we are embarrassed by our sin, just as she was.  But as she quietly and quickly seeks to draw her water for the day, Jesus speaks to her, asking her to draw some water up for him to drink. 

The woman is taken aback.  How can a Jew talk to a Samaritan woman?  Especially one who is outcast of her own society because of her sin?  Jesus goes on, “If you knew who I was, the bridegroom of all Israel, you would ask me, and I would give you living water to drink, and you would never thirst again!”  This sounds good to the woman, no more drawing water in the heat of the day, no more walks out of town to the well.  Instead no more thirst.  So she asks for this water from Jesus.

And its then that Jesus cuts to the chase, “Go get your husband so that I can give it to you both,” confronting the woman with her sin.  She sheepishly looks to the ground and tells Jesus a half truth, “I have no husband.”  “You’re right,” Jesus responds, “you’ve had five, and the man you’re with now is not your husband.” 

There’s no going around it, the woman’s sin has been called out.  She knows that God knows the truth about her life, and her lack of holiness.  She knows that He knows.  And she’s terrified.  The Bridegroom Jesus has arrived at the well, and the bride has been found wanting.  The Groom has arrived, and the Bride has fallen short of her end of the bargain. 

No dear friends, I’m not talking about Jesus being married in the way that we think about it.  I mean in the eternal, heavenly way, the way in which you and I and all people of the world are supposed to be the Holy Precious Bride of Christ.  We are supposed to be united with Jesus forever.  We’re supposed to be taken care of by Him, to live in the home he’s prepared in heaven.  And in return, we’re supposed to be Holy and pure, beautiful and radiant for him.  But the problem is, we’re not.  We’re sinful.  We’ve whored ourselves out to false Gods and sinful desires.  We’re all adulterers, not just once or twice, not even just five times like the woman at the well, but over and over again, each and every day. 

Yes, dear friends, you as a sinner are that bride whose found wanting.  You’ve sinned.  Not just in adultery as the woman in our text, but also by all the other commandments as well.  When Christ the bridegroom looks at you, he shouldn’t want you because of your sin.  He shouldn’t want you because you’ve done evil in thought word and deed.  He shouldn’t want you. 

But he does.  He cares about you, just as he cares about this poor Samaritan woman in our text.  He loves you enough that he will point out to you where you’ve fallen short, telling you of your sin, whether it be five husbands, or swearing once.  Not only that but he also will still promise to give you the water of life from the well of God.  He meets you at a well, no not a water well for watering animals, but a shallow well sitting right here in the church.  The well of the baptismal font.  There, in baptismal waters, you are washed in the water of life, made clean, made sparkling, and where Christ makes you his sinful dirty bride, holy and sparkling.  He assigns his own righteousness upon you. 

And then, having washed you and made you clean in baptismal waters, he robes you in the white robe of his righteousness, and brings you to the wedding feast, here at this altar.  There you eat his body and blood, why?  To forgive your sins.  To make you holy.  So that by eating the foretaste of that wedding feast you might receive the life of Christ, and salvation in his name. 

And Jesus loves you so much, that he’s willing to give up all he has to make you into his beautiful bride.  He fulfills Ephesians chapter 5, promising to love you his bride so much that he’s willing to give up his life to care for you.  He’s willing to bleed, he’s willing die, he’s willing to give up all that he has to make you well again.  And he does, on the cross, giving up all to make you his bride holy.  He gives his life, so that it might be your life.  He gives his blood that it might wash you.  He gives his body into suffering, so that you might not.  He forgives you sins on the cross. 

Dear friends, today’s story is a wedding story – and you're the bride.  You're the one Christ wants, and loves.  You're the one he meets and washes at the well.  You're the one he brings to the wedding feast.  You’re the one he gives up all he has to care for.  And so thus, your sin is forgiven forever, and you are the beautiful, holy, precious bride of Christ.  Even forever more.  Amen.  

Proper 13 - G - 2012 - Jesus the Buffet King?

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 13

August 5, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Exodus 16:2-15           Ephesians 4:1-16         John 6:22-35

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, You can imagine that with three boy children, one of my parents favorite places (and ours!) were all you can eat buffets.  Loads and loads of food without limits, all at one manageable low cost.  My brothers and I prided ourselves in getting our monies worth – or even more than our monies worth.  We would have contests to see who could eat more plates full of food, often times getting into the double digits.  We would gorge and stuff ourselves on food.  It is almost embarrassing to talk about!  And finally when we were all done, when we had eaten our fill, we’d make the comment, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat another bite.”

But meals would come again; we’d be hungry again just a few hours after filling up.  The next day we would eat just as much food all over again – because no matter how full you are of food, you always will need to eat more to survive. 

It’s this idea that is behind our text today.  Jesus has fed the people, five thousand of them to be exact, with only a few loaves and fishes.  And as our text said two weeks ago, when the meal was done, they were satisfied, they were full, they couldn’t eat another bite.  It was the end of an all you can eat buffet.  The people were so excited about their free food, that as they talked after the meal, the apostle John writes that they were going to make Jesus king by force.  Why?  Free food!  They wanted Jesus to be the Buffet King of Israel, the guy who provided food for them, the guy who let them eat every day to their fill. 

But that’s not what Jesus wants, so he hightails it out of there, walking across the Sea of Galilee, before they can make him the bread buffet king.  And thus our text today.  When the people finally find Jesus, when they finally catch up after running all the way around the Sea, they feign surprise, “Lord, what are you doing here?” they say “fancy meeting you here Jesus”.  But what is really on their mind?  Food.  Feed me Jesus.  I’m hungry.  Give me something to eat, and give it to me now.  I want more buffet.  I want more.  Gimme gimme gimme gimme!

But Jesus cuts to the chase, “You seek me, not because of who I am, but rather because you ate your fill of the loaves.”  But even if I feed you that bread again, you’ll be hungry.  Even if you eat bread every day for the rest of your lives, you will still face death.  You see, dear friends, Jesus has so much more than earthly care for us.  He’s much more than a buffet king, he’s a life king, an eternal king, and most importantly a forgiving king.  He’s the bread of life, the gift of God that keeps people alive forevermore, as their sin is gone in Jesus forever. 

What about you, dear Christians?  How often do you hunger for the things of this world, the things that will pass away, that won’t truly and eternally satisfy you.  How often do you want God to give you a worldly buffet of goodies, on your terms, with your timetable, while ignoring what he really wants to give you?  How often do you chase after God, do you come here to this place, hoping that by being a good enough person God will reward you monetarily?  Truly, truly, I say to you, if this is true, you are seeking God, not because you saw signs, but because you want your fill of the loaves, your fill of the world, and your fill of your desires.  And God will have nothing to do with it. 

Dear friends, dear sinners, hear God’s word, through the mouth of the Son of God, “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”  In other words, Jesus is the thing that satisfies.  No matter how much money you have, without Jesus, it doesn’t matter.  No matter how nice a car you drive, without the Bread of Life, it is worthless.  No matter what you do, what you want, how you get, without Jesus it is just a chasing after the wind. 

But Jesus really satisfies.  Jesus really provides.  Jesus really gives what he says he does.  And when Jesus the bread of life comes to you with his gifts, you know they won’t just disappear the next day, needing to be filled by something else. 

The bread of life fills you so that you never hunger again.  He fills you with forgiveness, earned through his own deafeat of sin on the bloody cross.  He fills you with salvation, as he dies for your sins of want and selfish gain.  He fills you with life, life that surpasses all your understandings and imaginations – life with peace, and comfort before the throne of God.  You see, dear friends, the bread of life suffers so that you don’t have to.

So today, come and eat from the altar on which sits the bread of life that was nailed to the cross – and be filled.  Come and eat, and be satisfied with Jesus body in with and under the bread.  Come and drink, and be satisfied with the blood that poured out of his hands and side, drink the drink that in with and under contains blood for forgiveness, life and salvation for you.  Come and receive the gracious gifts of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ.  Come and be satisfied. 

You see, when I was a child, I’d go to the buffet and eat and eat, and still be hungry.  But with Jesus, I never hunger again.  For he gives me faith that fills me, faith that makes me well.  Faith that satisfies the hungry soul forever.  Amen.  

Pentecost - OT - 2012 - Dead Bones Alive

Pentecost Sunday

May 20, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Ezekiel 37:1-14                       Acts 1:1-21                 John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament lesson just read, especially these words, “Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ:  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  Its true, it happened this way.  God made everything you see, and then to finish His work of creation, he made man out of the very dust of the earth and breathed the very breath of life into him.  He knelt down, got dirty, and caused that first man to breathe.  And thus began life, your life was given there.  The life of the world came from the source of life, the breath of God – the very spirit of God

But as you know, it didn’t last long.  Our forefathers and mothers fell into sin in a very short matter of time.  And as soon as sin was a part of their lives, so too was the consequence – Death!  Death that effects you and me, death that we fear and dread.  Death that hurts us and our loved ones. 

That deadly sin is there in you.  That deadly sin is in me.  And that deadly sin was in the people of Israel 3000 years ago when the prophet Ezekiel wrote the words of our Old Testament text.  For years before that time, the people of Israel had been warned – turn away from your sin.  Stop blaspheming the name of God.  Stop turning your back on him.  Stop ignoring the preaching of his word.  Stop despising your authorities, stop hurting people stop fighting. And despite years of warnings, generations of warnings, the people continued in their sin.  And so they were conquered by foreign armies.  Their people were killed and those who were left alive were carried off into exile. 

They were dead bones.  The Lord says to Ezekiel, “these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”  The gifts of the Lord had departed them in their sin, and all that was left was death, ruin and damnation.  Because of their sin, they died.  Because of their sin, their lives ended. 

And dear friends in Christ, because of your sin, the same fate awaits you.  Because of your sin too, you will be dry bones one day – and yes, even now you are already dry bones – dead in sin yet still alive for a time here on earth.  You’re dead in sin.  You’re gone, your bones are dried up, your hope is so often lost and you often feel dried up. 

You are guilty, just as those ancient peoples were.  You too have turned your back on God.  You blaspheme, you dislike preaching – especially if it hits too close to home.  You fight with each other – even with those whom you love the most.  You lust, you curse you swear.  You hate authorities and you do more and worse than even this.  You’ve turned your back on the God who knelt down next to you and breathed life into your body.  You!  You’re a sinner – and the sinner must die. 

Its uncomfortable isn’t it?  Knowing that when Ezekiel sees a valley of dry, dead bones, that it is you that he sees.  That your flesh has rotted away, and that your situation is as bad as last year’s dead cow lying in the field. 

But hear what God tells Ezekiel about the dry bones of Israel.  Hear what God says to you dry bones!  “I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

He will open your grave, dear Christians.  He will put the sinews back on your bones – as he does in the valley of dry bones.  He will build again the flesh of your body out of the dust into which it will rot.  He will put the hair back on your head, the skin back on your body.  He will recreate you, just as he created our first parents in the very beginning.  And for you, dear friend on that last day he will kneel down next to your recreated body, and breathe into you and give you life.  The Holy Spirit will enter you again and you will be raised forever.  The breath will come into you, and you will live and stand on your feet.

How can this be?  It is the work of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  God the Father will rebuild your body.  Why?  Because God the Son has suffered and died in its place.  He gave up all he had, his life, his blood, and more so that you would not have to remain a dead dry bone.  And now, today on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon you to create and sustain faith in each one of you that looks to the blood bought sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Its this Holy Spirit that calls you by the Gospel, enlightens you with his gifts, and makes you holy keeping you in the one true faith.  This is most certainly true. 

And so dear friends, it is this Holy Spirit that Ezekiel prophesies to.  It is this Holy Spirit that comes to you today, making you alive again. Pointing you only to Jesus Christ who takes away the stain of sin, death and the devil.  Its this Holy Spirit, the very breath of God, that enters your cold dead bones, and makes you alive again forever – an Army of the Lord. 

In the beginning, God created man in his image.  He formed him out of the dust of the earth, and breathed the very life giving Spirit into his lungs to give him life.  Man turned away and died, but again, God will breathe that spirit into those who believe in Jesus.  He will raise all the dead, and give eternal life to all who believe.  This is most certainly true.  Amen.    

Confirmation - G - 2012 - Dead Branches Made Alive with Promise

Confirmation Sunday - Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 6, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Acts 8:26-40               1 John 4:1-21              John 15:1-8

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen!  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, especially our confirmands today.  Today we celebrate confirmation.  Today we celebrate the bold public confession that two young people from our parish make, that they believe in Jesus and would rather be killed, that they would rather die than renounce their faith.  It’s a huge promise.  It’s a bold promise, with years of Sunday School and years of confirmation study leading up to this day.  It’s a difficult promise to make, especially in this day and age, when faith is laughed at, ridiculed, and often forgotten. It’s a promise made here in the very presence of God.  And dear friends, it is a promise that all of you who are confirmed have made as well. 

In a few minutes we will turn to page 273 in your hymnal and ask these questions.  Do you intend to live according to the Word of God , and in faith, word and deed to remain true to God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, even to death?  Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church, and to suffer all even death, rather than fall away from it?  Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?  In other words will you come to church regularly?  Will you participate?  Will you give to the church of your time and talents?  And will you continue to do this – whatever the circumstances – until at last your life comes to its end?

Today, (Betsy/Theresia) will make this promise.  And many of you have made this same promise.  So how well have you done?  How well will you do?  Have you kept your promise to God?  And I don’t mean just a little bit, or even 99% of the time, have you kept your promise completely and totally?  And will you, young confirmand, will you keep it as well? 

I am the vine, and you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  You promise today to be a faithful branch, to remain connected to the vine, to bear fruit in this church, and in every part of your life forever more.  We make that promise, and then we forget about it.  We move on with our life, we “graduate” from church and have more important things to do with our time. 

We don’t have time to serve on a church committee or board.  We don’t have extra money to give to our church.  The world offers us all sorts of other activities to do on Sunday mornings – many of them important no doubt, many of them maybe even more fun than church.  We can’t seem to find just one hour, maybe an hour and a half if the sermon is long, to come to church.  We become dead branches.  We don’t bear the fruit we promise in our confirmation.  We are cut off from the church and as our text says, deserving to be burned in the eternal fire.  Because of your sin, you are a dead branch. 

But today, on confirmation day, Christ speaks to you, and as the text says, “you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”  And the word that Christ speaks to each one of you confirmands, both past and present, is this:  “God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

God loves you dear confirmands.  He knows that you have sinned, and still he has sent his only Son into the world to die on your behalf.  He takes your sin away.  He rescues you from sin death and the devil.  He purchases and wins you as his own, not with gold and silver, but with his holy precious blood, and innocent suffering and death.  He delivers you from evil, calls you by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and now will sanctify and keep you in the true faith.  And he does it all because of his love for you.

Dear confirmands, you are grafted back onto the vine.  He takes you a dead branch, and firmly reattaches you to himself, using his own blood shed for sin as the glue.  He sends eternal life coursing through your veins, raising you to life in baptismal waters.  He feeds you with his own body and blood, so that you can blossom and grow in the true faith and so that you can bear much fruit in service to your neighbor.  And all of this he does only out of his divine goodness and mercy, without and worthiness or merit in you at all.  That’s his love.  And it is for you, you dead branch, so that you might become alive once more, and this time forever. 

Dear friends, that’s our confession of faith.  That’s what the catechism says because that is exactly what scripture says.  You poor sinner are rescued because Jesus loved you and give his life for you.  Today is not really about you at all.  It’s not really about what you are promising to do for God, it isn’t about what you should do or worse what you have failed to do.  Its about what Christ has done.  He created you.  He baptized you into his own Triune Name.  He brought you here today, and he will be with you as you go throughout the rest of your life. 

He will guard and keep you in the one true faith as you grow older.  He’ll be with you as you leave for college.  He’ll be there when you finally get married.  He’ll serve you as your hair turns gray and as your body slowly falls apart.  He promises.  And dear friends, he will raise you from the dead to serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. 

“I am the vine,” Jesus says “and you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ” 

Dear friends, dear confirmands both young and old, both this years and those from years gone by, today is Confirmation Day.  Today is the day for promises, promises made by God, sealed by Jesus’ blood, and given to you freely by your gracious and loving God.  You have overcome the world, for he who promises to dwell with in you in greater than the world.  You are dead branches who are made alive again in Christ.  Amen.  

Tre Ore 2012

First Word:  Luke 23:32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  And they cast lots to divide his garments.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Christ’s first words as he bleeds and dies nailed to a cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  The first words that Jesus speaks from the cross are words of forgiveness.  Father, forgive them.  These words echoed out from the cross, even to today.  The reason we are here today is because we know we need forgiveness.  We know we need forgiveness, because there is so much sin within each one of us.  So much sin that separates us from God.  So much hurt and pain and so much anger.  The vast chasm that our sin creates separates us from God.  It is so large and so unwieldy that we can do nothing to change it or to overcome it. 

Murder, hate, lust, adultery, gossip, selfishness and pride.  Friends, we don’t know what we are doing.  So often our sin does what we know is wrong, what we know we shouldn’t do.  So often do we know that we are guilty, just as guilty as those who hammered nails into the hands and feet of Jesus, the Son of the Living God, who pierced His side with a spear.  But friends, Jesus’ first words are as much a prayer for you as they are for those who were there that fateful day.  And Jesus’ prayer isn’t only a request or a plea.  Jesus’ prayer is one that is answered.  For it is in Jesus’ own blood poured out that Good Friday from His body, in His own death, that He earns forgiveness for you.  “Father, forgive them, even though they don’t know what they do” Jesus’ prayer says, “and punish me in their place.”  We have full and complete forgiveness in the death of Jesus. 

Second Word:  Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.  Today!  Right now!  Jesus makes a promise to that man on the cross.  He doesn’t say, “Maybe you will be with me in paradise.”  He doesn’t say, “Perhaps”, or “Tomorrow”, or “when I get around to it”.  Jesus says “today”.  It isn’t something that is in doubt.  It isn’t something that you need to worry about.  It is something that we have Today!!  Right now!  Today Jesus has suffered for me.  Today his blood covers me.  Today I am his holy precious child in the faith He pours out on me.  Today. 

Jesus is with me.  Jesus is here and nothing can separate me from His love.  It’s here for me Today, and all the Todays that are to come.  Salvation is now, salvation comes right now.  Salvation is yours today, because of the holy blood of Christ that spilled from his very side as he said, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”  Today.  Amen.

Third Word:  John 19:25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus thinks not of Himself, but of others.  Even as he is bleeding and dying on that Old Rugged Cross.  Even as he suffers torture and crucifixion, Jesus is thinking of others.  Here he fulfills the Fourth Commandment, “honor your father and your mother”, by instructing John to take care of Mary as John would care for his own mother.  Jesus’ concern is not with what is happening to himself, but rather how to care for you.

By doing this, Jesus is fulfilling the entire Law.  From the moment of His birth until the moment of his death, Jesus is fulfilling what we cannot.  He has kept all Ten of the Commandments, where as we have kept none.  He has obeyed God perfectly and totally, and has even now submitted himself to suffering and death on the cross.  And Jesus does it all because he is concerned with you.  Jesus does it all because He wants you to be in that same relationship with God the Father as He is in – perfect love.  As Jesus suffers in your place, he says to you, “Behold, your heavenly Father, who has adopted you in my blood.”  And to His Father He says, “Behold your son, purchased and won with my holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death.”  Amen. 

Fourth Word:  Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.  46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  These words from Psalm 22 are more often than not our words.  When we feel abandoned.  When we feel alone, or betrayed.  When we are angry or frustrated, what are our first words?  God, how could you have let this happen?  God, how could you have done this to me?  Why have you forsaken me?  Friends, in our sin, that is exactly what we deserve.  Doesn’t it make sense that if we have so blatantly and utterly turned our backs on God that He should do the same?  As we have confessed by our actions that He doesn’t exist, as we have said, “I know what scripture says, but I am still going to do my own thing.”  We have done these things, so shouldn’t God abandon us, shouldn’t He leave us alone and bound for the Hell that we deserve?

But your God does not forsake you.  Even as so many times we feel like God doesn’t care at all.  Your God has not abandoned you.  Your God has not left you alone or betrayed you.  Rather your God took on your human flesh, and was Himself forsaken in your place on a cross.  He Himself was abandoned; He himself suffered the punishment of Hell apart from God.  God turned his back on Jesus.  He was forsaken so that you yourself might not be, and might live with Him forever in His kingdom.  There you will never be far from God.  There you will never be abandoned or forsaken.  There you will never be alone, for surely your God is with you always, even to the end of the age.  Jesus was forsaken so that you might always be in palm of your God’s hand, even forever more.  Amen. 

Fifth Word:  John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.

I am Thirsty.  I need a drink.  I Thirst.  Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”   He told the woman at the well, “I will give you water to drink which you will drink and never thirst again.”  Jesus is the river of life.  Jesus has water that will satisfy.  Jesus has water that is good.  But so often, we thirst for other things, hoping that in them we will have satisfaction, that in them we will have peace, in them we will finally have our thirst quenched.  But when we partake of them, they still leave us feeling thirsty for more.  

But there is only one thing that can satisfy.  There is only one thing that can give us hope, only one thing which really will quench our thirst.  And that thing is the very love of Jesus.  The love that is so great that he will even give up his life for you, His beloved friend.  The love of Jesus which is so great that he would go to Calvary and drink the cup of God’s wrath so that you might drink the cup of God’s blessing and tenderness. 

What do you thirst for?  What things do you thirst for?  Friends, in faith we thirst for Jesus.  We thirst for His love.  We thirst for His forgiveness.  And as we do, we know that those springs of living water well up within us to everlasting life.  Amen. 

Sixth Word:  John 19:29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

It is finished!  It’s all done.  The war our own sin began so long ago in the Garden of Eden, as Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, has now been completed.  Now the battle’s o’er, the victory’s won.  The battle has raged in each one of us.  The battle raged as we fought against our God and our Lord.  So often we deigned to be our own God.  So often we claimed to be in charge of ourselves.  We’ve made our own decisions, and in them so often spit in the eye of God and told Him, “I don’t need you!  I don’t want you!  Leave me alone!”  But now the battle is o’er.  Now “It is finished.” 

It is finished because your sin has been taken on Jesus.  All of it.  Every single thing wrong, those you know about, and those you don’t know about.  It is all on Jesus.  You cannot keep any for yourself.  He has taken it, and carried it up the hill called Golgotha, and there He has killed it once and for all.  It is FINISHED!  It is finished in the past as Jesus died.  It is finished now as that grace and forgiveness come to you in the precious means of grace.  It is finished because Christ has died for you, so that you may have new life in faith and hope and love.  No longer need you be burdened by your sin – it is finished.  No longer need you worry about your guilt – it is finished.  No longer do you have to ask, “Is what I have done so wrong, that I can never be forgiven?”  It is finished, period!  Everything necessary for your salvation is FINISHED!  You cannot add or subtract from it.  It is finished.  In Jesus, you are forgiven. Amen. 

Seventh Word:  Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Father into your hands, I commit my spirit.  Jesus again praying the psalms.  Jesus praying a prayer we can offer up every day.  Into your hands, I commit my spirit.  It makes sense, doesn’t it?  After all, we are in His hands.  Nothing or no one can snatch us out.  As Christians, we live in faith toward God, and love for neighbor that says, “I belong to God.”

But so often this is not our prayer.  So often we forget we are in God’s loving hands.  So often we would like to commit our lives, or at least the moment, to something much less than God.  Sometimes we commit ourselves to that which is downright evil and sinful.  Because of that, we are so often afraid, afraid of getting caught, afraid of consequences, afraid of the unknown.  And we can be honest, we are afraid of death. 

But no child is ever afraid to go where the leader has already gone.  We have seen the game, Follow the Leader.  But no matter how bold or daring that leader might be, over the fence, through the yard, across the street, the others may follow their leader without fear. 

Today, in our last word from the cross, Jesus teaches us how to live, and he teaches us how to die.  Don’t you know that all of you who have been baptized into the death of Jesus have already died with him?  You have died in the waters of Baptism, sharing in the death that Jesus dies right here, right now in our text.  And if you have died with him, you also follow him through death into his resurrection, into his everlasting life, into heaven. 

Father into your hands, I commit my spirit, for now I follow your Son boldly into new life with you forever.  Amen.  

Palm Sunday - G - 2012 - Ride On In Majesty To Die

Palm Sunday
April 1, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Zechariah 9:9-12         Philippians 2:5-11       Processional: John 12:12-19         Gospel: John 12:20-43

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel processional lesson read earlier, along with the Old Testament Lesson, especially these words, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he”.  Thus far our text.

Rejoice, your king is coming.  Rejoice, your salvation is riding boldly into Jerusalem today.  He goes to be lifted up.  Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die!  He who prepared the world for you and me, he who has given us all we have and know, even the very breath of our lives heads into Jerusalem to what we have prepared for him.  Death on a cross. 

And yet, those people cheered him on as he entered.  A large crowd, who had entered for the Passover feast, shouts to Jesus, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”   With those words, the Son of God rides towards his suffering and death.  He boldly rides on the back of a donkey.  The crowd watches, smiling and rejoicing. 

How can it be?  The people who today shout “Hosanna” will shortly shout “Crucify him, crucify him.”  The people will force the hand of their Roman governor to kill their Jewish King.  It doesn’t make sense, how could they turn so quickly?  We judge them, we criticize them for their change of tone. 

And yet, our faces are in that crowd.  We too, today shout hosannas as Jesus rides into Jerusalem.  We too stand as Jesus rides by.  Jesus, who knows all your sin, who knows all the things you’ve done wrong.  After all he is God.  As he rides by, we know that he knows, and we wonder if he will tell.  Will he share my deepest darkest secrets with those I don’t want to know them?  He’s got to die!  It’s either him or me, and I would rather it be him, wouldn’t I?  We turn on a dime, just as those people so long ago did. 

Hosanna Jesus!  Get on to that cross, before you reveal that I struggle with alcohol!  For you know, that I always have a slight buzz, that I can’t quit drinking.  You know that it has affected my entire life, my job, my family, my friends.  Go to the cross Jesus!  Go to the cross and die!

Hosanna Jesus!  You know that my family life is falling apart.  You know that there are difficulties between my wife and I, you know that my brother won’t talk to me.  You know that I have mistreated my children, you know that I despise my mother and father every day for what they told me what right and wrong.  Go die Jesus, for I have no place for you here in my life.

Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is he, even as I am not, as I have despised God’s word.  I don’t really care for Bible Study.  I don’t really spend time in God’s Word.  I have more important things to do.  I don’t really believe in all this Christianity stuff anyways, but I have to be seen in church.  I preach sermons to myself, sermons that say I am not good enough, that I am not forgiven, that I cannot be forgiven.  Sermons that do not actually match what God’s word said.  I create my own religion on my own terms, so die Jesus for being all “holier than me”. 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!  Or so shout our lips, the same lips that just moments ago were putting down John Doe because of the situation in his life.  So shout the same lips that curse, swear, that lie and deceive.  Blessed be God is our shout one moment, and the foulest language imaginable is on our lips the next.  Sinful dogs that we are – so die Jesus!

We murder!  We steal!  We lie!  We covet!  And Jesus does none of it!  So go on Jesus and die!  Go to the cross, for you think you are better than we are!  You think you can control our lives here and now.  You aren’t the God I want, you aren’t the God I create for myself.  So go and die!  Suffer!  Bleed!  Thirst!  Go and do it, for I do not want to, and it is really what I deserve.  For it is I lord that am guilty, not you.  It is I who deserve punishment by my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.  And you Lord Jesus go where I dare not, to die for my sin.  Ride on, ride on to die.

And Jesus does.  Today, dear friends, he rides past us, knowing our sin and guilt.  Today he rides on, knowing our pain and suffering, and still he rides boldly on.  He carries the sin of those who rides past.  He carries the sin of those who in a few days will not shout, “Hosanna!” but “Crucify him!”  He carries the sin of you, of me, even as he knows you will turn on him.  He knows it, and he will not turn aside from it.  He won’t forget it, but he will die for it.  And he does all of this in your place, for you, for your forgiveness.  The death you deserve, today Jesus rides into Jerusalem to deal with. 

This most holy week, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.   And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And all of this is for you. 

Dear friends, now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  No longer will you be slave to sin.  No longer can you give into the horrible way of the world.  Satan does not rule you today, nor will he ever again.  He is weak, he is destroyed, he is defeated forever.  For Christ has shed his blood on the cross.  And so we rightly shout, “Hosanna Jesus!  Hosanna to the king, he rides on to die for the sins of the world.  To be lifted up. To take away my sin!  Hosanna!  Blessed are you Jesus” 

Christ goes to die, and he does it for you.  He goes to forgive your sin, to take it away as far as the east is from the west.  On Friday, it is finished.  On the cross, you are forgiven.  Jesus rides in to shout, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Ride on, Ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die.  O Christ, they triumphs now begin, o’er captive death and conquered sin.  Amen.

Lent 5 - G - 2012 - We Don't "Get" Glory

The Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 18, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, Jesus tells the disciples exactly what was going to happen.  “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”  Dear friends, it doesn’t get much clearer than that.  Jesus is entering his glory.  Jesus is going into Jerusalem to begin his reign, to be crowned with thorns, enthroned upon a cross, the king dying for sin. 

And yet, even as Jesus tells his disciples this is what is happening, they miss the point entirely.  That’s not the type of glory that they are used to.  They have seen kings enter Jerusalem before, they have heard of the way a Triumph was truly celebrated, and it didn’t involve crosses. 

In ancient Rome, when a king came into his glory, he rode a chariot in a parade into town.  Before him went all his troops, and all the spoils of war.  He entered through a special gate in the city, used only for showing forth the glory of a king.  He rode through the town as all its citizens came out to cheer and the trumpets blasted as they hailed this king, this Caesar as God on earth. 

That is the glory the disciples wanted.  They wanted Jesus glorified.  They wanted him shown as almighty.  They wanted him paraded around, and they wanted a piece of the action.  In our text, James and John come to Jesus and say, “O great teacher, may you live forever, give to us what we ask.  Let it be that one of us may sit on your right and one at your left in your glory.”  In other words, let us share with you in fame and wealth and praises.  Let us be a part of your power and kingdom.  Let us sit in the place of honor.  Let us share, because Lord, we have earned it.  We have followed you since the very beginning.  We were some of your very first disciples.  We have left all we have, and now, Jesus it is time for payback, especially if you expect us to support you when you enter Jerusalem.  We want reward, and we want it now.

Jesus, who had to have been disappointed by the question, responds, “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink, the cup of God’s wrath?”  Can you take the brunt of God’s punishment for sin?  Because that is the glory of Jesus – to save sinners.  And you disciples of Jesus are no longer to live in the glory of the world, the parades, the pats on the back, the accolades.  But instead, you are to serve.  For “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”

Dear friends in Christ, to be great in the church, you must be a servant.  To have glory, you have to turn everything upside down on its head, and take up your cross and follow Jesus.  But yet that is not what we want.  How often do we want the glory associated with Christianity?  I am a Christian, and so I am holier than you?  I am a Christian, so I deserve some sort of payment here on earth!  I am a Christian, so Lord give me a little more money, a nicer home, a faster car, and a healthier family and life.  Give me what I want here, and now!  Give me worldly power!

And yet in reality, we have nothing worth talking about.  We have nothing to glory in, for our lives are full of sin.  They are full of failures.  Even those small glories that we do have fade away with time.  Yes Caesar may have had his parades, but he is dead now.  Yes we may feel glad at one we have done, but it doesn’t save us.  Even with all the glory-full things we do, we are left without hope if we only look at ourselves. 

We want people to notice when we do something good.  We want someone to notice us, hoping that we will be elevated in their eyes.  To give us just a touch of glory here on earth.  And yet, when we look inwardly like that, when we seek to glorify ourselves in our neighbors eyes, to receive the rewards of this world, we lose sight of the glory of Jesus.  We take our eyes off the cross and eternity, instead looking at something that seems closer, more attainable, but fleeting. 

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  But it shall not be so among you.”  No, it shall not be so upon you, for you have no glory on earth to be found, your glory is greater.  You already have something more wonderful.  And to see it, you can’t look at yourself, your own desires, your own wants and goals, to see the glory that awaits you, you must look to Jesus. 

He explains it all, The Son of man must be lifted up, he must be turned over, spat upon and killed, and then, crucified.  In that, and only in that is true glory, revealed in the Son of God.  For as Jesus dies on the cross, he takes your sin away.  As Jesus is lifted up, he glorifies you.  As Jesus is pierced with nails, you are given new life and hope. 

You are glorified in Jesus.  IN him alone, you have something to look towards.  

Lent 2 - G - 2012 - Who do you say Jesus is?

The Second Sunday of Lent
March 4, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16             Romans 5:1-11            Mark 8:27-38

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  Thus far our text today. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Jesus asks two questions in our text today.  First – Who do people say that I am? Second – Who do you say that I am?  Who am I?  What is my identity?  And if you get this question right, that you are blessed beyond all belief, but if you get it wrong, you belong to Satan, you are setting your mind on the things of man, and Jesus will be ashamed of you on the day he comes with angels in the glory of the Father. 

So… who do people say that Jesus is?  We have heard all the answers.  Jesus is a good teacher, he shows us how to live a life worthy of God.  He shows us how to have our very best life now, and how to get along with our neighbors.  Jesus is my rich uncle who wants me to be rich as well, so long as I follow him correctly.  Jesus is a role model who shows us how to organize our community to accomplish things that benefit the greater good.  Jesus is a great prophet who gave us the 40 steps to live a purposeful life.  Jesus is an idea, a person we use to defend our own beliefs to people and places he is the person we can make say whatever we want.  Jesus has been defined as all sorts of things to all sorts of people. 

Dear friends, it is the same in our text.  When Jesus asks the disciples “Who do people think that I am?” they respond, “Some say John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”  Everyone had a different opinion.  And none of them are completely right.  Yes, there is some truth to it, but only half truths.  Jesus is a prophet, in that he proclaims the very word of God, but he is also more than a prophet.  Jesus is like Elijah in that he performs miracles, but he is more than that as well.  Jesus is a teacher, he is a role-model, he does want to share his riches with us – but it is impossible to peg Jesus by using one of these terms alone.  There is something more about Jesus, and we have to know and understand that first. 

So Jesus asks the disciples “Who do you, you twelve, you followers, who do you say that I am?”  And Peter answers right away, “You are the Christ”.  He hit the nail on the head.  Jesus must of smiled!  You’re right Peter, you got it!  You understand!  I’m the Christ!  You win the prize!  And when we hear it, we join the chorus right along with Peter!  “Duh Pastor!  Of course Jesus is the Christ, everyone knows that.”  But I ask you, what does that mean?  Who is the Christ?  What exactly does that mean? 

Peter didn’t know either, so Jesus starts to explain it.  “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  And he said this plainly.”  Wait a minute, that’s not the Jesus I want.  That’s not my friend, that’s not my role-model, that’s not my idea of who Jesus is.  What’s the deal with the death and dying business?  That’s not who I want for my Christ!  Cool down your talk Jesus, lay off your rhetoric! 

Or so Peter says.  And dear friends, so too do we.  “Cool down this death of Jesus business.  Don’t talk about bloody deaths and all that baloney.  Just leave be quiet and tell me how to make my family get along better, and tell me how to live my life in a worthy way.  Tell me what I must do to be saved, because that’s the Christ I want.  Tell me, so that I can do it all by myself.  That’s the Savior I want.”

Dear friends, Jesus only has one answer for this kind of talk, only one response to us who would reshape the Christ into who we want him to be – “Get thee behind me Satan!”  Get out of the way because the Christ must die.  He must suffer many things at the hands of unbelievers.  He can’t leave your sin behind for you to do what you wish with, he must take it upon himself, set his eyes on Calvary and bleed, ooze, thirst and die for your sins.  That’s what the Christ does.  That’s his job.  That’s why he comes, and the first and primary reason.  To save you from sin. 

People hear this, and they laugh at us.  People hear this, and they criticize us Christians, they call us hypocrites and religious fanatics.  They say we are lunatics for believing in all this Jesus and resurrection stuff, but friends that’s who your Christ is – not just a teacher or role model, but a savior who saves by dying in your place.

Any “Jesus” that avoids the cross is not the true Jesus.  Any Jesus who doesn’t suffer is just a shadow of the true Jesus.  Any Jesus who is just a regular guy, or only a friends fails to fulfill the roll of Christ. Your Jesus, the Jesus of scripture – not of popular opinion – wants to teach you about his death.  He wants to make you rich, not with the things of the world, but with the things of heaven where moth and mold cannot destroy.  He wants to be your role model so that you follow him to the cross in your baptism, and rise with Him into eternity apart from sin.

So, dear friends in Christ, “Who do you say that Jesus is?”    Is he just a teacher?  Is he just a role model?  Is he just a man?  No, He is the Christ – the sacrifice for your sin.  He is the one to take you from this world to the next.  He is the one… who dies to save you from sin.  Amen.  

Lent 1 - O - 2012 - The Sin Sacrifice

The First Sunday of Lent

February 26, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Genesis 22:1-18          James 1:12-18             Mark 1:9-15

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament lesson, especially these words, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ.  Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.  Scripture is clear on that point.  Adam and Eve, Noah, Terah, all the patriarchs knew this fact.  For this reason, they had killed countless animals, pouring out their blood in bowls and burning the animals on altars to God – to forgive all their sins.  To be made right with God by the death of another creature.

So when God tells Abraham what he must do, it is a tall order.  Abraham had seen sacrifices before, he had performed sacrifices before, but never one that would be as difficult or as gruesome as the one God commands him to do on this day.  God tells Abraham, “As a burnt offering, as a way of forgiving your sins, your Son must die at your hand.  And when you have killed him, when you have drained his blood out of him, he must be laid on a pile of wood and burned as an offering to me.  By his death, you will be forgiven.”

His own son must die.  He has to kill his own child, whom he loves, the one through whom he hoped to have descendants that numbered of the sand on a beach, that numbered as the stars of heaven.  His child must die, God has commanded it.

What must Abraham have done wrong?  What sins must he have committed?  Did he doubt too much?  What sin could be so great that his children had to die?  But even as he asks these questions of God, Abraham gathers the supplies, he gets the fire, he gets the wood.  They saddle up their donkey, and they head to the mountain God will show them. 

They travel for three days, riding on the donkey, when finally Abraham sees the place, Mount Moriah.  Abraham stops, gets down from his donkey, and loads the wood of the sacrifice on the his own son, his beloved son, the one who pleases him, and they begin the final journey.  Isaac carries the wood up the mountain to the place where he must die.  Abraham carries the knife and the fire, dreading what must be done.  Isaac stacks the wood upon the altar, and notices something is missing.  “Where is the goat?  Where is the Ram?  Where is the creature we are going to sacrifice father?”  Abraham’s only answer is “The Lord will provide the sacrifice.”  Isaac lays on the wood, Abraham raises the knife, mustering all his strength to bring it down on his son, his own Son, whom he loves. 

And God stops him.  Abraham wait, Abraham don’t kill your Son!  Stop!  Don’t do this!  For you were right in your confession, I will provide the sacrifice for your sins.  I will provide the lamb to be slain and burned.  I will provide, for it isn’t your son, but my Son that must die.  Its my Son – it’s Jesus, he’s the one who will die for your sin Abraham, for Isaac’s sin, and for all mankind’s sin. 

God stops the death of Isaac, and in the same way, dear friends, he stops your death as well.  For just as Abraham, just as Isaac, you too are sinful.  You too are guilty.  You too have broken God’s law, and have not trusted enough, haven’t loved enough, haven’t done enough.  You fall short by what you have done and by what you have left undone.  And dear friends its your fault, your own fault, your own most grievous fault.  That sin threatened to separate you from God, just as it did for Abraham, for God demanded a sacrifice from you to make things right. 

But you don’t have enough to fix your problem.  There isn’t enough you can do to fix it, even your own death can’t save you.  So as Abraham confessed God will provide the sacrifice – His own Son, born of the Virgin Mary, to die for you.   Hear the words of our Gospel lesson, "Behold my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."  Its that one, who will die for you.  

And so here we are in Lent, looking ahead to the sacrifice of Christ for you and your sins.  We are looking ahead, to Jesus, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, just as Isaac rode to Moriah with his Father on a donkey.  We are looking ahead to Jesus carrying a cross up to Golgotha, just as Isaac carried the wood of sacrifice p to Moriah.  We are looking ahead to Christ willingly suffering and dying at the will of his father, just as Isaac was for his father Abraham.  And as Abraham was willing to drive a knife into his own son, so too is God willing to drive nails and spear into his son. 

And its all for you.  Its all for Abraham.  Its all for Isaac.  And dear friends, on the cross, its all done.  The blood for forgiveness of sins is shed.  All of it pours out on to the ground.  Jesus suffers the death you deserve.  And with his very last breath, Christ shouts out “It is finished.” No more does God demand sacrifices from you for salvation.  No longer does He ask for your death, but instead he gives you life forever.  Instead, you walk safely down the mountain, just as Isaac did.  Instead you are free as God’s own child forever. 

Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.  And blood has been shed.  But its not Isaacs.  Its not Abraham’s, its not even yours.  It is Jesus blood.  And it means your life.  Amen.  

  

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.