This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Novi on March 2; at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Belleville on March 9; and at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Plymouth on March 16.
THE CRUCIAL
HOURS: They Bound Him.
In the name + of Jesus.
They bound Jesus. They sent a ridiculously large number of men
to do it. The ESV translators called
them “a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief
priests and the Pharisees” (John 18:3). The Greek word suggests a cohort, which is one
tenth of a legion. That’s up to 600 soldiers. In addition, there were servants from the priests
and Pharisees. Did they really need that
many people to seize Jesus? The size of
the group was a bit of overkill, but it demonstrated the commitment of Jesus’
enemies to arrest and kill him. They
were not taking any chances in letting Jesus escape.
“The band of soldiers
and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound
him” (John 18:12). Or, perhaps, we should say he let them bind him. There is no doubt that Jesus was in control
of these events. Previous attempts on Jesus’
life were thwarted when Jesus simply walked through the crowd because it was
not his hour. The Sanhedrin had
determined that the feast was the wrong time to arrest Jesus lest there be a
riot from the Passover pilgrims. But
they were not in control. Jesus’ hour
was during the feast. Even when they
came to arrest him, a detachment of soldiers that size with lanterns, torches,
and weapons could not march out unnoticed.
Jesus knew they were coming.
Still, he did not make any attempt to escape. When the soldiers announced their intended
target, Jesus freely identified himself.
Translators usually have Jesus state, “I am he” (John 18:5). Jesus actually spoke the name of the Lord as
he identified himself. “I AM.” “When Jesus said to them, ‘I AM,’ they drew back and
fell to the ground” (John 18:6).
Still, he made no attempt to escape.
This was all according to plan—God’s plan. “So the band of soldiers and their captain
and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him” (John 18:12).
They
bound him. Or, more accurately, he let
them bind him. Jesus gave himself
willingly into the hands of his enemies, to the false charges they would file
against him, to the unjust sentence of crucifixion Pontius Pilate would issue,
to the mockery of clergy and soldiers, to the crown of thorns on his head, to
the scourging of his back, to the iron nails through his wrists and feet, to
humiliating and cruel crucifixion, and ultimately to the wrath of God Almighty
for sins he did not commit. Yes, Jesus
did all of this knowingly and willingly.
You and I do not have the freedom Jesus
did. Jesus did not have to come to earth
to suffer and die. He did it of his own
free will. But it is not so with
us. You and I have come into this world in
bondage. We cannot break the chains
which shackle us to sin and death. You
can assert with great bravado, “I choose not to die.” That sounds great, but you are only kidding
yourself. You may fight to live a little
longer by submitting to chemo treatments, taking cover when a storm comes,
putting on your seatbelt, or masking up during an airborne viral pandemic. But we all have our own hour when we will
die. It is bound to happen because we
are bound to death.
We
are also bound to sin because we are bound to our sin. That sinful nature has corrupted our hearts
and minds. No one had to teach us to
sin. We are naturally self-serving. We exalt our opinions, our reputations, our
desires, and our very selves over other people.
We will even forfeit friendships over these things. Like the apostles, we can make great boasts
about what we will do to honor our Lord; and like the apostles, our actions
never live up to our boasting.
Our minds are bound to our sinful
nature. Therefore, we become jealous and
egotistical. Our hearts are bound
to our sinful nature. Therefore, we get
petty, angry, and resentful. Our will
is bound to our sinful nature.
Therefore, we conclude that God’s direction for moral living is unrealistic,
his command to forgive is foolish, and his instruction to regard others more
highly than ourselves is stupid. To be
bound to our sinful nature means to be free from God. That sounds appealing to many; but to be free
from God is to be free from hope, comfort, mercy, and life. To be bound to sin is to be bound to shame,
death, and damnation. While we want a brighter
future than that, we do not have the ability to unshackle ourselves from
sin. We have no way to break away from
death.
This is why Jesus was bound. Before he was ever bound by soldiers in the
Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord declared in the Garden of Eden that he would be
bound to us. Jesus would become one of
us—the Seed of the Woman, born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus would bind himself to us—the Son of Man
joined to all mankind, the Creator taking his place among his creatures. Jesus came to break the chains that bind us to
sin and death.
Jesus did this by binding our sins to
himself. Jesus knew what he was getting
into when he went out to the Garden of Gethsemane. That is why he prayed so fervently there. He prayed for the strength to endure for you
and me the curse we have brought upon ourselves. He prayed for the strength to bear the sufferings
and death for all sins of all people of all time.
After Jesus prayed
and was strengthened, the soldiers bound him. That is, Jesus let them bind him with ropes to
be ushered back into the city for trial.
Simon Peter wanted to fight for Jesus to remain free. But if Jesus remained free, we would remain
bound in our sins. Therefore, Jesus said
to him, “Shall I not drink the cup that the
Father has given me” (John 18:11)?
The cup is whatever the Father gives you, whether good or bad. In Jesus’ case, it was the cup of God’s
wrath. That cup was intended for us. But Jesus was bound to take that cup and
consume all of God’s wrath for us; for, Jesus had bound himself to us, as we confess:
“Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven was incarnate by
the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man” (Nicene Creed, The
Lutheran Hymnal © 1941).
This man, Jesus, came to deliver all mankind
from the bondage to depravity, death, decay, and damnation. Jesus bound himself to our sin. St. Paul wrote, “[God] made him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians
5:21). Jesus bound himself to our curse. St. Paul wrote, “Christ redeemed us
from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). He did not come merely to have sympathy for
us. He came to be sin, to become the curse. Jesus united himself to us to the point of taking
upon himself our cursed, hellish death. Jesus was punished by God as he hung from the cross. As cruel as the torture of crucifixion is,
Jesus also endured a God-forsaken hell.
That is what is due for those who are bound to their sins. Jesus let
himself be bound to the cross where he gave himself as the ransom payment to
set you free. You are no longer under
the charge of sin or death. You have
been ransomed, redeemed, set free.
And now, Jesus has bound you to himself. When you were baptized, Jesus made you his
own. By being baptized into Christ, you
benefit from everything that Jesus did.
His innocent life becomes yours.
So, the holiness you need to dwell with God has been cloaked around you. His sacrificial death is credited to you. So, the death you deserve has been died for
you. His resurrection from the dead
shows you what is in store for you. So,
the chains of death cannot hold you. You
are no longer bound to a future of dust and ashes. You will be raised up to glory everlasting.
Jesus has bound you to himself. He has cleansed you of the sin which had
bound you. He has transformed your heart
so that you delight in God’s word. He
has renewed your mind so that it is conformed to Christ. He binds your will to his own so that you say
“No” to ungodly living and strive for holiness.
He binds you to himself so that you long to be like Jesus—perfectly free
from sin. Therefore, Jesus continues to
speak to you in his word and strengthens you in the Lord’s Supper so that your
bonds to him will not be severed again.
Sometimes, that will mean correction. Even though we belong to Jesus, we are still
influenced by sinful thoughts and worldly arguments. That’s why Jesus had to reprimand Peter for swinging
his dagger at the soldiers. It made
sense to Peter to fight and to defend Jesus, but that was not God’s plan. Jesus had to remind him of that. And so it is with you. You may be convinced that your plans and
schemes are great and will improve your life.
Although your plans seem obvious and the course looks easy, it often
happens that the easy thing to do is not the right thing to do. The right thing is usually the hard thing. That’s because our sinful flesh doesn’t want
to do it and finds reasons why it shouldn’t.
God’s word may show you that you have set your will against his own. He calls you to assess your life daily so
that you do not oppose his word. He does
this so that you will not be ensnared by your sins again. The cords of sin need to be cut every day.
The death of Jesus shows you that God is
intensely serious about sins. We are
right to repent daily so that we are not bound by our sins again. If the death of Jesus shows you how intensely
serious God is about sins, it also shows you how intensely serious the Lord is
about saving sinners. His love for you
and his desire for your salvation are publicly displayed at the cross. For, the death of Jesus sets you free from
sin and death.
When Jesus’ hour had come, they bound him; that is, he let them bind him. He bound himself to us, to take up our cause. He bound himself to our sin and death so that he could free us from them. He has bound you to himself so that you receive his forgiveness, new life in his kingdom of grace, and everlasting life in his glory. You have his word on this, and his promise to you is binding.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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