In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
With gladness of heart, let us greet each other with the time-honored
Christian Easter greeting:
Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
If an LC-MS pastor were to take a survey of the congregation and ask
what their favorite portion of the Divine Service is, it would be a safe
bet that a top five response would be the canticle “This Is The Feast”
in Setting One. “This Is The Feast” is based on the Biblical canticle
“Dignus est Agnus” or “Worthy is the Lamb” from the book of Revelation.
The canticle gives us a glimpse of the open heaven with the saints and
angels singing around the throne of God. Their song is one of a victory
feast. The battle between good and evil is over. Victory belongs to
good. Life has triumphed because the blood of the Lamb Who was slain has
set free God’s people. They will never taste eternal death. Their
earthly death will be as if they’ve fallen asleep.
The greatest work of the Lord is His resurrection from the dead. It took
quite a while for the scene in John chapter twenty to sink into the
disciples’ heads. Peter, the man whom 48 hours before denied knowing
Jesus, was the second person to arrive at the empty tomb behind Mary
Magdalene. She couldn’t believe the stone was rolled away from the
opening to the tomb. She runs for Peter and John. John is first to
arrive but allows Peter to go in first. Peter saw the linen cloths lying
there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying
with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.
The folded handkerchief and the linen cloths are not a mere mention of
Jesus Christ’s tidiness. God’s Son is not a chaotic Savior. Everything
is in its place. Jesus neatly and clearly destroys the power of sin,
death, and hell when He rises from the dead. Just as Eve took a bite of
the forbidden fruit and knew what good and evil is like, Satan took a
bite from the Savior’s heel and realized he made a fatal mistake. He bit
Jesus Christ, the Man Who has two natures: human and divine. God doesn’t
know death. He only knows life. When Satan thinks he’s victorious over
the Seed of the woman, he realizes his victory is actually a crushing
defeat. Jesus will come back to life because He is perfect man and
perfect God.
John entered the tomb, saw what Peter saw and believed. John mentions in
the next sentence that they did not know the Scripture, that He must
rise again from the dead. John believed that Jesus rose from the dead,
but he had no idea what His resurrection meant in God’s grand scheme.
The question of what Christ’s resurrection means is still asked today.
For some it’s one of two days in the calendar year when they are obliged
to show up at church. For others it’s a day about family, just like
Christmas. For children it’s a time of Easter baskets and bonnets, new
dresses or suits, egg hunts, rabbits, lots of candy and maybe a special
gift.
Missing in action is the One Whose resurrection we celebrate: Jesus
Christ. If Easter is a “kickoff” to spring, what comfort would that
bring us when someone we love dies? If Easter is the day to make your
“Easter duty” and show up for church, what will happen on your deathbed
if you don’t believe Christ’s resurrection means anything? Give a listen
once again to Saint Paul: I declare to you the gospel which I preached
to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also
you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you -
unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that
which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the
twelve.
The gospel Saint Paul preaches saves - if you hold fast that word He
preaches to you. If Saint Paul preaches a resurrection-less gospel, then
all of us might as well go home. If you believe a resurrection-less
gospel; if your faith doesn’t have room for Jesus Christ, then you have
no hope unless you repent and believe in the message of the cross and
the empty tomb. Your spouse’s faith won’t get you into heaven. Your
in-laws’ faith won’t get you into heaven. Your good deeds and your pious
thoughts won’t get you into heaven. The blood of Jesus Christ that
cleanses us from all sin will get you into heaven. Trusting in the
Savior Who died for you sins and rose from the dead for your
justification will get you into heaven. It’s that simple. Refuse to
believe in Christ and you will die eternally. Cling to Jesus Christ, the
firstborn from the dead, and you will live eternally.
There still is room at the feast. The Lord’s House is not yet filled.
Even today there is a spot for you, no matter how vile your sins. Jesus
Christ rose from the dead to bury those sins in His tomb. Death and life
have contended. The Prince of Life Who died reigns immortal. If you have
despised your baptism, forgiveness is yours. If you have despised
receiving the Means of Grace in God’s House, forgiveness is yours. If
you think yourself unworthy of God’s forgiveness, God’s forgiveness is
yours. Our Lord has a place for you at His heavenly banquet because He
has destroyed the surface of the covering cast over all people. Jesus
Christ has swallowed up death forever. Jesus Christ wipes away tears
from all faces. Jesus Christ takes away the rebuke of His people from
all the earth. Why? Because the LORD has spoken.
The Lord has spoken judgment over His people covered in the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ. His Word of judgment for us is “innocent”
because His Word of judgment for His Son is “guilty”. Christ our Life
takes on our death and destroys it. He stands victorious, ready to
preside at His feast of victory. He graciously invites us to dine with
Him around His throne now and forever. We dine with Him now in the
Divine Service where He feeds us with Word and Sacrament. The feast of
victory of our God is a foretaste of the feast to come in heaven where
we will dine in His presence forever with those who have gone before us
in the faith.
This morning’s Chief Hymn “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing” would more
than likely make many Lutherans top ten list of favorite hymns. I’m sure
there would be more than one Easter hymn in many of your top ten hymn
lists. The hymn pictures a feast centered on the Lamb of God Who gives
God’s people victory in the ultimate celebration of the Passover feast.
Instead of an unblemished lamb from a sheepfold, the Lamb of God is
sacrificed on the cross. His blood covers our door, our bodies and
souls. Death must pass over us because of Jesus. What more can be said
but Alleluia! Praise the Lord! We shall not die but live and declare the
works of the Lord!
Again this joyful Eastertide let us greet each other with the
time-honored Christian Easter greeting:
Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
--
Rev. David M. Juhl
Our Savior Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Momence, IL
http://oselcmomence.googlepages.com
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