************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 16 ************
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on December 18, 2005
Q & A 16
Hebrews 7:11-28
"Our Comforter: Truly Human and Truly Righteous"
Introduction
INVITE THE CHILDREN FORWARD.
A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. HOLD IT UP.
He began with a stick of hard white candy. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY HE USED WHITE? WHAT DOES WHITE STAND FOR? White means pure, holy, clean and reminds us that Jesus is without sin.
What letter do you see in the candy cane? HOLD CANDY CANE BACKWARDS. WHY DID HE USE THE LETTER "J"? WHAT DOES "J" STAND FOR? "J" is the first letter of "Jesus".
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE NAME "JESUS" MEANS? "Jesus" means Savior. So the letter "J" of the Christmas Candy Cane reminds us that Jesus is our Savior from sin.
What is on top of the hard white candy? GET SOMEONE TO ANSWER "RED STRIPES"? DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY HE USED RED STRIPES? WHAT DO THEY STAND FOR? The red stripes remind us of how Jesus was whipped and beaten. They remind us of His blood on the cross.
HOLD UP CANDY CANE. This is not just a candy cane. It is a Christmas Candy Cane. It reminds us of Jesus. It reminds us that Jesus did no sin and died on the cross as our Savior from sin.
On this third Sunday of Advent we continue our study of what the Catechism says about our Comforter. Today, we are reminded that our Comforter, our Mediator, our Redeemer, is truly human and truly righteous.
I Our Mediator is Truly Human
A Can there be any doubt that our only Mediator, Christ Jesus, is human? Hebrews 2 can say, "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity" (Heb 2:14). Our Scripture reading speaks of His humanity when it says "our Lord descended from Judah" (Heb 7:14). Matthew's genealogy lists Him as "the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Mt 1:1). Paul can write,(Gal 4:4-5) But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, (5) to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Every year, at Christmas, we celebrate and rejoice in the humanity of Jesus. Like every other human Jesus entered our world after being conceived and carried in His mother's womb. The Gospels present to us a picture of Jesus as man: He experienced hunger, thirst, anger, love, joy, sorrow, pain, and happiness – just like any other human. He even faced temptation.
Yes, Jesus was and is human. About that there can be no doubt. And in that we rejoice.
B Nevertheless, there are some throughout history who have denied Christ's humanity because of some false idea of reverence. These people were convinced that our Lord could not possibly be true man. The idea that almighty God fully took on sinful human flesh is unbearable to these people and strikes them as blasphemous. Docetists are this way. Docetism comes from the Greek word meaning "to appear." Docetism says Jesus Christ only appeared to possess humanity, He only appeared to be human, but He really wasn't truly and fully human because it is impossible for the divine to unite with the human.
C The Christian religion maintains that God became fully man, that "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us ... full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14).
When we think about it, we realize there were two miracles at the incarnation of Christ Jesus: not only that a virgin gave birth, but also that God became a human being and a part of human lineage. Compare Christianity at this point to the mythologies of other religions. A god-man is not an uncommon feature in ancient mythology; in every case, though, it is a man who becomes god rather than god becoming man.
God took on human flesh. Our Mediator is truly human. This affirms, once again, our total inability to save ourselves. To be rescued and delivered from sin, it is not a case of us becoming God, but of God becoming man. Man can't save himself. God had to enter history; He had to become part of human lineage; He had to take on flesh in order for man to be saved. Our Bible reading puts it this way:(Heb 7:11,25) If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? ... (25) Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him ...
Jesus is able to do what Aaron and the line of Aaron could not do. He is able to do what angels can not do. He is able to do what we cannot do. He is able to save us because He took on our flesh.
D Why did Jesus have to take on flesh? The Bible teaches us that He had to take on flesh to be our Comforter, our Mediator:(Heb 2:14,16-17) Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity ... (16) For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. (17) For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
This text tells us an important truth: if Christ did His work as Mediator on behalf of angels, then He would have had to be an angel; since He did His work as Mediator on behalf of man, He had to be a man. Man sinned so man must pay for sin. Man sinned so the man Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for many. The Catechism says, "God's justice demands that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for its sin."
Look at it this way. Is it just that the angels or any other creature be punished for the sin of man? Of course not! If you rob a bank, is it just for the judge to take an innocent bystander and throw him into jail for your crime? Of course not! Justice says, "man has sinned, man must pay for his sin." The Mediator, in other words, must be man.
II Our Mediator is Truly Righteous
A According to Hebrews our Mediator Jesus is not only truly human but He is also truly righteous or sinless.
Jesus was born with an advantage over the rest of us: because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit He did not inherit the guilt or pollution of original sin that you and I acquire from our parents so that "we are conceived and born in sin" (baptism, old form 1). Jesus, our Mediator, is righteous: He was born without indwelling sin and kept Himself free of sin.
Some of you might remember the movie, "The Last Temptation of Christ." According to this movie Jesus had sexual thoughts concerning Mary Magdalene, committed adultery with her, and fathered children with her. While this sort of movie strongly emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, it is just plain wrong in showing us a Jesus Who could not control His sexual desires.
We need to always remember what Hebrews tells us: He "had to be made like his brothers in every way" (Heb 2:17) – which would include His sexuality – and, He "has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin" (Heb 4:15). As a sinful human being I cannot separate the temptation from the sin but Jesus could – He was tempted yet He did not sin.
B Let's not make the error of denying the reality of Christ's temptations. It was no easy matter for Jesus to resist the Devil in the wilderness or in the Garden of Gethsemane: His hunger was real; His questions about His calling were real; His fear of suffering and dying were real.
The sharpest way to put this whole matter into focus is to ask the question, "was it possible for Jesus to sin?" Those who would emphasize the divinity of Christ would say "no." Those who would emphasize His humanity would say "yes." The Bible's answer is "Yes. But He didn't because of the power of His divinity." Or, consider this. Do you think for even one moment that the Devil would have wasted his time on Jesus if it was not possible for Jesus to sin? The Devil is wise enough to do his evil work only where opportunity knocks.
C It is important to me that Jesus was tempted as we are. This means He is able to sympathize with us in our temptations too. This means He knows what a struggle it is to always do God's will. This means He understands. Listen to how Hebrews puts this:(Heb 2:18) Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
(Heb 4:15) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Because Jesus took on our flesh He is more than able to sympathize with us as we struggle and suffer with temptation and sin.
Because He knows what it is like to be tempted we can come to Him for what we need when we are tempted. That's what the Bible says to us:(Heb 4:16) Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
We rejoice that we can come to our Mediator when we hurt. We rejoice that we can come to Jesus when we are in pain and sorrow. We rejoice that we can come to Jesus when we stumble and fall. We rejoice that we can come to Jesus when we face temptation and wrongful desire. We rejoice because He understands, He knows, what we are going through. He understands the alcoholic, the drug addict, the adulterer, the thief, the liar. He understands you and me and all our struggles. He understands so He gives us the mercy and the grace we need to keep on going.
Some of you might remember that President Gerald Ford had a reputation for stumbling and being clumsy.Topic: Sympathy
Subtopic:
Index: 3514-3516
Date: 4/1992.28
Title:
When the former president visited Northeastern State University in Oklahoma several years ago, he had breakfast with some student leaders. As one of the students stepped out of an elevator, her heel caught on the carpet and she crashed into Ford. She repeatedly apologized as he helped her to her feet, but the former president smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, young lady," he said. "I understand perfectly."
Isn't it wonderful to know that in an even greater way, Jesus understands when we stumble?
He understands yet He did not sin Himself. He is the perfect One, the righteous One.
D Why did Jesus have to be righteous or sinless? Our Bible reading puts it this way:(Heb 7:26-27) Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (27) Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
The Catechism says "a sinner can not pay for others." Remember what the Catechism said in an earlier question and answer? Sinful man is bankrupt and unable to pay off his debt of sin. If Jesus was a sinner He also would be bankrupt and unable to pay off His own debt of sin, let alone that of others.
Jesus did not sin. He was sinless, perfect, and holy. He had no debt of sin to settle with God. So He is the perfect Comforter and Mediator – more than able to pay for our sin through His atoning sacrifice.
Conclusion
On this third Sunday of Advent we rejoice that God's Son took on flesh. We confess He didn't come to keep us from suffering; He came to suffer as we must suffer. We confess He didn't come just to keep us from being afraid; He came to be afraid as we are afraid. We confess He didn't come just to keep us from dying; He came to die as we must die. We confess He didn't come to keep us from being tempted; He came to be tempted as we are tempted. In other words, we confess Jesus is truly man.
But we also confess He is truly righteous.
And, we confess and rejoice He is both in order to be our Comforter Who saves us from our sins.
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