Easter Sunday
April 16, 2017
Luke 24:1-8
Turn to Jesus for Resurrection & Life!
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’“ Then they remembered His words. (NIV1984)
Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
There are certain things that we naturally expect. For example, when you drive the highways here in northern California you expect to encounter traffic— and lots of it— and you do! You expect spring to follow winter— and it does! You came to church this morning expecting to see and to smell Easter lilies— and you do! You expected to hear joyous music this morning— and you have! You expected to hear a preacher preach this morning— and so I am! You expect things like this, my friends. No surprises here!
But, there are also those times when things aren’t what you expect. For example, every now and then you can hop on the 101 and much to your surprise there are comparatively few cars and everyone is tooling along at the posted speed limit. You come to church on a Sunday morning and expect that it’s going to be just another worship service. Then suddenly out of nowhere one of the hymns or one of the Scripture readings or something the pastor says in his sermon touches your heart and brings tears to your eyes.
Easter is one of those things that people were not expecting— and yet Easter is something we all desperately need! Today then my friends, let’s turn away from the business of our life, let’s set aside for just a moment our plans for the rest of the day and let’s focus our hearts on the glorious ancient message of Easter: Turn to Jesus for Resurrection and Life!
St. Luke’s account of that first Easter Sunday begins with exactly what you would expect. He tells us, “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.” It all seems so very normal, so very unexceptional. All we read about here are dear friends, a dreadful grave and basic human dignity.
These women had been dear friends of Jesus and huge supporters of His ministry. They helped supply food and clothes for Jesus, probably using their own resources. They stood by Jesus at the foot of the cross, even when so many others— including almost all of His disciples— had deserted Him. Their loyalty and their love for Jesus were openly on display when Jesus was alive and now that same love and that same loyalty would be openly demonstrate even though Jesus was now dead.
Where were these women going so early on that first Easter Sunday? They were going to a dreadful grave. No one likes cemeteries. We’ll do anything we can to “nice-ify” them while we’re there. We’ll talk about how pretty the flowers are, how nicely the grass is mown, how beautiful the memorial stones are and how peaceful and quiet it is. But deep down inside we know that we can’t spruce up death with pretty flowers and well-manicured lawns. Jesus’ tomb was brand-new— loaned to Him by a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea. But even Joseph’s Mercedes-Lexus-BMW-Tesla tomb could not compensate for the fact that Jesus’ battered lifeless body lay inside on a cold stone slab. What a dreadful end Jesus had endured last Friday. (Pointing to the cross) What a dreadful place for His friends to have to go to see Him.
These faithful women, however, would make the best of this dreadful situation. They would go to that dreadful tomb and supply Jesus with some basic human dignity. You may recall that Jesus had received a quick burial on Good Friday. On Saturday evening, after the Sabbath day rest was over, these women went shopping for burial spices— myrrh and aloes. Now they expected that they would go out to Jesus’ grave, lovingly clean His bloody body, gently sprinkle His body with the spices, snuggly wrap His body with clean linen, tenderly place a burial cloth on His face and then let Jesus rest in peace. Then they would return to a life that they expected was going to be dreadfully different without Jesus!
All of this is exactly what we would expect, my friends. There is nothing out of the ordinary here. A dead man, a grave and a group of mourners wanting to say a final, fitting farewell. If Luke had ended his account here, we would have no reason to celebrate Easter. This morning would be a colossal waste of time. If Luke had ended his account here, then our dreams for heaven would be dashed and last Friday we would have come face-to-face with the death of the Christian faith!
But then, something happened that the women did not expect! Luke tells us, “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” Imagine the questions that must have flooded the hearts and minds of these faithful women! They had returned to Jesus’ tomb at the crack of dawn. Who could have possibly beaten them out here this early? Who would have opened Jesus’ grave? What happened to the Roman guards? They were under strict orders to make sure that no one stole Jesus’ body and then claimed that Jesus was alive. Where were they? Roman soldiers were bulldogs. They didn’t run away from their duty— even if it meant death for them. What in the world was going on here?
Then the women stepped into the tomb! When they did, they experienced the very first Easter! Luke continues, “When they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”’”
Instead of linen grave clothes, these women saw men dressed in dazzling white! Instead of a cold cadaver, they saw angelic messengers! The rocky slab where Jesus’ lifeless body once lay became the first Easter pulpit. Instead of the silence of a tomb and the stillness of death, they listened to a sermon— short, sweet and to the point. This is the sermon that has literally changed the history of the world: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” The beaten and battered One, the poked and prodded One, the whipped and crucified One now lives again!
Now someone might say, “Wait just one minute! Did the Pastor just say that a dead man physically came back to life?” Actually, I didn’t say it— the Easter angels said it! Even more than that, Jesus Himself said it! “Remember how he told you!” the angels said to the women. Whether someone believes in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ or not— it does not and cannot change the glorious historical fact: Easter truly, literally happened! Easter empowers us to set aside the limits of our human logic, peer above and beyond what science can explain and turn to Jesus! He is the only Source of resurrection and life!
But let’s play the devil’s advocate for just a minute, shall we. Let’s say that Jesus did not physically rise from the dead. Let’s say that the Roman guards became big well-armed chickens. Let’s say that the women were all delusional and the angels were purely mythical. Let’s go all the way and say that St. Luke just made all this up in his head so that he could go around and tell people that Jesus had risen from the dead. Where would that leave you and me? Permit me to give you three answers to that question.
First, if Jesus did not physically rise from the dead then you are left to bear the burden and the consequences of your sin. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). That means that if Jesus did not physically rise from then dead, then when Jesus said on the cross “It is finished” He wasn’t talking about our salvation, no rather, He would have been conceding that HE was finished. A dead Savior is a deadly deception and broken promises. No, if Jesus is still dead, then we’ve got a huge problem that is just three letters long: S-I-N! And deep down inside every single one of us knows that “the wages of sin = death” (Romans 6:23).
Second, if Jesus did not physically rise from the dead then we have no real hope when we take our own personal trip the funeral home one day. Again, Paul reminds the Corinthians, “If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Corinthians:16, 18). This means that if Christ has not been raised, then the funeral home is a hopeless dead end. If Christ has not been raised then we are left with that nagging knowledge found in our conscience and in the Bible— something about hell and handbaskets. If Christ has not been raised, then even the thought of eternity can only make us shudder!
Finally, if Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then we have no hope in this life either. Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14). This means that if Jesus is still in His grave— then this sermon is silliness, your trust in Christ is childish and your faith is foolish. If Christ has not been raised, then you might as well go home and play a good game of Trivial Pursuit because that’s what your entire life is— the pursuit of trivia.
But Christ has been raised from the dead— really, physically, truly raised from the dead! The crucified One lives again! God stakes His entire reputation upon these historical, unshakeable Easter facts: Luke is no liar! The women were not delusional! The angels are no myth! God proclaims to us the truth of Easter so that we can have a rock-solid foundation to build our life upon: through the crucified and risen Christ sin, death and the devil have been vanquished! Yes, my friends, Easter is exactly what we would not expect, but it is exactly what we need!
And what exactly do you need? You desperately need God’s forgiveness. Since you cannot earn God’s forgiveness on your own— Jesus secured it for you right there on the cross! (Pointing to the cross) Scripture tells us, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Easter is God’s declaration to us that our sin has been forgiven. So turn to Jesus— He died and rose again to forgive every sin for every sinner, including you!
What do you need? You need help with death! Easter guarantees to you that in Christ death has been defeated. The funeral parlor looks like a dismal place. A graveside feels so final. But looks and feelings can be deceiving. Death and the grave is not our grand finale. Because Jesus lives again, we can be absolutely sure that for everyone who trusts in Jesus physical death is but a sleep. Just as our alarm clocks or the sun wake us up every morning, so also our living Lord will one day wake us up from the sleep of death. In Jesus, who is “the resurrection and the life” we will live even though we die. Turn to Jesus! His resurrection guarantees your resurrection!
What do you need? You need hope in life. The economy isn’t exactly robust. The political situation in our country is unsettled at best. When we look around in the world at places like Syria and North Korea and China we might begin to wonder if there is any hope at all for this world. While we do indeed pray about our problems when we go to bed at night, sometimes they are still there in the morning. Easter assures you that your hope for both this life and eternal life is not in some dead guy. Easter assures you that since Jesus is alive He can and does bring us hope— hope in this life and hope for eternity! Turn to Jesus! He is your life! He is your hope!
There are indeed certain things that we naturally expect. And then there are the things that are completely unexpected. My prayer this morning is that no matter what you expected when you came here to God’s house this morning, that you will leave with the unexpected Easter joy that comes from knowing that Christ is risen! Your sins are forgiven! In Jesus you have the guarantee of your own resurrection to eternal life in heaven!
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
To God be the glory!
Amen