Rev. Steven S. Billings
Lent 2 Mid-Week
Sermon
2-20-2008
St. Matthew 27:39-44
39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." 41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42 "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43 "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'" 44 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
Is it sacrilege to say that there's something God can't do? Maybe not. I mean, God can't commit sin, can He? Isn't it safe to say that God is incapable of evil? Think about it: God is so totally good and gracious that it's almost more sacrilegious to suggest that He can commit evil than to say that He can't! So maybe it's okay to realize that there are some things that God can't do.
There's plenty of things we humans can't do - not that you need me to remind you. But doesn't it seem like it's getting harder and harder for people to grasp the idea that there are things they can't do? Modern technology gives us the capacity to do things we never imagined before. Add to this a contemporary philosophy that leads us to believe that there are no more limitations. We're told to believe in ourselves, that the solution to all of life's problems lies deep within us. Modern psychology's typical prescription for solving all of life's puzzles is to take ownership of our problems and to work our way through them.
Look at Dr. Phil. His analysis is often pretty interesting. People like him because he tells it like it is, especially when diagnosing a person's problems. He's been known to say, "If you feel like a dirt-bag, it might just be because you're a dirt-bag!" How refreshing! That sort of direct approach is sometimes the only way you can get through to someone.
But when he starts talking about solutions, that's when Dr. Phil goes in a different direction. His prescriptions all have the basic underlying philosophy: "You are capable of anything. The solution lies within you." That's where we part ways. We believe that because of sin you can't always solve your own problems. When dealing with sin and guilt the solution is not within us because, as Scripture says, there is nothing good in us. There are some things we simply cannot do.
We can't rescue ourselves from sin and its consequences. Sin damages our relationship with God. Sure, we can try to take control of our lives and attempt, with God's help, to make things better. But that doesn't take care of the bigger problem; it doesn't repair our relationship with God. Trying to fix that relationship on your own is like robbing a bank and then using the stolen money to buy your way out of jail. All you've been able to accomplish with your behavior is to mess things up. You can't use those same messed-up resources to make things right again. It doesn't work that way! We can't save ourselves. Because of sin we are doomed to die and there's nothing we - on our own - can do about it.
Nor can we save ourselves from all the messes we make in life because of sin. You know, we didn't put ashes on our heads on Ash Wednesday because we can save ourselves. "Dust you are and to dust you shall return" means that the solutions to life's greatest problems do not lie within you. Will you live forever? None of us gets out of here alive; you can't escape death. And you can't guarantee what's going to happen to you after you die. That's what you confess at the beginning of the Divine Service. You admit - whether you realize it or not - that you are a sinner, that sin infects your life on a daily basis, and that you are powerless on your own to stop it. You cannot save yourself.
But here's the good part: You don't have to! So, why would you want to? If someone paid-off your mortgage for you would you insist on paying for it all over again? Of course not; that would be insane! Would you argue with the person over whether they owed the debt or you? Not likely. Would you make fun of them, insulting them because they paid a debt they didn't owe? Hardly!
But this is precisely what the world was doing to Jesus as He hung on the cross paying its debt of sin. Jesus carried the debt of the world to the cross and then the world stood there and mocked Him. "He saved others, but He can't save Himself."
This wasn't necessarily true, however. Or was it? On the one hand, He certainly could have saved Himself. I mean, He was God, after all. Don't you think it was within His power to come down from the cross? Or to avoid it altogether? But that's not why He came, is it. He didn't come here to save Himself; He came to save you. You know, that's supposed to be YOU on that cross. You deserved death for your sins, not Jesus. It was your debt, not His. Right? But that's not you on the cross, is it. No, He's there in your place. Sure, Jesus could save Himself, but then, who would be in your place? You would. But you can't do it. You can't suffer for your sins and rise again. So you would die. Because you can't save yourself.
As the Son of God, Jesus can certainly save Himself. But, as the Son of Man taking your place, He must not. As far as He's concerned, your salvation is more important than His life. In fact, He refuses to save Himself because you can only be saved by His death. You can't live unless He dies. If He saves Himself, you're lost; you're dead. So He will not save Himself. Instead, He will save you.
The double-edge of the taunt in our text is that it's both true and untrue at the same time. Christ can do anything, including save Himself if necessary. But He can't save Himself without losing you. And He's not going to lose you, even if that means giving up His own life. Thanks be to God! In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
