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INJ
St Mark 16:1-7
'He Is Risen Indeed'
Divine Service
Resurrection Sunday | April 8th, 2007
In the name of the Crucified and Resurrected Lord, the First-Born from the dead, the One who lives, who was dead but now is alive forevermore, who holds the keys of Hell and Death, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Dear Saints, Beloved, Sinners who bask the glow of the forgiveness of sins that shines from Jesus open tomb,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Hallelujah!
Indeed, He is risen, in deed, in fact, in actuality in history, in real life, 1,977 years ago, give or take a year. Not in mythology, not in spirit, not in a mass hallucination, not in the distraught and disturbed minds of the disciples, not in pious hopes. In deed. Jesus takes back His crucified and dead body, takes it up from death and the grave.
He leaves the grave cloths behind (folds them, like He is making His bed), grave clothes are for the dead, not for the living. Jesus leaves the tomb, tombs are for the dead, not for the living, as the angel preaches, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” [Luke 24:5] “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” [Mark 16:7] It's empty. What a marvelous sermon the angel preaches, from such a marvelous pulpit, sitting on the rolled-away stone. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!
But no one's ever done that! No one, in the history of the world, has ever come out of the grave resurrected, never to die again. You do not expect, when you walk through a cemetery, to see people climbing out of the grave, dusting themselves off and going their way. It doesn't happen, it never in the world had happened. We have the very reasonable expectation that the dead stay dead.
That's why the women in the Gospels are having so much trouble. Jesus isn't here, well they must have moved His body. The disciples are likewise troubled, perplexed. Why are they confused? Because they, like you, know that death is a permanent state, that the grave has a permanent grip, that it never lets go.
But Jesus, your Jesus, doesn't care about nevers. He doesn't care that death had never been overcome, that the grave had never been left behind, that no one had ever risen. He doesn't care if bodies normally rot, dust to dust, ashes to ashes, dirt to dirt.
Jesus doesn't care, He breaks through, bursts out of the grave, empties the tomb, breaks the darkness, destroys death. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Hallelujah!
His resurrection is just as sure as His birth, just as sure at His death, just as sure as your bowl of cereal this morning, or the dough nuts waiting for you after the service, that sure, that real. Jesus was touchable (“Put your hands in My hands, and in My side.”), He ate and drank and roasted fish on coals and said, “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as I have.” [Luke 24:39] Flesh and bones real, seen by the women and the disciples and five hundred more witnesses. Risen in deed.
If it were not so we ought to pack up and go home, sell this church to a Bingo parlor and split the money to buy new golf clubs. That's what St Paul says, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain (empty, just wind), and your faith is also vain.” [1 Corinthians 15:14] And again, “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! ... If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable!” [1 Corinthians 15:17,19] And again, “If the dead do not rise, 'Let us eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.'” [1 Corinthians 15:32]
Everything we teach and preach and believe and confess and pray and hope for depends on this, that Christ, in deed, is risen. If He is not risen, says St Paul, we are still in our sins.
Still in our sins; now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, pushing through to why Jesus' resurrection matters to us. It's not simply a matter of life and death, more: a matter of sin and forgiveness. If Jesus were not raised we would still be in our sin. Why? What does the resurrection have to do with my sin, with your sin?
Sin and death are always bound together. “If you eat of it (if you sin), you will surely die,” God promised to Adam. “The wages of sin is death” says St Paul. Because it is the result of sin, death stands before us as a constant reminder of our sinfulness, of the fact that we cannot, with our own strength obtain immortality or perfection or everlasting life, and more.
“The sting of death is sin.” [1 Corinthians 15:56] Sin fills death with terror, because sin puts us under God's righteous judgment. Death stands before us a a testimony to the unavoidableness of that judgment, for God has appointed to man once to die, and then the judgment [Hebrews 9:27]. Death is God's “No” to all our attempts to be our own god, to have things our way.
And that's our problem, our trouble, our “last enemy,” we are sinners, and so we are dying, in fact, we are dead already because we deserve God's wrath. We are good for nothing but filling up graves and burning forever. What sinners deserve, and please hear this, for unless you believe this there is no good news in the Lord's resurrection: what you and I deserve, is death, and not just keeling over in our sleep, but eternal death, God's wrath hell; we deserve to be whipped and beaten and rejected by man and by God, we deserve darkness and wrath, we deserve the cross.
But your Jesus gets it instead. He suffers for your sins and He dies for you, in your place. What happened on Good Friday is what should have happened to you. And because of Jesus' cross what happens on Easter Sunday is what will happen to you. In Jesus' death you see what ought to be your future. In Jesus' resurrection you see what will be your future.
St Paul gives us this comfort and sure hope: “Now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.” [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]
“But that's never happened before.” Jesus doesn't care about nevers; He has promised you, His baptized, His church, His forgiven sinners who by faith bear His name, that you on the last day will be called out of your grave and given eternal life and joy without end in His kingdom. Then the angels would stand in our empty tombs and say, “they are not here, they are risen.” This is our great hope and sure confidence.
And now, all your pain, your sickness, your suffering, your heartache, all these are born by Jesus, and they are for you the birth pains of eternal life.
Your sin is forgiven; your conscience is cleansed; your guilt is taken away; your shame is covered; your death has lost its sting; your grave is opened; your despair is over; your devil is crushed; your fears are banished; your Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
For further study regarding the resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15.