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| Norma Boeckler |
Good Friday Vespers, 2014, 8 PM Central Daylight Time
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 PM Central Daylight Time
The Hymn # 172 O Sacred Head 2:55
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Hymn # 172 O Sacred Head 2:55
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 22 p. 128
The Lections
The Sermon Hymn #143 O Dearest Jesus 2:56
The Lections
The Sermon Hymn #143 O Dearest Jesus 2:56
The Sermon – Who Has Believed Our Report?
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45
The Hymn #151 Christ the Life 2:78
The Hymn #151 Christ the Life 2:78
Isaiah 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
KJV John 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. 2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. 4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. 16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. 19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and putit upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
For Holy Communion Preparation on Easter Sunday
O Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Thee, that of Thine infinite mercy Thou hast instituted this Thy sacrament, in which we eat Thy body and drink Thy blood: Grant us, we beseech Thee, by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not receive this gift unworthily, but that we may confess our sins, remember Thine agony and death, believe the forgiveness of sin, and day by day grow in faith and love, until we obtain eternal salvation through Thee, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
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| Norma Boeckler |
Who Has Believed Our Report?
The Old Testament lesson is directly related to the Means of Grace message in Romans 10. As I pointed out before, Romans 10 quotes Who has believed our report? and clearly shows us this basic teaching:
- Salvation comes from the forgiveness of sin.
- Forgiveness can only come from faith in Christ.
- Faith comes from hearing the Gospel message of the Atonement.
The power of the Gospel is the Holy Spirit at work, both in the faithful teaching of the Word and in the earnest and sincere hearing of the audience. Some listen only to make fun of it and find fault with it. Others find themselves vastly superior to the simplicity of the message. No matter what their response, the Spirit works upon them. Sometimes they are so agitated that they work at finding even more problems, and become converted in spite of their initial pride. Others reach a point in life when they no longer feel superior and can look back to the lessons from the Word that they ignored previously as not fitting their station, their needs, or their intellect.
Augustine was like that. Suddenly a child's game caused him to read from St. Paul and his intellectual resistance crumbled. He finally had a child-like faith, and became the primary teacher of justification by faith in the Christian Church.
Isaiah 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
The most fascinating aspect of this passage from Isaiah is how the verses were ignored as non-Messianic among the Jews. They knew the chapter. They studied it. They could not apply it because they thought of the Messiah, the Son of David, as a warrior king. Weren't all saviors? One Byzantine Emperor lost a lot of credibility when he rode in a chariot - like a taxi - instead of riding a charger as a warrior would. King-saviors are common in world history.
There is only one crucified King, the true Messiah.
Until Jesus was crucified, these verses did not make sense. He was exalted and very high, but he was tortured beyond recognition. And yet this horribly disfigured man would sprinkle many nations (redeem them) and silence great kings who would see a great wonder and hear things they never imagined - the resurrection of the Messiah - and the promise of eternal life through Him.
53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Who has believed our sermon - because faith will come from this sermon about the crucified Messiah. The arm of the Lord is the way in which God reveals His power in love and mercy. How do we know God is all-powerful and all-loving? Because we see Christ crucified for our sins.
We should reach an age where we realize we are weak and sinful and unable to make ourselves righteous or innocent or even to make up for our sins. The arm of the Lord reveals that God has atoned for our sins through Jesus, so we cannot pay for something beyond our ability and something already redeemed.
This chapter is one of great comfort because the verses reveal to us how much Jesus suffered for the sins of the world. This helps us see how He carried them all, even our sins.
I teach a class where people reveal the importance of forgiveness for themselves but have trouble with it. One person confessed being stricken with remorse for the sins of the past, even though she had confessed her sins and believed in the Gospel that gives us all mercy and peace. She would still fall on the bed and sob.
I reminded her that Psalm 103 says this - that God as removed those sins from believers, as far as the East is from the West.
Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
The unified truth of the Bible is so clear, because the purpose of Jesus' suffering is explained, but all in advance, yet repeatedly quoted in the New Testament. He was wounded for our great sins, He was beaten for evil deeds. He was punished to give us peace, and He was whipped to heal us.
If this is not grasped or if it is explained away, the Bible makes no sense at all. That is why people who reject the Scriptures use the book to teach literature or history (their version) or social activism. The one thing they do not accept about the Bible is faith in Jesus, which is the purpose of the entire Bible.
And this faith means trust in the God-man who died for our sins. They cannot abide such a notion and spend all their energy teaching against it. The reject the divinity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, or forgiveness through faith in Him.
And yet if we have trouble with this chapter, we only need to read Romans 10 or John 10 to grasp it.
Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Someone has to get me past Romans 10 to think otherwise, because this chapter is nothing but faith in Christ and way in which this faith is planted.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Verse 8 clearly says He was killed for the sins of the elect. The supposed contradiction of the following verse only confirms the precision of this prophetic chapter. He was buried as a wicked man, a criminal but still buried as if He were rich. Until Jesus was buried in a rich man's tomb, after being crucified, this passage was opaque.
Yet once Jesus rose from the dead, this chapter became a living commentary on the Gospel - or the Gospel became a living commentary on Isaiah 53. How does one separate the Old Testament lesson (and Psalm 22) from the atoning death of Christ? It cannot be done.
Therefore, any passage about the Messiah points to Jesus, and any passage about Jesus points to the Old Testament.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
This is the triumphal part of Isaiah 53, because the Atonement makes sense from God's point of view. (See the horrid Braaten Jenson Dogmatics, where this does not make sense to anyone, certainly not to those apostates who lead the ELCA).
Jesus will see the results of His Atonement and be satisfied with the forgiveness and salvation distributed through the Means of Grace. This is not unlike a woman who is great travail in giving birth and yet is satisfied and joyful in having a baby. There are many photos of women who are looking at their babies for the first time. The labor is apparent on their faces and yet the wonder and awe is also there. You could call that a similar kind of satisfaction - suffering with a purpose.
The Righteous Servant will justify many - not all. There are other supporting passages which easily defeat Universalists of all types. There is no forgiveness without faith, no salvation without faith. Since not all believe, Jesus justifies many but not all. That is their fault, not His.
Many is used twice in the same passage, because God knows we need to hear a message more than once.
Mark 10:45 -
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
