Judgment Time - Variations on a Theme
Sermon for Judica, the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Based on Genesis 22:1-14, Hebrews 9:11-15, John 8:42-59

You can access the audio of the sermon HERE. 

In the Name of Jesus, our Vindicator.

   Do you know Ludwig von Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony?  I bet you do:  Dahn-dahn-dahn, daaaaahn.  Dahn-dahn-dahn, daaaaahn. 

   Beethoven takes a very simple musical phrase, three short notes on one pitch, and then one longer note a bit lower, and he repeats it, over and over, building a 35 minute symphony.  It varies.  He expands it, reverses it, turns the theme upside down and inside out, then contracts it and returns again to the original.  Variations on a simple theme, creating one of the most recognizable pieces of music in human history. 

   The theme of Beethoven’s Fifth is exceptionally simple.  But most musical composers do something similar, using longer melodies, over and over, with variation and return to the original.  Some concert pieces, with multiple movements, which may last an hour or more, are still centered on just one or two key musical themes, phrases, or melodies, that recur from the beginning to the end.  George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” or Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” are great examples.  I’ll refrain from trying to hum them.  You can look them up.  We hear the same thing in pop music, Country and Rock n’ Roll, also in Jazz and Blues, and Bluegrass.  Not to mention Christian hymns.  Repeated themes and melodies are what make music memorable.     

   These composers, knowingly or not, are mimicking the Holy Spirit, Who again and again takes a simple theme, a core idea or thought, and repeats it with variation, weaving together His message.  And, taken altogether, the whole Bible, even though it is comprised of 66 books written over as much as 1,900 years by dozens of different writers, nevertheless weaves together all its themes and genres to proclaim one message, one central truth, a single through-line running from Genesis to Revelation.  This through-line is the saving love of God for sinners, revealed in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and the Son of Mary.     

   The Word of God tends to focus on themes, and God’s people need to remember it.  So, it is not surprising that since at least the time of Moses, God’s people have set His Word to music, combining the memorability of recurring musical themes with the recurring truths of the Word to deliver God’s Good News even more powerfully. 

   Kantor Richard Resch at the Fort Wayne seminary taught us to seek this same goal as we planned Sunday services.  Try to focus on one central theme, he encouraged, a particular aspect from the appointed readings.  The lectionary is designed this way, with connections and common themes between the readings.  I try to reinforce this with the hymns and our catechetical review.  For the sake of clarity and memory, I like to have one main theme for a service, to take one facet of the diamond that is Christ’s teaching, and focus on it.     

   Sunday by Sunday, my goal is to implant one truth in your minds and hearts, to help you walk your walk of faith throughout the week, and throughout your life.  When it goes well, and all the elements of the service are interconnected, sermons almost write themselves. 

   Our musicians also get in on the act.  Organists choose preludes and postludes that draw on the readings, or are variations of the day’s hymns.  Choir directors choose pieces that fit with the readings.  Before our midweek services at Our Redeemer, Liz simply plays through a medley of Lenten hymns, which creates a mood, and prepares us for contemplating Christ’s journey toward Calvary.    

   Through the centuries the Church has even named many Sundays, in particular those during Lent and Easter, further solidifying the central idea of each one.  In the West, these names tend to be taken from the opening words of the Introit, like today: this is “Judica” Sunday, Latin for judge me, or vindicate me, which are the first words of our Introit: Vindicate me, O God.  The psalmist almost begs the Lord to judge him.     

   Do you beg to be judged?  Kind of depends, doesn’t it, on the type of judgement we expect.   To be judged can mean to be condemned.  Go to jail.  You’re fired.  Or, God forbid, go to hell. 

   To be judged can also mean to be evaluated on your performance, and then get sent back for more practice, for more training and instruction, so you can do better next time.  “Nice try, but this and that part of your performance don’t meet the standard.”  “You won’t be in the select choir this year.”  “You didn’t make the varsity.”  “You can take your driving test again in two weeks.”  Or, “I know you’ve graduated law school, but you have to pass the bar exam.  Until you do, you cannot work as a lawyer.”   

   There is a positive aspect to being judged, potentially.  As the ESV rightly translates “shaphat,” the judgment verb that begins Psalm 43, we can be judged to be excellent, a winner; we can be “vindicated.”  “Vindicate me, O God.”  That is to say: “Judge me righteous, declare my innocence, proclaim my right and good status before you.” 

   Indeed, this is the goal of Christ; this is what God is working toward, the justification, the eternal vindication of sinners, like you and me.  And, spoiler alert, vindication before God does not come from your practice, or your improvement, or your commitment to the process. 

   Practice is good; you can get better at whatever you are called to do.  And you should.  Life is better for all of us when each of us performs the tasks of our callings well.  And, this is pleasing to God.  Parents, love your children; children, honor your parents.  Slaves obey your masters.  Citizens, pay your taxes and give honor to your rulers.  All great things, and important. 

   But vindication before God, being judged eternally righteous, and so being admitted to God’s heavenly kingdom, is not about you.  It is about Christ, for you.  And so His pursuit of your vindication is the central theme of the Bible, the main thing God needs you to understand, believe, and trust.

   Far too many Christian teachers mess this up.  They tend to teach that vindication before God is like making the varsity football team or earning a spot as a musician in an orchestra.  Practice, practice, practice, then be judged.  If you fall short, go back and practice more, until you earn your spot. 

   This is a satisfying idea to our fallen minds.  It matches the way the world works, and it feeds our spiritual egos.  But, it is a lie.  It is the number one lie Satan tries to use on people who believe in God.  It is also an impossibility.  “By works of the law shall no one be justified in God’s sight,” proclaims Paul in Romans chapter three.  Rather, God justifies us, through faith in Jesus.  And so, the Bible spends the most time proclaiming Christ, and His righteousness, His vindication, which He desires to share as a free gift, with you and all sinners.   

    This is especially clear on Judica, on this Vindication Sunday, the last Sunday before we dive into Holy Week.  A verdict of righteous, not guilty, vindicated, the pursuit of such a judgment runs through all our readings today.

   In our Old Testament reading, we see the depth of Abraham’s faith be vindicated, proven, and demonstrated, as he obeys God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Abraham was ready to obey, even though Isaac is the son through whom God had promised to raise up many nations, and also raise up the Savior.  This is one of the most shocking stories in the Bible.  The author of Hebrews helps us out by revealing that Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead, so he moved forward with this terrible task. 

   The LORD stops Abraham, sparing Isaac, whose death would have been pointless.  His sacrifice would not have achieved the vindication, the justification, of anyone, for Isaac was merely human, and a sinner.  A better Son would be needed to justify a sinful world.  Clues that point to Christ fill this story: the beloved son of the father is sacrificed, on Mount Moriah, which is where Jerusalem would eventually be built.  The victim carries the wood for his own sacrifice up the hill.  And the substitute, a ram, is caught by his horns in a spiny thicket, foreshadowing a crown of thorns.  What Abraham and Isaac approached, but did not go through with, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit would take to its finish on the same mountain, over 2,000 years later.       

   That day was drawing near in today’s Gospel reading from John.  Jesus is judged, He is condemned by the Jews, His own people.  They reject Him, because He says He is the LORD God, the I AM, standing before them as a human being.  It is understandable that the Jews got really heated, since they don’t believe Jesus is God.  So, in their understanding, His words are clearly blasphemous, and worthy of punishment.  They think Jesus is usurping God’s position, just like Adam and Eve tried back in the Garden.  So, he must be rejected, even destroyed. 

   Unless, of course, Jesus is giving them legitimate reasons to think He might be God.  Like say, working great miracles.  Or proclaiming God’s Word with a clarity and authority that no one ever had.  Or fulfilling ancient prophecy after ancient prophecy.  The Jewish experts in the Law of Moses should have recognized Him.  But they did not.  They reasoned away His miracles and stuffed their ears at His teaching.  No way that is Jesus is Yahweh, the LORD, say the Jews.  They judge Jesus to be the worst kind of fraud.

    I wonder if any of them had second thoughts when Jesus worked a very small miracle, hiding Himself and slipping away when the angry Jews picked up stones to kill Him. 

   Our Lord would submit to their evil judgment, He would allow them to kill Him soon enough.  But that day in the Temple was not the day.  Nor was stoning the way that Jesus would bring God’s judgment down on Himself, for our sake, and also for the sake of the Jews who opposed Him.  So, Jesus hid Himself from them and slipped away.       

   Finally, our Epistle reading from Hebrews 9 does not use the word judgment, but as it discusses the sacrificial system that Moses gave to Israel, judgment and vindication are the point.  Through the various animal sacrifices commanded by God, the judgment, the condemnation deserved by God’s people for their sins, was expiated.  It was relieved, released through the shedding of blood.  Innocent animal victims gave their lives, to allow sinners to avoid the judgment they deserve.  In this we see that the Old Testament sacrificial system was always pointing to One Victim to come.  The Temple sacrifices were placeholders, a holy and necessary judgment-delay-system, until a better Lamb with better blood should come, and justify the whole world. 

    Now, our great High Priest, Jesus, who was also the Innocent Sacrificial Victim, has revealed a new covenant, a new relationship with God, based entirely on His righteousness, His justice.  And He comes to us weekly right here, to deliver His righteousness, His vindication, to us, through His Word, and by His Body and Blood, hidden under the bread and wine.

   How then, do the vindicated live?  First, judged righteous by faith in Jesus, we live without fear of condemnation.  We are free, not free to sin, but freed from sin, set free in order to live to righteousness.  We are free to live with joy, for the vindication we have received is better than anything else in this world.  That feeling you get when you are judged a winner and chosen for some great thing?  When you got the job you wanted, or made the varsity, or when your beloved said yes to your marriage proposal?  Our joy in Christ should be even greater, for His vindication makes us beloved children of God, today, and forever and ever. 

    A life without fear, fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness.  A life of holy joy, that spills over to our friends and neighbors.  This is God’s goal for us, and in Jesus, we have been given the Way. 

   Dahn-dahn-dahn, daaaaahn.  Beethoven’s famous four note melody is often called the “fate theme.”  It creates the feeling of impending judgment.  The moment of truth is coming; how will it turn out?  Dahn-dahn-dahn, daaaaahn. 

   Dear friends, know this: in Jesus, you have already been judged, and the verdict for you right now is not guilty, and beloved.  You are vindicated, in Jesus, because He has passed through the judgment of God against sinners.  This He did, for you, and for the whole world. 

    God in Christ has vindicated you.  And so you are free to live, to rejoice, to dare to love and serve.  And we are free to share the Good News, that in Christ, by faith in and union with Him, the coming Judgment Day is not frightening, but rather it is our entrance into perfect joy, forever and ever, Amen.