Rev. Charles Lehmann + Trinity 10 + Luke 19:41-48
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
As far as we know from the Scriptures, there are only two times that Jesus
was moved to weep. Today's Gospel reading gives us the second time. In our
reading, Jesus weeps over His beloved city of Jerusalem. A few weeks before He
had wept at the grave of a friend. What do these occasions share in common?
The answer is more straightforward than it might seem at first.
Jesus weeps at the death of those whom He loves. He loved Lazarus, and
even though He knew that He was about to raise Lazarus to life, he wept at his
friend's tomb. In today's reading, as Jesus enters Jerusalem so that He can
suffer and die to win salvation for all who live there, He cries because most
of the people of Jerusalem will never receive the salvation that He will win
for them. He cries because in less than forty years, the temple will burn, the
city walls will fall, and no resident of Jerusalem will escape alive. They
will all be killed, and most of them will suffer in hell forever.
And so, our Lord weeps. He has been rejected by the people of Jerusalem.
He has come to His own and His own have not received Him. Instead, they are
plotting His death.
All this might seem a little bit irrelevant. All of us were born about two
thousand years after the destruction of Jerusalem. What do the Lord's words
about an ancient Israelite city have to do with us? They actually have a lot
to do with us. There are millions alive today who will suffer the same fate
that many in Jerusalem suffered, and for the very same reasons.
Our Lord comes to us today with a harsh and unyielding word of warning.
Not all who say “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, Jesus
says in our reading, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the
things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” The
people of Jerusalem were probably shocked by the Lord's Words. They were the
last people who would expect to have “the things that make for peace” hidden
from them. They had the temple. They had the sacrifices. It was in Jerusalem
that the Word of God was read, studied, and proclaimed every day. It was to
the people of Israel that all of God's Old Testament promises had been given.
The people of Jerusalem were obedient to God's Law. They had well cared for
and happy families. They were an example of good and decent living for the
whole empire.
But Jesus wept over Jerusalem. He wept because though they heard the Word
of God, they didn't believe it. Because the people of Jerusalem did not
believe the holy and saving Gospel, the things that make for peace were hidden
from them. There is no spiritual life apart from the Gospel, and so Jesus
wept. He wept because though the people of Jerusalem had received all of God's
promises, they'd denied them. He wept because though they took care of their
families and appeared to live good and virtuous lives, Jerusalem had rejected
the Word of God that it heard every day.
The people of Jerusalem had replaced the worship of the true God with a
religion that they had made up on their own. They had replaced God's offer of
grace and mercy with a religion where they justified themselves by their own
works. Though they prayed using God's own Words when they sat down to supper,
the people of Jerusalem did not recognize God when he walked among them. They
murdered Jesus, the very God whom they should have received as the Anointed
One, their Savior.
It is impossible to overemphasize how important our Lord's Words in Luke 19
are. The people of Jerusalem knew the Word of God better than many of us do.
They claimed that they believed it. The rich even had the Word of God in their
homes. The people of Jerusalem called themselves Israelites, and they thought
that they worshiped the God of the Old Testament.
But claiming something doesn't make it so. Saying that you worship the God
of the Bible doesn't mean that you actually do. Calling yourself a Christian
doesn't mean that you actually know your Savior. Millions of unbelievers study
the Word of God every day and even try to live their lives according to it.
Some of these unbelievers will even say that they believe that Jesus is their
Savior. But unless the Jesus whom you trust is the Jesus who is revealed in
the Scriptures, you do not have the salvation that He has won for you on the
cross.
Our world presents us with many different versions of Jesus, but none of
the world's versions of Jesus are the real one. None of them are God, the
second person of the Trinity, who took on human flesh so that He might bear all
of your sins to the cross, die in your place, and win life and salvation for
you.
The world's versions of Jesus are false. They are counterfeit. If you
were to go on a city street and ask a thousand people who Jesus is, you would
get a lot of different answers. Most of them would be false and counterfeit
versions of Jesus that Satan has devised to send people to hell. Some would
say that Jesus is just a good moral example. Some would say that Jesus is a
myth and never really existed. Some would say that Jesus was a renegade rabbi
was born after a Roman soldier raped a Jewish peasant girl. Some would say
that he was one of the greatest of the prophets. Some would say that Jesus is
one of many good spiritual examples to follow. Though some of these answers
sound like they might have some truth in them, none actually have anything to
do with who Jesus actually is. None of these answers are describing Jesus as
He is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures.
The situation of the people of Jerusalem in today's Gospel reading is even
worse. The people of Jerusalem thought that they did believe in God as He is
revealed in the Scriptures. They thought that they knew what the Messiah would
be like and what He would do. They could describe God in ways that sounded
biblical. That's because in today's Gospel reading Jesus is addressing those
who had actually heard who God revealed Himself to be in the Scriptures. Many
of them could probably describe what the Old Testament said about God in some
detail. But in the end, their knowledge of the Old Testament didn't save them.
It didn't save them because though they had heard about the God of the Old
Testament, they didn't believe in Him.
It is for exactly this reason that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Jerusalem
was filled with people who should have recognized who Jesus was and believed in
Him, but they didn't. They worshiped false gods that existed only in their
imaginations.
And so, in today's world the same situation exists. Many claim to be
Christians and study the Word of God, but do not believe in the God who is
revealed in the Scriptures. In this area, the most common examples of this are
Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Though Mormons have wonderful families and
study the Bible, they teach that Jesus is Satan's brother and that our goal is
to become a god. Nowhere can you find these teachings in Scripture. In fact,
Mormonism's goal of becoming a god is exactly the temptation that Satan used
against Eve in the Garden of Eden. Though Jehovah's Witnesses also tend to
have obedient children and also study the Word of God, they deny the Trinity,
teach that Jesus is not true God, and they do not believe that Jesus died on a
cross to win forgiveness for all of your sins.
Until Jesus returns, Satan will always attack Lord's church by telling lies
about Him. The world will continue to be filled with groups that try to make
you believe in a false Jesus who is not your Savior. But we must not respond
to these groups with hatred. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It
is not against Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Our struggle is against Satan
who has deceived them. Jesus did not hate the people of Jerusalem. He loved
them. He wept over them. When they drove the nails into His hands and feet,
He said, “Father, forgive them.”
Today we live in a world filled with people who think they are being
faithful to God but are being deceived for Satan. As the Lord loves them, so
must we. The members of these cults are living in death. They have not
received the riches of salvation that Christ has for them. Unless they hear
the Gospel and believe it, they will suffer in hell forever. When
representatives of these groups come to your house, do not send them away empty
handed. Give them Jesus. Tell them of all that your Savior has done for you.
Let them know that they are loved by God and by you.
Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and members of other cults are sinners for
whom Jesus died. When our Lord went to the cross, He went there because He
loved you, me, and all people. He desires to give His gifts to them just as He
has given them to you. Our Lord desires that all be saved and come to the
knowledge of the truth. Jesus has taken the cup of His Father's wrath and
drunk it to the very dregs. He has done all that is necessary for your
salvation and the salvation of your neighbor.
Come, people loved by God, come to the feast! Receive the riches of life
and salvation that Christ has won for you on the cross. The table is ready.
All is finished. All is prepared. Your Savior loves you.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and
minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD
http://www.stjohncove.org
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