Sermon 5-4-25

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

Based on the lessons for the Third Sunday of Easter: Acts 9:1-22, Revelation 5:8-14 and John 21:1-14

The Flawed Will Win the World

In our Easter season lessons we’re seeing two things develop. First, is the purpose and meaning of the contest with Satan that Jesus won. Second, we’re in the closing seconds of the third quarter of the contest. So, Jesus is transferring what He’s won to His Apostles and His Church. The Church will be on the playing field for the fourth quarter, as we have been for the last nearly 2,000 years. But, as we have seen and are going to see, we’re not alone. Lord Holy Spirit is with us. And through Lord Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father are with us. Unless we default, there’s no way we can lose.

Since Lent began, we’ve been examining the purpose of Jesus’ work. We’ve discovered that the ancient hymn Paul quotes in Philippians 2:5-11 gives us a huge clue. In verse 6, we find a key thing — that Jesus did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Now, as we’ve noted from the pulpit and in the weekly bible studies, Jesus has two natures. He is Yahweh, God the Son. He is also Jesus the son of Mary, a true human male. Jesus is both Creator and one of the Creator’s creatures. Logically, this is a huge contradiction. But, Yahweh is the source of logic. So, He can do things that seem to defy logic any time He wants. Such things are called mysteries. And Yahweh, the Son, incarnate in human flesh, conceived in the womb and born of the virgin, Mary, is quite a mystery. That mystery is what Christmas is all about.

Yahweh can’t die. Yet, Yahweh the divine Son tastes death for us all through death by crucifixion. That’s the mystery of Good Friday. What’s dead should stay dead. That’s the normal rule. But Yahweh, the Son was resurrected to life in the first immortal human body. He will live for us in that body forever. That’s the mystery of the resurrection and ascension.

Before we go on, there’s one thing we have to understand about logic. Logic doesn’t create reality. It describes reality. I’ll say it again. Logic doesn’t create reality. It describes reality. Therefore, those who complain that Jesus can’t be true man and true God because it’s not logical don’t have a case. That’s because Yahweh says they don’t have a case. Either accept Jesus or reject Him, but Jesus is who He is — true God and true man. Yahweh, our Creator, says so.

Accept what Yahweh says about Jesus, and now logic can go to work describing Jesus. It’s tricky, but it can be done. And thus, from Scripture, the Church has made statements of what we believe to be true about Jesus of Nazareth. We call these statements the Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. And the key thing about Jesus is that He is one person having two natures, one human, the other divine.

So, coming back to Philippians 2:6, Jesus already is God, the Son. So He doesn’t have to grasp at any kind of equality with God. He is God. But Jesus is also truly human. And that’s where equality with God becomes a huge issue.

As we noted last week, for us humans, there are two types of equality with God. One is holy and righteous. The other is pure evil. Let’s do holy first. Yahweh unequivocally says of Himself that He is holy. He is the absolute source of pure righteousness. Therefore, any creature Yahweh has created in His holy and righteous Image also has to be as holy and righteous as Yahweh. Yahweh said at the very beginning that human beings, male and female, are created in His Image. Scripture is unequivocal about this. As some say, we are meant  to be Image bearers. Thus, we are meant to be equal to Yahweh in holiness and righteousness. We are meant to be united to Yahweh in holiness and righteousness.

And this is where the problem begins. For, in our present state we’re not equal to Yahweh in righteousness and holiness. We are not united to our Creator in His perfect righteousness. What happened? Satan convinced Eve to reach for a different kind of equality with God. And Eve convinced Adam to do the same.

In this alternate equality, Adam and Eve forsook the reality of the Image of God for what theologians call the Likeness of God. In the Likeness of God they became little gods able to create alternate realities for themselves. As little gods they cut themselves off from their Creator’s righteousness and became little ethical creatures willfully defining good and evil for themselves and having the authority to act on their own definitions. So, is it any wonder that this world is a wreck? Is it any wonder that all of us have various kinds of wreckage in our lives? For we have inherited Adam’s Original Sin. We are separated from our Creator. We are our own gods and goddesses — and disastrously, we like it that way.

The very first things Adam and Eve felt in their new existence was shame, fear and guilt. Carefully read Genesis 3 and you’ll see it. Shame, fear and guilt are the same fundamentals we live under. The reason is simple. Unable to be united with Yahweh in righteousness, Yahweh’s righteousness stands against us. His eternal, righteous commandments shatter the self-created righteousness we attempt to weave around ourselves. How dare He do this to us?

But He does dare. We hate it. But Yahweh demonstrates His eternal, paternal Love for His wayward human creatures through His commandments. For, through the commandments He tells us what true righteousness is.

And then in pure Love, He sent Yahweh, the Son, to regain righteousness for us. And not just righteousness. He sent Yahweh, the Son, to regain for all humanity righteous union with our Creator. And Messiah’s success in this matter is a cause for great joy in the heavenlies. For instance, after telling both the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin, Jesus said in Luke 15:10, “‘Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’” Indeed, there is joy when one of us is established in union with Yahweh and His righteousness. For that’s how things were meant to be. And how things will be in the resurrection and in eternal life for those in Christ.

As we saw in Lent, Jesus made all this possible by NOT succumbing to Satan. Jesus accomplished all this by completely fulfilling the life-script written for Messiah in Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. He did it by NOT deviating from Messiah’s life-script at even the smallest point — like turning a stone into a loaf of bread. Indeed, Yahweh exalted Jesus to the highest human station in the universe for remaining faithful to the script even unto a torturous death on a cross. Yahweh gave Jesus the Name above every name that at the Name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord. Even Satan will have to confess Jesus even if it’s through clenched teeth.

Now, let’s go back to one of the temptations Satan used against Jesus in the wilderness. We read in Luke 4:5-7, “5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’”

When we dealt with that temptation, we saw from Scripture how Yahweh, at the tower of Babel, had put all the nations of the world under the authority of the beings known as the Sons of God. These beings rebelled. And, instead of leading the nations in the worship of Yahweh, they led the nations into the worship of themselves as false gods. Thus, by the time Jesus was born, all the nations of earth had departed from Yahweh into idol worship. And in this way, all the nations were under the control of Satan. Among the nations, only Israel had been called back to the worship of Yahweh.

We also saw from an important prophecy that it was not Yahweh’s intent to lose the nations to idol worship. Indeed, in this morning’s first lesson we read of the conversion of St. Paul from a Jesus hating Pharisee to something amazing — probably the most successful Jewish apostle to the gentiles there has ever been. For Jews before him had attempted to bring Moses and the Prophets to the gentiles, but without much success. On the other hand St. Paul covered the ancient world with new churches formed from Jewish and Gentile converts. To do this, he had to win Gentiles from their ancient allegiances to the gods and goddesses. And, this was no small feat. It was done by the plan and purpose of God. So, let’s look again at the prophecy that lays out Yahweh’s plan and purpose in Isaiah 49.

To start with, we have to recognize that in this strange passage from Isaiah 49, Messiah Himself is speaking through the mouth of the prophet. Therefore, we read in Isaiah 49:1-4, “1. . . ‘The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.”’”

So, notice. The Messiah is human. He’s born from the body of His mother. But, then there’s this strange reference to Israel. It’s from a verse like this that the rabbis try to make the nation of Israel the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. But, if this is the nation of Israel, it has labored in vain, just as is written. It has failed to bring Moses to the nations. And this has been the case throughout history. Indeed, how many gentiles will become Hasidic Jews?

However, laboring in vain could just as easily be Messiah Jesus speaking, because it looked like His labor had been in vain when He died upon the cross. But Messiah’s recompense with God was His resurrection. And so Jesus’ labor was not in vain.

Going on we read in Isaiah 49:5-6, “6 ‘And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him — for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength — 6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”’”

Obviously the person speaking must be Messiah and not Israel. For how can Israel bring itself back to the Lord? It can’t, and that’s been the problem from of old. However, as it says, Messiah will bring back those of Israel that Yahweh has preserved. But in addition, Yahweh’s salvation will reach to the end of the earth through Messiah. That’s the Gentiles — the “nations” as they are called here.

In addition, there’s Psalm 22. This psalm predicts Jesus’ crucifixion down to the words with which Jesus’ enemies actually taunted Him while He hung upon the cross. In the later part of this Messianic psalm we read a prophecy at Psalm 22:27-28, “27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.” And this is precisely what has been happening for the last 2,000 years. Gentile nations from the ends of the earth have turned to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. 

As a result, Christian thought has ruled many nations, even the U.S. In fact, the struggle we and Europe are having right now is if Christian thought will continue to rule our cultures. Or will we revert to the pagan gods, or Allah? Mr. Trump seems to be on the side of Christian thought. Hopefully that’s the case.

Anyway. Although it is prophesied that Messiah will win the nations, Jesus did no such thing Himself. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, Gentiles and Samaritans heard Him. But His main ministry was to Israel. Therefore, it was the Apostles and those who came after them that brought Messiah to the nations, starting with Rome. Thus, in the lessons of this 50 day Easter season, we’re watching as Jesus hands over the great contest to His Church for the fourth quarter.

Last week, we saw how Jesus breathed Lord Holy Spirit on the Apostles and disciples so that they would be able to totally understand and assemble all the Messianic prophecies that Yahweh distributed in bits and pieces through Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. When we examine the preaching of the Apostles in the book of Acts and the letters that they wrote to the churches, it’s clear that the Holy Spirit had His way with them. Remember. There’s no New Testament for them to preach from. They’re writing it. All their preaching had to be done from the Old Testament. And they were good at it. That was Lord Holy Spirit.

In today's Gospel lesson, we saw that within the forty days before Jesus’ ascension, Peter and the guys were in Galilee, probably in their hometown of Capernaum because they went out fishing. That night they caught nothing. And so we read in John 21:4-6, “4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, ‘Children, do you have any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 6 He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”

Now, as Yogi Bera once said, this was a case of deja vu all over again. For, we read of this incident at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Luke 5:1-11, “1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him [Jesus] to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ 5 And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”

It was Jesus’ intention to turn these fishermen into fishers of men. John, in particular, remembered the first incident. So when it happened again, he was the one who called out to everyone, “It’s the Lord.” And John remembered two things about the second incident. They caught 153 large fish and the net didn’t break. Let me speculate a little. The 153 stands for the nations of the world. And the net is the Church. So, even with all the world’ disparate cultures and peoples coming into the Church, it cannot and will not break Messiah’s Church. For, around the world, people of every nation, language and culture who call upon the Name of the same Lord Jesus recognize and receive each other with thanksgiving. This was all started by the fishers of men that Jesus chose.

Peter and Paul are probably the two most famous names in the establishment of Christianity. I once served two churches named Saints Peter and Paul. But, Peter denied Jesus three times on the night Jesus was arrested. And, Paul was a flaming anti-Christian pharisee. Why did Jesus choose these two men? He knew that through the forgiveness of sins He would remake both of them into very effective — well, Apostles. Jesus knew that down through the centuries we would continue to be amazed that He could choose two very flawed men and yet do most remarkable things through them.

For, as we said at the beginning, all of us are born loving the wrong kind of equality with God. We’re all terribly flawed god players. Therefore, it’s only by the grace of God that any of us are given the new birth that makes us capable of appropriating true equality with God — the God-given righteousness and God-given union with Him that comes by faith in the Word, who is Jesus Christ. If Jesus could do this for Peter and Paul, He can do it for anyone. And so He has. We have the Word through the likes of Peter, Paul, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, James and Jude. We have Lord Holy Spirit in our midst. Jesus’ resurrection is historical fact. In science, it’s becoming more clear all the time that this universe has a Creator. And He has had great mercy on all of us. Through the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus we have a great future ahead of us — true righteous union with Yahweh, restoration to the Image of God and true equality with God.

So, we close with the song now sung in the heavenly places about what Jesus did for us. Revelation 5:9-10, “9. . . ‘Worthy are you, [Jesus], to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’” Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.