Lent Midweek 5 – April 9, 2025Psalm 143; Leviticus 19:1-2a, 10b-19a, 25bSt. John 10:22-38
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
169 years before the birth of Christ, the
Syrians ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes conquered Judea and overthrew Jerusalem. He
arrogantly entered the Temple, removing the altar and the other appointments.
In its place, Antiochus erected a pagan altar and began offering sacrifices to
Zeus. He ordered that all citizens of the kingdom adopt Greek habits, culture,
and religion on punishment of death.[1]
Many from Israel “gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned
the sabbath.”[2]
At that time, God raised up a man named
Mattathias to begin a rebellion against this pagan ruler. This rebellion began
with the faithful remnant fleeing into the hills and waging a guerilla campaign
against the superior forces of Antiochus. As word of the rebellion spread,
faithful women and children also made their way into the hills to find safety
among these steadfast men of God.
It was Mattathias’s son, Judas
Maccabeus, who would eventually defeat the Syrian army and liberate Jerusalem
after 4 years of brutal warfare. All the while, Judas would encourage his men
by bolstering their faith. In the face of vastly superior numbers and
armaments, Judas remained faithful that the True and Living God would deliver
them from the oppression and false worship of the Syrians.
When that day of deliverance finally
came, the first action of the now freed Israelites was to remove the pagan
altar from the temple. They refused even to repurpose the stone, preferring to
cast it into an unclean place, awaiting God to raise up a prophet to tell them
what to do with it. They rebuilt the altar and remade the furniture and
appointments of the temple. When the preparations were complete, the priests
offered the first right sacrifices in the temple since Antiochus had erected
the Abomination of Desolation in that holy place. To commemorate the occasion,
Judas Maccabeus declared an 8-day celebration of mirth and gladness, giving
thanks to the God who had delivered them from the hands of Antiochus, his pagan
worship, and his pagan way of living. This 8-day feast is called “Hannukah,” translated,
“The Feast of Dedication.”
This feast is the setting for our reading this evening. It was a feast to commemorate the rededication of the temple, after it had been cleansed of the false worship of pagan gods and rededicated to the worship of the True and Living God. You may have heard Hannukah as the “Festival of Lights,” but the legend of the miraculous oil that burned for 8 straight days is not recorded until nearly 700 years after the Maccabean Rebellion. The feast was instituted to commemorate the great victory God provided over the Syrians and the restoration of worship according to the Word of God.
With this in mind, the actions and
questions of the Jews in our text take on renewed significance. Just as the
nations surrounded Jerusalem and threatened the existence of God’s people, the
Jews surround Christ. As He walks in the oldest portion of the Temple, it is
demanded that He tell them plainly if He is the Christ.[3]
These Pharisees and chief priests are asking an honest question. They have
already asked this same question five chapters earlier. Christ has shown
through His works and through His teachings that He is indeed, the Christ of
the Scriptures, the Son of God become Man, but they have refused to see,
refused to hear.
Christ answers them very directly, “I
told you, and you do not believe.”[4]
He goes on to characterize His sheep as those who hear His voice. This hearing,
receiving of the Word of God, is not strictly passive in the sense of audio
waves bouncing off the ear drum. Its like the mother who tells her teenage son
to take out the garbage. When she finds him still sitting on the couch and the
garbage sitting in the kitchen, she might say, “Did you not hear me?” Hearing
the voice of the shepherd manifests in action. In the case of Christ, this Word
of the Shepherd is the call to leave earthly and sinful attachments and follow
Christ.
Salvation is by faith alone. It is not
the result of our actions, even our response to the Word of God. But being one
of the sheep, being one who hears and receives the call of faith, results in a
change in the state of being. Having heard the Word of God, one cannot help but
be called to a new life. This is the life of a Christian. It involves a new way
of life, a new habitus.
The nefarious Jews and chief priests of
our text are like their forefathers who gladly adopted the religion and ways of
life of Antiochus. They are firmly rooted in their false beliefs concerning God
and His Word. They refuse to hear, and respond, to the Words of Christ. Thus,
their way of life, their habitus, is unchanged. Being unchanged, their
lack of faith is made manifest to all.
The devil has not changed his tactics in the last 2,000 years. Those who belong to him still seek to draw away the faithful sheep into an earthly habitus, an earthly way of life, as opposed to the way of Christ. Rainbow pride, DEI, and critical theory are a new creed commanded by the collective conscience of a new Antiochus, the ruler and high priest of our age. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and “Live and let live” would never be enough to satisfy this new religion. Christians are daily demanded to confess the words of these new creeds. We must resist that temptation. Young and old alike, we must resist.
The most fundamental step in this
resistance is to refuse to speak the lies. After Antiochus commanded everyone
in Judea to sacrifice to his gods, there was a small minority who refused.
Among these was a 90-year-old man named Eleazer. His friends begged him to
participate, if only to save his life, but Eleazer refused. He said, “At our
age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense; many of the young would
think the ninety-year-old Eleazar had gone over to an alien religion. If I
dissemble to gain a brief moment of life, they would be led astray by me, while
I would bring defilement and dishonor on my old age.”[5]
Eleazer did not lead the military revolt against Antiochus, but he refused to
speak the lie. He would not dishonor God’s Word, and he would not set the unfaithful
example for the young. Youth, and children especially, need role models. They especially
need men who will show them the way of life, the way of Christ. They need men
to be men so that they would learn to lead in their own time.
Beyond refusing to speak the lie, the
next step to which all Christians are called is living the life of a Christian.
That might sound overly simple, but it is true. Show the next generation of
Christians how to act in Church. Listen, sing, give attention to the matters at
hand. Recite the catechism with your children or grandchildren as often as
possible. If you are employed, be the best employee you can, setting the
example of one who works for Christ. Care for your children as the gifts of God
they are.
If it has been given to you, the greatest
step is actively participating in the rebellion. At the beginning of the
Maccabean revolt, the faithful few had no weapons, yet they ran into battle
with the Lord at their side. The Word of God was their sword and shield, their
armor and defense. These first steps might look like attending a March for
Life. It might look like refusing to attend DEI training. It might even be as
simple as reading articles or books to better understand the situation we are
facing.
The sheep who hear the voice of the
Shepherd are never alone. He holds you in the palm of His hand and no one can
snatch you away. The warmth of the Father’s hand enlivens you to live according
to the word that gives you hearing. Our Shepherd is the one who gives eternal
life. That life is the freedom to stand with Judas Maccabeus and Eleazer, to
rejoice in the Temple not made with hands. Freedom to stand against the Jews,
the chief priests, and the nations who surround you. It is the freedom of one
released from the bonds of sin and called into the sheepfold of Christ.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
