Sermon Audio

Jesus’ mother approaches him at a Wedding in Cana. The people of His hometown sought to arrest Him. The listeners at the temple sought to arrest Him, too. In all three times we are told that Jesus’ hour had not yet come. It was not time for Him to do the thing for which He was sent.

There was a time when a boy was born in Bethlehem. God placed a light to guide some Gentile sages from the east to the place where the child was. The Word and the light take them to the house where Jesus was, and they bow down and worship Him. Today, once again, we hear of Gentiles who have traveled to see Jesus. They find Philip, who tells Andrew, and these two tell Jesus. Hearing of them, Jesus says, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”

One thing to get from all of this is that the Son of God has always had His eyes fixed on the cross. The plan of salvation was apparent to God from the first moments of creation—right there, in the beginning—even before the beginning. That’s the omniscience of God, well beyond our comprehension, yet He has always known that He would have an hour in glory.

And despite what was said last week, it probably seems strange to us to think of Jesus’ suffering and death as His glory. And so it is repeated, the Son of God glories in your salvation, even as St. Paul wrote,

[B]eing found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11)

The hour had come, and a few days later, the Son of God took His throne with outstretched, nail-pierced hands and feet.

From eternity, the Son of God had looked forward to the hour. Again, beyond our comprehension, He knew that His perfect, sinless creation would not stay so. He knew that Adam would silently stand by, not preventing His wife from taking from the forbidden tree and eating the fruit. He knew that Adam would eat some as well. He knew that every son of Adam and daughter of Eve since would participate in father Adam’s sinfulness, committing sins themselves. He knew that throughout the ages, man would transgress His holy Law. Any self-examination done would reveal in us this sin, from which we can in no wise set ourselves free. Therefore, God has always known that He would have an hour in glory, enthroned on rough wooden beams by nails.

So, He took on our human nature in order that He may do for us what father Adam could not do, perfectly keep His holy Law for us, and see to that hour. And, as His hour drew closer, the pangs of His impending death for the sins of man—for your sins—weighed heavily upon Him as He prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:42, 44) All the while, He was not deterred—if Peter acting as Satan’s agent couldn’t keep Him from the cross, His own emotions and agony would not prevent Him from dying for you. It was “Jesus...who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame....” (cf. Hebrews 12:2)

Furthermore, there is nothing you have done, can do, or will do that can or has prevented Jesus from the hour of His glory. When He hung on the cross, He hung there with every sin committed—those in His past, those in His present, and those in His future. I say this not to encourage you to continue in sin, or to think up new ways to sin, or to increase in your sinning. If it were possible to heap more upon the crucified Christ, I would not encourage you to do so. On the contrary, I encourage you with the divinely inspired Sts. Paul, Peter, and James, not to dwell on sinning, but upon the confession of sins that you have been given, and the faith by which you make confession of your sins and receive the Holy Absolution, which time and time again frees you from your sins. You are baptized, therefore your sin no longer condemns you.

Jesus continued, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” The grain of wheat must be planted and die if it is to produce much grain. Alone, the grain of wheat remains just a grain. Jesus uses this analogy to explain His incarnation. Unless a grain is planted—the Son of God was enfleshed as He was planted in the womb of the virgin Mary—and dies—He came to give His life a ransom for many—it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain—and having given His life as a ransom, you are spared the death due sin and rise to newness of life, a sort of firstfruits of the death and resurrection of the Christ brought about by the Word of truth. (cf. James 1:18)

And as He has risen from the dead, so shall you. The hour of Christ’s glory will come to its fruition when He returns with His angels and the blast of the trumpet, the dead raised, and the believers in Christ being raised to eternal life. Then, we shall enter into that glorious banquet at which James and John sought the seats of honor.

However, He would not have you wait for some unknown day and hour to be made a part of His glory. The Hour had come when the Christ gave His life a ransom for many, and His hour continues to come when His life is given, again and again, to many.

First, there are the waters of Holy Baptism. There, the benefits of Christ’s crucifixion are personally applied to the new believer, binding them to His death and resurrection. Therefore, as quoted last week, it is no longer the Baptized who lives, because they died in when they were baptized—they were crucified with Christ—but Christ who lives in them, and the life that they live in the flesh they live by faith in the Son of God, who gave Himself for them. (cf. Galatians 2:20) Replace all of the “thems” and “theys” in that with you. Dear Baptized, you have been crucified with Christ—Christ gave His life for you, and you have received it in Holy Baptism.

And here I encourage you to remember a certain Latin phrase that I have often repeated around here: BAPTISMATUS SUM. I am Baptized. This is a present reality. It’s not simply that you were baptized; no, you ARE baptized! The life you now live, is lived in a foretaste of the glory to come, in Christ; it is lived by daily drowning with all sins and evil desires, as Luther rightly teaches in his Small Catechism, and a new man daily come forth and arises to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Second, the hour of Christ comes as He gives Himself in bread and wine to those prepared. Often referred to as the foretaste of the feast to come, Christ is truly present in His body hidden in bread and blood hidden in wine, and His presence is glorious as He is there to give to the communicant His body and blood, sacrificed on the cross, for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Again, He is come to serve and give His life, as in the Sacrament of the Altar He is there to be your ransom.

Finally, we cannot forget the Holy Absolution. Even in these simple words, Christ is present to serve and give you His life—He is there to give through your ears the benefits of His crucifixion. Indeed, these give you the very thing they say, and so I say again to all of you, Dear Baptized, Christ is here in these words, His hour has come, and you are forgiven for all of your sins.