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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)
In tonight’s Reading of a portion of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew’s narrative of the Passion of Our Lord (Matthew 26:1-29), we heard Jesus say to His disciples that they knew that He, the Son of Man, would be “delivered-up” in order to be crucified. Both the “delivering-up” and its purpose “to be crucified” are expressed in passive verbal forms, meaning that the Son of Man is being acted upon, and in this case the one (or ones) “delivering-up” and “crucifying” Jesus are not mentioned; their identity (or identities) were not given by Jesus when He made the statement, and so their identity (or identities) are not recorded by St. Matthew in His Gospel account inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now, St. Matthew uniquely records this prophecy of Jesus’s Passion at this point in Holy Week, but St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke all record three previous prophecies that Jesus gave about His Passion, which prophecies are likely why Jesus, as we heard tonight, could refer to His disciples as already knowing that He would be delivered-up in order to be crucified.
Notably, in the first of those previous Passion prophecies, Jesus does not say that He will be “delivered-up”, or “handed-over”, but Jesus speaks of the Divine necessity of His going to Jerusalem, to suffer many things from and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and on the third day to be raised (Mathew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22). In this first prophecy, other than Jesus’s actively going to Jerusalem, He passively experiences the rest, and only the agents of His suffering and rejection are named—those are, the elders, chief priests, and scribes—not the identities of the ones killing or raising Him. In the second of the previous Passion prophecies, Jesus does say that He will be “handed-over” into the hands of men, and that they will kill Him, and that He will be raised on the third day (Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:30; Luke 9:43). In this second prophecy, Jesus passively experiences everything (although the killing is actively expressed), and only the agents of His killing are named—those are, “men”—not the identities of the ones “handing-over” or raising Him. In the third of the previous Passion prophecies, Jesus says that He will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and that they will condemn Him to death and “hand-over” Him to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and that He will be raised on the third day (Matthew 20:18-19; Mark 10:33-34; Luke 18:31-33). In this third prophecy, Jesus again passively experiences everything, including now two “handing-overs”, and only the agents of the condemning and second “handing-over” and the agents of the mocking, flogging, and crucifying are named—those are, respectively, the chief priests and scribes and the Gentiles—not the identities of the ones first “handing-over” or raising Him. So, with all the passive verbal forms of “handing-over” and the frequent not-naming of the ones doing the “handing-over”, we legitimately ask the question that serves as the theme for this year’s Midweek Lenten Sermon Series, and that thematic question is “Who handed-over Jesus for you?”
There are a number of reasons why the identity of the one (or ones) doing a passive verb may not be expressed: such as when expressing the identity of the one (or ones) doing a passive verb may take away from a clause’s focus or reduce its rhetorical effect, or when the identity of the one (or ones) doing a passive verb may be obvious from the context, and included in such cases is when God is the one doing a passive verb, what is called a “Divine passive” (confer Wallace, 435-438). One some level we might balk at the idea that God the Father “handed‑over” His Son Jesus, for Jesus’s being “handed-over” was a gross miscarriage of at least human justice, and there were other things associated with Jesus’s being “handed-over” that we likely would regard as evil, and so that we would not want to make God responsible for in any way. Yet, the Divinely‑inspired St. Paul wrote to the Romans—and to us— explicitly that God the Father did not spare His own Son but gave Him up—that is, “handed-over” Him—for us all (Romans 8:32). And, earlier in the same letter to the Romans, St. Paul wrote that Jesus was “handed-over” specifically for our trespasses (Romans 4:25).
Whether the Jewish elders, chief priests, and scribes, or the Gentile governor and soldiers, the “men” to whom Jesus, the Holy Son of God, was “handed-over” were sinful (Luke 24:7), as we all are sinful. Sinful by nature, we all therefore both com‑mit countless actual sins, thinking, saying, and doing things that we should not think, say, and do, and we o‑mit countless good works, not thinking, saying, and doing things that we should think, say, and do. On account of our sinful nature and all of our actual sins of commission and omission, we deserve both death here and now and torment in hell for eternity. But, God the Father “handed-over” Jesus for our sins, and the Holy Spirit leads us to turn away from our sins and to trust God the Father to forgive us for Jesus’s sake. When Jesus first spoke about His being “handed-over”, the Gospel accounts say that the meaning of what Jesus said was concealed from the disciples, presumably by God, so that the disciples might not perceive the meaning of what Jesus said, and thus they did not understand it and were afraid to ask Jesus about it and were “greatly distressed” (Luke 9:45; Mark 9:30; Matthew 17:22). But, the Holy Spirit enables us to understand what Jesus said, that God the Father “handed-over” Jesus for us, in our place, and so we are not greatly distressed, but we rejoice greatly because by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are forgiven by God the Father for the sake of Jesus, His Son.
As St. Paul writes to the Romans and us that God the Father did not spare His own Son but “handed-over” Him for us all, in the background seems to be the historical and prophetically‑typical account of Abraham, who did not spare his son, his only son, Isaac, whom he loved (Genesis 22:12, 16). Similarly, God the Father loved the world by not sparing but “handing-over” His Son, His only Son, Whom He loved, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Old Testament prophecy, such as that of Isaiah, similarly described the Lord’s “handing-over” His Servant to suffer for our sins, the Servant’s being “handed-over” because of our iniquities (Isaiah 53:6, 12 LXX). In some sense, God the Father may “handed-over” Jesus for you from eternity, but in time God the Father “handed-over” Jesus for you on the cross, where He died in your place as your substitute, and then, as prophesied, He rose again on the third day. In the immediate context of St. Paul’s statement about God the Father’s “handing-over” Jesus for you, St. Paul is arguing that since God is for us, no one that matters can be against us, since God the Father did not spare His own Son but “handed-over” Him for us all, then God will also with Him graciously give us all things, if not everything that we could ever possibly want, then at least all things necessary for our salvation (Romans 8:31-32).
God the Father “handed-over” Jesus for you on the cross, but the benefits of Jesus’s work for you on the cross are given to you not at the cross but in His Word and Sacraments. The Gospel is read and preached to groups such as this group and applied to individuals with the water of Holy Baptism and with the touch of Holy Absolution, but tonight’s Reading of the Passion Narrative would have us think especially of the Sacrament of the Altar. As God the Father “handed-over” Jesus for you on the cross, Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar gives bread that is His Body given for us and gives wine that is His Blood shed for us for the forgiveness of sins, and so also He gives life and salvation. From God the Father’s “handing-over” Jesus, to God the Son’s giving His Body and Blood, to God the Holy Spirit’s ever leading us to turn from our sin and to trust God to forgive us, God’s great love, mercy, and grace are evident in that everything God is doing He is doing for you!
In the slightly-broader context of St. Paul’s statement about God the Father’s “handing‑over” Jesus for you, St. Paul is arguing that since God is for us, no one that matters can be against us, since God the Father did not spare His own Son but “handed-over” Him for us all, then nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31-39). Pastor Paul Gerhardt’s hymn that we sang as our Office Hymn (Lutheran Service Book 724) elaborates well on St. Paul’s positive implications of God the Father’s “handing-over” Jesus for us. And, in the years after writing the hymn, Pastor Gerhardt himself experienced even more the kind of things that try to separate us from God’s love, watching his wife and four of his five children die and enduring theological persecution at the hand of the authority over him (LSB:CttH, #724, p.1009). We may experience the joy of our salvation more or less, and we may, like Abraham, be willing not to withhold or spare anything as an offering to God, but, regardless, with repentance and faith, we live every day in the forgiveness of sins that we receive from Him and the forgiveness that we in turn extend to one another, all because God the Father has “handed-over” Jesus for us.
In the four Midweek Lenten Vespers Services still to come this year, we will consider four other answers to the thematic question “Who handed-over Jesus for you?” May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit bless our Lenten walk together, to the glory of His Holy Name.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +