He is Risen!

Luke 24:1-12

Easter Sunday

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen.  The sermon text for Easter Sunday is the Gospel reading Luke 24.  It is certainly wonderful when defeat is turned into victory and when sadness is turned into joy.  I remember reading a story about the battle of Waterloo between the British and the French.  The story is told of how the people of England were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the battle.  In the battle of Waterloo the British army, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, was combating the French army under the command of Napoleon.  A series of stations, each one in sight of the next, had been set up to send visible coded messages from the battlefield in Belgium back to England.  Finally the message arrived: “Wellington defeated….”  But as this was being spelled out, a sudden blanket of fog obscured the signals.  The people of England were heartbroken.  Their commander and his army had apparently been defeated.  However, the reason for the sad news was because the fog had interrupted the sending of the coded message.  The message was to say: “Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.” Later, the fog cleared and the full message was communicated.  The outcome of the battle was the exact opposite of what the people had originally thought.  Wellington and the British had in fact not lost the battle at all.  They had won! 

On Good Friday, the message from the cross appeared to say:  “Jesus Christ defeated….”  His lifeless body was laid in the tomb, and his followers returned to their homes filled with grief and hopelessness.  It seemed that the enemy, Satan, had won the most decisive victory in history.  But Easter morning brought the rest of the story.  The full message, revealed on Easter Sunday, is “Jesus Christ defeated sin, Satan, and death on the cross”.  The resurrection of Christ shows who the true victor is.  As Christians we share in Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the devil.  It is wonderful when what appears to be defeat is turned into victory, when sadness is turned to joy, and when death is turned into life. 

The women who took spices to the body of Jesus were certainly saddened by His death.  Most of us can remember times when we have grieved.  It can be a numbing experience.  It is like walking around in fog.  When the women went to the tomb they expected to see our Lord’s lifeless body but what they found was an empty tomb and two angels.  The angels spoke to them.  “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen”.  Talk about surprising news.  He’s not dead?  He has risen? He’s alive?  This certainly was not what the women expected.  But then the angels reminded them what Jesus had already told them.  The angel said these words, “Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”  The women and the disciples were blinded by their grief.  They were blinded by unbelief.  They thought all was lost because they had forgotten the words of Christ. But the grief and unbelief that effected the women at the tomb was lifted.  Everything changed when they realized that Jesus was alive.  Our Lord had defeated Satan, sin and death.

The women were surprised that Jesus was alive but perhaps the biggest surprise of Christ’s victory over death happened in the spiritual realm.  In the battle of the ages the fallen prince of darkness had done all he could to bring the Prince of Peace under His power. When Jesus died on the cross it appeared that Satan had finally won.  Yet what appeared to be a victory for the enemy, God brings a surprise. While in the grasp of death Christ overcomes death.  In the face of seeming defeat, God pulls off victory and it was the victory of the ages. Our Lord had overcome the power of death.  Our Lord emerged triumphant. 

The resurrection of Jesus means that our Lord’s victory is our victory too. But in our day to day life we don’t always see the victory.  I mentioned earlier that the British people did not see the full message that they had won at Waterloo because part of it was covered by fog.  The women at the tomb had trouble seeing the Gospel message of Jesus Christ because they were caught up in their own fog of sadness. They had forgotten the words of Christ because of the pain that they were going through even though victory was theirs through Christ Jesus.  Because we live in this sinful world our mind can be clouded as well.  When our mind is clouded we don’t always see God’ love in our lives.  We don’t always clearly see Christ’s victory.  We sometimes forget the words of Jesus and His assurance that His victory is also our victory.  We might ask our selves what about those times when we are at a loss?  Because we live in a sinful world it might seem that we are defeated.  When we experience loss, disappointment, loneliness, sickness, guilt, sadness and fear it certainly does not feel like victory.  We sometimes live our life as if Jesus is still dead.  But on this Easter morning we are reminded of our Lord’s resurrection. What appeared to be defeat was actually victory. Whenever we think things are lost God reminds us that they are not.  Sorrow because of the effects of sin does not get the last word because God’s love overcomes all things.  We are no longer slaves to sin and Satan since the penalty for our sin; the penalty of eternal death has been paid by Jesus.  Death no longer has ultimate power over us because we have been raised with Jesus.  Jesus gives us His own perfect righteousness.  He gives us eternal life, and the promise that our frail bodies will be raised perfect on the Last Day.

Several years ago a Lutheran Pastor decided to visit the Holy Land.  During the tour he visited the tomb of King David. The area was crowded with pilgrims. Many were weeping and wailing over what supposedly were the remains of one of the most important kings in Israel. That tomb was occupied.  Next he visited a church in Jerusalem that was built on the site that many people believe was the location of Jesus’ tomb. Of course this tomb was empty. Instead of weeping and wailing, the Christians at that site sang joyful hymns of praise.  The visit to those two tombs had a great impact on the pastor and his family.  It was the difference between defeat and victory.  In visiting the tomb of David, he observed people grieving over a tomb that is still occupied.  However Christ has an empty tomb!  Christ alone has risen from the dead.  Christ alone has conquered death.  Christ alone has defeated Satan.  His victory over all these things belongs to us as well. 

Over the years people have mentioned to me that Holy Week can be a difficult time to get through, especially Good Friday.  Fortunately Holy Week ends with Easter.  On Easter we see defeat being turned into victory, sadness turned into joy, and death being overcome by life.  The message of Easter tells us that Jesus Christ lives and that He is our refuge in this life, hope in death, and joy in eternity.  He is with us now and will continue to be with us forever.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Amen.