Risen
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!
It can be hard to believe that Christ is risen from the dead. That’s not just true for Mary Magdalene and the others who went to the tomb that first Easter. It’s hard for us to believe, too. We are surrounded by death and chaos and calamity. We live in a world that hates us for our faith. We so easily give into the cunning deceptions of the devil and the doubts that he raises. We so readily believe that we must get a grip on life, forgetting that Life Himself has a hold on us—that He lives and abides in us by His blessed Absolution and Holy Supper, and that in Him we live and move and have our being.
Ultimately, that is what the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ means. It’s not simply that He lives in the inspiring, fairy tale sense. He lives for us; He lives within us.
It can be hard to believe that Christ is risen from the dead. That’s not just true for Mary Magdalene and the others who went to the tomb that first Easter. It’s hard for us to believe, too. We are surrounded by death and chaos and calamity. We live in a world that hates us for our faith. We so easily give into the cunning deceptions of the devil and the doubts that he raises. We so readily believe that we must get a grip on life, forgetting that Life Himself has a hold on us—that He lives and abides in us by His blessed Absolution and Holy Supper, and that in Him we live and move and have our being.
Ultimately, that is what the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ means. It’s not simply that He lives in the inspiring, fairy tale sense. He lives for us; He lives within us.
He
lives to grant me daily breath;
He lives, and I have conquered death…
He lives, and I have conquered death…
Because this is so hard to believe, our
Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t simply rise from the dead and ascend to heaven. He
leaves behind clear and certain evidence that He lives. For Mary Magdalene,
Peter and John that evidence sits on the carved stone of the tomb, right before
their eyes.
Now it’s a little easier for them to believe. Now they not only have something to talk about. More importantly, they have something to point to when doubts arise, when uncertainties and qualms and misgivings assail. The shroud at the head of the stone Jesus laid upon—this is physical evidence for them of His resurrection. “You shall be witnesses of Me,” the Lord Jesus had told them. What does this mean? They shall proclaim what they have seen and heard. They shall not only to tell the story, but also deliver its benefits. They shall be the mouth that breathes and voices life into those who were dead in trespasses and sins. Their hands shall baptize all nations into and share with them this resurrected flesh and blood. Yes, they shall share their eyewitness accounts of the shroud, the grave cloths, the stone rolled away, the sight of their risen Lord with His pierced hands, feet, and side. But they also share the promise of His eternal presence. They shall share the news that Jesus won the victory, and that He is giving that victory to them in the waters of Holy Baptism.
More than a mere shroud, more than grave cloths, more than a rolled stone and an empty tomb, that promise is what we are given. That presence is what we cling to. We believe the message shared by the eyewitnesses. But more than just that testimony of Mary, Peter and John that they saw, we believe in and put our trust in the resurrected body and blood of Christ into which we are buried in Baptism, and which is buried in us in the Holy Supper. That is where our Life is transformed. There is where the mind and love of Christ comes and abides in us. There is where Life gets a hold of us and will not let go and will not give up, no matter what we have done or what has been done to us. He is with us, and He will never leave.
It is there—there in the resurrected body and blood of Christ—that the Spirit gives us both Life Himself and the faith to hold to Him even as He holds to us. For we both know and believe the Scripture: “that Christ must rise again from the dead,” so that all those who are baptized and communed in His flesh and blood “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, they may have life in His name.” Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
Now it’s a little easier for them to believe. Now they not only have something to talk about. More importantly, they have something to point to when doubts arise, when uncertainties and qualms and misgivings assail. The shroud at the head of the stone Jesus laid upon—this is physical evidence for them of His resurrection. “You shall be witnesses of Me,” the Lord Jesus had told them. What does this mean? They shall proclaim what they have seen and heard. They shall not only to tell the story, but also deliver its benefits. They shall be the mouth that breathes and voices life into those who were dead in trespasses and sins. Their hands shall baptize all nations into and share with them this resurrected flesh and blood. Yes, they shall share their eyewitness accounts of the shroud, the grave cloths, the stone rolled away, the sight of their risen Lord with His pierced hands, feet, and side. But they also share the promise of His eternal presence. They shall share the news that Jesus won the victory, and that He is giving that victory to them in the waters of Holy Baptism.
More than a mere shroud, more than grave cloths, more than a rolled stone and an empty tomb, that promise is what we are given. That presence is what we cling to. We believe the message shared by the eyewitnesses. But more than just that testimony of Mary, Peter and John that they saw, we believe in and put our trust in the resurrected body and blood of Christ into which we are buried in Baptism, and which is buried in us in the Holy Supper. That is where our Life is transformed. There is where the mind and love of Christ comes and abides in us. There is where Life gets a hold of us and will not let go and will not give up, no matter what we have done or what has been done to us. He is with us, and He will never leave.
It is there—there in the resurrected body and blood of Christ—that the Spirit gives us both Life Himself and the faith to hold to Him even as He holds to us. For we both know and believe the Scripture: “that Christ must rise again from the dead,” so that all those who are baptized and communed in His flesh and blood “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, they may have life in His name.” Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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