Sermon April 4, 1999 Christ Is Risen based on John 20:1-18
Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
A great preacher, who had been silenced because of a progressive illness, wrote a letter of encouragement to his friend. In his letter he said, "It is a terrible thing to be unable to stand in a pulpit on Easter Sunday and say `Christ is risen,' but I can think of something much worse. That is to stand in a pulpit on Easter Sunday and NOT to say Christ is risen." It is my pleasure to stand here and tell you that the Lord you seek does not remain in the grave, but He has returned to life! Christ is risen!
Our text tells the events of the discovery that Jesus Christ was risen. It speaks with great excitement. In the original language of John, he speaks in the present tense. This heightens the sensation of being part of these events. If John had written in the past tense, it would have been less exciting, "Mary came upon the tomb and she saw the stone taken away." Instead, John wants to transport us right to the heart of the action. It is as if John says, "Now, here is how it happened: Mary comes to the tomb and she sees the stone taken away." John uses this excited style throughout our text to bring life to these events which he reports. He shows us just how important they are to us and our faith.
As we put ourselves into the events of that Sunday morning, we can imagine what the people there thought and felt. Mary starts the events off by coming to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark. There she discovers the stone which covered the tomb is moved up and away from it. It is this sight alone that causes Mary to run back and tell the others. She expected the worst: that someone had come and stolen Jesus' lifeless body. She tells Peter and another disciple, described as "the one Jesus loved."
This is a title John uses in his gospel to describe himself. Jesus showed extra care and protection over John, probably because John was much younger than the others, some say less than 20. This would explain why John won the foot race to the tomb, leaving Peter behind.
When John got to the tomb, he saw the cloths inside in which Jesus had been wrapped. This was enough to stop him for he did not go into the tomb. Peter caught up and went right in, without stopping to look. Once inside, Peter saw what John must have already seen from outside the tomb. They saw the way these cloths looked. The cloth that was around Jesus' head was folded up and separated from the cloth wrapping the body. The cloth that had wrapped the body was lying there, not looking like someone had laid it there and not folded up. What John saw that stopped him in his tracks and what Peter saw in the tomb was perhaps the cloths that had wrapped the body still lying there as if the body had evaporated out of them. This sight was enough to cause John to believe.
He believed that Jesus was raised from the dead. If the grave had been robbed, the cloths would have looked like someone had stolen Jesus' body in a hurry. The cloths looked like what was done there was done in a calm, orderly fashion and this caused John to believe.
Jesus had told His disciples several times that He was going to be resurrected. The Old Testament also prophesied that the Messiah would rise from the dead. John now reviews how these things were before them, yet they still did not really expect Jesus to rise again.
Mary remained at the tomb after John and Peter left. She still found cause for weeping. The two angels appear to her from the tomb and then Jesus appears to her outside the tomb. When Jesus speaks to her, she doesn't even recognize Him. Thinking He is the gardener, she wonders if he might have moved Jesus' body. Still, Mary does not understand the resurrection, instead imagining that Jesus was taken. Then Jesus makes it clear for her by calling her name. Her eyes are opened and she grabs onto Jesus. She desperately clings to Jesus, not wanting Him to go away again. Jesus, however, has a job for her to do, so He asks her to stop touching Him and go tell the others what she has seen and heard.
We may wonder how Mary could have missed Jesus. We may wonder how come the disciples and Mary were not aware that Jesus would rise. How could they miss Jesus' words and teachings? We cannot really answer these "how" questions. All we can do is simply note that they missed what Jesus was revealing to them. They were blind and ignorant of what God had to say to them. In this they were sinning.
Unfortunately, we also miss the Lord who calls to us. He calls to us to spend time studying His Word where He reveals Himself to us and speaks to us. He calls us to joyfully and willingly attend Divine Worship Services and to receive all the gifts which are offered here. The Lord calls us to devote time to Him and to call upon Him in prayer. Yet, we miss it when He calls. Like Mary, we have the Lord right in front of us and we do not recognize Him. In this we all fail to heed our Lord's call and we all sin.
It was this sin along with our whole sin-stained lives which sent Christ to the cross. We are born sinful, possessing that original sin we inherited from Adam. Because of this problem, Christ had to die. Christ had to die for you.
After being assassinated, Abraham Lincoln's body was brought from Washington to Illinois. As it passed through Albany, it was carried through the streets. They say a black woman stood upon the curb and lifted her little son as far as she could reach above the heads of the crowd and was heard to say to him, "Take a long look, honey. He died for you."
Today I also want to lift you up to see that Christ died for you. Even more than this is that I want you to see that He rose for you.
The resurrection of Christ is the foundation of your faith. If Christ is not raised from the dead, then we are all wasting our time and we will die eternally from our sins. Thank God that we know that Christ is alive and so we know we are freed from our sins. We are reconciled with God. We are recipients of the promise of righteousness, and eternal life assured to us because of Christ's actions. Christ was not promised, revealed, born, crucified, and raised in vain. Rather, because of Christ we are promised grace: God's free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. For us, we have the assurance that the promise will be fulfilled because Christ is alive!
As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life. She hope that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
We do not need to rely on a dim, fuzzy hope, as if looking into some dark closet. Instead, we have a certainty. It is founded upon the empty tomb and the formerly dead Jesus Christ, who is now alive. We have the promise made certain by the one who was dead and now lives and reigns for eternity.
Jack Kevorkian was convicted this past week of second degree murder for assisting in killing someone and then arrogantly broadcasting it on national TV. He has directly violated God's will for us, His creatures, over and over again. God does not want us determining that certain lives are worth living and others are not. God values all life, yet, Doctor Death, Kevorkian, values none. He kills those whose lives he determines are not worth living. This indeed sends them away from this life of suffering, but, depending upon their faith in God, it may send them into an eternity of suffering in hell. Those who are mentally competent and choosing to kill themselves are blatantly rejecting and turning away from God's grace.
Death is not really a solution. Instead, death is the problem. Death is a consequence of sin and because of this, we all deserve to die-eternally. Unlike Kevorkian, our Lord does not solve problems by killing. Instead, He solves problems by giving life. Indeed, this is what the Resurrection is all about-life following death, life after death. In Christ's resurrection, death itself dies. The victory over death is accomplished, for death could not hold our Lord. Crucified, yet He rises back to life, proving that God has power over death. This victory gives us certainty that our Lord will also raise us, forgive our sins and give us eternal life. This resurrection of Christ is the centerpiece of our faith-the key to it all. It is what we hold to with all our might.
About 1930, the Communist leader Bukharin journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His mission was to address a huge assembly. His subject was atheism. For a solid hour he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity, hurling argument and ridicule. At last he was finished and viewed what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. A solitary man arose and asked permission to speak. He mounted the platform and moved close to the Communist. The audience was breathlessly silent as the man surveyed them first to the right, then to the left. At last he shouted the ancient Orthodox greeting, "CHRIST IS RISEN!" The vast assembly arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of an avalanche, "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
Like these stubborn people who refused the Communist denial of the resurrection, we too hold steadfastly to that which is the key to our future. We face the future with assurance. We know that sin, death and the Devil cannot harm us because Christ conquered them all with His resurrection. Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.