The Son of Man has come, not to destroy you, but to save you. And this great work of Salvation He has accomplished and obtained for you by the “ascension” of His Cross, that is to say, by His being lifted up from the earth in sacrificial death upon the Cross, bearing all your sins in His own Body and making full Atonement for them by His holy and precious Blood. He has thus redeemed you for Himself, He has purchased and won you for Himself, for life with Him in His Kingdom.
He has redeemed you from your sin, from your mortality and death, and from the devil’s power. And beyond all of that, He has reconciled you to His God and Father, who is now your own dear God and Father in Him. The Lord Jesus has opened heaven and eternal Life to you — and to all who believe and are baptized in His Name — by His Resurrection and Ascension, by the power of His own indestructible Life. Indeed, as you are baptized into Him, as you receive and bear His Cross in your body and life as a Christian here on earth, His Resurrection and Ascension are also your resurrection and ascension — unto the Father in heaven — by grace through faith in Jesus.
And all of this great Salvation is given to you, and it becomes yours, as the Lord Jesus sends His messengers before His face, also here and now to you, “to make arrangements for Him.” Here in this place they preach His Word, they work His works in His Name. They proclaim the Gospel of Peace and Life and Salvation, which are yours through His gracious forgiveness of all your sins.
By this preaching and Ministry of the Gospel, Christ Jesus Himself, your dear Lord and Savior, comes to you and gives Himself to you with all His grace and benefits. The Kingdom of God is here among you, because the Lord Jesus is here with you by His Word and Holy Spirit and with His Flesh and Blood. And here He calls you to take up His Cross and follow after Him in holy faith and love, to live with Him in His Kingdom in His righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
So it is that you do live by His grace as you give attention to His Word and the preaching of it, as you hear and receive His mercy, peace, and love, His Life, and His Salvation in the Liturgy of His Gospel. Again this morning, right here and now, in this very preaching, by this Word in your ears, He returns you to the grace and waters of your Holy Baptism by putting you to death and raising you to life, by chastening you with His Law and healing you with His Gospel.
The Lord who loves you does everything for you in love. He calls you to repentance and He brings you to contrition for your sins, in order to heal you from the inside-out and make you brand new through His Holy Absolution. He hears your confession with tender compassion, He graciously receives your broken and contrite heart, and He freely and fully forgives you all of your sins, so that not one of them is held against you any longer. And even as He takes away your sins and removes that dark and heavy burden from you, He gives to you His own living and Life-giving Body and Blood, that He should live and abide in you, and you in Him, unto the Life everlasting.
Christ be praised for His grace, mercy, and love, for His Word and Holy Spirit, whereby He has made you His disciple and continues to preserve your faith and life in the midst of sin and death.
But given all of that — which is most certainly true! — how is it that you still so often, even daily, fail to follow Jesus, to live as He has lived for you, and to think and speak and act as He does?
Under the sway of your desires and the hungers of your heart, mind, and flesh for the things of this fallen and perishing world, you refuse to receive your Lord and follow after Him according to His Word, because you would prefer to have Him only on your own terms — or not at all.
There are so many things that you cherish and depend on, and so many things that you desperately long to have and to hold! But here comes Jesus with His forgiveness of sins and with the same old unimpressive means of grace. And how are these to help you? He lays the Cross upon you, and it is heavy, it hurts. So you refuse to receive Him, this crucified God, as the blessed Savior from sin that He is, because you insist upon a god and savior of your own making, in your own image.
Along the same lines, you deny the grace and mercy of God and the peace of His forgiveness to your neighbor. You do not love your neighbor as yourself, as you should, and you do not serve your neighbor and forgive your neighbor’s trespasses against you, because, falsely supposing that you live by a merit and righteousness of your own, by your own choices and decisions, by your own works and efforts and accomplishments, you insist upon such a righteousness of works also in others, and you seek to impose that impossible standard upon them. In short, you demand that life be lived according to the Law, apart from and instead of the Christian Gospel. Consequently, you seek retaliation and revenge instead of repentance and reconciliation with your neighbor
All such things (and more) are part of your refusal to let go and leave behind the things of the flesh, the things of this world, the things you crave so badly and cling to so desperately. You keep looking back over your shoulder at all those things you are so afraid to leave behind — like Lot’s wife looking back to Sodom — instead of eyes forward to follow after the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of letting go of your idols and putting far away from you the false gods of your sinful flesh, you tragically let go of, turn away from, and leave behind the Cross of Christ, your Savior.
Of yourself, therefore, and left to yourself, you surely are not worthy of God’s Kingdom; for His Kingdom is founded upon and centered in the Cross and Passion of Christ Jesus. Apart from His Cross, there is no forgiveness of sins, there is no Life, there is no Salvation, and there is no hope.
Repent of your idolatrous unbelief. Repent of your selfishness, your self-centeredness, and above all your self-righteousness. Leave the dead to bury the dead. Put your hand, instead, upon the plow to which the Lord has called you, no matter how onerous it may be; and do not look back any more at what lies behind, neither your sins nor your idols. Wherever you are, wherever you go, confess and proclaim the good things of God in Christ — good things both for you and for your neighbor — good things even for those neighbors who aren’t particularly pleasant or polite.
Plow the field that God has given you, and do so in the confidence that Christ Jesus has come, not to destroy you — nor does He lay His Cross upon you to destroy you — but He comes with His Cross and the Fruits of His Cross to save you. His messengers are sent before His face, also here and now to you, not to call down fire and brimstone upon your sorry head, but rather to preach the Gospel to you, and by that preaching to give you the Kingdom of God in Christ. They speak and bestow the Peace of the Lord upon you, by the speaking of forgiveness in His Name and stead.
You are not worthy of God’s Kingdom, that is true. But the Lord here bestows His worthiness upon you. His own righteousness is given to you and credited to you, so that it is yours by grace through faith in Him, by fatherly goodness and mercy, for the sake of His divine and holy Love.
Even when the Lord speaks and applies His Law to you, He does even this in love for you, in order to call you back from your sin and death, back to Himself and to His Life. He desires nothing so much as for you to live with Him in peace and love. Thus, He does all things for you for the sake of His Gospel, for the sake of forgiving your sins and giving you this Life with Him forever.
See what love the Father has for you, that He has given His only Son to die for you. And see what love the Son has for you, that He has willingly borne all of your sins, the Cross and death for you, so that you inherit His Kingdom as a beloved and well-pleasing son of His own God and Father.
There is no greater treasure in heaven or on earth to compare with this dear Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves you and has freely given Himself for you, who graciously gives Himself to you — His Word and Spirit, Flesh and Blood, for your heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit, now and forever.
Receive this Gift — receive this dear Lord Jesus Christ — in the blessed faith and confidence that no greater love exists than His Love for you, the Love of God in Christ which is for you. Nothing shall ever be able to separate you from that Love, nor from Him who loves you. No matter how much you may waver and falter, He remains faithful. He is steadfast, sure, and certain, and He is for you. He has not come to destroy you. He has come to save you.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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