Easter 6—Exaudi
Beloved. We are at a very fascinating time in the Church Year. We are still in the midst of the Easter season, celebrating and reveling in our Lord’s resurrection; but the Gospel readings for the past few weeks have turned our attention to Pentecost and the Holy Spirit’s coming. Of course, this past Thursday was 40 days after Easter—Ascension Day, the day our Lord visibly returned to heaven. There with the Ascension, the work for the salvation of the world was absolutely done as Jesus “returned home.” We can be certain that Jesus accomplished what He had come to do. Now, Jesus—also as true man—is ruling and guiding all things in the universe for the blessing and benefit of His Church. Now, the only thing left is for Jesus to return on the Last Day, raise all the dead, reunite the body and soul of all and to sentence to eternal damnation in hell all, soul and body, who rejected Him but to bring His Christians with Him soul and body into the glory of heaven for all eternity.
Before His ascension into heaven, though, Jesus told the disciples [Acts 1.4]: not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, that is, for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Of course, we know that the Holy Spirit came ten days after the ascension—but the disciples didn’t know how long it would be and so they waited. The 10 day wait of the disciples between the Ascension and Pentecost is a picture of the wait that we ourselves are going through now as we wait for our Lord to return on the Last Day. All the past generations of Christians have waited their entire lives; will we? Only our Lord knows. But we can learn from the disciples how our lives should be during this time. And how are our lives to be as Christians as we await Jesus' return? St. Luke records [Ac 1.14]: The disciples all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with His brothers. We gather together with our fellow Christians; we are fervent in prayer; we stay in communion with our Lord’s Church; we are faithful and diligent in our use of our Lord’s word and sacrament.
This Sunday between the Ascension and Pentecost, which was the following Sunday, was for the disciples a Sunday of waiting. But it was a necessary wait. Jesus told the disciples that first Maundy Thursday evening [St. John 16.7]: It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. Yes, the Holy Spirit was mighty and active already in the Creation; He was mighty and active all throughout history working faith in the true God and Savior in the hearts of people and keeping them in the faith. But now with the upcoming day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit would be poured out richly and abundantly and He would make the Apostles the infallible teachers of the Church; He would then give to all peoples the blessings of the completed/ accomplished work of Jesus; He would fill the Church with a great variety and abundance of gifts and powers—both for the spiritual welfare of the individual believer and for the preservation and extension of the Church. Or, to put it differently: as the Lord spoke through St. Isaiah in today’s text: "I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near," Says the LORD, "And I will heal him." Those are glorious words from our Lord: and I will heal him. And who is the person the Lord will heal? All people the far and…the near. Although in the OT times, the Lord for the most part confined His work among the Israelites to prepare a people to welcome the Messiah when He comes, the near, now the message and blessings of the Savior who has come is for all people: the far. And so those glorious words and work of the Lord now, for all people, for you and me: and I will heal.
Why do we need healing? Because of sin—by each sin that we commit, that is open rebellion against the Lord God. It is us asserting our will against His just, holy and perfect will; it is us claiming that we are God—or at least on the same level as He is. It’s a very odd thing because our sin is both our rebellion and also our true spiritual sickness; or to put it differently, because we are spiritually sick, we rebel against the Lord and His will and way. And then, because we rebel against the Lord and His will and way, we feel ourselves spiritually sick, that is, we feel the weight and guilt of our sin. We know we have done wrong; we know that we have earned God’s wrath and condemnation by our sin. We know that on our own we cannot get into God’s favor.
To get rid of the spiritually sick feeling, people will try convince themselves that what they have done/ do isn’t sin; or they try to think that that sin isn’t really all that bad; or they think God will look past their sin because the sin of another person is greater. But at the end of the day, that spiritual sickness remains—we are sinners rebelling against God; and that feeling of sin and guilt remains. We cannot heal ourselves—either so that we do not sin or to get rid of that guilt.
“And I will heal...” And how is it that the Lord heals us, that is, how does He grant us true healing of the soul? Peace, peace! That is a peace, true peace that is grounded on Jesus and His work. Jesus Himself is called “The Prince of Peace” [Is. 9.6]. The whole purpose of Jesus’ coming was to restore that peace between sinful man and the holy God. When He died on the cross, He said, “It is finished”—everything necessary for the forgiveness of sin and the salvation of the world had been done; when Jesus rose from the dead, that was the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin; when Jesus ascended into heaven that was the clear sign to all: “mission accomplished” and now as God and man Jesus begins His reign. Jesus’ work was to fulfill God’s holy for us by living for us a holy, sinless life and Jesus’ work was to pay the price/ suffer God’s wrath and punishment over our sins. And now that Jesus has done that, we sinners are reconciled to God; we are, in Jesus, His dear children and heirs of heaven.
We are healed in Jesus; wewere healed at our baptism; we are healed when by Spirit worked faith we receive God’s proclamation: Peace, peace. In Jesus, God forgives us our sin. God’s forgiveness is not blindness; it’s not as if He simply ignores our sin. Rather, our sins are, in Christ, fully and completely gone! Just because a blind person doesn’t see an elephant in the room doesn’t mean there’s not an elephant in the room. But when there is forgiveness of sins, it’s not that God doesn’t see them or ignores them—instead they are completely gone before God. When sin is forgiven, Jesus has obeyed that part of God’s holy law for us; when sin is forgiven, Jesus has suffered for us the penalty of that sin. We sinners are truly reconciled to God. That’s why in our text He says, Peace, peace; and notice, peace is mentioned twice showing it is a perfect, lasting peace.
This peace that Jesus brought about by His holy life and His innocent suffering and death, He now offers and gives us in the holy absolution and sacraments. St. Paul writes [Eph. 2.17]: And [Christ Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. Our crucified, risen and ascended Savior brought a message of this peace with God, which His death and resurrection brought about; and through the apostles and all who faithfully teach what they taught, Jesus continues to preach, offer and give this forgiveness/ peace. We hear Jesus telling the disciples in today’s Gospel: “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also are going to testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” And then at His ascension, we hear Jesus tell the disciples [St. Mt. 28.20]: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…[and] teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded. And all of this to what end? –"And I will heal him." In other words: by the mouth of My servants who proclaim, offer, give peace, I will give true healing to people.
Dear Christian, we have the word of God, the holy Gospel in our midst. Let us make faithful and diligent use of it. We, dear Christian are baptized--let us daily return/ remember our baptism by daily repentance of sin and faith in Christ. We have Confession and Holy Absolution in the services of the church and also available privately for private Confession/ Absolution. Receive that healing and peace the Lord wants to give you. We have the Blessed Sacrament available every Sunday, receive that peace and healing that only the forgiveness of sins can/ does give you.
Can mere words grant forgiveness of sin/ peace/ true spiritual healing? Can even the holy Sacraments—the word made visible—do that? Absolutely! That’s because it is not a human word but the word of God. And it is the word of God grounded on His Person and work, Jesus Christ. Again notice our text: I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near," Says the LORD, "And I will heal him." The Lord creates the fruit of the lips—the peace won by Jesus and now proclaimed and offered to us. God creates the fruit of the lips as He puts the message of peace into the mouth; and by that word of peace He grants us full spiritual healing. How? Because it is a divine word, the Holy Spirit is mightily at work creating faith to believe and receive that message of peace.
And something wonderful happens—not only do we, by the working and power of the Holy Spirit, believe it and receive that peace and healing, but also by faith receiving that peace and healing, we then offer our Lord praise and thanksgiving, fruit of the lips for His grace and mercy to us. And then, we want to and do share with others that message of peace, that Good News about Jesus that we enjoy, that healed us! That we share with others that peace and forgiveness and healing that we have, that is God creating the fruit of the lips in us. So when we share our faith, let us not think it’s our word, that it’s all up to us. No, instead, what we speak is the fruit of God’s creating work on us: I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace. Just think, each time you share your faith, tell others about Jesus, that is God’s mighty act on you and through you. How freeing that is! We don’t have to memorize some script; we don’t have to come up with something clever; we don’t have to chalk up x number of converts or conversations a day. Instead, simply speak of what Jesus has done for you in a natural way with those the Lord has placed in your midst. Be ready, as St. Peter [1 Peter 3.15] says, to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. People who know you are a Christian will ask you about your faith as they see you living in and enjoying that perfect peace of the forgiveness of sins. The best way to be prepared to give that defense is to be in the word of God daily reading and studying it, having a regular devotional life using solid devotion books, being in prayer with our Lord all throughout the day speaking to Him and hearing Him speak to you in His word, being faithfully in our Lord’s house around His pulpit and altar receiving His gifts of peace and healing. You can’t tell others what you yourself don’t know. It is amazing how the Lord prepares you for sharing your faith by bringing something to the fore in your reading/ studying Scripture or hearing in church and then giving you the opportunity to share that new found thought or insight with someone else. That is a glorious example of the Lord working on/ in/ through you: I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace. And it is vital to be at the altar to receive Jesus and His body and blood. Here He is in you, united with you. He will strengthen you and give you the word and wisdom to speak.
Our Lord grants us true healing and peace which is the forgiveness of sins He brought about. He sends His word and heals us; and He gives us that same healing word to bring to others. INJ Amen