The Lutheran Hour
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"Comfort-ability"
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Text: John 21:3
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The angel tells of the risen Lord who comes bringing salvation to sinful humanity. By the Holy Spirit’s power may you be given faith in God’s gracious and good intentions which bestow eternal life. Amen.
The resurrection of the Redeemer. It has been a number of weeks since the world celebrated Easter. By now the ears have been chomped off the chocolate bunnies and the brightly colored eggs have been eaten, I hope. I say that because eating Easter eggs can be a problem. When I was young the entire family used to go to Grandma Reinhardt’s house for an Easter egg hunt. Grandma had a great basement with enough nooks and crannies to make the search interesting.
I don’t know how many eggs were hidden; somewhere around four dozen if my memory serves me correctly. As the eggs were found, they were put into the open cartons sitting on the table. It was downright “egg-citing” as we watched the filling of the first carton, and then the second, the third, and finally the fourth. The hunt went on until all the cartons were full. The routine never varied; except for one year. That was the one year when we didn’t find 48 eggs. We found 49. Forty-nine eggs… that wasn’t right. Somehow, we had come up with an “egg-stra” egg. How this could be was a great mystery until somebody remembered, the year before we had never located the last egg. As we looked at those four filled cartons plus one “egg-stra,” we realized one of those eggs, and none of us knew which one, was the unfound egg from the year before. As I remember, we threw all the eggs away and got on with the rest of the feasting and family festivities.Which is pretty much what a lot of people have done with the Savior’s resurrection. Today, with Easter 2007 quickly fading from memory, a great many people consider Christ’s conquest of death to have the same value as my family’s unwanted and unneeded Easter egg. They think Jesus’ third-day victory over the grave is just about as real as the fake green grass which lines the children’s Easter baskets. They believe a relationship with the living Lord is just as likely as having an in-depth conversation with Peter Cottontail. Which is why, when those people stick their Easter baskets in the back of the basement, or in the rafters of the garage, or in a corner of the attic, they put Jesus away, as well.
If that describes what you’ve done with the Lord, I’d like you to know you’re not the first. Long ago, Jesus’ disciples did the same thing… they put Jesus away. For three years they had followed their Rabbi. For three years they had listened to Jesus tell stories about things everyone could understand. He had spoken about a lost sheep, a marriage feast, a good Samaritan, a disobedient son. And when Jesus was finished speaking, most of His listeners knew that never again would they hear of a wandering lamb or a marriage festival without knowing that Jesus, with Divine authority, had given them a glimpse into the great grace of God’s love.
For three years the disciples had walked with their Lord. In their wanderings they had seen Him visit with many people – people whom others considered to be unclean, unacceptable, and undesirable. As the disciples thought back, they could not remember a single one of those individuals who had not been left a better person, a more complete and at peace person, for having come near to the Savior. The leper had been cleansed and sent home to his family; the adulteress had been forgiven and given back her life; the lame man found he could walk; and the blind man could see the world, and the face of his Savior.
For three years the disciples had traveled with their Master. During those perfect years they had seen Him provide wine for a wedding, food for a hungry crowd, peace for frightened fishermen caught in a storm, blessings upon little children, a resurrected son for a mourning widow. They had seen Jesus set right the injustices and inequities of life, and watched as He deflated those who were puffed up with their own importance. These things they had seen, along with so much more. In spite of Jesus’ absolute love and limitless grace, they had seen how He had been hated and hounded; how He had been betrayed and beaten; how He had been falsely accused, convicted, and crucified. Frightened for their own safety, they had deserted Him and taken refuge in a locked room. Only one of their number had been there to see how Jesus died; how He died with words of forgiveness on His lips.
Jesus’ death should have been the end of this wonderful relationship. It should have been, but it wasn’t. Years later, when the Gospels were written, the disciples shared, very honestly, how the resurrected Savior had come to the locked room where they were hiding. They talk of how a risen Christ, a living, breathing, talking Christ had opened their hearts which had been shut tight with thoughts of doubt and denial. On that resurrection night Jesus had come to them and given them a peace which the world could never have imagined. Jesus had come to them and showed that death and devil had been defeated. Jesus had come and eaten with them, and extended His nail-pierced hands to be touched by them. The servants of the Savior spoke of how Jesus had come to them again and again, until they no longer could doubt or deny the greatest, the most blessed truth this world has ever heard. Jesus Christ had successfully paid the punishment price humanity’s sins had deserved, and with His work completed, had risen from the dead.
And what did the disciples do with this world-changing, salvation-giving good news of great joy? Did these eleven disciples take out an ad in the Jerusalem Herald; did they plaster placards all over Jerusalem; did they rent billboards along every major Roman road; did they spray paint the news on the sides of buses and railroad cars; did they call the major wire services; did they demand the opportunity to tell their story on Larry King or Oprah? What did they do? In the twenty-first chapter of his Gospel, the beloved Apostle John tells us exactly what those disciples did. I quote: “Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.'”
And that’s what they did. The disciples went fishing. Entrusted with the resurrection news which could save the world, the disciples went back to their boats; back to what they knew; back to what was safe and secure; back to what was comfortable and calming. “I’m going fishing,” Peter said; and the other disciples said, “Peter, sounds like a good idea to us. We’ve got nothing better to do. Mind if we join you?” Now I don’t have the ability to look into the hearts of those disciples; I don’t know why they came up with this astonishingly anticlimactic response to the resurrection revelation, but they did.
Maybe the disciples felt they had to earn a living since the gifts which supported Jesus’ ministry had probably dried up after His death. Maybe the disciples decided to do something constructive as they passed the time awaiting Jesus’ further instructions concerning the future. Maybe, just maybe, the disciples were a little bit afraid of what might happen next. Whatever was their motivation, at least for a while, they lived their lives almost as if the resurrection had never happened. Why? Over the centuries Bible scholars have suggested a great many reasons as to why the disciples went fishing. Me? I like to sum up most of those explanations with the contemporary cliché: the disciples went back to their happy place – the place where they were in charge and in control, the place where they could be alone with their thoughts.
And what did the disciples think about as they cast their nets that night when they went fishing? Did they think about how, years before on that same lake, Jesus had granted them a miraculous catch of fish and had called them away from their boats and to discipleship? Did they recall the great crowds which had followed Jesus along the shores of the Sea of Galilee? Scripture gives no explanation as to what the disciples thought. It does let us know that the disciples’ happy place wasn’t all that happy. Early one morning, as they were returning from a night of unsuccessful fishing, an as-of-yet unrecognized Jesus called to them from the shore. A paraphrase of His words would be, “Hey, you guys, did you catch anything?” From the boat Jesus received a one-word answer: “No.” So much for going back to the safety and security of their happy place. That’s when the stranger on the shore told the disciples, if they wanted to bring in a haul, they ought to drop their nets on the other side of the boat.
When the disciples did as the stranger suggested, they were rewarded with a gigantic, net-breaking haul. It was déjà vu all over again. The disciples remembered how much the same thing had happened to them years before. They figured out the fellow on the shore, their advice-giver, was none other than the resurrected Jesus. After breakfast, which the Savior provided, Jesus managed to get through to them that they really were to leave their nets and their boats and go out fishing for the souls of lost sinners. Jesus let them know that they shouldn’t try to forget about Him or ignore the price He had paid to have their sins forgiven, the ransom which changed their eternal destiny. Eventually, and by the Holy Spirit’s power, the disciples understood: you can’t put Jesus away, or His resurrection. Well, at least you shouldn’t.
Why? Because knowing the resurrected Christ as your Savior is the difference between life and death. Many of you remember when the oil tanker, Exxon Valdez, struck a reef and spilled somewhere between 11 and 30 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Recognizing the ecological disaster which was guaranteed to kill unknown hundreds of thousands of animals; good people, kind people, humanitarian people organized to save the condemned wildlife. Armed with ropes, snares, nets, and cages, they waded and walked, paddled and motor-boated to rescue those animals who were absolutely helpless to save themselves from their oily tragedy. It was a beautiful and sacrificial thing the rescuers attempted to do.
Can I tell you what happened? The animals were uncooperative. While they were, without aid, doomed to die, the oil-covered beasties did all they could to escape the hands which reached out to save them. Some of the smarter and more powerful of the animals managed to elude their would-be rescuers and worked their way further and further out into the crude oil covered sea, further and further from salvation, swimming until they could swim no further, swimming until they drowned and died. Some of the animals who were captured kept on fighting until they managed to break free and return to the black water of death. There were a great many other animals who, having been brought into the emergency station, found it impossible to entrust themselves and their futures into the compassionate hands of those who wished only to help. They would not stop their struggling, they continued to fight until they were exhausted; some continued to fight until their worn-out bodies went into shock; until, victims of fear and fatigue, they died.
And what did the loving redeemers receive for their work; for their sacrifice; for their love; for their willingness to care? What reward did these compassionate people get as payment for dedicating themselves to saving these lost and condemned creatures? What return did they obtain for their commitment of energy and time? Ask someone who was there during those days. Most will show you some scars and tell of how they suffered bites and bruises, scratches and claw marks. They will, with great sadness, speak of uncooperative animals who could never understand that they were in the hands of the only persons who could wash them of the deadly blackness which covered them; the blackness which would eventually kill them.
That pathetic picture I’ve painted of the Alaskan animals of Prince William Sound is not so very different from the pitiful sight of the multitudes who do their best to forget about the risen Redeemer; who struggle against the Savior; who think they are better off without Him; who imagine they can save themselves; who think they can create their own happy place; who in one way or another have ignored the transforming power of the Savior’s resurrection victory and said, “I’m going fishing.” In truth, the great oil spill which took place in the Alaskan wilderness was small potatoes compared to the destructiveness of sin which has spilled out of the Garden of Eden onto all of God’s creation. When Adam and Eve disregarded God’s command, the blackness of their transgression polluted all which the Lord had created pristine and perfect; it befouled every creature; it condemned every soul to death.
Knowing that our struggles would be ineffective in saving our souls from the damnable effects of our many transgressions, the Lord’s divine heart was filled with pity. It was this pity, coupled with God’s great grace, which saw the Lord initiate a mission of divine rescue. This rescue mission called for no army of volunteers; only one person, God’s Son, was necessary, would be able to complete the work which would save doomed souls. To complete the heavenly Father’s directive to save us, Jesus was equipped with neither boat nor net, cage or rope. The only thing He needed to bring about our redemption was a total willingness to become one of us; an unflagging commitment to live for us, suffer for us, carry our sins and die for us. To that end, to finish the Father’s mission which had been entrusted only to Him, Jesus lived His entire life.
With a single-minded purpose that could only be birthed in the heart of a great God, Jesus entered this world as a baby and offered His life for us in a sacrificial act which was not, is not appreciated. Just as Alaska’s dying beasts fought their rescuers, people fought against Jesus. When He spoke words of love, they replied with shouts of hatred and calls for His crucifixion. When Jesus spoke God’s saving words of truth; they responded to His honesty with terrible lies. When He healed those whose souls had been polluted by sin; they condemned Him for His compassion. When His love raised people from the dead, they responded by demanding He be crucified (see John 12:10-11).
Jesus’ contemporaries used every method at their disposal to escape Him, avoid Him, flee from Him. Like wild animals they screamed at Him, lashed out at Him, tried to maim and kill Him. But Jesus was not deterred by humanity’s fears and refusal to accept or follow Him. If we were to be washed of our sin, if we were to be saved, it was necessary for Him to complete His divine rescue mission. To seek and save the lost, to bring life to those who were destined only for death; those were the reasons that He had been born into this world. His was a dirty job, a filthy job, an unappreciated job, but it was the job the Father had given Him and Jesus obeyed the Father’s will.
Jesus obeyed when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness; Jesus obeyed when crowds stopped following Him; when His hometown rejected Him; when His family thought Him unbalanced. Jesus obeyed when our sins were laid upon Him and when lies were told about Him. Jesus obeyed when those He had come to save demanded His crucifixion; He obeyed as great nails were hammered into His hands and feet. He obeyed, and on Calvary’s cross His humiliating work for humanity was completed. Now, because Jesus has obeyed, the Holy Spirit says all who believe on the risen Christ will not perish, but instead will be given everlasting life. Those who have Jesus as Savior will never again be blackened by sin; never again condemned to die; never again be destined for hell. The risen Christ has completed His mission and rescued all who are brought to repentance, forgiveness, and faith in Him.
This is the joy which belongs to Christians. But I want to ask, is it your joy? Is Jesus your Savior, or are you still trying to make your own happy space? Are you still trying to ignore the Christ’s resurrection by hanging out a sign which says, “gone fishing”? Are you afraid to be put in the Savior’s nail-pierced hands? My friends, did you ever pick up a baby bird who had fallen from its nest? Do you remember how it struggled against you as you tried to put it back? Do you remember the fast and furious beating of that terrified little heart? Let me ask, how did you feel about that helpless bird? Was there sadness that that bird could not understand your kindly intentions? Of course there was.
It is the same way the Savior feels about all of us. On our own we are helpless. In our helplessness Jesus reaches down and with nail-marked hands picks us up to rescue us, to help us. Today the Holy Spirit says, “Do not struggle. Your Savior will not hurt you; He wants only to save. Trust Him, believe in Him.” And to that we add, if you need some help, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR: 74-32
AIRS: April 22, 2007
TOPIC: Jesus A Liar?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to a listener’s e-mail question. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hello, Mark. And hello, listeners.ANNOUNCER: Today we have a question concerning the resurrection of the dead. It’s prompted by the events as recorded in Matthew 9:18-25. This is the story of the ruler’s daughter who died. The story is also recounted in Luke, chapter 8 (verses 41-56). The listener wants to know: Why did Jesus say the man’s daughter wasn’t dead, but only sleeping? One might conclude from that either Jesus was lying, or else He didn’t really perform a miracle if she was only sleeping.
KLAUS: I’ve got to tell you, Mark, that sounds kind of really nit-picky critical to me.
ANNOUNCER: But it is a legitimate question. It calls in to question as to whether miracles really occur.
KLAUS: Well, you know, we could dismiss the whole thing and say that since Jesus was God’s Son, is God’s Son, it was impossible for Him to lie.
ANNOUNCER: Well, of course you certainly could do that, and you’d be right in saying it… but many people, I’m afraid, would say that that’s just avoiding the question.
KLAUS: Yes it would. Let’s find an answer. First, we need to ask: was the ruler’s daughter dead?
ANNOUNCER: The Bible says she was.
KLAUS: I agree. Her heart had stopped beating, her ears weren’t hearing; her eyes weren’t seeing. If they had had the electronics, they could have said, by every measurement she is dead. So, let me ask a question of you, Mark. Was she dead for Jesus?
ANNOUNCER: I think I understand what you are trying to get at here.
KLAUS: Well, I’m glad you do. Let me ask you again: When Jesus looked at this girl, was she dead?
ANNOUNCER: Well, if Jesus looked at her only from a human standpoint, she was. He would have seen her the same way we do. From a human standpoint, He would have declared her dead.
KLAUS: I agree. Now the next question… Was Jesus only a man?
ANNOUNCER: No, we confess that Jesus was both true man and true God.
KLAUS: So Jesus would have looked upon her as a man and said this girl is dead. But He would have also seen her from His perspective as the Son of God.
ANNOUNCER: That’s also true.
KLAUS: I agree. Jesus is the Word of God in human form. In fact, the Apostle John said it was through Jesus that all of creation was made. Although the girl’s physical body had ceased to live, Jesus knew, as the Son of God, that her soul was continuing on. In other words…
ANNOUNCER: In other words she was only sleeping.
KLAUS: Yes. Jesus knew that her soul lived on. She hadn’t just disappeared into some dark void, her life force dissipated into nothingness. Jesus knew that this girl was going to awake.
ANNOUNCER: Just as Christians know that all who are dead will someday be awakened. And that on Judgment Day the souls of believers will be reunited with glorified bodies for the everlasting praise of God; but unbelievers will be reunited with their bodies for an eternity of torment and eternal separation from God.
KLAUS: Now, that day Jesus said that the young girl was only sleeping. And then He did something to show that she was. While everyone else had stood helpless before death, Jesus showed that He was Master over life and death.
ANNOUNCER: By raising her from the dead.
KLAUS: Or, He awakened her from sleep.
ANNOUNCER: Now, the people who were there that day, what did they think when Jesus said she’s only sleeping?
KLAUS: Well, probably about the same thing we would if we knew somebody was dead and somebody made the same kind of comment. They thought Jesus had made a rather inappropriate and tasteless comment. To them, she was dead. But to Jesus, she was only asleep.
ANNOUNCER: And Jesus showed that He was right.
KLAUS: He did. Even as the day will come when He will show to everyone in this world that He is right.
ANNOUNCER: So Jesus told the truth when He said the girl was only sleeping?
KLAUS: He did. And He also performed a miracle.
ANNOUNCER: Which answers our listener’s question.
KLAUS: An answer that I pray the questioner believes. You see, his eternity depends upon Jesus telling the truth. We are saved because Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, and thereby conquered death for all of humanity. If Jesus is telling the truth, then He, and He alone, brings salvation to sinful souls and bodies.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia” by Bernard Kyamanywa, tr. Howard S. Olson. From Hymns for All Saints (© 2006 Concordia Publishing House) Concordia/SESAC
“Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia” by James Kosnik. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“With High Delight” arr. Walter Pelz. From Joy Is Sounding (© 2001 Association of Lutheran Church Musicians) Melody © Novello & Co. Ltd; setting © Concordia Publishing House