The text for
our meditation is our text for today; John 12: 20 -33.
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some
Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida
in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip
went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus
answered them, “The hour has come for the Son
of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life
in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my
servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27 “Now my soul is troubled. And
what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason
that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will
glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said
that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus
answered, “This voice has come for your
sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this
world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the
kind of death he was to die.
"We would
like to see Jesus," the Greeks say in our text. You know some pulpits have
a plaque that only the pastor can see engraved with this verse from the King
James Bible. "We would see Jesus," is all it says. – That is:
"Don't show us yourself pastor; don't show us your oratory ability, your
brilliant brains, your scintillating wit, not even your deep theology. We would
see Jesus!"
It is the purpose of ‘mainstream’
(especially sacramental) denominations that those in the pews do so. The
pastors/priests wear robes; not because robes look churchly, holy, or nice.
It's because robes highlight the pastor's office and diminish his person. His
clothes, his physical features, and his personality are hidden under their official
robes. That's why judges wear robes in courtrooms. They too are in an office. -
For that same reason, judges and pastors speak from behind benches and pulpits,
usually big, thick wooden things. Why? Because they aren't speaking as individuals:
Judges speak for the state; pastors speak for the Lord. Most of their
individual person is hidden behind their official bench or pulpit. Frankly, anything
any Pastor says from their pulpit or anywhere whilst leading a service should
be based on God’s word, for the purpose of developing a nurturing relationships
between our Triune God and each and everyone who hears.
The pastor is
not on display; the nature of Jesus is being proclaimed. The stole around a
pastor's neck stands for the yoke of Christ that was placed on him at
ordination. The pastor is yoked to Christ; He is in "team" ministry
with Him. Every worship service Christians are reminded that in the pastoral
office they see Jesus. When the pastor
forgives, baptises, communes or does any pastoral act, it's really Christ who
does it. You are to see in these robes Christ forgiving your sins, baptising souls,
and distributing His body and blood in the Sacrament of the Alter.
It is important
that you see this because this is what makes the sacraments valid and certain,
as if Christ our Lord is physically present and dealt with you Himself. You see
if the Pastor was forgiving, baptising, or communing based on their person, you
would forever have to wonder what kind of a person they are. Do they have
enough faith? Are they Christian enough? Then any little or big flaws you find
in their person would cause you to doubt, "Are my sins really forgiven? Is
that baby really baptised? Can the body and blood of Christ really come from
such sinful hands as those?" The focus is to be on the office instituted
by God to dispense the means of grace. In their ordination Pastors understand
and acknowledge that they do not represent their own persons but the person of
Christ, because of the church's call, as Christ testifies, 'He who hears you
hears me.' When they offer the Word of Christ or the sacraments, they do so in
Christ's place and stead.
In worship, through
the dispensing of the means of grace ‘the Word and sacraments’ you do see
Jesus, but the question we must ask ourselves is ‘how do we see Him?’ I wonder,
do you really want to see the Jesus shown in our text? This isn't really a
glorified Jesus in the common sense of the word. This isn't a Jesus who leads
millions of angels forth in glory. This isn't a Jesus who lifts high the cross
in a victory parade over sin, death, and the power of the devil. This is a
Jesus lifted high, crucified, dead on a cross, and then buried in the ground
after.
We are kind of
used to that sort of talk, aren’t we? We talk a lot about a dead Jesus during
Lent. I’m concerned that we don’t really react to that. You still would like to
see Jesus even if we're talking about a dead one. How about a troubled one:
Would you still like to see Jesus if we're talking about a troubled one?
Jesus says plainly,
"My heart is troubled." "Troubled" is too mild. Agitated,
terrified, grieved, are better translations. This is the word used for King
Herod when he heard that Christ was born in Bethlehem. This isn't a godly
emotion. This isn't a noble feeling. Have you ever been in a shopping centre or
wherever and thought you lost a child? Well, that emotion that pounced on you
that you felt in your stomach, in your throat, down into your legs; that’s what
Jesus felt.
Would you really
like to see such a Jesus? Did you ever see your mum or especially your dad
troubled? Didn't that unnerve you? We shut such sights, such memories out of
our mind because they bother us so very much. We expect strength, support, and
courage from our parents, and from our Jesus. We want to see the Jesus of John
14 who says, "Let not your heart be troubled." We don't want to see
the Jesus who flatly tells us His heart is troubled. We don't like to see the
troubled Jesus, but we can get used to that too, can't we? Many trips to dark
Gethsemane over the years have made us immune somewhat to a
"troubled" Jesus. We've seen Him stumble, fall, and sweat blood
because He was so troubled there, so we don't mind seeing a troubled Jesus too
much. But what about an "insincere" Jesus?
Some may think
that I am being inappropriate at the least. The question is however, how else
do you explain the text? Jesus says, "Now
my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? – ‘Father, save Me from this hour'? No, it was for this reason I came to
this hour." – But wait! At least each Lent period we read of
Gethsemane and what Jesus prays there? "Father
take this cup from Me; don't make Me drink of it. Let this hour pass Me
by." Who wants to see an apparently insincere Jesus? He says He won't
pray "Father save Me from this hour," but in Gethsemane, according to
Hebrews Chapter 5, "He offered up
prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him
from death." - Isn't Jesus being
insincere?
Of course He
isn't. He can't be. He is true God, He can not and did not sin: But remember He
is also true man who is about to suffer incomprehensible pain and humility; He
is about to die, cut off from God, bearing the full burden of the sin of
mankind, to the grave. The events in our text take place Tuesday of Holy Week.
Here Jesus makes no such prayer to be saved. But over the next two days till
Thursday night we see the troubling progress from His heart to His spirit and
ultimately to His very soul. The pressure gets so great it squeezes the prayer
out of Him that He would not pray on Tuesday, "Father save me from death."
Do we want to
see such a Jesus as this? Believe it or not, this is the Jesus we need to see. We
need to see this Jesus specifically because of the apparent inconsistency in
Him between Tuesday and Thursday of Holy Week specifically because it is this
Jesus in whom we can really aspire to follow and take hope. A Jesus who in the
face of agonising suffering can in faith remain obedient unto death, just for a
bunch of unworthy beggars like us. You see we can relate to a Jesus who has
experienced troubles like we have; One who gets so troubled that His prayers
tumble out of Him just like ours do sometimes. One who shudders at the thought
of a violent and prolonged death; just like we do.
I can relate to this Jesus because He tasted
death, as I and all of us will in time. He didn't face death like a stoic or a
movie war hero striding confidently toward the cross saying “I’ll take care of
this” No, in the words of Psalm 18 “The
cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the
snares of death confronted me.”
Because Jesus had anguish over suffering the
horrible consequences of our sin and went on to die in the most grisly way
under the most horrific circumstances; we can look forward to a peaceful and
endurable death, regardless of the circumstances. Because He was overcome by
trouble and sorrow, then death holds no sting for us. Because He called on the
name of the Lord, "O Lord save me!”,
we too know thatwe have been saved!
The truth is,
for us, we will be heard where He wasn't. He wasn't heard so we would be. The
Lord will deliver our soul from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from
stumbling because the soul of Jesus was given not only to death but to hell;
His eyes were given not only to tears but to bruises, and His feet were given
not only to stumbling but to nailing. Because Jesus wasn't delivered from death
and suffering, we will be.
I would like to
see this Jesus - a Jesus who suffers in my place for my many sins - because
this is the only Jesus who is capable protecting me from the dark prince of
this world. Note Jesus doesn't say that He is driving the dark prince, Satan,
out of this world, for indeed He doesn't. What Jesus does, according to
Revelation, is drive the dark prince of this world out of heaven. The death of
Jesus prevents Satan from doing to us what he did to Job. Jesus dying for our
sins makes it impossible for Satan to stand before God in heaven and accuse us
on the basis of our sins.
That means the answer
to our feeling accused; the answer to our feeling like we have to defend
ourselves; the answer to the ever-present guilt resting heavily on our minds is
not
in anything we can do or think. Learning to think positive thoughts doesn't
cast Satan out. Trying to esteem ourselves highly won't drive Satan out of
heaven or our heart. Vowing to ignore the accusations of the prince of this
world won't throw him out of our heads let alone out of heaven. Only Jesus does
that, and He does it not by force but by meekly submitting to torture and
crucifixion in our place. Satan can no longer accuse us before God because
there are no sins of ours left that Jesus hasn't already suffered and paid for.
Satan has no standing in heaven because Jesus went to the depths of hell
standing in our place.
For Christians, Lent is a time where we
are compelled to move out of our comfort zone; sin can not be sanitised by
complacency. We must look upon the ugliness of Jesus on the cross and clearly
see the ugliness of our own sin. The words of Isaiah 53 ring loud in our ears: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us
to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised
and rejected by men, we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and
afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought
us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
In our text Jesus says, "When I am lifted up from the earth
(That is, when I am crucified), I will draw all men to myself." The
Greek is stronger. Jesus says literally, "When I am lifted up from the
earth, I will drag all (without exception) to Myself." This is the Greek
word for dragging deadweight, a weight that doesn't in anyway help to be moved…..
Do you see and can you accept just what this means? When Jesus says all
mankind, He means just that – not just church goers, and a few good people, but
also the members of the Bikie gangs at war in Sydney, the couple sentenced to
life for enslaving their daughters for years; all the knockers, mockers and
persecutors over the centuries. I am sorry to tell you that we church going
Christians are no better than those criminals and misfits in society; probably
the only reason we are Christians right now is that we have dropped our
defences and allowed the Grace of God to rule in our lives. We have accepted
the unconditional love that drove Jesus to the cross of suffering and shame in
the first place.
Would you like to see Jesus? – look to
the Crucifix on the alters of the world; look at the lead light window in the
churches and cathedrals – our conscience may lead us to guilt over the
suffering servant; but think of the confession and absolution in our worship
services where Jesus pronounces that ‘Our sins are forgiven’ and suddenly we
will see in the crucifix the king on His victory throne and with the Psalmist we
can rejoice “Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the
Rock of our salvation. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all
gods.” (Ps 95). Amen.
The love and peace of our great Triune
God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen
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