St. John’s Lutheran Church

Death Has No Power Over Us Third Sunday after Pentecost Revelation 20:1-6 6/14/15 Pastor John C. Berg

Revelation 20:1-6 (NIV 84) 1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

You probably haven’t heard too many sermons based on the book of Revelation. It’s a unique book. The first thing to keep in mind is that it is a vision or revelation given to the Apostle John. This vision contains a lot of fantastic imagery and symbolic numbers. For example, our verses tell us that this dragon or serpent is Satan. Likewise, in Revelation the number 10 symbolizes completeness. Here in chapter 20 we hear of 1,000 years. 1,000 is 10 X 10 X 10. Thus it isn’t literally a thousand years. It’s a complete section of time. The context and a complete reading of the vision tell us that the thousand years refers to the entire New Testament period, from Jesus death and resurrection until the day of his return.

Revelation is also unique because it was the last book of the Bible to be written. Sometime in the 90s St. John received this vision. He needed it and so did the people for whom he wrote it down. It is very likely that John was the last Apostle still alive. Fairly reliable tradition tells us that the others all died ’ , killed for their faith. This does not mean that John got the better deal. In fact, he may have suffered the most. How painful that must have been to hear of the gruesome deaths of his brothers in the faith. I imagine that loneliness was something he struggled with. Instead of being put to death, John was exiled to the island of Patmos during the reign of Emperor Domitian. He had served as the bishop or pastor of Ephesus, but now he was alone as Christians were beheaded for their faith. St. John’s Lutheran Church

Twenty years ago you may have had a more difficult time connecting with this. What does Christians being persecuted and beheaded 2,000 years ago have to do with you? It should be pretty obvious in 2015. Christians in the Middle East are being beheaded right now. Christians in Pakistan, China and Indonesia are persecuted in extreme fashions, even to the point of death. Boko Haram destroys churches and slaughters our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. In the last year I have had more conversations with people concerned about the direction of our own society than the rest of my life combined. So quickly our fellow Americans have abandoned traditional and Biblical morality. We’re not just talking about Bruce Jenner and homosexual marriage. We’re also talking about so called Christians who don’t think twice about premarital sex. We’re talking about a supposed civilized society that allows the of unborn children. What kind of world will our grandchildren know? Will it be more like the Roman Empire of 90 AD than the United States of America of the twentieth century? We are seeing the fulfillment of Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:9-12 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,”

Revelation is a unique book, but its basic meaning is clear and simple. It is a message of hope and comfort to the children of God. In our lesson we see that Death Has No Power Over Us. 1. Because Satan has been bound. 2. Because we live even when we die.

There is something that connects ISIS, Boko Haram, the muzzling of conscience, and . What they all have in common is Satan. He is behind it all. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Above all he wants to drag people to hell. His end game, what he really wants is your spiritual death and that of every person in the world. Everything he does just serves that goal. His hope is that Muslim persecution of Christians will cause some to abandon Jesus. By convincing many that homosexuality is not sin he wishes to make the Bible’s message more foreign and strange to those around us. He seeks to divide even Christian congregations through gossip, anger and a lack of love. His wish is that such behavior will drive some away, not just from a congregation, but also from Jesus.

He is, as John sees him, a dragon, a serpent. But there is another figure in John’s vision. “and I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.” The word “angel” means messenger. This particular messenger is Jesus. He binds Satan with the chain and throws him into hell. He has the ability to do St. John’s Lutheran Church

this because he is no mere angel. He is true God. He has the desire to do this because he loves humanity. Now God could let Satan have free reign. We deserve that. But that’s what the mercy of God is. We don’t get what we deserve.

Death has no power over us 1. Because Satan has been bound. But what does that mean? Clearly it means more than Satan, who is a spirit, being tied up with a metal chain. It means that Satan can’t do whatever he wants. He is limited. Sometimes it seems as if the devil is unshackled and unrestricted. We see his handiwork all around us especially when we as individuals suffer, when those we love are hurt, and when the church struggles. Look again. You don’t have to look far. Look at the people around you right now. They are evidence that Satan is not able to do as he wishes because what he wishes is spiritual death. And right here, right now we see spiritual life. We see children of God who desire to hear his Word. We hear brothers and sisters of Christ praising the Messenger who came down from heaven.

Verse three says Jesus bound the devil and threw him into hell “to keep him from deceiving the nations.” That word translated as “nations” is also sometimes translated as “Gentiles” and probably should be here. Gentiles are anyone who is not ethnically Jewish. The vast majority of people are Gentiles. And yet, until Jesus’ time the vast majority of believers were Jews. When this “thousand years” began, with the resurrection of Christ, so did an astounding period of Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus, not being deceived by Satan. It continues today. During this New Testament period billions of Gentiles have become spiritually alive. There is only one way that the Holy Spirit accomplished this great work: through the Gospel. It’s only through the good news of Christ in Word and Sacrament that faith is created. What this means is that the chain which binds Satan and prevents him from getting all that he desires is the Gospel.

Because he has been bound many have spiritual life. John calls it the first resurrection. Instead of being dead in sin those who believe the Gospel are spiritually alive. “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection.” That’s right. Death has no power over you because you are holy. Through faith you are clothed in white robes of Jesus’ holiness. How wonderful it would if we remembered that about ourselves and our fellow Christians. The person you will greet at the end of the service is a saint. She is holy in the eyes of God. And so are you. When you sin you should confess and repent but you need not despair. Your sin cannot ruin your white robes. The serpent cannot spoil them.

Death has no power over us 1. Because Satan has been bound and 2. Because we live even when we die. When we say that death has no power over us we are, of course, not claiming that death doesn’t affect us. It comes for us all. John’s life was surrounded by death. His fellow Christians were dying all around him, many were killed St. John’s Lutheran Church

specifically for being Christians. Sometimes I think it’s quite possible that my grandchildren will face the prospect of being martyred. We can’t predict the future, but we know that Jesus said it will get worse the closer we get to his return. There will even be a short time when Satan is allowed to cause more havoc then he does now. Whether it’s at the hands of a terrorist or by cancer we will all die. But John says, of those who believe in Jesus, “the second death has no power over them.” The second death is physical death. The body dies, but the souls of the children of God live on. That’s what John saw in this vision. Revelation 20:4 “4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

The martyrs right now rule with Christ. ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaida, and corrupt governments aren’t really in control. The first century Christians needed to hear this. So do we. Death has no power over us. You need not fear. Your loved ones who died in Christ are ruling with him right now. It is not a pleasant thought to think of our descendants dying because of their faith in Christ. But it is comforting to know that, come what may, they too will reign with Christ. Amen.