The Resurrection of Our Lord - Divine Service and Sermon text
The Resurrection of Our Lord
Acts 10:34-43
Colossians 3:1-4
Matthew 28:1-10
Alleluia. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed. Alleluia!
The Lord speaks to us through His Holy Word. In the Church, He speaks to us through the Sacraments of Baptism and Lord’s Supper. He speaks to us through the liturgy, hymns, prayers, and the fellowship of our church family. He also speaks to us through other means. He speaks to us through people. He uses family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers to communicate something to us. The Lord also speaks to us through His created world.
After Jesus was born, a star led the Magi to Bethlehem. The star served as a clarion call for those who knew how to read the stars that a new king was born. Then, perhaps it is fitting that during his crucifixion and resurrection, there were not one, but two earthquakes. Many different cultures recognized that the divine spoke through earthquakes and other natural phenomenon.
We know that earthquakes bring great disruption. Buildings come down, land changes, rivers are re-routed. It is fitting that Jesus’ death and resurrection were accompanied by earthquakes because He certainly caused quite a bit of disruption. Jesus definitely upset the establishment during His teaching and healing ministry. He challenged the rightness of established biblical interpretation as well as the extraneous rules and regulations enforced upon the faithful. Jesus also challenged the righteousness of the accepted expressions of piety of the spiritual leadership. His authoritative teachings created all manner of heated conversation and unhappiness within the ranks of the religious leadership. Jesus’ words, his actions, and his authoritative teaching were akin to an earthquake that unsettled and re-arranged the settled terrain. No assumptions or innovative teachings were left unchallenged. His ministry brought shake ups. God used the earthquakes to announce that Jesus’ death and resurrection is not the end but the continuation of His influence in the world.
Jesus demonstrated mastery and power over the natural world. He turned water into wine. He walked on water. He calmed storms through His word. He made a man born blind to see. He made the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the lame to walk. He improved the lives who received his healing ministry. He has power to restore life. The widow of Nain attests to that when she held her once dead son. Mary and Martha received their brother Lazarus back into their house after he was in the grave for four days. The created order that Jesus healed and restored is its own witness. Creation that is touched by Jesus points to Jesus’ power. It announces that God is here. God promotes life.
The first of the two earthquakes begin after Jesus cried out and yielded up His spirit. When Jesus completed his suffering in our behalf and breathed his last breath on the cross, the Gospel of Matthew reports that the curtain of the Temple tore in two from top to bottom and that the earth violently shook. Rocks were split. Tombs were opened. The earth itself shouted that the Son of God has died. His death turns on its head the natural order of things. We are born, we live, we do our work, we have our children, and we die. Jesus’ death on the cross means that all people, Jew and Gentile, now have the blessed hope of eternal forgiveness of their sins. Jesus suffered so, because on the cross he bore the sins of the world. He received the Father’s wrath. Jesus died to reconcile all people to God. Jesus died for your sins. Jesus received the wrath that you deserved. When you look upon the cross with faith in Christ Jesus, you are assured that you live and die with the grace of God’s forgiveness. All because Jesus took the punishment that you so rightly deserve.
When the rocks are split and the tombs are opened, we learn that there is more. Death brings continuity. Jesus’ death on the cross means that the natural order of life and death is disrupted. Jesus’ death brings eternal life for those with faith in Him as Savior.
On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. As the angel visibly descended in order to move the stone covering the entrance the tomb and give direction to the women, the earth shook again. Jesus’ resurrection shatters the mistaken belief that the dead remain dead forever. Jesus rises from the dead looking just like he was put into the grave. He bears the wounds of his beatings and crucifixion upon His body. He is real. The women grab hold of his feet as they weep with gratitude and worship Jesus. He is the same Jesus, yet He is different. The resurrected body is here but it has freedom of movement that is no longer constrained by our natural laws.
The earthquake announces the dawning of a new day in the history of the world. The everlasting grip of death is defeated. The tyranny of sin that leads to death is now toppled. Jesus shows us what eternal life looks like. The women recognize Jesus as their Lord. In our own resurrection, people will recognize us. We will have human bodies, but without the harm of sin, the threat of death, or the manipulations of the devil. In resurrection life, that is all part of the old order, the old way of life. When Christ resurrects us, the old way of life will be no more. We will dwell for eternity in the new life that Christ has won for us.
Alleluia. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed. Alleluia!
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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