The Prince of the World is Driven Out

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-10; John 12:20-33

The people of Jesus' day and society believed that when the Messiah came he would come as one riding upon a great white horse, leading God's army of angels in battle with the enemies of Israel. Many faithful Jews of Jesus' time fully believed in a scenario wherein the coming of the Messiah would coincide with the descent of a new Jerusalem out of heaven to replace the old, corrupt Jerusalem. And, so, it is easy to understand how the people of Jerusalem were a bit skeptical of Jesus when he came to them and told them to love their enemies and to walk the extra mile and to bless those who persecuted them. We may understand how the people of Jerusalem may have wondered about a Messiah who came to them and told them to be meek and humble while their land was being occupied by what were considered to be ungodly soldiers from an ungodly country.

Indeed, the people of Israel weren't looking for the kind of Messiah Jesus was sent to be. And, while he may have been able to perform miracles and teach wisely, while he may have been able to heal the sick and chase out demons, in the end the people of Israel rejected him because he didn't seem to display his power over the Romans. He was rejected because he didn't call down his angels from heaven to usher in the Day of the Lord.

Many preachers are now talking about how close the coming of the Day of the Lord is. I heard a preacher on T.V., the other day, saying that he was sure it was going to happen within the next nine years. And he proceeded to tell exactly what was going to happen in the world before it took place, and then went on to describe exactly what Christ's coming would be like. But, we need to be aware of the fact that it was just this sort of apocalyptic blinders that many of the people of Israel were wearing when Jesus came to them the first time. It was this "end-times tunnel vision" which kept them from recognizing him for what he was, The Christ, The Son of the Living God. We should pray that as Christ comes to us, day by day, that as he comes to us as persons in need, as persons who are despised and rejected, that we shall recognize his presence in our midst. We should pray that as Christ comes to us offering us visions for life, promises for renewal, and as he comes to us asking us to take risks, even to open ourselves to others who may need our resources, that we shall not reject him because we were looking for someone or something else. We should be careful that as Christ may come into our midst on a daily basis that he finds us laboring for the Kingdom and not for something else.

God knows how his people should think: God doesn't want his people to think about destroying their enemies, but loving them. God doesn't want us to think about getting what we feel we deserve, but simply to pray for the grace of God, because we really don't deserve anything at all. And God doesn't want his people to think about what's in it for them, but, rather, to think about what they can give of themselves in service to God.

There is the story about two runners who were getting ready to run a long distance race. One of them, perhaps not as experienced as the other, said, "I sure want to get my hands on that trophy awaiting the winner at the end of this race!" The other runner looked at his friend and said, "You'd do a lot better if you'd stop thinking about that trophy and get your mind onto the race!"

Indeed, his words were words, not just for long distance runners, but for Christians, as well. God wants his people to be thinking, not so much about the prize at the end of the race, than about the race, itself.

In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus talked about both the trophy and the race, but more about the race. And what did Jesus say about the race that Christian disciples of Jesus are to run? Jesus said, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, but the man who does not love his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

Certainly, this sounds fine to us. But to those who were hearing his words for the first time, they seemed preposterous. They didn't want to be Jesus' disciples to die. Rather, they believed that if they followed the Messiah they would live. It didn't seem possible that a person could live by dying. But that was the nature of the race Jesus called his disciples to run.

And, yet, Christians will sometimes hear only what they want to hear. In the history of Western Civilization, no one knew this better than Adolf Hitler. In his speeches and in his writing Hitler made free use of the Christian vocabulary, talked about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian confessions which would become the pillars of the new state. He rang bells and pulled out all the organ stops. He took on the earnestness of a man who was utterly weighed down by historic responsibility. He handed out pious stories to the press, especially the church papers.

It was reported, for example, that he showed a tattered Bible to some deaconesses and declared that he drew the strength for his great work from the Word of God. He was able to introduce a pietistic timbre into his voice which caused many religious people to welcome him as a man sent from God. And a skilled propaganda machine saw to it that in the churches, despite all the atrocities which were already happening, the belief got around that the good Fürher knew nothing about these things. The church's weakness was that its members lost sight of how God wanted them to live as they, rather, focused upon the eternal reward.

And this can happen just as easily, today. The other day, I was talking with a fellow pastor who mentioned seeing some T-shirts being sold with a likeness of Saddam Hussein with a bullseye painted over his face. The picture may seem funny. We may even feel justified in buying and wearing a T-shirt like that. But, from a truly Christian perspective even something like that runs contrary to the principles of Jesus. And if we are troubled by this thought, if we wonder what could possibly be so bad about a T-shirt with a picture like that, then perhaps we're more like those Scribes and Pharisees who wanted Jesus crucified than we would like to admit.

It is sometimes very easy to accept hatred in the name of God. And, yet, it was Jesus who said, "Love your enemies, and bless those who curse you." Certainly, it was Jesus who said many things that seemed to go against the grain of what the rest of the world was thinking. And, certainly, it should be Jesus who is challenging our thoughts as we go about our life, today.

Perhaps one of the more curious sayings of Jesus as he approached the time of his crucifixion was, "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out."

What was Jesus saying here? Here he was, on his way to being crucified, and he was proclaiming that his crucifixion would be tantamount to judgment day. Here he was, about to die, and he was proclaiming the downfall of Satan.

Many people still talk about Satan as though he were still alive and well and living on the planet earth. And many people talk about judgment as though it was yet to come. But, here, in the 12th chapter of John, Jesus proclaimed that the end of Satan begins on Good Friday, and that the judgment day begins with the cross.

Perhaps understanding this radical concept starts with what Jesus said next. He said, "When I am crucified, I will draw all men to myself." What he was saying was simply a summary of the gospel message: that all who put their faith in Jesus will not perish, but have everlasting life."

When we put our faith in Jesus, when we place ourselves under his love and receive him into our hearts judgment is something we need not fear. And with Jesus at the center of our being, there is nothing that Satan can do to take us away from God.

In quoting an early Christian hymn, the apostle Paul said it most eloquently: "'For your sake we face death all day long; we are

considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If we can believe this, then we will have found the same kind of faith that nurtured the apostles and made the early church grow in spite of the obstacles in front of them. If we can boldly accept this as our own creed, then there is nothing that can stop us as the Body of the Risen Christ. Amen.