“The Easter Celebration Is All about Christ’s Victory over Death!”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
“Alleluia, Christ is risen!
Death at last has met defeat:
See the ancient pow’rs of evil
In confusion and retreat;
Once He died, and once was buried:
Now He lives forevermore,
Jesus Christ, the world’s Redeemer,
Whom we worship and adore.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
477:2)
2nd Reading........................................................ 1
Corinthians 15:51-57 (esp. 54-57)
54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on
immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is
swallowed up in victory.” 55“O death, where is your victory? O death,
where is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is
the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Prologue: Lee A. Maxwell states in his book, The Altar Guild
Manual, that “Easter is the high point of the church year and has been
called the ‘queen of feasts.’ The early church recognized the importance of
this feast, since it was the first festival to be observed annually by
Christians. Easter is the time of greatest joy, because, by the
resurrection of our Lord, Jesus proved that he is the victor over sin,
death, and the grave.” (Lee A. Maxwell in The Altar Guild Manual. Copyright
© 1996 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 20.)
The Treasury of Daily Prayer devotional readings for today states
that “Easter is the oldest and highest of all Christian festivals—the
festival of festivals, the feast of feasts! On this day, when Christ first
stepped triumphantly from the ranks of the dead, all our waiting is declared
to be a waiting that is already completed; Christ’s triumph makes all the
waiting that follows in our lives of faith a building anchored on the
foundation that was laid when He whom the builders rejected became the
Cornerstone. [Alleluia!] Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!”
(Treasury of Daily Prayer. Scot A. Kinnaman, Gen. Ed. Copyright © 2008
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 185.)
Well, isn’t that interesting considering that today’s early
morning sermon text basically tells us the same thing, namely, that …
“The Easter Celebration Is All about Christ’s Victory over Death!”
In the shadow of that rather lengthy sermon theme comes the
glorious reality that …
I. Christ’s Resurrection Demystifies the Mystery of Death. (51-52a)
51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep [that is, die a
physical death before Christ returns], but we shall all be changed, 52ain a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
What is death? God reveals in His Holy Word that there are three
deaths: physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. Physical death
is the condition of our immortal soul having departed our mortal body. It
will occur when we breathe out our last breath of life. Spiritual death is
abject rejection of the truth that Jesus Christ is God’s holy Son and
mankind’s humble Savior. That, by the way, is the sin against the Holy
Spirit—definite denial of salvation by God’s grace through Spirit-given
faith in Immanuel alone. Eternal death is spending eternity in the fiery
torment of hell forever separated from our heavenly Father, who created life
and is, therefore, the Source of life, and His Son, Jesus Christ, whose very
life, death, and resurrection gained for all people forgiveness of sins,
salvation, and eternal life. The death Saint Paul referred to in today’s
Second Reading is physical death.
The real mystery that surrounds physical death is that it’s a
temporary thing … a “sleep.” Jesus Himself revealed that truth when prior
to His passion He proclaimed to the people mourning Jairus’ dead daughter,
“Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” (St Luke 8:52 [also St Matt
9:24 & St Mark 5:39] ESV) This truth was made even more plainly clear when
the Apostle John recorded for us what happened shortly after Lazarus had
died, “[Jesus said,] ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to
awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he
will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he
meant taking rest in sleep.” (St John 11:11-13 ESV)
The reality of physical death’s temporary nature was made known to
Mary Magdalene, who, after having conversations with two angels and him whom
she mistakenly thought was the gardener, Jesus revealed His alive self to
her in today’s Third Reading. With exuberant joy and overwhelming
excitement she “went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’—and
that he had said these things to her.” (St John 20:18 ESV)
Old Testament Job testified to the reality of the temporality of
physical death when in today’s First Reading we heard him declare, “For I
know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My
heart faints within me!” (Job 19:25-27 ESV)
John of Damascus, a notable hymn writer in the 8th century,
beautifully captured this truth in stanza two of his Easter hymn, “Come, You
Faithful, Raise the Strain”: “‘Tis the spring of souls today: Christ has
burst His prison And from three day’s sleep in death As a sun has risen; All
the winter of our sins, Long and dark, is flying From His light, to whom is
giv’n Laud and praise undying.” (Lutheran Service Book. 487:1.)
Of course, “This was a previously hidden truth now revealed by God
the Spirit that not all Christians shall sleep, or die. The word sleep
refers to the body and not the soul. That all Christians will not die was a
new revelation.” (Paul R. Van Gorder in The Church Stands Corrected.
Copyright © 1976 by SP Publications, Inc., Wheaton, IL. Page 154.) Saint
Paul further taught that new revelation when he wrote to the Thessalonians,
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are
asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Thess 4:13-14 ESV)
It all points us to the real resurrection of our own physical
bodies even as Messiah’s real physical body was raised back to life knowing
that …
II. Christ’s Resurrection Makes Immortality an Absolute Reality.
(52b-53)
52bFor the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and
we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the
imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
Hear now the following testimonies to this grand revelation.
Notable Concordia Seminary professor-of-old George Stoeckhardt wrote, “… our
sinful flesh cannot enter the Kingdom of God. So by God’s own counsel these
our mortal bodies must be reconditioned to an immortal state. Every trace
of sin and imperfection shall then disappear.” (Dr. George Stoeckhardt in
Exegetical Lectures on the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians.
Presented in English by H. W. Degner, Pastor Emeritus, Ltt.D., Fairmon, MN.
Page 107.)
Grand Bible student and expositor as well as also Concordia
Seminary professor-of-old Paul E. Kretzmann wrote, “… the body in its
present state must perish and be changed before it can inherit the glories
of heaven. If human beings want to become possessors of the heavenly glory,
with all the bliss that is included in its enjoyment, then it is absolutely
necessary that they pass through the change by which this earthly dress and
this bondage of corruption is removed. Our perishable body, whether through
death or not, must undergo the change by which it becomes spiritual. Note
that Paul, throughout the passage, assumes that the believers feel the
certainty of the coming immortality.” (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular
Commentary of the Bible: The New Testament Volume II. Copyright © Unknown
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 167.)
A man “of scholarship and practical insight gained from years of
experience in the teaching and preaching ministries” Carleton Toppe wrote,
“As soon as the trumpet of judgment sounds, both dead and living believers
will be changed and together will be made imperishable and immortal, so that
they can inherit the kingdom of God, the ‘inheritance that can never perish,
spoil or fade’ (1 Peter 1:4).” (Carleton E. Toppe in People’s Bible
Commentary: 1 Corinthians. Copyright © 1992 Concordia Publishing House, St.
Louis, MO. Pages v & 156.)
Of course, we would be terribly remiss if we didn’t hear what the
venerable Reverend Doctor Martin Luther said about this. He wrote, “This is
the secret and hidden fact which Paul confides solely to his Christians.
For the worldly-wise can and shall not understand it, but they must make
would-be-wise remarks about it and deride it. The Christians alone shall
know and comprehend this. To be sure, God will not carry this out on the
Last Day in a manner that might be intelligible to you now. In fact, there
is no other article of faith either which can be understood or comprehended
by reason. We cannot even understand our own nature in body and soul, which
we see before our eyes and feel. We cannot understand how it happens that
we see, hear, talk, think, grow, etc. What, then, might we understand of
such lofty things which we cannot see or feel, things that we must apprehend
solely by faith? We will be changed, not only with regard to place but also
with regard to our body, which will then remain unchangeable and
imperishable.” (Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.); Oswald,
Hilton C. (Hrsg.); Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther’s Works, Vol. 28: 1
Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 15, Lectures on 1 Timothy. Saint Louis:
Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1973 (Luther’s Works 28), S. 28:201)
The bottom line is that our own personal immortality is an insured
reality simply and yet oh so gloriously because “Alleluia! Christ is
risen!” “He is risen indeed. Alleluia!” His resurrection from the dead
is the assurance of our resurrection from the dead. His victory over sin,
the devil, and death itself is the assurance of our victory over sin, the
devil, and death itself. So, let’s receive certain reassurance of that
eternal truth by faithfully listening to and reading God’s Holy Word,
joyfully hearing and taking to heart Holy Absolution, continually reflecting
upon Holy Baptism, and regularly properly partaking of Holy Communion.
In conclusion, therefore, as we have now begun today by focusing
on the fact that …
“The Easter Celebration Is All about Christ’s Victory over Death!”
… let’s continue that focus in one of the upcoming festival worship services
both of which will contain the Blessed Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. In
addition, throughout today and always, let’s bear on our hearts and minds
what we said and heard in today’s Psalm, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he
is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! I shall not die, but I
shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. I thank you that you have
answered me and have become my salvation. This is the day that the Lord has
made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. The Lord is God, and he has made
his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the
horns of the altar!” (Psalm 118:1, 17, 21, 24, 27 ESV)
Let’s do so retaining in our minds and hearts what we prayed in
today’s Collect, “through Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, You overcame
death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life. We humbly pray that we
may live before You in righteousness and purity forever;” knowing with great
joy and confidence that …
I. Christ’s Resurrection Demystifies the Mystery of Death. (51-52a)
and …
II. Christ’s Resurrection Makes Immortality an Absolute Reality.
(52b-53)
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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