Judica (Lent 5), 2024
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
St. John 8:46-59a
Judica
March 17, 2024
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Poor Jesus. It seems as though things are only getting worse. They are. He has done no wrong—only loved the world and those in it and what does He get? Hatred. Ridicule. False accusations spoken against Him. This is because all men are liars. All men are sinners. The cause of our sin is outlined in our Lutheran Confessions, in which it is stated, “Our churches [The Lutheran churches] teach that although God creates and preserves nature, the cause of sin is located in the will of the wicked, that is the devil and ungodly people. Without God’s help, this will turns itself away from God, as Christ says, ‘When he lies, he speaks out of his own character’ (John 8:44).” (AC, XIX)
The blame for sins rests solely with the devil and with us, not with God. Because apart from God’s mercy in Christ, there is no hope for the wicked. This is seen, quite obviously, in the Gospel reading for Judica, in the Jews’ reaction to Jesus. They’re responding in kind to each other. The Jews and the chief priests are again, trying to catch Jesus in His words. But they aren’t making sense in their accusations against Him. This is because, when it comes down to it, fabrications and lies don’t add up and, in the end, they don’t make sense. They say, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Obviously neither is true. They know He’s not a Samaritan—though He is the Good Samaritan. Obviously, they know His heritage. They know He is from the tribe of Judah. Later they’ll say, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?” So it’s quite obvious that they’re simply resorting to slander and personal attacks, because His Word is truth and they cannot contradict Him. They can’t argue against Him. So they do the only thing they can by attempting to discredit Him by saying, “You are a Samaritan and You are possessed by a demon.”
They are evil. They are sinners. And so are we. We might not have ever called Jesus a Samaritan or having a demon, but we have sinned against Him in other ways. We have pretended that He did not matter and that we mattered most. We have broken every single one of His commandments. We have held up other things in this life as more important—worshipping other gods. Pick and choose, what have you loved most in this world? We have not feared, loved, and trusted God above all other things. What is it that has been the most important thing to you at various times and during various seasons in your life? Ask yourself that. Look inward and examine yourself. All of us have used His name falsely. We have not remembered to come to church. We have dishonored those in authority over us. Murdered our brothers and sisters with our words behind their back. Lusted, stolen, lied, and coveted. The cause and source of our sin is the devil and our sinful nature. The blame rests solely with us. When we sin, we return once again to our father the devil who is the father of lies. Jesus tells us the truth and yet, we are still prone to sin, lies, and disbelief.
Perhaps no other Bible passage is as good in describing this situation, not only from the Gospel reading and this interaction with Jesus and the Jews, but also our own situations in life when it comes to our relationship with God, when John writes at the beginning of his Gospel, “He came to His own, and His own received Him not.” This is the prime example, the perfect example of that passage—this interaction between Jesu and the Jews and chief priests. His own received Him not, and it’s actually worse than that. He came unto His own and not only did His own people not receive Him, but they tried to kill Him. Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but He hid Himself and went out of the temple.
Seven other instances throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus employs this “I AM” saying. He first says, “I AM the bread of life.” As bread sustains physical life, so Jesus offers and sustains our spiritual well-being when we receive Him as He comes down from heaven to us in His Word and in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
He also says, “I AM the light of the world.” He is the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness could not comprehend it. The darkness cannot overcome it. To a world lost in darkness, He offers Himself as a guide who brings us back to our heavenly home and back to fellowship with Him.
He says, “I AM the door of the sheep.” Because it is by Him and through Him alone that we enter into the fold of eternal life. And there, here, He protects His followers as shepherds protect their flocks from predators.
“I am the resurrection and the life,” He says. Death does not have the final word. It cannot have the final word. For those who are in Christ, baptized into His death, are also baptized into His resurrection.
“I AM the Good Shepherd. And I AM the Good Shepherd because, good for this reason: I lay down my life for my sheep.”
“I AM the way, the truth, and the life.” He says this because He is the source of all truth and knowledge about God. “If you know me, you know my Father also. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him because you see me. If I honor myself,” says Jesus, “My honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors Me, of whom [you Jews] say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His Word.’” Jesus, as the Son of God, reveals His Father to us, so that He would make us also, sons and daughters of His Father.
Finally, He says, “I AM the true vine.” Because we are united with Him in baptism; because we eat and drink of His body and Blood; and because we receive Him in faith, we are attached and united with Him as leaves are attached to a vine. His life now flows in and through us. Thus, in faith, we cannot help but bear good fruit that honors the Father, that helps and serves our neighbor.
We would do well to recognize that Jesus is not just using this “I AM” statement as a simple “to be” verb. Don’t overlook this. What He is saying is “I, the God who is, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yahweh, the one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, I AM, which is My name, I as God in the flesh, am these things: I, God, am the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the resurrection and the life, the Good Shepherd, the way, the truth, and the life, and the true vine.”
But today, we don’t hear Jesus saying any of that. He simply says, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” What Jesus is saying here is absolutely consequential. He’s not just saying that He was, as in, He existed long ago, because the Jews ask Him about this, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” They didn’t try to kill Him for saying that. The reason they try to stone Him is because here, again, He is invoking the divine name of God. He says, “I AM,” that is, “I am Yahweh. I am God. God gave Moses from the burning bush the name “I AM who I AM.” And so Jesus is now saying, “I AM the one who told Moses from the burning bush, ‘My name is I AM. Go and tell the people of Israel that I AM sent you.’” And this is why the Jews try to stone Him. Because anyone who claim to be God, when he isn’t, is to be stoned to death, according to the Levitical Law, because this is what blasphemy is. But Jesus tells them the truth and they do not believe Him and because they don’t believe that He is God in the flesh, they think He deserves to die. So they’d better kill Him.
We know the end of the story. We know the reason that He hid Himself from them and did not allow them to kill Him by stoning is because that’s not how He was supposed to die. As Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so also, will Jesus be lifted up. Because there, then, He will draw all people to Himself—people of all time and in all places will be united to Him. Those who believe this, who have faith in Him, will be united to Him and with each other.
The irony in all this, is that even though they tried to stone Him on account of what they perceived as blasphemy, is the exact charge that they will convict Him of when He stands before the Sanhedrin on Good Friday. When Jesus is brought before the Jewish leaders, the high priest will ask Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” and Jesus will say, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Then they will condemn Him to death.
It seems as though things are getting worse. But we need a Savior who will take our place. Jesus will be slandered, spit upon, tortured, and He will die. He will not allow Himself to be stoned but will take on a worse punishment, a more painful death. He will be crucified, lifted up from the earth, and die for the sins of the world on Good Friday. And yet, in the midst of all that, we must always remember, that He is the resurrection and the life. This is where we are headed.
In +Jesus’ name.
