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INJ
'The Death of Death'
St Mark 16:1-8
Divine Service
Resurrection Sunday
April 16th, 2006
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The angel did not roll the stone away to let Jesus out of the grave, the resurrected and full of life Jesus needs no help with such things. He now has His resurrected body, perfect and glorious and clothed with life, so real that the things of this world are like shadows and He walks right through them, through the stone, through the door, passing here and there where ever He pleases.
No, the angel did not roll the stone away for Jesus' sake, but for the Marys and Salome, for Peter and John, for you and me, that they would see and we would hear the wonderful news that Christ has arisen, that He has risen indeed! “Do not be alarmed,” says the angel, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen!” [St Mark 16:6] The angel rolls the stone away for us, that we would know and have the benefit of the Lord's rising from the dead.
Well, what is that benefit? What does the Lord Jesus' resurrection give us? Three things: (1) Jesus' resurrection is our forgiveness, (2) Jesus' resurrection is the death of death, and (3) Jesus' resurrection is the assurance of our own resurrection and eternal life.
I. First, Jesus' resurrection means the forgiveness of our sins.
For Jesus to rise from the dead He must first be put to death; for Him to come out of the tomb He must first be laid in the tomb. The getting in part is often uglier than getting out part. It certainly was with Jesus. He died a wicked, cruel, painful death on the cross, tortured by men and executed by the wrath of God. Jesus is taking our place on the cross, being our substitute, so that we could be forgiven from our sins. It was our own sin that stuck Jesus to the cross, He was there for you and me, to be the perfect sacrifice for sin, to cover our iniquities with His shed blood. This is what Jesus accomplishes on the cross, this is what He means when He cries out, “It is finished.” The sacrifice is completed, the suffering is over, forgiveness is won, salvation is accomplished.
But how do we know? How do we know that His sacrifice is acceptable to the Father? When a running back on a football team crosses into the end zone his work is finished, he has scored a touchdown, but the team is not awarded the points until the official throws up his hands. Easter is God the Father throwing up His hands, saying, “It is good.” It is the Father's acceptance of the Son's sacrifice for us, and so the resurrection of Jesus is our assurance and promise and guarantee of the forgiveness of all our sins.
St Paul tells us that Christ Jesus “was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” [Romans 4:25] 'Justification' is another way of saying the forgiveness of sins. Because of Jesus' resurrection we know and are certain and absolutely sure that His sacrifice was sufficient, even abundant, to cover all of our sins. This certainty overcomes all the terrors of sin and death.
Easter is the absolution of the whole world, the forgiveness of all sin, this is the first benefit of Jesus' resurrection.
II. Second, Jesus' resurrection is the death of death.
Death has a claim on all men, for all have sinned, and with sin comes death. Like a cruel tyrant death has it's way among us, threatening and punishing and claiming each of us. Like a black veil it covers the whole world. But when death took hold of Christ he made a claim on something that was not his; there was no sin in this perfect Lamb. Death bit off more than he could chew, and choked on Christ, and had to spit Him out. And so Jesus' death is the death of death. “O Death, I will be your plague! O Grave, I will be your destruction!” says the Lord. [Hosea 13:14] “Death is swallowed up in victory,” [Isaiah 25:8] Mortality is swallowed up by life. [See 2 Corinthians 5:4] Jesus resurrection destroys the power and authority of death and the grave forever.
Because of Jesus' resurrection, St Paul can taunt death and the grave:
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?
The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory though our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Corinthians 15:55,56] Jesus' resurrection is the death of death, the end of death's claim on you and on me, the end of its terror and its tyranny. Now we look at the grave as a place of rest, at death like sleep, for we belong to Christ, the risen one, the one who has conquered death. He is risen indeed, destroying death and promising us, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet He shall live.” [St John 11:25]
Jesus' resurrection means the forgiveness of our sins; Jesus' resurrection means the death of death, and
III. Jesus' resurrection means our resurrection as well.
We are bound to Christ Jesus; where ever He goes, we go. We were bound and united to Him in our baptism. St Paul says, “We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For,” says St Paul continues, “if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” [Romans 6:4,5] We are united to Christ Jesus, so His resurrection is the promise and the guarantee and the certainty of our own resurrection.
Having a baby is difficult work, at least this is what I've been told. There is a reason that it is called 'labor.' There is great strain and great pain to get the baby out of the womb, but once the head of the child is out, the hardest work is finished. The body and the rest of the baby will soon follow.
So it is with Christ and His church. He is the Head and we, the church, are His body, the body of Christ. The hardest work is getting the head out of the tomb, out of death and the grave, but once He is out, once He is risen, His body is sure to follow. Christ has done the hard work, the labor; He has made the way; He charges through death and makes a path out of the grave for us, that we might rise and be resurrected on the last day. Death is destroyed. It could not hold Jesus and it cannot hold us either, we who are one with Christ.
This is why Jesus is called the “firstfruits” of the resurrection. The firstfruit means that there is more to come, and the more to come is you and me. St Paul again is our teacher: “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 in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.” [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]
Jesus has not just overcome death and hell and the devil for Himself, He has done it for you, that you might be a partaker of His life, His eternal life. Many of you have loved ones already in the grave, and, if Jesus tarries a while more, all of us will rest in the grave as well. But this is not how it will always be, Jesus will return and call us forth from the grave and every grave will be empty. Your grave will be empty. Jesus empty grave is your empty grave; Jesus' resurrection is the guarantee of your own resurrection.
The angel rolled away the stone that Jesus' followers, that we, would see the empty tomb and hear the good news, “He is risen! He is not here,” and that hearing this news, we would rejoice that His resurrection is for us, for our benefit. Jesus' resurrection is the forgiveness of all of our sins, it is the death of death, and it is our own resurrection and life eternal.
May God grant us His Holy Spirit, that we might cling to the promise of the risen Christ, and find in those promises our life and salvation and the forgiveness of all of our sins. Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church
Aurora, CO