From the Archives: A Sermon on the Tenth Sunday after Trinity

Sermon on the Tenth Sunday after Trinity

The Rev. Immanuel Gottlob Brastberger

Translated by the Rev. Karl Schoenrade

For the Tenth Week after Trinity, we revisit this translation from Gottesdienst Vol. I, No. 3, Trinity to Trinity XVI 1993. The original text can be found in Evangelische Zeugnisse der Wahrheit (Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern, n.d.), 645–55.

Luke 19:41-48“As He approached Jerusalem and saw thecity, He wept over it and said, “If you, evenyou, had only known on this day what wouldbring you peace–but nowis hidden from youreyes. The days will come upon you when yourenemies will build an embankment against youand encircle you and hem you in on everyside. They will dash you to the ground, youand the children withinyour walls. They willnot leave one stone on another, because youdid not recognize the time of God’s coming toyou.” Then He entered the Temple area andbegan driving out those who were selling. “Itis written, “he said to them, “My house will bea house of prayer;but you havemade it into aden of robbers.” Everyday He wasteaching atthe Temple. But the chief priests, the teachersof the Law and the leaders among the peoplewere trying to kill Him. Yet they could not findany way to do it, because all the people hungon His words.”The Gospel just read from is undoubtedly,one of the most moving in the entire year, forin it the gripping picture of Jesus weeping isset before our eyes.The Evangelist Luke himself, who sets thisbefore us, is moved most deeply at this. Hewrites:“As He(the Lord Jesus)approached,He saw the city and wept over it.”This tookplace at the last entrance of Jesus intoJerusalem, in which everything was in fullcommotion. Some spread their clothes on theway, others cut branches from the trees andstrewed them on the way. But the entire groupof His disciples began with joy to praise Godwith a loud voice for all the deeds which theyhad seen, and said: “Praise be to Him thatcomes in the name of the Lord, a King; peacein Heaven and glory in the highest.

But by what moving lament was this joyful call interrupted. As He, the Lord Jesus, approached, He saw the city and wept over itin such a way that the weeping pierced Hisheart, and a loud lamentation with many tearswas heard from Hun. Over whom, then?Answer: Over the hardened sinners in the cityof Jerusalem, and, along with them, over alllost sinners who were then in the world, andall who would yet be in it in the future;consequently, the LordJesus wept over youand me and over us all. For He saw us in ourhuman race, in our corruption, and in dangerof eternal death; it broke His heart and drewforth from Him the most bitter tears.It is impossible that this occur withoutemotion, for if God weeps, how could peoplelaugh? If the king sheds tears, how could hissubjects be indifferent? To be sure, whoeverstill remains unmoved and indifferent at thissight must have a heart which is harder thansteel and iron.Your hearts, beloved, have also perhapsbeen moved a little bit for some time from somany presentations and witnesses of the truthwhich is to me, grounds of good hope and amatter of certain joy; but now I hope that thetears of the Son of God enflame your heartseven more and set them in most holy emotion.Oh, that it would happen! Oh, that the Lordwould send His grace thereto as I now holdbefore you:The moving picture of the weeping Jesus;how it should move:I. The unconverted, to entice them and toattract them;II. The penitent, to comfort them and tomake them glad;III. The stiff-necked and obdurate, but towitness against them and to shame themwithin.Oh, Lord Jesus, let the power of Thytears overcome and well penetrate ourhard hearts, and thisfluid of life bringus Thy love. Thy heart full of love wasthen full of emotion over against themiserableness of those who would notknow that which served to their peace.Thou hast wept and shed bitterest tearsover this. Oh, look down from Thyheights, amid let the ruin of those who areyet smug, cavalier, and indifferentamong us grieve Thee. Bring theirhearts to a saving agitation, that theygive heed to their salvation andthemselves be led to repentance. Also,comfort the penitent souls who weepover their sins and give them a joyousspirit, to establish them, strengthenthem, and lead themto a joyful delightof Thy salvation. May none of us remainindifferent in looking at Thy movingpicture, for the sake of Thy burningtears. Amen.

So then, this time we examinethe moving picture of the weeping Jesus.That should properly move:I. The unconverted in general,to entice and to attract them.For the Lord Jesus weeps here from innersadness over the ruin of sinners; He looked atthe city, it says, and wept over it.1) The city Jerusalem was that place inwhich, as the gathering place of the entireJewish and Galilean lands, the true Saviortaught the most and performed the greatestmiracles. Through those sermons and miraclesof His He had, to be sure, won a little flock ofsouls and trained them in His discipleship; butmost of them remained in their corruption andrested generally in the sleep of their fleshlysurety. Most gave a coldanswer to the offer oflove in the evangelical grace-voice of Jesus:(Luke 14.18)“I have bought a field,” “I havebought five yoke of oxen,” “I have taken awife, therefore, I cannot come.”This painedthe Lord Jesus deeply and He lamented themiserable condition of these poor souls withthe bitterest tears; He thought to Himself:Should, then, My teaching and admonishing,should My praying and beseeching, shouldMy bleeding and suffering, should Mysacrifice and bitter death be lost to these poorpeople? Oh, how their misery distresses Me.Oh, how their ruin vexes Me. It went evenfurther with Him than with the tender–mindedDavid at the news of the death of his son,Absalom. At this he paced back and forth,wept, cried out loudly, and said: (2 Samuel18.33)“My son Absalom! My son, my sonAbsalom! Would God that I had died for you!

O Absalomn, my son, my son!”Behold, thus is Jesus minded toward thesouls who have not yet accepted His grace. Heis not indifferent to this, whether they live ordie, whether they be saved or damned. No, no,He is sorry about it when merely oneindividual is lost; He would grant them Hisblessedness so gladly; He would accept themso heartily; it pains Him so much that sinnerswant to be lost, needlessly; (2 Peter 3.9) Hedoes not want anyone to perish, but thateveryone come to repentance. This shouldcertainly entice and move one, for the LordJesus also weeps here2) out of sincere loveand inner desire for thesalvation of the sinner. He confesses itwith clear words: “Oh, if you, even you, hadonly known on this day what would bring youpeace–....” His benevolent heart was notsatisfied with the number of souls who werealready gathered in His bosom. Wherever Hesaw a person, He wished that this one wouldalso be finally gathered besides. As Hedescended the Mount of Olives and enteredthe gates of Jerusalem, His heart broke anew,as it were; as often as aninhabitant of this citycame to Him there was said in His heart: “Oh,that you would know it, you also, and withanother, you too! and to a third: you also! andthus on and on: you also, you also.” Oh, that“you also” accept it, take heed to it, andyourselfbe madeblessed! That was certainly amoving sermon, such as the Lord Jesus hadnot preached in His life.But should it not also move us all? Howmany of those are there still among us whohave not yet up to this hour sincerely givenheed to what would bring them peace; howmany poor people who, in their crasssmugness, or by their hypocrisy and secretservice to sin enjoy no true repentance, nopeace, no blessedness; how many bear hell intheir bosom and have not experienced thegrace which hath appeared unto them in ChristJesus, and the good which they could havefrom Him, because of their worldly mind,their rotten prattling, their secret lewdness,their selfishness, their implacability, and othersins. The Lord Jesus weeps heartily over allthese and offers themHis grace with tears. Helooks at them, one after the other, from thegreatest to the least, from the most importantto the least important, and sighs: “On this yourday of grace, oh that you would know it, youalso, you also, what would bring you peace.”To be sure, I know that if the real Jesus wereto come yet today into our church and wouldsee the vast throng which is gathered here, Hisbenevolent heart would break, and He wouldgo about from one to the other saying: “Oh,that you would also realize what would bringpeace to you.” (He would go) to our men, oneafter another; to our women, one after another,to our married men and women; to the singlepeople and to children, to one after another,grievously sorrowing and sincerely inviting atthe same time: “Oh, that you also would knowit, so you could take heed, yes, you could haveit; I wish it for you so gladly, oh, that youwould seek, desire, and accept this moment ofgrace.” Well should this move one after theother and cut through his heart, for it iscertainly pure love; they are tears of a tenderlyinclined mother for her distressed children;they are the tears of a loving bridegroom,which he spills out of ardent desire for hisbride.Should these tears, then, not be in a positionto move you, you male- sinners and female-sinners? Behold, you run on the way of ruin;Jesus runs after you with tears and calls:“Return, return.” You run to damnation; Jesusbeckons you with tears: “Come, come still,you poor ones; let Me show mercy to you; youhave no rest, no peace.” Jesus weeps over this.He would gladly send it to you; will you notaccept it? Would you leave Him to weep invain? O, stand still upon your sinful way!Look there, Who is He Who weeps behindyou so very loudly? Itis Jesus, the Son ofGod, the soul’s friend, the lover of people, thecrucified Mediator, He Who would so gladlyshare with you His salvation,, wrought by Hisblood and death. Oh, let the tears soften yourheart. He begins with you; as a sower whoscatters seed, He sows His bitter tears; nowthen, lay your heart under it that this dew ofGod moisten them, your hard hearts, that theybecome soft; your frivolous hearts, that theybe brought to reflection; your impure hearts,that they be washed in this flood of tears; yourice cold hearts, that they be ignited from thisfire of loving tears. Oh yes, stand still, weepalso, before the weeping of Jesus, confess toHim with tears your unfaithfulness; with tearsbeg pardon from Him for your sins; with tearsimplore grace from Him, and to be sure, onthis, your day. On this day, which is a day of grace for you, as for Zacchaeus, about whomit is said in this verychapter: “He came downat once, and Jesus stayed with him and said:(Luke 19.9)“Today salvation has come to thisbiouse.”Oh that it would happen! Oh that itwould happen with everyone, so you wouldexperience that the picture of the weepingJesus is also moving toII. The penitent and believing,to comfort and to gladden them.For the tears of Jesusare high priestly tears;they have power to reconcile the sinner withGod, and to gain grace and joyfulness forthem before the countenance of God. Thedisciples of the Lord experienced that afterthey had turned to Jesus, therefore, as weddingguests. They could not be sad as long as thebridegroom was with them. (Mark 2.19) Theycould, therefore, praise God with joy and aloud voice for all the works which they hadseen. There were certainly many tearsafterwards, as Jesus was taken from them, butthey were also richly comforted again throughChrist, (2 Corinthians 1.5) and could call outto each other: (Philippians 4.4)“Rejoice in theLord always, and again I say: Rejoice.”We have the tears of Jesus to thank that wemay still rejoice. BecauseHe wept here, so wemay rejoice in spiritual joy; because He in thedays of His flesh had offered to His heavenlyFather a strong crying out with tears, we maypraise Him with joyful voice. We may bejoyful, in that He blotted out our sins, in thatHe reconciled us with His heavenly Father,and has won righteousness, life, andblessedness for us; we may be joyful, in thatHe has come to us inlove and mercy, and hasforgiven our sins, and has joined Himself withus, and has made us children of God; we maybe joyful in that such an acceptable time ofgrace and such a loving day of salvation hasdawned upon us, for we have been rescued“from the dominion of darkness”and havebeen brought into the Kingdom of the dearSon of God. (Colossians 1.13) That gives aneternal reason for our joy. I would not thatJesus had not wept, elsewould I never be ableto have one joyful hour. But because Hespilled such bitter, yes, on the Mount ofOlives, bloody tears and drops of sweat, sonow I have no reason to be sad for a moment.Hence, all fear and sadness!For the Lord of gladness, Jesus enters in.Those who love the Father,Though the storms may gather,Still have peace within.Yea, whate’er I here must bear,Thou art still my purest Pleasure,Jesus, priceless Treasure!When I (also in sad hours) must pine,His flow of tears will still accompany mineAnd lead me to His wounds, where my riverof tears must soon be stilled.Grasp this, you repentant souls, and believeit. If your sins would make you sad, considerthat they have been washed away by thestream of the tears and blood of Jesus; if theworld would steal your happiness, considerthat not you, rather, the poor, blind world hascause to weep, because they tread upon theprecious pearls of the tears of Jesus with theirfeet; if Satan would lead you into a maze ofgloominess, hold before him the tears of Jesus,which plead for you before the heavenlyFather and effect pure grace. The picture ofthe weeping Jesus should bring you to nothingexcept saving tears, to tears of divine sadness,to child-like tears of humility, to tears of love,to tears filled with desire to be with Christ.Consider such tears as a grace for which youhave the tears of Jesus to thank.III. But what should I say to the stiff-necked and obstinate sinners,to insolent hearts which laugh at the tearsof Jesus; the coarse people who mock theweeping Jesus to His face and have lost allfeeling, who should weep and sigh abouttheir hearts but do not deviate one footfrom their unbelief and their accustomedsinful path?I must tell you with tears that you should beshamed to your heart at the gaze of theweeping Jesus; for you do not attend to them;you ask nothing about them; you have drivenall human sensitivity from you and are harderthan rocks, more unfeeling than stones, moreinhuman than the worst tyrants. The mostinhuman tyrants can still soften, be moved, bythe tears of those whofall at their feet; butwith you God’s tears effect nothing more; theyare, therefore, witnesses against you. They arewitnesses that Jesus would gather you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings;that Jesus offered grace to you, but you thrustit from you with your feet, that you go todamnation wantonly and without a care. Woeto you, you poor ones! On the Last Day thetears of Jesus and of His servants will witnessagainst you, accuse you, and judge you,condemn you, bring you to naught; as manytears of Jesus, so many very hard stones onyour hearts. Oh, howheavily will they lieupon you, as the brothers of Joseph These intheir roguishness had sold their brother, asthey later laid before him at his feet, however,they shook and shivered like pitiable dogs,and said one to another (Genesis 42 21)“Weare being punished because of our brotherJoseph. We saw how distressed he was whenhe pleaded with us...butwe would not listen.”Thus will it happen to all coarse and insolentsinners, who now laugh at the tears of Jesus,and harden their hearts against them. Oh, whatwill then be when this King repays you yourblasphemy in your breasts, when His grace istransformed into anger and vengeance, andwhen He will complete the judgment of death!Hear for yourself what the Proverbs ofSolomon 1:24-32 says:But since you rejected Me when I called andnon one gave heed when I stretched out Myhand, since you ignored all My advice andwould not accept My rebuke, I in turn willlaugh at your disaster, I will mock whencalamity overtakes you like a storm, whendisaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,when distress and troubles overwhelm you.Then they will call to Me but I will not answer.They will look for Me early but will not findMe, etc.Oh, that you would yet ponder it on this veryday, when the Lord Jesus still implores youwith tears:“Be ye reconciled with God.”Renounce your disposition of enmity. (Psalm2 12)“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and yoube destroyed in your way, for His wrath canflare up in a moment.”And it can only go wellwith those who trust Him, with those whohave received their hearts through His bittertears and have been brought to a sincerechange of attitude.Among these there should certainly be, atleast, our communicants today. With the bodyand blood of Jesus you have a precious pledgeof His burning and tender love; He in HisSupper now comes to you with ardent desire;He stretches out His arms to you and calls toyou with tearful eyes: “I am Jesus, yourBrother;come unto Me anddo not think that Iam angry with you because you, by your sins,sold Me into death; for God sacrificed Me foryour life; My heart is reconciled with you; Ihave forgotten all offenses; I have cast yoursins into the depths of the ocean; I haveeffected righteousness, innocence, andblessedness for you; only come, accept it, andenjoy the good which I so gladly give you. Ifit is hard for you to believe this, if you wouldnot conclude from My tears how I love you, Igive you as a certain assurance of My eternalgrace My Body to eat and My Blood to drink.Now, therefore, cast all fear and timidityaway; go with joy to this table of grace, andcall unto the Jesus weeping from love.O, that my heart would open stand, anddiligently take upThe drops of blood, which for my sin, burstfrom Thee, in the Garden.O that mine eyes were a fountain openedand spilt hot tears with groaning,As they do who in lobe desire Thee.Othat I like a small child would follow Theewith weeping,As long as till Thy heart, inflamed, wouldstembrace me with Thy arms,And Thy soul in my heart be exalted in full,sweet love,Amid that I always would remain united toThy goodness.Amen, yes, the Lord Jesus send you Hisgrace for this, for the sake of His hot tears.Amen.