A Second Sermon for Friday of Holy Week, or 'Good Friday': “The Legacy of the Dying Redeemer” — by Dr. Adolph Hoenecke

On Wednesdays through the Lenten Season this year (2013), we published sermons from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (1835-1908), who is among the most important theologians of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and from Dr. Paul E. Kretzmann (1883-1965), a prolific author, educator, historian and theologian of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) and among the more significant figures of 20^th Century American Lutheranism. We are doing much the same through Holy Week – the sixth and final week of Lent.

We've heard from Dr. Kretzmann twice this week, as we have from Dr. Martin Luther. For this, the last sermon of the Lenten Season that we will be posting, we will hear from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke, as he preaches on The Legacy of the Dying Redeemer.

But just what is a “legacy”? Often, we think of a “legacy” as that for which a person is remembered after his death, the reputation of his accomplishments. For example, very often we hear such talk in the media regarding the concern that a U.S President or state Governor may have for “his legacy” once he leaves office. The term is often heard in this sense in casual conversation. But that is not the primary, or even secondary, definition of the term legacy in its formal meaning, and it most certainly is not the meaning given to it by Dr. Hoenecke in the following sermon.

According to Webster's Third New International Unabridged Dictionary (2002), both the first and second definitions of the term legacy are directly related to the English word legate:

legate
n. (fr. L. legatus): ambassador, deputy, provincial governor
vt. (fr. L. legatus past part. of legare): ¹to send with a commission or charge, ²bequeath.

legacy
n. ¹the business committed to a legate, commission; ²a gift by will esp. of money or other personal property: a bequest

And this formal definition is precisely the meaning Dr. Hoenecke intends with the use of this term: “a gift by will esp. of money or other personal property; a bequest.” It is unmistakeable. Throughout his sermon, he identifies what Jesus earned through His innocent life and suffering as His Bequest to wretched sinners, he identifies Christ as the Testator, and he identifies the New Testament in His Blood as His Last Will and Testament.

On Maundy Thursday, in the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus, our Saviour, took bread, and when He had given thanks, broke it saying, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me” (Lk. 22:19; Mt. 26:27; Mk. 14:22; 1 Co. 11:24). In the same manner also He took the cup when He had supped, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink ye all of it; this cup is the New Testament in My Blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins. This do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me” (Lk. 22:20; Mt. 26:28; Mk. 14:23-24; 1 Co. 11:25). This “New Testament” offered by Christ in His Blood, was a specific kind legal arrangement that is common in probate law even to this day. Christ, in using this phraseology, was offering his “Last Will and Testament.” People draft a “last will and testament” in preparation for their death, in order that their estate be disposed according to their desires following their death; so it is very fitting that Jesus issued such a Will the day prior to His death. In a “last will and testament,” the benefit of the Testator’s life work is left to the bequeathed. By definition, they have utterly no participation in what the Testator accomplished, nor do they have any ownership in His bequest; by definition, He is the sole owner and He alone has the Authority to dispose of His property in the terms specified in His “Last Will and Testament.” It represents the blessing of the Testator upon the bequeathed, a blessing which belongs to the bequeathed only once it has been received by them in the manner specified by the Testator, in the manner administrated by His executors.

And just what was the Bequest that Jesus willed to His heirs? Just what did His life's work amount to, that wretched sinners would gladly receive it as their inheritance, and remember Him with Joy and Gratitude? He left them what they in no way could acquire on their own, what they could never claim any participation in:

THE REMISSION OF SINS AND RIGHTEOUS STANDING BEFORE GOD!
And all the benefits attending thereto!
And this Benefit is distributed by His Ministers, “administered by His executors,” through the Means of Grace, Word and Sacrament. Using the seven last words of Christ on the Cross, Dr. Hoenecke identifies in the following sermon seven provisions of the Divine Testament, earned by Christ, bequeathed to sinners, and received by them through faith – which the Holy Spirit works exclusively through the Means of Grace.

(NOTE: This sermon was previously published on Intrepid Lutherans, under the title, Holy Week Sermons – Good Friday (by Dr. Adolf Hoenecke))

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Holy Week: A Sermon for Good Friday

The Legacy of the Dying Redeemer
by Dr. Adolph Hoenecke¹

Text: The Passion story containing the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross

Today we commemorate the death of Jesus Christ. On this day occurred the death of which God speaks through Paul: “The covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ” (Ga. 3:17). And: “For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” (He. 9:17). So it was on this great day that the divine testament which was made and confirmed in Christ came into force for us. But what did our blessed Lord, the Lamb of God, bequeathe to us at His death? Of earthly goods there was almost nothing. We hear this about his material legacy: “(They) parted his garments, casting lots” (Mt. 27:35) Moreover, we know that the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, had no where to lay His head, to say nothing of gold and silver.

A Sermon for Laetare: “The Fruit of Christ’s Passion” — Dr. Adolph Hoenecke

On Wednesdays through the Lenten Season this year (2013), we will be publishing sermons from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (1835-1908), who is among the most important theologians of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and from Dr. Paul E. Kretzmann (1883-1965), a prolific author, educator, historian and theologian of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) and among the more significant figures of 20^th Century American Lutheranism.

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.

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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)

“For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” These were the words our Lord addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem, who lamented Him as He was being led out to Golgotha mid mockery and scorn. The Lord designates Himself as the green tree. He had received that same designation centuries before in prophecy: “I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found” (Hos. 14:8). The Lord prophesied thus through the mouth of the Prophet Hosea. The same Prophet adds: “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Prudent, and he shall know them?” (v. 9). By nature no man is. But all praise be to God! He has bestowed this wisdom and prudence upon us, so that we recognize the fruit which Jesus brought forth when those things were done to Him, the green wood, the holy and righteous One, which should have been done to us, the unholy, unrighteous, godless ones, the dry wood. He suffered in our stead. Then the words came true: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots (shall bring forth fruit from his roots)” (Isa. 11:1). In this present Passion devotion, therefore, we shall refresh our souls with:

THE FRUIT OF JESUS’ PASSION

1. It is a precious fruit.
   
2. It is a fruit we all are to enjoy.

I.
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.

If we have forgiveness of sins, then God no longer imputes our sin to us as making us guilty and subject to punishment; then we are men who no longer have any guilt in God’s eyes – in short, righteous men. Mark, then we are righteous not only in the sense of the world; not righteous as men count righteousness, or in the way in which men, let their fellows pass as righteous. Rather, we are righteous in the sense that God Himself regards us so, and acknowledges us as righteous in His eyes, having a righteousness that is valid before Him, a righteousness with which He finds no fault at all. If we have forgiveness, then we are righteous men who please God; men from whom He no longer can withdraw Himself, nor would, if he could; men whom He does not wish to see separated from Himself. They are men who have peace with God. In blessed communion they live with Him as dear children of the heavenly Father.

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


II.
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.)

May God help us all in that holy resolve.
AMEN.

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Endnotes:

1. 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

A Sermon for Oculi: “A Highpriestly Heart in the Passion of Christ” — Dr. Adolph Hoenecke

On Wednesdays through the Lenten Season this year (2013), we will be publishing sermons from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (1835-1908), who is among the most important theologians of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and from Dr. Paul E. Kretzmann (1883-1965), a prolific author, educator, historian and theologian of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) and among the more significant figures of 20^th Century American Lutheranism.

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the Third Week in Lent, also known as Oculi, and today, as we have the last three Wednesdays, we will again be hearing from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (WELS). His topic this week is The Highpriestly Heart of Jesus in His Passion.

Peter was very close to Jesus. Of the twelve disciples, he was among the three commonly referred to as "the inner circle": Peter, James and John. He was not only bold, but displayed great courage in his boasting, of his willingness and intention to suffer alongside Jesus in His Way of Sorrow (Luke 22:33). And how could he not? He knew that Jesus alone had the Words of Eternal Life, and confessed as much to Him and before his fellow disciples (John 6:68). Who, knowing Jesus alone had the Words of Eternal Life, wouldn't follow Him to the End? But this Peter did not do. Rather than walk with Him, Peter publicly betrayed Him. Denied knowing Him or being associated with Him. Peter's was a great sin, and when the rooster signaled to him what Jesus said he would surely do, he wept bitterly over his sin. He had denied the One in Whom alone there is Life. There was only Death left for him as a result. What was he to do? Could Peter still have confidence in Jesus after this? – Confidence that he still had the love of Jesus, that he would have Life through Him, even though he had earned only Death? Can we have confidence in Jesus? Dr. Hoenecke answers these questions in the following sermon.

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A Sermon for Oculi

A Highpriestly Heart in the Passion of Christ
by Dr. Adolf Hoenecke¹

Text: Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:54-62)

“Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s” (Heb. 7:26-27a). Thus the Apostle describes the characteristics of the true High Priest, such an One as could help us. We do have such a High Priest in Jesus Christ, who is the Redemption that was born of Mary by the Holy Ghost, who could put the question: “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John 8:46) and to whom the Father bore witness that He knew no sin, and that He is the innocent and undefiled Passover Lamb.

But Jesus is the true High Priest. He is such an One as we need, not only because He is holy, but also because He has a heart such as must be found in a High Priest to whom poor, burdened, and afflicted sinners will gladly entrust themselves. He had such a heart particularly in the performance of His highpriestly work, in His Passion. God’s Word, in the form of today’s Passion text, makes us sure of that. Therefore the theme of our Passion devotion shall be:

THE HEART OF JESUS THROUGHOUT HIS PASSION WAS THAT OF A TRUE HIGH PRIEST

1. The certainty of this fact as given by our Passion text.
   
2. The fruit such certainty should bear in us.
   

I.
It is made a certainty for us. “Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house.” They led Jesus into the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. There He stood bound before His judge. In the eyes of the ignorant world, going by outward appearances, Caiaphas was the judge, the high priest. According to God's plan, and the fulfillment of His plan, however, Jesus, the bound and captive Jesus, was the High Priest. The types of the Old Testament were abolished in that moment; fact and reality were taking their place.

Here that became fact, reality which God had said to Moses in regard to the high priest over Israel: “They shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office... And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work... And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.... And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.” (Ex. 28:4-12).

The fact and reality represented by this type is Jesus, the High Priest, for He is not only Moses’ brother and not only the brother of the men in Israel, but the brother of us all according to the flesh. But He is also God, blessed forever. Therefore His shoulders are strong indeed. They must be so. Not only the names of the Twelve Tribes with all their souls, no, the names of all mankind, recorded as debtors before God, and the burden, the guilty burden, which is recorded opposite all our names, opposite yours and mine – all this He bore. “The load Thou takest on Thee, That pressed so sorely on me, It crushed me to the ground” – thus we therefore sing of Him.

And how did He bear it? For every Israelite there must have been a very pleasant ring in the further directions for the high priest. A breastplate was to be made of gold. On it were to be inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and, by direct implication, all the souls in Israel. This little shield was to be fastened securely to the ephod, “that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually” (Ex. 28:28b-29).

Surely, that was pleasant to hear. It meant that in all faithfulness the high priest was to bring the names of his brethren, with all their guilt, before God, when he went into the Holy of Holies with the sacrificial blood of atonement. Now, did our High Priest, Jesus, go through all His sufferings and into death, bearing all of us upon a brother’s heart? Did He have a true high priest’s heart while He bore the unbearable burden of our sins? Was His mind in His suffering for us that of a sympathetic, compassionate, and faithful brother? Was it a brother’s heart through and through?

Surely, on this all depends. Just consider the possibility that you could not presuppose such a heart in Him. Suppose that you were about to seek Him in your soul’s distress, and suddenly such a word as this came to mind: “Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins” (Is. 43:21-27). Would you have any real confidence in Jesus, if you had to doubt whether He took upon Himself the hard service and labor you caused Him with your sins and iniquities and bore them for you with a thoroughly brotherly, sympathetic heart? In that case you would very likely lose your confidence.

Therefore let us go into the shocking story of our text, and let us see whether it will not make us certain that Jesus in all His sufferings really had the heart of a true high priest, that is, a heart that held for us and all sinners a true brotherliness; that His heart was filled solely with a genuine, warm sympathy for us; that His heart in the faithfulness of love was concerned only with our plight.

The story of our text is, indeed, a shocking one. It is the story of a deep fall. If we note the heinous nature of the sin in question, the circumstances under which it was committed, and the person who made himself guilty of this sin, then we must say that the story presented by our text is a shocking one.

As we have heard, Jesus had been led into the palace of the high priest. There Jesus stood before His bitterest enemies, surrounded by a mob of rude soldiers. The priests vented their hatred against Him in venomous derision; the servants, currying the favor of their masters, practiced their vulgar mockery. The sufferings had already begun. Already the Lord had to suffer, besides the base mockery expressed in words, the most terrible calumnies and insults expressed in deeds. Already He had to endure being pummeled by fists, being struck in the face, and even being spit upon. Thus the Lord suffered even here; thus the Lord humbled Himself even then. He did it, bearing the guilt of the world, the guilt of all men, and always in the spirit of a true high priest.

While the Lord had thus already begun, as the High Priest, performing His sacrificial act in the palace of the high priest, outside in the court one of His disciples had joined the servants to see how this affair would end. It was Peter, the same Peter who had professed a low regard for his own life, stating that he would be ready, if need be, to die with his Lord. The Lord had not encouraged him to prove it in this night. Rather, he had warned him against it. He had foretold that, instead of dying or suffering steadfastly with Him, he would suffer the most shameful defeat, the most ignoble fall. It was not in accord with the Lord’s will that he sat at the enemy’s fire. But to Peter the Lord’s word; “Thou wilt deny me” (Lk. 22:34), appeared not nearly so weighty as his own declaration and vow: “I will suffer all with thee” (Lk. 22:33). Alas, what arrogance! For who could know us and the state of our hearts better than the Lord does? What arrogance! The Lord accuses us of weakness, and then to boast of our strength! Such pride always has fall and ruin in its wake.

What a fall was there! As Peter was sitting in the crowd of soldiers, he was recognized. They accused him point-blank of being one of the disciples. The accusation became more and more pointed: “Of a truth this fellow also was with him” ( v. 59). Now what do we see? Peter not only denied it, but with curses and oaths he asserted that he did not know this man Jesus! That is simply appalling. Once Peter had said: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). At that time he believed and recognized that Christ was the Son of the living God. Now he uttered the miserable lie: I do not even know Him. Then he had vowed: We will not forsake Thee. Now he uttered the disgraceful lie: I had nothing to do with Him. Then he had confessed: Thou art the Christ and the Son of God; now he contemptuously denied Him by referring to Him as “this man.” How can you even think me capable of having associated with this man and of regarding Him with some respect?

Slander is always a terrible thing, but it is doubly appalling in this case and under these circumstances! There was the Lord before the priests, the target of mockery and scorn, even then engaged in the holy work of appearing before God in the name of all men, also in the name of Peter, remembering him before God for the purpose of his reconciliation – and outside stood the disciple, declaring time after time that he did not know this man Jesus, even calling a curse on his own soul to affirm it. Within stood Jesus before the priests, taking an oath on it, for the consolation of the whole world, that He was the Christ; He was vowing to all sinners with an oath that He was their Reconciler and Redeemer – and outside stood the disciple, denying with an oath this same, this only Redeemer.

The Lord did not behold this sad scene out in the courtyard with bodily eyes. The appalling lies, oaths, and curses very likely did not reach His bodily ear. But of this we can be certain: it did not remain hidden from the Lord. When the cock crowed, the Lord turned. Just as if He had been sitting right next to the deeply-fallen disciple, the Lord had lived through the whole deplorable story of this shocking denial. Yes, He had to experience all this even while He was beginning to drink the cup which the Father had given Him, the cup He was to drink also for the same Peter who had just renounced Him mid oaths and curses.

Now, how did the Lord feel in His heart toward His disciple, for whom also He was suffering? The answer to this is of supreme importance for all of us sinners! For Peter’s case is plainly our own case. Here we have a touchstone to the heart of Jesus. In Peter’s denial the greatest of all offenses was committed against the Lord, and this came at the very time when He was already in the midst of the Passion. Already His suffering was great. On top of this, He received the basest insult. Surely, at this point we desire to have the Lord give us a glimpse into His heart, and let us know how His heart during His Passion was disposed toward the disciple who had just offended, in the most saddening way, against the Lord and against His Father and against the Spirit. With the answer to that question we would at once have the answer to the larger question: With what attitude in His heart did Jesus suffer for all of us sinners?

The Lord does open His heart to us; He does let us see how He felt toward Peter. “And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.” But how? What kind of look was that? In the well-known hymn we sing:

On Peter, fallen deep in sin,
He looked in love and deep compassion.
(Tr. a W. H. F.)²

But where is this written? Here! “And Peter went out and wept bitterly” (v. 62). This was contrition of the right kind, a divine sorrow unto life. And this sorrow unto life informs us concerning that look of Jesus: it was a look full of a great, warm sympathy, a look of sincere compassion, a look full of heartfelt comfort. And Peter tells us about it in these his words: “The Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (1 Pet. 2:25). There he extols the Lord who had rescued Him with His gracious glance of love and had led him to a saving repentance through it. – The eyes of the Lord do not deceive. The attitude of His heart toward Peter was exactly what His eyes told Peter. In the midst of His Passion it was full of a fervent, compassionate sympathy toward the disciple who had just offended most grievously.

Then blessed are we! What the Lord was to Peter He is to all. To all He is the same Shepherd and Bishop, as Peter says in praise of Him. He is the one High Priest for us all. He has taken the whole burden of our sins upon His shoulders; He has borne all our names upon His heart. The sinful woes of every man, yours and mine, He has borne on His heart in largehearted, merciful sympathy with our misery, and with the heartfelt desire to prove Himself our Brother in bringing aid to us, for time and for eternity. It was with such a true high priest’s heart that Jesus suffered for us. That is certain, and our Passion text has established its certainty.


II.
What fruit is this certainty to bear in us? Dear fellow Christians, what fruit ought the beloved Gospel in general bear in us? Faith, the firm, unshakeable faith toward our dear Lord and Saviour. This is also to be the fruit when God’s Word and Jesus Himself, all through the Gospel, testify with such certainty that the Lord in all His sufferings was indeed filled with wrath and hatred against our enemies: sin, death, and the devil, but never, never against even one of us poor sinners. No, as He came to us and was not ashamed to call us poor sinners His brethren, so He suffered for us in true brotherly compassion. He became our Brother and took upon Himself our flesh and blood, so that He might become a faithful High Priest and might suffer for us, bearing our misery on his heart in pure compassion.

That applies to everyone without exception. No one is excluded. Our beloved God and Lord Himself makes this truth so certain in His Gospel, so incontestably certain, in order that it might become a certainty for you and for me and for all. He wants the fact of the great, fervent, brotherly, and compassionate sympathy that stirred the heart of Jesus in all His sufferings for us – He wants that to abide securely in our hearts as an impregnable certainty and confidence.

Therefore, fellow redeemed, allow yourself to be made certain. Search in God’s precious Word and look for those wonderful passages, such as this Passion text, which clearly show you the heart of Jesus, your Brother, your Mediator, your High Priest. The Roman Catholics have an order or brotherhood which calls itself the Brotherhood of Devotion to the Heart of Jesus. It is a brotherhood with a system of self-chosen works, just like all brotherhoods which the Antichrist founds. There is no devotion there, least of all to the heart of Jesus. The true brotherhood of devotion to the heart of Jesus is the one that the Lord, our Brother, founded — the brotherhood of those who hear and keep His Word, who allow themselves to be taught and to be made certain by Him. To them He reveals Himself. Among them He sets hearts afire, hearts that burn with a blessed joy when they behold, in its unspeakable fulness, the fervent, compassionate love filling His highpriestly heart.

In such confidence entrust yourself fully to Him. Yield yourself, surrender yourself into His hands. That is a second fruit. Do that, when you stand, stand as one leading the life of a true Christian. Then yield yourself in implicit trust to Jesus, your Shepherd, your Lord, the Bishop of your soul. You can trust His heart; you know that. Then also trust His guidance; follow where He leads. Be governed by His suggestions, His directions. They are to be found in the Scriptures. To you, too, Jesus says: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41). To you, too, and to me, to us all the Lord says: There is no depending on yourselves. Therefore let us humbly say: Lord, it is true. Thou knowest us through and through. Thou dost tell us that we are kept by Thee.

Let us not take it ill that the Lord humbles us. We, of course, always have a different idea about ourselves. We have this opinion of ourselves: Though all should forsake Jesus, still I never would do it. And when men say of us: “So-and-so is a Christian; you can rely on him,” how we love this flattering unction! We very likely also say of ourselves: I can depend on myself. Now Jesus says: That’s not true, My dear child, My dear son, My dear daughter. There is no depending on you. Utter weakness is your name. Give up these thoughts, these proud thoughts. Otherwise you can easily meet your downfall. Think of Peter!

My words come to you as those of a true shepherd. Therefore obey and say: The dear Lord is certainly right! Yes, follow! And if He leads you among enemies, then go! He will support you. And if you have no calling in a certain place, then stay away! Do not sit down with the scoffers, and do not draw close to their fires. Do not do it out of an idle curiosity to see how the thing will end, to find out what is going on there. Christ does not bid you go. It is very dangerous for you. This of Peter! Least of all are you to go among enemies and into the gatherings of wordly-minded people and to sit at their fires, because you like to join in their doings. Jesus forbids that to you. And who is He? The Bishop of your soul, the Shepherd who seeks only your good. If you go in spite of that, then evidently your genuine trust of faith in Jesus is already strongly on the wane. Those who have that trust are not stubborn people who accept no guidance, but willing children who gladly submit to such guidance.

And yet – ? Yet quite a few of them fall. If it should happen to you, then be like Peter. As one who has fallen, and fallen deeply at that, put yourself in Jesus’ hands. Do as Peter did; he went out and wept bitterly. He wept in deep sorrow over his sin, but not in despair. Rather, using Jesus’ grace as his pillar of support, he raised himself up. Had not Jesus looked on him with compassion and sympathy?

On Peter, fallen deep in sin,
He looked in love and deep compassion.
(Wis. Ges. 356:6-Tr. a W. H. F.)

That is true, true for you. You know how his heart is disposed toward you. You know that he suffered for you in heartfelt sympathy for you. Why do you hesitate? Why will you feel backward about surrendering yourself into Jesus’ hands, even though your fall be very deep, even though your offense may be ever so abominable? There is nothing, nothing in Him that could repel you. Here there is no wrath, nor bitterness, nor resentment; here there is only sympathy, tender sympathy, a look of sympathy and the word of sympathy: Come, let Me help you, that I may take your sins from you and give you peace.

Then we have found help; otherwise not. Then, may the Lord Himself grant that this confidence abide in us at all times: He suffered for us with a truly compassionate, highpriestly heart, and, therefore, is always the High Priest who can feel with us in our weakness, and who surely also prays for us that our faith fail not. May He, then, grant us this further boon that we always be such who truly love His Word, for:
Only His Word makes us certain.

AMEN.

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Endnotes:

1. Hoenecke, A. (1957). Glorified in His Passion (W. Franzmann, Trans.) Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House. (Original work published in German, 1910.). pp. 44-56.
   
   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
   
   
2. On Peter, fallen deep in sin,
   He looked in love and deep compassion.
   Such was His way the strayed to win
   Not only while in servant’s fashion.
   Oh no! His heart is e’er the same;
   Good, True, and Faithful is His name!
   As He was then, through sorrow wending,
   So now, enthroned mid joys unending,
   His love but strives that sinners live.
   My Saviour sinners doth receive.
   (Wis. Ges. 356:6)

 

A Sermon for Reminiscere: “The Willingness of Jesus in His Passion” — Dr. Adolph Hoenecke

On Wednesdays through the Lenten Season this year (2013), we will be publishing sermons from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (1835-1908), who is among the most important theologians of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and from Dr. Paul E. Kretzmann (1883-1965), a prolific author, educator, historian and theologian of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) and among the more significant figures of 20^th Century American Lutheranism.

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the Second Week in Lent, also known as Reminiscere, and today, as we have the last two Wednesdays, we will again be hearing from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (WELS). His topic this week is The Willingness of Jesus in His Passion.

Most men would need to be compelled, even physically forced, to endure the torments of false accusations, illegal trials, unjust verdicts, verbal abuse, physical torture, and a slow physical death by agonizing execution. This Jesus endured, and more. On behalf of mankind, He also suffered spiritual death, which is defined as separation from God, a separation from all Love and all Goodness. Such suffering is the suffering of Hell, for where there is no Love and no Goodness, there is only Hate and Evil. This is a fate which no man can be compelled to endure, but one which many will nevertheless suffer for eternity, a fate to which they will ultimately be dragged despite their objections, amidst their screams of terror, against their desperate clawing for escape. Such are the wages of sin. Such is what sinful men deserve. Of all men He alone being sinless before God, Jesus was the only man to have never deserved such wages. Yet He suffered them. Because He didn't deserve them, He, rather, suffered them willingly. He suffered them willingly out of a boundless love for mankind, in order that no one need suffer the wages of sin. Because Jesus Christ was our willing Substitute, we can be certain that He desires to deliver us from all such suffering. In the following sermon, Dr. Hoenecke explains.

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A Sermon for Reminiscere

The Willingness of Jesus in His Passion
by Dr. Adolf Hoenecke¹

Text: Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year. Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. (John 18:3-14)

As the Lord, our Saviour, was being led out to be crucified, an incident occurred which in itself does not seem very significant, but which Matthew as well as Luke and Mark considered important enough to record in their story of the Passion. Matthew does it in these words: “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross” (Matt. 27:32). Him they compelled. Voluntarily, Simon would not have consented to bear the cross after Jesus. With force they had to persuade him to do it. Him they compelled. Surely, you can feel what this tells us about Christ, our Lord, though it is not expressed in words, namely: Till then He had borne the tree of the cross, which condemned men had to bear to the place of execution, and He had done so without being compelled by any man. Without complaint, without resistance, like the Lamb that openeth not its mouth and is dumb before its shearers (Is. 53:7), He had let them lay it on Him, and He had borne it willingly.

But simply bearing the wood of the cross was not bearing the cross in its fullest and deepest significance. This He did when He bore the torments on the cross, of which the Scriptures say: “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on ca tree” (Gal. 3:13). In this sense too, as we well know, Jesus bore the cross. And, praise be to God, we know this: That cross He also bore willingly. O friends in Christ, on the fact that Jesus suffered willingly truly depends all comfort for us sinners. Now, our Passion text shows us this willingness in the clearest light. On the basis of this text let us take as the subject of our Passion devotion:

THE WILLINGNESS OF JESUS TO SUFFER AS OUR SUBSTITUTE

1. If we realize what made Jesus utterly willing to suffer as our Substitute,
   
2. Then all our doubts will be removed regarding His will to help us out of all our sufferings.
   

I.
Let us, then, first of all, realize what made Jesus utterly willing to suffer as our Substitute. It is expressed very clearly and plainly. Our text states in a way that everyone can understand that Jesus was entirely willing and ready with all His heart to bear all His sufferings, and that as our Substitute.

At the close of our text we read: “And bound him.” How, we ask, did this come about? Did they really have such power over Jesus? Could they do this to Jesus simply because they so willed? By no means. Our dear Saviour Himself had said on one occasion: “No man taketh it (my life) from me, but I lay it clown of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:18).

Besides, how could the creature possibly exercise its power at will over its Creator (Rom. 9:20-21)? In many glorious miracles we have proof that all creation is subject to our Saviour Jesus as its Lord. It was He, the Son, who before the foundation of the world spoke together with the Father: “Let there be. And it was so” (Gen. 1). Afterwards, when he walked on earth in our human nature, He often spoke the same words: Let there be. And it was so. The water became wine (John 2:7-9); the raging sea became completely calm (Mark 4:37-39); the blind became seeing (Matt. 9:27-30; Mark 8:22-26); the deaf, hearing (Mark 7:31-35); the lepers, clean (Luke 17:14; Matt. 8:1-4); the dead, alive (Mark 5:41-42; Luke 7:14-15; John 11:43-44).

We also have the proof before our very eyes in our Passion text. The Lord went to meet the mob that wanted to take Him captive and said: “Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground” (vv. 4-6). Friends, there you behold the sinful creature, man, in his impotence before Him who is able to say of Himself: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18-20). How had these impotent men been able to bind Him, the omnipotent Lord? How was this whole impotent mob of enemies able to take Him captive, nail Him to the cross, and deliver Him into sufferings?

Now, fellow redeemed, without a doubt we believe in the majestic power of Jesus. But often enough, when we are called upon to give evidence of this faith, we fail. That was true of the beloved disciple in our story. Instead of believing, he drew the sword. However much his loyal love for Jesus may have been responsible for this, still the Peter with the sword in his hand cuts just as sorry a figure as does the Peter of the denying lips, later on (Matt. 26:69-75).

But we Christians often present just as sorry a sight. The sword of Christ, which Christ has enjoined us to take, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God – this sword we are not very ready to draw against Christ's enemies and ours. But we are more eager to take the sword of Peter which, we know, the Lord plainly forbids His followers. For the Lord says: “Put up thy sword into the sheath.”

But just now we are concerned, not so much about the rule for conduct that Jesus gives Peter and us in these words, but about the statement that He wanted to make concerning Himself. He means: I want no help against bonds and sufferings. I could – thus the Saviour adds in the other Gospels – avail myself of an entirely different kind of help: upon My plea the Father would send Me legions of angels (Matt. 26:51-53), if I desired to be rescued, if I desired to remain untouched by bonds, torments, and death. But shall I not drink the cup which My Father hath given me? I will not be hindered from doing that.

After this declaration by Jesus, our text records, “The band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him” (v. 12). That sounds very much like an everyday happening, like a very ordinary earthly event. But we must look beyond the words, and then we see, to a certain extent, the miracle of the Saviour’s glory as revealed in His Passion. Behold! The same Jesus who shortly before had revealed His majesty by casting His enemies to the ground with His: “I am he,” and had said: “No man taketh my life from me” (John 10:15-18) – the same Jesus surrendered Himself to His enemies, and with the words: “The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” He deliberately refrained from exercising the might of His divine majesty upon His enemies. He did so with the explanation: “I refuse to be hindered from hearing and enduring My sufferings.” He made Himself the weak, impotent One whom weak, impotent sinners could bind and lead away in fetters.

Mark it, fellow redeemed, not because He was weak, but because it was His will to be weak, because He was willing to suffer, therefore He arrived at the condition described at the end of our text: “And bound him.”

Precisely as our Substitute He wanted to suffer willingly. As our Substitute – the Lord confirms this very emphatically in our text. “Whom seek ye?” the Lord asked the mob which wanted to take Him captive. They answered: “Jesus of Nazareth.” And the Lord said: “I am he,” the One who was to bear that name, the Nazarene, and who was to be what the name implies, the lowly, the humbled one. “I am he.” The Lord had a right to speak thus. He was even now the Humbled One. Though He was in the form of God, He had already emptied Himself and had taken upon Himself the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7). For this was a deep humiliation for Him that these godless men came to lay hands on Him, the Holy One, and came out against Him with staves and swords, as though He were a murderer, a robber, or some other kind of criminal! But He was to humble Himself to much greater depths; and it was His will to do so. As we heard, He was ready to drink the cup, and that means: the death of hell.

But not for His own sake was He determined to do this. Why then? Here it is in our text: So that He might drink the cup, He was captured and taken to Caiaphas. This was the man who had said: “It is expedient that one man should die for the people” (v. 14). His thought was this: It is better that one man die than that all should die. “And,” says God’s Word, “this he spake not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation” (John 11:51). When he spoke, therefore, he had to prophesy as one commissioned by God; he had to proclaim God’s counsel of grace.

This counsel was that Jesus should die for the people. He, the One, was to die that all might not die. According to God’s will, He, the only innocent One, was to take the place of all guilty men and to suffer their death. In other words: as their Substitute. And that is what Jesus is determined to be. “I am he,” He said. “Lead me away; I am the One who is to be humbled, even unto a criminal death. That is the cup which My Father giveth Me; I will take that cup.” Truly, in this way He plainly declares His willingness to suffer, to suffer as our Substitute.

But, we ask, what made Him willing to take such a heavy burden upon Himself? Friends, we are sinners; and the wages of sin is death. This is the judgment which God’s righteousness had to pass on all sinners. Now, if we were dealt with according to that judgment, what a terrible thing it would be for us! Suppose we are entering our last hour. Fear grips our hearts. In our dying anguish God is holding to our lips the cup of His wrath. The curse of the Law comes ringing into our ears; a voice of thunder proclaims to our terrified hearts: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Ah, that would be a bitter end!

And now we enter the judgment. Then God stands before you and says: Open the book, that we may see what manner of man he was, and whether he continued in all those things which I commanded him to do. Thereupon the record is read aloud: You have not kept a single commandment. The verdict follows: “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them” (Deut. 27:26). And: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (Matt. 25:41). This is the terror of all terrors! And then you must go down, down into eternal fire, into eternal, indescribable misery, into never-ending torments, into wailing and lamenting without end. O horror of horrors! What an evil fate!
But suppose that in our last brief hour these words came to our poor, quaking souls: “Be of good cheer! Now My angels shall bear you away into Abraham’s bosom; you are not going to be summoned to the judgment.” Yes, suppose that in the moment at which you indeed are brought before the judgment throne, the verdict is speedily brought in: “This poor sinner may depart a free man. Not damnation, but life shall be his lot.” Suppose, finally, that we are ushered into life itself, into the great, infinite bliss of heaven, into the glorious, eternal rest. Tell me, would not all this be good, incomparably good? Beyond all doubt, that would be a precious, a pleasant, a good portion for the soul. If all that is made ours, what can we say but: “Our lot is fallen in pleasant places”?

Well now, our compassionate Father had exactly the same idea of a good lot for us. He wanted this for us with all His heart. Therefore He said to the Son: You can procure this for them. But then you must step into their place. And behold! Such was the mind of Jesus in the matter that He did not consider His own advantage, but that of others. He did not consider how He might “have it good,” but thought only of us, how we might “have it good”; have a blessed death; stand in the judgment; enter into eternal life. He wanted to make this good fortune our own; He wanted to bring it about that we might enjoy such a pleasant lot and might not have to drink the cup of wrath, but be spared.

Therefore He drank the cup. So that we might not remain fettered prisoners consigned to hell, but might depart as free men, He let Himself be bound for judgment and condemnation. So that we might not die, but have life, He gave Himself into death. For us, then, He was seeking something glorious, something inexpressibly good. And what was He seeking for Himself? Nothing but the joy of knowing that through Him we would be made happy.

And this was His aim, though we in our sinfulness surely are not worthy of any favor from Him. He sought nothing but the honor of delivering us, and yet we in our sins are the vilest of creatures. There is only one thing which explains the willingness of Jesus to suffer for us. It is His love, a love that is unmerited, based on nothing in us; it is love that is unconditional, burning with a warmth and fervor unknown to man. Oh, how great His love must be, since even in prophecy He says: “I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will, O my God” (Ps. 40:7-8). How Jesus must love sinners, with a love that passes understanding, since He was ready to take the cup of the Father and was ready to suffer for us, when we in our love of sin and our attachment to sin are the most repulsive creatures! And He exulted in doing it! How could such love fill the heart of Jesus? That we shall never be able to fathom. But it is enough for us to know that His love made Him willing to suffer for us as our Substitute.


II.
With that knowledge all our doubts are removed as to Jesus’ will to deliver us out of all our sufferings. There is salvation in none other but Jesus. There is only one Helper against the woes of sin: Jesus.

Varied, indeed, are the woes which sin sends pouring over us, like a stream out of an inexhaustible fountain. The worst of all these is a bad conscience. We know ourselves as damned before God. With all the wealth we may have, we cannot find any joy; in all our troubles we can find no comfort. We must be afraid in life and in death. We are alarmed that we must bear life and its burdens so long, and yet we feel a still greater alarm at the prospect of its ending. Great is the woe of a bad conscience.

We can alleviate many another evil by our own efforts, but not this one. Try as you will, you will only make things worse. You can never satisfy a greedy heart, no matter how much you give it; it always wants more. So, too, you will never quiet an aroused, bad conscience, do what you will. Always a voice tells us: It is not enough; the guilt still remains. Here no confessing that you have done wrong will help. No giving and sacrificing will help. Judas did all those things, but his heart did not find peace; his conscience fairly screamed his guilt.

Only one thing will help. That is Jesus. What we need is that He come to our aid; that He bestow His help on us. But is it His will to do so? May we confidently hope for that?

This very confidence that Jesus will really take his part – this the poor sinner lacks at first, that is, if he has really become a poor sinner. If he is really plunged into deep remorse over his sin; if he truly realizes what a shameful and disgraceful sight he presents because of his sin; if he is alarmed over the filth in his own heart; if he stands aghast at his uncleanness, reproaches himself for his unworthiness, abhors himself for his damnableness – then, Christian friends, Jesus’ Person tends to appear to him as the One who is holy, One to whom sin and the sinners’ uncleanness must be an abomination. If Jesus in true, heartfelt love would only have pity on him in his great distress – oh, how he wishes for that! Even the thought of such a possibility is enough to give him a measure of comfort. But then the doubt always recurs: How can that possibly be? You hate and loathe yourself because of your sins. How could Jesus help feeling the same way?

And yet, fellow sinners, there is no doubt that Jesus, impelled by the most fervent love, actually wants to take our part and wants to deliver us from all of sin’s woes, here and hereafter.

Friends in Christ, let us imagine this case: A man has become heavily indebted, and that through his own fault. He knows a rich man who could help him, but he cannot summon the courage to appeal to the man of wealth. But then he hears that the rich man, strange to say, has already expressed his great sympathy over the self-incurred misery of this man and has already deposited money with a number of his creditors. He had done so with the remark that he was happy to be able to furnish the money. This amount would go to discharge the debt the moment that the financially distressed man applied for his aid, as the man of wealth fondly hoped he would. Now don’t you think that such knowledge would give the debt-ridden man courage to appeal to the rich man for aid?

Now then, you, the poor sinner, are the man in debt, but Jesus is the rich man of the kind heart. How can you still doubt whether Jesus really loves you enough to give you the hope: ‘In heartfelt love He has accepted me in such a way that I will confidently run into His arms, although I must despise and reject myself.’ Jesus says: Why do you, poor sinner, still torment yourself with doubts? I have loved you, yes, you, in all your repulsiveness, the extent of which even you have not grasped – I have loved you long ago, so much that I bled for you on the cross. It was for you, who are utterly unworthy and damnable, for you that My heart glowed with such a fervent love that I gladly – Oh, mark it! – most gladly, with all My heart, offered up My blood for your good. In such love I purchased you; in love I won you; in love I redeemed you. And now you ask whether I will accept you, My treasure won at such great price? It was for this very purpose that I suffered; for this purpose I, purely out of love, took death upon Myself for you: that I might give you life.

Surely, in the face of this all doubts must vanish. Can there still be room for doubt now? Even though we have sinned most grievously against His love, after He had once accepted us; even though we have denied like Peter, still doubt must vanish. Even in the hours of bitterest remorse and the most severe self-accusations, yes, in the last hour, when the unfaithfulness of an entire lifetime rests upon us with the weight of mountains – still doubt must vanish. Jesus will accept us, will make His salvation and His help avail for us, will help us out of sin, death, and wrath, and will lead us to life and peace. Before the certainty that Jesus in heartfelt, burning love offered His life for you who deserved the curse – before that all doubt must give way. All doubt melts away before the truth: As damnable as we acknowledge ourselves to be, He in heartfelt love still acknowledges us as those whom He wants to help, and He receives us for salvation and our life.

Oh, if only we would really seek Him! Do you all do it, fellow Christians? Suppose that Jesus Himself should ask: Whom seek ye? Can you answer: Thee, dear Lord, Thee who hast humbled Thyself for us that Thou mightest exalt us? Try to imagine this question as one that actually comes to you from Jesus’ lips. You realize that He knows your thoughts; He knows the real condition of your heart. You can conceal nothing from Him. If you are seeking something besides Him, He knows it. What will your answer be when He asks: Whom seekest thou? Sadly I wonder whether many do not have to answer: “To be truthful and sincere, I must admit that I seek everything, only not Thee.”

It is most important to achieve certainty on the question: Whom seek ye? Now is still the time of grace, but that time is running out. Now Jesus is still beckoning us: I am He, the Saviour; come unto me, thou sinner, I will give thee rest. He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Seek Me while I may be found.

But he who would seek Him after the time of grace has run out will not find Him. When this life is gone with all those things with which thousands defraud themselves, when they have gone their way in wretched poverty, finally crying under the pressure of their sin, crying: Woe is me! – then it is too late.

Jesus is compelled to say of such men: Oh, I was seeking your highest good when I died on the cross. How I loved you throughout your lives and wanted to see your lot fall in pleasant places, but you would not let Me lead you out of your ill-fated delusions. Following the lusts of your foolish hearts, you kept Me from providing a happier fate for you. Now you have prepared eternal woes for yourselves.

Therefore seek Jesus while He may be found. And thanks to His love, He may always be found here on earth, as long as we seek Him with hearts hungering for salvation. God grant that we continue thus to our end.

AMEN.

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Endnotes:

1. Hoenecke, A. (1957). Glorified in His Passion (W. Franzmann, Trans.) Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House. (Original work published in German, 1910.). pp. 30-43.
   
   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

 

A Sermon for Invocavit: “The Chief Human Agent in Christ's Passion” — Dr. Adolph Hoenecke

On Wednesdays through the Lenten Season this year (2013), we will be publishing sermons from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (1835-1908), who is among the most important theologians of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and from Dr. Paul E. Kretzmann (1883-1965), a prolific author, educator, historian and theologian of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) and among the more significant figures of 20^th Century American Lutheranism.

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the First Week in Lent, also known as Invocavit, and this week we will again be hearing from Dr. Adolph Hoenecke (WELS) on The Chief Human Agent in Christ's Passion. That Chief Human Agent was Judas Iscariot — the Betrayer of Christ, pictured at left in the night of his infamous deed, deviously and hurriedly departing from the Passover Table. From Christ, and His interaction with Judas, we have much to learn both about ourselves and the nature of God’s relation to us, as Dr. Hoenecke explains in the following sermon.

 

 

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A Sermon for Invocavit

The Chief Human Agent in Christ's Passion
by Dr. Adolf Hoenecke¹

Text: I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. (John 13:18-33)

The manger at Bethlehem, the cross on Golgotha – these are the truly conspicuous milestones on Jesus’ path of humiliation. With the one He began, as anyone one may see, to tread the wondrous way of humiliation for our redemption; with the other He reached the end of that road, and again it was for our redemption. That the Child Jesus might be laid in the manger at Bethlehem, God made use of an agent whom He had selected from the mass of mankind. It was Augustus, the Emperor, who with his census had to serve God, the All-Highest, as His lackey and assistant in carrying out His counsel. He, the heathen, had to be at God’s beck and call, when God was ready to fulfill His will, His counsel of grace, in accordance with His promise.

But the complete fulfillment came about in this that the Son of Man had to be delivered into the hands of the heathen (Gentiles) in order to be nailed to the cross, as the Scriptures had predicted. And behold: again God made use of His agents in the execution of His counsel. But, as certainly as we find joy and delight at Christmas in seeing how the great and mighty heathen Emperor Augustus had to act as God’s agent on behalf of the lowly-appearing Child in the manger, just as certainly are we deeply grieved to observe who acted as God’s agents in delivering the Son of God into the hands of the heathen. These agents were children of God’s people, the elders and priests. Pre-eminent among those agents, however, was one man: not one from among the dregs of the people; not one from among the clique of hate-blinded priests; no, one out of the circle of Jesus’ disciples. Let us, then, take this as the subject for our devout consideration:

JUDAS, THE CHIEF HUMAN AGENT IN JESUS’ PASSION

1. How Judas became such an agent.
   
2. How Judas set about his work.
   

I.
How he became such an agent.“ I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture might be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.” Thus the Lord spoke to His disciples. They were gathered with Him about the Communion Table on the night that He was betrayed. The institution of the Lord’s Supper had already taken place. With the words: “This is my body” (Lk. 22:19-20; Mt. 26:26-28; Mk. 14:22-24; 1 Co. 11:23-27). He had already given His bread to His disciples – to all the Twelve. At an earlier hour the Lord had also washed the feet of the disciples and had bestowed a beatitude on them. But, He then said, this beatitude did not apply to all. “I speak not of you all,” the Lord said. There is one among you to whom I cannot speak my “Blessed are you.” He is the one in whom the Scripture must be fulfilled: “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”

These words are recorded in the Forty-First Psalm (Psalm 41:9). Centuries before this night in which the Lord was betrayed that person had been determined, that child of perdition was settled upon as the one who was to perpetrate this heinous deed, the betrayal of the Son of Man. Judas had to offer his services as the betrayer and had to serve as the agent who led Jesus into His sufferings, once it had been prophesied in Scripture. Not some heathen, not any Jew, not anyone out of the number of seventy disciples could serve as this agent. It had to be one of the twelve disciples of the Lord, one who ate His bread of the New Testament, which He had distributed for the first time in the night in which He was betrayed. And, friends in Christ, since the Scriptures certainly reveal the eternal thoughts and counsel of God, therefore this also is a certainty: It was nothing accidental that Judas became a leading agent in bringing about Jesus’ Passion. That was foreseen and included in the whole eternal counsel of God, the heavenly Father, according to which the redemption of the world was to be accomplished through the sufferings of His Son.

But as certain as it is that Judas was selected by God to become a chief agent in the sufferings of Jesus through his shocking betrayal, let us be just as certain of this truth: Judas was not fitted out by God for this deed of betrayal. God did not cause Judas to be born with such a spiritual makeup that he was compelled to perform his abominable work; He did not endow him at birth with such an extraordinary sinfulness that he had to become the devil’s tool. Not at all! Judas was born a sinner like all other men, no more sinful and no less. For “there is no difference, all have sinned” (Rom 3:23). By nature Judas was in no deeper, no more hopeless state of sinful corruption than a Peter or a John. For in this respect there is no difference by nature. And it was through his sinfulness, which was none other than that common to all the children of Adam, that Judas was fitted out to be the agent in the betrayal.

Now, what was the particular sin which finally led him to become a traitor to his Lord? It was no sin of an unheard-of kind, one of which men in general know nothing. On the contrary, it was a sin which is very common all over the world, a sin which holds sway over thousands and thousands of hearts. It is a sin which, beyond all doubt, has its dominion even in many Christian hearts, namely, greed, avarice, the lust for money. Judas was a money-hungry man. His greed for gold became the handle by which the devil laid hold on him. Through his lust for money, through greed, he fitted himself out to be a leading agent in bringing about the Passion of Jesus.

If you, friends in Christ, have followed my remarks closely, you will realize with me that we are here dealing with a very significant, a very sobering matter. The unfailing result must be a knowledge that alarms us to the depths of our souls. I submit that we see in Judas, as in a mirror, what our inborn sinful condition is, and what can come out of it, particularly out of the avarice, the lust for money, inherent in us. For Judas is of the same sinful flesh as we; we are flesh like his. At this, friends in Christ, we have reason to be alarmed. We have reason to tremble at the thought that our evil flesh can easily gain the upper hand in us and lead us the way of the curse. Whether anyone of us will ever become a vessel of wrath and the curse is something known to God. No one of us knows it.

But this I do know: if we do, we have fitted ourselves out through our own sin to be such vessels of wrath. Ah, if only this knowledge would make us tremble and fill us with a deep, deep dread, and make us shudder at the thought of the perdition which, in the form of the sinful flesh, lies slumbering in our hearts. But only too few realize that. How many Christians act as though in their inmost heart there is nothing but heavenly light and love of God, nothing but innocence and holiness. Accordingly they say, when they look at one of their fellow men who has fallen deeply: I don’t know how anything like that could happen to me. I know how far I can go; I know how to control myself! How bloated with conceit, how giddy-minded you are! If you would only learn, with a man like Judas before you, to say with fear and trembling, as does Paul: “May God preserve me, for I know that in me, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. I know into what depths my sin, my love of mammon, my pride, and my worldly-mindedness could plunge me” (Rom. 7:18, para.).

If we inquire, fellow Christians, whether there was any factor present which hurried Judas along on the evil way which led to betrayal of His Lord and Master, then we must say: Yes! Judas was encouraged and emboldened by others to betray His Lord, and thus to become the agent in delivering the Lord into His sufferings. These were the high priests and Pharisees, the elders of the people. They wanted to capture Jesus and try Him, but they wanted to get Him into their power without any commotion. It was to be done without exciting and rousing the people.

Therefore they had issued the command: If anyone knew where Jesus was, he was to give the information so that they might take Jesus captive. And so Judas had gotten in touch with them. You can imagine how the high priests and Pharisees urged the argument on Judas that he would be earning a real reward from God, that he would be doing the Church and the people a great service, if he would deliver Jesus, this deceiver of the people, into the hands of the elders in Israel. So it is true that Judas became the chief agent in bringing about Jesus’ sufferings because he was encouraged and strengthened in his evil intentions by godless men.

But let us add this as equally true: he did not become such an agent without receiving even stronger and more earnest warnings to dissuade him. This had been done not only on a previous occasion. No, even now at the Communion Table he was admonished and warned in the most earnest and heart-gripping way. First of all, Jesus warned him through His words. “When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me” (v. 21). Most likely our dear Saviour’s deep grief and sorrow showed itself in the look of His eyes and the tone of His voice. Tell me, was not that warning one to shake Judas to the depths? How could he help noticing that Jesus with all his heart desired to check him in his path of sin! Then there was something else to warn him, to call out to him: “Stop! What you are about to do is a revolting thing.” This warning came to him in the form of the great consternation of the disciples at the words of Jesus. They were shocked and alarmed when they heard of this sin (v. 22). Even though the godless priests and Pharisees had made Judas’ heart callous toward the sin which he was about to commit, as though it were nothing, still the consternation of all his fellow disciples must have shaken him. Their fear, their loathing of this deed which Jesus had mentioned surely served to warn him: It is a repulsive thing that you plan to do; all God-fearing hearts recoil from it in horror.

There was, finally, a third thing to warn him. This came in the form of a plain sign. Through it Jesus told him and explained to him: Judas, do not think that your iniquitous ways are hidden. I know what you have in mind. As the sign which was to identify the person of the betrayer, the Lord gave him the sop. Remember, the Lord had said before this: “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.” Thus Jesus had identified as the betrayer the man who would do this thing. And now by giving the sop to Judas, He told him: Thou art the betrayer, Judas. Bluntly Jesus told him so.

This is always the final, most earnest warning: You are the man who has done this damnable thing. Confronting a sinner point-blank with his sin is the strongest kind of warning. In the face of such a warning the last delusion that beguiles so many to continue on their sinful ways – that delusion is shattered, the delusion that their sins are hidden. So, we see, Judas had received the most earnest warnings against his sin; he had no excuse.

If some Christians would only take this to heart. I mean those who in many respects travel the ways of the godless world and, like Judas, prefer this world’s reward, be it the goods, or the pleasure and recreation, or the acclaim and the honor that this world offers. These they prefer to the Lord and faithful fellowship with Him. Oh yes, these people plead too: Those men used so much persuasion on us as to how good it would be if we followed their advice, how well we could provide for our own, if we would join this or that society, lodge, club, and how many friendships, advantageous connections, and acquaintances we could gain, if we would live their kind of life and share their pleasures. That may all be. But did not your Saviour raise His voice against that? Has He not done this through His ministers? Has He given you no indication of His sadness because you wanted to follow ways on which He simply cannot lead you to His salvation? Have you had no fellow Christians who showed you by their shocked, alarmed attitude toward your ways that these are the ways of shame? Who can offer a reasonable excuse?

But once more we turn our eyes to Judas. A deed of darkness is never done unless the prince of darkness has a hand in it. Thus it was in this case. “And after the sop Satan entered into him.” (v. 27) The Evil One took possession of Judas’ soul, made it completely subject to himself, helped to remove the last misgiving and to confirm the resolution to carry out the betrayal. From this it is evident that it was also through the inner working of Satan in the soul of Judas that he was driven to become an agent in the Passion of Jesus.

That, however, is true only in this sense: he was made willing to do the devil’s bidding only through his own wickedness. In what did his wickedness consist? In this: Though he stood revealed before His Lord, he still impudently and brazenly resisted the last warnings of the Lord. Who can describe the earnestness of the Saviour’s words: “That thou doest, do quickly!” With a powerful stroke it cuts deep into the soul: Hurry to betray your Master! Hurry to earn the blood-money! Isn’t that word like a hammer-blow that will pulverize rock?

And yet, with all the earnestness designed to cut most deeply, the Lord treated Judas most tenderly and sparingly. For this whole incident remained a mystery to the other disciples. “Now no man,” we read, “at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him” (vv. 28, 29). Even now the Lord had not exposed the betrayer to all the others. But both the earnestness of the Lord and His forebearance were all in vain. Not the Lord, but the Evil One triumphed. The wickedness that impudently resists God made Judas his willing servant.

Thus Judas – let us review it brief1y – became the leading agent in the Passion of Jesus in this way, that he had indeed been selected for that part by God, but had fitted himself out for it through his own sins; that he had been encouraged to do this heinous deed by godless men, but had at the same time been warned against it by God in the most earnest way; that he was, indeed, driven on by the devil, but was made willing through his own wickedness. Now, fellow redeemed, let us see how Judas set about his work.


II.
How Judas set about his work.“He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night” (v. 30). At once, immediately, in great haste Judas left the room of Communion. There was no waiting, no hesitating. Like one who has disposed of a nasty, but unavoidable preliminary, and so is happy that he can put his hand to a piece of business that promises him advantage and profit, even so he hurried away from the company of the Lord and His disciples. Up and at the work of earning the “nice piece of money” promised him – that was his thought. He stepped out, and it was night. Wasn’t this circumstance a call, a hint to wait? But no, Judas might have misgivings if he waited till the next day. “That thou doest, do quickly,” the Lord had said. Judas told himself that he might as well act on the advice. Might not someone else forestall him in earning the promised reward? Therefore, away with all delay, even though it was night. Thus he went at work with haste, with an eagerness gruesome to behold, in a greedy hurry to secure the reward of sin.

It is appalling! And yet we see the same sad drama being acted out today by only too many children of perdition, even though a physical betrayal of the Lord is not involved. We see many young people in a great hurry to leave behind, at long last, the warnings and admonitions of their parents. Often they boldly seek to put an end to the time during which their parents, in the never-dying hope for their son or daughter, strive to keep them away from the ways of the world and from unrestrained license. Theirs is an ugly haste and a feverish lust to be entirely unhampered and unrestrained. They cannot wait to cast themselves into the raging stream of fleshly lust, to drink of the world in long, deep draughts!

We see only too many older people trying to cut short the time during which a congregation admonishes them and tenderly pleads with them to beware of walking the paths of sin. They hail the time – in fact, they can hardly wait for it – when they are loosed from such fetters, and then are free to devote themselves completely to their money-making and earthly “happiness.” It is enough to make you shudder, when you see these people, like Judas, hurrying away from the assembly of the Lord and His disciples, away from the Word and Sacrament, as though every minute that they still remained there were wasted. Truly appalling is the sight of their greedy hurry in going out to meet their supposed happiness.

“And it was night.” How significant that is! It was into the night of perdition that Judas was going. He went at his work as the victim of darkness. Oh, how bitterly, soon after, he cursed the hurry, the haste in which he had pursued the reward of sin! How roundly, soon after, he damned the burning lust which led him in the chase for mammon, as though he were securing for himself the most wonderful happiness.

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE Judas Iscariot in Cocytus with other infamous Betrayers, Brutus and Cassius, being eternally devoured by Satan in the lowest pit of Hell, as vividly described in Dante's Infero, Canto 34

The money burned his palms, now that the sin of betrayal, the betrayal of innocent blood, weighed on his conscience (Matt. 27:3-10). Night, the night of despair, was all about him. And the darkness swallowed him up. A death of damnation was his end.

As a victim of darkness, of hellish night, Judas went at his work. He set about his work as one eternally lost. But this was not so because there was no help for him. “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him” (vv. 31, 32). You understand, friends in Christ, that the Lord was here speaking of His glorification through His sufferings. “Now is the Son of man glorified,” the Lord said. Truly, now he was glorified. The betrayer was already on his way. In a very short time the mob would set out to take Him captive in Gethsemane. The trial and the judgment would be taken care of in short order. Soon the cross would be raised on which He was to be lifted up, to shine forth in His most radiant glory.

Jesus is beautiful when He performs signs and wonders, feeds the hungry, heals the sick, comforts the mourning. But where is He more beautiful than on the cross? In love He offers Himself for us on the cross as the sacrificial Lamb, and now we poor sinners ever and again rejoice to see Him in this picture which bears the title: “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Yes, from all sins. What? Even from the sin of a Judas? Certainly. There is no doubt about it. All sin, even that committed against the Son of Man, can be forgiven by virtue of the ransom price, the blood of the crucified Lamb. – Then, mark it well, Judas did not go his way as a victim of eternal darkness, because there was no longer any help for him. There was help; his sin also was to be made good through Jesus’ blood.

Then what accounts for the fact that Judas, nevertheless, went to his doom, although he felt remorse over his sin, though he, in fact, gave evidence of it in word and deed, and even expressly renounced his accomplices in sin, the priests and elders, and threw the blood-money down at their feet (Matt. 27:3-10)²? Here in our text we have the answer. The Saviour says: “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come” (v. 33). We know that the disciples did that. They sought the Lord. As much as they had sinned against their Lord through their flight, through their forsaking Him, through denial, as Peter did (Matt. 26:69-75), yet in all their misery, their despondency, and their terrible doubts, their hearts were directed toward Christ; they sought the Lord. And they found Him.

But this was the very thing the unhappy Judas did not do. He did not seek Jesus. He could very readily have found Him and, in Him, forgiveness. But he did not seek Him. He had lost the last little spark of faith and confidence. But when a man has lost that, then for him there can be no coming to Jesus any more (Heb. 6:4-8). For this reason Judas found no forgiveness. His fate was the one mentioned by the Lord in our text: “As I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come.” Our Saviour was here speaking to the unbelieving Jews about His going into heaven through suffering. Once before Jesus had told the unbelieving Jews: You cannot come into heaven because of your unbelief. He now told them so again.

Let us take those words as addressed to us, so that we may by all means remain such people who, in spite of many falls into sin, ever and again seek Jesus in faith, that we may not become people like Judas, people who do not seek Jesus.

How, do you suppose, did it come about that Judas in his great misery did not seek Jesus? Fellow redeemed, we cannot go wrong, if we say that, as a result of his hypocrisy toward Jesus, he had over a long period poisoned his soul with a dread of Jesus to such an extent that he no longer dared approach Jesus with any trust. Let us beware. I do not say that the loathsome sin of hypocrisy cannot find forgiveness. Most certainly it can! But I do say that through hypocrisy the way to Jesus can be blocked for us. Even though our life may be marked by much weakness, still let us remain upright before Jesus, so that we, in the face of our deepest distress, may confidently seek Him. God grant it.

AMEN.

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Endnotes:

1. Hoenecke, A. (1957). Glorified in His Passion (W. Franzmann, Trans.) Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House. (Original work published in German, 1910.). pp. 15-29.
   
   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
   
   
2. This reference, of Judas remorse and confession, is worth noting:
   
   Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. (Matt. 27:3-10)
   
   Notice what is happening, here. Judas knows he has sinned a terrible sin. Conscience stricken and full of remorse, he presents himself to his Church leaders, looking for absolution. None is offered. Instead, he is by them bidden, “wallow in your own sin,” and, on his own, to come to terms with the condemnation he assuredly deserves.
   
   The end which Judas met is the just and natural end met by sinners whose Shepherds, whose Church, fail them: fail to direct sinners to Christ, fail to direct sinners to forgiveness, fail to point sinners to those Means exclusively through which Christ and His promises are received. Thus, such poor sinners are doomed to wallow in their own sin and to die in despair, apart from Christ. And so Christ warns such Church leaders, “better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” Derelict pastors, and there are many of them, will have much to answer for.