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’s risen, indeed, alleluia!!!” The message from God’s Word this glorious day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is taken from Matthew 28:1-10, it’s entitled, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Matthew 28:1-10 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. 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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 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.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” “Alleluia! Christ Is Risen!” He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
3. That feels a bit different this Easter—as we are still in the midst of this Covid-19 Pandemic! But this is the same: the Lord who died for you—shed blood to redeem you, forgiving all your sins that bring death—declares His victory over death, over every decomposing body that reminds how big death is, how pervasive death is, and what the deep stain of sin’s disease infecting us all has done to us. Jesus has swallowed death up whole by dying for you, crushing Satan’s head for you, and leaving the grave empty. For he is risen!
4. But it feels different this Easter! We’re grateful that at least in this electronic way we’re able to “gather” once more from each of our homes. But even as marvelous as our technology is (for those who have access to it—not all do!), and how much it helps many to see and communicate these glad tidings to one another, our glowing screens are a weak substitute for being gathered as the Church in the flesh: the baptized dripping wet, the Body of Christ with Christ our Head, in a place together to receive the living body that hung dead for us, now risen for us, to drink the blood poured out for us, as he pours himself into us. “Body risen. Blood. For you. For the forgiveness of your sins, now. O Lord, let us do this again . . . often!”
5. These past two Lents during Covid-19 have been bleak. The whole world has had to stop and pay attention to what happens in a diseased and collapsing world teetering with panic. Us? Afraid! And worried as all our other gods really fail, one by one. What have you depended on and looked to that has shown itself undependable? We need to know that Jesus is still the same, not dead. Risen.
6. These days of the pandemic, Easter is in the conversation. Even most miserable unbelievers will tell you Easter is the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead. Trouble is, what they mean by “believe” isn’t a confident confession of truth, as we say again and again in the Augsburg Confession, “We believe, teach, and confess.” The world thinks our belief in the resurrection of Christ is misguided, foolish, wrong, or even nuts.
7. But, the resurrection of Jesus goes beyond being an article of faith—even absolutely true and correct faith. It’s established, provable, and proved historic fact. That’s “the thing”! Not a matter of faith, but a matter of fact. It’s fact, so you can believe it and have saving faith in that fact. The resurrection of Jesus is a fact sworn by witnesses—the best kind, those who saw it with their own eyes! Much better than a guess or theory from people who had only a secondhand knowledge. And the more of them there are, the better! Mary and the other Mary, then Peter and John, then the other disciples like Matthew who wrote this down for us. Later James and later yet Paul. Best of all, 500 at once. If the resurrection were a fabrication, that’s way too many liars to keep their stories straight. All the naysayers would have had to do was interview a few of them separately and see how their stories didn’t agree. That would have put a stop to it! But they couldn’t. Yes, Christ is risen—“the thing” that happened. History. It’s established fact!
8. For Jesus’ resurrection is the thing that everything else hangs on! The apostle Paul puts it plainly: If Christ isn’t raised from the dead—if that’s the fact, if Jesus’ body is buried somewhere near Jerusalem waiting almost 2000 years for some archaeologist to make the big find—“then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). We’re all dead! And you may turn off the livestream. Just sit down to your Easter ham or lamb with a few close friends or family—but not too close; stay six feet apart!
9. If Christ isn’t raised from the dead, then you are fools or nuts. Badly misguided. If Christ isn’t raised, it’s far worse than being trapped in your American home with this spinning world of death and unpleasantness of the last year. If Christ isn’t raised, then we are the liars—along with those apostles and 500 guys back in the first century. Liars about God, who sent them out precisely “as witnesses of these things”—and cost almost all of them their lives. Apostles! But still, not one of the witnesses, even under threat of death, would take back what their eyes had witnessed and their hands had touched: Jesus, risen, bodily!
10. If Christ isn’t raised, you are still in your sins. So dead. And now you better do something to get out of those sins. Make your own salvation. But, you won’t be able to do it! And if Christ isn’t raised from the dead, drop all those sweet wishes about seeing your loved ones who have died again. Because that’s all they are—wishes, dreams. If there’s no resurrection, then when your blood stops circulating and the medical tech “calls it,” that’s it. So, who cares how you live or what kind of legacy you leave behind? Do what feels good. Maybe offer a wise piece of advice or two to your kids that can “live on” for a while after you. But, of course, your wise advice will probably only last until they die too. It really would be as Paul quotes the ancient hedonists: “Eat, drink, and be merry! Yeah! For tomorrow or maybe next week we just die.” That philosophy is still as current as the coronavirus stalking around today, isn’t it! Life is just sand leaking through your fingers.
11. But look! Look into that tomb! What you see inside—or don’t see—changes all that! Just as the earth quaking on Friday when Jesus died not far away marked a 180-degree turn in history, an earthquake on this third morning wrote that change into the history books for everyone to read. Look inside! It’s empty! And read that history! The women brought spices for a dead Jesus. But they wouldn’t find him that way. There was no dead Jesus anymore. Only an empty tomb that confirmed the prophecy Jesus had previously spoken to them: “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day” (Mt 17:22–23).
12. This now was the historical fact. “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said” (Mt 28:6). The angel messenger announced it, and there was the stone rolled away and the empty tomb to prove it. There it was for everyone else to see too: an empty tomb!
13. “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples”—like Matthew! (v 8). We may not get that, but it makes sense. The women were afraid and rejoicing. Afraid because everyone who sees an angel is afraid. Afraid because stuff like this just doesn’t happen. “Did we really see that, hear that, ladies? What if we’re crazy?” Afraid because isn’t it too good to be true? But great joy because nothing could bring us greater joy than our beloved Jesus, crucified Jesus, alive again! And then their fear was dispelled! Risen-flesh Jesus meets them on the road. “Greetings!” he says (v 9). It’s almost casual. Not like any big deal has happened. It’s more like, “Well, sure, we were planning to get together today, weren’t we? I said we would, right?” “And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him” (v 9). They worship him—as Lord, as God—from the feet up. All those fears about maybe getting it wrong, imagining what they wanted to see and what they wanted to hear an angel say, were gone. You can’t take hold of your imagination’s feet! Jesus has feet! Won’t it be a joy to take “hold of him” again too? Their Lord—our Lord—is risen!
14. This is Easter! Even this last year of Covid-19. Easter means there’s no need to be afraid of death, including death by virus. Christ has swallowed up death. No need to be afraid of the cemetery. One day cemeteries and churchyards all over the world will give rise to those bodies they’re holding. You are missing your husband, your wife, or your grandma, and you would so dearly love to see him or her again. You will. Christ is risen, and in him your dear one will rise too. With lost jobs and shaken investments in these days of uncertainty—we can even rejoice. Christ is risen! No need to doubt! Christ is risen! It’s a fact. It’s recorded history. It’s eyewitnessed. We live! For Jesus lives. “Alleluia! Christ Is Risen!” He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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