The Lutheran Hour

"This Was the Son of God"

#78-12
Presented on The Lutheran Hour on November 28, 2010
Guest Speaker: Dr. Wallace Schulz
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries

Text: Matthew 27:45-46

Beginning in July we are rebroadcasting historic sermons from previous Speakers of The Lutheran Hour on the last Sunday of each month for the rest of 2010. These messages are being aired to honor the 80-year tradition of The Lutheran Hour and in anticipation of the new Speaker’s arrival.

This month the sermon will be given by the Dr. Wallace Schulz.

When Jesus died on the cross, this was the most crucial happening in all of history. And in the same afternoon, yes, even during the very hour of Christ’s death, several other bizarre events also took place. In the Word of God, we read that tombs or graves in the local cemetery were opened. People who had died and had been buried years before, were now raised from the dead and after Jesus’ resurrection, they came out of the tombs; they walked out of the cemetery; and they walked into the city of Jerusalem and appeared to many different people.

Now, let me ask you today: “Would that surprise you to see some of your long-dead relatives, getting up out of the grave and walking around in your town?” Such an event would be enough to shake up the hearts of even the most committed atheist.

Indeed, the unusual events of dead people walking around, even in Jesus’ day, were sensational, to say the least. But, God did not permit this to happen simply to dazzle the pseudo-faith of make-believers or to create local religious talk and useless gossip. These bizarre events were after-shocks of the one main explosion. That explosion was the death of Jesus Christ on the cruel cross. The death of Jesus, the crucifixion of God’s innocent Son, burst the grip of sin and death. The Savior’s bloody death defeated the power of the devil.

And so, does any of this have meaning for us today? Absolutely! In those terrible hours when you say to yourself, “I just can’t help myself,” then this message of the cross is for you. It is for that time when the temptations for you are so strong that you cannot resist them on your own power. And when in helplessness you say, “I always seem to commit the same sin over and over again,” then, my friend, this is where the meaning and the power of the devil-defeating cross of Christ, comes in your life for you. When the devil has a ring through your nose, and when he is leading you around, then God is inviting you to appeal with confidence, to His throne of grace. With a repentant heart and with sincere faith in God’s devil-defeating power demonstrated on the cross of Calvary, believe that God will help you. Cry out in prayer and say, “O God, help me, in Jesus’ intercessory Name, for I cannot help myself.”

You can make this plea with absolute confidence that you will be heard and you will be helped. For when you appeal to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, you are not seeking a television advertised product previously tested in some factory.

In this divine appeal, you are asking God to provide help on the basis of His most convincing guarantee. God’s reliable and totally trustworthy guarantee for all our needs is wrapped up in the death of Jesus and in His victorious resurrection. No wonder, then, that St. Paul was able to burst forth, in confidence and joy, to say that just as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, so also shall all His followers walk forevermore in a new life.

Is this type of preaching relevant then today? It most certainly is! Pick up any major newspaper. Regularly, the journalists and writers discuss the fact that the number of retired and aging people is going to increase dramatically in the coming decades. There are now 28 million Americans 65 years of age or older. And shortly after the turn of the century, which is almost here, over 5 million people, imagine this-over 5 million people-will be in nursing homes. This is in the United States; the same situation is true in Canada.

Not long ago, I received in the mail a brochure that was titled: “Thirteen Ways to Get More Out of Life”. It was prepared for the retired and the aging. It was exciting to see the many opportunities now available to those in their sunset years of their lives. But I was, also, greatly saddened by the lack of one item in the colorful brochure.

What about the soul? The brochure contained not one word about what happens when this life is over. Even though we all know that there is a time when this existence is finished, are we so arrogant and are we so stubborn that we are going to continue and refuse to discuss that hope which God has made available for our soul? What a terrible tragedy!

And so, as you are listening today, wondering whether there is anything after this life is finished, you can stop all your worrying. Jesus said: “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, (and) believe also in Me. In My Father’s house,” Jesus said, “are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go,” Jesus said, “to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,” Jesus said, “and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Now, I can well imagine, that some of you listening today might be saying to yourself: “Now that’s an excellent sermon for the old folks; it ought to give them a lot of hope.” If this is what you are thinking, perhaps you have never heard that physiologists report that some parts of our bodies begin to break down at a very early age. If you are a teenager listening to this broadcast, you may be interested to know that your best hearing, yes, your ears function their best when you are 16 years of age and after that you start going downhill. And so, when Jesus was talking about the hope after this life, He was not just talking about the old folks. Jesus was announcing His Gospel-His message of hope-to all of us, including every age group. St. Paul also reminds us of this in his letter to the church of Corinth, when he says, “outwardly our flesh is breaking down and decaying every day.” The wrinkles we see in the mirror in the morning are evidence of this. “But,” St. Paul continues by saying, “inwardly, by the transforming and life-giving power of God, (yes, by the cross of Jesus Christ) we are being renewed.”

Let us then, also, set forth the next question. Is the fear of aging then limited to the poor and the middle class? By no means.

Indeed, celebrities sense the ghosts of aging approaching them rapidly from behind and erasing forever their beauty-often the one thing which has made them famous. Successful businessmen and women try not to think of that day when they will have to give up their chair of power and their office of prestige. Athletes realize that they had better cash in now on the lucrativeness of commercialized sports while they have time, because, next year, they may have to retire and give up that element which has made them famous and rich.

With these phantoms of fear stirring in our society and with the fear of growing old lurking in every suburb and county, and with our concentration selfishly focused on what we can get out of this life, it is, indeed, a breath of fresh air to learn from the Bible of that event in history which promises you and me, with absolute certainty, that there can be something after the retirement home and after the cold grave. For all those who trust in the atoning merits of the blessed Savior, there beats in their redeemed breast, a heart which sees the next life as the most exciting and as the most important. Yes, my friend, heaven is available for you. It is much greater than anything you have ever experienced here on this earth. And, your entrance into that glorious place does not depend on what you have done or what you have not done. Instead, your heavenly hope depends entirely, yes, 100 percent, on what Jesus Christ did when He died on the cross and rose again from the dead on Easter morning. Our hope depends, from beginning to end, on Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

Why then did God send His only Son, who was totally innocent, to be nailed on the cross? Very simple! God did this because He loves you. You see, my friend, God knows the very depths of your heart. God is aware of your many mistakes that you have made in the past, and, in spite of all this, God still loves you. Yes, in spite of all the mistakes that you have ever made in your whole life, God still cares about you very much.

When Jesus died, creation experienced a gigantic cataclysmic upheaval: huge rocks split open; darkness covered the earth; and the dead came out of the graves. But let’s not let these most unusual events cloud over the significance of the real salvation event. St. Matthew also reports that the large curtain of the temple in Jerusalem, which separated the people from the presence of God, was now torn wide open.

This is what the death of Jesus Christ has done for you, my friend: you are no longer separated from God by religious laws and rules. The barriers have been removed. You now need no earthly high-priest to plead your case. You now need no earthly intermediary to plead your cause. Now you can go with your prayers directly to heaven! For in heaven you have a perfect high-priest in Jesus Christ, the righteous One.

For this reason then, my friend, the writer of the book of Hebrews says, “We have a high¬priest who has passed through the heavens, (He is) Jesus Christ the Son of God.” “Let us, therefore,” the writer in the book of Hebrews pleads, “draw near with absolute confidence to the throne of grace, that you may receive mercy and find grace to help in your hour of need.”

Oh, my friend, let your hours of worry be over. Before today you may have faced the world and your worries alone. But from now on, from this hour on, you have Someone with you. You now have Someone at your bedside during the darkest hours of the night.
This Person is Jesus Christ. He was crucified for your sins and raised again for your salvation. He understands every frustration and worry that you have. Believe in Jesus and trust completely in your blessed Savior.

Your Savior, through His death on Calvary, has unlocked the gates of heaven for you. Jesus fulfilled all the religious rules where you have failed and Jesus has succeeded in all these things. And now, through faith, the Savior’s perfect life replaces your sins and your mistakes. You give Jesus your sins and mistakes and you will receive from Jesus, by faith, His sin-cleansing and soul-saving perfect righteousness.

Oh yes, my friend, unusual and sensational events took place the hour that Jesus Christ died on the cross. And yet, the most important event was the Savior’s death, itself. In His death, all of His followers die; and in His glorious Easter resurrection, all of His followers are given a new life, a new start, a new hope, and a guarantee of heaven. My friend, believe in Jesus Christ and trust in Him. For when you do, you will receive power and faith, hope and the divine assurance needed for real living, both here in this life and forevermore. Amen.

LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers)
November 28, 2010
Topic: But I Keep Sinning

Announcer: And we’re back with Pastor Ken Klaus, responding here to questions from listeners on this the first Sunday in Advent. I’m Mark Eischer.

Klaus: Hi, Mark. Hey, if you don’t mind me turning the tables a bit, can you give us a brief explanation of what Advent is or what it’s supposed to be?

Announcer: Well, Advent marks the beginning of the church year. The first part of the year tells the story of Jesus from His birth through His ascension and then the second part of the church year tells the story of the Holy Spirit’s work in the Church. Advent is a season of preparation, a time of getting ready not only to celebrate the Savior’s birth at Christmas but it also looks forward to the end of time when He returns again in glory.
Klaus: So, when the stores start playing, “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” they really are celebrating Advent?

Announcer: You know, I’m pretty sure that songs of that type don’t really fit this Christian concept of Advent.

Klaus: OK, so what is Advent all about?

Announcer: Traditionally, Advent is a time of repentance.

Klaus: That doesn’t sound all that festive.

Announcer: Probably not. But the point is: Jesus was born into our world not to be a sightseer, to take in the sights, but He came here specifically to save us from our sins.

Klaus: God’s Son, taking our place … living under the law … resisting temptation … carrying our sins … eventually all of that ended up with Him dying on the cross and on the third day rising again.

Announcer: And the reason He did all that is because our sins had first condemned us.

Klaus: So Jesus is coming because of what we have done wrong. His life, His death, His resurrection means salvation for us, but it means He has to die.

Announcer: Right, And if I could use this as an example: heart transplants … think of heart transplants that have saved the lives of many people; and the recipients are thankful to have received that gift. But in order for that to happen, someone else had to die.

Klaus: For us to be saved, Jesus had to die?

Announcer: Right. We give thanks for our salvation, but we are always reminded that that salvation came at a great cost to our Savior.

Klaus: And I thank you for that, which eats up a little bit of our time today. So, I assume we have a short question?

Announcer: Actually, we do. A listener writes, “I’m a Christian and I daily confess my sins and on Sundays I do so in corporate worship. I understand God forgives our sins when we repent, but what about those sins that fall through the cracks? What about the sins I keep on doing… even sometimes unconsciously? I get a sick feeling in my stomach to think heaven will be out of reach for me because I’ve done something and God will say, ‘You didn’t repent of this.’

Klaus: OK. First, let’s go back to Scripture. Let’s remember St. Paul who talked about doing sins he didn’t want to do. We all deal with real temptations. When the devil knows our spiritual Achilles’ heel, our weak spot, that’s where he is going to lay his minefields of temptation. It’s not surprising that we would repeat a sin. It’s not good, but it’s not surprising.

Announcer: Is it necessary to repent of every sin? What about those of which we are unaware?

Klaus: To answer that question, gotta go to 1 John 1. There it says this, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” Well, that’s not the problem for this lady. Then John goes on: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us.” She says she confesses those sins of which she is aware. So, that’s not the problem. Then comes the next line. “If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar and His Word is not in us.” That last line, that’s the important one.

Announcer: Why is that?

Klaus: Mark, we put ourselves in an incredibly dangerous situation when we pretend we haven’t sinned, or we start to lie about our sins.

Announcer; How would you sum this up for us today?

Klaus: God is looking for a repentant heart, a repentant spirit. But He’s not looking for a complete and total inventory of every single one of our sins. We’re sinners. We sin in thought, word, and deed. It’s our nature. But, those who have been touched by the Savior are given that repentant attitude which says, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner”,
and know that God-in Christ–is merciful.

Announcer: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Music selection for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC

“O Bride of Christ, Rejoice” arr, Henry Gerike, Used by permission,

“Lift Up Your Heads, You Mighty Gates” by Georg Weissel & August Lemke, From A Light in the Darkness by Brooke Orozco & Brendan Knorp (© C, Brooke Orozco & Brendan Knorp)

“Savior of the Nations, Come” arr, Henry Gerike, From Gentle Stranger by the Concordia Seminary Chorus (© 2004 Concordia Seminary Chorus)

“Lift Up Your Heads, You Mighty Gates” arr, John Behnke, From For All Seasons, vol. 3 by John Behnke (© 2004 John Behnke) Concordia Publishing House

“The Advent of Our King” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)