Sexagesima Sunday

John 8:21-29

So [Jesus] said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Jesus says that at the end of our Gospel lesson, the one about the seed that was sown, landing in various kinds of soil. The seed represents the Gospel message—the good news of God’s saving of the world from sin and death. It goes out like seed flung from the hand of a sower, to some who reject it outright, like it was on a hard-packed path. And it goes out to some who receive it half-heartedly (finally putting it aside)—like it was in shallow, rocky soil. And it goes out to some who receive it more deeply, but finally let other things in this world replace it—like it was deeply set in weedy or thorny soil. And it goes out to some who treasure it unto eternal life—like it was in good soil.

Jesus wants everyone to be in that last group. He’s leading His listeners in the parable to (among other things) recognize what God is doing for them. He’s leading you, too.

His whole purpose for coming into this world was to say also to you, Where I am going, you can come. Even though you have fallen short of God’s glory, you won’t die in your sin; I have seen to it. I’ve performed perfectly in your place everything that was required of you; I’ve done it in full. My doing of it gets considered now as if you’d done it. God doesn’t have anything against you anymore. In Me, you have forgiveness and salvation. You are of My kingdom.

God’s Son came into this world according to an eternal plan to do all of that, and to make you aware of it. That’s what he wants to say to you. He wants you to know that God would have you in his kingdom, that the sacrifice Jesus has made is for you along with the rest of the world. All of that is what He whole-heartedly wants to say.

So, what Jesus has to say in our text is the opposite of what he really wants to say. He doesn’t want to tell anybody they’re going to die in their sin. He doesn’t want to tell people that where He’s going they can’t come. He doesn’t want it to be said of anyone that they’re of this corrupted, dying world rather than of His kingdom.

Since we know He doesn’t want to tell people they’ll die in their sins, or that where He’s going they can’t come, or that they’re of this world rather than His kingdom, one might rightfully ask, Why then? Why does He say it to people in our text? And…could there ever be a time in which He might say it to me?

We’ve already said He doesn’t want to (but that doesn’t really answer the question, does it?). That’s why it’s important that on this particular day in the Church Year, we talk about the precious nature of the Holy Scripture, of God’s Word of grace. You want to be comforted this morning. You want to know how God feels about you, what He’s done for you. There’s a way to know it.

When we’re talking about the things we get from Holy Scripture, one of the things we have to say is that we certainly get warned through the Holy Scripture. That’s one of its great purposes, and the gist of a lot of what’s said in our lessons this morning. We get warned through the Holy Scripture.

Jesus is certainly giving a warning through the parable in our Gospel lesson. Warning: You aren’t going to get the comfort you’re seeking, the assurance of God’s being graciously disposed toward you if His Word is prevented from penetrating your heart. It’s seed doesn’t penetrate the hard path, it penetrates very shallowly and briefly the rocky soil, it only temporarily penetrates the weedy/thorny soil.

If you’re to get comfort from God’s Word (which is what He wants for you to have), that Word has to find itself in a heart that receives it and rejoices in it, and treasures it. So, you’re warned through the Holy Scripture. It’s possible for the human heart to put up defenses against what God is trying to accomplish in it. To this, Jesus says, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

What He wants you to hear, He kind of makes clear from these words in our text: believe in Me. He wants you to hear the message of God’s grace (to be found in Him) and believe it. That doesn’t seem so hard, does it? I hope all of you believe in Jesus; I hope that’s why you’re here.

But when we talk about the hard path, the heart that says “a firm no” to anything other than what’s rational and reasonable—what can be seen, and demonstrated, and calculated, and verified: that’s your natural state. Your natural state is not to accept anything that must be believed. You inherited that from your first parents. They were that way after they sinned, so you’re that way according to your nature.

But that isn’t too big of a problem for God to solve. He declared the coming of a Savior right after the first sin. As for you, the Holy Spirit baptized you into that Savior’s death (or opened your heart through the preaching of the Word). Your hard-packed path turned to soil that can receive the sower’s seed, and bear fruit. You came to believe in God’s grace—believe that it is present for you in the atoning blood of the Christ.

Once again, we’re talking about the precious nature of the Holy Scripture, of God’s Word of grace. If you’re to get comfort from God’s Word (which is what He wants for you to have, and what you want to have), that Word has to find itself in a heart that receives it and rejoices in it, and treasures it. So Jesus warns,

don’t let your interaction with the Holy Scripture be shallow, casual, non-committal. And having made a firm commitment to it, don’t let other things replace it.

But you might ask,

Will God’s Word really be effective in changing even my hard heart that has many times been treacherous, that has many times deceived me, led me into sinful activity that offended God and added to my guilt and shame?

Will it be effective in answering my doubts (that finally aren’t all that different from those of the people Jesus is addressing in our text—the ones who will die in their sins, the ones who can’t come where He’s going, the ones who are of this corrupted, dying world rather than His kingdom)?

God answers it through the prophet’s words in our Old Testament lesson. He says, My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. And then He goes on to talk about His people going out in joy, being led forth in peace, flourishing eternally.

Dear sinner who has come here this morning seeking God’s grace, who has come here to confess your sins, who has come here to find comfort and joy, recognize it to be flowing out to you this morning in the preaching of the Holy Scriptures. Recognize that these Scriptures are declaring the One Who says to you, Where I am going, you can come. He says it on the basis of His having been perfect under the Law in your place, and having made payment for every one of your sins with His blood on the cross. Recognize that these Scriptures are declaring the One Who says to you that you won’t die in your sin. He says it on that basis of His having risen from death—the very evidence that God has accepted His payment for your sins. Recognize that these Scriptures are declaring the One Who says to you that you are of His kingdom. After all, He is the very one who said,  In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:2-3).

That’s what Jesus wants to say to you this morning. That’s what he’s leading you to recognize. God be praised. Amen.