Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Second Sunday of Lent - 03/01/15 Sermon - “Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection”

Sunday 03/01/15 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection”                    

Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 22:23-31

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Romans 4:13-25

Gospel Lesson: Mark 8:31-38                  

            Welcome again my brothers and sisters to this the Second Sunday of this season of Holy Lent. In this season of 40-days, we are called to repent of our sins, to pursue holiness, to root sin out of ourselves altogether, and to become more like Jesus. For at the end of these 40-days, Jesus will have been crucified and laid in the tomb.

          As we walk with Christ during these 40-days then, and as Christ gets ever closer to the cross on Calvary, let us remember that this season will end with an empty tomb on Easter morning. Let us remember that the living Christ has already overcome. Let us remember that while the spiritual battle rages on, that the war was won on Calvary almost 2,000-years ago.

          Many of us know then, that towards the very end of this season of Lent, that we will remember Jesus’ crucifixion for the sins of humanity, on Good Friday. This should not make us miserable in Lent. Rather maybe we should ask ourselves in the season of Lent, how we can become more like God, how we can become more loving, and generous, as Christ will die for us all soon, out of love.

          When thinking about Christ dying for us soon on the cross at Calvary, I remember an interesting question one of my fellow seminarians asked a professor when we were in a seminary class together. My friend asked the professor, “Did Jesus Christ know ahead of time, exactly when and how he would die?”

I found this question to be fascinating, as I wondered, did Jesus know ahead of time, when and how he would die? I mean do any of us here, know when and how we will die? The answer for us likely is “No,” but the answer for Jesus, as I learned, is “Yes.”

You see in the gospel of Mark reading for this morning, Jesus says to his disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts, and be killed, and then, after three days, rise from the dead” (Mark 8:31, CEB).

          It would seem clear from this gospel scripture and others then, that Jesus was clearly telling his disciples and others, “I will be killed and resurrected.”

          Imagine for a minute, if I told you all here, that I was going to live for another 50-years, 200-hunded days, 5-hours, and 4-minutes? What would be your reaction to that prophecy, to that claim on my own mortal life be? I mean how could I have come up with this number? Imagine if I told you further, that I would die 50-years from now from a flu-like disease? How could I know this number, and how could I accurately predict some super-bug or super flu virus that will exist in 50-years’ time? Certainly if I made such claims, there would immediately be many who would say, pastor has finally gone crazy.

          Perhaps some of you would believe me though, yet 50-years from now, the burden of proof would be on me. Given this example then, was Jesus wrong in his prediction? Did what he predict about his own death and resurrection in fact happen?

          Further, what did Jesus ever say that has ever been found to be false? The only thing that has yet to come true that Christ promised, is his return, the second coming.

          The ability to make such a prediction, the ability to say that soon you will die, and provide details, including your own resurrection, seems to me to not be something that a mere human could do. I mean after all, if all divine power comes from God, how could Jesus know when he would die? I thought only God knows such things? Further, when Jesus spoke, were the words he spoke true and of God in all things?

          The only reasonable solution then, is that Jesus was the fullness of God and the fullness of a human, when he walked on this Earth. That Christ was and is, one and the same with God, and with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was and is the second representation of God. The second person of the Holy Trinity.

          So not only is Christ going to give up his life for us all soon, he knows it. He knows exactly when and how it will happen. After all, why would Christ pray so intensely in the Garden of Gethsemane all night on Holy or Maundy Thursday, if he didn’t know he would be nailed to the cross the next day? I heard a good quote this week that “The devil overcame Adam in the Garden of Eden, but that Christ overcame the devil in the Garden of Gethsemane.” Why does Christ succeed where Adam fails? The answer is that only God can defeat the fullness of evil, which Jesus, the Son of God did.

          Now when I gave you my years, days, hours, and minutes until my own death, I was obviously just making these numbers up, as an example. Imagine knowing from a little child though, when and how you would die. Jesus knew all of this. During his entire three-year ministry on earth, he knew what was to come for him. So much so, that today he told his disciples and other followers, that he would soon suffer and die, so that we may live.

          You see after centuries of God sending prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Malachi in the Old Testament to call us repentance and holiness, God realized that we as a fallen humanity were just not getting it. One prophet after another in the Old Testament were called by God to tell us to repent, to pursue holiness, and to live lives worthy of God.

          Finally God decided to come to earth, to take on flesh, and be called by the name Jesus. He dwelt among us, and out of the greatest love ever known, he will die four our sins on a cross on Calvary. Christ will die for all the wrong we have done, and all the wrong we are yet to do, so that we may inherit the kingdom of God. If we but call upon the name of Jesus Christ, we will be forgiven, made whole, and we will be reconciled to almighty God.

          Since Jesus brought this “Good News” to the world, and since my own life has been changed and transformed by Jesus Christ, I now myself preach “The Good News.” I preach “The Good News” because I have seen lives changed, hearts healed, and as the reading from Psalm 22 says from this morning, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; I will praise you in the very center of the congregation! (Ps. 22:22, CEB).

          Psalm 22:23 then says, “All of you who revere the LORD—praise him! All of you who are Jacob’s descendants—honor him! All of you who are all Israel’s offspring—stand in awe of him!”

          In this season of Lent do we stand in awe of God? Do we realize who Jesus is, and how he can change us all, from the inside to the out? Do we have faith in Christ? Do we truly believe?

          In the reading from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or Letter to the Romans from this morning, Paul talks about how the promise of salvation comes to us through faith. In fact, Paul says in Romans 4:16, “the inheritance comes through faith, so that it will be on the basis of God’s grace.” Do we have faith in the one who predicted his own death and resurrection? The Apostle Paul tells us, that our faith in God, that our faith in Christ, is how we are made whole. Is how we inherit eternal life.

          Our gospel of Mark lesson for this morning begins with Jesus teaching his disciples. Jesus once again tells his disciples and likely many other listeners, that he would be rejected and killed soon, and then raised from the dead.

          The Apostle Peter, being the “loose cannon” that he often was, immediately corrected and scolded Jesus for saying these things. Jesus then rebukes Peter and says, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts” (Mark 8:33, CEB).

          Then Jesus gets deeper with his disciples. For we know that Christ will soon die for us, to cover our sins, but what do we do now? Beyond this, Christ says this, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34, CEB). We must live daily for Christ, and for others. Jesus then says, “All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them” (Mark 8:35, CEB).

          Christ then says, “Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives?” (Mark 8:37, CEB).

          Having faith is Christ then is more than a onetime decision, it is daily path we walk to become more holy, more giving, less selfish, and more selfless. It is a daily path to pursue justice, to make sure that the hungry are fed, to make sure that the naked are clothed, and to make sure that all persons are treated with dignity and respect. So if we as Christians are going to make the claims about who Jesus was and is, we must also follow suit by being selfless and loving towards all people, every day.

          Christ then finally tells us “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in the Father’s glory with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38, CEB).

          You see many Christian Churches make very high and powerful claims over who Jesus Christ was and is, but we must also on the same token live that faith out. We must build God’s kingdom here on earth, as we await the coming kingdom of eternal life.

          For example, some of my more liberal friends have said things to me like, “Boy Paul, you have quite a high view of Jesus.” I often respond to that by saying something like this, “To whom much is given, much is required.” In this way, the Christian faith is rich, we make large claims in our faith, but we are called to live it out in love to all people. We must believe and follow, not just do one or the other.

Since part of what I talked about this morning was Jesus predicting “his own death and resurrection,” I want to tell you a story about death. This story is called “When Do I Die?” This story was taken from a quote excerpted from Robert Coleman’s book, Written in Blood. Here is how it goes: “In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. She had a rare blood type which she shared with her little brother. The fact that he had recovered from the same disease two years earlier made the chances of success even greater. The doctor carefully explained all this to the little boy, pointing out that without the transfusion his sister would die.”

“Would you be brave and give your blood to your sister?” the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip began to tremble. Then he smiled and said, “Sure, for my sister.” The two children were wheeled into the hospital room – Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. He smiled at his sister, the watched as the blood travelled out of his body, down the clear plastic tube. Johnny’s smile faded, and as he lay there feeling weak he looked up at the doctor and said, “Doctor, when do I die?’

“Johnny thought that giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. Yet because of his great love for her he was prepared to pay the price.”

          The Christian faith does start with the cross and the empty tomb, but my guess is that since “Johnny” in this story saved his sister “Mary’s” life, that perhaps Mary had many more years to live. I wonder what good things Mary could have gone to do with this precious gift of life that her brother “Johnny” gave her?

          In the same way, in this season of Lent, what we will do with the free gift of life that our Lord and Savior, our brother, Jesus Christ, gives us? My hope and my prayer for us all in this season of Holy Lent, is that we may encounter Christ, that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit, and that we may be excited to listen to where almighty God is leading us? Will we work against human trafficking, to stop violence against women, to end hunger, to end homelessness, to help veterans who are struggling, and etc.? You see when Christ gives us the free gift of life, we are unleashed to transform the world in his image. For on this day, Christ, the living God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, “predicts his own death and resurrection.” Praise be God and Amen.