“The 1st Commandment” Mark 16.1–8, Easter Day April ’23

 1.                Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.  Christ is risen, He’s risen, indeed Alleluia!  The message from God’s Word today on this glorious Easter morning we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection from the dead is taken from Mark 16:1-8 and it focuses on, The First Commandment.  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                In Florida, an atheist created a case against the Easter and Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against observances of Christian and Jewish holy days.  The argument was, it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed."  The lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling saying, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter, and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah. Yet, my client and all other atheists have no such holidays."  The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But they do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant."  The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."  The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is 'April Fool's Day.' Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned."

3.                In the First Commandment, God forbids you from having any other gods than him. You are to fear, love, and trust God above all things. Because he wants to be God for you! For your benefit. (Recite the commandment together turn to page 321 in your hymnal.) In fact, there is no other God than the man Jesus, the Christ.

4.                You had such high hopes in him. Jesus was everything to you. You followed him because you believed he was the Messiah, the promised Savior. He did things only God could do. He said words only God could possibly say. This always amazed you, many times to the point of absolute fear. You were there when he healed a paralytic and forgave his sins. It amazed everyone (Mk 2:12). When he stilled the storm, you were terrified and asked one another: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41). You were absolutely amazed when he brought Jairus’s dead daughter back to life (Mark 5:42) and when he walked on the water (Mark 6:51). On the mountain, his appearance changed, transfigured; you were scared out of your wits (Mark 9:6). Could he be . . . ? Sure think so! But then he went and preached a sermon series about insistently heading up to Jerusalem. He had a Jerusalem mania. A Jerusalem on the brain. Obsessed with doing a Jerusalem he was. Three times he boldly proclaimed that he’d be . . . handed over to the religious leaders. Arrested!  Spit upon! Relentlessly ridiculed! If that wasn’t bad enough, he promised that he’d be put on death row, flogged, and killed. Then he said something about rising on (what was that?) . . . the third day. Really? Again, you were totally blown away. Genuinely scared.

5.                But you’d get over it. And you thought he would too. That Jerusalem thing was just a fad—you thought. After all, these kinds of things don’t happen—aren’t supposed to happen—ever—to Messiahs. And Jesus was the real deal. At least you hoped. Especially after all the miraculous things he did and the authoritative sermons he preached!  Now what? He’s dead. Buried. What good is a dead and buried Jesus? Can you trust in him anymore? Can you?  But now, good grief . . . what are you to do?

6.                All that’s left is to let the ladies who took care of his physical needs during his earthly life do their thing. They looked after him. Might as well do it one last time. Spices in hand, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome head to the grave to anoint his dead body.

7.                Strange. Very bizarre. The large stone has been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. Might as well go on in. Another big surprise. They see an angel. Shocking! “No need to be alarmed, ladies. I know you expected to see the corpse of crucified Nazarene Jesus. Well, he is risen. Therefore he’s not here. See. Take a look. This is where they put his body. Not there anymore! Now, you go tell his disciples and especially Peter. He’ll meet you in Galilee. You’ll see him there just as he told you.”

8.                What? Can it be? Really? Risen from the dead?  Absolutely! Just like he said! Remember the last part of the Jerusalem fixation? On the third day . . . ?  Wow! The biggest miracle of all! Straight from his mouth! He said so! Resurrection! On the third day!

9.                You and the women are visibly shaken. You never expected this to happen! Seriously, you didn’t! Your hearts are pounding. The adrenaline is flowing. Your minds are racing. Your hands are trembling. All your thoughts are jumbled, can’t think straight at the moment. So all you can do is beat it. Skedaddle. You’re so afraid.

10.             Well, I’d better remind you of something else the preacher in the tomb told you. After all, sermons are so easily forgotten, in one ear and out the other. He said: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter. He’ll meet you in Galilee. You’ll see him there. He said so. He promised.”

11.             Why meet Jesus in Galilee?  You’re reluctant to go there, aren’t you? Of course you are. After all, you’ve all got a bad conscience. You and Peter denied and renounced Jesus and called down curses on yourselves. You deserted him. Left him high and dry when push came to shove. You wouldn’t be caught dead hanging around the humiliated, arrested, and sentenced-to-death Jesus. What a difficult and dreadful falling away you committed! You wouldn’t let Jesus be God for you in his shocking suffering and Good Friday dying! You stayed away! You had no use for him! What sin! What treachery! What idolatry!

12.             This is why you’re so hesitant to go meet Jesus in Galilee. You are uncertain. After all, what do you expect from Jesus—the Son of God, whom you abandoned and disowned—if he’s truly risen from the dead? Payback, right? Retribution and a divine reckoning of the highest order against you for your unfaithful sins against him, right?

13.             No. Not hardly. Not even close. Couldn’t be further from the truth.  He is risen! From the tomb! Not to give you what you expect but what you never, ever imagined as a sinner. It’s totally amazing what he will give to you. Mind-blowing amazing. Make-your-body-tremble remarkable. Melt-your-heart astonishing. He would meet you in Galilee to . . . (are you ready for this?) . . . to greet you with a friendly and courteous Easter “Good morning, friends!”

14.             And more! So much more. He will tell you the best news you could ever hear as a sinner. It’s this:  “I Am God for You.  I am not your enemy. I am not against you, but I am God for you—in this way: I died for you, Peter, and the rest of you disciples. I took all your sin. I buried it in the black hole of my tomb, and I left it there forever. It is no more. I forgive you. I don’t count your sin against you at all.”

15.             Forgiveness! It’s what his rising from the tomb is all about. His divine forgiveness is for you. He comes to you. He meets you in the Sacrament today, too, in order to act as God for you. Listen. His crucified and risen body and blood he gives you with the bread and wine with the promise that you are forgiven. “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” he declares.

16.             The benefits of such divine Good Friday and Easter forgiveness are the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Because Jesus rose, his Good Friday death was not in vain. It truly counts for you. You are forgiven. Since he forgives you, you, too, will be raised on the Last Day from the grave. He will not leave you there. You are that precious to him—God for you, Jesus. As you believe, so you have. Happy Easter!  In the name of Jesus. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

 

 

 

“Jesus Is Risen! Bodily!” Matt. 28.1-10 Easter Apr ‘23

1.                Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our, Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! And we’re thrilled to be here this morning! This is a day—the day—we can all let out with a big alleluia! The message today as we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection from the dead is taken from Matthew 28:1-10, it’s entitled, “Jesus is Risen! Bodily!” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                For a moment, let’s step back from the delight and the emotion, and face a hard fact: Unlike every other religion, the Christian faith is subject to being proved wrong. Hinduism—no serious Hindu claims that the sacred stories ever happened. It’s the spiritual reality that matters. Buddhism—Gautama Buddha lived—we’re pretty sure of that—but then he died . . . and no one can prove or disprove whether he really made Nirvana or not. Islam—a very historic religion. We know a lot about Muhammad’s career. But, of course, Muhammad isn’t God, just a prophet, and whether Allah really revealed the Qur’an to him—just have to take that on faith.

3.                But Christianity: If anyone ever did or ever could or ever does find the dead body of Jesus somewhere, that proves we’re wrong. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Cor 15:17). Still feel like alleluia? You should say it all the more, because when we say Christ is risen, we’re not just saying he’s alive in some spiritual sense. The “alleluia” is that, Jesus Is Really—Bodily!—Risen!

4.                And that means our Christian faith isn’t just some spiritual speculation. Living the Christian faith is real, bodily life—including that one day we will really, bodily, rise! Jesus is risen just as he said he would! The Sabbath rest was concluded, and the grave had been hallowed. Matthew 28:1 says, “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.” He would rise on “the third day,” equivalent to our saying “the day after tomorrow.”

5.                Frequently, the number three speaks of deliverance in the Scriptures. Moses and the Israelites needed to make a three-day journey into the desert to worship Yahweh (Ex 3:18; 5:3; 8:27). Jonah was delivered from the belly of the fish on the third day (Jonah 1:17). Jesus predicted his deliverance from the bosom of the earth on the third day (Mt 12:40). We pick up on this in our baptismal order with the threefold renunciation of Satan, his works, and his ways (LSB, p 270). So, Jesus was fully in control as he predicted his crucifixion and resurrection (Mt 20:19; 26:32; 27:63).

6.                All creation testifies to the resurrection! Matthew 28:2 says, “And behold, 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.” Like kettle drums beating joyfully, the earthquake announces the great news. Unlike the earthquake at Jesus’ death, which spoke judgment on sin and unbelief, this earthquake trumpets forth victory over the grave. On this day of victory, “an angel of the Lord descended from heaven.” So at the parousia victory, the holy angels will assemble in joyful rank (Mt 24:30–31; 1 Thess 4:16).

7.                The Christian aphorism is appropriate here: Those who are born once die twice; those who are born twice die once. The unbelieving Jewish temple guards fell down in fear like the dead men they were (Matthew 28:4) while the dead Christ rose.

8.                The proof was in meeting the resurrected Christ—in his body. First, physical, concrete realities testify to the resurrection of Jesus. The massive stone requiring the strength of many had been rolled back. The herald who had descended from heaven sits on it. The stone wasn’t rolled back to free Jesus. In his exalted state, it couldn’t hold him, as the locked door of the upper room would be no barrier The stone was rolled back so the women could peer into the empty grave (Matthew 28:6).

9.                Then, as the women go to tell the disciples, Jesus suddenly appears and proclaims, “Greetings!”—a word of forgiveness, of peace. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary took hold of Jesus’ feet, his physical feet! Physical bodies have feet, to which the women clung. This Jesus was no spirit or ghost! Both women were at the least on their hands and knees, if not lying on the filthy ground. Thus, they demonstrate that the highest worship of the Gospel is the desire to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

10.             The difference between faith and foolishness is evidence! These two women saw and held Jesus! And so many more did! St. Paul appeals to evidence when he writes, “He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:5–6). Surely there were those who wanted to prove Christ was a lie, and all they had to do was produce the body. Instead, the soldiers themselves lied—and a first-century Jewish historian, Josephus, confirms that this was their story (28:11–15).

11.             Now if Jesus is really, bodily, risen, the witnesses of his resurrection become the further evidence. Matthew 28:7 & 10 says, “Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” The two women were sent by the angel and by Jesus himself to be apostles (“sent ones”) to the apostles. Jesus sent word by the women that the disciples were to meet him in Galilee of the Gentiles (Mt 4:15) where he did most of his ministry. The two Marys were commissioned to be apostles to the apostles. Though they were given this important, joyful news to proclaim, they are not inducted into the College of the Apostles or the pastoral office.

12.             We, too, are to become witnesses, evidence, of the empty tomb to our world. In our Baptism, we have been commissioned to share the news of Christ’s death and resurrection. Like the Marys, we all are commissioned as witnesses, though only a few men are called into the pastoral office as public witnesses. From what we have received through the Word and Baptism, we proclaim the complete and full forgiveness of sins won through Jesus’ shed blood and his bodily resurrection—and we proclaim that since he rose and lives bodily, we will also live forever, both body and soul. Jesus sends us where we do most of our work, the living out of our lives—to family, neighbors, and co-workers. Jesus places you into your vocation as spouse, parent, aunt and uncle, farmer, office worker, lab technician, to share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection in places pastors can’t reach.

13.             We all proclaim the Word of God. Most do so as baptized priests, while a few select men do so from the Office of the Ministry. What “activates” (makes efficacious) the Word to impact hearts and minds is the Holy Spirit, who always accompanies the Word of God (Is 55:10–11).

14.             Is it hard work that makes the world go round—in academia, business, government, any vocational venue? To succeed, you take classes, you chase advanced degrees, you put in long hours. You borrow money, so you put off marriage and children to pay the debt—the enormous capital offense! But you finally get the diploma and, you hope, the successful career and life that follows. Is that what makes for success?

15.             Or is it the other great wisdom of the world, the cliché, “It’s not what you know, but who you know”? Business deals are made on the back nine, promotions approved over martinis. It’s all about contacts, networking. Is that how it works? People certainly think the afterlife works on the basis of what we do, our hard work. People naively think enough good works, sincerity, and personal suffering will tip the scales in one’s favor and pay off the enormous debt of sin. But our cause is more lost than that of poor Sisyphus, who for eternity the Greek gods forced to roll a boulder to at least near the top of the hill before it always rolled back.

16.             Instead, it is truly “not what you know, but who you know.” “For us fights the valiant One, Whom God Himself elected” (LSB 656:2). Our salvation is not found in what we know— our hard work and study and best efforts—but in who we know, Jesus, who was crucified but is risen (Mt 28:5–6).

17.             It’s true, of the many world religions, only one can be falsified. Our faith does not make the resurrection true; the resurrection makes our faith true! Easter puts God’s seal of approval on Jesus’ self-donation on the cross of Calvary, which made atonement for our sins. And that’s the very reason for our joy. He really is risen! And that means we will also live really, in risen bodies. Alleluia! Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.

 

“From a Distance” Matt. 27.55 Good Friday Noon April ‘23

1.                Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this Good Friday is taken from Matthew 27:55, it’s entitled, “From a Distance,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                “I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I’m too close to the situation to provide you with unbiased counsel. You need someone who’s more distant from the circumstances.” A sign at a pharmacy counter reads, “Out of respect for the privacy of our patients, please keep back some distance while patient counseling is in progress.” Driver training manuals advise, “Always maintain a safe distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you.”

3.                In many ways, distance equals safety. Safety concerns may explain the remark Matthew makes about the crucifixion scene outside Jerusalem: “There were also many women there, looking on from a distance” (Mt 27:55). The mob with its clubs and swords had already gotten too close for comfort to the disciples on Thursday evening at Gethsemane. The Gospel writers note that all of them fled, but they also note that Peter did follow the mob to the chief priest’s house—at a distance (Mt 26:58). A concern for personal safety kept the Twelve at a distance. They certainly didn’t wish to be caught and suffer the same fate as their master, even though they’d all sworn loyalty to the end!

4.                Issues of comfort also keep people at a distance. We don’t feel comfortable when aggressive people invade our personal space in conversation, forcing us to retreat a step at a time until our backs are against the wall. When a teenager broke a valued possession belonging to the father of one of his friends, several years passed before he entered his friend’s house again. Even in church, some find sitting in the front rows too close for comfort. Maybe a verse from Psalm 88 holds another reason why the women watched Jesus die from a distance: “You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them” (Ps 88:8). Who but the most twisted would actually relish approaching the scene of a bloody crucifixion, especially of a friend, and find its details pleasant and fascinating? Who would feel comfortable watching their teacher, stripped naked, die cruelly before their eyes?

5.                These two issues—comfort and safety—come together on Good Friday to explain the matter of distance. Once, after Jesus instructed the disciples where they could find a catch of fish and they did, Peter replied, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Lk 5:8). Isn’t it that which always puts distance between us and others—the matter of sin? How quickly would you rush to the hospital bed of a friend whom your drunk driving nearly killed? How speedily would you return to the home of the family of the toddler who was injured because you hadn’t kept a careful watch as a babysitter? What makes us keep our distance is our own discomfort with the part we’ve played in the tragedy.

6.                And that’s what causes people to keep their distance from the cross too. Jesus “was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Is 53:5). The crucifixion gives the lie to our notions of “petty crime.” It warns us how serious all of our transgressions are. Here’s the man who gave his life to pay the steep consequences for all the times you and I have thought, Oh, this little lie isn’t that serious! It’s not like murder or anything as repulsive as that! Yet even lies are symptoms of the sinner’s need to hide from the truth. The drunk husband sneaked up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he’d received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he’d pulled one over on his wife. When morning came, he opened his eyes, and there stood his wife. “You were drunk last night, weren’t you?” “No, honey.” “Well, if you weren’t, then why did you put all the Band-Aids on the bathroom mirror?” It’s this ongoing denial of our sins out of fear that separates us from God. Jesus died for all people. Jesus died for all sins. But some continue to watch from a distance because they know who should be nailed to that tree instead.

7.                Jesus understands this reluctance to draw close to his Father. He understands the ironic emptiness this reluctance creates too. For even though we often maintain a distance for our own safety and comfort, we hate having to experience that dreadful gulf that separates from what our hearts desire most—fellowship with God. The kind of fellowship with God Adam and Eve experienced, walking with God in the garden in the cool of the evening. We wish something could be done to lessen the distance, but we find ourselves unable to bridge the gulf.

8.                Now anyone who believes that keeping our distance from God is a mutually-agreed upon strategy is sadly mistaken. The spiritual gulf that stood between us and God disturbed him. He took no pleasure in driving Adam and Eve from the garden. He wasn’t thrilled about having to stop taking leisurely walks in the garden alongside them. He wasn’t pleased when the Israelites said to Moses, “You go up on the mountain and listen to God for us; we’ll stay down here because we fear for our lives.” It gave him no joy to strike dead those who touched the ark of the covenant. How he would have rather appeared to Israel without a pillar of fire or cloud.

9.                But only he had the power to do something other than keep his distance from us and we from him. For that reason, Jesus experienced that damning distance when his Father distanced himself from him on the cross. “Why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). At that moment, Jesus Christ suffered hell—separation from God—so that we might not suffer the same fate as the rich man standing in hell, looking up from the great chasm that separated him from Lazarus in heaven. With the exhale of that last breath, Jesus closed the distance in an unexpected way. So Jesus hung on the cross to shorten the distance between us and his Father. He breathes his last with the satisfaction of knowing that our having to keep our distance from God is finished.

10.             Now the invitation often spoken at the beginning of our worship takes on new meaning: “Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father” (LSB, p. 184). We can draw near and confess because Jesus has removed all reasons for keeping our distance from God and he from us. In the parable known to most as the parable of the prodigal son, the waiting father runs out to embrace the wayward son because he’s forgiven him. We have peace with God now, and the gulf between us has been bridged. So as the author of Hebrews says, we can “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (Heb 4:16). Yes, Because Jesus’ Death on the Cross Paid for Our Sins, We Can with Confidence Draw Near to the Throne of Grace.

11.             Yes, he is as near to us now as the sip of wine and bit of bread we receive in Holy Communion. And so, for reasons of comfort and safety, the women watched all that took place on Friday from a distance. For our spiritual comfort and safety, our heavenly Father distanced himself from his beloved Son when Jesus died for you. Because of that great sacrifice, as the hymn says, “Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, Dearest Jesus, unto Thee” (LSB 420:1). Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.