Death Is Dead, Jesus Lives

Sermon “Death Is Dead, Jesus Lives”

Our Lord, open our eyes to see the reality of your resurrection, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Jesus is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! During the period of Lent we fasted from this statement of “Glory to God.” The Alleluias went away. But they are back, they have risen, just as our Lord has risen. The thing we laid aside has come again, and we rejoice. We delight in the return of that which we had lost. You all know what I mean. If you have never lost something you might not know the feeling. But I suspect we’ve all been there. We wonder where the keys are. We wonder what happened to that book we were reading. We can’t find our glasses. But all those are trivial examples. What about bigger panics? We think of our children’s response when the pet has wandered off. Or maybe we’ve lost something pretty substantial. I remember mislaying a paycheck once, and at the time I was paid only six times a year. Or when we find our car missing, or a child, or a husband or wife missing. The dread sets in and we are out of our minds. What will we do? What’s happened?

Now let’s put ourselves in the position of those apostles. They have given their lives over to follow Jesus, the one they are persuaded is the Messiah. What happened? It seems just a week ago he was entering Jerusalem and was surrounded by crowds of supporters. He was popular! He was going to come into town and sweep out the evil, establishing God’s kingdom. The King who comes in the name of David to sit on his throne has come at last! This is what we thought. It’s what we all thought. So what happened? Something went wrong, and by the end of Thursday, when we were gathered for the Passover meal he was talking about dying. Then he was arrested, given a sort of non-trial, and didn’t show himself to be lord of anything. He gave himself up without even a fight. And we saw him crucified like a criminal. We saw him die, and he died quickly too, as if he had no will to live. We expected a Messiah and all we got was a dead body. We’ve lost, and we’ve lost big. There’s nothing left. All the alleluia has been taken out of us. What are we going to do now? We’re lost, disillusioned, dejected, and probably in trouble with the law.

Something happened, didn’t it? For this very morning, the first day of the week, some women went to do that woman thing. It’s always the women who take care of the funerals, isn’t it? They were going to make sure everything was all right and that the men on Friday had taken care of the shroud the right way. No doubt they were planning to come back to where Jesus’ friends were gathered, now that the Sabbath was over, and would arrange for a pickle plate and some sandwiches. The mourning would go on for a while and then the disciples would figure out what to do with themselves. They would pick themselves up and try to get their businesses started again. Life would return to normal – sort of, as much as it can after losing your beloved teacher. But the disappointment would remain. The loss would remain. The feelings of betrayal? Maybe those too.

We’ve all faced those feelings, haven’t we? In our own lives, on our own turf, we've seen our plans go down the tubes. And we do what brave men and women do. After all, what do you do when your life has been ruined and your career is ended? You know perfectly well what you do. You get up in the morning, get dressed, and go to work. You see if you can put the pieces back together. You carry on. One career missionary I talked with once put it this way. It's all right if you give up and go home at the end of the day, planning not to go back to work again. That's just fine, as long as you give up on that plan by the time you need to go to work the next day. So we assemble, like the disciples did. We may be fearful for our future. We may be fearful for our lives. We assemble, bracing ourselves for the worst possible news.

What is the news that comes to the disciples? Christ is risen! We say it again, Alleluia, Christ is Risen! The disciples know that he said he would do that. They also know just as well as you do that dead people don't rise from the dead. After all, these were people in a long bygone era, but they weren't unobservant people. Just because people lived a long time ago doesn't mean they didn't know the implications of dying. They knew that Jesus couldn't rise from the dead. But the news came to them that he had risen. With that news came hope. With that news came joy. With that news came the delighted unbelievable faith that Jesus had triumphed over death. He didn't overthrow the Roman government. He overthrew the grave! Jesus' resurrection from the dead changes all the rules. He shows that there is no longer any reason to fear. What do we have left to flee from if even death has been swallowed up by Christ's victory? The funeral shroud that lies over all the earth, that shroud we read about in Isaiah, has been rolled up and put away. Jesus has destroyed death. He has swallowed it up just the way you or I might take a bite of a sandwich. He has done away with it. There is no longer any threat there.

Now, you may say, that's all well and good. It's a nice story. But after all, we're modern people. We don't believe in a resurrection. It's good enough if the spirit rises. After all, we know that God will bring a spiritual resurrection in the end. When Grandma dies it's fine. She's been released from her body and doesn't need it any more. She's not really there. She's in a far better place. I've heard people talking that way. I've doubtless been guilty of it myself. But let me remind you. Ancient people are ancient, not unobservant. They lived a long time ago, but that doesn't mean they are ignorant. What is the account passed on to us? This is a reliable, historical account, written rather shortly after the events. What did Paul say in 1 Corinthians? Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to a variety of people, including large numbers of people at the same time, something which never happens in cases of delusions or hallucinations. Jesus presented himself alive for a period of forty days before ascending into heaven in the presence of witnesses who were commited enough to that account that they would die for it. Could Paul have produced a list of people who had seen Jesus after he rose from the dead? No doubt about it. And this message of the bodily resurrection has been the hallmark of Christian faith ever since then. It's only in recent years that we've decided to spiritualize it, to say the pagan Greek thing that our bodies aren't of importance. That's paganism, it's Plato, it's the Gnostics, it's a heretical view. Christians confess a true bodily resurrection, the time when our body and soul will be put back together. This is why we treat the body with some importance and dignity. This is why when we have a funeral in the church I welcome the body in with singing, lead the body to the place of honor at the front of the church, and light the Christ candle. Jesus is still with us when we have been killed, and he remains with us all the way through until our body and soul are reunited in the resurrection and we stand whole and alive before him in glory. Grandma's there, in that casket. And she's in the presence of the Lord of glory at the same time. And it's really sad that she's been yanked apart, body and soul separated. But one day our Lord, the Lord of resurrection, will make her a partaker of the resurrection and her body and soul will be reunited. And our Lord will see to it that the body is in perfect, glorified condition as well. When Jesus puts us together in the resurrection, everything is put together right. There's no more suffering, no more pain, no more dying. We're resurrected to perfection, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

What hope do we have? Jesus himself, the resurrection and the life, has risen from the dead. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And he has appeared to many. He has come to his disciples. He has come to many other than the Twelve. He has shown that death has no more power. As long as Jesus lives, death, hell and the grave lie powerless. As long as Jesus lives there is no trouble, no harm we have endured, no sickness, no family strife, no job situations, nothing at all that we cannot endure as we look to Jesus, the hope of the resurrection. He's conquered death. Do we think he can't manage the rest?

Throughout history, every Sunday has been considered a “little Easter.” It is celebrated as the day of resurrection. That's why it is the traditional day of the week to receive the Sacrament of communion. Jesus in his resurrection has brought his body and his blood out of hiding in the tomb, and has revealed himself to his people. He has promised to be with us always, and has shown that he is able to do that by showing himself as the resurrected Lord. And he reminds us that he gave his life for us, giving us of his body and blood so that our faith may be nourished, so we may remember his work for us, so we can receive of his grace, mercy, and love. He calls us, then, to come to him, seeing the power of the resurrection, knowing that he has bled and died for us, and that as he lives for us, we too shall live for him. Do you believe that Jesus lived, died, and rose again for you? Do you believe he is here, present for you, in his body and blood? Do you repent of your sin and trust that he is forgiving you, preparing you to live for him? Then this table is for you. Christ is risen! he is risen indeed! Alleluia!