Show and Tell :: John 12:21 :: Holy Cross Day

I have our word of the day taped to my lampstand right here. Κύριε, θέλομεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδεῖν. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. 

Every time I climb into the pulpit, I want this note to remind me why I became pastor: You want to see Jesus. It’s probably a primary reason you became a pastor ... why you are here today with me celebrating Holy Cross Day with all the  company of heaven. We want to see Jesus, to see what he has done for you in his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven. ... We want to see Jesus ... what he continues to do for you, through you, in you, to you. 

So we pray ... Lord, help us see Jesus Christ and him crucified ... the one who knew no sin but became sin for us so that on account of his death on the cross he could deliver us from death, redeem us, and lead us into paradise where there is no death. We long to be like Peter, who saw him, believed in him, loved him ... knowing that the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are ours on account of Jesus and him crucified. 

1. So now ... where do we see Jesus?

Well ... listen for a moment. 

Close your eyes and just listen. 

Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. He was in the form of God, though he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He made himself nothing, taking the form of a slave ... He humbled himself (Phil 2:6-7). 

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him. He had no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised. He was one from whom men hide their faces. He was crushed ... oppressed ... afflicted ... slaughtered (Isa 53:2-7).

Now ... are you ready to see Jesus? 

Open your eyes, and thank God now ...

THE HOUR HAS COME FOR YOU TO SEE JESUS, YOUR RISEN AND GLORIFIED SAVIOR, WHO HAS DELIVERED YOU FROM THE DARKNESS OF HIS HOLY CROSS.

Today is Holy Cross Day. Since the fourth century, this day ... September 14 ... has been observed in both the eastern and western churches as the day to remember the cross of Christ. Although this date is based on the unlikely claim of the discovery of that very cross of Jesus by Saint Helena in the year 320, it does give Christians another valuable occasion to remember what Christ did indeed do on the cross for our salvation. The Word of God that became flesh and dwelled among us has broken the deep darkness that descended upon all of us ... first, at the fall of creation ... then, about the sixth hour while the Son of God bore our sins on the cross. 

And now raised from the dead, Christ draws each of us to himself and the light of eternal life. 

This message is the power of God to everyone being saved. It is here ... in this truth ... where we can see our salvation. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made peace between God and us on account of his blood shed on that cross. 

2. We need to see Jesus in this way.

To fail to see Jesus on the cross is to fail to see the purpose of the incarnation.

To fail to see Jesus on the cross is to fail to see the reason for the crucifixion. 

To fail to see Jesus on the cross is to fail to see creation groaning under the weight of sin. 

To fail to see Jesus on the cross is to fail to see the wages of sin. 

To fail to see Jesus on the cross is to fail to see your sin and your savior. 

So ... sirs, show us Jesus.

Sin is literally killing us. It is killing the people you are called to serve. It is killing the communities in which you live. The world needs to see Jesus and the cross. 

As those of us using the one-year lectionary have been reminded the past couple of weeks, immorality, impurity, debauchery ... hatred, jealousy, and rage ... and all things like these are destroying us. They are destroying creation. Help them understand how these works of the flesh died on the cross with Jesus, the stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 

As the propers for Holy Cross Day show us Jesus has just entered Jerusalem to great fanfare. Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. These Greeks saw the parade with all the pomp and circumstance. They saw the palms waving. They heard the children singing ... Hosanna! ... Lord save us. ... Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel (v.14). 

Oh, what it must have been like to see Jesus that day!

Some scholars have speculated that these Greeks must have been proselytes, you know catechumens. Greeks were well-known as seekers of truth. Not much has changed today. Some theologians might say they were “God-fearers” ... that is people attracted to monotheism and morality, but repelled by nationalism. Sounds a lot like our world today, doesn’t it? 

So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, saying, Sir, we want to see Jesus. Do you think they wanted to be just like Jesus, knowing what Jesus would do, reciting the words of Jesus, speaking of love, love, love ... all we need is love? 

I pray we all see the real Jesus. 

3. As Holy Cross Day reminds us, we need to see Jesus crucified.

Jesus isn’t ONLY a good man with ONLY a good word about good living. He isn’t simply some bread king who will give everyone a ring. Jesus’ word of love is not the love our world pines for. While many think Jesus is parading into Jerusalem to set them free from a government that has all but shut down their religious activities, there’s something different about Jesus. 

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

So brothers in Christ, show them Jesus.

Our Lord has come to us for such a time as this. Our Immanuel has come to us, to be seen by us and heard by us ... to die and to rise from the dead. These words are written (and proclaimed) so that you will believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and that by believing you will have life in his name. ... How beautiful are the feet that preach this good news. He has come to be one with us in baptism, in absolution, and in the Lord’s Supper ... He has come to call us out of the darkness of death into the eternal light of life in Christ. 

4. And in this light we get to show Jesus in his mysterious means of grace. 

The one who wishes to see Jesus cannot fail to see him this way. 

In baptism we see the cross of Christ. As Paul tells us we were buried with Christ through baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead we too might walk in the newness of life. 

In absolution, we see the cross of Christ, for that is where Jesus took our sins. That is where our sins died with Jesus. That was where God poured out his wrath upon our sins so that our sin will never be heard from again. 

In the Lord’s Supper, we see the cross of Christ. For as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Come Lord Jesus, come. 

On account of what Christ did for us on the cross, we can now join the saints in declaring O Death where is your victory? O Death where is your sting.  ... though we have not seen him, we love him, and even though we do not see him now, we believe in him, and are filled with a glorious and inexpressible joy as we await the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls. 

Yes, Thanks be to God, we can see Jesus, on the cross, in the resurrection, through the word and sacraments. And He is coming again so that you can see Jesus always in paradise.