Dear Friends in Christ,<\/p>\n
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\u201cSave Yourself!\u201d The challenge is hurled at Jesus again and again while He\u2019s dying. To the cries of the rulers, the soldiers and the robber in Luke, we add the priests from Matthew 27:42: \u201cHe saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.\u201d Dead kings are no good: kings need life and strength, will and vitality if they\u2019re going to win any victories. That only makes sense. It doesn\u2019t make sense to put your trust in king who is helpless and bleeding to death on a cross. <\/p>\n
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So the cries make sense: \u201cIf You are the Son of God, the Christ, the King, then prove it. Show us! Save Yourself! Come down from the cross. Once You\u2019ve done that, save us too. After all, once You\u2019ve come down from the cross, do You think we won\u2019t believe in You?\u201d <\/p>\n
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Ponder that. Seriously, it makes perfect sense. It\u2019s perfectly reasonable. <\/p>\n
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Ah, it may be perfectly reasonable, but reason isn\u2019t perfect. Reason says, \u201cYou get what you pay for.\u201d Reason says, \u201cPeople with power produce results.\u201d That\u2019s because this is how the world works, and reason is based on observing the world. But the wisdom of God makes the world look foolish. The wisdom of God says this: \u201cYou\u2019re far more sinful than you can reasonably imagine, and you\u2019re going to die for that sin. At least you would die for your sin, but My Son became flesh and died for your sin on the cross. Furthermore, He is risen from the dead. You don\u2019t have to die for your sin, because Jesus gives you grace and life freely.\u201d <\/p>\n
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That\u2019s the Gospel: in our reading today, Jesus is dying on the cross to save man. That\u2019s what makes those reasonable shouts of the people to be so terribly wrong, so terribly perverse. \u201cSave Yourself and save us, and then we will believe in You\u201d? But if Jesus saves Himself, He doesn\u2019t save them. They have to die eternally for their sin. If He comes down from the cross, they\u2019ll believe in Him all right. Well, kind of. They\u2019ll have the same faith that demons do: they\u2019ll know that He\u2019s the holy Son of God, but they won\u2019t trust in Him for salvation. Instead, they\u2019ll want the mountains to fall on them because of their sin and because there\u2019s no forgiveness to be found\u2014because the sacrifice hasn\u2019t been made. <\/p>\n
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Jesus has to stay on the cross and die in order to save them. He has to stay on the cross and die so that they might believe in Him for salvation. Jesus has tons of power\u2014He\u2019s healed the sick, calmed storms and raised the dead. But ultimately, He redeems the world as the helpless Savior on the cross. He doesn\u2019t save the world by growing in power. He saves the world by becoming a nothing before God, forsaken by His Father because He bears the sins of the world. He is the greatest Victor by being the biggest Loser. That\u2019s not reasonable. But that\u2019s the Gospel. That is your salvation. <\/p>\n
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So Jesus saves you by not saving Himself. You\u2019ve got that down. You trust that Jesus is your Savior. But you\u2019re still probably trying to save yourself anyway. I don\u2019t mean that you reject Him\u2014I don\u2019t mean that you\u2019re saying, \u201cI don\u2019t need this Jesus because I can work enough to save myself!\u201d If that was your faith, you probably wouldn\u2019t be here. But there is a popular misconception among Christians and it goes like this: now that you\u2019re a Christian, you think that becoming a better Christian and overcoming sin is something that\u2019s up to you. Now that you\u2019ve been saved, you think it\u2019s up to you to keep saving yourself. <\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s a quick analogy. A lot of Christians treat sin like doctors would treat, oh, obesity. While sometimes it\u2019s more complex, the treatment for many boils down to proper diet, proper exercise and changing behaviors. It\u2019s about self-discipline, really: just watch an episode or two of \u201cThe Biggest Loser,\u201d where there\u2019s a trainer showing the contestants what the contestants have to do for themselves. That\u2019s how many Christians approach sin: you\u2019ve got Jesus or the pastor as your trainer, and it\u2019s up to you to discipline yourself to do the right thing, avoid the wrong and change your behavior. That, many think, is how you overcome sin and become a better Christian.<\/p>\n
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Sin isn\u2019t like obesity, though: it\u2019s a lot more like a cancer. Cancers work and grow to corrupt and kill; and if you\u2019re the victim, no matter how carefully you eat or how well you exercise, you\u2019ve still got something inside that is working death. You have something corrupting you that has to be removed. It has to be killed if you\u2019re going to live. Sin is the same way: if you\u2019re sinful, you can discipline yourself and better your behavior all you want\u2014but then you\u2019re just a well-disciplined, better-behaved sinner who is still dying. If you\u2019re to have life\u2014if you\u2019re to be saved, that sin has to be removed. It has to be killed. <\/p>\n
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You can\u2019t kill sin. It has to be killed for you. That\u2019s why Jesus went to the cross: He snatched your sin away from you at your baptism, held it to Himself and hurled Himself into the hell of God\u2019s wrath to destroy it. How does He kill sin in you now? He does that by forgiving you. He washes your sin away in baptism. He speaks to destroy its power by His Word of absolution. He gives you His body and blood\u2014body and blood that\u2019s already broken out of the grave and lives forever. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now that you\u2019re a Christian, you don\u2019t save yourself by your better behavior and self-discipline. The answer to getting rid of sin isn\u2019t your self-improvement: it\u2019s repentance. It\u2019s confessing to the Lord, \u201cI\u2019ve got this sin that\u2019s working to corrupt and kill me, and I trust in you alone, O Lord, to take it away.\u201d You become strong by confessing your weakness, because Jesus makes His power perfect there. <\/p>\n
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That\u2019s unreasonable. But that\u2019s how the Gospel works. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A couple of quick thoughts, then, before we wrap up. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first thought is this: the common objection at this point is that many will say that I\u2019ve just said that you don\u2019t have to worry about doing the right thing, avoiding the wrong thing or living a life of good works or self-discipline. Many will misconstrue this message of Gospel to say, \u201cSince you can always be forgiven, go ahead and sin as much as you want because what you do doesn\u2019t really matter.\u201d That\u2019s foolish. Let me ask this: if you\u2019re a lung cancer patient who\u2019s just been saved from death by a lung transplant, do you step outside the hospital and light up another cigarette? Of course not. Some do, actually, but that\u2019s foolish. Why would you invite death back in when you\u2019ve just been rescued? It\u2019s the same with sin. Do good works and better behaviors destroy sin? No. But if Christ destroys that sin with forgiveness, why would you go right back to death and corruption? That will only, harden your heart and eventually kill you. That\u2019s why you discipline yourself as a Christian to avoid sin. If you don\u2019t, you\u2019re poisoning the life Christ gives you at the cost of His own blood. <\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s the second thought: it\u2019s no coincidence that both doctors and pastors speak of remission: remission of cancer and remission of sins. In both cases, it means that the affliction is gone\u2014but that it could always come back and start to kill again. For cancer victims, that means ongoing checkups and perhaps more treatment if the cancer returns. For Christians, it means a life of ongoing repentance, ongoing confession, and ongoing reception of the means of grace because sin always returns. That is where Christ is for you, and Christ is your life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Christ is there for you, and Christ remains your life. The Gospel is not that Jesus died, rose and then said, \u201cI am the good Life-coach.\u201d He doesn\u2019t\u2019 say, \u201cI\u2019ve done My part and given you the tools you need to work out your own salvation from here. I won, so you can win too if you just put in the effort.\u201d No. The Gospel is that Jesus didn\u2019t save Himself so that He might save you\u2014that at the cross, He was the biggest Loser so that He might win the victory over sin death and devil. And the Good News continues that He remains present in His means of grace even now to take your sin away. If you \u201close\u201d your sin\u2014if it\u2019s taken away, then you\u2019re righteous before God. That loss is certainly gain, the kingdom of heaven forever. It\u2019s yours: not because of your efforts, but because the risen, victorious Son of God says to you, \u201cI forgive you all of your sins.\u201d In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Friends in Christ, \u201cSave Yourself!\u201d The challenge is hurled at Jesus again and again while He\u2019s dying. To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[176],"wpfc_sermon_series":[],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-pastor-j-fritsche","wpfc-sermon-single","post-4752","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","hentry"],"sermon_audio":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sermons\/2025\/12\/Sermon-for-Sunday-November-23-2025.mp3","sermon_audio_duration":"00:14:21","_views":"21","bible_passage":"Luke 23:35-39 \u201cAnd the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at Him, saying, \u2018He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!\u2019 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him sour wine and saying, \u2018If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!\u2019 There was also an inscription over Him, \u2018This is the King of the Jews.\u2019 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, saying, \u2018Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!\u2019\u201d","sermon_video_embed":"","sermon_video_url":"","sermon_bulletin":"","_featured_url":false,"sermon_date":1763899231,"_sermon_date_auto":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon\/4752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/wpfc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4752"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon\/4752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4754,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon\/4752\/revisions\/4754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wpfc_preacher","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_preacher&post=4752"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_sermon_series&post=4752"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_sermon_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_sermon_topics&post=4752"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_bible_book","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_bible_book&post=4752"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_service_type","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_service_type&post=4752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}