“HE IS”
Saint Luke 8. 46-59
Judica - The Fifth Sunday in Lent: 2 April Anno Domini 2006
Fr Watson
None of you can convict Christ of Sin. This means that none of you can make any argument that the Lord owes you anything based on your own works or merits. He is sinless. You are sinful by nature, as you have already confessed this morning. There is no good that is intrinsic in your "old Adam" flesh. Without Christ in you, you are no better than the worse Pharisee that persecuted Jesus.
When Christ is in you through His Word, the Holy Ghost calls you by that word and enlightens you to believe Him. Then, you believe Jesus is God, you believe He is your Redeemer from sin, and you believe that He suffered and died for you on the cross. Jesus is the Truth. Truth is not a concept, or "relative," or capable of being parsed by a lawyer ("it depends what you mean by the word 'truth'"). Truth is the Son taking on flesh and blood from the Virgin and being incarnate. Those who do not have Christ in them, that is, those who do not believe, can never be good. The enemies of Jesus are the enemies of His words and vice versa. No matter how "civilly" righteous and virtuous they may appear they will in the end always attack Him. They will always blaspheme Him, His name, and His followers.
"You are a Samaritan and have a demon." This was a horrible smear which called Jesus a half-breed bastard Who was not a "legitimate" pure-blooded son of Abraham. His enemies again alleged that Jesus was truly evil and was in league with the devil. Have you ever called God any names when He didn't do things the way you thought that they had to be done; the way you needed them done? Have you ever said a bad word about Jesus because you felt He did do something, or allowed something, that you thought He should not have? Does your sinful nature ever smear the Name of the Savior? I would suggest that it does so all the time. Any imperfection in keeping both tables of the Law perfect is a breaking of all the Commandments.
But Jesus did not come (the first time) to destroy and seek vengeance. He came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus did not punish or mete out justice to any non-believer; rather He talked, He rebuked, He preached the Word, the Kingdom. Even after being slandered the Lord didn't retaliate in like kind but rather spoke more truth: "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me." The Lord Jesus is the perfect pastor, the Good Shepherd, to be sure, but He is also the perfect theologian, speaking true Words about the Blessed Trinity. The Father is God, The Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son, yet they are still distinct persons of the Godhead. No one can come to the Father except through the Son. Those other "so-called" monotheistic religions who think they are worshipping the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and yet do not worship Jesus as God of God, are the real "Samaritans," the real false sons of Abraham. They are the ones who are actually worshiping a demon.
You, brothers and sisters, will die one day an earthly, temporary death. But you will never die the eternal death of hell and separation because you have already died the only death that really matters when you were drowned in the death of Holy Baptism and raised again into the Life of Faith in Christ. Jesus is right: "If anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." You keep that word, not by your obedience and dutiful "doings of things," rather you keep that word by keeping Jesus; by believing in Him and trusting Him; which things you do not by your own willpower but by the gift of God the Holy Spirit.
With Christ in you; in your ears, in your memories and minds, in your mouths, in your eyes, in your souls, you have all the Holy Scriptures unlocked. Jesus and only Jesus is the key to the word of God because Jesus is The Word of God. If you are in Jesus and Jesus is God, then you are in God Who is eternal. If you will never die the eternal death than why should the first and earliest believers in the Word be any less privileged? David, Moses and Isaiah are not dead; they are alive "in Christ." Peter, the Blessed Virgin, John, Luther, your parents, they are not dead; they are alive "in Christ." Father Abraham likewise reposes in the sweet bliss of Christ's eternal presence awaiting the general resurrection of the dead when he, like all of you, will have his spirit re-united to his glorified body.
Who is it Whose image adorns our holy altar, affixed to the wooden crucifix? Is Jesus simply a powerful prophet who forgives you all, on "behalf" of God? Is Jesus the most wise, compassionate and giving of all celestial angels; is He only the "Son of God," in the way that all who believe and honor the Father are sons? Who was it that came out of the Blessed Virgin's womb to suckle at her breasts, to be wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a cattle trough? Who was it that taught the Kingdom of forgiveness, obeyed the Decalogue and then let Himself be abused, tortured and crucified dead, and buried? God. Jesus is that God. Jesus is the same God (the only God) that spoke to Moses from the midst of the burning bush to reveal His Name, "The Name" which is above all names.
Can we "prove" that the Arians were wrong? Can we demonstrate to the Jews and Mohammedans (and all the other pagan "monotheists") that Jesus is God? Well if "prove" means to do it in a scientifically demonstrable and repeatable way, the answer is no.
But if "prove" means to show forth the faith, to confess the Creed, to testify to the God/Man's identity and mission, then you "prove" Who The Word is by the Word Himself, by His own self revelation: "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." The Second Person of the Trinity is the great "I AM" (and in the mystery which is the Godhead, so are the First and Third Persons). Immanuel, God in the flesh, born in Bethlehem is the self-same "I AM." Jesus is not a creature who came "into being" to do you some favors; to give you a purpose driven life, to set you "ablaze" so you can get busy doing the work, to make you into a little obedient Moses or Israelite. Jesus is "I AM," not "I am now."
When you are in deepest troubles; when you have lost loved ones and all you have are tears and empty stomachs, when you have pain at home, on the job, at school, when you are tired, sick, hungry, alone, scared, dying... "I AM with you, you, even to the end of the age."
The answer to all your questions, needs, problems and hurts is Jesus the God/Man.
"Are you really The Way, The Truth and The Life, for Me?" you ask...
With His Words and With His Body and Blood He responds: "I AM."
In the Name of The Father and of The Son + and of The Holy Ghost