Judica

Judica Sunday marks the beginning of the final portion of Lent, the two weeks before Easter which the church calls Passiontide. Here we find Jesus engaged in pitched battle with the Pharisees and religious leaders. They are fighting against Jesus. Jesus is fighting for them. They want to destroy Jesus. He wants to give them eternal life.

The Jews cannot answer Jesus’ words. They cannot refute his teaching. Therefore, they do what people often do today when they are losing an argument: they make personal attacks on Jesus. “We were not born of fornication. We have one Father—God” (Jn 8:41). It’s clear from their words that they know something about Jesus’ birth. They have heard something about the mysterious circumstances by which Mary was found to be with child before she and Joseph had come together. And knowing that Joseph was not His true father, they conclude that Jesus was born of fornication. Who was Jesus’ father? Perhaps—maybe it’s wishful thinking on their part—a Samaritan. We forget how much contempt the Jews had for Samaritans. There was nothing worse than Samaritans—except demons. So why not accuse Jesus of that too? “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (Jn 8:48).

As the Pharisees try to assassinate Jesus’ character, they are boasting all the while of their own pedigree: “Abraham is our Father” (Jn 8:39). “Clearly not,” Jesus answers. “You seek to kill me because I tell you the truth. Abraham did not do this. You are of your father the devil, who has been a murderer from the beginning” (Jn 8:40, 44). A few moments later, their murderous thoughts give way to murderous actions, and they pick up stones to throw at Jesus. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple (Jn 8:59).

Consider what this means. The Pharisees are the religious leaders of God’s people. They represent the established church. But when the God they claim to worship appears in His own temple, they reject His words, insult His person, and pick up stones to kill Him. So Jesus walks out of the temple that is called by His name, and at that moment, it ceases to be the temple of God. From that moment on, it is just a fancy building.

In the church’s history, there have been many times where Jesus has walked out of His own temple. In the days of Eli the priest, when his sons committed wickedness in the tabernacle, God allowed the Ark of the Covenant to be captured by the Philistines, and His presence departed from that tabernacle of Moses that was at Shiloh. Later, in the days of the wicked king of Judah, God departed from the beautiful temple of Solomon and caused it to be destroyed by the king of Babylon. And in the New Testament, when the Jews rejected Jesus and sought to kill Him, He hid Himself and went out of that temple. Thirty years later it would be utterly destroyed, stone for stone, by the Romans.

And after the Reformation, the papacy rejected the truth of God’s Word, and canonized its errors as official church doctrine. Though they claim to be the true, catholic church, the pure Gospel has not been taught in their midst for over 500 years. Jesus walked out of that temple. But what about the churches of the Reformation? We are no exception, if we do not hold fast to the Word of God. Where that Word is not treasured, we can be certain that Jesus will walk out of that temple too. Consider the great German cathedrals of the Reformation churches, all of which stand nearly empty today. The pure Gospel has long since departed. So too here in the United States in the apostate church that calls itself the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the ELCA. Nothing but a husk of Jesus words remains, and He Himself is long departed.

Don’t think that we within the LCMS, or here at St. Paul Lutheran Church, are immune to this danger. Is Jesus with us this morning? Yes, He is, according to His promise: “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit has preserved the Gospel among us even to this present day. We are gathered this morning around the words and promises of Jesus. But the same wicked spirit that caused the Jews and the papists and the Lutheran state churches to reject Christ is also present among us. The same tendency that would cause us to focus on institution building rather than faithfulness exists within our own hearts.

Because the IRS says that the church is a 501(c)(3) organization, it’s easy for us to begin to think of the church in those terms: simply another business that needs to be properly managed in order to succeed according to worldly metrics. Or, like the Pharisees who were obsessed with their lineage, you might come to believe that being a fifth generation member of St. Paul is what’s important. The Pharisees said, “We are Abraham’s children.” Jesus responded, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” In a Missouri Synod church, you might hear less talk about Abraham, and more about “my Grandpa Smith, who built this church with his bare hands,” to which Jesus answers, “Before Grandpa Smith was, I AM.”

But beyond these sinful tendencies to forget what we are doing and why we are here is the greater danger of being offended at Jesus’ teaching. That danger is always present, because the Old Adam is always present within you. And just like the unbelieving Jews, he cannot abide the words of Jesus. The Old Adam often says things such as, “Pastor, I came to church to feel good about myself, not to hear that I’m a sinner,” or, “Keep the politics out of the pulpit. Don’t talk about marriage, or abortion, or what is a man and what is a woman, or any other social issues. Just stick to the business of the church”—as if the church had any other business than to say what God says about these things.

The institution doesn’t matter, whether it’s the tabernacle of Israel, the temple of the Jews, the cathedrals of Rome, or the churches of the Reformation: whenever that institution becomes offended at the words of Jesus, Jesus walks out of that temple, and it ceases to be the church.

So what do we do when Jesus walks out of the temple? Well, we are Christians, yes? That means that we are followers of Jesus. And if Jesus goes out of the temple, then we are to follow Him. And where does Jesus go? He goes outside the city, outside of the holy temple where sacrifices ought to have been made, and He is crucified for us on the barren hill of Calvary. He goes to His cross, and then from there He goes into His tomb, and from there He goes out of death into life eternal. And so we follow Him. Yes Jesus hides Himself, but He tells us where we can find Him.

From the words of our Communion verse appointed for this day:

This is My body, which is broken for you. This cup is the new testament in My blood, saith the Lord. This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, In remembrance of Me.