Rejoicing in resurrection hope.

 

Sermon for Easter, April 20, 2025

This is the day the LORD has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.  His mercy endures forever.  Amen.

Psalm 51:18-19  ¹⁸As it pleases you, do good for Zion.  Build up the walls of Jerusalem.  ¹⁹Then you will be pleased with righteous sacrifices, burnt offerings and whole offerings.  Then bulls will be offered up on your altar. (EHV)

Rejoicing in resurrection hope.

Dear lambs of the risen Shepherd and Lord,

            Confusion was rampant at Christ’s tomb that first Easter morning.  The soldiers the Jews had so diligently posted to keep the tomb secure, became like dead men when the angel came down to roll away the stone so that the world could see that Jesus had risen from the dead.  After shaking off their immediate terror upon seeing the angel and the earthquake, those guards went to the authorities to tell them what had happened and plead for mercy because Jesus was no longer in the tomb.  The Jews then spread more confusion by broadcasting the preposterous lie that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body.

However, it wasn’t just Jesus’ enemies who were confused.  The first women to arrive at the tomb were confused by the open door.  Hopeless and frantic, Mary wept as she looked into that open grave wondering where Jesus’ body had been taken.  Even after the women became convinced that Jesus is risen from the dead, the disciples couldn’t believe their ears when the women relayed His message.  Peter and John ran to the tomb to make sure the women weren’t suffering hysterical blindness, but they left just as confused as the others by the amazing event of Jesus rising from the dead.

As outlandish as it seems, there remains a lot of confusion about Jesus’ resurrection yet today.  Vast numbers of historians, teachers, and scholars question everything the Bible records about Jesus, His life, and the miracles He did.  Yet, nothing confuses them more that His resurrection.  How can it be, they ask, that so many people believe that a man, crucified by Roman soldiers, came back to life?  The deniers call it a sham.  Some give credence to the Jewish lie that the disciples stole the body.  Others imagine that Jesus only seemed to be dead but had performed one of the great magic tricks of His time.  Many deny that any of the Scriptures are true. 

Perhaps the greatest danger for us comes when these deniers tempt us to wonder whether we have the truth.  Constantly bombarded by the devil’s allies with their lies, misleading allegations, and outright fantasies, even the strongest believer among us might be tempted to question what the apostles and evangelists passed down to us through the centuries.  Satan’s whispers that we needn’t believe, along with the immoral temptations that come our way in this world, can be an intoxicating brew leading the natural flesh into deadly sin.

On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing about Jesus’ resurrection that isn’t corroborated by numerous eyewitnesses.  Furthermore, there is nothing logical about the many false stories told throughout the centuries and promoted by the doubters.  The most logical conclusion to be drawn based on the evidence in Scripture, and in secular histories, is that Jesus did indeed live, teach, heal, perform numerous great miracles, was regarded as a great Teacher, fulfilled hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that are only fulfilled in Jesus, and especially, that the Man known as Christ Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried.  On top of all that, only a fool will deny that Jesus rose from the dead, because there were hundreds of eyewitnesses who testified to Christ’s resurrection, including many who were willing to die rather than deny Jesus rose from the dead.  Plus, only a fool will deny that God does what God says He does.

Now, if that sounds harsh, so be it.  However, for you and me, all confusion and doubt is erased, because there is more than enough evidence to convince us that our Savior rose from the dead on the exact day He said He would rise, and on top of all of that, we are convinced of this truth, not because we are so smart or wise, but because the Holy Spirit, God Himself, has worked that faith in our hearts so that we have life and peace everlasting.  Paul clarifies this as he writes, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  Because the Spirit works faith in us, we go forth fearlessly, Rejoicing in resurrection hope.

As we contemplated David’s great psalm of repentance this Lenten season, it has led us from despair to joy.  As always, God’s Word breaks down our faulty defenses trying to hide our sins, then turns and gives us forgiveness and a true hope of life everlasting.  Here, David wrote, “As it pleases you, do good for Zion.  Build up the walls of Jerusalem.”  David speaks metaphorically about God building His Church, just as Peter assured early Christians, “As you come to him, the Living Stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious, you also, like living stones, are being built as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, in order to bring spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)

Jesus told a Samaritan woman He met at a well outside the city, “A time is coming and now is here when the real worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for those are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.” (John 4:23)  Zion is often pictured in the Scriptures as our eternal home.  It is God’s kingdom of believing souls in whom the Father and the Son dwell until this world is no more.  Just as the Lord came down to sit in the Most Holy Place of the temple to dwell among the ancient Israelites, so He now dwells in our hearts giving us assurance and real hope of life everlasting.  Jesus promised His disciple, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23) 

Likewise, God confirms that salvation is not dependent upon our strength or diligence but upon the power of His holy Word.  Through Isaiah the Lord declares, “My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty.  Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)  Trusting in the power of God’s Good News, St. Paul says, Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, who preach the gospel of good things!” (Romans 10:15)  What great joy and peace we can bring to others, even those who now reject God, as we share the resurrection of Jesus Christ with those now caught in fear.

Of course, it has never been easy to be a Christian in this rebellious, murderous world.  There are so many temptations and so many tempters who the devil misleads into thinking that there is no Savior.  However, no matter what god they claim to believe, nor even if they trust only in themselves, their tombs will always hold the bodies until Jesus’ returns.  Our Savior, on the other hand, has left us an empty tomb to show the world that though He was dead, He now lives.  Though He sacrificed His own body and blood to pay the penalty the law demands for our guilt, Jesus has conquered sin, death, and the grave so that we not only can have assurance of life, but that we truly are connected to the God-Man who won everlasting life for us.

Furthermore, we have the Holy Spirit’s assurance that we now live forever in our connection with Jesus.  By the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul wrote, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4)  He further assures us, “If we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5)

This too is the offering we can bring to the Lord, not our gifts of money or goods, but our confident confession of trust in all Jesus has done for us.  Then, as we praise the Lord for His life, death, and resurrection, along with His ascension to live and reign above for our everlasting good, we are bringing our witness to the world of the Good News of God’s love for sinners, so that many more people may believe in Jesus as their Savior and thus be welcomed into His everlasting kingdom with us in heaven. 

Dear friends, wherever the Lord may lead you, and whatever challenges you might face, may the joy of all your sins forgiven, and peace with God granted to all who believe, and the surety of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, keep you always Rejoicing in resurrection hope.  Amen.

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.