3rd Sunday of Easter
Text: John 21:1-19
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne (that is the Holy Spirit), and from Jesus Christ…the first born from the dead (Rev. 1:4). Dear Hearers of the Word:
IT IS THE LORD! He is the one who died and behold is alive forevermore! He is the living one! He is the one the disciples saw on the shore of the lake. He reinstated Peter with the words, “Feed my sheep”. IT IS THE LORD! St. Paul was struck down by Him on the road to Damascus and raised to new life in holy baptism. St. John saw Him in the revelation received on the Island of Patmos…Weep no more; he was told, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, who are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Dear Christians, IT IS THE LORD! The risen Christ is alive and well! His resurrection has changed all things! In the book of Revelation, the entirety of His person and work is flashed before our eyes. The slaughtered but now standing lamb (that is, the true man sacrificed for the sins of the world) with seven horns and seven eyes (that is, this man is true God who is all powerful and all knowing) can open the scroll (that is He controls the future). IT IS THE LORD! His resurrection has changed all things! His resurrection makes our lives new and full of hope!
Then why does everything still seem the same? Why are thousands starving in Africa? Why for some fifteen years have terrorists been attacking our country? Why are the lives of millions of babies snuffed out in the womb? Why is our culture decaying? Why are 32 students killed by one man on a college campus? If the resurrection of Jesus changes all things, then why is everything still the same?
Why do disappointment and depression and despair and death and destruction continue on and on? Why is it that we all know that more bad news will come and that more senseless tragedies will happen? Why is it that we sometimes grow numb with our own struggles in daily life?
Perhaps the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus really hasn’t changed anything. Take the disciples on the lake. Why are they still fishing for fish? Why have they gone back to their former vocation as if nothing has really changed? They had seen the risen Christ. He had absolved them saying “Peace be with you”. He had commissioned them as His apostles’ to forgive sins. Why were they out all night on the lake doing the same thing they had done all their lives?
We could ask the same of ourselves? Why do we sometimes go about our vocations without the conviction that everything has changed due to Christ’s resurrection? Why do we so readily see the tragedies and disasters of life as evidence that no one is in charge? The One who is in charge tells us that tragedies and tribulation will continue to come and calls us to repentance. But the questions still come. And we are still tempted to blame Him or deny He exists.
Why does the human heart imagine that we are alone and that what we see is all there is? Or conversely, why does the human heart so easily invent spiritual refuge in nature or space or in itself? The vision of John can help us see what the world and what our Old Adam cannot see.
The throne room scene from the fourth and fifth chapters is decisive in understanding everything else in the book of Revelation. Some things are not as clear amid the symbols of this book. But this is crystal clear - God and the Lamb are reigning in victory! Here God reveals to you what your five senses do not reveal to you! The victory is won! It is finished! The result of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection is cosmic. The Lamb is worshipped as the one enthroned God. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.
IT IS THE LORD! It is the Lord born of Mary, the Lord who hung naked on Calvary’s cross, blood oozing from His wounds and finally pouring from His pierced side, the Lord whose dead body was wrapped in linen and placed in the tomb. Yet, this is now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
The risen Christ is alive and well! IT IS THE LORD who called from shore just as day was breaking, “Children, do you have any fish?” IT IS THE LORD who shortly thereafter asked Peter “Do you love me?” and set Him on a new path. It is a path of depending not on Peter’s commitment but on Christ’s knowledge – “Lord you know all things”. IT IS THE LORD who struck down a persecuting Saul and sent forth a proclaiming Paul. And listen carefully to what He told them!
On this side of His open tomb, Jesus did not pretend that there would now be heaven on earth. On this side of His open tomb the exalted Christ was forthright in acknowledging some depressing realities. To Peter, whom He had just given the teaching office in His Church, Jesus said, “when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” In the early church, “stretching forth of hands” expressed death by crucifixion. When the Lord sent Ananias to Paul he said, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles…For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Even for the Lord’s chosen servants, even for those whom He sent out in His name, life in this dying world would not reflect the hidden reality that the Lamb has begun His reign. What would reflect His victory is the word of peace and absolution that they spoke in His name even as they suffered and died.
Fellow-Redeemed, IT IS THE LORD who speaks that same word to you today! The risen Christ is alive and well and so are you – even when death comes. He has given you new birth to a living hope through His resurrection from the dead. He has washed away your sins. Your new status does not depend upon your feelings but upon His blood. That’s the new song that all heaven joins in singing. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God…”
The victory of the risen Christ comes to you in this life by means of His blood. In Revelation, John wrote of Jesus, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood (Rev. 1:5). He described those coming out of the great tribulation …They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). He said of those who conquer the accuser, they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev. 12:11). His blood is the ground of all our hope. His blood sets us free to be people of God. All the challenges that sin poses in this troubled world must be seen in the light of the eternal victory of the Lamb who was slain. And there is more!
IT IS THE LORD who was persecuted when Saul was persecuting His church. Remember the risen Lord’s question, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” What intimate connection there is between the reigning, exalted Lamb and you! For you are also now His body, His beloved bride, His holy church. He has united Himself with you so intimately that what happens to you happens to Him. His intervention in your life is no less miraculous that it was in the life of Peter and Paul. He has not called you to the apostolic office, but He has redirected your life. He has made you a new creation. You have put on Christ (Gal 3:27). United with Him your future is full of life and purpose. He continues to say also to you “follow me”.
His presence in your life does not mean that troubles will disappear. Sometimes just the opposite! But it does mean that in the midst of troubles, the Lamb is in control. He loves you. He brings an end to the weeping (the hopelessness) of the world. He is worthy to open the scroll and even now is working for the good of His Church and for the salvation of all men.
The tragedy that struck in Virginia can pull one’s insides out and leave one feeling helpless. It is so senseless and evil. How? Why? What should have been done? What can be done now? When such tragedy strikes blame and hope are sure to be found. The blame and hope of which we hear, however, is generally limited by the five senses.
The risen Lord stands in your midst each week to reveal what the world by nature and what we by nature do not see or sense. The blame for all death is sin. The hope we sinners have in the face of death is the blood of the Lamb. For those students and faculty who died in Him on Monday, it was not a day of tragedy but a day of triumph. In an instant the cares of this life were exchanged for the eternal joys of the presence of the exalted Christ. He is our life and our hope!
Just as surely as He stood on the shore of the lake in our Gospel, so he stands on the shore of this earth in your midst this morning. IT IS THE LORD! The risen Christ is alive and well! He knows all things! He knows that you love Him! “Even though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him…and you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (I Peter 1:8, 9). As He prepared a meal on the shore of the lake so He has prepared an eternal feast on heaven’s shore. Even now He gives you a foretaste and says, “come and eat”. And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne (that is the Holy Spirit), and from Jesus Christ…the first born from the dead (Rev. 1:4). Dear Hearers of the Word:
IT IS THE LORD! He is the one who died and behold is alive forevermore! He is the living one! He is the one the disciples saw on the shore of the lake. He reinstated Peter with the words, “Feed my sheep”. IT IS THE LORD! St. Paul was struck down by Him on the road to Damascus and raised to new life in holy baptism. St. John saw Him in the revelation received on the Island of Patmos…Weep no more; he was told, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, who are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Dear Christians, IT IS THE LORD! The risen Christ is alive and well! His resurrection has changed all things! In the book of Revelation, the entirety of His person and work is flashed before our eyes. The slaughtered but now standing lamb (that is, the true man sacrificed for the sins of the world) with seven horns and seven eyes (that is, this man is true God who is all powerful and all knowing) can open the scroll (that is He controls the future). IT IS THE LORD! His resurrection has changed all things! His resurrection makes our lives new and full of hope!
Then why does everything still seem the same? Why are thousands starving in Africa? Why for some fifteen years have terrorists been attacking our country? Why are the lives of millions of babies snuffed out in the womb? Why is our culture decaying? Why are 32 students killed by one man on a college campus? If the resurrection of Jesus changes all things, then why is everything still the same?
Why do disappointment and depression and despair and death and destruction continue on and on? Why is it that we all know that more bad news will come and that more senseless tragedies will happen? Why is it that we sometimes grow numb with our own struggles in daily life?
Perhaps the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus really hasn’t changed anything. Take the disciples on the lake. Why are they still fishing for fish? Why have they gone back to their former vocation as if nothing has really changed? They had seen the risen Christ. He had absolved them saying “Peace be with you”. He had commissioned them as His apostles’ to forgive sins. Why were they out all night on the lake doing the same thing they had done all their lives?
We could ask the same of ourselves? Why do we sometimes go about our vocations without the conviction that everything has changed due to Christ’s resurrection? Why do we so readily see the tragedies and disasters of life as evidence that no one is in charge? The One who is in charge tells us that tragedies and tribulation will continue to come and calls us to repentance. But the questions still come. And we are still tempted to blame Him or deny He exists.
Why does the human heart imagine that we are alone and that what we see is all there is? Or conversely, why does the human heart so easily invent spiritual refuge in nature or space or in itself? The vision of John can help us see what the world and what our Old Adam cannot see.
The throne room scene from the fourth and fifth chapters is decisive in understanding everything else in the book of Revelation. Some things are not as clear amid the symbols of this book. But this is crystal clear - God and the Lamb are reigning in victory! Here God reveals to you what your five senses do not reveal to you! The victory is won! It is finished! The result of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection is cosmic. The Lamb is worshipped as the one enthroned God. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.
IT IS THE LORD! It is the Lord born of Mary, the Lord who hung naked on Calvary’s cross, blood oozing from His wounds and finally pouring from His pierced side, the Lord whose dead body was wrapped in linen and placed in the tomb. Yet, this is now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
The risen Christ is alive and well! IT IS THE LORD who called from shore just as day was breaking, “Children, do you have any fish?” IT IS THE LORD who shortly thereafter asked Peter “Do you love me?” and set Him on a new path. It is a path of depending not on Peter’s commitment but on Christ’s knowledge – “Lord you know all things”. IT IS THE LORD who struck down a persecuting Saul and sent forth a proclaiming Paul. And listen carefully to what He told them!
On this side of His open tomb, Jesus did not pretend that there would now be heaven on earth. On this side of His open tomb the exalted Christ was forthright in acknowledging some depressing realities. To Peter, whom He had just given the teaching office in His Church, Jesus said, “when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” In the early church, “stretching forth of hands” expressed death by crucifixion. When the Lord sent Ananias to Paul he said, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles…For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Even for the Lord’s chosen servants, even for those whom He sent out in His name, life in this dying world would not reflect the hidden reality that the Lamb has begun His reign. What would reflect His victory is the word of peace and absolution that they spoke in His name even as they suffered and died.
Fellow-Redeemed, IT IS THE LORD who speaks that same word to you today! The risen Christ is alive and well and so are you – even when death comes. He has given you new birth to a living hope through His resurrection from the dead. He has washed away your sins. Your new status does not depend upon your feelings but upon His blood. That’s the new song that all heaven joins in singing. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God…”
The victory of the risen Christ comes to you in this life by means of His blood. In Revelation, John wrote of Jesus, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood (Rev. 1:5). He described those coming out of the great tribulation …They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). He said of those who conquer the accuser, they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev. 12:11). His blood is the ground of all our hope. His blood sets us free to be people of God. All the challenges that sin poses in this troubled world must be seen in the light of the eternal victory of the Lamb who was slain. And there is more!
IT IS THE LORD who was persecuted when Saul was persecuting His church. Remember the risen Lord’s question, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” What intimate connection there is between the reigning, exalted Lamb and you! For you are also now His body, His beloved bride, His holy church. He has united Himself with you so intimately that what happens to you happens to Him. His intervention in your life is no less miraculous that it was in the life of Peter and Paul. He has not called you to the apostolic office, but He has redirected your life. He has made you a new creation. You have put on Christ (Gal 3:27). United with Him your future is full of life and purpose. He continues to say also to you “follow me”.
His presence in your life does not mean that troubles will disappear. Sometimes just the opposite! But it does mean that in the midst of troubles, the Lamb is in control. He loves you. He brings an end to the weeping (the hopelessness) of the world. He is worthy to open the scroll and even now is working for the good of His Church and for the salvation of all men.
The tragedy that struck in Virginia can pull one’s insides out and leave one feeling helpless. It is so senseless and evil. How? Why? What should have been done? What can be done now? When such tragedy strikes blame and hope are sure to be found. The blame and hope of which we hear, however, is generally limited by the five senses.
The risen Lord stands in your midst each week to reveal what the world by nature and what we by nature do not see or sense. The blame for all death is sin. The hope we sinners have in the face of death is the blood of the Lamb. For those students and faculty who died in Him on Monday, it was not a day of tragedy but a day of triumph. In an instant the cares of this life were exchanged for the eternal joys of the presence of the exalted Christ. He is our life and our hope!
Just as surely as He stood on the shore of the lake in our Gospel, so he stands on the shore of this earth in your midst this morning. IT IS THE LORD! The risen Christ is alive and well! He knows all things! He knows that you love Him! “Even though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him…and you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (I Peter 1:8, 9). As He prepared a meal on the shore of the lake so He has prepared an eternal feast on heaven’s shore. Even now He gives you a foretaste and says, “come and eat”. And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
5/21/2007
