Sermon: 31 May 2020 (Easter Sunday Celebrated) - Luke 24:1-12, “He Has Risen”
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?
He is not here,
but has risen.”
Luke 24:5b-6a
Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
“Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!.”
The celebration of Easter is always a joyous occasion, and what a blessing it is to celebrate it together today! God is good! He has blessed us immensely in this present time and especially in the gift of our risen Savior.
That must have been a forlorn group, the followers of Jesus. I can only imagine how life must have been going for them. They were so upbeat and ready for Jesus to establish His Kingdom just a few days earlier. Their hopes were beyond high, they were certain that great things were coming. And then, in just an instant it seems, everything changed. Their world, their hopes and dreams came crashing down. Jesus was taken prisoner by the guards, given a mock trial by the Sanhedrin, allowed by Pilate to be crucified, all in just a few short hours. And then they watched as He was mocked, spit on, tormented and hung on that terrible cross. Worst of all maybe was late in the day on Good Friday, the absolute reality set in as they took His limp, dead body down from that cross and laid it in a tomb.
They Expected Jesus to Be Dead
They did their best in the short time they had to prepare Him for burial. It was the very least they could do. Then they tried to rest on the Sabbath Day waiting for the opportunity to go back to the tomb and properly prepare His body for burial. That’s when they encountered the angels.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” the angel asked. You would wonder what must have gone through the women’s minds at that point. Were they overcome with fear of the angel? Surely there was some of that. Did they have some thoughts that this angel was asking crazy questions? I’d have to think so. They may well have thought to answer that they were looking for Him there because that’s where they left His dead body. He was definitely dead! The Romans quite clearly saw to that between the crucifixion and the spear in His side. Everyone saw and knew that Jesus was dead. They felt His cold body as it was laid in the tomb. Death was all around Him.
And yet the angel asks that question… He challenges their thinking. God sent Him there because He wants them to know the truth, to have their eyes opened and see that the tomb is empty because Jesus has risen!
Jesus had clearly told them what to expect, that He would suffer and die and rise again on the third day. And yet they could not comprehend that. They did not believe it or expect it. Their thinking was too small at this point, focused on death and missing out on the reality of life.
That happens with us quite often as well. We get bogged down in the busyness of life and the many complications that go along with it that we miss out on the great gifts Jesus has for us. We come looking for help with some issue in our temporal life and we miss out on the real needs that we have. We seek house and home, food and … you know all of the things that Luther lists in his explanation of the First Article of the Creed. God does take care of that, but more importantly He takes care of our eternal need, the need for forgiveness and life. Our eyes, our hearts get set on temporal matters and we fail to see the eternal gifts God has given us. Why do you seek the Living among the dead?
This world is dying and passing away. But God’s Kingdom is not. It is established in Jesus life, death and resurrection. By His shed blood, His sacrifice on the Cross, He has paid for our sins and opened heaven to us eternally. In Him we have life. Because He has risen, we too shall live. That’s great news for all who believe.
And Yet They Found Jesus Full of Life
That angel opened their eyes. It wasn’t immediate for all of them. But he got them to thinking. It was Mary Magdalene, there in the Garden who first saw Him risen, and still couldn’t believe it. He was alive! Could it be true? How?
Jesus was full of life, totally unlike what they had seen on Friday. He still bore the marks of the cross but life was restored. And as He encounters His followers over the next 40 days that’s exactly what He shares with them. He is full of life and has come to restore life in the world.
This dying world is decaying and perishing. It will soon pass so don’t hang on to it too tightly. Like Mary in her joy at seeing Jesus on Easter morning, cling to Him and His cross. He has come to rescue us from the power of sin, death and the devil. He allowed Himself to endure death in order to bring us life, eternal life in a heavenly home.
In His suffering, death and resurrection that new life was won for us. In resurrection hope we now look to His promises for life with Him in heaven. Repentantly believing His promise of forgiveness He delivers just that to us. Life is His gift. Remember back in John 11 as Lazarus had died and there was hope that Lazarus would one day rise again. Jesus asks the question of Martha, “Do you believe this?”
That’s the question to us as well. Jesus has gifts that we receive by faith. Faith trusts His promises. It receives His gifts. Fed by God’s Word and Sacrament it lives in expectant hope that Jesus will return and bring us and all who believe to be with Him in eternity. And yet we often get bogged down in the messiness of daily life. So the angel asks us, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
Fix your eyes on your risen Savior. He has come to take care of all your needs. He has come that you might be with Him eternally. Take in the stone that was rolled away and the empty tomb. Listen to that angel’s words. Your savior lives and you too shall live.
“Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!.”
Amen.