Justified in Jesus
Matthew 27:27–31 27Then the
governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole
cohort of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet
robe on him. 29They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on
his head. They put a staff in his right hand, knelt in front of him, and mocked
him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30They spit on him, took
the staff, and hit him repeatedly on his head. 31After they had
mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they
led him away to crucify him.
1) Jesus on cross picture. We are still in
the five hundredth anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. With the Reformation,
the Lord of the Church allowed His truth to be retold through the writings of
Martin Luther. But, God also used artists to visually portray this gospel to
the minds of His people.
If we wanted to “picture”
the Reformation in our mind’s eye, there is no better “picture” than The Weimar Altarpiece. In this painting,
we can picture Reformation theology. This painting has been described as the “supreme
visual monument of the German Reformation.” It is the most incisive and
succinct artistic expression of the Lutheran point of theology that we are
justified in Jesus Christ alone.
2) Altar
picture. This painting stands where
it was originally placed – above the altar of the St. Peter and Paul Church in
Weimar, Germany. The painting was begun by Lucas Cranach (1472-1553) and was
completed by his son, also of the same name, in 1555. (To distinguish them,
they are called Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger.) The
Cranachs were good friends of Martin Luther.
Cranach allows the worshipers at St. Peter and Paul
Church to visualize their justification in Jesus. The doctrine of justification
by faith alone in Jesus Christ was at the heart of the Lutheran Reformation.
3) Tryptic
picture. The Apology of the Augsburg
Confession teaches: “This article about justification by faith” is the chief
article [see Apology IV 2-3] in all Christian doctrine. Without this teaching
no poor conscience can have any firm consolation or truly know the riches of
Christ’s grace. Dr. Luther also has written about this: “If this one teaching
stands in its purity, then Christendom will also remain pure and good,
undivided and unseparated; for this alone, and nothing else, makes and
maintains Christendom. … Where this falls, it is impossible to ward off any
error or sectarian spirit” [Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article III,
par. 6].
Unfortunately, the clear doctrine of justification had
become clouded over by indulgences, penance and purgatory in the Roman Catholic
Church. It had fallen and therefore there was a plethora of errors and
deceiving spirits. God used Reformers like Martin Luther and artists like the
Cranachs to bring the doctrine of justification in Jesus out into the light. God
used His truth to once again set His people free (John 8:32 ).
4) 10
commandments picture There is a great
deal of Christian symbolism and significance in Cranach’s painting. Each image
alludes to salvation alone in Jesus. In
the center background, to the right of Jesus’ feet, Moses is teaching God’s Law
contained in Ten Commandments to the people of the Old Testament. To their
left, Death – represented by a skeleton holding a spear – and Satan – pictured
as a beast wielding a club – are chasing a man into the fires of hell. Together
these images express the hopelessness of mankind living under the Law’s
condemnation. “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by
carrying them out” (Deuteronomy 27:26).
Our Smalcald Articles teach: “Here we must confess, as
Paul says in Romans 5:12, that sin originated from one man, Adam. By his disobedience,
all people were made sinners and became subject to death and the devil”
[Smalcald Articles, Article 1, par. 1].
It is terrifying being chased by Death and Satan into
the pit of hell. However, there is still Good News for all those who look to
God’s Son for salvation. When the people of Israel were wandering in the
wilderness, they sinned so God caused them to be bitten by snakes. Yet, God in
His abounding grace, also allowed them to be spared by looking at the bronze
snake mounted on a pole (Numbers 21:4-9). This is illustrated in the background
in the right of the painting. Just as the snake was lifted up on a pole, so the
Son of Man was lifted up on the pole of the cross (John 3:14 ).
Above and to the left of the snake scene, is an angel
proclaiming the Gospel to a group of shepherds. The angel is holding the words,
“Glory to God in the highest,” which was the Christmas Gospel announced to the
shepherds outside the little town of Bethlehem on the night of Jesus’ birth
(Luke 2:14).
5) Jesus on
cross picture. Dominating the
painting is Jesus Christ on the cross. Everything else in the painting is
illustrating the importance of the sacrifice of Jesus. St. Peter professed: “Salvation is found in no one
else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved” (Acts 4:12).
As we heard in our Gospel lesson,
Jesus upon the cross doesn’t appear to be very kingly or godly. What kind of
King is this Jesus, anyhow? He commands the angelic host to do His bidding, yet
the Roman soldiers spit on Him and hit Him in the mouth. He is pictured in the
Scriptures as the King seated on His throne, wearing a golden crown and a white
robe (Revelation 1:13-15). Yet the soldiers stripped Him and put a scarlet robe
on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head and
put a staff in His hand. The saints, angels, four living creatures and all of
creation give glory, honor and praise to Jesus, yet the soldiers mocked Him
exclaiming, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
He is the Creator, yet He suffered for His own creation. He is God, yet He
died. He is the Lord who has everything placed under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:27 ), yet He had nails pounded
into those hands and feet. Pontius Pilate taunted the Jews proclaiming,
“Behold, your king!” and then led Jesus off to the cross. We lifted high the
cross as we proudly sang and confessed today, “Behold, your King!”
The painting illustrates the importance of Christ
alone. The Reformers stressed the importance of Christ alone. The Scriptures
proclaimed the importance of Christ alone.
Our Lutheran Confessions teach: “The first and chief
article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was
raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24 -25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the
sins of the world (John 1:29 ),
and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have
sinned and are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23 -25). …
“Upon this article everything that we teach and
practice depends, in opposition to the pope, the devil, and the whole world.
Therefore, we must be certain and not doubt this doctrine. Otherwise, all is
lost, and the pope, the devil, and all adversaries win the victory and the
right over us” [Smalcald Articles, Article I, par. 1-3, 5].
6) John,
Cranach, and Luther painting. In the
painting, Jesus’ side is pierced, and blood is flowing onto the head of one of
the men to His left. The blood represents Christ’s sacrifice and demonstrates
how believers are washed with the blood of Jesus. The Bible teaches over and
over again: “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John
1:7b). In the Book of Revelation, St. John sees those who “have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14b). St.
Peter tells us we have been ransomed “not with perishable things such as silver
or gold … but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Friends, I have often seen families in a hospital
emergency room in tears as they gave thanks for the powerful, positive, albeit
temporary, results that had been brought about by an earthly transfusion. It is
my prayer that you may always be just as thankful that, through the Savior's
blood, shed on the cross, you have been given forgiveness, a family of faith,
and a permanent home in heaven.
In the painting, John the Baptist is pointing up at
Jesus, while at the same time pointing at the lamb at his feet. John is
declaring to the world, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 ).
John is sharing the meaning of Jesus’ death to Lucas
Cranach, the artist, who is on John’s left. Cranach represents all who believe
in Jesus. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to
all who believe” (Romans 3:22 ).
Cranach is being washed by the blood of Jesus. It is reminiscent of the hymn
verse, “Let the water and the blood From thy riven side which flowed; Be of sin
the double cure: Cleanse me from its guilt and pow'r” (Rock of Ages, Augustus
M. Toplady).
At Cranach’s left is Martin Luther. He has an open
Bible in his hand. Luther’s hands and feet are positioned like Moses. However,
where Moses was pointing to the Law, Luther is pointing to the Gospel. His
Bible is open to John 3:14, where Jesus speaks of how He is the fulfillment of
the snake on the pole.
Through Christ another Bible verse comes to mind, “Let us then approach the throne
of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help
us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 ).
John, Cranach, Luther, and all those who believe are able to approach the holy
throne of our heavenly Father because of the vicarious and victorious work of
Jesus Christ. Having paid for sin, He has
defeated death and the devil and now lives to intercede for us.
Jesus is shown doing just that on the left of the
painting. He has risen from the dead from the open tomb behind Him. He is
pictured standing with His right foot on Death and His left foot on the devil.
He is pushing the staff of His victory flag into the monster’s throat. Jesus
has conquered mankind’s greatest adversaries! The same adversaries who were
chasing man into hell have now been defeated once and for all by Christ’s
sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. “For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ).
7) Jesus on
cross picture. Article 4 of the
Augsburg Confession expresses the heart of Lutheran teaching this way: “Our
churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own
strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake,
through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that
their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made
satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight”
(Romans 3 and 4) [Augsburg Confession, Article IV, par. 1-3].
This is a wonderful summary of the message of the
Lutheran Reformation and of its foremost artists, Lucas Cranach the Elder and
the Younger. Jesus is the King on the cross. He is the King who sheds His
blood. He is the King who defeats death and the devil. Hail the King of the Jews.
For, through this King, we are justified in Jesus. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment