The Resurrection of our Lord
March 31 , 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
Isaiah
65:17-25 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Luke 24:1-12
He is Risen, He is
risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen!
Our text today are the readings just read, especially these words, “But
in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of
those who have fallen asleep.” Thus far
our text.
Dear friends in Christ,
He is Risen! He is risen indeed. And with his rising, we have hope in our own
eternal life. We know that the sin of
our life is defeated. We know that the
vast chasm that had separated us from God no longer can keep us from our Lord
and Savior. O death where is thy
victory? O death where is thy
sting? In Christ’s glorious death and
resurrection, we are victors.
It has been a hard
fought battle. We have all been involved
in the war between God and sin. We know
firsthand the casualties. For sin has
always been knocking at our door. And
yes, dear friends, we have been the ones who have been steeped in sin, stinking
of death. We have sinned, as we just
confessed, in thought word and deed.
We’ve been hateful. We’ve been
robbers. We’ve been murderers and
adulterers. We’ve coveted, lied and
gossiped. Our families have fallen
apart, and our relationships with neighbors have been in shambles. And these things are only in our
relationships with others.
In our
relationship with God we have despised preaching, despised church, we’ve cursed
and sworn wrongly using God’s name, often pairing it together with words that
would make milk curdle. And above all
else, we have relegated our relationship with God to the back burner, we
haven’t made God number one, instead trusting in any number of false Gods.
We’ve sinned – no
doubt about it. We continue to sin –
it’s true. And we’ve seen firsthand time
and again the consequences for that sin – sickness and suffering. Hurt and pain. Death and loss. It is a sting of pain that we have all known
too well. And when we deal with death
there is a certain permanent feeling to it.
Our loved one seems to be gone forever.
But in fact that
is not the truth. But, in fact, sin is
destroyed, and along with it death. Its
right there in our text, that’s what St. Paul says. “But in fact Christ has been raised from
the dead.” And not only that, but Christ
is the first fruits of those risen from the dead. That means that there will be more that just
Jesus who will rise. There are more than
just Jesus who have defeated sin and its sting of death. Jesus is the first and we shall follow.
That’s what we see
in our Gospel lesson. The women go to
the tomb sure to find a body, a dead man, and instead they find angels who
declare “He is Risen – he is not here!”
Peter than goes to the tomb, running, sure again to find the sting of
death but instead finds an empty tomb with only Christ’s burial clothes.
Its an
indisputable historical fact. It was
independently verified. In fact Jesus
was raised from the dead. And in fact,
you too will be. Your sins are forgiven
by his Good Friday death. You have
already died with Jesus in the waters of Baptism, or do you not know that all
who have been baptized in to Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? You died with him, you were buried with him,
and in fact you also have already been risen from the dead with him.
You see Jesus
death was to forgive your sins. And his
rising from the dead means that in fact your sins are forgiven. And then to top it all off, he invites you to
partake in the sacrifice of his own body and blood here today. He gives to you hidden in bread his very real
crucified and risen body to eat, he gives to you in with and under wine his
very real blood to drink – both for forgiveness of your sins. To take them away for ever.
Dear friends its
Easter. The day we celebrate the fact –
the historical truth – the reality – that Jesus has been raised from the dead,
and that we too will one day rise again, sins forgiven, and live forever in
heave. And the proof for it all is this,
Christ is Risen! He is Risen
indeed. Alleluia. Amen!
