+ Leslie A Miller +

“Sir, We Wish to See Jesus”

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

In the Gospel lesson just read, Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem worshiping at the Passover feast, when some Greeks came to the disciples and asked, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” What a question of faith. For this is what shapes our whole lives in faith – the desire to see Jesus.

You and I wish to see Jesus also, as did Les. Many people spend their whole lives in search of Jesus, whether they know it or not. This is even evidenced by the popular question asked by Protestant sidewalk evangelists: “Have you found Jesus?” But where do we find God? Many people have many different answers to that.

For some, God is to be found in nature, or in the things of this world. The beautiful sunrise and sunset, the rolling tides of the ocean, the constant turning of the seasons – these are all marvelous things. Since time immemorial, mankind has been looking to these things as signs of the divine. Today, there are those who seek to find “nature and nature's God”, and think that salvation lies therein.

For all of us, the natural inclination of our hearts is to look to the gods of our own creation. To be sure, some go at this overtly, creating statues and false religions. But the rest of us have our own private idol-factories in the depths of our hearts. Whether it be money or power or fame or family or health or wisdom, we all seek after the things of this world in a foolish and feeble attempt to find God.

Some even seek to find a Jesus more to their liking. Whether it is the stern, rigid Jesus who condemns all the world's ills and hates the heathens, or the soft, effeminate Jesus who loves everybody and just wants us all to get along, these are both caricatures of the real Jesus. Jesus is not found in the way you or I wish to find Him, but is found in the ways He chooses to reveal Himself.

As St. Paul says, Jews seek the Christ through signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom and knowledge. Some seek God in miracles and paranormal, supernatural occurrences. Others seek God in knowing and understanding the mysteries of God and creation. But both of these are folly, and to both paths, the cross of Christ is a stumbling block, a scandal.

If you wish to see Jesus, you must look to His cross. There, in the folly of God, you will find Jesus, and in Him you will come to know God. But the world looks upon the cross and the Gospel as foolishness, even though you who are being saved know it as the power of God for your salvation. The foolishness of God is the salvation of mankind.

Forgiveness of sins is not found anywhere but in the blood of Jesus Christ. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, and only the holy, innocent blood of Jesus could provide forgiveness for all mankind. In His blood shed for you on the cross, you are washed clean and made pure and holy.

Eternal life is found in death. That message is foolishness to the ears of those who are perishing, but it is the glorious message of the cross. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died. Therefore, you will live. Death begets life. Because Jesus died, death has been destroyed, since death could not hold the Author of Life. Because you are in Christ, you too shall live, even though you die.

The riches and generosity of God are found only in the cross. In the utter poverty of death, Jesus Christ emptied Himself of the glory of God and took up your sins, and the sins of all mankind. In emptying Himself, He gave His glory and life to those who believe in Him, who are called by His name. The richness of God is shown in that He paid the debt owed for our sins, and did not count it against us. He showed forth the glory of God from the cross, because God is glorified chiefly in showing mercy and grace. By His grace, your sins are forgiven, and your life is hidden in Christ.

Therefore, seeing Jesus, you must follow Him. He said, “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also.” The servants follow the Master. The children follow the Father. The sheep follow the Shepherd. We follow Christ crucified and risen.

We follow Him through the flood. In the waters of the Jordan, our Lord entered the flood for us, that we might be united to Him in Holy Baptism. There, we die with Him and are buried with Him, in order that we might also rise with Him to newness of life.

We follow Him under the weight and shadow of the cross. Through many dangers, toils, and snares we follow where our Captain treads. In the valley of the shadow of death, we need fear no evil, for He is with us, as we are in Him. In the midst of the changes and chances of life, we follow on His path, because His light leads the way.

We follow Jesus Christ through the grave. Although we enter the grave and are buried into the earth, we know that we shall not remain there forever. Our Lord was placed into the tomb and sealed into the earth, but was raised again on the third day and has ascended into heaven. Death is but a portal to the courts of the Lord. We die, just as our Lord, and our bodies are placed into the ground, but we shall be united in the body again when the Lord calls us at the last. And until then, the saints of God rest in the bosom of Abraham, in the house of God.

In the midst of the sting of death, we have the gracious promise of Jesus: “where I am, there My servant will be also.” Where Christ is, there also His saints. In the water, at the altar, through the grave, in the courts of the Lord. Where Christ is, there also His saint Leslie, and all those beloved faithful who have gone before us in the Lord. We grieve because Les is no longer here among us, but we have hope because we know that the angels have borne him home, because where Christ is, there are His servants.

Death hurts. The Gospel seems so many words and such foolishness and stupidity. The pain of losing a loved one aches deeply and long. But this foolishness is the truth – God has chosen to save us by the foolishness of the cross. The Lord will give you wisdom to believe. The Lord will give you strength to press on in faith. In weakness, even in death, the strength of God prevails for His children. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Despised and scorned, they sojourned here;

But now, how glorious they appear!

Those martyrs stand,

A priestly band,

God's throne forever near.

On earth they wept through bitter years;

Now God has wiped away their tears,

Transformed their strife

To heav'nly life,

And freed them from their fears.

They now enjoy the Sabbath rest,

The heav'nly banquet of the blest;

The Lamb, their Lord,

At festive board

Himself is host and guest (LSB 676:2).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.