Blood and Water: The Birth of the Church | Good Friday Sermon
Scripture Reading: John 19:31-27
Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
The Birth of the Church: Blood, Water, and the One Holy Christian Church
By Pastor James Huenink | Good Friday | Lenten Sermon Series on the Nicene Creed
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Remembering the Crucifixion
Tonight, we remember the crucifixion of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We've read about his passion — the stories of his trial before Pontius Pilate, being nailed to the cross, his death, and even the soldiers who pierced his side. We've read about the faithful men who risked missing the Passover meal to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus's body, so they could take him down and place him in the tomb. We are here to remember the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I was really moved when I found out that the choir had prepared Psalm 139 for tonight — "You search me and know me."Because that passage says: "If I go up to heaven, you are there." And more fitting for tonight: "If I make my bed in the grave, you are there." That is exactly what Jesus did tonight. He died, was placed in the tomb, and in doing so he sanctified the graves of every saint and every Christian who comes after him — so that the gate of death is not a stopping place, but only the doorway to eternal life by Christ's glorious resurrection.
The Final Article of the Nicene Creed
Over the past several weeks, we have talked about the message of the Nicene Creed and all the glorious doctrines it contains about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We've made it all the way to the end. Tonight we come to the article we confess every week: the one holy, Christian and apostolic Church.
You may know that in the original Greek, this line actually reads "the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." I used to think that Lutherans say "Christian" instead of "Catholic" because we're a little nervous about sounding Catholic. I was wrong. The real reason is that there is no German word for "Catholic." When the reformers translated the creed, they used the correct German equivalent — christliche, meaning "Christian." And when German immigrants came to the United States, they translated from the German rather than from the Greek. So I suppose we're not as nervous as I thought.
The Church Is Born from the Side of Christ
This article is deeply fitting for Good Friday, because we see the birth of the one holy, Christian and apostolic Church in the very moment when Jesus is nailed to the cross. The key passage is one depicted in countless paintings in Lutheran churches across Germany:
"But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water." — John 19:34
The painting I keep thinking of shows Jesus on the cross with the wound in his side. The blood doesn't trickle — it spurts. And it flows in two directions: one stream goes to the baptismal font, representing the water that flowed from his side; the other flows into the chalice, representing the blood of Holy Communion.
You have to remember that St. John is the same apostle who wrote Revelation. He is not one to hide his metaphors. He loves his symbolism. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night because he had no understanding. The blind man was made to see while the Pharisees remained in darkness. And here, John gives us a clear signal that this is a pivotal moment. He writes: "He who saw it has borne witness — his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth — that you also may believe."
John doesn't say this when Jesus died. He says it when the spear pierces his side and blood and water pour out. This is how Jesus Christ forms his one holy Christian and apostolic Church — from his side, by blood and water. The water of baptism gathers us together. The blood of Holy Communion gives us the nourishment we need for our journey through life.
One: United Across Every Difference
We are one — this holy Christian church on earth — because our unity comes from Jesus Christ, despite all the diversity that appears in the Christian world. If you doubt that unity exists, just look at the comments on any church's Facebook page. And yet, there is still just one church.
Yes, we have Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, non-denominational congregations, Catholics, and more. Just down the street there is not only a Catholic church but a Chaldean Catholic church — we wouldn't understand a word of their service tonight. But that doesn't change things. The real church, the true church on earth, is one — bound together in the body of Christ who was nailed to the cross this evening, who died for you and rose for you to give you life.
We wait for the day when this oneness becomes visible, not just a spiritual reality behind the scenes, but when all of us are called from the grave, when we see him face to face, and there is no division anymore.
Holy: Made Clean by Christ, Not by Our Own Effort
The church that Christ made by his death on the cross is not just one — it is also holy. We are holy because we have been washed clean. Washed clean in the baptismal waters of regeneration and renewal. Washed clean by the holy blood of Christ — like the martyrs in Revelation who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and they came out white.
We are made holy not by our own efforts, but by our Christ, who paid the full penalty for our sin and disobedience on the cross. His death shows exactly what we deserve — and yet we don't receive it. Instead, we are made holy by his precious blood.
Catholic: The One Universal Church
The Christian church is universal — and that is exactly what the word Catholic means. It is one church, not merely united in spirit, but the only church. All who follow Jesus Christ, all who believe in him, are bound together in this one catholic church — and I don't mean the one headed by the Pope. I mean the one church that is Christ's body.
Sometimes we lose sight of that in the day-to-day life of a congregation. We have budget meetings. We argue over Robert's Rules of Order. We deal with HR issues, regulations, building projects, and all sorts of things that can wear us down.
But that's not the real church. The real church is the church Christ made. And we have a way of knowing wherever that church is at work behind all the human things we do: the one holy, universal church is wherever the word is preached and the sacraments are administered. That is where Christ does his saving work — where the water spurts from his side and where the blood comes to us in Holy Communion.
Apostolic: The Faith That Does Not Change
The church that Jesus Christ created by dying on the cross is also apostolic. That means the Christian faith does not change. It has not changed since the day Jesus ascended into heaven and sent his disciples out into the world. We do not develop over time. We do not add new doctrines. It is just Jesus — the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The church has wrestled with this over many centuries. A fifth-century author named Vincent of Lérins, writing in 434 AD, asked: how do you know whether someone's interpretation of Scripture is correct? His answer has guided the church ever since:
"In the Catholic Church itself, the greatest care is to be taken that we hold that which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all people."
We simply believe what the church has always believed — what they believed when the apostles preached, what was handed down through the generations, century after century. We may sometimes argue about what that means in particular cases, but the goal is the same. Apostolic means Jesus Christ stays the same. It is not about new doctrines or new ideas. It is the same word he has always given us, applied perhaps to new situations, but always the same.
That's because Christ doesn't change. The same Jesus who died on the cross — nails through his hands and feet, spear in his side — who ascended into heaven and promises to return, still sends the Spirit to do the same things: to call, gather, and enlighten the church, and to make us one.
The Birth of the Church
It is the blood and the water that poured from his side that we remember tonight — the birth of the one holy, Christian and apostolic Church.
In Jesus' name. Amen.