Easter Festival Service
\nMarch 27, 2016
\nLuke 24:1-12<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the LORD Jesus.\u00a0 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.\u00a0 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?\u00a0 He is not here; he has risen!\u00a0 Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:\u00a0 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.\u2019<\/em> ”\u00a0 Then they remembered his words.\u00a0 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.\u00a0 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.\u00a0 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.\u00a0 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.\u00a0 Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,<\/p>\n He is risen!\u00a0 He is risen indeed!<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure how many of you know this, but I was born and raised in Minnesota.\u00a0 Sometimes when I am able to make it back home I try to take a drive along Century Avenue.\u00a0 When I get to Lakewood Community College I turn into what might appear to be a large open field directly across the highway from the college.\u00a0 I go there to look for my relatives.\u00a0 My Grandma and Grandpa are there.\u00a0 My Grandpa\u2019s brother, Uncle Joe, is there.\u00a0 My older brother John is there.\u00a0 My Mom and my Dad are there too.\u00a0 I have other relatives there whom I only know by name.\u00a0 I am sure that by now you know what I am talking about.\u00a0 The \u201cfield\u201d is called Evergreen Memorial Gardens.\u00a0 And when I say I am \u201clooking for\u201d my relatives in reality I am looking for their headstones.<\/p>\n Now imagine what kind of a reaction I would get if I went home to Minnesota and told my family that I was going to drive out to Evergreen Memorial Gardens to see my brother Mike and his family, or to see my sister Terri and her husband\u2014 all of whom are very much alive and well!\u00a0 My family might think I\u2019ve gotten a bit morbid.\u00a0 My family might think I\u2019ve gone a little loony.\u00a0 My family might even ask me the question which serves as our sermon theme for this glorious Easter Sunday:\u00a0 Why Do You Look For the Living Among the Dead?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Today, my friends, as we gather together here in God\u2019s house to celebrate the physical resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior we are going to focus on that powerful question which the angels asked the women on that first Easter Sunday:\u00a0 Why Do You Look for the Living Among the Dead?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 There are two things we want to see as we study this question.\u00a0 First of all, let\u2019s see that this question defies all human logic.\u00a0 Secondly, let\u2019s see that this question defines our purpose in life.<\/p>\n The actions and the attitudes of the women on that first Easter Sunday are extremely easy for us to understand\u2014 because they are extremely logical!\u00a0 These women were there on Calvary.\u00a0 Now if you remember the crucifixion scene from the movie My Son, My Savior<\/em> try to fathom what it was like for these women\u2014 no props, no special effects, just real nails, real blood, real spears and ultimately real death!\u00a0 Jesus was their friend.\u00a0 Jesus was their Lord.\u00a0 Jesus was their Savior\u2014 or so they had hoped!\u00a0 Now Jesus was dead\u2014 or so they had thought!\u00a0 The only logical, the only loving thing left for these women to do was to finish preparing Jesus\u2019 body so that He could have a proper Jewish burial.\u00a0 Luke sums up all this \u201clogic\u201d in the simple words of our text, \u201cOn the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The profound sadness that permeated the hearts and minds of these women, the profound sadness that caused their very souls to weep is a sadness that some of us have felt as well, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 When someone we love dies, when we are faced with an illness for which medical science has no cure, when we look in the mirror and wonder who is that person with silver hair and a wrinkly face, when Satan has been successful in overwhelming us with sorrow and guilt for the sins we have committed\u2014 at times like this, my friends, it is so very easy for us to walk through life feeling much like these women early in the morning on that first Easter.\u00a0 And if we try to lean on our own human logic at times like these, then like these women we can easily come to the conclusion that all hope is lost.<\/p>\n Praise God, my friends, that the good Lord in His grace and in His mercy sent His Easter angels to ask these women a question that completely defies all human logic!\u00a0 Did they see Jesus being nailed to a cross on Calvary\u2019s hill?\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Did they see the Roman soldier pierce Jesus\u2019 side with a spear?\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Did they watch as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus\u2019 lifeless body down from the cross and placed it in a grave?\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Was Jesus still dead?\u00a0 No!\u00a0 No?\u00a0 How can that be?\u00a0 Listen to what the Easter angels proclaim, \u201cWhy do you look for the living among the dead?\u00a0 He is not here; he has risen!\u00a0 Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:\u00a0 \u2018The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.\u2019\u00a0 Then they remembered his words.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n These women were so overwhelmed by their emotions; they were so overwhelmed by the logic of what they saw that somehow\u2014 they forgot!\u00a0 They forgot that Jesus Himself had told them on more than one occasion that His goal, His mission as the Lord\u2019s Messiah was to sacrifice Himself on the altar of the cross as the payment\u2014 the total complete payment\u2014 for all the sins of all mankind.\u00a0 Yes, the eternal Son of God was willing to endure the punishment that we deserved for all of the sins that we have committed against Him.\u00a0 And then\u2014 in defiance of everything we can wrap our minds around\u2014 Jesus physically rose from the dead on the third day just as He promised He would!\u00a0 Once these women came face-to-face with the facts\u2014 the empty tomb, the Easter angels, the words Jesus had spoken\u2014 their limited human logic was overwhelmed by the Truth!\u00a0 Jesus lives!\u00a0 Jesus won!\u00a0 Jesus is victorious over sin, death and the devil!\u00a0 Hallelujah!<\/p>\n The very same joy, the very same confidence, the very same victory that the Easter angels brought to these women by asking them the question, \u201cWhy do you look for the living among the dead?\u201d<\/em> \u2014 it is all yours, my friends, purely by grace through faith in what Jesus has done for you!\u00a0 Yes, without a doubt the message of Easter defies human logic!\u00a0 Thank God it does!\u00a0 If the message of Easter did not<\/strong> defy human logic then every time we buried someone we love we would be left with nothing but pain and loss, sadness and an unfathomable void deep in our heart.\u00a0 If the message of Easter did not<\/strong> defy human logic then illness and aging would literally devour us.\u00a0 If the message of Easter did not<\/strong> defy human logic then Satan would snicker mercilessly each and every time we sin.\u00a0 It is only<\/strong> because Jesus lives that we will live!\u00a0 It is only<\/strong> because Jesus physically rose from His grave that we have the sure confident hope that one day we too will physically rise from our graves!\u00a0 It is only<\/strong> because Jesus is victorious that we are victorious\u2014 not only in this life but for all of eternity!\u00a0 \u201cWhy do you look for the living among the dead?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Yes, that is without a doubt a question that joyfully defies all human logic!<\/p>\n At the same time this is the <\/strong>question that defines our purpose in life.\u00a0 Look at how this truth was revealed in the hearts and in the lives of these women on that first Easter Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0 Luke tells us, \u201cWhen they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The true message of Easter, the message of Jesus\u2019 victorious physical resurrection from the dead was way too glorious for these women to keep to themselves!\u00a0 They had to tell someone!\u00a0 So who do they tell?\u00a0 They naturally went and shared the joyous message of Easter with those who were closest to them, those they knew best.<\/p>\n That is now the goal, that is now the purpose for living that our risen Lord and Savior has given to you and to me.\u00a0 Do you know someone who doesn\u2019t understand that Easter is so much more than just bunny rabbits and candy eggs?\u00a0 Be their Easter angel!\u00a0 Do you know someone who doesn\u2019t realize that there is more to life than work or things or pleasure?\u00a0 Be their Easter angel!\u00a0 Do you know someone who is fearful of what is waiting for them beyond the grave?\u00a0 Be their Easter angel!<\/p>\n Next time I make it home to Minnesota I just might take a drive to Evergreen Memorial Gardens.\u00a0 I will go there looking for my relatives\u2014 not because I am morbid, not because I am little loony.\u00a0 I will go there with the deep comfort of knowing that the word \u201ccemetery\u201d very literally means, \u201csleeping chamber.\u201d\u00a0 Evergreen Memorial Gardens is where many of my relatives are \u201csleeping.\u201d\u00a0 I will go there with the absolute confidence that I will see my family members again because by God\u2019s grace and by God\u2019s power both they and I believe the message of the Easter angels, \u201cWhy do you look for the living among the dead?\u00a0 He is not here; he has risen!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Easter Festival Service March 27, 2016 Luke 24:1-12 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.\u00a0 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the LORD Jesus.\u00a0 While they were wondering 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