He is risen! He is risen, indeed, Alleluia.
This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we are continue what we started during our Advent season, that is we are looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we rejoice in Jesus resurrection.
In his Psalm, King David, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, that is foretells and prophesies, that Jesus will rise from the dead, or as David says it, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Psalm 16:10). So, David spoke of Jesus’ resurrection, that is that His body would not see corruption or as we might say, His body would not rot in the grave. Indeed, Jesus’ body would not rot in the grave because it would only be in the grave for the three days, from His death and burial on Friday until His resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.
Of course, we do know that Jesus did descend into hell, as we confess in our creeds, but He did not descend into hell to suffer. As a matter of fact, all of His suffering, even His eternal suffering and hell took place on the cross, well, at His being mocked, stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, His being beaten and forsaken by God the Father. Jesus went to hell to declare victory over Satan Himself.
As we confess in our creeds, Jesus died and on the third day He rose from the dead. According to the normal course of life once a person dies their body is placed into the ground. As we hear in another Psalm, we are dust and to dust shall we return. Again, normally the body is buried and eventually rots and turns back into dust. Not so with Jesus. Because Jesus is truly God in human flesh, because He rose on the third day, there was no time for His body to see corruption.
In speaking of Jesus’ resurrection, David is also speaking of our own resurrection. Yes, although we may die, unless the Lord should return first, our bodies will see corruption, that is they will return to dust, but that is not the end because God has promised that He will raise our lowly bodies so they will be like His glorious body, that is we will have our own bodies recreated in the perfection originally planned for us. So David’s words are words of faith and may be our words of faith as well, that is that upon our passing on from this world we will not be abandoned to Sheol or hell, nor will we see corruption, because by faith in Jesus and His life we will be raised to eternal life with Him in heaven.
The Gospel writer Matthew begins to confirm David’s prophecy at least concerning the fact of Jesus death as he writes, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21.) Notice in Matthew’s account of the events of Jesus’ life that Jesus Himself spoke about His suffering and death. Yes, you may remember that many times the disciples did not understand Jesus’ words and even at times resisted Jesus’ plan, but, at least here in this text Jesus knew His disciples were at the point in their training and understanding to be able to come to grips with what would happen.
Yet, whenever Jesus did speak about His suffering and death He always included His resurrection, “on the third day be raised.” Indeed, God’s plan from before creation was that He would reconcile the world to Himself by paying the price for sin and then defeat sin, death and the devil by His rising from the dead. Thus, death and the grave have no power over us.
And in his account of these events Matthew speaks of Jesus resurrection as he writes, “And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him” (Matthew 28:9). Yes, Jesus spoke of His death and His resurrection. On Good Friday the disciples went to their homes probably believing all was lost and that there was no hope. Yet, on Easter morning and Easter evening and for forty days Jesus came and showed Himself to be alive.
When Jesus shows Himself to be alive He always bring words of peace. And Jesus’ words are words of peace. They are not words of some temporal earthly peace, that is some bit of calm in a world and day of chaos. His are not words of peace of a few moments alone, but His are words of true and lasting peace, peace that transcends all of life.
Jesus’ words of peace are true peace that is, the peace of forgiveness of sins. While we live in this world, while we remain in our sin we do not have true peace. Our sin brings worry, anxiety, guilt, despair and the like. It is only as our sins are forgiven and as we know that our sins are forgiven that we can have true peace. While we remain in our sin we remain apart from God, distant from Jesus, alone and in despair. With forgiveness is a renewed relationship with God the Father. With forgiveness is the peace and calm of knowing our eternal life is guaranteed.
What does this mean? Before God began creating the world He knew what was going to happen. He knew what was going to happen because He is not bound by time like you and I. God lives in the eternal present so all things that happen are concurrent with Him. Remember, the first thing God created was time, morning and evening the first day and He created time for us. Yet, even knowing all that would happen God in His love created us anyway and when sin did enter into the world He promised a Savior who would pay the price for sin.
God’s promise of a Savior was reiterated time and again and the line of fulfillment was narrowed until Jesus was born. Jesus was born to be our substitute, that is He was born as God in flesh to do for us, actually to do for Adam and Eve, to do for the whole nation Israel and to do for us what He demands and what we are unable to do. Jesus was born, lived, was fully obedient to all of God’s law and commands, He took our sins and he suffered and died to pay the price for our sins, to reconcile us with Himself.
Jesus fulfilled all Holy Scripture. As I have said many times, God’s Word is true. God’s Word is a word with authority. God’s Word is always over and above fallible human words. God’s word effects, does and gives what He says. Jesus fulfilled all of God’s Word for us, in our place.
Because we are unable to be the people God would have us to be, because of His great love for us, God sent His only Son, Jesus. Jesus earned and paid the price for sin, the price set in the Garden of Eden, death, human death for human sin, and now He gives us what He earned, forgiveness, peace, life and salvation.
As we celebrate on this Easter morning we are reminded of what a great God we have, what loving God we have, what a gift giving God we have and we are moved to rejoice in His gifts and in His means of giving us His gifts. We are constantly reminded of our Baptism and our being brought into His church with His name being put on us and faith being put into our hearts at our Baptism. We are reminded of the forgiveness we are given as we confess and hear those most wonderful words of Holy Absolution, that our sins are forgiven. We are reminded of all our Lord has done for us and all he will do through His Word read and preached. And we are reminded that as we come to His table, as we eat His body and drink His blood, in, with and under the bread and wine, that He becomes a pary of us so that His perfect life becomes our perfect life. His perfect suffering and death becomes our perfect suffering and death. His resurrection becomes our resurrection and His eternal life in heaven becomes our eternal life in heaven. How can we not rejoice and declare, to God be the glory, for Jesus’s sake.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed, Alleluia! Amen.
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