Text: 1 John 2: 1-6
Do you know Jesus? What do you mean Pastor? I ask you again. Do you know Jesus? Lots of people claim to know him. Well what do you mean? Pastor. I come to his church. I listen to his Word. I partake of his Supper.
But friend, do you know him? Do we really know him as the Lord and Savior of our life? Or is Jesus kind of like that sister or brother who lives nearby but we hardly ever see. It’s worth thinking about. It’s worth looking at our hearts and lives and asking ourselves. Do I know him? This Word of God points us in that direction.
You see:
To Know Jesus, to really know Him is…
I. To marvel at where He stands
II. To walk where he leads
Before we talk about where he stands, let’s think about ourselves. Where do we stand on our own? John begins here by saying: I write this to you so that you will not sin. Much of God’s word trains us how to live a righteous life. It shows us the way to go and warns us against the way not to go. I write this to you so that you will not sin.
But of course, we know how we come here today. The usher would look at us funny if we came here carrying a white plastic bag full of trash. With a bag containing moldy bread, spoiled food and stuff we have no use for. Yet in a way, that’s how each of us comes before the Lord. Except our bag contains something far worse. The impatience, the anger, the lack of love, the selfishness, the lust that we have allowed to be part of our lives. So where do we stand on our own? The tax collector said it well: God have mercy on me, a sinner.
But what a friend we have in Jesus And don’t get the wrong idea. Years ago, I heard a man say that Jesus gave me a second chance. A second chance to do what? Get it right this time? Make myself worthy of God. My problem is that he could give me hundreds of chances and I still would not get it right.
To know Jesus, to really know him is to know where he stands. He stands with us, sinners. Listen: But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. What does that mean? It doesn’t mean that Jesus says, I know he’s sinned but think of his other good qualities. It means that Jesus can speak in our defense because he lived a perfect life in our place. His righteous life counts for you and me. So marvel at where he stands. He stands with us and more.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. There is something here the church today is reluctant to talk about. The wrath of God. It’s buried in that expression, atoning sacrifice. The righteous anger of God against the evil of mankind. Every now and then we see it break out. In a flood that destroyed the ancient world. In an Assyrian army that swept away the northern kingdom of Israel after years of warning. In a final day of judgment to come. And we are warned about it in the letter to the Hebrews: It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (10:31) So to know Jesus, to really know him is to marvel at where he stands. It is to marvel at where he stood for us. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, He is One who took away God’s wrath. He is the One who suffered it in our place.
I have a Jewish friend who just observed Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Many observe that day, by fasting, prayer and seeking to make things right with people they have wronged. But that’s not what God commanded his Old Testament people to do. On that day, the High Priest was to enter the most sacred place in the temple to atone for the sins of the people. There he would bring the blood of a goat sacrificed for sin and sprinkle that blood on the atonement cover of the ark.
Yet this we know. This the Bible teaches. The lifeblood of some animal could never take away any one’s guilt or punishment. Those things were shadows of what our God would one day do for us all. He gave his Son to stand under his judgment and suffer what we deserve that we could be free. Free from guilt, free from fear, free from the curse of death. He gave his Son that we could be called children of God. To know Jesus, to really know Him is to marvel at that. To marvel at where he stands. He stands with us, this One who stood in our place.
I’ve been reading a book about Dietrich Bonheoffer. He was a Lutheran pastor who lived in Nazi Germany. He was one of the few who spoke out against the treatment of the Jews. His life is quite a story and so too his death at the hands of the Nazis.
Bonheoffer saw something in the church of his day, which troubled him. He called it cheap grace. A kind of grace that doesn’t ask anything, produce any kind of change in a person’s life. But of course, that’s not the person who knows Jesus. You see, when Jesus becomes the Savior of our lives, we also look to Jesus as the Lord of our lives. So to know Jesus, to really know him, is to walk where Jesus leads.
Once in a while I have this sad conversation. A church member is living in some kind of sin. He or she has made choices that God’s Word clearly says are wrong. Maybe someone has left their spouse and family and moved in with someone else. Maybe someone stops gathering with his brothers and sisters in Christ to hear God’s Word and receive the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood. The pastor points out his concern. He then hears their excuses for what is clearly wrong. And then you might hear something like this. But I still consider myself a Christian.
Jesus’ apostle speaks to that in no uncertain terms. 4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. For what did Jesus say? If you love me, you will obey my commands.
We see that in our Old testament lesson with Joseph. When tempted, he refused to dishonor God by breaking the 6th commandment. You shall not commit adultery. For to love the Lord, to know Him, to really know him is to obey his commands. It’s to walk where he lead us.
Well one command that Jesus spoke loud and clear is this. That we love another. John spends much of this letter talking about that one command. In fact, Jesus said, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love another.
What does that mean for us? It means much more than a kind greeting on a Sunday morning. It means that we find ways to serve one another. Here I think of a 90 something year old lady who still takes care of the candles and paraments and offers a ride to church. She knows that to love one another means to serve one another.
It also means we take an interest in one another. We have a loving concern for one another, the same kind of loving concern our Lord has for us. Who have you called this week? Who have you visited? Do you know what your brothers and sisters are dealing with in their life? How then can you pray for them? How then, can you help them? Think about John’s words from chapter 3. 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. That’s the love that Jesus calls for. That the way Jesus would have us walk. And what are we told: 5 … if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him.
Yet sometimes that love is lacking, isn’t it? Too often. We get careless. We walk around with wrong attitudes. We let each other down. We sin. So maybe you wonder. Do I know Jesus? Do I really know him? These words are for you. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1,2) How blessed we are know him. Now let us live like we do. Amen.