I preached a series of midweek Lenten sermon on Jesus' "I Am" statements.
This sermon concludes it.
*“The Resurrection-Doing and Life-Giving Jesus”*
The Resurrection of Our Lord—Easter Day
St. John 11:20-27 (free text)
April 16, 2017
20Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went
and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21Now Martha said to
Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But
even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the
resurrection at the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26And whoever lives and
believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ,
the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
*IN NOMINE JESU*
Christ is risen! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!
Is Jesus who He says He is? Indeed He is…and even more! Jesus
is who He says He is. He is what He does. He is what He gives. He is the
Resurrection and the Life. What He does is resurrect. He would resurrect
Martha’s brother Lazarus. He would give him life. Jesus resurrected and
gave life to Lazarus’s physical being. There would be more than meets the
eye, but Martha’s and her sister Mary’s eyes were filled with tears of
grief over the death of their brother. They believed He could save their
brother, but they didn’t know that He would raise him. Martha believed in
the resurrection of the body at the Last Day, when Lazarus and all the dead
in Christ would rise to eternal life. But she wasn’t quite able to put two
and two together until Jesus revealed to her who He is; that is, in
identifying Himself to Martha, the Lord told her He is what He does and
what He gives: “I am the Resurrection! He who believes in Me, though he
may die, he shall live.” But wait. There’s more.
The Lord Jesus, the Resurrection incarnate, also said, “I am the Life!
Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” There was Jesus, the
Resurrection-Doer and Life-Giver, asking Martha for a confession of faith,
and she gave Him one: “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the
Son of God, who is to come into the world.” What she would soon behold,
Jesus resurrecting her brother Lazarus back to life, would pale in
comparison to what would ultimately follow: the crucified-bloody-and-dead
Jesus would resurrect Himself back to life on the first day of the week,
the third day upon the heels of His crucifixion. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
would reap the benefits of this resurrection-doing-and-life-giving event of
that first Easter morning. Jesus is who He says He is, does, and gives.
“Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. …Most true
and sure is his name…. Where his name is, there is he. …He gives his
gifts, and together we receive and extol them” (*LW*, p. 6).
“Most true and sure is His Name.” The name *Jesus* means “The
Lord (*YHWH*) saves.” This is exactly what Jesus Christ came to do; He
came to save sinners. He came to save Lazarus. He came to save me. He
came to save you. He came for the life of the world. He came because we
need to be saved. He came to save us because we are sinners; at the
beginning of Divine Service we confessed this reality to God, our heavenly
Father. I know. I heard you confess your sins…just as I confessed mine.
And you heard me, a called and ordained servant of Christ, by His
authority, forgive you of all your sins…just as I by that same authority
forgave myself. And we need this forgiveness, for without it—without
Christ dying and rising for us—God would still hold our sins against us all
the way to our eternal death in hell because there would be no hope for
us. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul writes:
Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do
some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there
is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is
not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes,
and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God
that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do
not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if
Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. [1
Cor. 15:12-19]
Like our Lord, St. Paul does not leave us to despair. He also writes:
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have
fallen asleep [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him
those who sleep in Jesus. …And thus we shall always be with the Lord. [1
Thess. 4:13-14, 17b]
“If we believe…”? Indeed we do believe, for God has given us a
written record of our Lord’s victorious resurrection over sin, death and
the grave. As proof, the blessed evangelist St. Mark, in our Gospel for
today, notes that Mary Magdalene saw the risen Lord. Paul recounts:
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 [Peter], then by the twelve. After that He was seen by
over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the
present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James [the
Lord’s brother], then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by
me also…. [1 Cor. 15:3-8a]
So what does all this mean? It means that our Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God and Son of Mary, true God and true Man, is not dead. He lives!
He has conquered sin, death, and the devil forever. It means that we need
not fear this unholy triad, this original axis of evil, for we belong to
the risen Christ. He has resurrected us and given us the promise of
eternal life. He has done His resurrection-doing and His life-giving for
you, to you, and in you; so let not your heart be troubled, for you belong
to Him. He has sent you His Holy Spirit, that you would believe and
confess along with Martha that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who is
to come into the world, and along with Peter’s bedrock confession that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus lives for you, and
Jesus comes to you. You don’t need to cling to the old rugged cross
because the Lord isn’t there. You don’t need to hasten early to the tomb
because He isn’t there, either; we know because the angel, sent by God,
told Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, “Do not be
alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He
is not here. See the place where they laid [past tense—*laid!*] Him” (Mk.
16:6).
So what are you to do, since you can’t go to the cross or tomb to
find Him? You behold Him as He comes to *you!* Behold your Redeemer at
the font, where you became baptized not only into His death but into His
resurrection! Saint Paul reminds us: “Therefore we were buried with Him
through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”
(Rom. 6:4). Behold your Savior as He speaks His Holy Absolution into your
ears and into your hearts, as you hear Him forgive you all your sins.
Behold your Teacher at the lectern and pulpit, as He feeds you His
resurrection-doing and life-giving Word, as He alone has the words of
eternal life for you. Behold your Lord at His altar, as He gives you His
body to eat and His blood to drink, given and shed on the cross *for you*
for the forgiveness of all your sins and given *to you* in His Supper, that
the true body and blood of your Lord—in, with, and under the bread and
wine—would strengthen and preserve you steadfast in the true faith unto
life everlasting, that you would depart in peace, for your sins *are*
forgiven! This is all possible—this is all *real!*—because of Jesus’
resurrection from the dead, for He *is* the Resurrection, and He does His
resurrection-doing of you through His Word and Sacraments—for He *is* the
Life, and His life-giving rising to life again has restored to you
everlasting life, that you would believe in Him, though you may die, you
shall live, that you would live and believe in Him and never die. Jesus is
who He says He is; He is your Savior. Jesus is what He says He does; He is
your Resurrection. Jesus is what He says He gives; He is your Life. Jesus
gives who He is, what He does, and what He gives *to you* and *for you*
through His Word and Sacraments. Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe
this?” In a moment we will answer His question as we confess our faith,
confessing the Nicene Creed: “I believe…in one Lord Jesus Christ, the
only-begotten Son of God…crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He
suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the
Scriptures….”
Christ is risen! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!
*SOLI DEO GLORIA*
--
The Rev. Mark A. Schlamann
Pastor, First Lutheran Church, Tooele, Utah
https://schlamannbloggen.wordpress.com
http://lcmssermons.com/Schlamann
"When you are baptized, partake of Holy Communion, receive the absolution,
or listen to a sermon, heaven is open, and we hear the voice of the
Heavenly Father; all these works descend upon us from the open heaven above
us. God converses with us, provides for us; and Christ hovers over us--but
invisibly. And even though there were clouds above us as impervious as iron
or steel, obstructing our view of heaven, this would not matter. Still we
hear God speaking to us from heaven; we call and cry to Him, and He answers
us. Heaven is open, as St. Stephen saw it open (Acts 7:55); and we hear God
when He addresses us in Baptism, in Holy Communion, in confession, and in
His Word as it proceeds from the mouth of the men who proclaim His message
to the people."--Martin Luther (1/19/1538 [LW 22:202])
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