A synopsis of the sermon delivered by the Rev. David L. Hicks at St. Paul’s Reformed Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 6, 2003, Lent V. Please read Hebrews 9:11-14 and St. John 8:46-59.

Have you ever noticed how the products advertised on television and in magazines are always improving? They are constantly being upgraded to “new” and “improved” in an attempt to attract buyers for the product. The advertisers are appealing to our sense of quality. Most of us want to have the better article and not something inferior. After all, why settle for second best?

Both lessons for today give us an important message about something, or someone, who is absolutely better than anything else we may encounter. That person is Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews is concerned about some of the early Christians who were tempted to return to the regulations of the Old Testament. He reminds them that Jesus has surpassed all that has gone before. As the promised Son of David, he fulfills all of the Old Testament expectations; and, consequently, he is better than those signs and symbols that anticipated his coming. So great is the difference between the old and the new, the writer is careful to note that the old arrangement is no longer in effect. One might say the product has been discontinued. The Old Testament regulations were temporal, Christ, as the mediator of the new covenant, brings eternal redemption and inheritance for those who trust in him.

Similarly in John’s Gospel, Jesus instructs his listeners to understand that he is greater than Abraham and the prophets. After telling the people that whoever believes in his word will “never taste death,” the religious leaders became quite agitated at such a claim. “Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” (John 8:53). Jesus makes clear who he is. He is nothing less than God in the flesh: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58 – See Exodus 3). Jesus is able to grant eternal life and redemption because he is, as he claims, equal in glory to the Father. The opponents of Jesus understood exactly what he meant by these words, namely that he claimed equality with God. We are told that they picked up stones to throw at him, but he hid himself. They did not want the new and improved version of God’s redemptive activity. They wanted to hold on to that with which they were familiar – that which was comfortable. Jesus’ claims made that impossible for them to do, and so they rejected him.

What about us? Does Christ challenge us to let go of cherished possessions or people that we have held in higher esteem than our love for him? Is there something that we might value more than growing in the Christian faith to which we have been baptized? We are encouraged by the Scriptures to know that there is nothing better than Jesus Christ himself. Nothing is worthy of our devotion other than our Savior. He is the “new” and the “improved,” and nothing else will be newer or more improved than he. 
Amen.