Sermon Hymn #151 Christ the Life of All the Living
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 4 p. 123
The Lection The Passion History
Sermon Hymn #245 God Loved the World
The Sermon – God So Love the World
"To Be Engraved in Gold Letters on Our Hearts" - Luther
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45
The Hymn #653 Now the Light Has Gone Away
God So Love the World
KJV John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
KJV John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
KJV Numbers 21:5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The connection between John's Gospel and Numbers needs to be observed, especially because the Fourth Gospel is really a commentary on the Five Books of Moses (the Torah - which means Teaching). The bedrock for the best known passage in the Bible is this peculiar passage. Since when is a brass serpent used to heal people?
The real message of Numbers is to show the people griping against God's Word and paying for it. Their sinfulness is healed by their contrition (sorrow for sin) and by using a copy of the serpent as a physical symbol of God's healing. Not some but all bitten by the serpents, were healed by God through looking upon the serpent.
The figure of the serpent was from many centuries before during the important Exodus. This is where we see - especially in John - the past, present, and future are together in the Holy Trinity. Jesus said, "Even as that serpent figure was lifted up in healing, so will everyone be who looks upon the crucifix, believing."
That may seem too simple, but the authors of ELCA's Christian Dogmatics (Braaten-Jenson) mock the crucifixion repeatedly in their gassy, pompous, ridiculous textbook for ELCA pastors. If people look upon the crucifix with derision and scorn, they are not members of the Kingdom of God, nor are they led by the Good Shepherd.
As Luther said many times, the key word is faith. Jesus teaches faith in Him, not faith plus good works. The good works are a result of faith in Christ, the fruit of the Gospel believed and treasured. Jesus did not say the Israelites were to pay for their sins and then look upon the healing figure. They were to look upon the serpent and believe God could heal them.
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
This is not complicated. John's Gospel is written in the simplest possible words, with simple grammar. Believing in Him means not perishing, and to emphasize that - believing in Him means eternal life.
There is a miracle in our change from actual death to eternal life. No matter who the person might be, when that has happened, there is no proof, except the truth of God's Word. Jesus is emphatic about this eternal life through faith in Him. When the sisters worried about their brother dying, even though they knew about eternal life, Jesus said, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life."
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
There is so much in this verse. and yet numbskulls find something that appeals to their apostasy. God loved the world so much that He gave His one-and-only Son. That means that the crucifixion is God's gift to mankind (part A) because of His love.
Like the serpent from Numbers, who ever looks upon the crucifix, believing, should never die. Already this verse predicts cases of temporary death, well recognized today and feared in the past. Believing in Him means everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
This is a shock for many, but God did not send His Son to gather merits to gain approval from the Father. Condemnation is erased through faith in the Son of God, and faith alone gives us access to God's grace (Romans 5:1-2). The Law condemns and can never be mollified by works, suffering, feeling horrible, etc. But - this is adored and abused by the Objective (Faithless) Justification mob - the entire world is the target of this action by the Father and Son, revealed by the Holy Spirit.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The jugheads and Satan worshipers find a loophole for their dogma in verse 17, but God anticipated this in Christ, showing that their precious Calvinism, Pietism, and Catholicism are wrong. Believers are not condemned, but unbelievers are already condemned. Those who believe in the only-begotten Son are saved - no one else.
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