Sermon for 3/31/24: The Resurrection of Our Lord (series B)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

Looking for Jesus

Mark 16:1-8

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” The young man in the white robe told the ladies at the grave the Good News! Death is defeated; Jesus is alive. Yes, He was crucified for sinners. But it would all have been for nothing if He hadn’t risen from the dead! The Apostle Paul tells us, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus is alive! His resurrection means that He really did pay for your sins. It is true that “the wages of sin is death.” Jesus, the sinless Son of God, died because He had your sins on His shoulders. Now He is alive. Your sins are gone, left buried in the tomb. Jesus has accomplished your salvation. He paid the price for your sins. He has defeated death. Jesus, who was crucified, is risen. You won’t find Him in the grave. He is alive forevermore.

“Go and tell His disciples and Peter”—yes, tell Peter, who of all the disciples especially needs to hear this Good News—”that [Jesus] is going to Galilee and they will see Him there, just as He said.” What about you? Where are you looking for Jesus? Where shall you find Him? Look no further. He is right here, present in His church. Don’t go looking in His empty tomb. Don’t go looking in the Holy Land. Instead, look in the places where He has promised to be. Look here at the font, where His water and Word washes sinners, making us spotless, covering us with the sparkling robe of His own perfect righteousness. Listen for His voice in the Word of Holy Absolution and the preaching of your pastors. See Him raised from the dead in His own body and blood, given and shed for you to eat and drink at His holy altar. Right here, in His Church, “where two or three are gathered in His name,” Jesus is present. And right here—present in His Church: present in the preaching of His Word; present in water, bread, and wine combined with His Word—He is delivering His forgiveness for all your sins. He is giving you His victory over sin and death.

So the angel tells the women to go tell the disciples. They run off and do it, right? Not quite. St. Mark says they were frightened and didn’t tell anyone because they were afraid. Oh, sure, later it all came out. But right away, they were still overcome by fear. That’s us. Today we just heard that Jesus is alive! He was dead and now He’s risen. So what? Do we go back to business as usual? Do we go back to arguing with and hating others? Do we go back to cursing the government and those the Lord has given to keep us safe? Do we go back to lusting and fornication and coveting and stealing? Do we go back to doing the things we do as if Jesus isn’t alive at all? The greatest triumph the world has seen, and we will yawn and go our merry way, with the same sins at work in us. Jesus rose from the dead. Does that mean anything? Does it make a difference? Or do we do what we’ve always done? A Lutheran pastor named Ken Korby once wrote, “Nobody is going to go to hell because of his sin. Nobody. Those who are in hell—God have mercy that none of us is there—will be there because they don’t believe the Lamb. Simple as that. And it’s hard to go to hell, because you have to get over the dead body of God’s Son to get there.” So repent! Repent of living as if the stone still holds the grave closed. Repent of living as if Jesus was still dead!

St. Paul calls us to eat “the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” That’s why you are here today: to be purged of your old leaven of sin and to have new life. That’s exactly what your Baptism, Holy Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper give you. Your Baptism has raised you from the death of sin, and you are a new creation. You hear your pastor say with our Lord’s command, “I forgive you all your sins,” and you are returned to your Baptism, your sins taken away, removed from you as far as East is from West. In the Holy Supper, the very body and blood of Christ casts out from you all that is sinful and selfish, and you are fed and nourished in the faith. Christ’s body and blood are the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Your sins, whatever they are, are buried in that tomb forever. There is no need to go and drag them back out! In His death and resurrection, Jesus has taken care of them once and for all.

The Good News, which eventually overcame the women’s fear and sent them shouting what they had heard, is the same Good News by which the Spirit works in you to love God and your neighbor. Your sins have been put away by our Lord’s death. They were buried with Him, and only Jesus came out of the tomb. Our Lord Jesus Christ is alive! Your sins are done and gone. And Jesus, who has defeated death, promises that sin and death have been defeated for you forever. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!     

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.