Revelation 1:4-18
             Famous last words. Julius Caesar, 44 BC – “Et tu, Brute?” P.T. Barnum, 1891 – “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?”  Joan Crawford, 1977, to her housekeeper who had begun to pray for her – “Don’t you dare ask God to help me!” French writer Francois Rabelais, 1553 – “I owe much. I have nothing. The rest I leave to the poor”

            The last word we heard from Jesus on Friday was, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Then there was sadness, grief and gloom. It seemed as though death and Satan had the final say, the last word.

            If that would have been the end, we wouldn’t be here this morning. When it comes to the life and words and works of our Savior there is a BR and an AR. BR stands for “before the resurrection.” Again, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” AR – “after the resurrection.”

            After the resurrection, our Savior spoke many times. During the forty days before his ascension some of his words were recorded in the gospels. But the gospels don’t contain the last words of Jesus. We  have to go to the last book of the Bible, Revelation, to hear those. The words of our text in Revelation, are AR, after the resurrection. “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

            Take a look at the one who has the last word: He saw “someone ‘like a son of man,’ dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”  

            It was a man, or at least he had human qualities. He had hair, eyes and hands and feet like we do. But this person was different. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow—When we think of white hair, we think of wisdom, but not only is Jesus wise and old, eternal!, he is sinless, pure. He is holy and righteous.

            His eyes were like blazing fire—God sees all. He sees what’s happening half-way around the world. He sees what’s rolling around in my mind, in my heart. He knows our fears and doubts. Maybe you wives can read your husband’s body language, but no one sees all and knows all like Jesus.       

            His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. He has power over his enemies. His enemies serve as our Savior’s footstool. His enemies are no match. His enemies will be destroyed.

  HishisH

            His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. His word is powerful. Ever walk in a river? Ever stand next to a stream in flood stage and try to carry on a conversation with someone else? With his Word he created all that exists. With his word he silences your fears and assures  you of your forgiveness.

            In his hand he held seven stars—the stars are the pastors of the seven churches who received John’s letter. He holds the pastor in his hand.

            And he was standing among the seven lampstands. The lampstands are his seven churches. God’s people are the light of the world. And the fact that he is standing among the seven lampstands is a way of saying that Jesus is with his people here on earth. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

            Out of his mouth came a double-edged sword. A double-edged sword is always cutting. Jesus word is always cutting, always working, always effective.

            He who has the last word says, “Don’t be afraid.” And he has the last word because he is the first and the last—he is eternal. He’s been ruling long before we got here, and he will rule long after we leave.

            He who has the last word says “Don’t be afraid” because He’s the “living one.” He rose again three days after he died to pay for sin, and John saw him alive. Now it is 60 years later and John sees him again. He’s still alive. He still has the power over life and death and proved it. “Because I live, you also will live,” he said.

            He “holds the keys of death and Hades.” Jesus has the power to raise the dead and to rescue from death and the grave. Jesus is the one with the last word, and what a message. Don’t be afraid. From his perspective, because he triumphed over sin, death and the grave, you and I have no reason to be afraid, ever.

             John’s reaction to seeing the living Christ is to fall down as though dead. John was a sinner. He once asked Jesus if he could call down fire from heaven to torch a Samaritan village. He once asked Jesus if he could have a spot of honor next to Jesus in his kingdom. Revenge is sin. Ambition is sin. John couldn’t stand before Jesus in his glory.

            We couldn’t stand either. We wonder if he sees everything. We wonder is he is truly in the way he orders our lives. We wonder if he can win the battle over his and our enemies. We wonder if his word really is powerful. We wonder if he really is with his people and does he really hold the pastor in his hand? No, we couldn’t stand either. No sinful human being can be in the presence of God and live. And without God in the picture, sin and death and Satan would have the final say, the last word. But that’s without the resurrection.

            But clearly there is life, forgiveness and salvation because of the resurrection. The last word wasn’t “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” But, and this is after his resurrection, Jesus placed his right hand on John, a powerful gesture of forgiveness and acceptance. Then he said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Know what this means? That Jesus has the keys to death. Death doesn’t have the final say. The grave and the punishment for sin that follows doesn’t have the final say. Neither does Satan. Sin doesn’t and can’t condemn. Jesus has the last word. Jesus died for sin. Jesus rose again. Jesus is the Living One, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega.

            Sin, Satan and death are still spooking around, all scary and loud and frightening. But their bark is worse than their bite. Satan’s been relegated to pest status. And while death stings, while death hurts, it can’t hold you or your loved ones who’ve died in Christ. Death is done, defeated, merely the door to life. “Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting. Thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (1 Cor 15:55,57) Just like Job, we can say with confidence, “I know that my redeemer lives!” Jesus gets the last word.

            Check out this picture of heaven made possible by Jesus, the one with the Last Word. “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” You know how when someone dies, we say that he has passed away. In heaven, death will have passed away. Death  definitely doesn’t have the last word.

            Says who? Says Jesus, who is in fact the Word of God. John 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning was the Word.” Not only was Jesus there at the beginning and before the beginning, but he will be there at the end. The very last words recorded in the Bible spoken by the one with the last word: “Yes, I am coming soon.”  

            Jesus, the Word, has the last Word. It is a word of forgiveness, peace and life. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word stands forever. He is risen and has the last word. Alleluia! And Amen.

Luke 17:11-19 
          Jesus met 10 men who had leprosy. Leprosy was a terrible disease that afflicted their skin. Their skin would have sores and eventually fall off. They had no cure for it. People with leprosy had to live separate from society. These ten lepers had heard about Jesus. They asked for mercy and help. {14} When Jesus saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. So, they could go home and resume a normal life.

            We might expect that they would first return to Jesus and thank him. Only one of the men came back and praised God, and he was a Samaritan. Then, Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

            Jesus asked, "Were not ten cleansed?" Yes, all ten were cleansed. Then Jesus asked, "Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Jesus expected all of them to "return and give praise to God." That is why we are here tonight. We are here to:  Return and Give Praise to God. 1. Believers thank God.

            It's simply a fact: Believers thank God. Believers will thank God. Faith leads us to thank and praise God for all that he has given to us. Faith is what led the Samaritan to return and give praise to God. Jesus told him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

            What if Jesus said, "Were not all the church members cleansed of sin?" Yes, the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. Jesus lived a perfect life for us. Jesus died on the cross to pay for all of our sins. Jesus rose from death, and we are forgiven through Christ! Believe in him, and you will live in heaven forever. All of our members should know this. This morning, Jesus could say, "Where are the others?"

            Jesus could say, "Didn't I give all of these people life and blessings?" And again, the answer would be, "Yes, Lord. You have blessed us all." Then, our Lord could say, "Where are the rest?" Are these the only people who returned to give praise to God for all of these blessings?       The statistic was shocking. Nine out of ten cured lepers skipped that Thanksgiving service. 100% were cured of leprosy, but only 10% returned to give praise and thanks to God. 90% were absent. Wow!

            When the nine fail to return and give praise to God, Jesus doesn't just take it in stride. He not pleased. He doesn't excuse them saying, "Well, they're enjoying their freedom." He doesn't say, "Being with family is more important." He doesn't say, "It would have been a long walk back here." He doesn't say, "Oh, well, they have other things to do." No! He asked, "Where are the other nine?"

            Okay, where are they? Try to answer that! Go ahead and try! "Uh, Lord, they're busy." "Uh, Lord, they forgot." "Lord, the conditions weren't just right." "Lord, they forgot." None of these excuses work. "Where are the other nine?" Obviously not where they belonged! Jesus was not pleased with them, not at all.

            Now, before we turn into Pharisees and congratulate ourselves for showing up this morning, how grateful have you been for all the blessings the Lord has showered upon you? Have you always returned to give thanks? Let us repent of ingratitude tonight. Then,...2. Believers, Thank God!

            The same Jesus who cleansed the 10 men of leprosy, has cleansed us of sin. When we confess our sins, we are basically saying, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" And he has had pity on us. He lived under the Law and died on the cross to purchase forgiveness for us and for all. His rising from death made it public. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us of all our sins. Believe in Jesus as your Savior from sin and you will go to heaven, where we will thank and praise him forever. Believe in Jesus as your Savior from sin and you enjoy a relationship of love with God here on earth.

            We read that the Samaritan "came back praising God in a loud voice." He didn't praise God with a little bitty voice. It was a loud voice! May we praise God with a loud voice, and sing hymns so that our voices can be heard.

            Next, it says that he "threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him." He didn't return with his nose in the air. He returned with humility. He was nose down on the ground at Jesus' feet. May we maintain that attitude before our Lord in worship. Scripture says that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If you worship with the thought firmly etched in your mind, "I'm bowing down before my Lord to thank him," you will have the right attitude, an attitude of gratitude.  If you come to church with a threat in your heart—Lord, I’m here, now answer my prayer this way. Or “I don’t like the music or the hymns or the pastor’s style” so I’m boycotting,” you’re worshiping the wrong god. Demanding that God do anything, he hates. Telling the church what it needs to do to make you happy is a funny, sinful way to thank God for his blessings. God hates it This humble Samaritan had it right. We are all beggars before Jesus. With him, we have everything. Without him, we'd have nothing.

            Then, Jesus said, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." What revealed this man's faith? It was this: he returned to thank Jesus. He returned to give glory to God. He worshiped God. Thanking God is a fruit of faith. The stronger our faith is, the more thankful we will be, and the more we will want to worship God. Jesus lived and died to take away sin, so you’ll never have to stand before God and answer, “Where are the other nine?” because he redeemed all ten. No, how privileged we are to hear the words, “Rise and go, your faith has saved you.”

            We have much to be thankful for! Where would you start if you tried to make a list? I hope you’d start with forgiveness of sins through Jesus, eternal life in heaven waiting for us. I hope you would add health, daily bread, family, children, and so on. Don't let Thanksgiving Day become just a day of feasting and family for you, or worse, Turkey Day. May it always be a Day of Thanksgiving to God, a God-pleasing Thanksgiving Day. Believers, thank God. Amen.

 

John 5:24-29 
            When I say the word “saint”, who do you think of? Moses. Abraham. The Apostle Paul. Perhaps your grandma or grandpa in heaven. But what about you?

            Looking in the mirror this morning, you were looking at a saint. Maybe no one has ever accused you of that. Maybe you’ve never seen yourself as a saint. You’ve done some terrible things. You’ve said some terrible things. You are aware of the aweful things your mind is capable of thinking.

            You are in good company.  Moses was a murderer. Abraham a liar and the Apostle Paul was a murderer too.

            At the beginning of this service we confessed that we are disobedient sinners, that we have done what is evil and failed to do what is good, that we deserve eternal punishment.  So to think of ourselves as saints would be a little arrogant, wouldn’t it?

            It was common for first century Christians to call each other saints, and Luther argued that this practice should be retained.  Luther said: “When Christians call themselves holy after Christ, this is not arrogance; it is honoring and praising God.  For thereby we do not praise the malodorous holiness of our own works but His Baptism, Word, grace, and Spirit, which we do not have of ourselves; He gave them to us.”

            Because Jesus sacrificed his life for me, I am forgiven.  Because Jesus shed his blood for me, my sins have been washed away.  Because Jesus lived a holy life in my place, I am a saint.  And so are you.

            On this Saints Triumphant Sunday we honor all those believers who have died and gone to heaven, but we also recognize that this world (and this church) is filled with saints.  In fact, the words of Jesus recorded in John 5 will lead us to see that…EVERY CHRISTIAN IS A S.A.I.N.T.  I.  Saved by faith, not by works. II.  Alive, physically and spiritually. III.  Innocent in spite of the evidence. IV.  Not complacent. V.  Triumphant

            A saint is not someone who is strumming a harp on his/her own personal cloud.  Saints are not people who always do everything right and never do anything wrong. 

            Saints are sinners. Sinners make mistakes. They can make bad decisions.  Saints have their own unique quirks and idiosyncrasies.  Saints have all sorts of problems in this life, but they also have something else, something much more important.  Saints have saving faith.

            Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (24). To avoid eternal condemnation, you don’t have to be perfect. To be considered a saint, you don’t have to do anything…except believe. And even that, even our faith in God is a gift of God. 

            “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).  We are saved by faith, not by works.  We are saved not because of anything we do for God, but because of everything God has done for us. By faith in Him we are holy.  Because of him we are saints.

            If this sounds too simple, too easy, or too good to be true, Jesus tells us more.   The fact that we are alive is proof of our saintly status. Jesus explains: “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”

            Since Jesus makes it clear that this time “has come” already, these words cannot be a reference to the Last Day. No God speaks to us through his Word. Through his Word we have heard his voice. Whenever the water of baptism is poured, wherever the Word of God is sown, the Holy Spirit speaks to us.

            Even if you don’t feel saved, even if you have doubts, even if you are teetering on the brink of despair, you are a Saint. Just the fact that there is a spiritual battle going on inside of you is a sure sign that there is spiritual life.

            Once, you were dead, but now you are alive. Not just because the heart is still beating.  Not just because the lungs are still breathing.  We are saints because the Word of God is living and active, and it has created a living and active faith in our hearts.

            The word, “saint,” literally means “holy one.”  And perhaps that is why many of us are reluctant to think of ourselves as saints.  We know how unholy we can be.  We know that we are far from perfect.  In spite of that, in spite of strong evidence to the contrary, we have been declared innocent in the eyes of God.

            Actually, that doesn’t sound fair. If the wages of sin is death, then every one of us deserves to die. If the Lord kept a record of sins, then not one of us could stand. How could we possibly be innocent? What judge in his right mind would ever declare us innocent?

            The One God has appointed to be the judge of all is also the Son he gave to be the Savior of all.  Jesus didn’t ignore the evidence.  He destroyed it.  He carried the sins of the world to the cross and buried them in the tomb. He paid the ultimate price to give us the ultimate prize. And now when the Lord looks at us, he doesn’t see convicted sinners.  He sees saints. He sees people like you and me who have been declared “innocent/not guilty” by a gracious God.

            We are free because Jesus has set us free.  We are holy because God has made us holy. The debt has been paid in full. Our eternal future is secure, but we need to be careful that our appreciation doesn’t turn into apathy. We need to be on guard against spiritual laziness: “Jesus has done everything for me, so what I do doesn’t matter.  I can do whatever I want.  In fact, I don’t have to do anything at all.” 

            Now, a saint is many things.  A saint is saved by faith.  A saint is spiritually alive.  A saint is innocent in spite of the evidence.  But Jesus’ words make it very clear that a saint is NOT complacent: “A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (28,29).

            Who are those who have done good? Aren’t we saved by grace alone and not by works? The Bible says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.”  Anyone, Christian or non-Christian, can do something nice for his neighbor, but only a believer can do something that truly pleases God. And so a good work is not something we do to get in God’s good graces. Good works are the evidence of God’s grace in our lives.

            A young girl who was sightseeing with her mother at a cathedral was intrigued by how the sunlight was shining through the beautiful stained glass windows.  When she asked who the figures in the windows represented, her mother said: “Those are the saints.”  A look of understanding came over the girl’s face as she replied: “Now I know what saints are.  They are people who let the light shine through.”

            That’s a good definition for a saint. Saints don’t sit around staring up into the sky waiting for Jesus to return.  Saints want to thank and praise God for the gift of eternal life.  Saints are eager to serve God in this life.  Saints depend on Jesus, the Light of the World, for everything, and they strive to let the love of Christ shine through them in everything they do.

            On Saints Triumphant Day, we remember all the Christians who have gone before us. Our loved one have fought the good fight.  They have finished the race.  They have kept the faith. And now they are, in a word, triumphant.

            But they aren’t the only ones. We are triumphant saints. Even though the fight is fierce, even though the warfare is long (CW 551:5), the war itself is over. Death has been swallowed up in victory (I Corinthians 15:54). We know that the serpent’s head has been crushed forever (Genesis 3:15).  We know that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).    

            S.A.I.N.T.  Every Christian is a saint. What is a saint? A saint is… 

S – aved by faith, not by works

A – live, physically and spiritually

I – nnocent in spite of the evidence

N – ot complacent

T – riumphant.

Amen.

Hebrews 9:24-28

1. One sacrifice of Jesus to do away with sin
2. One appearance of Jesus to deliver us salvation

Ever tackle a plumbing issue at home? You go to the home improvement store and return, hoping you have all you need. As you dig into the project, you realize you don’t have everything. So you go back to the home improvement store, cautiously optimistic, that now you start the project. But, then, remember that this a plumbing project. And you don’t have right tool. One day I went back to the hardware store for the third time and the man told me to make me feel better: Every plumbing project requires three trips to the hardware store.

    Our text for today speaks of a repair project that makes any household project seem insignificant and unimportant. The project is the one Jesus undertook to permanently repair the damage that sin brought into our world and into our lives. With an eternally important project like that—rescuing the world from its own sin!—you would think that this would be a project that would span centuries, requiring many trips to the home improvement store. But in just one visit to our sinful world, Jesus undid the eternal consequences of sin. And in one return visit in the future, Jesus will bring us to the eternal blessings of heaven. That’s what our reading from Hebrews teaches us today. It Only Takes One! It only takes one sacrifice of Jesus to do away with sin. It only takes one appearance of Jesus to deliver us salvation.

          Jesus made one trip. He made one sacrifice. Hear what he did: “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Jesus entered heaven itself. Jesus appeared before God’s presence…

Which was unlike the high priest and how they did their work. Once a year, on Yom Kipper (the Day of Atonement) the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies. This room was separated from the rest of the temple by walls on three sides and a thick curtain at its entrance. He would enter the Holy of Holies after he sacrificed a goat and collected some of its blood. He would sprinkle the blood of the goat onto the Ark of the Covenant, inside of which were the Ten Commandments. The blood was poured out onto the Ark of the Covenant because the people had sinned against God’s Commandments and blood would cover their sins.

What truth was unspoken in this ceremony! The blood of the sacrificed animal was shed instead of the peoples’ blood. The people, not the goat, deserved death. But the animal died and the animal’s blood was covered the Ark of the Covenant which housed the Ten Commandments. So when God the Father peered down from heaven and looked at the ark, he didn’t see the Ten Commandments and their accusations of sin. God saw the blood of the sacrificial animal covering up the law and its accusations. The blood of the sacrifice covered up the guilt of the people’s sin. That sounds familiar doesn’t it? It sounds like the Lamb of God whose blood takes away the sin of the world.

One major difference between the Day of Atonement and the sacrifice of Jesus was that the Day of Atonement was repeated every year. It wasn’t the ultimate remedy for sin, but a picture of and a preview of the once-for-all sacrifice that would come in the future. But now that sacrifice had come! And it only took one sacrifice of Jesus to do away with sin – because Jesus was no ordinary sacrifice! Only one sacrifice of Jesus was needed to do away with sin because of the incalculable value of the sacrifice. The sacrifice was the body and blood of God himself.

This sacrifice revealed the depths of God’s love for his wayward creatures! God would actually send his Son to take up the sin of a world full of rebels! The Son of God would actually take responsibility for that sin, even though it was not his own, and then pay for it all by his own sacrifice. God himself, in the person of Jesus, would shed his own blood to cover up the world’s sin and cleanse it from its shame. And in that one sacrifice, Jesus did away with the world’s sin: “[Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

If only we would believe that with all our hearts. If only we were free from doubts and uncertainty. If only our wandering minds would not keep us awake at night by thoughts of the foolish words and the sinful acts of the day just ended. If only our sinful nature inside of us would stop denying the cleansing power of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice which is more than sufficient to wash away my sin. If only our rational thinking would stop getting in the way of grasping and clinging to this message of forgiveness in Christ.

Satan would love to take your worries and fears and turn them into despair and then unbelief. If he can’t lead you away from Jesus in sin, he will try to lead you away in despair. That’s why the annual Old Testament sacrifice was made every year. It was a reminder that blood would be shed for them. And when a privilege, then, for me to announce to you that divine blood has been shed. And it only took one sacrifice for Jesus to do away with sin! Your personal feelings do not erase the once-for all sacrifice Jesus offered on the cross. Your inner worries and fears do not change the fact that God’s own Son gave his life for you. Nothing you do or say or imagine can change the historical fact that Jesus Christ suffered and died to take away your sin, and nothing you do or say or imagine can change the theological truth that Jesus’ one sacrifice was all that it took to do away with your sin.

II.   Today is the Sunday of the church year that we call, “Last Judgment.” Today is the day we think about the final judgment and our text says this: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

This speaks of the cold reality of death. There isn’t a single person who doesn’t have to deal with issues of death and mortality in some form or another. We are reminded of death when decline in our health, or our loved ones do. We are reminded of death when we hear of a neighbor’s passing, or a catastrophe taking a number of lives. But after our death comes the day that we stand before God to hear his just judgment and his righteous verdict.

Our text reminds us that Jesus died–not because of his sin, but because of ours. And what eventually follows his death is the final judgment – not a judgment of Jesus, but the last judgment by Jesus. Jesus will appear one more time and at that appearance he will deliver his people to their eternal salvation in heaven. “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Imagine the thought of standing before the Almighty God on the final judgment on the last day. What accusations could the prosecuting attorney, Satan, accuse you of? The immaturity of your youth. The pride of your adulthood. The worry of your elderly years. Your whole sinful life. Who would want to hear all the awful, sinful things he’s done in God’s courtroom?

But listen to our reading again and see that the final judgment does not have to frighten us. “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” At the final judgment, you will not stand before an unjust judge who is out to get you. At the final judgment, you will stand before your loving Lord who is out to save you! Jesus’ first entrance into this world did away with your sin, and his one remaining appearance will deliver us our eternal salvation. His first entrance won your eternal redemption, and his remaining appearance will deliver that redemption to you personally. His first entrance won your eternal life by his resurrection from the dead, and his remaining appearance will deliver you from this world into the eternal gates of heaven where death, hell, and sin can harm you no more.       

Those who ridiculed and sold him, pierced and nailed him to the tree, along with all those who reject him in unbelief, will be deeply wailing at his return, but when we gaze upon Jesus’ glory, we will praise him for his glorious grace.  

            How would you feel if you didn’t vote and the candidate you would have voted for wasn’t elected? How would you feel if he had lost by just one vote? You would know by bitter experience that one person can make a difference.

The difference our Savior Jesus made! The accomplishments of the Son of God! His one sacrifice has done away with sin. will pale to the accomplishments of Jesus Christ. One sacrifice of Jesus has done away with sin. One remaining appearance of Jesus will deliver us our salvation. What a difference this one person has made. He’s the reason you live life with a clear conscience as you wait for the day when our Savior comes to deliver the gift he’s won and promised. Amen.

Isaiah 53:10-12

In the Hebrew language, word order is important. And normally, a verse begins with the verb, the action word. But in our text, verse ten begins with the Divine Name, “the LORD.” Which means the emphasis in the verse is on the LORD himself. It is the LORD who willed what happened in our text. It was the LORD’s will to strike, smite, and afflict Jesus. It was the LORD’s will to crush Jesus and cause him pain. It was the LORD’s will to make him a guilt offering. It was the LORD’s will that Jesus suffer and die on the cross on Good Friday.

And Jesus accepted that will. On the night Judas betrayed Him, Jesus pointed to these verses of Isaiah 53 and said, This must be fulfilled in me. Why? For us. And, we’re thankful that it was the Lord’s will. Because the Lord’s will was also to lift Him up and exalt Him. It was the Lord’s will to prosper Him, and through Him to prosper us. Here’s the truth: The One Who Was Crushed Prolongs Our Days.

The word crush is an interesting word. It means to be broken into pieces. Here it means “to be crushed to death.” What kind of a person would light a cat on fire, as was in the news this past week? The LORD’s will was to “crush to death” his Son. What kind of a LORD is that? The word for “caused him to suffer” is an interesting word too. Jesus was full of grief. It was the LORD’s will to wear down, to pain, and make sick his Son. What kind of Father does this?

The religious leaders of the Jews conspired to kill Jesus. Satan entered Judas to betray Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus. It was the ruling body of the Jews who voted that Jesus should die. It was the Roman governor who gave the order to crucify Jesus. It was the Roman soldiers who beat him mercilessly before nailing him to the cross. But it was the LORD’s will “to crush him and cause him to suffer.”

By crushing Him, the LORD offered Jesus as compensation. Jesus is called the sacrifice of atonement. In the Old Testament system of sacrifices, that’s exactly what the guilt offering was, a repayment of debt. So, what’s the debt? Did Jesus owe something to God? No. We owe something to God, a debt beyond calculation. We owe compensation for the damage of our sins.

And we either pay our debt or get punished. The problem is we can’t possibly do everything that God demands as payment for this debt. When He said Be holy, He didn’t mean kinda’ holy, or sorta’ holy, or mostly holy. He meant a continual, complete, and perfect holiness. So, it’s option two: punishment. And God doesn’t garnish wages for sins. He doesn’t send us upstairs without dinner. He doesn’t forbid video games. No, the payment for sin is death.

But now, instead of me, all this happened to Christ! Imagine that! The LORD willed for Him to be punished for us: [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins, Paul says. Our sin caused the Jesus to be crushed. But it is clear that it was the LORD’s desire to do so. This is God’s amazing grace. The LORD desired that Christ suffer, for us and instead of us. And it’s not because He revels in blood lust. It’s because He wants all people saved. And because He wants all people saved, it has to be this way, or all people will go to hell, because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. And our sinful blood won’t pay the debt we owe. But this desire of the LORD that all men be saved, when worked by His hand and carried out by His Servant, does succeed. Because Jesus didn’t pour out sinful blood, when He was pierced and stricken holy, divine blood poured out, God’s blood, for our sins. And since the crushing of Jesus caused divine blood to flow, Jesus was victorious. No he doesn’t look victorious when he is crushed and destroyed. But Jesus compares this crushing of him to the planting of wheat: I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Even nature teaches us that death brings life! From Jesus’ death, from the crushing and piercing of Jesus comes life!

Not only was it the LORD’s will to crush Jesus, but Jesus offered himself to be crushed. And he knew he would be crushed. Think of Him in Gethsemane sweating like great drops of blood. Think of Him on the cross crying out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me. This was not light and easy for Jesus. Bearing your sin and mine, bearing God’s curse isn’t light, it isn’t easy. It’s dreadful. Scripture compares it to childbirth. Labor is painful. There’s no joy in going through contractions. Christ endured great pain giving birth to our salvation. But that child is born, so praise the LORD and Jesus! And Jesus’ labor pains ended when He cried out, It is finished. And the LORD, in His mercy accepted it. And because Jesus was crushed, we get to be declared reborn, holy, not guilty, debt free! That’s God’s promise: my righteous servant will justify many. To that promise our faith clings because God is the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

But there’s more. Isaiah says, He will see the light of life. Despite being crushed to death on the cross, there’s sight, there’s life, there’s satisfaction, there’s acquittal. As David prophesied, You will not let your Holy One see decay. Jesus rose! Jesus lives! As Paul says, He was raised to life for our justification. Jesus lives to acquit us, saying to our Father, “I did it. I bore it. It’s on Me.”

But there’s more. The letter to the Hebrews says, Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation. That’s another way of saying what Isaiah said: Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong. Jesus conquered and won. He poured out His life and raised Himself from the dead. For you. And so God gives Him the spoils of victory. And Jesus didn’t just take this prize home to heaven to enjoy himself. He shares the spoils of victory with us.

What’s the prize? He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hands. What the LORD wanted to not only crush Jesus, but to crush Him instead of me, to destroy the devil’s work, and thus bring forth the light of life – all this happened in Christ’s work! That’s what He shares with us: Life! He lives, we live He shares with us the forgiveness sins. I find the forgiveness of my own sins, the declaration of righteousness, innocence, and holiness through faith in His blood! He’s shares his innocence! He’s the only one who has been innocent, but in Jesus, it’s also my innocence, my holiness, my righteousness! We will live with Jesus in heaven.

But that’s still not all. God exalted Jesus to the highest place, His right hand. He will exalt us too, not to become God, but transforming our bodies to be like His body. This perishable, decaying, wreck of a body that we lug around will become imperishable, incorruptible and perfect, as God intended all bodies to be in the Paradise of Eden. How? Because Jesus was numbered with the sinners, He became the greatest of all sinners, and then He poured out His life, He bore our sin. He crushed the devil’s head. And in the knowledge of finishing all that God desired and required, the crushed Son who now lives stands beside God and makes intercession for us sinners. He says, “The price has been paid. The sacrifice has been offered. The treasure has been gained. Father, free my brothers from death! Purify them in my blood!”

The Christian is an optimist. The Christian has hope, because at least eight times in Isaiah 53, not just in our verses, but the whole chapter, the Spirit declares to us what Christ gained and what Christ gives: He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; He was pierced, crushed, and punished for our sins; the LORD laid on Him our sins; He was oppressed and afflicted, yet suffered silently, led to the slaughter; for our sins He was stricken; the LORD willed to crush Him; He bore our sins; He bore the sin of many and makes intercession for sinners. Talk about repetition for emphasis. Though death seems to shorten our days, as it crushed our Savior Jesus, we see that death brings life, because Jesus’ death means our forgiveness, and the end of Jesus’ days means the lengthening of ours. For we will live with Him. We will see the light of life. Forever. Jesus lives! Amen.