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Lutheran Service Book Divine Service 1
Hymns:
457 Jesus Christ is Risen Today
461 I Know that my Redeemer Lives
477 Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven
465 Now all the Vault of Heaven Resounds
463 Christ the Lord is Risen Today; Alleluia
Readings:
Jeremiah 31:1-6
Colossians 3:1-4
Matthew 28:1-10
The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord 2020
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
April 12, 2020
Jeremiah 31:1-6, Acts 10:34-43, Matthew 28:1-10
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Text: pastorjud.org
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itunes: bit.ly/pastorjud
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“Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Today is a day of great joy. Today we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Today we celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin. Jesus’ victory over death. Jesus’ victory over the devil. Resurrection Sunday is the most joyous celebration of the Church year, so much so, that each Sunday; each Lord’s day, is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. It is indeed a day of great joy! “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
It is a day of great joy and yet we live in a time of fear. We are not gathered together this morning because of an unseen enemy. It is not the devil and his demons. Indeed they are a terrible unseen enemy for which we must stay on guard. St. Peter warns 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.[1] If everyone was as concerned about the devil and his demons as they are about our current unseen enemy, this world would be a much better place. But despite the evil of the devil and his demons; they do not keep us apart; instead, they are a reason to gather. Today and every Sunday is a day we proclaim victory over devil because we are baptized into Christ.
Our invocation at the beginning of worship is an incomplete sentence, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” What is the beginning of that sentence? It is not, “We begin in…” The beginning of that sentence is your beginning, “I baptize you…” The way you began life as a Christian is the way you enter into worship. Today, and every Lord’s Day, we celebrate the power and promise of baptism won for you by the death and resurrection of Jesus. In baptism you have died to sin and been raised to new life in Christ. You have been born again in water and the Spirit. Today, of all days, you are all up in the devil’s face with the proclamation, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” The devil and his demons do not keep us apart.
The unseen enemy keeping us apart is, as you well know, a microscopic virus that is spreading all over the earth bringing fear, sickness and death. It is appropriate to fear this unseen enemy because you do not want to get sick and possibly die. You also fear this unseen enemy because you do not want to become unknowingly infected and carry the virus to those around you, especially the more vulnerable. You fear this virus out of love.
How do you summarize the Ten Commandments in five words? Love God. Love your neighbor. We are not gathering together out of love for our neighbor. You are doing great things in love for your neighbor by serving in your vocations as needed, and by heeding warnings and isolating from others to keep this virus from spreading. This is love for neighbor in action. Indeed you are living in a unique time of fear, and yet, this morning and each morning, you have great joy because, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Fear surrounds Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. In our Gospel reading today there is a lot of talk of fear. There is an earthquake, and an angel of the Lord descends from heaven. He rolls back the stone in front of Jesus’ tomb and the soldiers guarding the tomb faint from fear. The angel sits atop the stone in victory. “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Mary Magdalen and the other Mary are coming to the tomb and see the angel and they are afraid. The guards are lying on the ground like dead men, the stone has been rolled away from the tomb, and there is an angel of the Lord shining forth like lightening in brilliant white clothing. The angel tells the women, “Matthew 28:5-6 (ESV) 5 … “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay…[2]
The angel tells them the truth that, just as He predicted, Jesus rose from the dead. The angel at Christmas brings the Bethlehem shepherds Good News of great joy about the birth of the savior. This angel at the tomb brings Good News of great joy that the savior, Jesus, has conquered death.
This Good News of great joy is the most important truth for all mankind for all ages. It is the central message of the Bible. It is the heart of Holy Scripture. Everything else in the Bible is written to explain and put in context this Good News of great joy. “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
The angel gives the women an assignment. Matthew 28:7 (ESV) 7 … go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him…”[3] The angel tells the women, and the women will tell Jesus’ disciples. The disciples will tell others and the Good News of great joy goes viral. It spreads from those women at the tomb, to the disciples, to the people in Jerusalem, to all corners of the earth and even to your own ears and from your own mouth this Good News of great joy is spread. “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
So here we have Mary Magdalene and the other Mary leaving the angel and heading off on their mission to spread this Good News of great joy. What is their state of mind? Matthew tells us. Matthew 28:8 (ESV) 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.[4] The women, knowing the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, still have fear and, at the same time, they have great joy.
Great joy does not dispel all fear. You have fear all the time living in this fallen world. In normal times you buckle your seatbelt, lock your doors, wash your hands, look both ways before crossing the street. You live with fear, but you are not overwhelmed by it. You have fear, and at the same time, you live knowing the Good News of great joy that in Christ you have eternal life. Despite the troubles of life, you have great joy knowing that just as Jesus rose from the dead, you too will rise from the dead. Jesus has conquered death. “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
The women hurry off to tell the disciples this Good News of great joy, Matthew 28:9-10 (ESV) 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” [5]
Jesus calms their fears and reinforces the women’s mission to begin the spread of the Good News of great joy which the women now see with their own eyes. “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
The Good News of great joy is greater than fear. It is greater than sickness. It is greater than sin. It is greater than the devil. It is greater even than death.
We are not together physically, but we are united in the true faith and we look forward to being together again to proclaim, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Amen.
[1] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001
[2] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001
[3] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001
[4] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001
[5] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001