3rd Midweek Lenten Sermon: Moses and Jesus

+ 3^rd Midweek Lenten Service – March 7^th, 2018 +

Exodus 20:1-17

Redeemer Lutheran, HB

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

Every day, everywhere we go, in everything we do there are rules, instructions, laws to give order to life, provide safety and protection, and for well-being. As the old song goes, you can’t outrun the long arm of the law. Local, state, and federal governments give us laws; through just and good laws God does damage control on his fallen creation. Parents give their children rules and instruction, through whom God teaches us discipline, provides for our daily bread, cares for our body and life.

Our Lord also gives us his Law directly and most clearly in his Word, just as he did for Moses and Israel on Mt. Sinai. We call them the 10 Commandments.

You shall have no other gods.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s manservant, his maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Through his Law our Lord gives us a curb and a limit to our sinful behavior. He disciplines and instructs us in the way we should go. And our Lord gives us his Law like a skilled physician gives a thorough medical exam. God’s Law shows us our sin. God’s Law shows us our need for a Savior. God’s Law gives us the proper diagnosis. And it’s not good:

The wages of sin is death.

Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

God gives us his Law, not to be a big bully or a buzzkill, but because he loves us. Listen to the first words God spoke to Israel when he gave them the 10 Commandments.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Before YHWH declares his Word of Law he declares again who he is and what he has done for Israel. YHWH is their God. He redeemed them by the blood of the Passover lamb. He delivered them from captivity in Egypt. He rescued them at the Red Sea. He is their dear Father and they are his dear children.

And so are you. Like Israel, you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God who has taken away your sin. Like Israel, you have been delivered from captivity to sin and death and are set free in Jesus’ death for you. Like Israel at the Red Sea, your enemies of sin, death, and the devil were drowned, and you are rescued in the Exodus of Holy Baptism.

Like Israel, God gives us his Law because he loves us. Each of the 10 Commandments is his way of providing for us, protecting us, and gives us the Law for our good.

In the 1^st commandment, the fountain and source of all the others, God gives us the gift of himself.

In the 2^nd commandment, God gives us the gift of his Name, presence, and blessing.

In the 3^rd commandment, God gives us his holy word and a holy place to receive his holy gifts in water, word, body and blood.

In the 4^th commandment, God gives us the gift of order and authority in the family, society, and church.

In the 5^th commandment, God gives us the gift of life.

In the 6^th commandment, God gives us the gift of the one flesh union of marriage, the gift of man and woman created in his image.

In the 7^th commandment, God gives us the gift of stuff, earthly possessions used to serve in our vocations and delight in God’s creation.

In the 8^th commandment, God gives us the gift of a good reputation.

In the 9^th and 10^th commandments, God gives us the gift of contentment in what he provides for us.

Like Israel, our Lord gives us his Law for our good. Problem is, our old sinful flesh – the Old Adam – does not look at God’s Law as a gift for our own good. We do not rejoice in God’s Law. We don’t like to be told what we can or can’t do. We don’t like to be told we’re wrong or have wronged someone else. Because most of all we don’t like the truth. We sin because we’re sinners. We’re sinners because sin has completely infected our hearts so that we do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Like Israel, we grumble and complain that life was better in slavery. Like Israel, we rebel against and disobey God’s Law. Like Israel, we are judged and condemned by the Law, and deserve only punishment.

And like Israel, the Lord has another word for us. A word of promise, peace, and pardon. The Lord doesn’t give us what we deserve. Jesus is judged in our place. Jesus takes the condemnation of our sin upon himself. The punishment we deserved Jesus bore for us. The Law that we cannot keep, Jesus keeps for us. His death on the cross is for you. And so is his keeping of the Law for you.

Jesus perfectly fears, loves, and trusts the Father for you.

Jesus uses, honors, and calls upon God’s name for you.

Jesus kept the Sabbath day and made it holy for you.

Jesus honored his earthly father and mother, as well as the Heavenly Father, for you.

Jesus helped and supported his neighbor in every physical need for you.

Jesus led a sexually pure and decent life in all he said and did for you.

Jesus never stole a thing, yet was crucified between two thieves, for you.

Jesus bore no false witness against his neighbor for you.

Jesus did not covet for you.

His keeping of the Law was for you. His perfect live was lived for you. It counts for you, as if you had kept all the commandments. As Jesus says in the Gospels, he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, to keep it, to cross every T and dot every I for you.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For though the wages of sin is death, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

In Jesus, Mt. Sinai no longer thunders and threatens. On Mt. Calvary Jesus paid for our debt, took the punishment of the Law upon himself, and hung all the Law around his neck for you. And now, Mt Zion is in view.

And now in Jesus…you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

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