April 30, 2011

It's All About Jesus!

2nd Sunday of Easter, 5/1/11
Acts 2:14a, 22-32


It’s All About Jesus!
I. He was crucified according to God’s plan.
II. He rose again according to God’s promise.


I don’t get the opportunity often, but occasionally I listen to a sermon delivered by someone other than a fellow WELS pastor. In this case, it happened to be the sermon of a pastor of a non-denominational church. The sermon held my interest to a large degree. There were bits of humor. But at the end of the sermon, the one thing that struck me was that the pastor never, not once, mentioned the name of Jesus. As I thought about it, the sermon could have been delivered in a Jewish synagogue or a Unitarian church. In fact, because he didn’t mention anything about Jesus, I suppose the sermon could have been acceptable even to a Muslim or a Hindu. And the more I pondered it, the more appalled I became. I hope that such a sermon in a Christian church is the exception. Maybe I’m naïve.

That certainly wasn’t the case with the sermons of apostles. Take a look at some of the sermons they delivered or at some of the messages they proclaimed before powerful people. Read through the Book of Acts. Every one of their sermons or messages focused on one thing—better, one person—Jesus Christ.

And that was exactly Peter’s focus in his first sermon. We have a portion of it before us this morning. He actually preached this sermon on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. And properly so, his focus was on Jesus—his death and resurrection. For Peter, it was all about Jesus.

Praise God that today it’s still all about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus! In preaching this sermon to us, Peter doesn’t share with us any truths we don’t already know. But listening to what he says gives us the opportunity to apply that saving message to our hearts and lives once again this morning.

Part I.

I’m sure you’ve come across some Bible truths that we can’t fully comprehend. For instance, how can God be three persons but only one God? Or, how can God create something out of nothing? And how can we understand that God is eternal—without beginning or end? That’s just a small sampling. There are plenty more truths that our human minds can’t grasp.

There are also examples of the Bible stating two truths and we’re prone to ask, “Well, which one is true? They can’t both be true.” But they are. For instance, the Bible states that God loves the whole world of sinners and yet it also states that he hates all who do wrong. Both are true and they find their solution in the cross of Jesus.

In order to convince his hearers that day that they needed a Savior from sin, Peter preached God’s condemning law to them. In doing so, he appears to say two things, which at first glance, seem to say two different things.

He tells them how wrong they were to reject Jesus as the promised Savior. “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And what he did backed up what he said. He performed miracles that only God can do. It started with changing water into wine and included healing those who were sick, driving out evil spirits, and even raising dead people. These tremendous acts of his power weren’t done in secret. There were countless witnesses to them. And Peter points that out to his hearers.

But they still acted against what they had seen and heard. Peter charges them, “With the help of wicked men, [you] put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” Peter isn’t saying that every one of them had a hand in pounding the nails into Jesus’ hands and feet. But perhaps some of them were in Pilate’s courtyard that morning of his death and were shouting along with the Jewish leaders, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Were they at the foot of the cross later that day, mocking him with the soldiers? And even if they weren’t guilty of either of these things, no one defended him. No one sided with him. Think about that. They put the Son of God to death! They crucified the One for whom all Jews had been waiting for more than a 1,000 years. The sinless One dies the worst death imaginable and they were responsible for it!

But did you notice what else Peter said about the death of Jesus? He said, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.” It almost sounds as if Peter is saying this was all according to God’s plan. Well, that’s exactly what he’s saying. God’s plan of salvation focused on sacrificing his Son on the cross for the sins of the world. But how does that square with Peter accusing the Jews before him of crucifying Jesus? It squares exactly. They weren’t unwilling pawns or pre-programmed robots. They did exactly what they wanted to do when they crucified Jesus. And in doing it, they were carrying out God’s plan. That doesn’t absolve them of the responsibility or the guilt. It means that God used their wickedness to accomplish our salvation.

That was God’s plan. It’s all about Jesus. He was crucified according to God’s plan.

Perhaps you’ve heard an advisor tell you, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” And we know how true that statement is, we just never get around to planning the things we know we should. And we’ve got our excuses. We’re too busy. We spend our entire day dealing with the unexpected, so what’s the point in planning? In fact, so often we deal with the unforeseen difficulties and tragedies in our lives that we wonder what kind of plan God has for us. Has he perhaps even forgotten us?

Peter’s sermon reminds us that it’s all about Jesus, but that doesn’t mean God has forgotten about you. Exactly the opposite. Yes, the plan involved crucifying Jesus but not simply for the sake of a crucifixion. It was all about you and me! Jesus’ death on the cross was the death we should have been dying. The hell he suffered should have been our hell. Yes, we nailed him to the cross with our sins, but his cross brings God’s forgiveness flowing into our lives. It’s all about Jesus. Thank God it’s all about Jesus!

Part II.

There are those who think all religions basically say the same thing, they just use different terms. I’m sure you’re not surprised to know I couldn’t disagree more. You probably don’t agree with them either.

In fact, Christianity is unique in many respects. And one of the most striking ones is the truth that Peter discussed at some length in his sermon about Jesus. He says, “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Christianity proclaims the resurrection—the resurrection of Jesus and our own resurrection. Unlike other religions, Christians don’t make journeys to the burial site of their religion’s leader. As the angel proclaimed at Jesus’ tomb on Easter, he’s not here. He has risen!

When the angel proclaimed those words to Jesus’ followers and they, it turn, proclaimed them to others, their words were met with disbelief and rejection, much as they are by too many today. But the resurrection of Jesus should have come as no surprise to his followers. Jesus plainly told them that he would rise again on the third day. Even his enemies were aware of it.

In addition, Jesus had repeatedly revealed his power over death. The Bible contains three accounts of Jesus coming into contact with a dead person. None of them remained dead. He raised the daughter of a man named Jairus. He stopped at the funeral procession of the son of a widow from the town of Nain, touched the coffin and raised the son to life. And just weeks before his crucifixion he had commanded his good friend Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, to come out of the grave. And that’s exactly what Lazarus did.

Jesus had power over death and he would display that power even over his own death. That was God’s promise all along and Peter makes that promise a central part of his sermon. He states, “David said about him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.”

Peter quoted these words from Psalm 16 which was written by King David. In doing so, he states the obvious: David couldn’t have been speaking about his own body not seeing decay. David had died almost 1,000 years ago and every Jewish person knew that David’s body was still buried right there in Jerusalem.

Instead, David, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was speaking about Jesus. Jesus was God’s Holy One. He was and is the sinless Son of God. He died, but his body didn’t decay and it wasn’t abandoned to the grave. Jesus rose from the dead. As amazing and incredible as that seems, he rose, just as God had promised.

It’s all about Jesus. He rose again according to God’s promise.

Your God makes astounding promises and he has always kept every promise he has ever made. He promises your forgiveness and eternal life. He promises to send you his Holy Spirit through his word and sacrament. He promises to strengthen you and guide you. He promises to make all things turn out for the good of those who love him. He promises to take your soul home to him in heaven and to raise your body from the grave on the Last Day and glorify it. All those promises he will keep because of Jesus. He died for you and he rose for you. It’s all about Jesus. May it always be all about Jesus! Amen.