The Hour Has Come

7th Sunday of Easter – A                                                                     LSB #’s 525:1, 3-4; 427, 818
Text – John 17:1
 
When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, & said, “Father, the hour has come…” 
 
THE HOUR HAS COME
 
 
Looking at Jesus’ circumstances from our perspective  we might refer to this as the moment of truth.   In our sinful world,  there are many times when we try to dodge the harsh realities of life.  As broken creatures,  it is our nature  to put off  difficult issues  for as long as possible.   In the sermon text,  Jesus is stating that the hour of His crucifixion has come. 
Unlike the sinful creatures that we are,  Jesus is not dodging,  nor is He putting off  the purpose for which He came.  He is facing it head on  right in front of His disciples,  but they are confused  & have no idea what Jesus is talking about.   
It might be confusing to you as well.   According to the church calendar   this Sunday is still the season of Easter.  Yet, the Gospel reading comes from the moments after Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper – the night before He’s crucified.  In the season of remembering & celebrating the resurrection of Jesus,  we revert back to a time before He’s even arrested, let alone crucified. 
The reading from the Gospel of John connects the cross & the glory of God so closely that one  cannot be seen without the other.  That’s why  we sang a Lenten hymn right before this sermon.  It is in the cross of Christ  that us sinful creatures most clearly see the glory of the Holy Trinity.   God’s death for His creation  shows  even sinners  how unimaginable is  God’s love. 
After September 11th, 2001,  the police officers & firefighters  who ran into the World Trade Center towers were recognized for their heroism,  because everyone else was running out.  Those sinful creatures made an amazing sacrifice  in their attempt to help others.  They gave their lives for people they didn’t even know.  In that sacrifice  we see the glory of their character. 
Though Jesus Christ  never once committed any kind of sin,  He willingly suffered the penalty of the sins of every man, woman & child  who ever  had lived,  & whoever would live.  He did this  so that all of His creation could be released from the curse  of sin,  death  & the Devil.  In the sacrifice of Jesus  we see the glory of the one true God. 
Instead of telling us  how we need to earn our way back to holiness – an impossible task – Yahweh offers it to us  freely  as gift.  For that,  His children rightly praise our Lord & Savior: “His glories now we sing,  Who died & rose on high,  Who died eternal life to bring   & lives that death may die.”  (LSB 525:4) 
As September 11th dawned, none of the victims knew  that their hour had come,  their moment of truth.   The Son of God knew from all eternity that His hour was coming.  It’s one thing to bear that load as God.  Jesus also spent 30 years in human flesh  waiting for that hour.  Imagine that dread that you or I would feel  while knowing that was our destiny. 
Even when Jesus confronts His disciples with the reality of His coming death,  they could not comprehend it.  In spite of following Jesus for three years, they were not ready for the stunning impact  of what would happen at Mt. Calvary.  After the resurrection  it all made sense to the disciples of Jesus.  As John began his gospel  everything in it pointed to this hour:
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, & the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, & His own people did not receive Him.  But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  (John 1:9-13 ESV) 
 
These words sound very innocuous: “…to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (1:12 ESV)   However, to give us the right to become children of God was a very costly endeavor.   It meant that this True Light would have to pay the penalty of all the sins committed in earth’s history.   No doubt,  that part made the torturous physical death  seem minor by comparison.  And because none of us have ever been holy,  it’s only the torturous physical death   that any of us can relate to.   Our own physical death is one of the greatest fears  we face as sinful beings.  How painful will it be?  How long  will it drag out?  Will any family or friends  be with us  or will we have to  go it alone? 
When the hour has come,  how will we respond?   That is not a comfortable question to consider.  For that reason, John included V. 9 in the Gospel reading, “I am praying for them.  I am not praying for the world  but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”  Jesus is praying not only for the 12 disciples He chose 2000 years ago.  He is praying for you as well. 
Jesus continues, “All mine are yours,  & yours are mine,  & I am glorified in them.”  (John 17:10 ESV)  We can appreciate that Jesus is praying for us,  but it may seem odd  that He includes the last phrase, “I am glorified in them.”  However, anyone who receives the blessing of His forgiveness, life & salvation, brings glory to Yahweh because the death of Jesus was not wasted. 
God created us to be with Him & to know Him that He might interact with us personally.  Yahweh wants to have the relationship with you  that He had with Adam & Eve before The Fall.  Right now, much of our relationship with God is centered in His Church,  & to be honest, His Church & His people do not appear all that impressive. 
But then,  the Jewish carpenter & rabbi didn’t look like much either while hanging on the cross.  Who would have thought  that was the Creator of the universe working out the rescue of all mankind  from the corruption of sin?   To sinful human beings, appearances  & reality do not always agree.  Much of the time,  what we think we see  is not real,  & what we don’t see  is real. 
Through His suffering, His apparent weakness & through His death & resurrection,  Jesus was establishing His reign over all the earth.   Not even Satan  can snatch God’s children from His hand.  Jesus is carrying with Him all who belong to the Father as He makes His way to the cross & out of the tomb.  That is the hour that had come for Him.  There are many times in our lives when we feel the weight of the moment – the first day of school for the child,  for the parent the first day that child leaves home to go to school.  Your first day on the job,  your first house fire as a firefighter, the day of death for the first of your parents to go. 
The list is long, but the Holy Trinity is with us, Father, Son & Holy Spirit.  Glory & cross are inseparable, because in this sinful world  a price must be paid for all the wrongs that are done.  If no price is paid then  there is no justice.  So Jesus paid that price out of love for us,  & He is praying for us constantly, even as He prayed for us that night before His crucifixion. 
Jesus shared our experience of death  that we might share His experience of life.  There is a deeper kind of knowing that happens in shared experiences.  There’s a profound difference between looking at a video of a trip to the zoo   & being in the video clip of that trip to the zoo.  When we are in the video clip, we are part of the action. 
Jesus has invited us to be part of the action as He conquers sin, death & the Devil.  We are not merely watching faith in action,  we are living faith in action.  In a sense, for us every day is the hour  that was to come,  & Jesus is with us  every hour  unto the very end of this age.  (Matthew 28:20)  Amen. 
 
  
When the woes of life o’er take me,  hopes deceive & fears annoy,  never shall the cross forsake me;  Lo,  it glows with peace & joy.         Bane & blessing,  pain & pleasure  by the cross are sanctified;  peace is there that knows no measure,  joys that through all time abide.  Amen.  LSB 427:2, 4.