The Wounds of Blasphemy
By Your Wounds We Are Healed • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsJesus set His course for Jerusalem knowing He would be tortured and put to death for our sins.
Notes
Transcript
Pastor’s Welcome
Thank you each for coming tonight. This evening sets the tone for our Sunday services in the weeks to come.
This year as we take the Lenten journey, we will be looking at God’s Law. The Law of the Old Testament. What we know as the Ten Commandments. Each week we will see how Jesus was either accused of violating these commandments erroneously, or suffered due to others abuse of them. Even as they condemned Christ, they were in fact sinning against these very laws they declared holy. Jesus could have stopped it, but instead He allowed it fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy found in Isaiah 53:5.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
In tonight’s theme, we find Jesus is accused of blasphemy and misusing God’s name. However, Jesus was falsely accused of such. We cannot say the same for ourselves. Today, we will see that we have been guilty of committing such sins against God.
Let us start with the first and third commandments:
“You shall have no other gods before me … You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20:3, 7).
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
In the book of John, we find the Jewish leaders accusing Jesus of breaking these commands.
It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God” (John 10:33).
The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
“The [Judeans] answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God’” (John 19:7).
The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
Jesus was falsely accused since He is the Son of God, but He stands in our place for all the many times we have been guilty of committing these sins.
Video: Lent a Journey
Poem Prayer
O Lord, throughout these forty days you prayed and kept the fast;
Inspire repentance for our sin, and free us from our past.
You strove with Satan and you won; your faithfulness endured;
Lend us your nerve, your skill and trust in God’s eternal Word.
Though parched and hungry, yet you prayed and fixed your mind above;
So teach us to deny ourselves, that we may know God’s love.
Be with us through this season, Lord, and all our earthly days,
That when the final Easter dawns, we join in heaven’s praise.
Responsive Reading:
P In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
P All we like sheep have gone astray;
C we have all turned to our own way.
P And the Lord has laid on Christ
C the iniquity of us all.
P But he was wounded for our transgressions,
C crushed for our iniquities.
P Upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
C and by his wounds we are healed.
Imposition of Ashes
Ash Wednesday begins with ashes placed on our foreheads in the sign of the cross. Words are spoken over us: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” These are words that recall our transgression, calling us back to our first parents and our disobedience. Yet the mark on our brows might also remind us of our baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ. And this day, as we start the journey of these forty days, calls us to our redemption, our rebirth, and our renaming as those on a journey in the holy crossings of the Gospel’s promise.
If you would like to receive the imposition of ashes, please step forward at this time.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Prayer of Confession based on Psalm 51
`Let us stand together, and corporately entreat our God for forgiveness. Have mercy on us, O Lord, according to your incomparable, extraordinary love. You know about our wrongs and our mistakes and our brokenness. Cleanse us through and through, renew us, and revive us. Help us to forgive ourselves, for we are aware of our flaws and frailties, and save us from false guilt, and from putting ourselves down. We get things wrong, we know this, and we hurt you and others. We are people with soiled hands and feet of clay. Capable of great things, and of destructive things, capable of healing and harm. And you desire the best for us, you offer us hope and a future. Help us to face the truth about ourselves, and about you, and as we do this we offer you our failures and successes, our weakness and strengths, our dreams and nightmares. You are not fooled, you see us as we are, and you have the kind of compassion that we can only imagine. So please, refresh us, cleanse us, rebuild our confidence, and renew our faith. Enable us to act honestly, to care deeply, and to walk humbly with you. Today and each day, in the name of your son Jesus, Amen.
Hymn or Song of response
Old Testament Reading:
Exodus 20:1-7
Then God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
“You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Then God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.”
Epistle Reading:
Romans 15:3-7
For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.
May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus,
so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Gospel Reading
John 10:31-39:
The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?”
The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”
Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled—
can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.
But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.
The [Judeans] took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The [Judeans] answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled—can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.
Children’s Message
The children are invited to come forward to help proclaim the message of the day.
Sermon Hymn
Sermon
We have been focused over the past few weeks on who Jesus is, but now we are changing gears to see what He came to do.
Have you ever seen a television drama that opens with a crisis moment and then you see typed along the bottom, “One week earlier,” or “earlier that day” and then the story begins with the events that lead to that crisis.
In similar fashion I plan to take us down the road to Calvary to the cross. Each Sunday, I will begin my sermon with an event from passion week (the week of Jesus arrest and death on a cross) and then we will look back at the accusations and challenges Jesus faced as He tried to bring us hope and understanding. Those conflicts that lead up to His final arrest and conviction.
To begin, tonight, we look at the purpose by which Jesus sets His steps towards Jerusalem fully understanding that He is walking straight toward His death. Throughout His ministry He has been accused of the sins we have committed for which He was blameless. But He never complains; instead, He accepts what is heaped on Him and allows them to hang Him on a cross. Look with me at Luke 9:51-62.
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him;
53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.
54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”
55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them.
56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
I could have ended with verse 56 where they turned from Samaria and went another way. However, I want you to note how quickly those seeking to follow Him are turned away. Jesus is with great determination walking towards the cross while others declare their desire to follow, yet are unwilling to make the sacrifices required. Sacrifices far smaller than what Jesus is facing.
The Jewish leaders may have been the ones to plot and scheme to see Jesus hang on the cross. But it was sin that really put Jesus there. Their sin and our sin.
Tonight we are looking at two of the Ten Commandments. The first is found in Exodus 20:3 and is the very first command.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
For the Pharisee, their religion had become their god. They were devoted to the laws they had created to prove their piety. I believe the god the chief priests of Israel was power, money, prestige, and may be even self. They liked the positions they held and they used those positions to their advantage taking advantage of the people. For both the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders, Jesus was a threat to what they had chosen to worship, basically, themselves.
But they are not alone in worshiping other gods. Everyone of us has at some point, whether we realized it or not, have done this very thing.
A god is someone/something we worship. It is someone/something we turn to for guidance and comfort.
When we chose to cancel church to watch the Super Bowl game, we have just made sports a god in our life.
When we drink alcohol or take drugs to forget our problems, we have just made them the god of our life.
When television watching is more important than prayer/scripture reading, it has just become a god in our life.
We all have at some time put something first in our life above God and in so doing, we have broken the first and even the second commandment.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
When we have done so, we have taken part in nailing Jesus to that cross.
(Nail Commands 1 & 2 to cross)
But there is more. Exodus 20:7.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
The Jews have a holy respect for the name of God. In fact, they use other words to communicate God in order to not over use His name. Jesus is Yahweh in Hebrew and means “Jesus Saves” or “God Saves”.
In our culture, the over use of God’s name is rampant. Even in the church, many use it out of habit with no real thought to the fact that by doing so, they are making God’s name common. It dirties God’s name.
At times when someone wants to insult someone, they make some accusation against a father or mother. That is how we get terms like, “those are fighting words.” Yet, when was the last time you heard someone say to another, “Please do not sully my Heavenly Father’s name as it is insulting to me.” The name of God and the name of Jesus are special. There is power in those names when they are used correctly, but they are deadly when used commonly, insultingly. And another sin that is nailed on the cross.
(Nail 3rd commandment to cross)
Now, allow me to remind you of something important here. When we have received Jesus as our savior, we have been forgiven of these sins. We rejoice in that and we have peace. We no longer have to fear God’s wrath or judgment as we are saved from it. Lent is not about taking away our joy. Lent is a loving practice of remembering just what God saved us from. It is a time when out of our love we show our sincere sorrow for Christ’s suffering on our behalf. It is a time of self examination to make sure we have not fallen back into any bad habits. I guarantee the experience will actually enhance your joy!
So Lent is a time of reflection. A time of examining our hearts. With this we encourage fasting. Fasting is a practice wear we deny ourselves in someway and take extra time for prayer. Most people think of fasting as abstaining from meals for days on end. Well, there is a fast like that but that kind of fast is very dangerous unless you know what you are doing and do it right. But there are many ways to fast.
You may choose to fast an hour or two of television to pray and read your Bible. You may choose to fast a type of food that you find pleasure in. Things like coffee, chocolate, sweets in general. You may choose to fast a meal once a day and take that time to pray instead. Remember that prayer is supposed to accompany fasting. So if you fast coffee or sweets or some such thing, time should still be set aside to pray.
It is best to choose one method and stick to it until Easter. At Easter, we are freed from the fast even as Easter celebrates our freedom from sin. However, if you are new to fasting and really finding it difficult to go that long, try starting slowly. You may wish to fast one way, one week and try a different fast another week. But listen to me. The purpose of the fast is meant to be difficult. It is not meant to be easy. It is to be something that requires self discipline. Pray about it and ask God to give you ideas.
Now, here is a piece of fun in it all. Every Sunday, you are free from your fast. You will only be fasting Monday - Saturday. Sunday is a time of celebration of our freedom. So it is not like this is forever. You fast for 6 1/2 weeks and every Sunday you have a day off.
I have passed out packets. In those packets is a bookmark where you can list what you are fasting. There is also some information regarding Ash Wednesday and some other fast suggestions.
It also contains a devotional book for this Lent season that follows the same theme as our Sunday services. It is my prayer that you find these resources useful and have an incredible Lent experience.
Please stand and join me in this responsive prayer to our sermon.
Prayer of Response (said responsively):
P Let us pray for the Church, for all in need, and for the whole of God’s creation. That throughout these forty days of Lent, you may give your people the hope in Jesus, our Lord, who leads the way and takes into his body on the cross the sins of the whole world.
C Heal us, O God.
P That we may all turn from false gods in wealth, possessions, and worldly success.
C Heal us, O God.
P For all the times we have felt unwelcomed or have painfully experienced the wounds of insults and torment.
C Heal us, O God.
P That we may have the strength and compassion to be agents of your divine presence and love for all people and for all of your creation.
C Heal us, O God.
P That we, with all the saints who have gone before us, may trust in the strong name of the Trinity and find eternal joy in you.
C Heal us, O God.
P We commend all things into your healing, wounded hands.
C By Christ’s wounds, we are healed. Amen.
Communion
The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return. The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ. All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit. In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Father,
You died upon the cross to suffer the pain and death for my offenses. You offered up Your blood and Your body for my sake. Please bless these communion elements that represent You body and blood for our partaking. Amen.
Please come forward and receive your communion elements. If you would take them back to your seat with you, we will take them all together once everyone has recieved theirs.
On the night in which Jesus was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.
Bread:
The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.
Cup:
The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.
P We pray the prayer that our wounded healer, Jesus the Christ, has taught us to pray:
C 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
The Blessing
May the healing presence of almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you now and always. Amen.
Closing Hymn
By Michael Hoy. © 2020 Creative Communications for the Parish, a division of Bayard, Inc., 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, M