Rev. Cary M. Richert
Ash Wednesday (C)
February 21, 2007

WHO HAS BELIEVED?
Isaiah 53:1

Who has believed what they heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

          Today begins the Lenten Season, our annual journey to Jerusalem with Jesus.  This past Sunday we were on the mountain of Transfiguration with our LORD, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John.  There we saw a glimpse of Jesus' glory, in all its radiant brilliance, as we heard the heavenly Father declare:  This is my beloved Son, whom I have chosen; listen to Him. [Luke 9:35]   Beginning today, we set our sights on another mountain, Calvary. There our LORD's glory is revealed in a most paradoxical way . . . in dying a humiliating death on a Roman instrument of torture, a cross.

          Our midweek meditations the next six weeks will be based on the Fourth Servant Song of the prophet Isaiah.  Written about 700 years before Christ, these verses depict Jesus' life from His cradle in Bethlehem to His tomb in Jerusalem.  They picture Jesus' suffering and glory in a remarkably vivid and graphic way.  All for the purpose of describing how Christ took upon Himself God's punishment for our sins, so that we might receive His gracious gifts of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

          Who has believed our message? The prophet Isaiah asks.  The modern sense of Isaiah's question is, Who can believe it?  Who can believe this astonishing message about Jesus?  It’s a question that raises the core issue of faith and unbelief.  Some casually dismiss, even take offense at the message of Christ’s gruesome suffering and death; as well as His unbelievable resurrection from the grave.  Others, by the powerful working of the Holy Spirit, believe it . . . and stake their eternal futures on it!

          It brings to mind the discussion of two disciples in the New Testament, who were on the way back to their hometown of Emmaus.  [Luke 24:13-35]   Let's listen, as the puzzle pieces begin to fit together for them after Jesus leaves them:   "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"  And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.  And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together and saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  Then (the two of them) told what had happened on the road, and how (Jesus) was known to them in the breaking of the bread. [Luke 24:32-35]

          It's as if they were saying with wonder, Who could’ve believed it?  We didn’t believe, you can understand why!  But we've seen the LORD, and we surely do believe it!  How foolish we were not to believe all along!  Do you believe too?

          Isaiah asks, Who has believed what they heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?   What does he mean by the arm of the LORD?  The arm of the LORD is God in action.  God using His power to accomplish the salvation of sinful mankind, to deliver us all from our great spiritual adversaries.  Much like His strong arm was at work to part the Red Sea, so His ancient people could be set free from slavery in Egypt.  In praise and thanksgiving, they sang after their deliverance from the enemy:  Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. [Exodus 15:6]

          And now the mighty arm of the LORD has been revealed in a new and unexpected, unattractive, unbelievable way.  A way that no one could ever imagine, except God Himself!  For God extends His mighty arm to rescue His people from the forces of sin, punishment, evil, death and Satan . . . NOT with the force of legions of angels that Jesus spoke of as He was arrested, BUT with the innocent suffering and death of His only-begotten Son, the Messiah Jesus.  NOT a mighty warrior, BUT a SUFFERING SAVIOR.

          The SUFFERING SAVIOR was like a tender plant struggling to survive in a bone-dry desert.  He faced opposition all around Him.  He was rejected, hated - He knew pain and suffering well.  His appearance shocked and appalled those looking for a different kind of Messiah.  King Herod tried to kill Him.  His hometown people in Nazareth rejected Him.  The religious leaders harassed Him and sought to trick Him.  One of His own disciples betrayed Him.  All of them abandoned Him.

          Yet, Isaiah's prophecy reminds us that, this despised and rejected man truly is the arm of the LORD!  This man of sorrows, who looks so weak to the eyes of the world, embodies God's strength and love and determination to save us and deliver us from our sins.  What an astounding paradox!  Who can believe it?

          Left to our own devices we certainly can't!  Why?  Because, by nature we're spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins. [Ephesians 2:1]   You can argue all the "free will" you want, when it comes to spiritual conversion, not a person who has ever lived can, by their own reason or strength believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or come to Him. [Luther's explanation to the 3^rd Article of the Apostles' Creed]   Salvation comes to us as a gift, free and clear, given ONLY by God in Christ, whose arm alone is strong to save.
         By nature, we'd like to think that our own arm is strong to save ourselves . . .

         that forgiveness and salvation are of our own making.

   that we can come to God on our own and prove ourselves worthy of His acceptance.

  that we somehow deserve God’s consideration, just because we are who we are.

After all, who wants to admit that, by nature, they're sinful and that their sin, if not forgiven, brings God's eternal condemnation.  To our sinful way of thinking, that's what sounds unbelievable!

          But only God can rescue us.  Only God has the strong arm to save us from our sin.  Only God can send OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR, Jesus, to take upon Himself the iniquity of us all. [Isaiah 53:6]   Only God can justify sinners on the basis of the SUFFERING SAVIOR's sacrificial death on the Cross.

          Who can believe it?  By the grace and mercy of God, we can!  We can believe by faith that Jesus Christ, this Man of sorrows . . . this Man pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities . . . this Man from whom so many hide their faces . . . is our Savior!  Others may despise and reject Him.  But we believe His is the arm of the LORD, strong to save us from our sins.  We believe that in Him alone, OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR, we find forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.  Thanks and praise be to God! 

          In the name of Jesus, OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR.  Amen.

This sermon was adapted from an Ash Wednesday sermon of a similar title by Walter Snyder, published as part of the 2007 Lenten Series, "Our Suffering Savior" © Concordia Publishing House, and purchased for use at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Birmingham, MI.