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.
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