[Machine transcription]
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
You may be seated.
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. God be praised that we are gathered here as we’ve been emphasizing all week on the 1,990th anniversary of our Lord’s death and resurrection from the dead. We want to hone in on those numbers because this is a true event. It’s something that really happened. We know when it happened. We know where it happened.
On Sunday, April 5th, in the year 33 AD, our Lord Jesus Christ, on the third day after His death, in the middle of the night sometime, rose from the dead and walked out of the tomb. God be praised. And this, like everything that he did, is also and always for us. We want to think about why, though. Why the death and resurrection of Jesus is such good news for us today.
All of us have various problems and difficulties, stuff that bothers us, but it all goes back to really three things: sin, death, and the devil. And those three, and let’s make sure we get this, those three are always bound up together. Remember how the devil came and tempted Eve to sin, and the result was death. “On the day that you eat of it, surely you will die.” So when Adam and Eve ate that forbidden fruit, they sinned, and they were dying.
And they were there, friends with the devil, hiding in the bushes from God the Father. It’s an ugly picture, but it’s the same for us. Whatever trouble we have, this is the same problem: sin, death, or the devil. Sin, sometimes our own sin, the things that we do wrong, the commands that we break. Sometimes, other people’s sins against us or sins against our neighbor; death, sometimes our own death as we see it creeping up on us; sometimes the death of those that we love, that we mourn, those who aren’t here with us this Easter; and the devil, who always is tempting us to stand in guilt before God.
These are always bound up together, and that’s the problem that the Lord is getting after at Easter. Now look, we’ve got to be very clear on this: the problem is not living forever; that’s not that difficult. Remember there was a strange thing that happened in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve fell, and there they are with their fig leaves, hiding from God, walking in the cool of the day. Then the Lord finds them and He rebukes the devil. He says that the seed of the woman will crush your head; that’s that promise of Jesus.
Then the Lord takes an animal, and He skins it. He wraps the skin around them to cover their nakedness. And then, remember what happens? The Lord drove them out of the garden. Why? So that they wouldn’t eat from the tree of life and live forever.
You see, living forever is not the problem. The Lord could plant a tree that has fruit that could cause you to live forever and never die. That’s easy. The problem is that if Adam and Eve and you and I would have eaten from that tree, we would have lived forever in our guilt and in our sin and in our shame. We would have lived forever as God’s enemies, a life eternal experiencing the opposition of God and the anger of God, and the Lord wouldn’t have it.
He put the cherubim there, these flaming angels, to protect the way into the garden to make sure that Adam and Eve couldn’t get back to that tree and eat from it and live. He wasn’t trying to keep them from something good; He was trying to keep them from the worst possible thing, eternal life apart from God.
No, the Lord will give us eternal life when He gives His Son to die for us. He will give us eternal life when He forgives our sins. He will give us eternal life when He turns His anger away from us and gives us His smile so that the eternal life that we have is not a life apart from God, but life with God.
So the angels were guarding the way so they didn’t come to the tree, but the angels were waiting in the tomb because that’s where we find life—with God’s smile, life with God’s kindness, life with God’s mercy, life with the forgiveness of sins, life that will be forever in the glory of His face.
And that glory will not destroy you, but it’ll be your hope and your peace. It’s an amazing thing that Jesus really preaches one sermon after His resurrection. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mary Magdalene; we had this beautiful story of Mary who comes to the garden, and there’s the angel. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know where Jesus is,” she says. She turns around. There’s Jesus. She thinks it’s the gardener. “Why are you crying? If you’ve taken Him, tell me where He is.” And then Jesus, so peacefully, says, “Mary, don’t be afraid.”
To the disciples in the upper room, “Don’t be afraid.” To Thomas who was doubting, “Don’t be afraid.” Whatever it is, sin, the sin that you’ve committed, the laws that you’ve broken, the guilt in your own conscience—dear saints, do not be afraid. The sin committed against you, the anger that’s boiling around, the hurt that you’ve suffered, the shame—don’t be afraid. The grave sickness waiting for you, waiting for your loved ones—don’t be afraid.
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. And He takes away that sin with the forgiveness of sins. He opens the grave by the power of His resurrection. And He has conquered the devil in His death and suffering.
He wants Jesus, who has risen and sits at the Father’s right hand, He wants you all to know this most of all today: that His resurrection made a way for you to come to eternal life unafraid. His resurrection makes a way for you to stand before Him on the Judgment Day unafraid. His resurrection means that no matter what happens, no matter what baggage you have behind you, no matter what fears are in front of you, His resurrection means that He has conquered and He has done all of that for you, so that you would stand with Mary, with disciples, with all the church, rejoicing in His resurrection.
So let us delight in this news, in this history, in this event accomplished 1,990 years ago. The grave is empty. And that means one day your grave will be just as empty, and you will stand before the Lord Jesus, clothed in His glorious resurrection and His eternal life, praising Him forever.
Why? Because Christ is risen. He has risen indeed. Hallelujah. And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.