Last Sunday marked the beginning of the Fourth Week in Lent, also known as Laetare, and today, as we have the last four Wednesdays, we will yet again be hearing from Dr. Adolph Hoeecke.
To what end did Jesus submit Himself to the suffering of the Cross? To atone for the sins of mankind, that all men might have forgiveness. It was precisely this forgiveness for which Christ pleaded while on the Cross – not just for those seeking forgiveness, but even for those without a single care for their standing before God, for those who mocked Him, for those who betrayed Him, for those who delivered Him to be crucified, in short, for all of humanity – that all men might have forgiveness of sins. Indeed, it is to this end for which Christ, in His Office of High Priest, yet intercedes for us. If it is for all men that Christ intercedes, then it is also for each individual sinner, who, apart from God’s forgiveness stands before Him in the guilt of his sins, but upon whom, through faith, is pronounced by God, “Blessed are you whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” This is The Fruit of Christ’s Passion. There is no one for whom Christ did not bear the guilt of sin and suffer its penalty, and there is no one to whom forgiveness is not offered in the Gospel. In the following sermon, Dr. Hoenecke explains.
A Sermon for Laetare
The Fruit of Christ’s Passion
by Dr. Adolf Hoenecke1
- Text: And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required... And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:24-34)
- It is a precious fruit.
It is a fruit we all are to enjoy.
The fruit of Jesus’ Passion is precious. – “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful... For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Ps. 1). – You are well acquainted with these words. They are from the First Psalm. It is a powerful Psalm. It divides all mankind into two groups, the righteous and the ungodly. A beautiful picture of the righteous emerges from the Psalm. They do not walk in evil ways. This does not come from inborn wisdom, nor is it mere outward show – no! it comes from within. This is because they have hearts that fear and love God. They delight in the Law of the Lord. This also explains why they bring forth good fruits. The righteous, moreover, please God; in grace He looks down upon them. And they are trees whose leaf does not wither. They possess the life that does not die in death, but endures for eternity. But the godless are evil with all their hearts. Following the bent of their hearts, they walk the paths of sin, bold and unconcerned, and they ridicule and mock the divine truth and threat. They are barren trees, accursed trees,which are finally rejected in the judgment and find a terrible end. For theirs is eternal damnation.
Pleasant and blessed indeed is the generation of the righteous! But the generation of the godless is utterly repulsive and terrifying! Now give good ear to the voice of divine wisdom: We all would belong to this repulsive generation of godless men, even at this time, just as we belong to it by nature and by birth. We would still have a heart as completely godless as it was at birth. Evil would be the purpose in our hearts. We would mock God and brazenly, nonchalantly despise His truth. We would go on through life living only to sin and the world, and thereby heap up the wrath of God for the day of judgment. We would be damned in the judgment and would be forced to accept hell as our lot. No righteousness before God and not a trace of piety would be found in us. In fact, in the whole wide world there would not be a single God-fearing and righteous man – if, friends in Christ, if there were not available that fruit of Jesus’ Passion which Jesus Himself, while hanging on the cross, called the forgiveness of sins.
They, in turn, can also heartily love Him; they are able to find delight in Him and His commandments. For, since they have forgiveness, they have also received a new spirit, the spirit of sonship, the Holy Spirit who teaches them to cry: Abba, dear Father! Happy, indeed, are these righteous men! Their way is known to God. He Himself has gone before to show them the beautiful way that leads through tribulation into His eternal kingdom, through the cross into Paradise and its joys.
Then precious beyond all reckoning is the fruit of Jesus’ Passion, the forgiveness of sins! Whenever the Scriptures call a man blessed and speak of a state of blessedness, felicitate him on some glorious change that has taken place in him, it is always the forgiveness of sins which is the basis for such a beatitude, such a felicitation. Thus the Prophet Isaiah exults in praise of the exceedingly glorious condition of the Holy City, God’s Zion. He says that it is a secure abode, so that not one of its inhabitants would say in spite of all troubles, burdens, and tribulations: “I am sick.” Then He states the reason for this wonderful condition of the City: “The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity” (Isa. 33:24).
Similarly, Zacharias addressed a wonderful song of praise to God at the birth of his son John. He praised the child because he was to go before the face of the Lord with whom redemption was to come. From his lips broke forth the glad cry: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77). Thus this believer bestowed the highest and most precious praise upon the forgiveness of sins, as he blessed his young child because it was to bring the people to the knowledge of salvation and forgiveness (Luke 1:77).
Paul, too, offered God the highest praises because of His gifts of grace, and he called the Ephesians happy men, because they were blessed with those gifts. Now the core and center of everything that he said is in these words: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7). And to the Colossians he said: “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:13). God has forgiven you your sins.
The Scriptures know of only one class of people to whom you can say in the full sense of the word: Blessed are you! You happy man! They are the ones whose sins have been forgiven. David says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Ps. 32:1). David, indeed, knows of many treasures which God gives, of an abundance of God’s benefits, but when he wants to bestow the highest praises on the good that God does, he says: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities” (Ps. 103:2-3).
Therefore Paul also says that David had the same thought as he: only that man is truly happy and worthy to be called blessed whom God forgives his sins, to whom God no longer imputes his sin unto damnation. He says: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:6-8). To sum up: Throughout the Scriptures the “Blessed are they!” is applied only to those who have forgiveness of sins. Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.
But upon all who do not have forgiveness there is pronounced the “Woe unto you!” Their sins with their guilt continue to rest upon them. Sin remains upon them and continually draws God’s wrath down upon them. Sin remains upon them, with its punishment and damnation imputed to them. In fact, all sinners should and must speak thus: How can we live if we have no forgiveness? Our sin and iniquity lie upon us. Where there is no forgiveness of sins, there is death and damnation. Woe unto you! – in the full sense of those words – is, then, the verdict that descends on all who have no forgiveness of sins.
In the Scriptures these words: Blessed are you! are applied to men in various connections. “Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust” (Ps. 40:4). “Blessed is he that considereth the poor” (Ps. 41:1). “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord” (Ps. 94:12). But in every case such men are meant to whom these words apply above all: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven!” (Rom. 4:7) Of the man who has forgiveness, the “Blessed are you!” is spoken in its highest and most comprehensive sense.
The “Woe is you!” is likewise pronounced in various connections. “Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousuess” (Jer. 22:13). “Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his!” (Increaseth his goods with another’s Hab. 2:6). “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (Isa. 5:20). And there are various other Woes. But every “Woe unto you!” can turn at once into a “Blessed are you!” as soon as the God-less man finds forgiveness. For Jesus has borne the curse, the “Woe is you!” pronounced on the sins of all men, and thereby He brought it about that there is forgiveness of sins. Now the sinner can have forgiveness. Now all curses can be converted into benedictions of divine love, and every “Woe unto you!” into a “Blessed are you!”
Mark, that comes about in this way and this way only. If we did not have this glorious fruit of Jesus’ Passion, the forgiveness of sins, then no man could hear these words coming from the lips of God: “Blessed are you!” or “My blessing be upon you!” would comfort him in all his sufferings. No, “Blessed are you!” or “Be of good cheer!” would sustain him in death. Only a “Woe, woe unto you!” and nothing but “Woe!” would come to his ears. Therefore we say: What a precious Passionfruit the forgiveness of sins is!
Why have I said so much in praise of it? Dear friends, you know the reason: We do not account it nearly as precious as we ought. Or do we seek with great diligence this precious fruit, gained for us in the battle of many bitter sufferings? Do we not seek many other things much more eagerly? This lukewarmness and this appallingly low estimate of Jesus’ sufferings would be excusable if you were told, as is done from some pulpits: This sweet, precious fruit, this true fruit of life, is not for you all; for some it did not mature on the tree of the cross. But as true as it is that this fruit is indescribably precious, it is just as true that
We all are surely to enjoy it. This was the boon that Jesus as our High Priest won for us in His prayer on the cross, and that He still gains for us in prayer. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Thus the Lord prayed on the cross in the midst of His sufferings. Great, indeed, were those sufferings. We cannot even measure them. For He was suffering the full penalty for the world’s sin. He was drinking the cup of damnation, the cup of the death which is the wages of sin. He tasted to the fullest extent what it means to bear the curse of sin.
He did not want to see us bear it. Therefore He suffered. Therefore, even in the midst of His sufferings, when He was already tasting them in their infinite bitterness, even then He cried out: “Father, forgive them.” What a love for sinners dwells in Christ! We have eloquent testimony to that in this petition for forgiveness, spoken from the depths of His sufferings. How ardent must be Jesus’ desire that sinners, even the worst of them, find forgiveness, since He is concerned about them in the midst of His own terrible sufferings and seeks to move the heart of His Father to be gracious toward the sinners!
For whom, then, did the Lord plead so fervently, so movingly, that this great, glorious treasure, this sweet, precious fruit of His Passion, might be given them to enjoy? Was it for Peter, who was deeply grieved? Was it perhaps for the weeping women? Was it, by chance, for the faithful who stood under the cross? Was it for John, the favorite disciple? No, dear friends in Christ! He pleaded for an entirely different group of people. Who would imagine it? What man could conceive it, if the blessed Word of Truth, the Gospel, did not go bond for the fact?
It was for the soldiers who had crucified Him, and pierced His hands and feet, and had then raised Him up. Had they perhaps done it with a feeling of pity? No, with unfeeling cruelty, with mockery and scorn. “And the soldiers also mocked him.” (Luke 23:36). These were the men for whom He pleaded most fervently. It was for the redemption and salvation of these men that He felt such concern, men who did not even care about redemption and life, but mocked Him. But not they alone are meant. There was Pilate, too, who had delivered the Lord to the soldiers; there were the Jews, the mob who had shouted: “Crucify, crucify him!” (Luke 23:21). And there were also the elders and scribes, who had goaded and prodded until Jesus was hanging on the cross.
The proof for that is found in Peter’s address: “(Ye) killed the Prince of Life. Now brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers” (Acts 3:15-17). Truly, this goes far beyond man’s capacity to think and feel. Happy are we, dear friends, that we sinners were not entrusted to the hands of men, but into the hands of the sympathetic High Priest. He prayed for all, for the evildoers, for His bitter enemies, for the base blasphemers and mockers of His sufferings. Surely, friends in Christ, that gives us courage. Can anyone still think that he is not to receive the sweet, precious fruit of forgiveness as his secure possession? Who would give up hope of gaining it because he is an unusually bad sinner? Oh, fix your eyes on those for whom Jesus prayed – the very worst evildoers!
But, we ask, did Jesus hang on the cross only for these soldiers, for these Jews? He hung there also as your High Priest. You will not doubt that. Then His petition must also embrace you. He prayed on the cross for the evildoers, including you and me and all men. He prayed in true, heartfelt love. And He still prays. Now He prays, sitting at the right hand of the Father. “And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1). We have an intercessor who pleads earnestly, urgently, fervently for us with the Father. It is Jesus who is righteous, yea, who has paid the debt for us, has borne all sin for us. Therefore He now asks this of God as His holy right: Forgive, for to this end have I borne all suffering.
Is His prayer heard? How can there be any doubt of that! But we have plain evidence of it, to give us great comfort. Once more recall Peter’s sermon: “Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). Behold, this is an answer to the highpriestly prayer on the cross: Forgive, for they know not what they do. Surely, that also implies: Father, help them out of their ignorance so that they learn to know Me. Grant that there be time for Me to have My Gospel preached to them, so that they come to faith and find forgiveness, so that My blood and sufferings may, by all means, avail for them. And this preaching of the Gospel was the sure testimony that His prayer was heard, the sure testimony that these people were actually to find forgiveness. Therefore Peter also says: “Repent ye and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” That is God’s will of grace.
Now, you also have this Gospel. Don’t you see that forgiveness is surely meant for you? Why do you hesitate? Simply receive it by faith. Therefore be diligent in hearing the Word of forgiveness. Let this actually come true in you:
- Forgiveness then shall be the song
I will employ my whole life long.
(Tr. a W. H. F.)
Endnotes:
- Hoenecke, A. (1957). Glorified in His Passion (W. Franzmann, Trans.) Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House. (Original work published in German, 1910.). pp. 57-68.
Note: Dr. Adolf Hoenecke (1835-1908) is among the most important theologians of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). He, along with Johannes Bading (d. 1913), led the WELS out of pietistic indifferentism and unionism into strong confessional Lutheranism, was one of the founders of the the old Synodical Conference, and is credited with being the first German Lutheran to author a complete Lutheran Dogmatics in America – Evangelical Lutheran Dogmatics – recently translated into English and available from Northwestern Publishing House. For more information about Dr. Hoenecke, a fairly detailed biography written by Professor August Pieper in 1935, can be found at the following link: The Significance of Dr. Adolf Hoenecke for the Wisconsin Synod and American Lutheranism
12 comments:
Thank you, Mr. Lindee, for posting this excellent sermon. Though my sermons do not reach the level of eloquence of Hoenecke, I have preached many similar sermons with this identical doctrine, and, ironically, have been condemned as a heretic for it by Hoenecke's own synod.
I suppose that isn't quite accurate. The WELS of today bears little resemblance to Hoenecke's synod.
My prayer for the WELS leadership and pastors who support them is summed up above in Hoenecke's words:
Forgive, for they know not what they do. Surely, that also implies: Father, help them out of their ignorance so that they learn to know Me. Grant that there be time for Me to have My Gospel preached to them, so that they come to faith and find forgiveness, so that My blood and sufferings may, by all means, avail for them.
Yes, what better way to show how teachings have changed then to compare what was once being taught to what is now being taught. Today, it seems, the buzz word in many WELS churches is the word "relevance". As an example, the Apostles' Creed, I'm hearing some WELS pastors say today, is no longer relevant. It is only men's words. Therefore, it is OK to remove those words from the service. And by so doing, the solid words of teachings of the unchanging truths of Scripture are removed from the service. Never mind that the Apostles' Creed is part of the Lutheran Confessions, and most if not all WELS congregational constitutions call out the Lutheran Confessions as a true representation of the truths of Scripture. Congregational constitutions too, after all, are just men's words. They are not relevant either. Only the word's coming from contemporary theologians, apparently, are truly relevant, because only those words can speak to today's culture with clarity and purpose.
I understand this is called post-modernism. I was surprised to realize last night as I listened to the Lenten service sermon that Pilate was a post-modernist. Pilate's words regarding truth seem to represent so well what many, even in the WELS, now believe, that there is no absolute truth. Truth, they say, depends primarily on relevance. But I think perhaps, that man has been questioning the validity and relevance of absolute truth for all time.
Vernon
Speaking of the word "relevance", since it is frequently seen now today in WELS circles, just for the fun of it I did a search for the word in the 2011 NIV. Zero hits. It may be time for a new translation.
Vernon
Vernon, I totally agree, and I think it even goes beyond post-modernism. My opinion is that post-modernism is just the current philosophy of the larger ideology of Progressivism. Progressivism holds that mankind is intrinsically moving, evolving or progressing if you will, toward a state of perfection, and just needs guidance by those who have already progressed. Modernism, in its time, was also a philosophy of Progressivism, as were aspects of the Enlightenment. Progressivism, in all its guises, is antithetical to Christianity.
Spenglergeist.
Joel Dusek
Is it prudent for this blog to continue to allow comments by Pr. Rydecki? The most Rev. Hoenecke came to the rescue of the most Rev. Walther and the LC-MS regarding the the doctrine of election and heroically defended the doctrine of justification in the face of the predestination controversies that plagued the Lutheran synods in the 19th and 20th centuries. Pr. Rydecki continues to use this blog as a platform to further his agenda that is nothing more than a 'war' of words and their meanings; hence an exercise of semantics. How long?
Joe, you must truly be appalled, then, at the leadership of the AZ-CA District of the WELS for suspending a pastor over "semantics."
As long as I'm commenting, I might as well point out that the common modern WELS interpretation of Christ's prayer in the above sermon, "Father, forgive them..." is that God must have heard His Son's prayer and therefore, forgiven every sinner who has ever lived right there on the spot, apart from faith. When I was interrogated on this passage (among others) by the presidium, I gave the same explanation that Hoenecke did above, and they took it as further proof of my heresy. I wish I had known then about this Hoenecke sermon so that I could have brought it up with them at that time. Maybe then they would have admitted that this verse doesn't teach that God has already justified all unbelievers. Then again, it shouldn't matter by whom the truth is being spoken. They should have recognized the truth. Instead, they condemned it.
Joe,
Having followed your experiences at Holy Word on your own blog, and knowing that our paradigms are heavily influenced by our own experiences, I respectfully ask you, is that what happened to you at Holy Word? Were your experiences at Holy Word a misunderstanding over semantics? If your answer is affirmative, it certainly seems that the consequences were more extreme than I would have expected. In fact, the parallels between what happened to you and what happened to Pastor Rydecki are remarkable.
Vernon
Do I understand this correctly? Rev. Rydecki totally agrees with everything this Hoenecke guy says. And this man is the chief expert and spokesman for this church body. Still, the leaders of this church body excommunicated Rev. Rydecki. That doesn't make any sense.
By the way, I'm enjoying these sermons.
Chris
Vernon, certainly there were many issues that were going on at Holy Word at the time. The way the forgiveness of sins was being preached was one point in a long list of issues that we felt were taking the congregation away from scriptures and the BoC. OJ (since it is intimately tied to the forgiveness of sins) became the catalyst for our exit. So no, it was not an issue of semantics.
From what I remember of the issue, I think Holy Word was teaching UOJ correctly. Sinners born forgiven (if born after Christ's death) and only declared *un*righteous by the rejection of the Gospel after it's been presented and they've been able to react to it. Only then will the original, efficacious declaration by God of "righteous" be overturned.
Isn't that what they taught? Sinners forgiven when born? How isn't that OJ? OJ = "all sinners are already declared righteous whether they believe it or not." They lose this "reality" or "benefit" when they reject that "reality" and "benefit." Unless my memory is jaded, I think Holy Word is right with UOJ. If anything you seem to differ from the true, written words of UOJ according to the Brief Statement, This We Believe, and how Holy Word correctly teaches the doctrine. Please correct me where I've misinterpreted Holy Word's teaching.
To clarify more (hopefully no response came in after my last comment): I feel like the "conservative" UOJers (BJS, et al) may not actually agree with the way that UOJ is written and taught (like Holy Word teaches it, with all people born forgiven). Instead, they choose to explain it away and in the process change the definition handed down ("sound pattern of words") concerning what "to justify" means. According to them, when God, our efficacious, never-lying Lord, says that He "justifies" and "declares the whole word righteous" without faith, He doesn't actually mean His efficacious declaration until they believe this declaration themselves -- then it's actually real. He goes back on His supposedly efficacious, never-lying Word that "all sinners are righteous" because they are unbelievers. (Who's making faith bring something into reality again?) But how were they ever righteous if they've never believed to begin with -- since they were always unbelievers? This negates an "objective" declaration by the never-lying Lord from the very beginning.
The "liberals," aka the true and orthodox teachers of UOJ, actually say the whole world and all sinners are born righteous and forgiven (Holy Word, WELS). That is, after all, what OJ teaches -- "the whole world is righteous in God's heart whether anyone believes it or not." These people only lose this righteousness by a rejection of the proclamation of their righteous. Which, again, shows how they were never righteous from the beginning in God's eyes because they had always been unbelievers.
So if you're going to adhere to UOJ, at least teach it correctly. All sinners, since Christ's resurrection, have been declared righteous by God. Thus, sinners are born forgiven and righteous and holy in God's eyes (Holy Word). They are only not holy and righteous when they reject this declaration through unbelief (which in reality they always had). This really sounds like Huberianism to me based on the first hand accounts I've read on the topic. But I'm awaiting the talking away and the calls of straw men to be filed shortly.
"Is it prudent for this blog to continue to allow comments by Pr. Rydecki?"
Rather, is it prudent for this blog persist in allowing Joe Krohn to comment here? It is obvious that he is an opponent of the pure and unadulterated Gospel of Christ, having made it his mission in life to prance about the internet castigating the Lutheran doctrine of justification and orthodox teachers thereof, such as Pastor Rydecki. I think it is time we stop casting the pearls before swine and instead shake the dust from our feet - or in this case, stop letting the wolf in the sheep pen.
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