And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Where We See Jesus
Beloved of the Lord......We
live in a world where it is very hard to see Jesus. Like the Greeks, we too would see Jesus, but
we read the news, we see what is going on in the world, and our hearts are
discouraged. How can we see Christ in
the midst of these horrible tragedies which occur every week? More often than not, our entire life is much
like that time for the disciples after the death of Christ but before His
resurrection. All their hopes and dreams
perished when Christ died. In like
manner, all the evil in this world which our eyes see depresses us. We too would see Jesus, but where is He to be
found?
The answer to this question is really
very simple: we see Jesus in His Word and Sacraments. We see Jesus when we read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest the Scriptures because Jesus comes to us with grace,
forgiveness, and peace through the Word spoken, the Sacraments given. In a world full of evil, bloodshed, and
chaos, we still have the sweet promises of Christ saying, "Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
We should not fear nor be troubled
because Christ is waiting for us there at the finish line, where we by faith
conquer death and enter life everlasting.
You must remember then dear Christian, you are presently running a
marathon yourself, and though the devil will throw many obstacles in your path,
Christ has already crossed that finish line first for you by His own first
death and resurrection. All then that is
necessary for you in this race is to persevere in faith unto life everlasting,
when you will see Him face to face.
Therefore as you run this race of faith and hope, remember the words of
the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 12, "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us, Looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
Our sermon today is divided into three
parts, FIRST, we see Jesus in His Word and Sacraments, TWO, the Son of Man is
glorified by His death and resurrection, and THREE, Do not love your life here,
lest you lose your eternal life in heaven above.
I. We
see Jesus in His Word and Sacraments.
Our lesson begins with certain Greeks who had a great desire to see
Jesus. These Greeks must have lived in
Bethsaida, for they knew Phillip and first came to him. Certainly they had heard of the miracles of
Jesus, but more importantly they had heard through others the words Jesus
preached. When they approach Philip,
there is a genuine longing in their heart to see Jesus, for they said "We
would see Jesus". This doesn't mean
they were curious about what Jesus looked like, rather their soul was drawn to
Him. In His Words they were discovering
their Savior. We know this also by the
answer of Jesus to Philip and Andrew. Jesus
said, "The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified." Soon enough Jesus would be lifted up high on
the cross for the sins of all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, all
nations. Whenever and wherever His
Gospel is preached today, the Holy Spirit opens the spiritual eyes of lost
sinners from every nation, and they see Christ for the first time as their
Savior. Those who long to be forgiven
will find Jesus to be a most merciful Savior.
This is why in John 12:32 Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Even now in heaven there are saints gathered
together from every nation, and quite possible those Greeks in our lesson
today. In the book of Revelation John
sees such people in heaven saying, "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."
While they see Him face to face above,
the only way to see Jesus in this world is by faith, through His Word spoken in
our Bibles, or the visible Word of Baptism and Holy Communion. If you really want to know who Jesus is and
what He is like, the Word alone is the only revelation God will give you, and we
should look for Christ in no other place than our Bibles.
When people despise God's Word, breaking His third commandment, they
live in a world of confusion not knowing God, and it is their own fault and God
will punish. Yet if we read, mark,
learn, and inwardly digest God's Word, the Bible says "Blessed are they
who hear the Word of God and keep it.
The Holy Spirit Himself will come to us in that Word, and also teach and
comfort our heart. Jesus said the same
in John 14. "But the Comforter, which
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you."
Besides the hearing of the Word in
church, and the private study of the Scriptures, we see and learn of Jesus also
by our Baptism and Holy Communion. Thus,
if you want to know what Jesus is like, see Him coming to you the first time in
your own baptism. You were born dirty
and unclean in God's sight, but Christ the Word came to you in, by, and through
the Words spoken at your own baptism, and He put His holy name upon you when
you were baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost." By the cleansing power
of His Word, He washed away all the dirtiness of your sin, making you clean and
white in His sight. Though you still
feel and know your sin daily by God's law, by His Gospel you also know God
through Christ counts you as holy. You
are clothed with His grace, the righteousness of Christ upon you. It is not much different when you receive
Holy Communion. You SEE Jesus there
also, when He comes to you with His body and blood, in, with, and under the
bread and wine. You eat the visible
bread and drink the visible wine, but faith alone sees these are "Given
and shed for you for the remission of sins." And just as Christ rose from the dead in
triumph on the third day, you can rise to your feet after Holy Communion a new
man. Second Corinthians 5 says,
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ."
II. The Son of Man is glorified by His death and
resurrection. If then we are to see
the true glory of Christ, we must see Him in both His death and
resurrection. This is why after speaking
of His glory Jesus said to Philip and Andrew, "Verily verily I say unto
you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but
if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
Since all mankind fell in Adam's fall, and thus was subject to the curse
of the law which is death and damnation, Christ in our stead would have to
suffer and die Himself, even be damned on the cross for our sins. Thus on the cross Jesus abided alone, our
sins upon Him, and God the Father truly forsook Him. It was for our sins "he suffered, died,
and was buried, but rose again the third day." His resurrection then is like that wheat seed
which germinates in the ground, and the new blade of grass springs forth and
grows. His Church, the Holy Christian
Church, is still growing today wherever the Gospel is preached, and even in our
hearts by faith, we grow in grace. His
resurrection from the dead is our resurrection too, and "Because I live ye
shall live also."
Not only does His resurrection give us
life everlasting in heaven, but the power of His life empowers us to spring
forth in good works. Jesus said, "If
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
We too die in the knowledge of our sin.
The law of God awakens in our soul the knowledge of our deadness, yet
faith knows JESUS LIVES - and in Jesus we live also. When we repent of our sins we die every time,
yet we do not remain dead but Christ resurrects us in absolution saying,
"Son be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee." His Gospel then causes us to break forth in
song, like the birds in Springtime. And
just as soon enough all of nature around us will burst forth in blossom and
EVERYTHING WILL BE GREEN, so Jesus by His resurrection will cause us to bear
rich and abundant fruit in good works.
Romans six therefore says, "Like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection." What
then are these good works Jesus wants us to do?
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the
flesh with the affections and lusts. If
we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
III. Do not love your life here, lest you lose
your eternal life in heaven above. Our last point for the day is really the most
important, namely "He that loveth His life shall lose it; and he that
hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." The meaning here is that we should value
nothing in this world (not even family) as more important or sacred than our
Savior Jesus Christ. "Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world. And the world passeth away, and
the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for
ever." Rather than loving the
world, remember Jesus is your first love because He loved you first. Likewise
"Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take Thy crown."
This sinful world in which we live then
is much like a prostitute who seeks to tempt us away from the gracious and
strong arms of our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
We dare not indulge in her sinful pleasures which last but a moment,
lest we lose our eternal life above. But
more importantly, Christ here teaches us we are to hate our life here in
comparison to that eternal life above.
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I
confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." We should also meditate upon the words of
Christ in Matthew ten. "Behold, I
send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as
serpents, and harmless as doves. But
beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will
scourge you in their synagogues; And ye
shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony
against them and the Gentiles. But
when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it
shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of
your Father which speaketh in you."
If confessing Christ means they murder you and take your life, so be
it. I'm but a stranger here, heaven is
my home.
Finally
beloved, let us close by remembering again we are running a race in faith, a
marathon, and we must run this race in patience knowing Christ is waiting for
us there at the finish line and a crown of glory waits. "If any man serve Me, let him follow
Me….if any man serve Me, him will my Father honor." Rest assured by the Word and Sacraments Jesus
gives you, you are not alone in this race but Jesus is with you always. Surely He will never leave nor forsake thee. "Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love him."
That is God's sure promise to you.
Amen.
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