M: Alleluia. Christ is risen!
C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia.
You cannot divorce the word of God from the Word
made flesh. If you ignore or warp or
reject the one, you will almost certainly forfeit the other. The word of God in Scripture and the Word
made flesh do not contradict or argue with each other. This often gets confused in Christian
churches. People will uphold Jesus but
dismiss portions of Scripture. For
example, you might hear someone say, “Okay, the Bible says that, but where does
Jesus say that?” But how can you pit
them against each other? They are both
the Word of God—the one in print, the other in the flesh.
The Lord has warned: “Beware of false
prophets” (Matthew 7:15). Beware, because false prophets are deceptive and persuasive. They appeal to feelings and emotions. They will talk about loving people; and who
could be opposed to that? The Law of God
tells us to do this. But how we
love and what we love is where God’s word gets ignored or warped or rejected. This is why St. John instructs us: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits
to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out
into the world” (1 John 4:1). Not every teaching which invokes the name of
Jesus is what the word of God says, and not every teaching which feels right actually
is right.
The sinful nature always turns God’s word
on its head. God standards are
straight-forward. The first commandment is
this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). The second commandment is this, “You shall
love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). You come last, because God does not promote
selfishness. But what does sin do? I come first.
I want to feel good about myself, so I uphold myself as important and as
righteous. I want my neighbor to feel the
same way about me, so I praise my neighbor for what he does. He in turn praises me for my good judgment. It is embarrassing to be corrected, and no
one wants to feel embarrassed. So, the sinful
nature says the loving thing is to be supportive even of sinful behavior. In this way, no one feels bad. And if God has a problem with this mutual
love among people who just want to get along?
Well, that is God’s problem. So,
sin turns God’s commandments upside down.
God comes last. And if his word
makes people feel bad, it gets tossed out.
Love corrupted by sin produces a disgust for God’s word.
Most people determine
right or wrong based on whether you harm someone. Stealing, murder, and lying are bad because
you have hurt someone. That is
true. But then it goes on: If I am doing
something in private, you can’t call it wrong because it doesn’t hurt anyone. Or you and I agree that our sinful activities
are okay. If you don’t have a problem
with it and I don’t have a problem with it, it can’t be wrong, can it? And if people say it is wrong, they are told,
“Then you don’t have to do it.” For
example, “If you think abortion is wrong, don’t have one”—as if right and wrong
are personal preferences. Consider how
this would have worked in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve each stand there with fruit in their hands. She says to him, “Do you have a problem with
me eating this fruit?” He says, “No. Do you care if I eat my fruit?” She says, “Not at all. Since no one else is here, no one should have
a problem with this.” See? Everyone decided it was okay. No harm done, right? Except that they rejected God’s word and
rebelled against him.
The first table
always comes first: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). If your sins are unknown or even if most
people accepted them, it does not make them harmless. Every sin brings wrath upon you. Every sin is a rejection of God’s word. Every sin defies God. As I had said at the very beginning, you cannot divorce the word of God from the Word made flesh. If you ignore or warp or reject the one, you
will necessarily forfeit the other. For
you cannot both love God and despise his word.
Therefore, “Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God… Every spirit that does not
confess Jesus is not from God. This is
the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the
world already” (1 John 4:1). “Antichrist” does not refer to something
that opposes Jesus, but something that replaces Jesus. And it is very deceptive. You might have heard someone
defend sinful behaviors by saying, “My Jesus would never have a problem
with that.” This statement suggests that
the person follows Jesus. But if he
replaces the true Word with a false word, he has a fabricated Jesus. Jesus never counteracts his own word. For, the word of God comes from the Word made
flesh. They are both the word. They do not fight against each other.
St. John reminds you, “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is
not from God does not listen to us. By
this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John
4:6). Whoever
clings to the words of the prophets and the apostles also has the Word made
flesh. Whoever dismisses the words of
Scripture delights in error. If anyone
persists in error, he forfeits the Word made flesh. Even one who is kind and charitable to his
fellow man is not loved by God if he fails to love the Lord above all. As Jesus said, “If
you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10). To receive the love of God, you must love God’s
word. And God’s love will produce a love
for God’s word.
The love God has
for sinners is revealed through the Word made flesh, and it is declared in God’s
word in the Scriptures. St. John stated,
“In this the
love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into
the world, so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved
us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John
4:9-10). To rescue us from the wrath we have earned because of our self-centered
love, God the Father sent his Son for us.
Jesus made himself the propitiation for our sins, which means that the
wrath which was upon us was transferred to Jesus. He suffered and died for our sins so that we
would not perish, but rather live eternally with God.
The reason the
Word became flesh for us, suffered for us, and died a cursed death for us was first
and foremost because he loves his Father.
This is perfect love. Jesus
willingly submitted to all that his Father gave him to do. Now, we had imagined one scene in a garden
before; here we will imagine a different scene in a garden. Imagine Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
praying to his Father about his imminent crucifixion. Jesus could have prayed, “Father, why should
I suffer this way? These sinners did
this to themselves. It is not my fault they
turn from your word. If they perish,
they are only getting what they deserve.”
And he would have been right. Or
if Jesus prayed, “Father, what you are asking me to do is hard. See how great the cost is!” And he would have been right. Or if Jesus prayed, “Father, this sufferings
and death you are putting on me is not justice.
It is unfair.” And he would have
been right. But how did Jesus pray? “Not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Jesus
went to the cross to suffer and die for sinners because he loves his
Father. If the Father sent him to suffer
and die for sinners, it did not matter that it was hard or unfair or undeserved. Jesus would do it because his Father said so. Because God is good, his word is good. God’s love produces a love for the word.
The love that
Jesus has for his Father and for his word, then, also produced a love for his
fellow man—even for his enemies. Jesus
willingly accepted your sins, your curse, and your death. He is the propitiation, the sin offering, willingly
slain for you. He bore the injustice—selflessly
suffering for our selfishness. He was
punished so that we don’t need to make excuses for our sins. There is no defense for our sins; but—thanks
be to Jesus!—there is forgiveness for them.
This is the perfect love Jesus has—first for his Father, doing what is
hard, costly, and unfair but doing it willingly because he knows his Father’s word
is good; and then for us because he seeks our good at his own expense.
You, dear
Christians, know this love because it saves you and sustains you. You not only know it; you also have been
moved to demonstrate it in your own life, just as St. John wrote, “Beloved, let
us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born
of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
This love is first of all according to the first table of the Law: Love
the Lord your God. God’s love produces a
love for the word. We know that whatever
God tells us is good, even if it is hard, costly, or seems unfair. Even if the whole world rejects and mocks God’s
word, we will follow it because God’s love has produced a love for his
word. Since the Lord has paid such a
great price to save us, then we can be sure that all he gives us is for our
good. Therefore, we hear and trust and follow
his word. God’s love produces a love for
his word.
Our love for God’s
word determines what is good. From
there, we seek what is good for our neighbor.
We cannot excuse sins because God doesn’t. But we will certainly be merciful to sinners because
God is. Those who are outside of God’s kingdom
are blind to his love and his truth.
They can only be enlightened if God’s word is proclaimed. The love of Christ which covers over their
sins will show them that God is good.
And if God is good, his word is good and will produce a good and godly
life. God’s love produces the love for
his word.
You cannot divorce the word of God from the Word made flesh. They are both the Word of God, and they do not fight with each other. Every word of God is good and is good for you. While the world continually changes its mind about what is love and what is good, God does not. His standards do not change, but neither do his mercy and love. This is why we cling to his word. God’s love produces a love for his word, and his word reveals God’s undying love for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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