Download 1 “Christ is Still Risen!” Matthew 28:1

“Christ is Still Risen!”
Matthew 28:1-10
The Resurrection of Our Lord
April 20, 2014
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text, “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know
that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has
risen, just as He said.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What privilege and honor belonged to this angel, he who is
given the great joy of descending from heaven to earth to be the first
herald of the Resurrection! Early on that first day of the week, as the
whole world sits in eerie darkness defined by far weightier matters
than pre-dawn hours, this messenger of heaven – as white as snow –
is commanded by God to descend to the tomb and roll away the
stone… not for Jesus’ sake, but for the women’s and the world’s…
that all might see the Truth for themselves: The Jesus they seek, the
one who was crucified, he is not here in this tomb, for He has risen,
just as He said.
What privilege belongs to this angel – to be the only creature
in this world to know and carry glorious news of great joy that for a
short time remains hidden to those who mourn! What care-free joy
is his – no more do the angels weep with the world and hide their
eyes as Christ becomes the sacrifice – rather, this angel knows the
carefree joy of heaven as he casually sits atop of the same stone that
was meant by Pilate and the Jews and sin and death to so ominously
declare Jesus’ defeat and to keep Him and his gospel jailed in the
grave forever.
And, when the women arrive at the tomb, Mark’s gospel says
they are alarmed. The angel – almost giddy with excitement –
doesn’t even wait for them to speak. He says, “I know what you were
expecting. I knew the fear that you know… the angels shared the
same fear! But, fear no longer, for behold – it is just as He said: He
who was crucified is now risen from the grave. He who laid down His
life has now taken it up again!
It is just as He said. You see, not only this Easter morning
scene, but specifically the words of the Easter morning angel, are the
heart and soul of the Gospel, the very foundation of the Christian
faith: He who was crucified is now risen from the grave, just as He
said.
There are three main points to consider in that declaration:
first, that Jesus was crucified. The resurrection in no way negates
that. In fact, the word in the Greek () implies an
ongoing reality… not that Jesus continues to be crucified, but that His
crucifixion continues to be sufficient. His crucifixion and death
cannot be undone; they continue to this day – 2000 years later – to
be sufficient for all sin.
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Second in this angel’s words: “He is risen.” All of history
depends on this truth. For us to know that the work of the cross is
sufficient, we must see the firstfruits evidence; for, if the one who
claims to overcome death for us cannot overcome death for himself,
then we are (as Paul says) of all men to be most pitied; if Christ is still
dead and in the grave, then our hope is in vain.
Notice, friends, the importance of the resurrection. The
Christian’s victory is not that – while the body lays dead in the grave,
the soul is in heaven. That’s not victory. That’s comfort, but it’s not
victory.
Too many Christians have been taught too little about the
resurrection, and they only find comfort in heaven. You may have
heard that a new movie out this week recounts the details of a boy
who thinks he experienced heaven. But, in this holy week, why is this
our hope? Why do we hope that heaven is for real when Christ
himself promises us that the resurrection is real? After all, our creeds
do not confess merely the comfort of heaven, but the bold assertion
that we will overcome death.
Victory over death cannot simply be saying, “My body may
be lost forever, but at least my soul is with Jesus.” Victory over death
must mean that the body, also, overcomes. And, if that is to be true
for us, it must first be true of the One who conquers on our behalf.
And, the angel’s word is the first declaration of many, the first
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testimony to escort the firsthand evidence that the women are
about to see in Jesus himself: Jesus is risen from the dead.
Now, the third part of the angel’s words that are so
foundational to (the heart and soul of) the Christian faith are these
words, “just as He said.” Christ has proven his trustworthiness – He’s
fulfilled His promises regarding nothing less than victory over death
itself. For all the promises He has made to us, are any of them as
difficult to achieve than overcoming death? What other promise of
Christ ought we now doubt?, for He has risen, just as He said.
And yet, we sinners doubt. We don’t trust Christ’s Word.
Entire theologies that call themselves Christian add “tradition” and
“the word of church leaders” to claim that what Christ has said
cannot be trusted at face value, but needs to be understood
‘differently.’ But, it’s not just other church bodies; it’s also you and
me, in our own daily lives. For example, take this movie about
heaven: I know it’s a heartwarming story, but we ought to critique it
(and our response to it) carefully: there is little else that would be as
subtly offensive as something that claims it is helping people believe
in Jesus and heaven, but (unintentionally) says, “You might not have
been able to believe in heaven by the word of the Lord, but you can
believe in it because of the word of this child!” We should be
incensed by such things that claim to be more believable than Christ
and His Word; we should say with Luther and the confessors –
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“Scripture alone, Christ’s word alone” – but instead we find our
sinful heartstrings pulled by a Scripture-contradicting ‘experience.’
Let me say it another way: Christ is STILL risen! How often we
think that Christ rose, ascended, ‘left us’… so that now his
resurrection doesn’t really apply anymore; it doesn’t ‘count’
anymore… it’s just a long-ago story. We tend to think, “If I want to
know that Christianity is true, I need to look elsewhere because
Christ is somehow less trustworthy now that he’s ascended and
‘gone.’”
But, Christ is STILL risen. That is to say, He is STILL your risen
Lord and Savior.
For those who desire to be their own god, have their own
heavenly experiences, define their own theological truth, live
impenitently in sin, the historical truth of Christ’s resurrection speaks
thunderbolts against their desire of self-rule. You can claim you’ve
experienced heaven, but unless you can say that you raised yourself
from six feet under, you cannot be your own Lord. Christ’s
resurrection means that He has all authority in heaven, on earth, and
under the earth. And because He alone has risen himself from the
grave (not Muhammad, not Buddha, none of those in the lines of the
papacy, not Zwingli, not Calvin, not Martin Luther… none of them
have raised themselves or can raise themselves from the grave)…
because of this truth that Jesus is risen just as He said, He alone is
Lord of Truth and judge over all the world. That should cause us to
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observe not just Easter, but to observe Christ’s will and ways in every
day of our lives. It should cause us to tremble when we transgress
His will, should cause us to repent of our sins and flee from
temptation and from anything that would separate us from Him, for
He alone is our hope… to part ourselves from Him is to isolate
ourselves in death; to separate ourselves from Him with our sins is to
re-write our own death sentence; for He alone can forgive sins; He
alone has the authority to give us the victory over our own death and
the grave.
And yet, it is just as He said. And, what have we heard him
say this whole last week?: “for you – ,” He said. “Father,
forgive them!” He said. “It is finished!” He said.
And, if He said it, then it is just as He said. What should be so
terrifying for the stubbornly impenitent and unfaithful should be so
comforting and freeing for the penitent faithful: Christ is still risen. It
is still true that Christ holds authority over death and the grave. As
Paul says it, “If Christ is not risen from the dead, we are to be most
pitied, for our hope is futile and our faith is in vain. But Christ is
raised from the dead!” Paul says – never to die again is this Christ,
for death has no dominion over him. And, if Christ is still raised from
the dead, never to die again, then His promises are still true, never to
be undone. It is still just as He said.
And, if it’s still just as He said, then all the promises He has
made to you are still yours to keep and cherish and cling to until He
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raises you from the grave. You can trust His word when He speaks of
God’s detailed order and designs in creation. You can trust His Word
when He promises daily bread and defense and preservation. You
can trust His Word when He says that you can read and understand
the entire Old Testament to speak not of rules that handcuff and
condemn you, but speak of Him who saves you. You can trust His
Word when He says that His Holy Ministry makes you His disciple by
baptizing you and teaching you all things He has commanded them
to teach, and absolving you and unlocking those chains of sin that
seek to bind you to hell. You can trust His Word when He says that
His body given for you and His blood shed for you is yours to eat and
drink for the forgiveness of your sins. You can trust His Word when
He says that He will not leave you as orphans but will come to you,
and will bring your soul to the safety of heaven while it waits for the
final victory. And you can trust His Word when He says that He will
come to judge the world and avenge His Church and raise your body
from the grave to restore that perfection in which He once made you
as body and soul… and will carry you unto the life into the
everlasting age.
You can trust Him with every last one of these promises, for
He is still the Jesus who was once crucified as a forever-sufficient
atonement for sins, the same Jesus who is still risen from the dead,
just as He said.
In the Name of the Father
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And of the Son
And of the Holy Spirit.
+ AMEN +
Rev. Mark C. Bestul
Calvary Lutheran Church
April 20, 2014
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