Easter, 2017 (Sermon Audio)
April 17, 2017
Rev. Thomas Christopher
Episode Notes
Easter Sunday Sermon
April 16, 2017
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, dear Christian friends, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ. Amen!
And there it is again, isn't it? That grace, mercy, and peace. We talked about that a bit on Good Friday when we saw Jesus earn that grace, mercy, and peace for us on Golgotha. Now today, in the empty tomb, in the glory of that first Easter Sunday when our Lord Jesus appeared alive again to the women and His disciples, in the glory of this Easter Sunday, when the living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appears to us in His Word and Sacraments, and in anticipation of that Day, glorious and hope-filled beyond all imagining, when that eternal Easter morning shall dawn upon us and we shall be with our God forever in eternal bliss, today God gives us the mark and seal of His acceptance of Christ Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for our sins. For on this day and every day of our lives, friends in Christ . . .
CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED. ALLELUIA!
"Inconceivable," Vizzini kept saying in the movie The Princess Bride.
Indigo Montoya looked at him and said, "You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
For most people the word "Easter" does not mean what they think it means. The reality of life in this fallen world muffles the happiness that we think we should feel on a day like this. The resurrection becomes a once a year thing, hidden under the stresses of life. The certainty of our Baptism gets lost under the uncertainty of the next day. And even going to church becomes a burden as the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh convince us we don't need to sit through another church service, we lifelessly go to the Lord's Supper. Easter becomes a day in the year when the children are especially scrubbed and family is home and we are looking forward to a ham dinner and nice spring weather, and even the resurrection accounts we read from the Holy Scriptures become sort of old hat, we've heard it all before, but I'll come back one more time because that's what you do, you go to church on Easter, and maybe Christmas Eve, and the rest of the time is spent with dealing with real life, besides, the church looks pretty nice this morning. So, friends, what do you expect to see on Easter?
The guards went to the tomb because they were ordered to and what in the world did they expect to see there but another sealed up tomb with another dead Jew lying inside. And Easter dawn rose on them and soon it became apparent that Easter did not mean what they thought it meant, did it? Not just another sleepy Sunday morning this day: "There was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it . . . And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men." There are all kinds of legends about those Easter Sunday guards that speak of them becoming Christian after this experience, and who knows, I hope they are true. But whatever the case may be, you can be sure Easter never meant the same to them again.
And the women trudged their way to the tomb right at dawn and what were they expecting to see? Certainly not what they were met with. "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb," they were asking one another as they went on their sad way. To them the stone was blocking their access to the dead body of Jesus, who, in their mind, still lay cold and stiff inside that hole in the ground. You see, it was Easter, but that word does not mean what they thought it meant.
The stone was an obstacle. It locked away the dead body of Jesus. But what if that stone still locked away the body of Jesus? God tells us in 1 Corinthians 15: ". . . if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." If it is true that the stone of death was still locking Jesus away on that first Easter morning and there was no one to roll it away, as the women feared, if it is true that Jesus, being God, could not escape the grip of death, then you and I and all people would be without hope in this world, sealed forever in the prison of our sin and eternal damnation. If the stone were still sitting as an immovable barrier of our sin, then Easter certainly does not mean what the Church thinks it means and all our confession of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting is a lie.
But thanks be to God, it was the women who were confused that day. "Easter: you keep on using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means." The Church cries out on this day and every day, "Death is swallowed up in victory!" Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The stone could not seal Him in; the grave could not contain him. He is risen from the dead!
By the time the women got to the tomb, the guards had already run back to the High Priest. I have in my mind a picture of Vizzini from Princess Bride playing the High Priest: "Inconceivable! A dead man rising from the grave? Angels rolling back tomb stones? Glory like lightning?" And then the women arrived, and what they saw was inconceivable too. An angel sitting where Jesus' body should have been? A message of Good News: "Do not be afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here."
Easter: I do not think it means what you think it means. Easter is an every day reality for you who are Baptized into Christ. Easter is why we have joy in life but not always happiness. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation and underpinning of all we are as Christians, it is the hope that sustains us when life has worn us down and out and another burdensome day presses down upon us. We can start each of our days in this life with the words CHRIST IS RISEN and know that one day we shall, too. So we gather here at the altar of God every Lord's Day, just as we gather here on Easter. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! I know that can get old and yadda yadda yadda, right -- one of those Christian cliches we throw around in the midst of the burdens of life, but friends in Christ, that big old stone was rolled away, death could not hold your Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the God of life and the Lord of your salvation, who gave up His life to pay for your sin and rose again from the dead to give you the promise of your own resurrection into the eternal joy of that eternal Easter morning.
You who have been baptized into Christ, who hear the Word of His forgiveness in the holy Absolution each week, whom the Holy Spirit keeps in the faith by the preaching of the Word; you who, in the Lord's Supper, partake of the very body and blood of that same Jesus given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins, you, holy and beloved saints of God, redeemed and cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, you have been freed forever from the prison-house of sin and eternal death. There behind that stone was buried the Rock of your Salvation and He is greater than the stone of death and the burdens of life that held you captive and He has crushed it. "The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and may the God of my salvation be exalted" (2 Sam 22:47).
"Inconceivable," Vizzini said. Is it inconceivable to you that your death is swallowed up in victory in your Lord Jesus Christ.
"You keep on using that word," Inigo Montoya said, "I do not think it means what you think it means."
What does Easter mean to you? Why are you here this morning? Your Old Adam would rather be at home. But through the stony unbelief of that old sinful flesh you hear the angel say to you on this Easter Sunday:Do not be afraid, for I know at you seek Jesus who was crucified. . . He is risen, just as He said." And, saints of God, He is here for you today.
Here in your Baptism is Christ, risen from the dead, for you, giving you the hope of your sins forgiven and a new resurrection life in your God who has conquered death.
Here in His Word is Christ, risen from the dead, for you, filling your ears and your mind with the life-giving promises of the Good News of His resurrection.
Here, in the bread and wine of His holy Supper, is Christ, risen from the dead, for you, filling up your very body with His ever-living body and blood.
Jesus is not behind the stone, the grave is empty; and so shall your grave be on the last day when He returns in His glory on that great eternal Easter morning and you shall come forth from the grace and live and shine forever in the eternal glory of your Father through Jesus Christ His risen Son.
Easter, let's keep on using that word, and let's pray that the Holy Spirit would keep it's meaning true in us so that it does mean what we think it means. "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Amen.
April 16, 2017
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, dear Christian friends, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ. Amen!
And there it is again, isn't it? That grace, mercy, and peace. We talked about that a bit on Good Friday when we saw Jesus earn that grace, mercy, and peace for us on Golgotha. Now today, in the empty tomb, in the glory of that first Easter Sunday when our Lord Jesus appeared alive again to the women and His disciples, in the glory of this Easter Sunday, when the living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appears to us in His Word and Sacraments, and in anticipation of that Day, glorious and hope-filled beyond all imagining, when that eternal Easter morning shall dawn upon us and we shall be with our God forever in eternal bliss, today God gives us the mark and seal of His acceptance of Christ Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for our sins. For on this day and every day of our lives, friends in Christ . . .
CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED. ALLELUIA!
"Inconceivable," Vizzini kept saying in the movie The Princess Bride.
Indigo Montoya looked at him and said, "You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
For most people the word "Easter" does not mean what they think it means. The reality of life in this fallen world muffles the happiness that we think we should feel on a day like this. The resurrection becomes a once a year thing, hidden under the stresses of life. The certainty of our Baptism gets lost under the uncertainty of the next day. And even going to church becomes a burden as the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh convince us we don't need to sit through another church service, we lifelessly go to the Lord's Supper. Easter becomes a day in the year when the children are especially scrubbed and family is home and we are looking forward to a ham dinner and nice spring weather, and even the resurrection accounts we read from the Holy Scriptures become sort of old hat, we've heard it all before, but I'll come back one more time because that's what you do, you go to church on Easter, and maybe Christmas Eve, and the rest of the time is spent with dealing with real life, besides, the church looks pretty nice this morning. So, friends, what do you expect to see on Easter?
The guards went to the tomb because they were ordered to and what in the world did they expect to see there but another sealed up tomb with another dead Jew lying inside. And Easter dawn rose on them and soon it became apparent that Easter did not mean what they thought it meant, did it? Not just another sleepy Sunday morning this day: "There was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it . . . And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men." There are all kinds of legends about those Easter Sunday guards that speak of them becoming Christian after this experience, and who knows, I hope they are true. But whatever the case may be, you can be sure Easter never meant the same to them again.
And the women trudged their way to the tomb right at dawn and what were they expecting to see? Certainly not what they were met with. "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb," they were asking one another as they went on their sad way. To them the stone was blocking their access to the dead body of Jesus, who, in their mind, still lay cold and stiff inside that hole in the ground. You see, it was Easter, but that word does not mean what they thought it meant.
The stone was an obstacle. It locked away the dead body of Jesus. But what if that stone still locked away the body of Jesus? God tells us in 1 Corinthians 15: ". . . if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." If it is true that the stone of death was still locking Jesus away on that first Easter morning and there was no one to roll it away, as the women feared, if it is true that Jesus, being God, could not escape the grip of death, then you and I and all people would be without hope in this world, sealed forever in the prison of our sin and eternal damnation. If the stone were still sitting as an immovable barrier of our sin, then Easter certainly does not mean what the Church thinks it means and all our confession of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting is a lie.
But thanks be to God, it was the women who were confused that day. "Easter: you keep on using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means." The Church cries out on this day and every day, "Death is swallowed up in victory!" Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The stone could not seal Him in; the grave could not contain him. He is risen from the dead!
By the time the women got to the tomb, the guards had already run back to the High Priest. I have in my mind a picture of Vizzini from Princess Bride playing the High Priest: "Inconceivable! A dead man rising from the grave? Angels rolling back tomb stones? Glory like lightning?" And then the women arrived, and what they saw was inconceivable too. An angel sitting where Jesus' body should have been? A message of Good News: "Do not be afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here."
Easter: I do not think it means what you think it means. Easter is an every day reality for you who are Baptized into Christ. Easter is why we have joy in life but not always happiness. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation and underpinning of all we are as Christians, it is the hope that sustains us when life has worn us down and out and another burdensome day presses down upon us. We can start each of our days in this life with the words CHRIST IS RISEN and know that one day we shall, too. So we gather here at the altar of God every Lord's Day, just as we gather here on Easter. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! I know that can get old and yadda yadda yadda, right -- one of those Christian cliches we throw around in the midst of the burdens of life, but friends in Christ, that big old stone was rolled away, death could not hold your Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the God of life and the Lord of your salvation, who gave up His life to pay for your sin and rose again from the dead to give you the promise of your own resurrection into the eternal joy of that eternal Easter morning.
You who have been baptized into Christ, who hear the Word of His forgiveness in the holy Absolution each week, whom the Holy Spirit keeps in the faith by the preaching of the Word; you who, in the Lord's Supper, partake of the very body and blood of that same Jesus given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins, you, holy and beloved saints of God, redeemed and cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, you have been freed forever from the prison-house of sin and eternal death. There behind that stone was buried the Rock of your Salvation and He is greater than the stone of death and the burdens of life that held you captive and He has crushed it. "The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and may the God of my salvation be exalted" (2 Sam 22:47).
"Inconceivable," Vizzini said. Is it inconceivable to you that your death is swallowed up in victory in your Lord Jesus Christ.
"You keep on using that word," Inigo Montoya said, "I do not think it means what you think it means."
What does Easter mean to you? Why are you here this morning? Your Old Adam would rather be at home. But through the stony unbelief of that old sinful flesh you hear the angel say to you on this Easter Sunday:Do not be afraid, for I know at you seek Jesus who was crucified. . . He is risen, just as He said." And, saints of God, He is here for you today.
Here in your Baptism is Christ, risen from the dead, for you, giving you the hope of your sins forgiven and a new resurrection life in your God who has conquered death.
Here in His Word is Christ, risen from the dead, for you, filling your ears and your mind with the life-giving promises of the Good News of His resurrection.
Here, in the bread and wine of His holy Supper, is Christ, risen from the dead, for you, filling up your very body with His ever-living body and blood.
Jesus is not behind the stone, the grave is empty; and so shall your grave be on the last day when He returns in His glory on that great eternal Easter morning and you shall come forth from the grace and live and shine forever in the eternal glory of your Father through Jesus Christ His risen Son.
Easter, let's keep on using that word, and let's pray that the Holy Spirit would keep it's meaning true in us so that it does mean what we think it means. "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Amen.
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