“The Righteous Resurrected Christ Is Our Advocate and Propitiation”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord [Amen.]
“Paschal Lamb, by God appointed, All our sins on Thee were laid;
By almighty love anointed, Thou hast full atonement made.
All Thy people are forgiven Through the virtue of Thy blood;
Opened is the gate of heaven, Reconciled are we with God.
“Jesus, hail! Enthroned in glory, There forever to abide;
All the heav’nly hosts adore Thee, Seated at Thy Father’s side.
There for sinners Thou art pleading; There Thou dost our place prepare,
Ever for us interceding Till in glory we appear.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
531:2-3)
Epistle
Reading..........................................................................
1 John 1:1-2:2 (esp. 2:1-2)
2:1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not
sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous. 2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for
ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Prologue: It was wonderfully exciting to experience the grand
and glorious celebration service last Sunday when we joined together for our
annual formal festival commemoration of our Savior’s resurrection from the
dead. The combination of returning the Alleluias to the liturgy as well as
the many familiar and much-loved Easter hymns; the beautification of the
Divine Services by the Brass Ensemble, Jubilate Singers, and Rejoicing
Ringers; the powerful playing of our superb pipe organ by Mr. Steele (even
as Mr. Steffens and Mrs. Seibel did in past years); the dynamic sermon
delivered by Pastor Marks; and, indeed, the very large amount of worshippers
present in both Divine Services all combined to be a spiritually moving and
memorable experience. Of course, that was preceded by the previous Holy
Week lineup of worship services on Palm Sunday, Holy/Maundy Thursday, Good
Friday, and Holy Saturday. The simple and at the same time profound
significance of all that drama and pageantry was summarized for us in today’s
Collect: “grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by
Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God.”
Yes, Jesus truly is Lord and God! But that’s just one part of the
truth about Him. There’s so much more about Him that we’ll
discover—review—over the course of these 50 days of Easter, beginning with
the fact that …
“The Righteous Resurrected Christ Is Our Advocate and Propitiation.”
Advocate? Propitiation? Perhaps many of you here this [evening /
morning] know that an advocate is a person who helps, defends, and
intercedes for another person who has been accused—even proven to be
guilty—of something wrong. As your advocate, Jesus, having ascended to the
right hand of God, now “pleads and prays for [you] before the Father.”
(Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986, 1991
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 141.)
But what about propitiation? How often do any of you use that
word … if ever? In fact, the original Greek word appears only twice in the
New Testament … and both of those are by Saint John in this letter.
Propitiation is taking the place of a guilty person in suffering the penalty
for the wrong he or she did. As your propitiation Jesus “sacrificed Himself
for [your] sins.” (Ibid. Page 129.)
Now, connecting those two concepts together reveals simply that …
I. Jesus Christ Is the Sum and Substance of Joy-filled Life. (1:1-4)
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life—2the life was made manifest, and we have seen
it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with
the Father and was made manifest to us—3that which we have seen and heard we
proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and
indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
What do our Savior’s birth and resurrection have in common besides
being the two high festival celebrations of the liturgical church year?
Life! When He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
He took upon Himself the human life that He created. When He rose from the
dead on the third day He resumed His human life that He freely laid down on
Calvary’s cross for the sins of all people. The Holy Spirit now gives you
that life through faith in the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the
world.
Death is an evil that God never intended. It’s the result of our
original parents, Adam and Eve, having chosen to follow Satan instead of
their Creator-God. That sinful rebellion brought many consequences upon
them and mankind ever since, the severest of which is death … physical
death, spiritual death, and eternal death in the pits of hell’s fiery
chambers.
But the Creator-God was and still is rich in mercy and grace.
Consumed by His compassion and self-denying love for mankind, He sent forth
His only-begotten Son, Immanuel, to do for mankind what people couldn’t do
for themselves. Jesus lived the holy life God demanded, died the ransom
death that defeated the devil and appeased God’s righteous anger, and arose
from the dead on that first Easter Sunday over 20 centuries ago whereby He
paved the way for sinners to be reunited with their Creator-God in life.
That’s the wonderful blessing of what the apostle John reported in today’s
Gospel Reading: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the
doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ Jesus said to
them again, ‘Peace be with you.’ Eight days later, his disciples were
inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” (St John
20:19, 21a, 26 ESV) He continues to speak that comforting peace-message to
you today in the words of the church’s worship liturgy, the Blessed
Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, the reading and hearing of God’s
Holy Word, and the declaration of Holy Absolution.
Although God gives that peace-gift to you freely without cost,
nevertheless its price was extremely high. That price is none other than
the fact that …
II. Jesus Christ Shed His Sin-cleansing Blood for All Sinful Humanity.
(1:5-10)
5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with
him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we
say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
A simple basic principle of biology is that blood transports
ingredients that are necessary for life throughout the human body. The
absence of one or more necessary ingredients in the blood will weaken life
and, in fact, the loss of too much blood itself will result in death.
Again, blood is necessary for life!
The blood that coursed through Jesus’ body was holy blood as was
His entire body. Because He was 100% true God as well as 100% true man He
was fully and completely free from sin. That is, He was holy … “sinless and
hating sin.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Page106.)
That was absolutely necessary in order for His blood that He shed
as a result of the unrighteous whippings that ripped open His holy flesh,
the crown of thorns that was beaten into His holy head, the nails that were
hammered into His holy hands and feet, and the spear that pierced His holy
side to truly purify us from all our sins. Saint Peter emphasized that
truth when he wrote: “Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways
inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver
or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without
blemish or spot.” (1 Pet 1:18-19 ESV)
The anonymous author of the Letter to the Hebrews further
explained that Christ “entered once for all into the holy places, not by
means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus
securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons
with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies
for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God,
purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb 9:12-14
ESV)
In the last book of the Bible—Revelation (also written by the
apostle John)—he referred to Jesus in the opening verses as “him who loves
us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” (Rev 1:5 ESV) Not too much
farther he wrote about Jesus that “you were slain, and by your blood you
ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and
nation.” (Rev 5:9 ESV) Then some chapters later we read about saints in
heaven’s defeat of Satan that they “have conquered him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Rev 12:11 ESV)
Today the sacramental washing of Holy Baptism finds people of all
ages—newborn infants to grown adults—being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb
of God in the water, however it may be applied. And, the sacramental
drinking of consecrated wine in Holy Communion by people who have been
instructed in and confessed the faith once delivered to us by the prophets,
apostles, and evangelists in the written Word of God finds such partakers
receiving the real blood of Jesus that imparts to them the certain assurance
of forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life with Jesus in heaven.
Dr. Luke summarized that marvelous message of mercy when he wrote in today’s
First Reading: “And with great power the apostles were giving their
testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon
them all.” (Acts 4:33 ESV) So, whether it’s the prophetic and apostolic
writings about Jesus or the sacraments that He instituted, the absolute
truth is that His holy precious blood that He shed during His innocent
suffering and crucifixion death sanitizes us from all unrighteousness.
So focus on, give thanks to, and properly praise Jesus, because …
“The Righteous Resurrected Christ Is Our Advocate and Propitiation.”
As you do so, let the following words of today’s Introit echo
through your ears into your minds and sink deep into your hearts giving you
both temporal and eternal comfort and security: “Remember the wondrous works
that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered. He remembers
his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand
generations.” (Ps 105:4-5, 8 ESV) Do so because, in the words of today’s
Gradual, “Christ has risen from the dead. [God the Father] has crowned him
with glory and honor, He has given him dominion over the works of his hands;
he has put all things under his feet.” (adapt. from Matt 28:7; Heb 2:7; Ps
8:6 ESV) And continue doing so because …
I. Jesus Christ Is the Sum and Substance of Joy-filled Life. (1:1-4)
and …
II. Jesus Christ Shed His Sin-cleansing Blood for All Sinful Humanity.
(1:5-10)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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