Easter 4—Cantate
Beloved. Today’s Introit, from Psalm 98, begins: Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things. From the first Latin word, today is called Cantate which is the command: Sing! We are in the midst of the Easter season so we expect a joyful theme today, but yet, our Gospel reading is from Maundy Thursday evening. Jesus is talking with His disciples. They knew something was up. A short while before, Jesus had said [Jn 12.27]: Now My soul is troubled. And at His talk with His disciples that first Maundy Thursday, we heard Jesus tell His disciples in our text: Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart.
It seems that our Gospel reading is out of sorts with the Easter theme of joy, Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, but let us remember—Jesus is trying to comfort His disciples. Yes, He warns them of the upcoming events: namely His betrayal, suffering and death—but as we see in our text He also comforts them by announcing His ascension into heaven.
Our Sunday readings are beginning to turn our attention to Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost, the day when He pours out the Holy Spirit in full measure upon His Church. This is the greatest comfort for His disciples who would see Him betrayed, arrested, put on trial and crucified; they would rejoice when they see Him risen from the dead—like we heard in last week’s Gospel: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. And now Jesus tells them in today’s Gospel—part of that same comforting conversation He is having with them: But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
We see here the closest possible connection between Easter, Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost. Easter—Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead—doesn’t mean the continuation of Jesus’ earthly life like the disciples knew it before—which is why on Easter morning when St. Mary Magdalene was holding on to the resurrected Jesus, He told her [Jn. 20.17]: Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. With the resurrection, things would be different—Jesus would soon ascend into heaven. That means that He would not be with the disciples like He was before—one place at one time. Instead, with His ascension, Jesus would fill heaven and earth so that He could be with His disciples—each one individually wherever they were, just like He is with each one of us as we go our various ways. And with His ascension, Jesus would send the Holy Spirit in full measure upon His Church—and He still does. In other words, Easter is not the end of it all.
Jesus rose from the dead Victor over sin, death, devil and hell; now also as man, Jesus ascended into heaven from where He came, His saving work completed; and now that His saving work is completed, He sends the Holy Spirit into the world to bring people the gifts and blessings Jesus won. So you see, there is a glorious unity between Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. And that’s the comfort that Jesus is giving His disciples, and us, in our text.
But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. Jesus had told the disciples that He is leaving them, and now it was sinking in—Jesus was leaving; and there is that great sorrow caused by separation. Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. This was a deep sorrow, a sorrow leading to despair. But what does Jesus say to comfort the disciples? Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. It is good that Jesus goes away—first, to the cross to suffer and die for the sins of the world and to reconcile us sinners to the holy God.
And although He returns on Easter morning risen from the dead, it is good that Jesus again goes away—that He ascend into heaven. For one thing, that is a great comfort to the Christian that Jesus true God and now as true man ascends into heaven. Jesus ascended as our forerunner. Since Jesus, true God and true man, is in heaven that means that we human beings can be there as well. Jesus opened the kingdom of heaven to us; heaven is also for people. Jesus’ ascension is our certainty of that. Earlier in His talk with the disciples that evening, Jesus told them and us [Jn 14.2,3]: I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. The very fact that Jesus went away/ that He ascended into heaven is also for our good because it means that Jesus had done all the work for our salvation. He returns/ ascends into heaven as One who completed the task that He had been sent to do. The sins of the world have been paid for; the holy Law of God has been fulfilled; we sinners are forgiven our sins and reconciled to God; sin, death, devil and hell have all been vanquished; heaven has been opened to us.
It is good for you that I go away. And why? For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, could first come in full measure and apply Jesus’ saving work only after Jesus had finished it! So when Jesus goes away/ ascends into heaven it is for our good because then He sends the Holy Spirit. We, dear Christian, are the ones who reap the benefit of the Holy Spirit’s coming! Through baptism, the Holy Spirit has come to us and brought us to faith in Jesus and applied His saving work to us. And now through the holy word, He works to strengthen and keep us in the faith and keep us receiving Jesus and His saving work. And not just you and me, but Christians all throughout the world and all throughout history! Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit out into the world and He is now working mightily and powerfully.
Let none of us ever think that it would have been the best thing and so easy to believe if only we had seen Jesus during His earthly ministry, or do a miracle or heard Him preach. The Lord in His grace and wisdom placed us here and now into our vocation. We have the Holy Spirit. When sorrow fills our heart to the point of despair, like the disciples were experiencing that night, let us take comfort in the presence of the Holy Spirit. He is the Counselor/ the Comforter. Sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Just as Jesus went away—He died; came back—He rose from the dead; and went away again—He ascended into heaven and sent the Spirit to the disciples, so also He continues to send the Holy Spirit into the world today—to us. What great cause for joy today! Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things.
What is the work of the Holy Spirit in the world then and today? When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. All this sounds so ominous doesn’t it? –Convicting the world. But this is the necessary way that the Holy Spirit has to work. His work is an office of correction. He must first convict the unbelieving world/ prove its way of thinking is wrong and leads away it from God so that He can then bring and apply the saving work of Jesus. He must first do the foreign work of convicting before He can do His proper work of comforting. In other words, He must first show us our sin before showing us our Savior from sin—because, after all, unless we know our sin and lost condition and helplessness apart from Jesus, why would we want Jesus/ a Savior from sin? Sadly, so many today think they have no need of a Savior from sin because they think they have no sin to repent of. Or, if they are bothered by a sin, they redefine sin so what they do isn’t sin. Christians are often pegged as self-righteous—and indeed we must always be on guard and rooting this sin out of our life—but really the unbelieving world that decrees that it is holy in its eyes is absolutely self-righteous. It is this Satanic delusion in the hearts of so many that the Holy Spirit must convict. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin: … about sin, because they do not believe in me. The greatest and most grievous sin is not to believe in Jesus. Notice the ultimate sin is denying Jesus; it is not an action but something in the heart. From the heart flows the chief sin of unbelief and its fruit. If there is no faith in Jesus in the heart, no fear, love and trust in the true God, what is there? What is the god the heart holds to and trusts in and serves? Is it power, possessions, self? The Holy Spirit must convict/ crush such a heart; He must show the futility, emptiness, shallowness of a life empty of God. God created us for fellowship and communion with Him, but where there is no faith in Him the heart will always be searching, restless, without any peace. When the Holy Spirit holds before us our false gods that we so easily get drawn in to cling to and convicts us, let us repent. Only when holding to Jesus in this Spirit-worked faith, will we truly from the heart be able to sing for joy.
When he comes, he will convict the world … about righteousness…; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me. The world tries to justify itself. It tries to minimize or rationalize away sin. It seeks its own definition of righteousness—like today one is righteous if only one tolerates every sort of deviance from God’s law and will. This goes hand in glove with the sin of failing to believe in Jesus. Where faith in the true God is lacking, something will try to rush in and fill its place. But true righteousness before God is only that perfect righteousness of Jesus—His holy life and innocent suffering and death, which He now gives us through faith in Him. His glorification—His resurrection and ascension prove that He alone is the righteous One. By the Holy Spirit’s work in God’s holy Law, we first recognize our own unrighteousness; and by His work in the Gospel He points us to Jesus who is our righteousness. Through this Spirit worked faith in Jesus, God reckons us righteous, accepted and heirs of eternal life.
When he comes, he will convict the world … about judgment: …about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. There are consequences for sin and for rejecting Jesus and His righteousness. The Holy Spirit’s work is to convict the world that it is condemned with its ruler. But He also points to Jesus. By Jesus’ death we are forgiven our sin and delivered from sin’s dominion. Jesus has judged and condemned sin, death devil and hell and now the Holy Spirit points and leads us to Jesus, His work and His victory—which is ours in this Spirit worked faith. The Holy Spirit first convicts so He can give us Jesus and the blessings of His work.
It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. What a blessed word and promise from Jesus. Because He completed the work for our salvation and ascended into heaven, He now sends us the Holy Spirit, who by Law and Gospel, word and Sacrament brings us the fruit and blessings of Jesus’ work. He gives us the Holy Spirit into our hearts who works faith and leads us into a life more and more filled with faith and good works. What great joy is ours that Jesus has gone away—He has sent us the Holy Spirit. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things. INJ Amen