Luke 13:31–35

2nd Sunday of Lent

³¹At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." ³²And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. ³³Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.' ³⁴O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! ³⁵Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

We only know of two occasions when Jesus wept. One was when his friend Lazarus died. The other is when he beheld the City of Jerusalem as he entered on Palm Sunday. He wept because the people of Jerusalem had rejected the salvation he had come to give. As Jesus approached the Holy City he lamented, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you! How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you would not!” The most sincere and heartfelt desire of Jesus is the salvation of all mankind. He desires not the death of even one single person.

The passage of Scripture that says, “Many are called but few are chosen,” does not mean that God does not desire to save everyone. The cause of condemnation is that men either do not hear the word of God at all, but despise it, harden their ears and hearts, and thus bar the Holy Spirit so he cannot work in them; or if they do hear it, they cast it to the wind and pay no attention to it. The fault does not lie in God, but in our own wickedness.

God desires the salvation of all; rich and poor, male and female, young and old, of all nations, languages and races. He weeps over the loss of a single soul. For in Christ all sin is wiped away and every person is beautiful and precious in his sight. It is we who close our ears to God’s Word and reject the Spirit of God and that is what results in some being lost.

It is man who rejects Christ and becomes enemies of the cross. As the Prophet said, “He was despised and rejected by men.” The Lutheran Confessions state: If a person will not hear preaching or read the Word of God, but despises the Word and the community of God, he perishes in his sins and can neither comfort himself with God’s eternal election nor obtain his mercy.” It is through Word and Sacrament that God comes to us, works faith in us, and bestows upon us the forgiveness of sins. Christ offers his grace to all men in the Word and the holy sacraments, and he earnestly wills that we hear it, and has promised that where two or three are gathered in his name and occupy themselves with his holy Word, he is in the midst of them.

It is for this reason that I so earnestly encourage all of you to involve yourselves in Bible studies here at church and in worship on Sunday mornings in order that you too receive the gifts of God’s grace and his eternal blessings. For by not doing so you are resisting the Holy Spirit and cutting yourselves off from Christ.

But so often it is we who profess to be the holiest and the best who in fact do the most damage to Christ, his word and his church. Christ bears that out when he said, “It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” By this he means he must be slain by his own; they must needs hate Christ and persecute him and his preachers.

And this is precisely what we do when we profess to be holy and good. It is pride and arrogance that we exhibit when we refuse to come to worship or Bible class because of the other people in the church who have so many problems, or can’t get along with each other. We reject Christ when we say that the people of the congregation aren’t acting like Christians and therefore we stay away from his Word and sacrament. This is nothing more than the same pride and arrogance of the Pharisee who prayed in the temple: “Thank you Lord that I am not a sinner like that Publican over there.” “I tell you,” Jesus said, “He went down to his home unforgiven.” It was the Pharisees who tried to scare Jesus out of their area with threats that Herod wanted to kill him.

When we complain that the people of the church have so many problems and are such sinners, this is a complete false doctrine of the church. This is to not understand who we are or what the church is. Christ, over and over stressed that he came for sinners, not for the righteous. He rejected the holy and perfect people, like the Pharisees, and received the sinners unto himself. He has nothing to do with those who don’t need forgiveness, and he correctly says that the well do not need a physician. It was the sinful Publican who went home forgiven, not the good and righteous Pharisee. The church is made of sinners. Those who are not sinful have no need of the church and are excluded from Christ. The marks of the church are not good people. They do not include people getting alone with each other. The marks of the church are the Word proclaimed and the Sacraments administered to broken, sinful people who need forgiveness and absolution.

If you come to the church looking for loving, happy people who get along together all the time and never have any problems or conflicts; people who are good enough for you; then you will not find Christ. For such people have no need of a Savior. They don’t need his help or salvation.

It is true what Luther says that those who profess to be the holiest and the best are, in fact, the ones who do the most damage to Christ. Christ was slain by his own, the people of Jerusalem and by us sinners. It was on account of our sins that he suffered. He took up our infirmities. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Our punishment was upon him.

For we have all gone astray and turned to our own way. We have been proud and arrogant. We have been boastful and consider ourselves better. We have quarreled with each other. We have not lived up to the example of love that Christ himself set for us. So we confess that we need someone to atone for our sins. We need a perfect person to fulfill the law for us and to atone for our sins. We confess that we are sinful and unclean and have sinned in thought, word and deed. That is why we are here. We are not here because we are holy or better than anyone else. We come here because we are miserable sinners and seek someone who can save us from our spiritual poverty and depravity.

And here we find that someone. Christ, who has fulfilled the requirements of God’s law for us. The Lord laid our sin and iniquity on Christ. He has become our righteousness. He is the end of the law for us so that we may be justified. He has accomplished what is lacking in us. By his innocent and holy blood he has redeemed us from sin and purchased our forgiveness.

Christ is a gift to us from God. If I take hold of Christ as a gift I shall lack nothing whatsoever. In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. God has made him to be my wisdom and knowledge. God has made him my wisdom and righteousness, my sanctification and redemption. Therefore all of the many and great sins I have committed, if I believe in Christ, are swallowed up by his righteousness.

Learn the true and correct definition of Christ on the basis of these words of St. Paul: “He gave himself for our sins.” Christ gave himself into death for our sins. He is not a tormentor. He is not one who will cast down the troubled, but he is the one who will raise up the fallen and bring consolation to the terrified. There is no fear here, for in Christ there is nothing but sweet joy and consolation.

But the devil is a sly deceiver. He would present Christ to us as a stern judge, whose example we have not lived up to. With his poison the devil wants to terrify sinners. He wants to trouble our conscience so that it feels and judges that Christ is a tyrant and a tormentor. So Satan deceives us and we easily lose the pleasant sight of Christ as our redeemer. Once this happens we avoid Christ as though he were our judge and executioner. The devil wants us to not only recognize our sin and need for forgiveness, but to feel guilty for our sin and terrified of judgment. The devil wants us to all be on a continual guilt trip.

But the Word of God presents Christ to us as a Priest and Mediator. He is the one who makes propitiation for our sin and fulfills the law for us. He is the one who has made us the righteousness of God. He has accomplished what was lacking in us. He is the end of the law for us. Do not let the devil tell you that Jesus condemns you for not doing what he expects. For in Christ we have fulfilled his demands. Christ did it for us. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns us? Christ Jesus, who died and was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love fo Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us and gave his life for us.

So when the devil tempts you to feel guilty and unworthy of God; when he accuses you of not having kept the law, tell him to go to Christ. Tell him, “there is the man who has kept the law and I cling to him.” For Christ satisfied the law. He fulfilled the law perfectly. Christ loved God with all his heart and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and with all his mind. Christ loved his neighbor as himself. He fulfilled the law for me and gave his fulfillment to men. In this way you shall silence the devil.

There are no guilt trips in Christ. For Christ has taken away all guilt from us. He is our righteousness, our sanctification and our redemption. Christ sincerely wants all to be saved. He sheds tears for a single soul who is lost. He wants to gather us under his wings as a mother hen gathers her chicks. He is our righteousness and our redemption. Amen.