Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent with video recording

 Click here for a recording of the service at St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church, Rensselaer, IN

2024 Lent 5 Jeremiah 31:31-34          Hebrews 5:1-10              Mark 10:32-45

O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. 

What will be lost? What will be gained? The gospel reading addresses those two questions. But Jesus and his disciples are not in agreement, at this time, with the answers. 

What will be lost is Jesus’ life. Jesus foretells his death for the third time. Using the third person designation for himself, Jesus declares that he, the Son of Man, will soon suffer, die, and on the third day rise again.  The first time that Jesus said this, Peter reacted and said that this can’t happen. The Messiah lives, the Messiah does not die! Jesus rebuked Peter strongly.  The second time Jesus told them that the Son of Man will soon suffer, die, and on the third day rise again, there was no argument.  Mark says, “But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.” (9:32) With today’s announcement of Jesus’ impending passion, there is no immediate commentary offered at all. 

What is lost is the Apostles’ ability to see beyond their own hopes and dreams for the Messiah and to hear what Jesus is really saying.  The Son of Man, the sinless man, the uncorrupted human being, will soon be taken from the Apostles. They are still thinking in terms of a physical, earthly kingdom that has thrones, positions of power and privilege, geographical boundaries, land, water, fortresses, weapons such as spears and swords. In that earthly kingdom, there will be a ranking of lesser and greater. The great always has more of everything than the lesser. James and John want in on the earthly kingdom. They want to be at the head. 

There has never been a perfect earthly kingdom.  And there will not be. Even when civilizations were Christian and the Church played an essential role in the choosing of emperors and rulers, and shaped the laws by which citizens must live, human sin, infected the decisions. Pride, lust, Machiavellian deals, coveting, and so on flourished. 

Jesus challenges the prideful assumption of James and John that their leadership is essential to the success of God’s kingdom. He challenges their arrogance that they will somehow manage better the power and influence of such a close position to Jesus in His kingdom. Of course, they have it all wrong. All the models of leadership and power have been from the world. Jesus comes to show a different way. Service and sacrifice is how the kingdom of God will be present in this world. It won’t be the service and sacrifice of others. It will be the service and sacrifice of the leaders, beginning with Jesus, then the Apostles. They will, in time, have the opportunity to drink the cup that Jesus drinks and be baptized with the baptism that Jesus is baptized. 

What is lost to the Apostles is the expectation that Jesus is the ultimate authority in this new kingdom. No. It is the Father’s will that Jesus is doing. The Father decides who sits where and when. Jesus is sent by the Father to do his bidding. Jesus speaks what the Father has told him to say. Jesus does what the Father has instructed him to do. The Father will determine who sits at the right and left of Jesus, not Jesus. As Jesus explained elsewhere, For God so loved the world that He sent His only Begotten Son into the world to save them. The Father oversees the mission. Jesus is the servant. 

What is lost in this Gospel reading is the Apostles’ initial naivete about the kind of kingdom that Jesus is going to bring about. It has no borders. It will have none of the usual markers of a mighty kingdom. Leadership and greatness will have a very different character than what they witnessed in their Jewish history or amongst the Gentiles. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

What is gained? They gain a succinct explanation of what is to come and why. The Messiah must suffer and die and rise again on the third day. Jesus brings the kingdom of God through giving his life as a ransom. His sacrifice on the cross is for the sake of the world.  He serves the world through his death and resurrection. 

What is gained is an insight into God’s kingdom where earthly values are turned on their head. After the Resurrection, Jesus spends forty days with the disciples, opening the Scriptures to them, explaining why the Son of Man, God’s incarnate only-begotten Son, suffered, died, and rose again. He explains to them that in His death on the cross, he takes on our sin, so that we can be forgiven.  He is our ransom.  The unholy trinity of Sin, Death, and the Devil, no longer have the final grip on us.  On account of Jesus and his cross, sin is forgiven.  On account of Jesus and his cross, death is no longer the end. Death is now simply a gate through which we pass so we may enter eternal paradise. On account of Jesus and his cross, the devil and his lies have been pushed back and away.  We trust in Jesus and his cross, we have faith in Jesus and his cross, because he is the truth. 

What is gained is the truth of the Good News that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in charge of our salvation, not us. Jesus gives his life on the cross so that we may receive God’s gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and life, freely through faith. We don’t have to do a thing to earn God’s favor. The truth is that we cannot do a thing to earn God’s favor.  God has already loved us. Jesus has died for us. The Holy Spirit has created faith within through the Word. All that is left for us to do is to thank God for His grace. 

What is gained through Jesus is a new life. A new life in Christ. A new life awash in His promises. 

…The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.