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“In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer (θαρσεῖτε), I have overcome the world.”
᛭ INI ᛭
Alleluia! ΙΗϹ Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Be of good cheer, God the Father loves you. Be of God cheer, there’s nothing to fear, even “though the earth give way, and the mountains be moved into the heart of the seas.” (Ps 46) Be of good cheer, “whatever you ask the Father in My name,” Christ says, “He will give you.” “Be of good cheer,” as we sang a couple weeks ago, “your cause belongs to Him who can avenge your wrongs, leave it Him our Lord.” (LSB 666) “In the world you will have tribulation,” Christ says, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” “Be of good cheer (θάρσει), your sins are forgiven you!” (Mt 9)
But has he really? Has He really overcome the world and all its sin? Has He overcome your sin? “Don’t let sin reign in your mortal bodies,” (Rom 8) the Scripture says. Those who practice sin, practice lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. These don’t not know Christ nor God. Yet, the saints are not without sin, as the Scripture says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” And “the Spirit will guide us into all truth” (Jn 16), even the truth that “sin still dwells within us, that is, in our flesh.” (Rom 6)
“But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” Christ says. “Be of good cheer, I forgive you all your sins,” He says. He has overcome your sin, the consequences of your sin. Christ is “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” “He bore them in His own body on the tree, that we would die to sin and live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” (1-Pet) For there the “record of debt that stood against us was taken away, being nailed to the cross” (Col 2)—there “making peace by the blood of His cross.” (Eph 2) Blood made yours continually by Communion through faith.
He also doesn’t leave you in the lurch. He doesn’t just make atonement for your sins. He delivers the forgiveness of sins, that you would be washed, justified, sanctified by faith in Him. He is at work in you to put sin to death and raise up a new man in Christ. (This is the daily fruit of baptism’s power and work in you.) In fact, “the God of peace Himself will sanctify you completely. Your whole spirit, soul, and body will be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord ΙΗϹ Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He’ll also do it.” (1-Thess 5)
“In the world you will have tribulation.” In your flesh you will have sin. “The law at work in your members”—“sin that dwells in you.” (Rom 7) “But Be of good cheer (θάρσει), your sins are forgiven you!” (Mt 9) “I have overcome the world.”
Has he though? Just look at the world. Does it look under Christ’s control? What about your life? Is that? There’s trouble, tribulation—trouble on steroids—everywhere! Maybe you don’t, but you don’t have to look far, do you? It’s on our phones, it is our phones! There’s the trouble of wars and disease, and storms and starvation. Isn’t life supposed to get easier, but it seems to be getting harder!
There’s also the persecution against the Christian Church. We’ll hear more about that next week. But in the world you will have tribulation, persecution. Some of it’s violence. Some of it’s just entice believers to follow after “the pleasures and the cares of this life,” so that their faith become unfruitful, shipwrecked on the sandbars of life. It’s the devil’s game: to kill the faithful, either by killing them or just killing their faith.
Then there’s the trouble of our own homes, our own lives. Where struggle and sickness and finally death lurk in every corner.
“But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” Christ says. He Himself overcame suffering, overcame persecution, overcame death itself. He rose from the dead! Just as His death has overcome your sin, so also His resurrection has “brought life and immortality to light.” His resurrection was Christ Himself passing through suffering, persecution, death and coming out alive—eternally alive—and victorious on the other side.
The resurrection is why we can be of good cheer in all circumstances. We can rejoice in the LORD always! We can be reasonable at all times, and even have our reasonableness be known to all. The Lord is at hand! (Phil 4) “Behold, I am coming soon!” He says. (Rev 22) “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ ΙΗϹ. (Phil 4)
Which is easier? To say “Your sins are forgiven” or to say, “Rise and walk.” But that you may know that Christ, the Son of Man, has power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic man, “Take your bed and go home.” And he did! It was not easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven.” So it is not any easy thing for the LORD to say, “I have overcome the world,” for to say it and mean it means Calvary—and that FOR YOU!
The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church and the message of Christ and Him crucified, for ”He who died, died for sin, once for all, but the life He lives, He lives for all—never to die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.” (Rom 6) You will tread that path your Savior walked before you in your place. He will carry you through cross and grave unto the Resurrection, when you will enjoy His presence forevermore.
His overcoming the world, your sin, your death, even devil and hell is your armor. “He is your help and your shield.” (Ps) He “is your exceedingly great reward.” (Gen 15) He is “your light and your life.” (Ps 27) He is your righteousness. (Jer 31) He “keeps your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.” (Ps 121) His baptismal promise. He is your Bread of resurrection and life. (Jn 11)
We pray in faith that Christ has overcome the world. We pray that we overcome the light momentary afflictions. (That’s what all tribulations are—light.) The light of His empty tomb. We pray not only that they pass on from us, but that we may finally overcome them and win the victory. For the light momentary afflictions store up for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (2-Cor 4) It will be so—His cross and empty tomb say so. Your baptism into Him, His body and blood in your mouth say so!
“In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer (θαρσεῖτε), I have overcome the world.”
Be of good cheer, God the Father loves you. Be of God cheer, there’s nothing to fear, even “though the earth give way, and the mountains be moved into the heart of the seas.” (Ps 46) Be of good cheer, “whatever you ask the Father in My name,” Christ says, “He will give you.” “Be of good cheer,” as we sang a couple weeks ago, “your cause belongs to Him who can avenge your wrongs, leave it Him our Lord. Though hidden yet from mortal eyes His Gideon shall for you arise, Uphold you and His Word.” (LSB 666)
“In the world you will have tribulation,” Christ says, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” “Be of good cheer (θάρσει), your sins are forgiven you!” (Mt 9)
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