Text: John 16:23-33
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Our
Lord Jesus Christ is our Teacher. And
this is typically what the disciples call Him: “Rabbi, Teacher.” And this is no mere title of respect. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior, who has
come to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil. He is the God who comes in the flesh to redeem
us. He is the perfect Human who comes to
die as the perfect sacrificial Lamb for us men and for our salvation. But He is also Jesus, the Teacher, the One who
comes to reveal the truth to us.
Last
week, we heard our Lord teaching us about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who
guides us into all truth. And Jesus is
Himself the Truth! He is the Word by
whom all things were made: the design, the Logos, the logic that governs the universe,
the order that overcomes chaos, the light that overcomes darkness, the life
that overcomes death. He is the love
that drives out all fear, and overcomes evil.
As
a teacher, our Lord knows that there are times when it is best to let one’s
students figure things out. Our Lord
understands the Socratic Method, as He often guides His hearers into an
encounter with the truth by leading them, for example, when He speaks in
figures of speech, such as parables – with or without further explanation. We sometimes learn by struggle.
But
there are also times when a good teacher foregoes the Socratic Method and, as
the saying goes, “talks turkey,” by telling it like it is. There are some things that Jesus must tell us outright
that we cannot discern by reason, things that we cannot be guided into by clever
instruction. There are times when our
Lord is brutally blunt and to the point as He reveals things that we must know.
Our
Gospel today is one of those times. “I
have said these things to you in figures of speech,” says our Lord and Teacher.
“The hour is coming when I will no
longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the
Father.”
Jesus
has come to reveal to mankind, to us, to His creatures, the truth about God the
Father. And to do so requires plain
speech, not a guided Socratic walk along a primrose path, but rather direct and
clear, unmistakable plain talk.
“For
the Father Himself loves you,” He says.
The
Father loves you, dear friends. This is
blunt and to the point. It cannot be
misconstrued. Now Jesus had previously explained
this figuratively by means of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but now He comes
right out and says it. In case the
parable wasn’t clear, in case you think that the parable doesn’t apply to you, in
case you have interpreted it all wrong, here it is: “The Father loves you.” And because of this love that the Father has
for you, He sent His Son, who plainly says: “I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the
world.” This is all plain speech. There is nothing figurative or symbolic here.
Jesus is not a prophet, not a do-gooder,
not a literary figure, not a super-hero. He is the Son of God sent by the Father out of
love, to teach us about the Kingdom and to redeem us by His blood shed upon the
cross. And contrary to modern
theologians who think they’re so sophisticated by trying to separate the “Historical
Jesus” from the “Cosmic Christ,” and all of that other blather, Jesus puts it
out there without figurative speech, plain as day. He came from the Father who loves us; He goes
to the cross to save us; and He is leaving the world to go to the Father. And indeed, “He will come again with glory to
judge both the living and the dead.”
“His
disciples said, ‘Ah, now You are speaking plainly and not using figurative
speech! Now we know that you know all
things and You do not need anyone to question You; this is why we believe that
you came from God.”
Jesus
came from God the Father, because the Father loves us. Jesus knows all things, because He is God; He
is the Son, the Word Made Flesh. He is
above questioning and interrogation. And
when He says: “Let there be light,” there is light. And when He says, “Your sins are forgiven,”
our sins are forgiven. And when He says,
“This is My body,” it is His body. For
He is not speaking in figures of speech, but plainly.
Our
Lord is talking turkey with us because He knows that we will need to know this
truth for what is yet to come. The
disciples will have to endure the Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. And in their ministry, they will suffer, and
many of them will die for the sake of the Gospel that they will preach plainly:
the Good News that the Father loves us, and that Jesus has come from the Father
for the forgiveness of sins, unto eternal life.
And
we too, dear friends, must bear our own crosses in this fallen world. For these words of Jesus apply to us as well: “Behold,
the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his
own home.” For our Lord says to us as
well: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus
is speaking plainly to us, dear brothers and sisters, telling it like it is
without figures of speech. The life of
the Christian is the life of the cross. But take heart, He says. Literally, this word means “Be courageous, be
brave.” How can we be brave, dear
friends, how can we have this courage? Because
Jesus has already overcome the world. The
Greek word that our Lord uses is the word for the Greek god of victory, which
our silly world thinks of as merely a brand of tennis shoe: “Nike.” We can be courageous because Jesus has
conquered the world. He is victorious. He has vanquished evil. And why? Because the Father loves us! It is just that plain, dear friends!
Our
Teacher is revealing all of this to us plainly, and without figures of speech:
the Father’s love, the Son’s victory, and our courage. And He says, “I have said these things to you,
that in Me you may have peace.”
The
Christian faith is all about peace, that is, the harmonious working together of
the entire created order. That peace was
shattered by our sin, but it has been restored by Christ, who came from the Father,
because the Father loves us. He rescues
us, even in the midst of the tribulation of this fallen and hostile world. And so, take courage, dear friends, because in
Jesus you have peace. For He has indeed overcome
the world.
And
because He is victorious, you are victorious. And you have peace: the peace that passes all
understanding, the peace of Christ. He
says this plainly, and we receive it plainly with our hearty: “Amen.”
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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