Intro
For you—two words of supreme significance! Without them, a Christian veers away
from Word and Sacrament, trying to find some assurance that he really is saved.
He could look to his good works, thinking he must be saved because of what he
has done. He could look to his emotions, trying to find in his ever-changing
feelings what God has told Him in His Word. Jesus died “for you”; that makes it
personal.
But Jesus also died “because of you.” That, too, makes it personal. “For you”
and “because of you”: That sums up much of the Christian faith, at least as it
applies to you personally. That Jesus died “because of you” shows you who you
are apart from Him.
Main Body
Today, many believe that we are by nature good, that everyone wants to do what
is right. And so when a violent crime occurs or a terrorist attack takes place,
we look for some outward cause of such misdeeds. After all, if someone is by
nature good, then something bad, outside of him, had to get him to act in such
a bad way. In the face of such evil, we then ask, “Where did this evil come
from?”
But the Christian, who knows the content of the faith, doesn’t ask need to ask,
“Where?” He knows. Evil in this world originally came from the devil and his
temptation. Jesus says a much: The devil “was a murderer from the beginning and
has not stood for truth since there is no truth in him” (John 8:44).
And the person, who has pondered his struggle with sin, also knows that we have
such evil within us. Scripture tells us as much. Before the great flood, God
said, “The Lord saw how widespread the wickedness of man had become on the
earth, and that every inclination of his thought was evil” (Genesis 6:5). After
the flood, God told Noah, “I will never again curse the land because of man,
even though man’s inclinations remain evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). And
King David confessed, “I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother
conceived me” (Psalm 51:5).
Now, some of us may think: “That can’t all be true; I don’t obsess on evil. I
wasn’t even that bad before I became a Christian.” But such thinking misses the
point. Our every thought is evil because we are born in a fallen, sinful state.
Because of our fall into sin, sin has become part of the fabric of who we are
and is inseparable from us. And so, even when you have the kindest, most loving
thought for someone else, sin still infects that thought, making even the best
we have to offer unacceptable to God.
Even after becoming Christian, you are still sinful, for sin still infects you.
But you also become fully righteous, made that way because Jesus’ righteousness
becomes yours. You become a full-fledged saint while remaining a sinner. And
you see that sinfulness seep out when you, for example, speak harshly to others
or harbor hatred in your heart. You see it when you detest your lot in life or
give in to the lustful thoughts that despoil you.
It’s then that these words from Jesus ring ever so true: “You belong to your
father, the devil, and you want to do what your father wants” (John 8:44). Our
sin exposes our failure to say to God, “Here I am,” like Abraham responded to
God in our Old-Testament reading (Genesis 22:1).
God asked Abraham to sacrifice everything he held dear, and Abraham said, “Here
I am.” And so Scripture holds Abraham up for us as a model of faith, even
though he wasn’t sinless. Abraham said, “Here I am,” when Adam earlier tried to
hide from the voice of God (Genesis 3:8). Abraham said, “Here I am,” when Jonah
later fled from God’s call, foolishly trying to hide himself on a ship (Jonah
1:3).
But what God the Father would not have Abraham do, He did Himself. As one
splendid Lutheran hymn puts it: “‘Go forth, My Son,’ the Father said, ‘and free
My children from their dread of guilt and condemnation’” ( LSB 438, 2). And the
Son said, “Here I am.” Jesus obeyed His Father’s will, trampling down death by
His death.
Death isn’t normal a part of life. God never created us to die. “God created
man for immortality and made him in the image of His own eternity. But through
the devil’s envy, death entered the world, and those who belong to him
experience it” (Wisdom 2:23-24). Death is the result of taking the devil’s bait
and falling into sin.
So, sin isn’t just some bad habit that you can discard or fix—if you just try
hard enough! You sin because you are a sinner. But sin isn’t who Jesus was, or
is; He isn’t a sinner, so He doesn’t sin. “Before Abraham was, I AM,” Jesus
said. Jesus announced that He was, and is, God, the eternal, sinless one. He
declared that He was God incarnate in the flesh: “I AM,” Immanuel, God with us.
And yet, “God made the one who had no sin [Jesus] to become sin for us, so that
in Him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). It’s not
that Jesus only took our sin into Himself; no, He became our sin. Jesus came to
deal with sin at its source, not being satisfied with just dealing with the
symptoms. And so when Jesus, the sinless one, became sin itself, sin’s power
over us died in His death.
The truth that Jesus had to become sin “for us” and “because of us” deflates
all pride that we may have in ourselves. It says that we can’t achieve an iota
of salvation through our efforts. It renders impotent our efforts to “get right
with God.”
Jesus having to become sin “for you,” says that everything you’ve earned,
everything you’ve done, and everything you’ve become counts for nothing when it
comes to saving you. For if sin infects every part of your being, and it does,
then all you do is just spread the infection around, making things even worse
in relation to God. All that is true—apart from Christ! But in Christ, it all
changes!
And so, Jesus says:
Before Abraham was, I AM. I am God, incarnate in the flesh. You are sick,
sinful, and dying, but I am righteous, holy, and will take your burdens into
myself. Come to me, cling to my Word, and I will do what you cannot do for
yourself. Clinging to my Word, you will not experience eternal death.
Because Jesus was “without blemish,” He could offer a better sacrifice than the
Old-Covenant sacrifices of goats and bulls. He was the sinless one sacrificed
for us sinful beings. Only His sacrifice can “cleanse your conscience from dead
works,” those words and works still cursed with sin’s infection and death.
We’re close to entering Holy Week, where we focus on our Lord’s suffering and
death for our sins. But this isn’t just to recognize the historical reality of
Jesus’ death. It’s not just learning or recalling facts. We want Jesus’ death
and life to become real for us.
Jesus becomes the one, whom that same, hard-to-sing Lutheran hymn describes:
“Yes, Father, yes, most willingly I’ll bear what You command Me. My will
conforms to Your decree, I’ll do what You have asked Me.” O wondrous Love, what
have You done! The Father offers up His Son, desiring our salvation. O Love,
how strong You are to save! You lay the One into the grave who built the
earth’s foundation. [ LSB 438, 3]
That’s why Jesus was scourged, crucified, and killed. It’s as the Apostle Peter
said: “Christ also suffered for sins, once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
Jesus didn’t die, simply as some unfortunate victim. “With His own blood,” He
died to secure your “eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). And now, in receiving
that blood, His death and life become real for you. You can’t go to the cross,
but the cross can come to you. And when that happens, Jesus, in His body and
blood, cleanses your conscience from dead works to serve the living God
(Hebrews 9:14).
Without His death, you could not be brought to God. You would remain eternally
separated, for what hunts you down isn't just the death of your body, but your
body and soul condemned for eternity. But Jesus promises that those who cling
to His Word “will never see death.” The original Greek says “will not see death
into the ages.”
“Into the ages” is how the New-Testament Greek language refers to eternity. So,
your physical, sinful body will still die; it has to, but you will not suffer
eternal death. You will NOT hear these words of judgment from our Lord when He
returns on the Last Day: “Get away from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire
that has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Instead,
you will get a new, perfect, and sinless body. And you will hear Jesus say:
“Well done, good and faithful servant…. Enter the joy of your master” (Matthew
25:21).
You’ve already died. Jesus says, “I assure you: Whoever hears my word and
believes in the one who sent me has eternal life. He will not be judged but has
[already] crossed over from death into life” (John 5:24).
When did that happen? In your baptism; that’s when you died. That’s when you
were crucified with Christ in His death (Romans 6:3). So, you’ve already passed
into life. But since your sinful flesh still lives, which cannot be reformed
into sinless perfection, it still must die. That’s why Jesus had to die, for
your sinful body can’t become sinless.
The only cure for sin is death. But this is all so you can rise to new life in
a sinless, perfect body. That’s why Scripture says, “The one who is victorious
will not be hurt by the second death” (Revelation 2:10). Your first death was
in your baptism; your second death is when your sinful body dies its death.
That’s why Scripture also says, “Blessed are the dead [the baptized] who die in
the Lord” (Revelation 14:13).
Conclusion
It’s as Jesus says: “If anyone keeps my Word, he will not see death into the
ages.” May God keep you all your days. But most especially, may He keep you in
His love, grace, and mercy—until the final Easter—when your body will rise anew
in the new heavens and the new earth that God is preparing FOR YOU, even now.
Amen.
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