Sermon - Judica - John 8:42-59

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The devil is a slanderous prosecutor, and that is quite literally what the word devil means: slanderer, someone who accuses people with the intention of condemning them. Nevertheless, though Satan accuses us, Jesus is the one who judges us, and Jesus’ judgment for our sins is mete out upon Himself.

But in the meantime, the devil is going to prosecute you. The Devil is going to dig up all of the dirt in your life and throw it in your face, proving that you deserve punishment and hell, not the rewards of heaven. It is true that the devil is a liar, He is going to lie about you and slander you, but unfortunately we’re also sinners and so the devil has quite a bit of truth concerning your sinful manner of life to throw at you as well. You’ve given the prosecutor quite a bit of fodder to make his case.

So the devil makes a very valid and convicting case against us. The devil delights in our sins. The devil has it easy because he doesn’t make you do a thing, no one can ever use the excuse that ‘the devil made me do it,’ because he doesn’t, he merely tempts and takes delight at your many failures. He is right there to accuse you.

But just because the devil doesn’t make you do anything, doesn’t mean that the devil is innocent of your blood either, since he doesn’t always tempt you with the truth, instead he often tempts you with lies. “When the devil lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

Consider your feelings for a moment. How trustworthy do you think your feelings are? Are all of your feelings valid? Because according to our worldly convictions, we should always trust our feelings and follow where they lead. “Listen to your heart when he’s calling for you. Listen to your heart when there’s nothing else you can do.” “Use the force, Luke. Luke, trust in your feelings.” “Follow your instincts. That is where true wisdom manifests itself.”

Yet what if your instincts tell you that killing your neighbor is really the best course of action? Or you feel like you’re attracted to the same sex? Or your heart tells you that you’re actually a woman, even though your body and your DNA says you’re a man? What if you feel like killing yourself? Or your gut instincts tell you that you should beat your spouse? The devil is a liar and he can lie to us in the form of our feelings!

This isn’t a new philosophy. This is an ancient way of thinking known as epicureanism. Epicureanism says that your feelings are in control and the best thing you can do for yourself is to satisfy your feelings. Therefore, if your passions tell you to spend your days drunk and glutinous, that is what you believe is the greatest good for you. That is epicureanism, and the Devil has been using that wretched lie to lead people astray for thousands of years. 

Why does the devil do this? “He was a murderer from the beginning.” What beginning? Genesis. He didn’t make Adam and Eve eat the fruit, but he successfully tempted them because he knew that the fruit would bring death to their bodies. The devil is a murderer who wants you dead. He’s not satisfied for just your body to die, but he wants you to be dead for all eternity. 

Yet the devil is not the judge. Though you may be tempted to believe that he is the judge, and that you’re already condemned for your sins, this is just another one of the devil’s many lies. Have you ever felt as if you’re not saved? Or have you ever thought as if you don’t feel like you have faith? 

You know, you read those popular books today about Christian living, or you listen to that famous christian speaker on TV, or you hear your Christian friends regularly talking about how they feel God in their heart and they feel saved. But if you think about it, you don’t feel the same thing, you don’t feel God in your heart and you don’t feel like what all these other Christians are describing; what gives? The devil is a lying, slanderous, convicting, prosecutor and his flaming darts are aimed at your heart and passions until your last breath escapes from your lungs. Pay him no attention! He cannot judge and your faith is not dependent on your feelings! 

There is but one judge, and He is the almighty God, Jesus Christ the righteous One. “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.” In the Creed we confess that Jesus “will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.”There is but one judge, and though the devil believes himself to be the christ, he is not; our Judge is Jesus.

God is a righteous and a just judge. The wages of sin is death, and therefore the only punishment accepted by the judge for sin is the death penalty. When the Lord spoke to Abraham, God wasn’t lying because the sacrifice required of him was the actual sacrifice required to atone for sin. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering.” Though we may find this atrocious, death is the only true sacrifice for our sin.

Yet the Lord showed mercy to Abraham and Isaac by giving a substitute to die in Isaac’s place. “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.” A death had to occur, for “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

For all the people of Israel, the Lord was merciful to them by permitting them to live and a substitute sacrifice to be offered in their place. “The blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh.” The Lord God Himself provided the lamb for the burnt offering as a substitute for the people.

But all the blood of goats and bulls and lambs in the Old Testament were only for the purification of the flesh. Instead a new Lamb has been offered and God’s judgement has been mete out upon the Father’s Son, His only Son Jesus, whom He loves. Jesus didn’t offer up the blood of any animal, but “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” Jesus, our great high priest, offered up His blood at the most high altar of the cross, and has not only purified our flesh from our unclean passions, but “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, to purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” 

Jesus, who is Himself the one who judges us, has taken the judgment which we deserve upon Himself in order to redeem us from our transgressions that cause our guilt. This Jesus, the one who is the “I Am,” Yahweh, the Lord the God of Israel, this one is the Messiah who has come to be our substitute for the judgement that we so rightly deserve. So the Father glorified the Son by offering up His only Son upon the cross to be Savior of the nations.

So when the Devil’s fiery darts assail you, and your heart begins to faint within you at his ugly accusations: send him away! Do not listen to him a word! Instead “whoever is of God hears the words of God.” So listen to your Savior’s words who says “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Christ has kept you from death by suffering the judgement for your sins. He has rendered to Himself the guilty judgement and to you He has declared innocent of death!

When you sleep the sleep of death, your soul will not be in agony, but will instantly dwell with our Lord in heaven! When Jesus Christ our Savior awakens your body from slumber, He will stand you before Him in the judgment hall and declare that you are innocent! Your guilt and your punishment have already been paid by one who is holy and righteous, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Jesus Christ.

That miserable, slanderous, prosecutor has lost his case and been cast into the fiery pit of hell. So with confidence we can stand here today before our just and righteous Judge and say “Judge me O God.” For we know that our judgment and punishment have been carried out on Christ who suffered the Father’s wrath upon the cross in our place. The innocent declaration we therefore receive isn’t the one we deserve, but is most certainly the one that Christ shall judge us with on that final judgment day.