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Easter Sunday
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ Jesus is risen from the tomb. The tomb is empty and the stone has been rolled away. Sin, death, and the devil have been defeated. Today we celebrate the single most important event in history, even for those who don’t realize or acknowledge the resurrection of Christ as such. Indeed whether you realize that about the resurrection of our Lord or not; it is the single most important event in history.
And when we read Matthew’s description of it we can see things happening around it that just underscore and emphasize that what was taking place was a truly monumental and reality-changing event. Matthew writes that there was a powerful earthquake and an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven and rolled the stone away. He describes the angel as being bright as lightning and his clothes as white as snow. And then it says that the guards who were guarding the tomb became so deathly afraid of the angel that they shook. Some translations describe what happened to the guards as actually becoming like dead men.
So clearly we can see that these guards were quite shaken up at what was taking place. But it’s interesting that they were afraid of the angel of all things. It wasn’t the earthquake, it was the angel. The, what had to have been, a nearly blinding presence and the rolling away of the stone was so devastating to these guards that it caused them to become, as some translations say, ‘like dead men.’ That these guards had almost a metamorphosis type of experience, tells us that their fear was much more significant than simply fear that there might have been some sort of repercussion when their superiors found out that the body was no longer in the tomb. Their fear was profound.
I believe that their reaction was so profound because in an instant they were struck with the reality that what was taking place in front of them was in fact the most significant event in the history of God’s people. In an instant they realized that they had been wrong and indeed deceived about all of the events leading up to this; the miracles of Jesus, the healings of Jesus, the trial of Jesus, His suffering and His crucifixion.
But that is what the resurrection does to us and for us. It causes an uproar. It doesn’t come in peace. Today is indeed a day of great joy, but the resurrection did not usher in an era of great peace, at least not worldly peace. What the empty tomb revealed to those guards nearly 2000 years ago and reveals to us today is that in spite of the presumed absence of God in the events leading up to the resurrection, God was there the whole time.
With the appearance of the angel and the rolling away of the stone from the tomb, the guards realized that everything that they had been witness to was not about the plotting of the chief-priests or the struggle and conflict that Pilate experienced or Judas’ betrayal or Peter’s denial. The empty tomb exposes all of that to be about what God was doing. It reveals all of it to be about God foiling all of the convoluted attempts of sin, death, and the devil to claim God’s people.
And so when you look into the empty tomb, the same thing that was revealed to those guards that day is revealed to you and indeed it might just scare you. It might scare you because in order to fully appreciate the glory of the empty tomb you have to recognize the darkness of the occupied tomb.
And when you look into the tomb with the body of Christ lying in it, what you see is that it is your sins that put Christ Jesus there. And while the sight of Christ in the tomb may make you sorrowful and remorseful, it has the opposite effects on the forces that oppose you. The occupied tomb with Jesus still lying in it actually fills sin, death and the devil with great joy as they delude themselves into thinking that the victory is theirs. But here is where our Heavenly Father comes in and fulfills His plans to foil the efforts of sin, death and the devil.
For just as the devil and his allies are at their most confident, Christ comes forth and reveals Himself as not being able to be restrained by all the vain efforts of sin, death, and the devil. And so, having looked at the occupied tomb and seeing your death, you now look at the empty tomb and see your resurrection.
The sin of the guards and the disciples and the chief priests, the sin of me of you of all God’s people that put Christ Jesus in the tomb is powerless against Him. And so as this menacing angel appears to the women we can see that in fact this is not anything to be afraid of. In fact the angel tells the women not to be afraid. Christ Jesus is not dead and gone, He is alive and risen.
The resurrection of Christ brings you, through faith into the fulfilled vision of a restored Israel that Jeremiah foresaw in the Old Testament lesson. That sin, death, and the devil could not restrain the Son of God means that through the risen Christ you are connected with one another and the world around you. Through faith in the risen Christ you are equally as connected to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Mary, Joseph, Peter, James, John, Paul and Christ Jesus Himself as you are to your own mother, father, brother, sister cousin or best-friend.
The empty tomb means that where Christ Jesus goes soon after the resurrection; to be with His Father in Heaven you will go to. So believe Him when He says that this is nothing to be afraid of. In fact not only is this nothing to be afraid of but this is news of great joy.
This is news of great joy for all of us; whether you are a long-time believer, a recent convert or if you are among the un-baptised. And if you are among the un-baptised, then know that Christ Jesus is still alive and through the Word proclaimed to you today He is calling you to simply believe upon Him and to cling to Him. For in Him you find forgiveness of sin, new-life and salvation. And we know this because the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty.
And yet even after the angel appeared to this group of women it says that they were filled with fear and great joy. After all that they had seen they were still struggling with fear. But then, the very One who walked out of the tomb appeared to them and told them that there was in fact nothing to be afraid of and told them to go tell His followers to go to Galilee and that they will see Him.
And so He does the same thing for you right now in the Word proclaimed to you and in a few minutes when you come forward to receive His supper in the bread and the wine. He will appear to you through His presence in the bread and the wine reminding you once again that the blood He shed was for you and that His body was given for you and that the death He died was yours and that His resurrection is also yours. He comes to you reminding you that you are His and that where He goes there is a place for you for all eternity.
And so for now you live as a new creation in Christ waiting for the day when our Lord will return and all things will be made new. In the meantime you have been placed among those apostles whom Paul wrote about in our second lesson for today where he refers to those men who ate and drank with Jesus after He came back to back to life. Through His presence in the bread and the wine we are among those who eat and drink with Jesus after He came back to life.
And so like those whom Paul refers to, we are also sent out to our neighbor to testify that those who believe in the One named Jesus receive forgiveness of their sins through Him. And we need not be afraid of this because the One who walked out of the tomb daily reminds us through Word, sacrament, and fellowship with each other of the claim that He has made on us through His blood that was shed on the cross and the empty tomb that frightened the guards so much. And so having been freed from sin, death, the devil and all of your fears and anxieties, you are freed to follow the lead of restored Israel whom Jeremiah writes of and go dancing with happy people all the while proclaiming the good news of the empty tomb.
Amen
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