It Is My Father That Glorifieth Me

In Nomine Iesu!

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sermon Text: St. John 8:46-59

“Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing: it is My Father that glorifieth Me; of Whom ye say, that He is your God; and ye have not known Him: but I know Him; and if I should say, “I know Him not,” I shall be like unto you, a liar: but I know Him, and keep His word.’”

Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon:

Lord God, heavenly Father, Who through Thy Son, true God and our Redeemer, didst say: “If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death,” we beseech Thee, bestow upon us Thy Holy Spirit, that we may give due honor to Thy Son, keep His Word, trust in it, comfort ourselves therewith in the hour of departure, and through death enter into everlasting life; for the sake of + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen. 

My dear friends, we begin Passiontide with our Lord + Jesus once again battling the forces of evil; He is battling with those who refuse to believe on Him. The season of Lent began with our Lord + Jesus facing off with the devil in the wilderness. He had fasted forty days and nights, and was in a weakened state in the wilderness when the devil came to Him to tempt Him. The Lord soundly defeated the devil with the Word of the Lord God. Today, we see our Lord + Jesus also being tested. But this time it is not by the devil, but it is by His own beloved creation—by mankind. His creation is like the devil, corrupt, evil, against the Lord and His Word to their very core. Our Lord points this out when He calls the Jews gathered around Him “liars.”

The devil was a liar from the beginning. He lies to lead mankind into the same fate that He will face: into hell. The devil is liar and a murderer. The Jews in the Gospel reading from the Apostle and Evangelist St. John are also liars. They are liars because they do not believe the Word of the Lord God, and refuse to believe its teachings, specifically the teaching on the resurrection. We will hear more about that in a bit. But the Jews are also like their father the devil, they are murderers. St. John records at the end of the pericope that they picked up stones to kill Him. They hate His Word so much that not only have they stopped their ears from hearing, but they desire that nobody hears what the Lord + Jesus has to say. In this way, they are just like their father the devil, for he desires that no man hears the Gospel; hears the promise of salvation in the Lord + Jesus alone.

And this is what our Lord is trying to teach these Jews gathered around Him at this time. He is preaching to them the means of salvation. He is the only means of salvation. This is how He is glorified of the heavenly Father. He is glorified before both the Father and mankind, when He is given to us as the only means of salvation. During Holy Week (next week) we will hear the Gospel of St. John, the twelfth chapter on Holy Tuesday. In that Gospel the Lord + Jesus is also talking about being glorified by the heavenly Father. Indeed, there is a Voice out of heaven declaring that the Lord’s Name has been glorified, and will be glorified again. This is an important point that has a connection to our Gospel reading for today. For the second way that our Lord + Jesus is glorified by the heavenly Father will be our focus all the way to Good Friday.

Our Lord + Jesus is glorified by the heavenly Father in two ways: at His incarnation, and at His crucifixion and death. The Lord + Jesus is glorified by taking upon Himself our flesh, but without sin. In our flesh, He perfectly fulfills the whole will and Law of the Lord God. He resists the temptation of the devil; He defeats the devil in his kingdom by obeying the Law of the Lord God. He preaches to the Jews that salvation is found in Him alone on account of this perfect obedience to the Law of the Lord God. For we cannot perfectly keep the Law, we break it every time. Therefore, of ourselves there can be no salvation, but through the Christ, Who has perfectly kept the Law, there is redemption from transgression and salvation from eternal death and the Lord God’s wrath. 

Therefore, the heavenly Father has glorified the Lord + Jesus in His incarnation, when He took upon Himself our flesh, in order to fulfill the Law perfectly. But the heavenly Father will also glorify the Lord + Jesus upon the tree of the holy cross. For the Law has been broken by mankind. All those born of the flesh have transgressed the Commandments. Therefore, a punishment must be meted out. The blood of bulls and goats was an imperfect punishment for the transgressions of mankind. They temporarily appeased the wrath of the Lord God. But because they were imperfect sacrifices, they had to be done daily. Indeed, there were sacrifices that we done both morning and evening every day. This was a daily sacrifice, morning and evening for the sins of the whole people of Israel. These were in addition to individual sacrifices that people would bring for their own sins. Even the high priest would have to offer a sacrifice for himself and the whole people of Israel once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. 

That these sacrifices had to take place all the time, showed how imperfect they truly were. The same was true also of the high priest, the one ultimately in charge of making sure all the sacrifices were performed according to the Lord’s Word and will. The high priest would not live forever. He would die. Just like Abraham had died, and the prophets had died. Their imperfection being shown in that a new high priest had to be anointed whenever the old one died. Therefore, there needed to be a new High Priest, and a perfect sacrifice made that would endure for all of eternity; a sacrifice that would atone for the sins of all the people for all of eternity. Our Lord + Jesus is both that eternal High Priest, and eternal sacrifice for our sins and iniquities. 

He is the sacrifice that appeases the wrath of the Lord God, for His wrath is poured out entirely upon the Lord + Jesus upon the tree of the holy cross. And now our Lord + Jesus acts as the eternal High Priest from the right hand of the heavenly Father. He intercedes for us poor, miserable sinners so that by His sacrifice we are freed from the bondage of sin and death. And this is the good news that our Lord + Jesus wanted to teach the Jews that were gathered around Him. And make note: that St. John earlier in this section says that these Jews believed the Lord + Jesus. But their belief was imperfect, because they imagined a different kind of Messiah. One that would establish an earthly kingdom. One that would defeat the earthly enemies of the Jews. Our Lord did not come to do that, however. He came to establish an eternal Kingdom in heaven.

And this was the part that the Jews could not be brought to believe about the Lord + Jesus. Our Lord comes to proclaim a resurrection from the dead. That is how an eternal Kingdom in heaven is established. People need to live forever in order for there to be an eternal Kingdom. People cannot live forever if they cannot defeat death. Sadly, of ourselves, we cannot defeat death. As the Jews in the Gospel reading pointed out, both Abraham, the one they claimed was their father, and the prophets, to whom they did not listen, were dead. At least that is how it appeared to the Jews gathered around our Lord + Jesus. But our Lord did not come to establish a temporal kingdom, He came to proclaim an eternal Kingdom with Him and all the saints in heaven. 

This is the same thing that Abraham and the prophets believed and taught. They also proclaimed an eternal Kingdom in heaven; they proclaimed the resurrection of the dead. This is why Abraham could freely sacrifice his only son Isaac, for he thoroughly believed that the Lord God could raise him from the dead. The same was true of the prophets. They could endure the persecutions and death that they faced because they believed in a resurrection from the dead. 

This is the true glory of the Lord + Jesus. He is glorified in His incarnation when He took upon Himself our flesh to fulfill the Law as one of us, and He is glorified when in His death He took upon Himself our punishment upon the tree of the holy cross. But these glorifications were all leading to the ultimate glorification of our Lord + Jesus, the glory of being the Lord over life and death. He could face suffering and death on the tree of the holy cross, because He knows that He is the Lord over death and life. He can raise Himself from the dead, just as He can give up the ghost of His own volition, and when the atonement of mankind was finished.

And all of that led to our Lord’s ultimate glorification as the Victor over death on Easter Sunday. With His resurrection He showed that all those who believe in Him will never taste of death. They will never see death. This is a great joy to us, for our Lord + Jesus is talking about us. All of us who cling in faith to Him; to His works and merits; who put their faith and trust in His fulfillment of the Law, and His sacrifice for us upon the tree of the cross. We will never see nor taste of death, because the Lord + Jesus has been glorified by His Father to be the Lord over life and death. He is the Lord of life, therefore, we need not fear death, for our Lord + Jesus has opened up the gate of eternal life for us. This good news is—this promise—is something we can cling to in faith, for it means that we will be a part of an eternal Kingdom in heaven. 

Indeed, all those whom we love who have died in the faith are already enjoying their eternal rest. We will one day join them in that heavenly realm, and sing our Lord’s praises for all eternity. We will join the heavenly choir, all of us with a harp in hand, and proclaim for all eternity that our Lord + Jesus has been glorified by His heavenly Father to be our Savior and Redeemer.

The Jews in the Gospel reading, however, did not believe our Lord’s words. They refused to hear about a resurrection of the dead. Therefore, they sought His death. They wanted to silence Him not only so that they could not hear any more, but that no one could hear this good news ever more. This shows that unbelievers truly are children of their father the devil. For only the devil desires the complete destruction of mankind. So do his children. Those who have rejected the Lord + Jesus as the Messiah, also want others to share in their fate, whether they believe it to be so, or are even aware of it.

Therefore, my dear friends, let us not stop our ears like the Jews in the Gospel reading from St. John, but rather open our ears to hear the promise that our Lord + Jesus has for us today. He promises that all those who believe on Him will never see nor taste of death. For He has been glorified by His heavenly Father to be the Lord of life. He is our Lord of life. From Him we will receive eternal life, for He has covered over all of our sins and iniquities by taking our punishment upon Himself. He Who is guilty of no crime—of no sin—which anyone could convict Him, has offered upon His life as a perfect ransom for us poor, miserable sinners. Therefore, we will not be judged to be worthy of eternal death in hell, but being clothed in the righteousness of the Christ, we will be judged to be worth of eternal life in heaven with all those who have died in the faith. We will be raised again from the dead on the Last Day, and we will be with our Lord for all eternity. May our Lord God grant this unto us all. In the Name of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

Prayer in Pulpit after Sermon:

Almighty God, be pleased to accompany Thy Word with Thy Holy Spirit and grant that Thy Word would increase faith in us; bring into the Way of Truth all such as have erred; turn the hearts of the unrepentant; and for sake of Thy Name grant succor to all heavy hearts and those who are heavy-laden, that they may through the mercy of the Lord + Jesus Christ be relieved and preserved so that they succumb not to the temptation of despair but rather that they gain the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

The Votum:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!