May 24, 2026 - John 7:37-39 - Pentecost

In the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana finds himself in a race to track down the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is the legendary cup that Jesus used during the Last Supper. While he obviously used a cup during the meal, the cup itself took on many other legends, working its way even into the legends of King Arthur centuries later. In the movie, Jesus’ words from the Gospel reading for today are referenced in connection with the Grail. The understanding is, at least according to the legend they’re using for the movie, is that drinking from the cup will grant immortality. The idea probably draws a bit on Jesus’ conversation with the crowds in John 6, where he explains that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink and that these bring life, specifically his life, to you.

It’s a fun adventure movie that goes down as one of the classics of recent memory. But, from a Biblical standpoint, it has one fatal flaw. It isn’t really about Jesus at all. Even if we assume all of the legends surrounding the Grail are true, hunting for the Grail as some miraculous source of healing is rather problematic. It ends up in the same place as the bronze serpent God commanded the Moses to construct after the Israelites got into trouble. It has the same problem that spurred the conversation at the beginning of John 6. Jesus chastises the crowd because they’re searching for him, not because of who he is or what he teaches, but because he gave them free stuff. In these legends, the Grail’s connection to Jesus is almost unimportant. The only thing that matters is that it can heal people.

Obviously, anyone who turns to movies for good theology already has a lot of problems. That isn’t really what the movie is trying to do anyway. Still, it points to something that should make us pause for thought.

Laurie and I were talking a little while back about the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, which we celebrated a few years ago. The tagline our Synod used for the celebration was, “It’s still all about Jesus.” Given that we’re talking about the church and the Reformation and all of that stuff, you’d think Jesus would be pretty obvious. The reality is that it isn’t, at least not to most people.

Lots of people look to Jesus only to the point that he gives them what they want. That’s the hallmark of the prosperity gospel televangelists that cloud up the internet, radio stations, and tv with their garbage preaching. Sure, they’ll use Jesus. They’ll talk about him. They’ll even invite you to be a part of what he’s doing, but only to the point that you get what you want from him. Just a little bit of Jesus, just the bit of Jesus that wants you to be wealthy. That’s the only connection you need to him. That’s all that really matters. Modern day faith healers are doing the same thing, except instead of wealth it’s health. Call on Jesus until you get what you want and, once you’ve gotten it, you can get back to business. Just that little bit of Jesus, that’s all you really need. You have other churches where Jesus is all about love and warm fuzzies. I get that part of Jesus that wants me to be open and accepting of other people, that asks me to love them however they want to be loved. That makes me feel good. I get my warm fuzzies. That’s the only part of Jesus I want or need.

It’s a little odd to find this Gospel reading today, except that it’s one of the few places in the Gospels where the Holy Spirit is referenced. The big event for today is, of course, Pentecost, given to us from the reading from Acts 2. The disciples, now becoming full time apostles, are gathered together inside. Judas’ seat has been filled by Matthias and the number is restored to 12. The beginning of Acts 2 sounds a bit like when they were gathered together in the locked room on Easter. But, the sense of these two passages is very different. Gone is any sense of fear or uncertainty. Here we just find eager expectation. The sprinters are lined up in position on their tracks and their waiting for the starting gun. They don’t know quite what they’ll be doing yet, but they know it will be something grand, something that will display God’s power and build the foundation for his church.

Suddenly the Spirit is with them in power. Fire comes and rests on each of them. Then they are given the ability to do mighty works. They aren’t miracles, at least not in the classic sense. The apostles will eventually go on to heal people and even raise the dead, but that isn’t what they’re doing here. Instead of healing, they are doing a different kind of restoration. Sins effects are felt in every part of human life. One of the most pervasive and divisive aspects of the curse is language. Nothing divides and separates people more clearly than an inability to communicate. The fact that we have different languages is another failure of humanity. Humanity’s pride was like a runaway train and it needed some pretty hard breaks to bring it back under control.

Here, in this place and at this time, divided languages and people groups no longer served God’s purpose. God restores language. He restores the ability to communicate, at least for a short while. What do the apostles do with this new ability? They tell everyone about Jesus. Peter goes on speaking at some length and it’s clear from this passage that the other apostles were speaking too. All of them were doing what they had been sent to do: to tell the world about Jesus and his death and resurrection.

Some other church bodies focus almost exclusively on the Holy Spirit. We disagree with them. Not because the Spirit is lesser than Jesus or somehow unimportant, but because he doesn’t spend much time calling attention to himself. His primary work is getting people connected to Jesus and even here, on his big day, that’s still what he’s doing. Even here, on Pentecost, it’s still all about Jesus.

That statement shouldn’t be all that controversial for us. Hopefully that’s the reason you’re here. The question is, what are you expecting to get out of this? healing? wealth? warm fuzzies? even...eternal life? None of those are necessarily bad things, but they all miss the point. It’s still all about Jesus. Those other things may come. In one way or another, they’re all things God promises to give us, but they’re all given in connection with Jesus and in no other way.

The apostles here on Pentecost are different than those huddling in fear on Easter morning. They’re the same people, but the fear is gone. It has been replaced by certainty. They know now that Christ has triumphed. The debt of sin has been paid and new life is available and freely given through him. But that new life is complete and total. The apostles themselves will see that at work firsthand. They will be repeatedly imprisoned, beaten, harassed, and insulted for their connection to Jesus. Most of them will die a violent death. But they will suffer and die in confidence, knowing that they are not just connected to a part of Jesus’ life, but to all of it. They have not received a partial Jesus, just the parts they want or think they need. All of his life has been given to them and they have received it with joy. They have received his healing, knowing that their bodies are frail. They have received his forgiveness, knowing that they are sinners who deserve condemnation. They have received his earthly providence, knowing they could never find what they needed to maintain their earthly lives without him. They have received his life, his eternal life, knowing they were subject to death and eternal condemnation. Everything they say and do now, every part of their lives is all about Jesus.

It’s all or nothing. If there’s some part of you, some part of your life that isn’t covered by the blood he shed, isn’t connected to his resurrected life, then that is part of you that you feel confident you can hold up before the Father entirely on your own, without any help from Jesus. That’s the same kind of pride that brought the curse at the tower of Babel. That’s the kind of pride that leads to death.

Jesus didn’t come to earth to redeem just part of your body. He doesn’t offer life to just certain portions of your life. Jesus sees you as all or nothing too. Maybe he could have opted for something less traumatic, suffered a little less misery. Maybe he could have been less lonely, less hurt, less bloody and broken. Maybe he could have just avoided death if it would be enough to save some part of you. But Jesus isn’t here for just a part. He came to save you completely and that meant dying the way he did.

Pentecost is the day we highlight the Spirit’s work. The Father and Son send the Spirit out to call and gather you into his church, to mark you as one of the Father’s children. As Jesus describes the Spirit’s work in baptism, the Spirit gives you new life through the water. You are given Christ’s life, his eternal life. You are joined to his life, not just for an hour a week, but every day. You thirst and the only thing that can truly quench that thirst is Jesus

Everyone is raised in the resurrection on the Last Day. The difference between those on the left and those on the right is that those on the right get to live forever with their gracious and merciful savior. Those on the left do not. Even in eternity, it’s still all about Jesus.

If you don’t want that, if you just want the bits and pieces of Jesus you think are most useful right now, you can go for that. It won’t end up in a good place for. It’s not what you were made for. It’s not what God wants for you. He wants much more for you. He wants everything he has done to be yours. The apostles faced hardship and grief, but they did so with confidence. They were part of Christ’s life, but they didn’t last in the face of the overwhelming joy and peace that came with his triumph over sin and death.

More than the wealth and earthly possessions, more than temporary healing, more than anything else you might wish for, there is Jesus, the savior of the world who died to save you and lives again so that you will live too. Your savior wants you to share his victory. He sent the Spirit to call you in from the cold, lonely darkness to spend eternity in the love of the Father and all the saints.