Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Lenten Midweek V


Lenten Midweek V: “Eyes on Jesus: Worldly Eyes”[1] 
April 1, 2020 
Text: John 18:33-38; Mark 15:1-20
            My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36; ESV).  That is something even we Christians have trouble remembering.  King Jesus is not like earthly kings, and His Kingdom is not like earthly kingdoms.  The kingdoms of the world value power and might and glory.  The kings of the earth and the leaders of the nations bear a certain obvious majesty.  Jesus stands before Pilate bound and humiliated, accused of treason, delivered up to death by His own people.  The King of the universe stands before the Roman governor, and it appears to all concerned as though Pilate holds all the power.  Are you the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:2).  You have said so,” answers Jesus.  But, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.  But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36).  Worldly eyes will never see a King in this despised man from Nazareth.  But the eyes of faith know that this man is God, the eternal Son of the Father, and this is how He wins for Himself a Kingdom and brings us into it: By submitting Himself in humility to the Jews, the Romans, sinners, us.  By suffering the scorn and the blows.  By dying our death, the death of a criminal, the death of sinners, on the cross.
            Pontius Pilate has worldly eyes.  He can see that the Jews only delivered Jesus over out of envy.  He can see that this is all a gross miscarriage of justice.  But he can also see the threat of riot and revolt and his own downfall in the eyes of Caesar.  So Jesus, this no-account man from Nazareth, is just the sacrifice he’s going to have to make to keep the peace, keep his office, keep his life. 
            The elders and scribes, the chief priests and Sanhedrin, have worldly eyes.  Jesus is not the kind of Messiah they are expecting, a political and military leader who would lead the Jews out from under Roman tyranny, defeat the emperor’s armies, and restore the Kingdom to Israel.  And even if He is that kind of Messiah, better to kill Him before He gets started, because, while no one likes Roman control of the Holy Land and the people of God, we’ve come to an acceptable balance of power.  The Romans do their thing, get their money, and generally ensure regional peace and stability.  Otherwise, they leave us alone to do our religion.  It is ultimately we, the Jewish religious leaders, who are in charge of the people.  A Messiah at this point would simply take away our place and our nation. 
            The soldiers have worldly eyes.  The pitiful man before them is, for them, an effigy of despised humanity.  In fact, once the sentence has been pronounced and Jesus is condemned, He is, by Roman law, less than human.  He’s a dead man walking.  So with no apparent qualm of conscience, the soldiers unleash their bitterness and sadistic rage on the flesh of their victim.  You call Yourself a King?!  It is they who clothe Him in royal purple and crown Him with thorns, but it is all a farce.  Hail, King of the Jews!” they cry, as they salute Him, strike His head with a reed and spit on Him, kneeling down in worship.  Then they strip Him, put His own clothes on Him, and lead Him out to be crucified. 
            Now, this may bring the more pious eyes among us to tears for the great suffering our Lord bears for us.  But before our eyes furrow in righteous indignation against Pilate, the Jews, and the Roman soldiers, we must confess… We have worldly eyes.  We’re born with them.  They are a feature of humanity since Adam’s fall.  The reality is, there are things we’d like to be different about Jesus, too.  We’d like a King who stops the coronavirus before it gets started, who doesn’t allow anyone to suffer from it, doesn’t allow anyone to die.  We’d like a King who builds His Kingdom on earth… the United States, for example; that would be great… who gives us success in every endeavor and keeps always healthy, wealthy, and prosperous.  We’d like a King who mostly leaves us alone when it comes to our favorite sins, especially the ones that give us pleasure, boost our pride, and tickle our fleshly fancies.  We want a King who wants us to be true to our fallen selves, and is not so insistent we be unfalteringly true to Him. 
            And the last thing we want is a King who thinks engaging an enemy in battle means submitting to that enemy, giving Himself over, suffering the worst humiliation and physical torture, and finally, dying at the hands of the enemy.  And the last thing we want is a King who bids us do the same, take up our cross, and follow Him.  See, we have worldly eyes, and each one of us would like to design our own Jesus, because we’re disappointed with the One we’ve been given.  The first thing to note when we observe Pilate trying to wash his hands of the guilt, the upraised hands of the Jewish people calling for crucifixion, the hands of the soldiers as they beat Jesus and scourge Him and nail Him to the wood of the cross… is that those are our hands.  Repent.
            And then know that Jesus suffers all of this, all the abuse, all the torture, all the humiliation and shame, willingly… for you.  You can’t believe your eyes, but this is how He is winning His Kingdom.  This is how He is winning you.  By giving Himself over into suffering and death, bearing your sins and suffering your hell, Jesus is robbing all of these enemies of their power over you.  He is crushing the serpent’s head.  He is paying your debt.  He is opening the way out of the tomb.  He is leading you in exodus out from under Satan’s tyranny.  He is redeeming you.  He is making atonement for you.  He is reconciling you to the Father, leading you into the Mighty Fortress of God, His Kingdom, His Church, life, and salvation. 
            Jesus does not have worldly eyes.  He has eyes of faith in His Father, obedience to His Father’s will, eyes for you and for your salvation.  His sights are set.  He will not blink.  He will have you for Himself if it means the death of Him, and that is precisely what it means.  His Kingdom is not of this world.  His Kingdom is not anything this world understands.  It is not won by fighting, but by dying.  It is not won in a blaze of glory, but in suffering and the cross.  And then, and only then… resurrection and life.  Real life.  Free life.  Abundant life. 
            The risen Jesus gives you new eyes by His Spirit in His Word and gifts.  The Spirit gives you eyes for Jesus.  He gives you Jesus’ eyes.  Which is to say, He gives you eyes of faith.  Your eyes and your whole person, body and soul, are re-created by the Spirit in the new birth of your Baptism into Christ.  So now you repent of looking for other Jesuses of your own making, and you gaze instead with all your trust and hope at the one true Jesus who imparts Himself in His Word.  The One who suffered and died.  The One who is risen and lives.  You know, now, not to love the unbelieving and fallen world and all that is worldly.  For you love the Father, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.  And you know it is true, what St. John writes in our Epistle, that “all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:16).  These are false saviors concocted by those with worldly eyes.  But “the world is passing away along with its desires,” writes St. John (v. 17).  We’re seeing some of this with this virus and the economic and political fallout.  The things and the people we trusted in for salvation and abundant life are failing us!  We should have known.  It is written right here in the Scriptures.  But “whoever does the will of God abides forever.”  And this will of God is that you believe in Him, and in Jesus Christ, the Savior, and so live with Him in His Kingdom forever.
            Don’t be fooled!  (It is April 1st.)  Don’t look to anything or anyone but Jesus Christ for salvation from sin and death, from the devil and hell, from sickness and isolation, from economic hardships… and especially from the idols of prosperity.  Don’t look to anything or anyone else but Jesus for life.  He died for you.  He lives for you.  He forgives your sins.  He loves you.  He cares for you.  He provides for you.  Do not fear.  Set your eyes on Him.  He is certainly not the Savior you expected.  But He is most certainly the Savior you need.  And He is all for you.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                 
           



[1] The theme and many of the ideas in this sermon are taken from Eyes on Jesus (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019).


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