In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
There’s no denying the fact that the Easter narrative makes for one incredible story. The characters. The conflict. The emotion. The drama. The plot-twist, if you want to call it that. It’s great writing. But there are lots of stories out there that are good stories too. And we don’t get together as Christians every year, or every Sunday for that matter, just to hear another good story. This isn’t entertainment hour. At least, it’s not supposed to be. No, we gather together as the Body of Christ because of what actually happened. We gather together because of how it benefits us eternally. And we gather together because of what it means for our daily lives here and now.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a fairy-tale. It’s not just some religious version of “Goldilocks and three bears” or “Harry Potter.” The things that we read about in the Gospels actually did take place in real life. They are historical facts. There really was, and is, a man named Jesus of Nazareth. He actually did heal the sick, cure the blind, and walk on water. He preached and taught the Word of God publicly for three years, claiming the whole time to be the Son of God, and then He was brutally put to death by Roman crucifixion. But after three days in a borrowed tomb, that same Jesus who was crucified and killed, came back to life again.
The only reason why people are skeptical about the resurrection of Christ is because they’ve never seen something like that happen before. Sure, people still get sick and die all the time. But how many of them have you ever met that have come back to life again? I’m not talking about the guy who loses a pulse for 3 minutes in the hospital and then has to get CPR. I’m talking about somebody who was scourged, stabbed, suffocated, and then wrapped up like a mummy for multiple days. I’m talking about an Individual who was so obviously dead, that the only explanation for seeing Him walking around and talking again, would have to be that He actually rose from the grave.
Everyone who is suspicious about this being possible, though, should consider the fact that that’s exactly what all the other disciples of Jesus thought at first too. They didn’t believe it either. In fact, that’s why the women were on their way to the tomb that morning. They were going to anoint the body of Christ with spices so that it wouldn’t start to stink. And, of course, it wasn’t just the women who had their doubts. The men had theirs too. Thomas, who we’ll hear about next week, famously dug in his heels and said that he would never accept that Jesus was risen from the dead unless he got to physically touch the wounds on His hands and side for himself. And we all know what happened next, and Who showed up.
Besides all of the internal evidence from the Bible itself, and the litany of prophesies from the Old Testament that match up perfectly with the events that took place in Christ’s life, even though they were written down hundreds of years before any of it happened, the most compelling proof for the veracity of Jesus’ resurrection has to be the witness of the Apostles. These same men went from running away from Christ during His arrest, and denying that they ever knew Him, to later on maintaining that they saw Him alive even to the point of being tortured and killed for it. Who holds on to a lie for that long? Who makes up something like that and then refuses to let it go despite what they went through? Bartholomew was flayed alive. Peter got crucified too. Paul was beheaded. And John had years and years to think things over in exile. But none of them would take it back. Maybe one crazy person with a mental illness would fabricate a story and take it all the way to their grave. But all of them together? And that’s not even to mention the groups of people who saw Jesus alive at once. Remember how Saint Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians 15? He says, “Then Jesus appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time.” If somebody can get convicted of a crime in court today by the evidence of two or three witness, then this case should be open and closed. Jesus Christ really did die and rise again. It’s not just a feel-good story. It’s what actually happened.
And yet, just because something incredible happened a long time ago, that isn’t a good enough reason by itself for us to be here today. Incredible things happen all of the time. But what makes this event even more incredible is what it accomplished for us. The Scriptures teach us that Jesus died and rose for a reason. His death and resurrection have real and eternal benefits for us.
To being with, it assures us of the forgivness of our sins. God’s Word teaches us very clearly that the wages of sin is death. That means that the reason why people die is because they deserve it on account of their sins. So, when God raised Jesus from the dead, one of the things that it proved, was that Jesus, unlike everyone else, didn’t deserve to die. He was made alive again because His dying was not for His own sins, but for the sins of others. As the Scriptures tells us in Romans 4, “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for ourjustification.” When Jesus rose from the dead that was God’s way of telling us that all our sins have been forgiven. It was His way of showing us without a shadow of a doubt that all of our sins really have been paid for by Christ, and that God the Father has accepted that payment. The fact that Jesus’ lives means that you and I are forgiven. Salvation and eternal life are ours because Christ did not stay dead. He came back to life again.
And that, of course, isn’t all. Not only did Jesus’ death and resurrection purchase for us the forgiveness of our sins, but it also guaranteed us our own resurrection from the dead too, as well as for all those we love, who have died in the faith. Saint Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a Man has come also the resurrection of the dead.” When Jesus rose from the grave on Easter morning, He foreshadowed our own resurrection too. That’s what it means when the Bible calls Him the firstfruits of them that sleep. He was the first One made alive, never to die again, but He isn’t the last. The same thing will happen to all those who trust in Him too. They will not stay in their graves, but their bodies will be raised and glorified to be like that of Christ’s own body. They will be healed and restored. They will be transformed and made new. They will be perfected in every way possible, and they will be like that forever.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the proof of our own resurrection. It’s the promise of future glory. It’s God’s assurance of a joyful reunion with all those who share our faith. We gather together not just becauseof what happened, but because of how it benefits us eternally.
And yet, just because the resurrection Jesus has eternal benefits for us, that doesn’t mean it has no meaning for us here and now. As we heard on Good Friday from 2 Corinthians 5, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” The impact and meaning of the resurrection should change our lives. It’s not something that we’re supposed to simply keep in our back pocket to take out whenever we want to. It ought to effect and guide every single aspect of our existence. Saint Paul said, we don’t live for ourselves anymore, but we live for the one who for our sake died and rose. We live for Jesus.
That means we listen to His Word and seek to conform our actions to it. We follow His teachings and abide by His commands, repenting of where we fail, and seeking His grace to do better. His death and resurrection give us the forgiveness of sins, but it doesn’t give us permission to commit sin on purpose. We read the Bible daily, because it is the voice our Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for us. We seek to grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures because is the very Word of God. We pray and look to Christ for all good in every situation, because know that if He would suffer and die for us, He can be trusted to do all the rest. We come to Church weekly to receive His gifts in the Word and Sacraments and to be with our fellow believers. Every Sunday is a little Easter for us, because every Sunday the risen Lord enters into our midst to feed our souls us with the food that keeps us in the one true Faith. We cannot pretend to the Body of Christ while at the same time staying away from Christ’s actual body and blood. Jesus wants to be with us all the time, and not just once a month, or a few times a year. Everything that happens in our home, every decision that we make with our families, every thought, word, and that deed we do, yes, every single aspect of our lives is to be done for Jesus, because of what Jesus did for us.
Our Lord has been raised from the dead. It’s more than just a good story. It’s a fact of history. Jesus died, but Jesus lives. And because He lives you have the forgiveness of your sins. Your body will be raised even after it has been put into the ground, and you will live with Christ forever. So, live for Him today too. Come and feast with Him at this holy altar. Take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. Do it today, next week, and the week after. And Christ who laid down His life for you and took it up again, will strengthen you by His grace, to life everlasting.
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
In Jesus’ Name. Amen