John 14:1-4,6

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You’re going on a trip to a faraway place you’ve never been to before. You’re trying to get to a certain village, but to do so, you have to traverse miles of dense jungle filled with poisonous plants and dangerous animals. Could you make this trip by yourself? What if you had a guide with you? Someone who is familiar with the area, who knew how to deal with the wildlife. Who could go through the jungle without getting lost. Would you rather make this trip with or without him?

There is a similar trip that we all have to take at some point. It’s to a place none of us has ever been to before. The path is filled with all sorts of worries and concerns about what’s going to happen next. And above all, it’s a trip that once you make it, you never come back. This trip we take is death, and we all have to face it at some point.

Some people might place their trust in medicine and living a healthy lifestyle. Now, these are good things in and of themselves, but no amount of earthly medicine or balanced lifestyle can save you forever from the power of death. But what if there was a guide, someone who knew the way, who could lead you through death into a better life? The Gospel writer John records for us these words of Jesus found in chapter 14, verses one through six.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:1-4,6)

Because of sin all of creation and all people feel the effects of death. That’s why Jesus entered into this world. To live the perfect life we could not. To take our sin and bring them to the cross, to experience the punishment we deserve and to die. Jesus is not asking you to go anywhere he hasn’t. But because of what Jesus has done, we no longer have to fear what’s going to happen when we die. The joy of Easter is that Jesus has risen from the dead. That’s what these words are declaring to us, that Jesus is preparing a place for you, so that someday, when it’s your time to leave this world, Jesus will take you from this valley of sorrows to be with him forever in heaven. Cling to the promises of Jesus because there is no other guide and there is no other Savior.

Matthew 27:54

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There’s this awesome painting from the 1500s. It was made by a German artist called Hans Holbein. It’s called The Ambassadors, and it depicts two diplomats in front of a desk. And on this desk is all sorts of instruments, books, a lute. But there’s also the strange design at the bottom of the painting. It’s hard to tell what it is at first, but if you view the painting from the right angle, you can see it’s a skull. It’s a sign that all of us, whether young or old, rich or poor. Some day we have to face death. It’s a painting full of meaning and detail, but to get it all, you have to view it from the right perspective.

This Lenten season, we meditate on Christ’s death for us, and it’s interesting to note, as he faced all this mockery and this derision by the crowd, how he did it all willingly. The Bible also tells us when Jesus breathed his last the earth shook, the veil in the temple tore in two, and those who were dead in their graves rose up out of them. (Matthew 27:51-52) And in this chaotic scene, we hear the reaction of those guards posted at Jesus’ cross. Matthew 27 verse 54 tells us

When the centurion and those who were guarding Jesus with him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54)

With all the excitement in the scene it’s easy to miss just how fantastic these words are. In no small part because of who was saying them. You see, the Jewish people had long been expecting a Messiah. The Old Testament told them all about it, and yet at the same time, they expected a political messiah, someone who would save them from the oppression of the Romans. A great earthly king. But Jesus didn’t fit this bill. He was a humble carpenter’s son. He spent his ministry preaching to the different towns and all of Israel. And because of that, the people rejected him. They handed him up to the authorities, and on Good Friday they nailed him to the cross.

But these non-Jewish centurions, they felt the earth shake underneath them. They saw the sky blacken as he was dying, and they realized that they had killed no common criminal. Truly, this was the Son of God. The question is, how do we view Jesus today? There are some who think he is a kind of guru. How to teach us how to live a good and moral life, but nothing more. There are others who view him as a kind of advocate for political or social change. Yet still there are others who see him just as a historical figure.

The Bible tells us a different story. It gives us a different perspective. It tells us about Jesus, who had come to save us from our sins. As he was being mocked upon the cross. He bore the insults patiently. More than that, he bore the sins of the people as he bore the sins of the whole world. Jesus faced the wrath of God, and because of that, we no longer have to fear because of God’s wrath. He even endured the abandonment of the father so that we would never face it. Because of what Jesus has done, because he had died for us we who enter into the church by faith have a completely different perspective. Now we see a loving God who cares for us, who through Jesus sees us as his sons and daughters. Heaven has been opened for us, and because of that, we no longer fear what happens after death.

Jesus’s message of forgiveness was for the non-Jewish centurion, just as it was for the children of Israel, just as it is for you and me. Jesus has cleansed us from our sins through death, and on the last day we will see Jesus coming from heaven, descending from the clouds, and he will take us to be with him forever in heaven. Truly, this is the Son of God.

Job 29:25-27

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There have to have been few people who have suffered in life as much as the Bible describes Job. Job had it all. He was massively wealthy. He had all sorts of livestock. He had an army of servants, and God had even blessed him with a massive family. Yet in one day, Job lost it all. Raiders had come, murdered his servants and stole away his livestock. And a great wind overtook his children’s house, killing them all. Satan had even caused painful sores to come all over Job’s body, all with the intent purpose of making him curse God.

Now, the majority of the Book of Job is the conversation between him and his friends, who are trying to get him to confess to some great sin. You see, in their mind, they expect righteous people to be rewarded by God and wicked people to suffer. And so if Job was suffering so much, it must have been that he had done something truly awful and needed to repent of it. The problem was, Job didn’t fit the bill. Job acknowledged he was a sinner, as other men are, but he had never done so great a sin as to cause all of this. He had no great sin to confess. So what was going on?

A lot of times the Book of Job is used as a discussion platform for the issue of theodicy. How does a righteous God deal with evil in the world? And while it certainly does touch on that subject, ultimately the book concludes that we can’t really know. Job never knew about the conversation between God and Satan in chapter one. And us limited creatures cannot fully understand our limitless creator. But another important theme in the book is dealing with how we are righteous before God. And this is where one of my all time favorite Bible passages comes in. When Job speaks in chapter 19, verses 25 through 27.

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart faints within me! (Job 29:25-27)

This passage is important for us today. Far too often we may think that if we live a good enough life, if we’re righteous, then God will reward us. And this may be the theology of Job’s friends, but that’s not what Job is looking at here. Instead, he points to his Redeemer, the one who frees him from the bonds of sin, the one who makes him righteous. And that Redeemer for Job is the same one for us, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus came into this world to free us from sin. He did this by leading a perfect life, far more righteous than Job could ever hope of achieving. What’s more, he went to the cross to die for us. There he placed all our sin upon himself. He even faced the abandonment of God, suffering far more than Job ever did. And yet it was for Job’s sake that Jesus died. And it’s for your sake, too, that Jesus died.

Because of what Christ has done on the cross we are justified from our sin. Jesus not only died for us. But on Easter Sunday he rose again from the dead. Showing us that those who have faith in him will also rise from the dead and follow after their Savior. This is the hope that Job was looking for. This is what caused his heart to faint. The great reveal of his Redeemer. And that’s the hope that we can have, too. In the midst of the hardships we face in this life, we know that God is still with us because we don’t look in ourselves to be justified. But rather it is God who makes us righteous. We look for it in Christ so that on the last day, when we are raised up from the dead, we can have the joy of Job, knowing that our Redeemer lives.

Exodus 14, 1 Corinthians 10:13

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One of the most iconic scenes from the Old Testament has to be when Moses led the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The armies of Pharaoh were chasing after him, and soon they found themselves wedged up against the Red Sea. In front of them was a watery grave, and behind them the soldiers and chariots of Pharaoh ready to cut them to bits. It seems as if no human escape was possible. But God had a plan. He had Moses hold his staff over the water, and soon the entire Red Sea was split in half, and the Israelites were able to escape on dry land. (Exodus 14)

This is an excellent reminder of how God is willing to work for our good even in seemingly impossible situations, and is one of the big points that Saint Paul writes about in first Corinthians ten, verse 13.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

This may sound all well and good to us, but how often do we practice this in our lives? When our bank accounts low and the rent’s coming due, how often do we trust in our own strength, our own abilities to deal with these and other problems? And when things don’t work out like we want them to? How often do we complain to God? God, what’s going on? I thought you wouldn’t give me anything more than I can bear!

How do we make sense of what Paul says here? The way to understand this is to realize that on our own strength, we aren’t able to bear things on our own. Far too often, we put our trust in our own strength, or in our money, or in the people we know. And far too often, these things disappoint. The answer instead lies with God. God is the one who’s created us. He is the one who provides for us. And he is the one who will help us in difficult times. We know this to be true because he has helped us with our greatest problem, that of sin and death.

You see, none of us have lived up perfectly to God’s law, and we deserve nothing more than to be condemned by him. But God helped us out of this seemingly impossible situation. He sent his Son Jesus into the world to live the perfect life that we could not. What’s more, Jesus went to the cross and died on our behalf. And because of his perfect life and his innocent suffering and death, we’ve been reconciled with God. Death has tried to swallow up Jesus, but it could not contain him. And he was able to escape its jaws of the tomb on Easter Sunday, showing once and for all his total victory.

And Jesus is still with us today. Through His Word we read about what he has done for us, and that gives us the strength to endure our trials. It’s because we don’t find our strength in ourselves, but rather we find our strength in Christ. If God was willing to give his only Son to die for us, how much more is he willing to be with us in our problems? He encourages us to pray to him, to ask him for help. Now, it may be that the answer to our prayers may not come as fast as we want, or it may not be the answer that we were hoping for. But God promises that he is working all things for our good. Beside His Word, God also gives us people in our lives, resources, such as parents, pastors, family, friends, all of these we can lean on in difficult times. And with all of this, we can be certain that because Christ has solved the biggest problem of our salvation, he is also willing to be with us in all temptation and provide us a means of escape.