Fifth Sunday in Lent (B) 2018

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: John 2:21
Theme: Jesus Now and Forever


Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Everything in God’s time. Birth, death, resurrection, each moment of each hour; all are in God’s hands. It’s the safest place our lives can be. Anyone who had been following the storyline of John’s gospel would recall repeated references to the fact that Jesus’ time had NOT yet come. To His mother at the wedding in Cana Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come.”1 To His brothers who asked why He wasn’t going up to the feast, Jesus replied, “My time has not yet fully come.”2 While teaching in the temple, the Pharisees could not seize Him because “His hour had not yet come.”3 It is therefore quite significant when Jesus says that His time has now come. It was time for the Son of Man to enter into His glory. That is, it was time for His suffering and death, His being lifted up on the cross4. Ransom from the powers of sin, death and Satan could happen in no other way.

So, in response to this request, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus,”5 comes an unexpected, but weighty answer. Jesus foregoes any pleasantries of polite discourse. He thrusts right to the heart of the matter. The time for curiosity is over. These Greeks may have considered Jesus to be a novelty, a rarity, or a marvel, but what matters now is that He is revealed to be the Saviour. We don’t know if these Greeks ever got to meet Jesus face to face. But we do know that if they followed Jesus during the week of His passion they would have been brought face to face with God’s undying love.

The reality is however, many people didn’t recognize God even when they saw Him face to face. But, He was veiled in humility. He seemed to be an ordinary man with some supernatural skills. Even after the resurrection many had doubts. So, we must understand beyond all confusion and doubt that no amount of human effort or ingenuity can persuade or entice someone to believe. No skill of argumentation, or perseverance of negotiation can bring a person to faith in Jesus Christ. The most carefully crafted and generously funded program will not accomplish it. The Holy Spirit alone, convicting the conscience through the word of law can convict people of their sins. The Holy Spirit alone, comforting the heart through the promise of the gospel can engender faith. That being said, we are in no way exempt from deliberately, purposefully, and genuinely making known the truth of Christ both to those who don’t believe, and to those who do. Witnessing is part of our normal activity. We are God’s people.

We’re still sinners, though. Concern with the present is what often consumes us on a regular basis. The pressures of daily existence, of making ends meet tend to put us in survival mode. In survival mode we are less likely to learn from the past or consider wisely the future. We can become so wrapped up in the present that it controls us. We find ourselves just trying to get through the next day. It is both a delight of Satan and a craving of our sinful natures to be enslaved to our present needs and desires. But the believer lives continuously and lives presently in a state of grace.

Not only was God with us in the past, not only will He be with us in the future, He is with us now. God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is not with us as a remote observer. He is with us in His full power to intercede, to create, to destroy, to sustain, to comfort. What is remarkable about this is that God actively and dynamically dwells with sinners; yet only in and through and because of Christ. Because the Father forsook His Son, we are never forsaken as His children. On the cross Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”6So that He could say to His disciples, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”7Christians are not in bondage to the fallen creation, they are free to serve the Creator.

The pressures to live in the present are often matched by anxieties about the future? What if this happens? What if that happens? Will I be protected from this or prepared for that? These common questions must be left to the care and wisdom of God. Worry is a sin because it betrays a lack of confidence in the Almighty. Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear……For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”8 And the apostle says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”9 Christ has laid out the future and He will not fail to bring us safely into it.

Dear friends, as a believer, it is a profound privilege that you live your life in time under the auspices of eternity. Time and eternity are not really comparable. Time is of the finite creation. It will cease. Eternity is undiminished fellowship with the triune God. We are creatures that are elevated to share with the Creator because sin is vanquished. We are time-bound beings freed for eternity. That is the outcome of everything Christ came to do. It is the meaning of today’s Scripture, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be.”10

He was and is the crucified, risen and living Lord for all eternity. At the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the dimension of time was reconciled with the dimension of eternity. The entire created sphere was reconciled with the eternal realm. And regardless of how many more days this earth will exist, the crucifixion will always remain the portal to eternity. And this portal is opened wherever and whenever the gospel reaches and changes the heart, wherever and whenever the forgiveness of sins is received in true faith, wherever and whenever the Holy Spirit works through baptismal water, wherever and whenever the body and blood of Christ is received in humble trust. For in all these things, but only in these things do we receive Christ with all His blessings for our timeless salvation. “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”11 That request has been answered. Now we see with the eyes of faith, then in full vision. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Fifth Sunday In Lent
18 March 2018
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt


1 John 2:4 2 John 7:6
3 John 7:30 4 See John 3:14
5 John 12:21 6 Mark 15:34 (cf Psalm 22:1)
7 Matthew 28:20 8 Matthew 6:25, 32
9 Philippians 4:6-7 10 John 12:23, 25-26
11 John 12:21