Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for They Shall See God

(Part 6 of a series of 9 articles on the Beatitudes)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8

As we saw in the Fourth Beatitude (Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, for They Shall be Satisfied ), outward piety is not the same thing as purity of heart. Piety may (or may not) be a sign of purity of heart, but it is sometimes just a show to try to cover-up a guilty heart. We are not made righteous and pure when we do what is right, especially because we are sinners to begin with. We must rely on God to make us pure and righteous through the work of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. We may think we are pure and holy when we do what we feel is good, but our sinful condition deceives us and makes us think we are pure when we are filthy dirty with sin.

The Pharisees made themselves look like pious, godly people, and they likely thought that they were, but both John the Baptist and Jesus exposed them for what they really were: children of snakes (Matthew 3:7) and whitewashed corpses (Matthew 23:27). The reason why this is true is found when Jesus taught, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ ” (Matthew 15:19) Here Jesus shows us that the sinful heart is the source of sin. Because of this, sinful actions are not what make us sinful or “unclean” (because we are already sinful) and, correspondingly, good works do not make us pure and holy. A murderer (for example) is not made holy by doing some good deed – or even by doing some “great” deed. He is still a murderer, and subject to condemnation. The good can never outweigh the guilt of our sin. Because of God’s commandments, we ought to be doing good in everything we do, so if we fail to do some good, then we can’t do more than everything we already do to “balance the scale.”

This would seem as if we would have no hope of having a pure heart once it is corrupted, and that would be true unless there was some way that our impure heart could be purified. David wrote in Psalm 24:3-6

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. — Selah

The prodigal son recognized his impurity and sin, and repented. The Father rejoiced to receive his son as if he had returned from the dead.

Properly speaking, only Jesus naturally qualifies for all this, so we should first see this as a prophesy of the Christ. Jesus stands in God’s Holy Place because He is God in the flesh, and is perfectly pure and holy. Yet, it was not for His sake alone that Jesus was obedient to God the Father, but Jesus was the perfectly obedient Son to redeem us from our sins that we may be washed clean and made pure that we, too, may “ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place”. We, who trust in Jesus to forgive us and save us from our sins, are those who “receive blessing … and righteousness from the God of (our) salvation.” The “salvation” that David foretold is the redeeming work of Jesus to take the guilt of our sins in His body and suffer the punishment of death in our place so that He may redeem us and purify our hearts that we may “stand in (God’s) holy place” with pure hearts and without the fear of condemnation for our sin.

What, then, is a pure heart? How can sinners even comprehend such a concept? Martin Luther says it is a heart which is “watching and pondering what God says and replacing its own ideas with the Word of God.” This is another way of saying it is a heart which lives by faith, trusting in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Saint Paul wrote, “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:15-16) To be “justified” is to be forgiven, and, having been forgiven, your heart is made pure by the saving work of Jesus Christ. This is the only way we may have a pure heart.

David also wrote in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” King David was not made impure by his adultery, murder, and other sins. He was already corrupted by sin from the start, and that sinfulness is what led to his terrible sins in his actions toward Uriah and his wife, Bathsheba. Yet, the repentant King David trusted that God would purify his wicked heart and “renew a steadfast spirit” within him. Again, we see that David was not purified by doing some great work to “balance the evil with good,” but he was purified only by the work of God to “create” and “renew” this pure heart within him.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes how we sinners are purified when he wrote, “When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:11-14) This shows us that the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament weren’t really what purified God’s people in ancient days. They were just prophetic signs pointing toward their fulfillment in the Messiah who offered His life as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Christ’s death purifies us because He is the “perfect” sacrifice for sin who redeems us by suffering the punishment that we deserved, so that we may be purified to live in His presence eternally without sin.

Saint Paul also describes this in His letter to the Ephesians, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27) Here it is clear that Christ is the one who sanctifies us and washes us clean of our sin through Holy Baptism (“water with the word”) that we may be purified and stand in God’s presence “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she (i.e. “the church”, which are all believers in Christ from all times – see Revelation 7:13-14) might be holy and without blemish.”

“They will see God”

God gave Jacob a vision of heaven and angels to show him that he was truly blessed by God despite his lies and treachery toward his father, Isaac.

Now that we see that those “pure in heart” are those who trust in God to save them through the life and death of Jesus Christ, and have been purified by His blood, we see that Jesus says that the pure in heart will “see God.” This is a great blessing because we cannot see God now as sinners. In Genesis 32:22-32 Jacob wrestled with God, then named the place “Peniel” because he had seen the face of God (Peniel means “God’s face”), and was delivered (from death – see verse 30). This shows that it is a very rare thing for anyone to see God, even in ancient times, and even among Biblical saints. Though God may make Himself visible to anyone if He sees a need to do so, only a select few have ever seen God in this way (and those are far fewer than have claimed to have done so). This also shows us that God’s people expect God to meet them at their death to take them to be where He is.

It is not superstition to say that no sinner may see God. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God Himself told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20) Also, in Deuteronomy 5:25, after hearing God speak the Ten Commandments, the Israelite congregation told Moses, “If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die.” These verses remind us that our sinfulness puts us in no state to encounter God in the fullness of His glory – either seeing His face or even hearing His voice. God’s holiness is so pure that anyone sinful cannot live in His immediate, unfiltered presence. In the Biblical passages like these we see that, in His mercy, God hides His glory from us when He deals with us, so that He does not kill us. This is why God the Holy Spirit works through the “Means of Grace”. These are God’s Word and the Sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Holy Baptism. The “Means of Grace” are God’s ways of coming to us personally, and dealing with us without bringing harm to us, but still working salvation for us.

God the Holy Spirit works through these “Means” to come to where we are to create a pure heart within us (the new birth of Holy Baptism), to call us to repentance (by the Law in God’s Word), to lead us to trust in Jesus for our forgiveness and salvation (through the Gospel in God’s Word), and to give us the Body and Blood of Jesus to eat and drink (in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper) so that we may remain a part of His body in this sinful world until the fulfillment of our salvation. These “Means” are simple worldly things (water, words, bread and wine) that are joined to God’s Word to bring God to us for our salvation. God works through these means so He doesn’t destroy us, and so that all who don’t want God’s salvation and forgiveness (for whatever reason) can reject Him if they so desire. In this way, God gets all the glory and credit for our forgiveness and salvation, and those who reject Him get all the blame themselves, since God has provided forgiveness and salvation for all who trust in Jesus as their savior.

Samson’s Parents feared they would die when the Angel of the Lord foretold the birth of their son. They soon realized that God graciously allowed them to see Him so that they would know how to raise their son to conquer their oppressors.

Besides Jacob seeing God at Peniel there are a couple similar encounters with God in the days of the judges in Israel. In Judges 6:22 Gideon fears that he will die because he has seen the Angel of the Lord, but the Lord comforts him and tells him that he will not die. Likewise, in Judges 13:22 Samson’s father fears that he and his wife will die for having seen the Lord, but his wife says that if God had wanted to kill them He wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and wouldn’t have given them directions about how to raise their son as a Nazirite (i.e. someone set apart for service to God). It seems that God made these appearances to impress upon these people that the message He gave them was true because it truly came from God. This may have been necessary because there was still quite a bit of apostasy among the Israelite people from time to time that not all messages that people claimed to come from God really came from Him. These kindly appearances of God showed people that God had a particular purpose for them, and they should listen to Him and follow His directions.

The prophet, Job, also gave a strong testimony of trusting that he would live after he died, and see God in the resurrection of all flesh on the last day. Though the textual evidence suggests that the book of Job is likely extremely ancient, suggesting that Job lived long before Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (as we count them), Job testified, “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19:26-27) Job not only trusted in God to resurrect him from the dead, but that God would also purify him from all sin that he might see the face of His beloved redeemer without fear of condemnation and death. It is no wonder that the familiar hymn, “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” is a favorite both for the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, and for comfort to those who mourn at Christian funerals.

Job testified, “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19:26-27)

The Apostle John also gives a strong testimony of confident faith that Christians will see God when he wrote in his first Epistle, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3) God demonstrates great love for us (for the sake of Christ) by adopting us as His children (see John 3:5) as we live by faith in Jesus, who has paid the price to redeem us from our sin and washed us clean through the water of Holy Baptism. Since Christ has done this for us, we will be able to see God without harm once our Sanctification is completed in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.

What do the Wicked See?

If the “pure in heart” are blessed to see God, then what do those with impure hearts see? It is most likely that they only see themselves, and seeing themselves they could either imagine that they see God (and are deceived), or they see their wickedness and sin and despair of any hope of salvation. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 36:1-2 (NIV) “An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” Here we see that the wicked is so focused on himself that he does not see God, but he has a false impression of the state of his wicked heart. Solomon also wrote “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” (Proverbs 21:2) Any man who considers himself right in his own eyes has made himself his own idol or false god. If you think you are righteous, then you will not look to God for your salvation and will not see Him, and you will think Jesus foolish for dying on the cross because you think you have done the work yourself. This is, of course, a self-delusion. If you think Jesus a fool, then you would not trust in Him to save you from your sin, but then you would be lost.

Saint Paul wrote in his letter to Titus (1:15), “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.” Sinners who are corrupted by sin cannot really bear to see the things of God which are truly pure. To do so only reminds us of how impure we really are, and that is not easy to take. Our sinful condition blinds us to our impurity so that we think we are pretty good, and it hurts to see the truth.

David did not see God with his eyes, but he trusted in God’s Word and promises.

David wrote, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.” (Psalm 5:4-5) This is another reason why the wicked cannot see God. Unless God sanctifies you and makes you holy, you cannot stand in God’s presence, nor see His blessed face. However, as Jesus makes clear in the sixth Beatitude, those who have been purified through faith in Jesus will see God and stand in His presence without fear of punishment.

Another Psalmist wrote, “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’ (Psalm 10:2-4) Here we see that the wicked cannot see past the evil “desires of his soul.” He is greedy for worldly gain and “curses and renounces the Lord.” The wicked do not seek God, and because of that, they do not see Him, and they convince themselves that “‘There is no god.’” In a way, the wicked are like stubborn children who cover their face with their hands, and proclaim, “I can’t see you!” In Psalm 10 the Psalmist prays that God will bring justice and punish the wicked, but when it happens it will be a surprise to the wicked.

Solomon also wrote, “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.” (Proverbs 4:19) Here we see that the wicked stumble, but do not know what they are stumbling over because their way is “darkness” and they cannot see what makes them stumble. Saint John tells his readers, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) Because of this, those in darkness do not see God. Though, as we see above, that darkness is self-inflicted, because God reveals who He is in the Holy Scriptures, if only people would open their eyes to see what has been revealed. 

What will we see when we see God?

God became flesh and dwelt among us and we will behold His glory forever, because He has redeemed us and forgiven all our sins.

When we see God, we will see that God loves us so much that the Second Person of the Trinity became incarnate as a man to live in obedience to God’s law, and then to suffer and die on the cross to redeem us sinners so that He can restore to us the purity and holiness which He created in the first place. In this holiness, He will take us to live with Him forever, where we will always see His glorious face smiling at His beloved children with an unfailing, eternal love.

Therefore this sixth Beatitude contains many great blessings. God, in His merciful kindness, first purifies our hearts through faith in Jesus Christ as our savior. Then He will gather us to Himself so that we may see Him, and rejoice in His glorious presence without being destroyed. This will not happen to us in this sinful world, but will only occur at the judgment on the Last Day. Thus, all believers in Christ will praise God for His great work of salvation, and for the glorious life which is to be revealed in His beloved sanctified people. 

 

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See also:
Psalm 73
Proverbs 20:9
2 Timothy 2:22
Isaiah 1:12-20
Jeremiah 4:14
Acts 15:7-11  
Psalm 14:3 (and 53:3)
Galatians 2:16

 

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Other articles in this series:

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed are Those who Mourn, For They Will be Comforted 

Blessed are the Meek, for They Shall Inherit the Earth 

Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, for They Shall be Satisfied 

Blessed are the Merciful, for They Shall Receive Mercy 

Coming soon:

Blessed are The Peacemakers, for They Shall be Called Sons of God

Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit

by Pastor Paul Wolff

“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:44-46)

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Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

As Jesus was dying on the cross He had just proclaimed His victory by the word, “It is Finished.” Yet there was one thing yet to do, and without it we could not have been saved. “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) And if Jesus had not died to pay for the sins of the world, we would have had to die for our sin without any hope of salvation. It was proper for Jesus to proclaim His victory before it was done, because after He was dead He would not be able to say anything. Plus, He had come this far, He was not going to back out now. He had suffered God’s wrath over our sins and remained the faithful, obedient Son, still loving and trusting in God the Father, even while enduring the fierce wrath of God over all our wickedness and sins.

Is it any wonder that God twice proclaimed publicly, “This is my beloved Son. With Him I am well pleased.” When any of us sinners face some lesser pain or suffering we are easily tempted to wonder if God has abandoned us. Yet, here is Jesus, tormented and tortured on the cross, suffering the wrath of God over the sins of the world, which He had nothing to do with and did not contribute anything to in the least, and He still trusts in God to save Him from the death which follows directly.

We also see here that both His first and last words on the cross were prayers to His beloved Father. “Father, forgive them” and “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” These prayers were prayed by a faithful Son who loved His good and gracious Father, even when it seemed like God was His enemy. Jesus lived His life as a man by faith, just as all of us ought to do, but where we often fail, Jesus was steadfast at all times. Here as Jesus faced death, He was still trusting in God to save Him. Jesus knew that He had to die, but He had faith that God is the one who rescues people from death. Even the sinless Son of God, who carried the sins of the world in His body and suffered the wrath of God like no one ever knew – He trusted that God would not abandon Him to the grave forever, but would rescue Him as He had promised to rescue us sinners for the sake of Christ.

Jesus died on the cross to rescue you from the condemnation of your sins.

This also is where Jesus faced His last temptation as a mortal man – who was also God Almighty. Many times Jesus had been tempted to use His almighty, Divine power to save Himself, and this is surely one of those times. Jesus was at one of His weakest points as a man, yet, He could have summoned all power in heaven and earth to save Himself. If there had been the slightest flaw in His love for God or for wicked sinners, He could have stumbled here. If He had secretly desired the damnation of any horrible wicked murdering, lying, godless sinner, then He would not have let Himself die, and we all would get exactly what we deserved. Yet, Christ’s love was perfect. Jesus paid the full price for all sinners, even those who despised Him and rejected the price He paid to win their salvation, and all those who loved their sin more than Jesus, and reject His forgiveness and salvation. Jesus still loved them to the end, and gave His life for them.

Jesus had no proof that God would save Him from death, except what was written in the Holy Scriptures. In His humility, Jesus did not use His Omniscience as God to give Him assurance of God’s Will. He had the Word of God in the Bible, but Jesus had to trust that the Bible was true, and that God always kept His word.

It is humbling to think about it, but among all the things that could have gone wrong and cost us our salvation, we had to depend on Jesus not being a Biblical skeptic who doubted that the Bible was an accurate and dependable record of God’s Word. Jesus fully trusted that the Bible was the Word of God, and He always interpreted it correctly, even when those around Him often misinterpreted the Scriptures, and twisted the meaning to say something different – just as we see people doing it today. Even when the devil tried to twist the Scripture to tempt Jesus to sin, Jesus trusted God’s Word in the Bible was right, even when it caused Him suffering and pain.

Here we also see that these very last words out of the mouth of Jesus before He died were straight from the Bible. Jesus was quoting Psalm 31:5 which says, “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” We see that Jesus did not quote the whole verse, but His strength was failing, and He was dying, and we get the idea. Jesus was trusting in God, His Father, to look after His spirit and do with it what was good, right, and proper. Jesus would not try to save Himself, but trusted in God to restore His life, and to accept His sacrifice as the payment for the sins of the world, so that all who believe in Jesus will also be forgiven and rescued from death and given life everlasting in Paradise. Jesus trusted in God to be faithful to His Word, and He was not disappointed.

Jesus died trusting in God to save Him, and He not only saved Jesus from death, but gave Jesus all authority in Heaven and on earth, and rescue from sin and death to all who look to Jesus to save them from their sins. God’s Word is true, and because Jesus trusted in God and gave His life to redeem our sinful lives, we have the full forgiveness of sins and the promise of everlasting life in Paradise. We can live by faith, just as Jesus did His whole life, so that when we find ourselves face to face with death, we can trust in God to rescue us, and say with Jesus: “Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”

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Articles in this series from 2023:

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
Woman behold your son. Son, behold your mother.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
I thirst.
It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

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Father Forgive Them

First in a series on the seven last words of Jesus

by Pastor Paul Wolff

“Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with (Jesus). And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”
(Luke 23:32-34)

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Christ’s first words when He was lifted up on the cross were “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Crucifixion in the Roman Empire was a public spectacle. The victims were meant to serve as a warning to others not to do as they had done, lest you suffer the same fate. It was not only meant as a means of carrying out the death penalty, but it was also meant to shame and torture the victims in the worst possible way. The humane way of execution was beheading – like the execution of John the Baptist. That was quick, with a minimum of suffering, and out of the public eye.

Victims of crucifixion had much to say while they were dying. But you wouldn’t allow your children near a crucifixion unless you were forced. Likely most of what the crucified had to say is not worth repeating in polite company. The statements of those who were crucified consisted almost entirely of curses and foul language. You would certainly never hear a crucified man blessing those who were killing him.

Yet here is Jesus, stripped naked, beaten and bloodied, wearing a crown of thorns on His head, nailed to a cross; and what is the first thing He says when He is lifted up? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” I can confidently say that no one who was there at Golgotha that day had ever heard anything like it. Who was this man?

The sign over his head read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”. Yet, Herod Antipas was King over Judea, not this man. This man was the son of a carpenter from Nazareth. Neither He, nor His father, was royalty, much less a king. At least one person there at Golgotha knew that Joseph of Nazareth was a descendant of King David, but that didn’t make him royalty. There hadn’t been a Davidic King over Judah in hundreds of years, and even in the days of Jesus, most Jews had likely had an ancestor who was a descendant of King David, so that wasn’t anything special. Yet this man, the son of a carpenter from Nazareth, was the true King of the Jews.

The true King of the Jews, and all Israel, had always been God. It really didn’t matter that Jesus was a descendant of King David, except that God had promised David that his descendant would reign on his throne forever. What really mattered was that this man was the only-begotten Son of God. That is what made Jesus the King of the Jews. This is why we hold to the truth of the miraculous conception of Jesus. His mother, Mary, was, and remained, a virgin until the time when Jesus was born. His Father was God, and Jesus, Himself, though incarnate as a man, was likewise the same God with the Father, and the Holy Spirit – three persons yet one and the same God.

So since Jesus is God in the flesh, what was He doing there hanging naked and nailed to a cross? The answer is in the first words that Jesus says after he was lifted up: “Father, forgive them.” It was as if Jesus could hardly wait to ask God, the Father, to forgive sinners. That is what Jesus was doing there on the cross. It is the same thing that He was working toward His whole life as a man. Jesus was there to forgive. Jesus is still here to forgive, but He is only here today to forgive you because of what He did then and there on the cross.

Remember this when someone says that Christianity isn’t all about the forgiveness of sins, but about loving your neighbor, or some other works-righteousness where you must save yourself. The eternal God did not become incarnate as a man and then suffer and die on the cross so that you would have to try to save yourself. God became incarnate so that He would save you.

Jesus did not have to go to the cross for Himself – He went to the cross for you! For His sake, Jesus should not have been there on the cross. It should have been you, dying for your own sins. Jesus was without sin His entire life. He was completely innocent before God and before man. The charges that men contrived to put Him on a cross were all lies. Governor Pilate knew they were wicked lies, but the wicked leaders of the Jews threatened to start riots which would threaten the livelihood and life of Pilate. Pilate wanted to do what was just and right, but if this man Jesus would not speak up to defend Himself, then Pilate could only go so far. It would do no good for Pilate to die for Jesus at this time, but it would accomplish much good for Jesus to die for Pilate, and the Jews, and the Gentiles, and all who would ever live on the earth.

It is a strange thing that the King of the Jews would die for His people. It is even more strange that the Almighty God incarnate would die for the sins of His people. God is a just God who is holy, and must punish sin, but God is also a merciful God who forgives sin. God could not punish us sinners for our sins without destroying us, so He paid the price Himself.

Jesus didn’t just say, “Father forgive them.” Jesus was there on the cross paying the price for the sins of the whole world so that your sins would be atoned for. What does forgiveness look like? It looks like God as a man beaten and naked nailed to a cross wearing a crown of thorns. There is your forgiveness and your salvation. Behold the man. Behold your forgiveness.

Forgiveness is what Jesus was there for. Forgiveness what Jesus is here for today, too! Jesus is here in His word and sacraments to forgive you and save you from your sins. 

No wonder the Centurion looked on Jesus after He died and said, “Truly, this man was the son of God.” (Mark 15:39)

 

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Articles in this series:

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
Woman behold your son. Son, behold your mother.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
I thirst.
It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

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Today You Will be With Me in Paradise

Second in a series on the Seven Last Words of Jesus

by Pastor Paul Wolff

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at (Jesus), saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 

But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 

And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
(Luke 23:39-43)

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One of the criminals … said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

There is a sarcastic saying which says, “No one is useless. You can always serve as a bad example.” In the ancient Roman empire crucifixion was the ultimate expression of this adage. “Don’t be like this guy, or else you will suffer the same humiliation and torture as him.”

The two men who were crucified along with Jesus were just such people. They were the dregs of society. Roman society had no more use for them, except to use them as a lesson for others. Jesus did not look at them that way. When Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them …” He wasn’t only talking about those who were crucifying Him, and those who conspired for his death. Jesus was praying for the forgiveness of all sinners, including those two who were crucified along with Him.

One of the criminals next to Jesus mocked Him saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself, and us!” This taunt sounds like Satan’s temptations of Jesus. “If you are the Christ … If you are the Son of God …” He said this as if he expected Jesus to do what he thought the Christ should do, instead of what God sent Him to do. “Save us!” he said. For what did he want to be saved? Did he want his sinful life restored so he could continue to lie, cheat, steal, and murder? That is not salvation.

The other criminal saw his situation, and he probably heard Jesus praying for his forgiveness, and he repented. He wanted the peace that would lead a crucified man to pray for his tormentors. Such a thing did not happen often, if ever. First, he called his friend to repentance as he confessed the guilt of his sins. “Don’t you fear God? … Our punishment is just, for we are getting what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.” The Second use of God’s Law is to show us our sin. The repentant thief recognized his sin and confessed it. The wages of sin is death. All sinners deserve to die for their sins. All sinners deserve to be there dying on the cross. The one man who did not deserve to die was Jesus. Yet there He was dying for sinners.

Then the repentant thief looked to Jesus to save Him. “Jesus, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom.” Truly this is a great example that faith is a miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was being crucified just as the thieves were. Jesus had the power and authority as the Son of God to avoid death, but He didn’t use that power to save Himself. Jesus would die like a man to rescue mankind from sin and death. “Jesus, King of Israel, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.”

Jesus did not laugh at the condemned criminal. He did not treat him like an irredeemable piece of worthless human trash – as the world considered him. Jesus saw him as a beloved child of God – the likes of which Jesus had come to save. Jesus once taught, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7) Jesus rejoiced to save this lost sinner. Jesus came to save sinners. Here was one looking to Him for salvation. This man was lost, and now he was found. Jesus was not so preoccupied with his own suffering, but He gave comfort to the repentant thief. “Truly, today you will be with me in paradise.”

“Today!” There is no waiting for salvation. There is no purgatory to add to the suffering of life after death. “Today you will be with me in Paradise!” As a sinner, this thief was an enemy of God by nature, but, through faith, Jesus adopted him as his beloved child, and would share with him the inheritance of his heavenly kingdom that very day. What a joy it is to be rescued from sin and death by Jesus. It is sad that this former thief did not have the comfort of salvation earlier in his life. He was late to the party, but not too late, and better late than never.

The salvation of the repentant thief is another example of how salvation is free through faith in Jesus. This man did nothing to save himself. He was dead to the world in the last hours of his life. Yet, Jesus suffered and died to redeem him of his sin. This man’s sin only brought him trouble and hardship in life and directly led to his early death. Yet, the Holy Spirit gave him faith in Jesus and led him to repent of his sin and receive the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus won for him as He died on the cross next to him.

The world has nearly as little use for Jesus as it did for the two thieves crucified on either side of him, and the world tries to get rid of Jesus, even to this day. They do this to sin more – thinking that to sin freely is freedom. Yet, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34) But “if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.” (John 8:36) Jesus forgave the repentant man condemned by the world. The world had told him how fun it was to lie, cheat, steal, and murder, then condemned him to death for learning his lesson too well. He still had to die for his crimes, but as a forgiven child of God, heaven was opened to him to live forever in paradise.

Jesus was not ashamed to suffer and die for people such as this poor thief. If Jesus could rescue him from sin and death and give him salvation that very day, then Jesus can also take joy in rescuing you from your sin and death. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” The repentant thief looked to Jesus and found salvation. Today salvation is yours through faith in Christ who rescues sinners from death to give them eternal life in Paradise.

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Articles in this series:

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
Woman behold your son. Son, behold your mother.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
I thirst.
It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

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Woman behold your son…. Son, behold your mother.

Third in a series on the Seven Last Words of Jesus

by Pastor Paul Wolff 

 

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:25-27)

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Jesus said, to Mary and John “Woman, behold your son.” “Son, behold your mother.”

The work of Jesus to win salvation and pay for the sins of the world wasn’t done in a day. Good Friday was the most important day, but it was the completion of a lifetime of work. Jesus lived about 12,000 days from His birth to His death, and every day was a test. Would He love the Lord God with all His heart, mind, soul, and strength – even when it was the Lord’s will that He endure God’s wrath for sinners? Would He love His neighbor as Himself – even when those people sinned against Him, and hated Him and plotted to kill Him and took great satisfaction in doing so? If Jesus had failed just once in 12,000 days it would be all over, and our hope for salvation would have been lost.

As we consider the work of God for our salvation we ought to think about the work of Jesus in two aspects: active and passive obedience to God. The passive obedience of Christ was that He let sinners falsely accuse Him of sin and hang Him on a cross to die, and He also passively endured God’s wrath over the sins of the world, so that He could take the punishment meant for sinners, and rescue them from the righteous wrath of God. This is what Jesus was doing hanging on the cross, but His work of active obedience was not done.

The active obedience of Christ was that He actively obeyed all the commandments of God. In all of His 12,000 days, Jesus always did the good things that He ought to have done, and He never did any of the evil things that were forbidden by God’s commandments. This had to be done for our salvation so that Jesus could be the perfect obedient man who obeyed all God’s commandments, and the perfect unblemished sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. The Active obedience of Christ is why God said of Him, “This is my beloved son. In Him I am well pleased.” 

In this third word that Jesus gives from the cross we see again that He is still thinking of others, and not himself. Jesus sees His mother, and the disciple who is not named in John’s Gospel, which is John himself. By saying to Mary, “Woman, behold your son” and to John, “Behold, your mother” Jesus is telling Mary to consider John to be her son and He is telling John to consider Mary to be his mother. In doing this, Jesus is keeping the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother.”

Jesus was honoring His mother by seeing that she was provided for in her old age. Assuming Mary was in her early to middle twenties when Jesus was born, she would have been in her middle to late fifties when Jesus was crucified, and could have lived many more years before her death. Jesus would not be around bodily to take care of her, and none of her other children were there with her at the cross of Christ, but John was there. It was the duty of the children to take care of their parents in their old age. As the firstborn son, Jesus was most responsible to take care of His mother. However, that was not His calling. Just as He was not called to take a wife and raise a family, so He would not live to see His mother grow old before He died. Jesus could have left the care of His mother to His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, but where were they? They were not there at the cross with Mary. Likewise, none of Jesus’ disciples were there except John. Jesus had the responsibility to see that Mary not only was provided with material needs, but also Spiritual needs. John could be considered the most faithful of the disciples.

John had run away with all the other disciples when Jesus was arrested, as Jesus had told them beforehand that this would happen, quoting Zechariah 13:7 saying, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” John did enter into the house of the High Priest with Peter during the trial of Jesus, yet John did not deny Jesus as Peter did. John also was there at Golgotha to witness the death of Jesus. So Jesus knew He could trust John to provide for Mary’s needs of body and soul as she grew older and moved toward her death. 

Mary’s needs were not only physical, because although she had remained faithful while Jesus was with her, the evil one would surely still try to lure her away from her salvation, and get her to deny that she needed the forgiveness of Jesus to save her from her sins. John would be her pastor to call Mary to repentance when necessary, and to frequently assure her of the redemption and forgiveness of Jesus so that she would remain faithful to her end trusting in Him to save her.

Jesus was also changing His relationship as son with Mary for a couple other reasons. Jesus was the one chosen by the Father to suffer and die for the sins of the world. Jesus had to do this alone. He could not share His suffering with anyone else, especially a sinner. He had to endure the full wrath of God for all the sins of the world, so that we would be rescued from all our sin. Mary surely mourned that the son she bore and gave birth to was the one chosen by God to suffer for the sins of the world, but nothing that Mary suffered had any effect for the salvation of anyone, including herself. Mary could be comforted by the Apostle John, whom Jesus gave to be her adopted son.

These words of Jesus also point out the false teaching of those who pray to Mary in heaven because they reason that Mary’s Son must listen to His mother and obey her. The resurrected Jesus is exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords, and that includes His mother. Jesus is not obligated to obey His mother, or anyone except God the Father and the Holy Spirit, though He is in perfect agreement and unity with God in all things. Mary’s role in our salvation is nothing more than we confess in the creed. She was the faithful virgin who believed God’s Word when the angel spoke it to her, and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Son of God was miraculously conceived in her and she gave birth to Him so that He could live and die as a man to redeem all mankind from our sins.

Jesus was honoring His Father by remaining obedient to God, the Father, and offering His life as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, but He does not do this at the expense of His mother. Jesus was again thinking of others while He was suffering and dying on the cross. He did not want to lose His mother, just as He did not want to lose even the thief who was crucified alongside of Him (see the previous word from Jesus on the cross).

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Articles in this series:

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
Woman behold your son. Son, behold your mother.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
I thirst.
It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

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My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me

Fourth in a series on the Seven Last Words of Jesus

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” (Matthew 27:45-49)

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Eve was ashamed of her sin and afraid of God, but God did not forsake her nor her husband.

In Genesis 3, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned against God’s simple command not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Moses describes Adam and Eve being frightened by the “sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Of course they were afraid because they had condemned themselves to death for their rebellion against God, but from Moses’ description of God “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” I have long imagined that God’s visits to His beloved children were frequent. Not just in the morning, but several times a day, until the day when everything changed.

God delighted in His children, and they delighted in their Father. That all changed when the man and woman rebelled against God by disobeying His command. Adam and Eve were now afraid of their loving Father and ran away from Him, afraid of the curse of death. They felt like they had to hide from God in order to live. They were wrong, of course. God loved them dearly, and He showed great mercy to them, as He does to you, too, but God also hid a part of Himself from them after they became sinners. Scripture tells us that no sinner can see God’s glory and live. So God hid the greater part of His glory so that He could confront His children with their sin, and also reaffirm His love for them by promising to send a Messiah who would rescue them from their sin and make everything good again.

Before Adam and Eve sinned against God they could see God in His unfiltered glory. God had made them in His image and they were holy and pure and had nothing to be ashamed about. All that changed when they became sinners. God did not forsake them, but their relationship had changed. They were no longer like God, but now they were something quite different. They were dirty, corrupted, and unclean. They were no longer such close friends and family with God, but they were suddenly strangers, alien to God’s holy nature, and in sin they had become enemies of God, as we all are according to our corrupted sinful nature.

Jesus had no corrupted nature because He is God in the flesh. Jesus had nothing to be ashamed of before God or before man. Yet, Jesus also hid His divine glory. This was for our sake, and so He could live a normal life as a man. Sinful people had no fear of Jesus, and treated Him like any other man, both good and bad. Throughout His whole life, sinners sinned against Jesus without thinking that He was the almighty, righteous judge who could send them to everlasting torment as sinners deserve. Even before the Pharisees and Pontius Pilate conspired to crucify, Jesus surely endured much mistreatment at the hands of sinners, as we all do, and, yet, Jesus still willingly went to the cross to suffer and die for all sinners, including those who treated Him the worst.

That is why Jesus was there, nailed to a cross. That is why Jesus was forsaken by God the Father – and He was truly forsaken by the father in a way that you have never been, and I pray that you never will be. The Father turned away from the Son and poured out all His wrath upon Him for all the sins of all people of all time. This had never happened in all eternity. The eternal Son of God had only known the perfect divine love of the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternity, but Jesus had carried in His body the guilt of the sins of the world so that He could suffer and die and take our guilt to the grave where it would remain even after Jesus rose victorious three days later. Christ’s journey to the cross began at His incarnation when He was conceived as the son of the Virgin Mary, but Jesus affirmed that He would fulfill the Father’s will when He was baptized by John in the Jordan River.

Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, … “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

John was baptizing repentant sinners, and was surprised when the Christ, Himself, asked to be baptized, too. Jesus told John, “Let us do this to fulfill all righteousness.” It is right that God would punish sinners for their sin, but God accepted a sinless substitute to redeem sinners. In the Old Testament church, they offered lambs as a substitute to die for their sins, but not even all the lambs in the world would pay for the sins of one person. Jesus is the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The incarnate Son of God could pay the price to redeem the whole world from sin and death. This is why after Jesus was anointed in the Jordan river with the Baptism of sinners, the voice of God the Father was heard proclaiming, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Father was pleased not only because His Son had perfectly obeyed God’s commandments every day for about 30 years, but because the Son was also taking the guilt of sinners into His body so that He could pay the price to redeem sinners so He could restore us and glorify us to be the holy people God intended us to be from the beginning.

Jesus endured God’s wrath over sin as He hung there on the cross. He felt the sting of sin like no one on earth has ever felt. The Father treated Jesus like the worst sinner in the world – like the only sinner in the world. All His wrath was poured out on Jesus, so there would be no anger left for you, and you would be forgiven. Jesus endured God’s wrath, and never lost His love for the Father, or for you. Yet, in the depth of His torment He had to cry out, “My God, why have You forsaken me?” He truly suffered the wrath of God over the sin of the world, yet, God was still His God, and if it was the Father’s will for Him to suffer and die, then He would endure it to the end and die trusting that God’s will is best even if it meant that He would suffer hell all alone on the cross and then die. As a man, Jesus had to live by faith, trusting God’s word in the Scriptures that this pleased the Father, and that God would make everything work out for the best – for Jesus Himself, and for all the rest of us, who benefit from the suffering and death of Jesus. He was forsaken by the Father, so you will never have to go through the hell that Jesus endured.

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Articles in this series:

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
Woman behold your son. Son, behold your mother.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
I thirst.
It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

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I Thirst

Fifth in a series on the Seven Last Words of Jesus

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. (John 19:28-29)

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Water is necessary to sustain life. If you do not drink enough water you will die. Even ancient peoples knew this. When the Israelites were on their Exodus from Egypt God tested them by leading them into the wilderness where there was no water. They failed the test. Instead of trusting that God would provide them with water, or even asking God to provide drinking water, they only complained to Moses and accused him of leading them out into the desert to die of thirst. How easy it is to forget God in times of need!

God knows that water is necessary for us because that is how He made us. Food and water are part of the “Daily Bread” which we ask God to provide when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, and which God graciously provides to all people, even unbelievers, without our asking for it, though we pray for it so that we may receive all that we need in thanksgiving and praise to God who freely provides all that we need to sustain body and life.

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 25:21-22, “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” The Roman soldiers who were in charge of crucifying Jesus did not know, nor care about, the proverbs of Solomon. When Jesus expressed His thirst they did not give Him water, but gave him vinegar. Jesus had already been beaten and whipped, and if a little vinegar caused pain in an open wound, then the soldiers wouldn’t be sad to add to the suffering of the condemned man. They weren’t seeking rewards from God, only what rewards they could get in the world.

In Psalm 69:21, David prophesied, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” The thirst of Jesus not only fulfilled this prophesy of David, but it also shows that Jesus is a real man. Jesus had real bodily needs like any other man. He hungered when He fasted. He got tired and needed sleep when He worked too long and too hard. He wept when visiting the grave of a friend who had died. He suffered when beaten and crucified, and He was thirsty as He was dying on the cross. It is important for our faith and our salvation that Jesus was (and is now, and will be forever) a man, just like us in every way, except sin.

Scripture says, “The soul that sins must die.” (Ezekiel 18:4 and 20) It was human souls who sinned against God and brought condemnation on the whole human race. Either we must all die for our sins, or we must be redeemed by another human soul. Jesus is the only human soul who has never been corrupted by sin. Yet, Jesus lived a regular life. Jesus was born as a baby. He grew up. He learned the Bible from His parents and teachers. He learned a trade. He was tempted to sin by the devil and by men. He lost friends and family to death. He suffered the indignities of living under the rule of tyrants who overtaxed Him and made themselves rich while stealing from the people. Jesus also suffered and died. When you pray to Jesus and find yourself in need in this world, you can know that Jesus understands what you are going through because He has been through similar things Himself as a man. Trust in Jesus. He will not let the troubles of life overwhelm you and lead you to your destruction. Jesus lived and died to rescue you from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus suffered the wrath of God, and the sorrows of life in a sinful world so that you could be rescued from such sorrows for all eternity. This is especially important when you approach your last hour of life in this sinful world. Jesus has been there, too. When that hour comes you will have to let go of everything in this world and trust in Jesus alone to rescue you from the grave.

The prophet, Jeremiah wrote (17:13-14), “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water. Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. That Word is a living water welling up within God’s people for eternal life. Jesus suffered and died to give you comfort and life. Jesus suffered thirst to give you the living water as an ever flowing stream of eternal life.

When the Israelites were thirsty in the wilderness they failed the test, and lost faith in God. Jesus was not only thirsty, but endured the anger and wrath of God, the Father, over the sins of the world, and He endured it all and never lost His love and faith in God. Even though it was the Father’s will to put Jesus through hell, Jesus continued to love the father and trust that this was all for the best.

The thirst of Jesus shows us that He is a real man. Another aspect of Christ’s humanity, is that when He spoke these words He knew His physical strength was failing, and He did not have long to live. His mouth and throat was dry, and He had a couple short words to speak, and He did not want to be misunderstood. From a human perspective, Jesus was preparing to speak His final words as a mortal man before He died, and He was willing to drink vinegar to moisten His tongue so that He could still speak clearly. Listen carefully to these next two words from Jesus. They are important for your faith and for your salvation.

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Articles in this series:

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
Woman behold your son. Son, behold your mother.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
I thirst.
It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

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