Lent Midweek II
John 3:12-21
March 19, 2025
“Everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, or else his deeds would be exposed. But the one who does what is true comes toward the light, in order that his deeds may be seen as having been done in connection with God.” The Word of the Lord.
Why do so many run from the light? Why do so many prefer wickedness over the truth? And consider the paradox here: Many choose wickedness and intentionally pursue the darkness of sin, to do evil. But they run from the light because they don’t want their evil exposed; they don’t want their wicked thoughts, words, and deeds to be shown for what they are.
They want to do evil, but they fear having their evil deeds exposed. It takes us back to Eden, doesn’t it? Adam and Eve did evil; they wanted to disobey God, to call God a liar. But once they did the deed, what came next? They tried to hide their wickedness from the Lord by covering themselves in branches and leaves.
What is sin? It’s all about disobeying God and doing whatever you can to get away with it; keeping it in the dark. It’s often why people stop going to church when they know they’re sinning. They want to keep on disobeying the Lord and they don’t want their sins exposed by the light of the truth.
And I want you to think about this even more deeply. In what ways do you, like our first parents, cover your shame with sticks and leaves? Perhaps it’s in your worship preferences, where you want worship to be positive and “you focused,” rather than worship built on the truth, where sinners are called to repentance and trust in the Lord. Perhaps it’s in your favorite Bible passages, the positive passages which don’t draw too much attention to your sinning and misdeeds. Perhaps it’s in the music you listen to, avoiding the music which clearly exposes your true nature OR worse, embracing the music that celebrates your true sinful nature as good and worth pursuing.
Yet we are led to a depth of contemplation concerning our Lord’s words. In the Gospel this evening, Jesus starts out by saying that “no one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” Some people like to question Jesus’ words here and say, “What about Elijah; what about Enoch?” But that’s really not the point Jesus is trying to make. Nicodemus could have just as easily questioned Jesus’ words, but he didn’t, and Jesus continued to make His point.
Luther actually deals with this passage and says that it’s a passage that can become a stumbling block if not studied carefully. Elijah and Enoch were not taken to heaven because of their works, but because of faith. And here is the point. No one has ascended into heaven by works because all human beings are, by nature, incapable of ascending because our flesh and our blood and our reason have no power to save us. Anything connected to our old birth, our first birth is never heaven bound because our first birth is of Adam. In this sense, no one has ascended into heaven.
But He who descended first FROM heaven, the Son of Man, God who takes on human flesh, He will ascend, and because He has descended from heaven, and by His perfect obedience and unshakeable faith, ascended to heaven, the way is now open for all people to ascend, covered not in sticks and leaves or the blood of beasts, but covered in the blood of God, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God.
We go back to Eden once more. After Adam and Eve ingested the fantasy painted by Satan that God was holding back and that they could have a much better time in the garden if they’d just eat the fruit forbidden, the Lord descended from heaven and walked in the garden to find His precious children. Out of fear and guilt they immediately tried to paint themselves as pious and unchanged by draping themselves in foolishness, in the works of creation which were powerless to save them or hide their shame.
And the moment the Lord questioned Adam who was, by the way, the correct person to question, unlike the serpent who wrongly questioned Eve, the bane of darkness was already flooding the universe as Adam spoke up and took no responsibility for his condition but blamed Eve, blamed the Lord, and Eve, in turn, blamed the serpent and blamed the Lord. They did not want to emerge from the darkness; they did not want their deeds exposed in the light of the Lord who stood before them.
If we consider either the first day of creation or if we consider baptism, it’s as if we die in the waters of new creation, but we do not emerge anew, reborn; we stay there, as if we die with Christ, but never rise with Him. Adam and Eve wanted to stay in the void and the deep and did not want the Lord’s words, “Let there be light” to expose their sins.
And when people flee from the light and find shelter from the Lord in the darkness, this is what’s going on. They’re returning to the deep of the baptismal waters so that the light of new creation does not reach them. They run from church, they run from God, they run from repentance and confession of sins because there is no faith, only fear of God’s wrath. They convince themselves using all sorts of clever tricks that all is well. “Everyone else does it; it’s the way of the world today; it’s cheaper; it’s easier; it’s more fun; it’s my life and I can do what I want,” but it’s all based in the darkness and means nothing in the light.
God doesn’t look at our sins and make exceptions because it saves money on taxes or because everyone else is doing it or because it’s cool or because it’s popular or because it’s no one’s business…the Light is indiscriminate and the judgment that will come is unbiased.
On the first day the Lord said, “Let there be light,” and because of Adam, on the 8th day, the light was gone, and darkness appeared to prevail over creation. For God it was like the world before He said, “Let there be light.” It was formless and void and sin’s darkness was over the surface of the deep once more. It was tragic and to this moment those living in darkness are no different.
Now the Lord could have carried out His judgement upon our first parents in which case we would not exist. But instead, the Lord made them a promise. He said that He would send one born of the seed of woman who would crush Satan and his deceitful reign and return the light to creation. And the Lord, to show Adam and Eve how this would take place, sacrificed an animal, maybe two, and wrapped them up in the skins of the sacrifice, covering their shame and making them innocent by the blood of the innocent.
And this would by no means be the only time the Lord hid the darkness of men’s deeds under the light of the innocent. The Jews were instructed to sacrifice and shed the blood of many, many innocent creatures, each atoning for the sins of the people, and for generations the sacrifices continued, all pointing to the promise the Lord made in the garden that He would send one to crush the head of the serpent forever. This is why dispensationalism, the idea that God saves people by different ways throughout history, is untenable. Salvation has always been about Jesus, since creation itself. Everything in between merely points TO Jesus, but it’s always about Jesus.
One of the most telling and pointed examples or prefigurements of the One who was to come was the serpent on a pole, raised up by Moses at the command of the Lord. The people had sinned egregiously. The Lord did not give them a moment’s chance to hide themselves in the darkness. He exposed their sin in the light of fiery snakes who bit them and poisoned them so they would die. The people immediately cried out to God and to Moses asking for release, repenting of their evil deeds.
The Lord told Moses to raise a pole and fashion a bronze serpent atop, so that when the people looked at the serpent by faith, they would be saved. Many looked and were saved; many did not and died.
A foretelling of the Son of Man who would descend from heaven and ascend upon a cross for all to look to and be saved, for sure. And yet, many do not. Many, like Adam and Eve, remain in the darkness and refuse to allow their wicked deeds to be exposed. Why do so many run from the light?
And let’s be clear about this, the judgment stands as it always has. Those who hate the light and flee from the light shall be judged by their works, their wicked and evil thoughts and actions and words which follow them and like ancient Israel, their wickedness will be clearly exposed on the Last Day for the universe to see, and there will no longer be any excuse, no more sacrifice for sins on that glorious and terrible Day. It will be too late, and God’s first promise to our first parents will be carried out upon them – they will surely die forever.
But there is another way. He who has descended from heaven, the Son of Man, has ascended up to heaven, and all who look to Him and are clothed in His blood shall be saved.
Jesus IS the light! He is the Word by which all things were made. He is the light that illumines the darkness of the deep so that the waters become a saving flood through which new creation occurs.
On the first 8th day, the first Adam brought darkness and death. But on the Lord’s 8th Day, on the day when Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus brought light and life for all who believe.
Look to Jesus. Do not fear the light or remain hidden in the darkness. Repent, confess your sins and evil deeds so that His mercy might illumine your heart and bring you peace and joy.
Look up to the tree of the cross because it is there that sins are forgiven. Don’t look into yourself; don’t run to experiences or tantalizing fruits of the worldly tree for all it brings is darkness. Look to Jesus, believe on Him, for in Him alone do you have life. He is the light of men, and as God once said, “Let there be light” when creating the world by water and the Spirit, so too does God say to each of you, “Let there be light” when recreating you, rebirthing you, by water and the Spirit.
Amen.
