Vindication Psalm 41:7-8
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who has won our vindication.
Our Lenten series this year based on Psalm 41. Tonight’s message is based on verses 7 and 8: All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. 8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.”
Our message is: Vindication!
We’re going to talk about Jesus being vindicated, that He might vindicate us, something we sinners can’t do for ourselves.
It has to be won for us, which the Son of God has done… and it has to be given to us, which the Holy Spirit does.
So it’s all God’s doing, or grace. Thus the theme of our Lenten services this year: God Be Gracious to Me!
The dictionary defines vindication as: 1) the action of clearing someone of blame or suspicion, or 2) proof that someone or something is right, reasonable, or justified.
To be proven right, or innocent, or vindicated, brings a feeling of relief.
On the other hand, to be falsely accused and falsely charged, brings a feeling of indignation.
To do the right thing, and then be treated as if you did the wrong thing, violates our sense of justice; it’s not fair.
No one has ever been more in the right, no one more holy or innocent or just, than Jesus…
… yet no one has ever been treated worse. Jesus was treated as the worst of sinners, and most horrible of criminals.
On the cross, the sum total of all sin and evil in the world -- the punishment for it all was heaped on Him.
Imagining the worst for Jesus, as was prophesied in our psalm, All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me…
… with His enemies in Hell and on earth, collaborating together against Him, imagining the worst possible scenario whereby to kill, destroy and torture Jesus…
… the worst of treatment and the most horrible of punishment, that would so disgrace and humiliate Jesus, so that all He came to do on earth would be in vain…
… imagining this, His enemies threw everything they had at Him, yet in the end, Jesus’ wasn’t disgraced and humiliated, but exalted and vindicated.
And His ministry was brought to fruition, every prophecy fulfilled, and salvation won!
What Jesus came to do was fully accomplished, as He rose to life again, after having been flogged and crucified to death.
Rising to life, Jesus vindicated Himself, He showed that He was not the criminal He was falsely accused of being… He was guiltless and innocent.
He was not the spawn of the devil, as some of His enemies tried to paint Him as… He is the true and holy Son of God, proven by His resurrection.
He was not an ungodly sinner who broke the laws of God, as He and His disciples were accused of… rather He kept and fulfilled the holy law of God for us, since we sinners weren’t able to do it ourselves.
As our Old Testament says, …they have forsaken My law that I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice or walked in accord with it.
But Jesus walked in pure and perfect harmony with His Heavenly Father, that we might receive grace to walk with Him too.
Imagine a young child, wanting to catch up to walk beside his or her father or mother, and calling for daddy or mommy to wait…
… only for the impatient, heartless father or mother to turn around and chastise the child, to shout the child down, chase their little one away… what a horrible thing to imagine any parent doing.
Although that’s what our sin deserves, for the sake of His Son, we have a Heavenly Father who turns to us, patiently waits for us and brings along with Him, takes our hand and leads us, showing us the way, and teaching us the truth…
… and when the going gets tough, so tough that we stumble and fall…
… when life gets so hard that we can hardly make our way, our Heavenly Father slows down for us, stoops down to us, lifts us up, and carries us home.
All thanks be to Jesus, who won that blessed and loving walk for us.
When the devil would accuse us, reminding us that we’re not worthy of this walk with God, we answer him:
“Indeed we’re not, not of ourselves, but the One you hate so much, the One you tempted to sin, and conspired to crucify…
… has vindicated Himself, rising to life, proving Himself innocent and worthy of life, and has ascended to the right hand of God, proving Himself worthy to sit upon the throne of Heaven…
… and more than Himself, He has vindicated us, won our forgiveness, justified us by faith, made us innocent again, clothed us with His perfect righteousness in holy Baptism…
… and set us on the path toward Heaven, walking with Him, close to Him, resting in His shadow, under His protection, and with Him as our dearest and truest, ever faithful friend.”
They talk about the benefits of having friends in high places… there is no higher place than where our Friend and Savior ascended to… no higher place and no better friend.
As Jesus Himself has said, “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.”.
Sometimes the idea of having friends in high places can have a negative connotation, a selfish kind of “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” motivation.
But that’s not how it is with our Friend who sits on the throne of heaven and rules the Universe.
He doesn’t respond to favors, because He doesn’t need anything… everything is His.
Instead, He operates by grace. And so we pray: God, be gracious to me!
Operating by grace, He responds to repentance and faith, which is His gift to us, delivered by the Holy Spirit, sent to us in the Gospel, and now living in us by faith, vindicating us.
Since we are wholly vindicated, not by our doing but by His, let us live accordingly. This means many things but we’ll mention 3.
1. It means to live with a clear conscience.
Repenting in faith, and forgiven by grace, we are restored to innocence. Don’t let the devil or anyone, or anything, or your own guilty conscience, tell you otherwise.
You can serve much more effectively and faithfully, you can be much more like Jesus to others, to your family, and friends, and to the world, when you live in the peace of sins forgiven… and in the joy and gratitude of glorious salvation won for you.
2. It means not being vindictive or vengeful, but being gracious and forgiving, even when it’s not easy.
Jesus won the entire forgiveness of the sins of the world… far more difficult than any act of forgiveness anyone else had ever done or would ever do.
Let Him show and teach you how to forgive, and then, with that, to have credibility, and be in a better position to tell others about the forgiveness and salvation of Christ.
3. It means we have a sure and certain hope to live by.
In this fallen body, we carry sin. We’re forgiven by faith in Christ, but sin takes a toll on this corrupted flesh, and so this body doesn’t last long, and will soon be laid in its grave.
But buried with Christ, we will rise with Him. Vindicated by His grace, we will rise holy as He is, and if holy, then happy and at peace, and abounding in love forever. This is the sure and certain promise of our Savior.
And finally, loved by God, and vindicated by grace, we have His peace, which passes understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who died that we might live and rejoice forever. Amen.