The On-Going Celebration

1 John 5:4-12

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith.  And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood.  And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son.  The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son.  And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  

He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

Sermon for Quasimodogeniti Sunday                                             04/27/25

The On-Going Celebration

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Last Sunday was Easter.  Today is Quasimodogeniti Sunday – the Sunday following Easter, the Introit of which begins, "Like newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word."  "Like newborn babies" in Latin is Quasimodogeniti.  You probably think of Easter and all of that as old hat.  We have been there many times before.  But the name of this day in the church-year challenges us to think about it as something new – or of ourselves as something new: like newborn babies!  It is like someone new to the whole joy of the Gospel that we want to celebrate our salvation.

Since it is the Sunday after Easter, it makes sense to ask what we celebrate on Quasimodogeniti?  The answer may surprise you, and maybe not. On the Sunday after Easter we celebrate  .  .  .  Easter.  And next Sunday, do you know what we will celebrate?  Easter!  And every Sunday, we celebrate Easter.  In fact, we worship on Sundays because Jesus rose from the grave on a Sunday.  Each Sunday morning is an Easter celebration!  Since Easter is the heart of the Gospel, and the Gospel is the heart of the Christian faith, we shouldn't even allow ourselves to limit our Easter joy to Sundays, but should be like newborn babies, and celebrating about the Gospel and Jesus Christ all of the time.  Our celebration should be, as our sermon theme says, The On-Going Celebration.

And so, what is it that we celebrate at Easter?  Is it that Jesus rose from the dead?  Yes  -  -  -  and no.  We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but not the simple fact that someone came to life again after being dead.  We celebrate the meaning of that resurrection.  We celebrate the victory of that resurrection, in which we share.  John writes in our epistle lesson this morning, For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith.  And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

He is writing about the victory, but not in the way we usually hear it – or think about it.  Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.  We would think he was speaking of Jesus – and he is, but more than just Jesus, he is writing about us.  We are born of God by the Word and our faith is born of God through the Word.  So John writes,  and this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith.  Our victory is over sin and death and hell, .  .  .  And the world of unbelief around us.  Our victory is over the prince of this world and all of his evil schemes.  And it is a victory that was won on the cross.

That is why John says that the victory has overcome the world – not can or will or does, but has.  Jesus has already won the victory, and we share in it by grace through faith.  That is our victory, and it is given to us.  Jesus won it on the cross and we have it as a gift through faith.  It is not faith that wins, but Christ, and He has chosen to share His victory through faith, giving forgiveness, life, and salvation to all those who believe.  That is the meaning of the words of our text, And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

It is a total victory.  It is the victory of forgiveness.  Our sins are no longer held to our account, and the justice of God has been satisfied for us by Jesus Christ.  It is, therefore, the victory over the devil, whose plot against us began in the garden of Eden.  His work, aimed at our destruction, has been thwarted.

It is also the victory over the ways and the works of the world.  Luther wrote about this victory in his triumphant reformation hymn, A Mighty Fortress: "and take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife; Let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won!  The Kingdom our remaineth!"  Ours in the victory.  This world and its pains and sorrows are but for time, then is eternal rejoicing.  That is our victory.  And it is that victory that is heralded and proclaimed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And it is a victory grounded in the truth.  In this portion of this epistle, John is refuting the heretics who tried to say that Jesus the man was not Christ, the Son of God.  He who overcomes is the one grounded in the truth – in the sound doctrine that Jesus the man is also the Son of God.

The heretics tried to say that Jesus was adopted by God at His baptism, and that the "divine Christ" departed from Jesus before the sufferings and the cross.  They believed, as many do today, that God could not have been in Jesus.  The finite is not capable of containing or even touching the infinite.   They also believed that God could not suffer, so they removed God from Jesus in their teachings.  That is what this next section of our text is about – the three witnesses to the truth of the deity of Jesus Christ – that He is true man and true God.  This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood.  And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

The witness of the water is the baptism of Jesus, where the Father spoke from heaven and the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove and rested upon Him.  The witness of the blood is the cross, where Jesus bled and died for our sins.  These two bear witness at both ends of the ministry of Jesus that He is the Son of God – as does the Holy Spirit, God Himself bearing witness – both in the baptism of Jesus and now, through the Word by bringing faith into our hearts.  Here is the truth of our victory, witnessed by these witnesses appointed by the Father.

These words speak about the importance of sound doctrine, for it is the truth of God.  If we lack the truth, we are without God and we do not have the victory.  If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son.  The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son.  And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 

And here John tells us that to deny the truth which He has revealed is to call God a liar.  You call God a liar by unbelief, and you call God a liar by false belief.  The truth is this Gospel, and any unbelief or false teaching about or in connection with this Gospel is to reject God, reject His truth, and call God a liar.  We believe men – we ought to believe God.  If our neighbor tells us that it is good for us to take vitamin C, we take vitamin C.  If our doctor says we need a medicine or some therapy, we pursue it.  We accept their witness.  Similarly, When God tells us that He has taken our sins away, punished them completely in Jesus and is giving us resurrection to life and everlasting salvation, we should accept His witness.

We should be eager to believe this witness, because the message is that God has given us eternal life through Jesus Christ.  The message is not rules or condemnation, but forgiveness, and an end to death, . . . and life and peace and joy!  He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 

 

And what does John mean when he speaks about having the Son?  He means faith.  He means to point us to knowing about Jesus and to knowing who He is and to believing it and to trusting in Him.  The Adoptionists of the time of the Apostle John – the followers of a man named Cerinthus – denied that Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore they did not have the Son.  They believed in a Jesus of some sort.  And they believed in something like the Gospel, but it wasn't the Gospel.  They had turned the truth into a lie and demanded that God have them on their terms, rather than they having or knowing God on His terms.  But to know the truth of God about Jesus and the cross and life is to have the Son, and to have the Son is to possess everlasting life.  

To deny the truth is to not have the Son.  Men deny that truth today by denying that it is a gift -- suggesting or saying outright that we must earn it or be worthy of it before we can have it.  Or they make Jesus just part of the story, and tell you to shape up and measure up before you take comfort in God.  Or some want to deny that it is true or all real and makes any sense or any difference today.  They claim that the Bible was about those people back then – a book of superstitions and fables not unlike the Harry Potter books, or the Koran, or the I Ching.  They say that it does not speak to us in today's modern world.  We have grown up and no longer need that kind of faerie-tale nonsense, they say.

But we still have the same old troubles.   We still sin and know it is sin.   We still die.  We still need the salvation that Jesus has provided.  We still need to be redeemed, rescued and forgiven.  And we still need to know the truth, and the truth of our text this morning is that to trust God's promises in connection with Jesus is to have the Son.  And to have to have the Son is to have life eternal.  And it is that eternal life that we celebrate on Easter, and on this Sunday, and on every Sunday.  It is the sum and substance of the Christian hope.  

The everlasting life is the result of forgiveness of sins.  And the forgiveness of sins is the proclamation of the resurrection, and the result of the crucifixion and the resurrection.  

Forgiveness is wonderful.  That it is already purchased and won and does not need our merit or activation is good news.  That it means that death is not the last word, and that we will live in a world much better than this in unending bliss and glory is our Easter joy – which should be the joy of the Christian faith at all times – not just Sundays.  So we share in the On-Going Celebration.  It isn't just for one day of the year, or one day of the week, but for every day and every moment.  It is our strength in the face of every temptation and the source of our steadfastness and endurance in the rigors of every hardship and our peace and our patience in the grip of every anxiety and our comfort and our cheer in the teeth of every sorrow.

The On-going Celebration is not just for once a year, and not even just for Sundays.  Easter is our joy and our hope – and our certainty moment by moment as the children of God; for we have the witness, and we have the Son, and we have been born of God – so we have the victory over sin and death and hell.  

So, who cares if it is the week after Easter?  We are still celebrating the good news of salvation and life and peace with God.  

Today can't be just the Sunday after Easter because the celebration is not limited to that day, or even to Sundays, for the Christian, it is the on-going celebration of faith and hope and life and love in Jesus Christ.  Like the energizer bunny, it just keeps on going.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)