"Passion Prediction, Passion Production" (Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent)

One of the themes of Lent, as we head toward Holy Week, is the approaching Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Does that word jump out at you a little bit, “Passion”? It should. Usually when we use the word “passion” in our culture, we’re talking about strong emotion. For example, “The artist went about his work with great passion, painting through the night,” or “The young woman was overcome with passion and fell head over heels in love.” “Passion,” as we most often use the term, is associated with either zeal or romance.

But when we use the term “Passion” in regard to Christ, we are talking about his suffering, specifically, the suffering and death he endured during Holy Week, when he was betrayed, arrested, beaten, whipped, crucified, and killed. In this context, “Passion” means “suffering.”

But as I say, in our normal conversations, “passion” means “strong feeling.” So what’s the connection between the two ideas? It is this: It is the idea of being acted upon, or something happening to you. When we talk about passion--as in eagerness, zeal, romance, falling in love, etc.--there is the idea of being overcome with strong emotion, that the emotion takes over and takes control of you. Likewise, when we talk about the Passion of Christ, there is also the idea of him being overcome, taken control of, being acted upon, of things happening to him. That is the connecting link between the two, passion as strong emotion and passion as suffering.

Now our Gospel reading for today has to do with the Passion of Christ, his suffering. To be precise, it is the first prediction of his Passion that Christ makes in the gospel narrative. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the early ministry of Jesus in Galilee leads up to the point of Peter’s great confession, “You are the Christ.” And then, right after that, Jesus tells the disciples what his being the Christ will entail, much to their surprise and consternation, namely, that the Christ must suffer. Today we heard it from Mark’s gospel, as follows: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

In the study of the gospels, this kind of statement, where Christ speaks ahead of time of his coming suffering--and he does this three times in the gospel narrative--this type of statement is referred to by a technical term, and that is, a “Passion Prediction.” Our text today is the first “Passion Prediction.” In it, Jesus tells us what will happen to him--suffering, rejection, being killed. But we want to know not just the “what” but also the “so what.” So what difference does this make for our lives? So what will be the result, the outcome, of that suffering? And so our theme for today: “Passion Prediction, Passion Production.”

First, the Passion Prediction. “The Son of Man must suffer many things,” Jesus says. “The Son of Man” is the title that Jesus uses the most often for himself. It is a curious choice. It was not the customary title that Jews used for the coming Messiah or Christ. But it did have some Old Testament background. In the Book of Daniel, there is a vision of “one like a son of man” who comes with the clouds of heaven, and to him is given “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

Now, to be sure, this vision is fulfilled by Jesus Christ. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and he will come again with glory, on the clouds of heaven, at the Last Day. But how he gets there is what is so puzzling. This “Son of Man,” the Messiah, the Christ, comes to his glory through suffering. That is what’s so odd about how Jesus talks about himself as the Son of Man. It throws Peter off, that’s for sure. He doesn’t want to hear about a suffering Christ. He wants the glory model, no suffering needed. But Jesus tells him, “You’re not thinking the things of God but the things of man.”

Apparently, the things of God include the Christ suffering “many things,” including being rejected by the very religious leaders who ought to be hailing him--elders, chief priest, scribes. But instead of hailing him, they will be the ones hauling him before the Roman governor and convincing him that this false Christ, in their minds--that he should be crucified and killed. That, of course, is what will happen. It will happen to Jesus, the Son of Man. It will be his Passion.

Jesus predicts his Passion. That’s the “what.” But now, what about the “so what”? You see, this is more than just a melodrama, a tragedy, about an innocent man suffering unjustly. There is a purpose and goal to all of this. God is doing something by Christ’s suffering, something that affects every one of us in the most wonderful way possible. Here let’s turn to our Epistle for today, from Romans, for St. Paul tells us the outcome, the result, of Christ’s suffering, in terms of what it produces for us. We move from “Passion Prediction” to “Passion Production.”

Paul really piles up the terms for what Christ’s suffering and death mean for us. He uses all the rich, gospel-filled words in his vocabulary, words like “justified,” “saved,” “reconciled.” Beautiful, wonderful words of life for us! Let’s look at each of those three very briefly, “justified,” “saved,” and “reconciled.”

“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” St. Paul writes, and later, “we have now been justified by his blood.” “Justified” is the big term here. It means to be put right with God, to be declared righteous in God’s court of justice. Think of a courtroom, where you are the one on trial. God’s Law is brought out to charge you with your offenses: Have you kept these commandments of God, to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself? The evidence from your life is brought forward as exhibits for the prosecution: Many, many acts of selfishness, of blowing off God, of failure to help and be kind to all the people you meet. Impure thoughts, hateful words, dishonest deeds. “But, but, your honor, I’ve done some good stuff, too!” Sorry, no plea-bargaining allowed. The verdict is in: Guilty as charged. You are an ungodly sinner, an enemy of God. The judgment, the punishment decreed in God’s law book: the wrath of God, death and damnation eternally.

But now your Advocate comes forward. He is Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He has kept all the laws in the book, perfectly. The only man who ever has. And he offers to take your place. He will suffer the righteous, just penalty for all your sins. He sheds his holy blood--the blood of God’s only Son!--for you on the cross. God’s justice is satisfied. The penalty, the death penalty, is paid in full. Now God can be a just judge, a righteous judge, even when he declares you, a sinner, “Not guilty!” My friends, that is justification, that is what it means to be “justified”! That is what Christ’s Passion has produced for you!

“Saved”: There’s another term Paul uses to describe what Christ’s Passion has produced. Think now of a situation of great danger. Your boat has capsized out in the middle of the ocean. You’re drifting along, helpless, clinging to the wood that separates you from drowning and from the sharks. But you have no food or water. You’re exposed to the elements. You can’t last much longer. Who will rescue you from your desperate situation? Now, all of a sudden, here comes the Coast Guard! They pull you out of the water, give you food and drink and warm dry clothing, and take you to safety. That is a picture of what it is to be “saved.” The rescue and the resulting state of safety.

Paul says that you and I have been saved. We have been saved from God’s wrath, that is, his hot anger against sinners. Christ took that wrath, that hot anger, on himself. There is the rescue. And now we are saved for eternal life. There is the resulting state of safety. Salvation, being saved, that is another way to talk about what Christ’s Passion has produced for us.

And now one more. “Reconciled.” “While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,” Paul says, “through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Think now of two parties who are “on the outs.” In fact, one is the declared enemy of the other. But somehow, these two are brought together. Peace is made, reconciliation is achieved.

This too is a picture of what Christ’s Passion has done for us. It has reconciled us to God, brought us back into a state of peace with God. We were God’s enemies, estranged from him, rebels, on the outs, however you want to express it. But now, through Christ’s peace-making death on the cross, we have been brought near to God. The hostilities are ended. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Justified, saved, reconciled: These are all ways to picture and describe the great and glorious work that God has done for you in Christ, through his suffering and death. The “what” of Christ’s suffering has a great big “so what” in your life and for your eternal life. Christ’s Passion Prediction leads to the most wonderful Passion Production: justification, salvation, and reconciliation. All these “big words” stand for “big realities” that are yours in Christ.

But now there’s one more “passion prediction” in our readings for today--I don’t know if you noticed it. It is a prediction of your own passion, your own suffering. Things will happen to you. Yes, you will suffer by being a follower of Jesus. Jesus predicts it. He says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” To take up your cross means that you will suffer--and die! Following Jesus, being his disciple, will mean suffering for you in this life. The world will be against you, as it was against your Master. You will be persecuted. The devil will attack you, try to destroy your faith. Your own sinful flesh will mislead you. You will need to put that Old Adam to death. Dying daily to sin, dying to self, that is part of taking up your cross.

Your own suffering, your own passion, is predicted. But this too will produce good things. No, not your justification or salvation or reconciliation with God. Only Christ’s Passion can produce those divine gifts. But now that you have those gifts, and you know it by faith, now you can endure the sufferings in your life, and those sufferings will even produce good results.

St. Paul puts it like this: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Because of the peace we have with God through Christ, now we are able to rejoice even in the midst of sufferings. We know there is something more, much more, than the afflictions we suffer in this fallen world and in this short life. Our joy is greater than our afflictions! And so the suffering will produce endurance, perseverance--the ability to bear up, over the long haul, under the suffering. This is not a product we can muster up by just being stoic about it and keeping our chin up and a stiff upper lip. No, this is not mere human endurance. It is a bearing up borne of the gospel, wrought by the Spirit. “Suffering produces endurance.”

“And endurance produces character.” Character, the tested quality of a metal that has been tried under fire and found to be genuine. Being put through the fire--many times, even, over the years--this will actually purify and strengthen your faith, burning away the dross. That is the character of a well-tested faith. But that only comes through enduring affliction. The fire is not pleasant at the time. But God is doing something, doing a good work in you through it.

“Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” That is what you are left with: hope, the hope of the glory to come. When all other supports fall away, when there is nothing left in this life to lift your spirits, you still have this to hold on to: hope. Hope is the knowledge of what is in store for you because of Christ. You can’t see it, not yet, but you know it is so. The Holy Spirit has poured God’s love into your heart, and you know it.

And when the sufferings of this life finally come to an end, this hope that you have--this hope will not disappoint you. What you have been hoping for all these years--this hope will not put you to shame. For the outcome, the final result of your hope, will be just as God has always said it would be--unending days of blessedness and joy, in glory, with Christ and with all his saints--all that, and more!

What a hope we have, dear friends! And it all comes back to our dear Lord Jesus Christ and his Passion, which he himself predicted and entered into willingly, for you. Yes, his Passion has produced these marvelous results in our lives and for our everlasting life!

Mark 8:27-38 (ESV)

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Romans 5:1-11 (ESV)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

To take up your cross means that you will suffer--and die! Following Jesus, being his disciple, will mean suffering for you in this life. The world will be against you, as it was against your Master. You will be persecuted. The devil will attack you, try to destroy your faith. Your own sinful flesh will mislead you. You will need to put that Old Adam to death. Dying daily to sin, dying to self, that is part of taking up your cross.

Thanks for another great sermon pastor. We are seeing the part above more and more on a daily basis these days.

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