“You Will See Me”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is from today’s Gospel Reading. At the Last Supper,
Jesus says to his disciples: “In a little while, the world will not see me
anymore, but YOU will see me. Because I live, you also shall live.” I have always had extremely vivid dreams. Several times in the
years since my mother and father passed away, they have both appeared briefly in
my dreams, like a home movie being played from my memory. It is very
realistic, and wonderfully delightful to once again see them and hear their
voice in this way. In our text, the disciples are not living through a dream, but a
nightmare. It should be the happiest of festive occasions. Like our
joyful holiday celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas, they are gathered for
the Passover meal in the Upper Room. But, a dark cloud hangs over this
gathering. We have come to call that occasion the LAST Supper, because it
took place on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. In just few hours the tragic,
fateful events of Good Friday will begin to unfold. “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore.” The
disciples should understand what Jesus, in a very gentle way, is telling them.
For, he put it to them more bluntly on their way up to Jerusalem for the
Passover: “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to
the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death
and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.
On the third day he will be raised to life!” When Jesus says, “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore”
he is again predicting his DEATH. As he says at the end of the meal, just
before they go out to the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yes, what is written about me
is coming to fulfillment.” As it is written about him in the Old Testament
Scriptures, and as he himself told his disciples, in less than 24 hours he will
be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, condemned to death, mocked, flogged,
and crucified. “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore.” The night
of his birth into the world, the angels sang with JOY, “Glory to God in the
highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” But, the sinful world
spurned and rejected him, and his claim to be the Son of God and Savior of the
world. As the Gospel of John tragically reports, “He came unto his own,
and his own received him not.” That condemnation “they received him not” is directed NOT just at those
people, back then. It is also condemning YOU and me. For, we too are
called to be his own, but so often we too follow instead our sinful ways, and
spurn and reject him. “He came unto his own”—including you and me—“and
his own received him not.” In a few hours in the Garden of Gethsemane, an angel from heaven will
appear again. This time not to joyously sing, but to strengthen him in his
sorrow as he prepares to bear our sins in his body on the cross, praying with
such agony that his sweat becomes like drops of blood falling to the ground. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow,” he said. Sorrow that the
sinful world spurned and rejected him and his claim to be the Son of God and
Savior of the world; sorrow over YOUR sin; sorrow that “He came unto his own,
and his own received him not.” Our sins deserve only wrath and punishment. If God meted out upon
sinful humanity the punishment we deserve, the world should have been
annihilated at the moment when the very Son of God was nailed to the cross. But, Jesus says, “I give my flesh for the life of the world. . .
I have come that they may have life . . . For God so loved the world that
he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but to save the world through him.” “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore.” The light
of the world, who for a few decades became flesh and lived among us, is being
extinguished. “But YOU will see me.” The Light of the World is NOT extinguished for you; he continues to
shine for you, and all who trust in him. Those first disciples saw him
again on the third day, when he rose again from the dead, as “he came and stood
among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’” Those first disciples saw him again on the road to Emmaus. “Were
not our hearts burning within us,” they said, “while he talked with us on the
road and opened the Scriptures to us?” The book of Acts reports, “After his suffering, Jesus showed himself to
these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them
over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Those
first disciples saw him again for forty days after his resurrection, and then,
the Gospel of Luke says, “He lifted up his hands and blessed them. While
he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.” “I am returning,” Jesus said, “to my Father and your Father, to my God
and your God.” Yet he also promises, “Lo, I am WITH you always, to the
very end of the age.” “In a little while, the world will not see me
anymore, but YOU will see me.” Your risen Lord has ascended into heaven
and sits in power and glory at the right hand of God the Father almighty, and
yet he is WITH you, always, and like those first disciples, you DO see him.
Not just a dream or memory, but you DO see him. You see him in his WORD, as he said, “These are the Scriptures that
testify about me.” You see him, in the Sacrament of Holy BAPTISM, as Paul says in Titus,
“He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” You see him, in the Sacrament of Holy COMMUNION. “Do this,” he
said, “in remembrance of me.” “For as often as you eat this bread and
drink this cup,” Paul says “you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” You see him in the love of your brothers and sisters in Christ.
As he also said at the Last Supper that night, “By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another.” You see him here, in worship amongst your brothers and sisters in
Christ. “For wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there
I am among them,” he promised. “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore, but YOU will see
me.” To the world, Jesus Christ is only an historical figure, a memory
from the past. But, for you and all who trust in him, he is not just an
historical figure, not just a memory from the past, like my dreams of my mother
and father. He is the living Lord, your precious Savior, who is with you
always. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians, “We live by faith, not by sight.”
By faith you see him, in his Word; by faith you see him in the Sacraments of
Holy Baptism and Holy Communion; by faith you see him in the love of your
brothers and sisters in Christ; by faith you see him here among us, as we gather
together in his name. “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see
me. Because I live, you also shall live.” In this world you see him with
the eyes of faith. But, Job declares that in the next world, “I myself
will see him with my own eyes.” Because he lives, you also shall live, and
in heavenly glory you shall see your Savior with your own eyes. As Paul
says in 1st Corinthians, “Then we shall see face to face.” And John
writes, “We know that when he appears . . . we shall see him as he is.” “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore.” He was
crucified, dead and buried. The third day he rose again from the dead and
ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. “But YOU will see me.” He is not just a memory or a dream; he
lives and is with you always. By faith you see him, in his Word, in the
Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, in the love of your brothers and
sisters in Christ, and here among us, as we gather together in his name. “Because I live, you also shall live.” Finally, in heavenly glory
you see your Savior, no longer only by faith, but face to face, with your own
eyes. “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see
me.” That precious promise is also our comfort as we remember departed
loves ones this Memorial Day. For, what Jesus says about himself also
applies to all who died with faith in him. “In a little while . . . you
will see me.” In a little while, you will see again your mother, father;
grandmother, grandfather; husband, wife; son, daughter; and other friends and
loved ones who trusted in him. “In a little while . . . you will see me.”
You will them all again in the great reunion in glory. “In a little while, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see
me. Because I live, you also shall live.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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