Posted on 04/07/2007 2:33:17 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
“The Great Easter Proclamation” (Luke 24:1-12)
It’s very early in the morning, on Sunday, the first day of the week. A group of women are getting together some embalming spices to go and anoint the body of their friend, their teacher, who had died a couple of days earlier. This is the first chance they have to do this task, since the body was buried late on Friday afternoon. Then came the Sabbath, Saturday, when these Jewish women could do no work. So now, first thing Sunday, they’re getting as early a start as possible to do this loving task for their departed master.
But when they get to the tomb, something strange has happened. The stone has been rolled away. They go into the open tomb. It’s empty. They cannot find the body of their Lord, Jesus.
Suddenly two men in bright, white clothing appear before them. They are angels, heavenly messengers. The women are frightened; they fall to the ground. But the angels say to them: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
Friends, this announcement by the angels is the great Easter proclamation! The news is out, for all to hear: Jesus is the living one! He is risen from the dead! And what’s more, he himself knew that it would happen. He had announced it all in advance, that he would be wrongly crucified and then would rise again.
“Great!” you say. “Great for Jesus, but what does this do for me?” Everything! This is what will change your thinking, like it changed those perplexed and frightened women at the tomb. This is what will give you life, real life, the life of the living one himself. This resurrection of our Lord--the great event of Jesus being raised from death to life--this is what will raise you also from the dead. And all this life-changing, life-giving stuff comes to you, and is delivered to you, by way of this great Easter proclamation.
The Easter angels remind us, even as they reminded the women at the tomb, that Jesus had known about these events, and talked about these events, in advance. “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” This was the gist of Jesus’ so-called Passion Predictions, those several occasions when he told his disciples that they were heading for Jerusalem, where he would suffer and die. The fact that Jesus predicted these things tells us that he went willingly into his suffering and death. He knew what was coming, and yet he went through with it anyway. Who among us would be brave enough to do such a thing? Go forward with a course of action you know is going to end in your death. The courage and commitment of our Lord! But why? Why would he go through with it? He must have had a very strong reason.
He did! His death was a divine necessity. “The Son of Man must be delivered over and crucified.” “Must”! It had to be! It was a divine necessity. Nothing else would do. Nothing less would work. Nothing less than the death of the Son of God come in the flesh--nothing else would get the job done. Again, why? Why couldn’t we have done it ourselves? Why can’t we do it ourselves? Why did God have to do it for us? And why did it take his death?
The job that needed to be done was to rescue sinful mankind--that means you and me. To rescue us from the mess we had gotten ourselves into and could not get ourselves out of. The rescue mission meant saving us from ourselves--from our inbred, inborn, inherited sinfulness, which brings with it all sorts of ruination and ends in death. It’s a frightful mess, really. Man’s situation, brought on by our rebellion against God, is one of misery and isolation and, if we’re honest with ourselves, profound despair. Surely you have experienced some of these symptoms. Do you know that pervading sense that there is something wrong? Something wrong about the way things are between you and God? Something wrong between you and the people you deal with? Is this really the way life is supposed to work? Life doesn’t go the way we would like. And sometimes the way that we would like it to go--that in itself is wrong. Our desires don’t line up with what’s best for us. So maybe there’s something wrong inside of us, inside of me.
There is. It’s called sin. And it ends in death. Death is the reality we all must face. What’s out there? It’s a scary thought. Some claim to have had near-death experiences in which they saw a bright light, and now they’ve come back and they say there’s nothing to fear. Others claim to be able to communicate with the dead. But all they’re doing is deceiving the living. Frauds and phonies, the lot of them. These scam artists have no answer to deal with the underlying problem, which is sin--the thing that causes death. So there’s no getting around it. Death is like that big, heavy stone in front of the tomb. It’s there, but it’s too heavy for us to move. Somebody else, somebody stronger than you and I will have to move it, if it’s going to get moved at all.
The mover and the shaker is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He moves the stone for us, rolls it away. He shakes us out of our sin-induced sleep and wakes us up to the new reality of the new creation. Jesus is the only one strong enough to do the job. His love was so strong that he took on our human flesh and lived among us in this valley of despair. His righteousness is so strong that he kept God’s law perfectly, as a man, something we sons of Adam otherwise have been unable to do. Jesus loved the way you and I are supposed to love, to love God with your whole heart, to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. He’s the only one who got it right. And he did it for us, in our place. His righteousness is credited to us, to our account, as a gift. Then Jesus did something else in our place. He died. I mean the Big Death, Death with a capital “D.” The judgment-under-God death. He took that death for us on the cross, so that we would not have to face it. And because Jesus is the Son of God--God died on the cross, that’s astonishing--because Jesus is true God, his death, his sacrificial atoning death has all the power in the world. It rescues us from all sin. It rescues us from death and eternal damnation. It saves us for now and for eternity. The death of Jesus gets the job done.
That’s why Jesus had to do it and we couldn’t. Now the good news is, he has done it! For you! This Jesus business, this church business, this Good Friday-and-Easter business is all for you! Take it in! Enjoy it! Rejoice in it! Never get tired of it! This is what life is all about! Jesus renews life to the way it’s supposed to be. Now since we’re still sinners living in a fallen world, things will never be perfect in this life. But we’re getting there. No, actually, he’s getting us there. Our Lord is forgiving us along the way, all the times we slip and mess up, which are many. And he will get us there safely, on the long journey home to heaven.
The guarantee is given right here in the great Easter proclamation. He was dead, but now he is alive! Death could not hold him. Jesus is the living one, the one who has life in himself. Because he lives, we will live also. He is the source of life, new and eternal life, for all who trust in him. Jesus is the living one, the one who gives life to his perplexed, frightened followers.
Jesus gives us this life by means of the gospel. The Easter proclamation is not just information about Jesus. It actually delivers Jesus to us! The gospel preached and proclaimed is a living and active word, a powerful and creative word. It does what it says. The Word works! It works faith in our hearts. It works forgiveness of sins. That same gospel word that comes to us also in Christ’s holy sacraments. The Word works there too. The word of God in and with the water--the Sacrament of Holy Baptism unites us with our crucified and living Lord. We are joined to Jesus, and his life becomes ours. Likewise, it is the word--Christ’s words, “This is my body, this is my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins”--it is the word that makes the Sacrament of the Altar such a great and precious thing. The Sacrament gives us exactly what it promises--forgiveness, and what comes with it, once sin has been removed, namely, life with God and eternal salvation.
Hearing his Word and celebrating his sacraments, we share in his victory over death. This is the good news of Easter: We get to share in Christ’s great victory over sin and death. And the way it happens is by nothing we do or come up with. It comes by way of what God gives us, in his Word and sacraments. These are the means that God uses to deliver Easter to us and to join our life to the life of the living one, Jesus Christ. The gospel proclaimed and sacramented--the gospel is that great Easter basket that delivers all the goodies to our doorstep!
And you know what? It’s happening here today. What a beautiful, joyful morning this is! The “He is not here” may apply to the empty tomb, but it doesn’t apply to the church! For Christ really is here! He is risen, and now he lives with his people. He is here, giving out his gifts. He is here, coming to us and speaking to us and gifting us through his glorious gospel word! Hearing his Word and celebrating his sacraments, we share in his victory over death. This is the joyous, wonderful, great Easter proclamation for you!
Nice!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.