The Emptiness Reveals the Fullness :: Matthew 28:1-10
In the name of Jesus, who was and is crucified.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Can there possibly be a more joyous day in the history of creation?
Today ... and throughout this full holy season of Easter, through this celebration and commemoration of our Lord’s resurrection ... I pray that we all become more like the women in our reading from the Gospel According to Matthew ... We don’t come to this day with mere greetings. We come to this day filled with reverent fear and great joy. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the women ran to announce to the brothers and sisters the Good News! They ran. With great joy. And they announced the angel’s message to everyone who would listen to them .
I know that you are seeking Jesus, the crucified one ... the one who was and is crucified ... He is not here, for he has been raised, just like he said.
How can I possibly even begin to express the fullness of this joy!
Of course, I would not be surprised that you are sitting at home, looking around, and realizing the glow of Easter may be a little dull right now. You aren’t here with me. You aren’t with your friends and church family. You aren’t in the sanctuary of your 150 year old congregation, celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord with all the saints.
There are no Easter Lilies filling the sanctuary. You can’t see the greens and pinks and lively colors that we all should be wearing. You aren’t expecting to receive the Lords’ Supper, the Feast of Eternal Forgiveness that is given ... is given ... to us by our Lord himself, as all the heavenly host join us in celebration of the New Covenant.
But you will be soon.
And when you come again, we will celebrate again, and again, and again, trying to express this inexpressible joy ... because we can never have too much Easter.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
1.
Easter Sunday is the most popular church holiday among the American people, by far. More Americans search for “church” around Easter than at any other time, far more than at Christmas, which is actually more popular with those who are unchurched altogether. That may explain why in Europe, the people who attend only once a year generally choose Christmas Eve instead of Easter. They have lost touch with true joy. In Europe, only half of the people today even say there is a god.
How do you fill the emptiness of that? You fill it with ...
THE FULLNESS OF THE GOSPEL.
What is the Gospel? Too many people of the world will tell you it’s this:
“Jesus died for you.” ... “Christ gave himself into death for your sins.” ...
“On the cross, Jesus shed his blood for you as the vicarious sacrifice to cleanse you and forgive you.”
To be clear, these things are all true. I believe them with all my heart. I pray you do too. But brothers and sisters in Christ, the Gospel is not simply the death of Jesus on a cross. ... a cross that today some insist must be empty. The crucifix shows the fullness of the truth that a crucified body is a resurrected body.
The Gospel, in a word, therefore is the fullness of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and more than that it is even his promise to come again soon to carry us from this valley of sorrows into eternal Paradise with him.
Come, Lord Jesus. Amen. The world needs to hear the fullness of the Gospel.
But today, it is time to focus on the incredible joy that Jesus is not in the tomb.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
2.
Matthew gives us great detail about this fundamental truth of the Christian faith ... that God has raised Jesus from the dead for your justification. ... The old has passed away; Death has no hold on you. Behold the new has come. Eternal life awaits all who believe in Jesus. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.
Matthew explains this truth to us as no other Gospel writer does. He writes ...
Now after the Sabbath ... it was a “long time” after the Sabbath, that is ... in the dawning into the one Sabbath ... That is, the eternal Sabbath ... or as our modern translations say, at the beginning of the new week ... Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who some say is the Blessed Mother of our Lord ... went to see the tomb.
And behold, a great quake shook the Earth for an angel of the Lord came down out of heaven, rolled away the stone and sat on it. Earthquakes always announce big things in scripture. And there aren’t many things bigger than this.
Now the appearance of the angel was like lightning, the kind that enlightens the whole sky ... and his clothes were as white as snow. We are talking purity. And when the Roman soldiers who were guarding the tomb saw this, they became terrified and acted like they were dead. ... Think about it ... Roman soldiers ... paralyzed by fear.
And the angel said to the women: You ... both of you ... Stop being afraid, for I know you are seeking Jesus, the Crucified One. He’s not here, for he has been raised ... just as he said. Come, see the place where he used to lie.
Then ... go swiftly! Tell his disciples that he has been raised from the dead, and behold he’s going before you into Galilee. So the women went swiftly from the tomb with reverent fear and great joy and they ran to announce the Gospel to his disciples.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
3.
No other event has so transformed the world as this one!
Tell me you are excited about this news! You should be. The women were. They understand the revelation of the fullness of the Gospel. That he who was without sin, died for your sins; that he who was author of life has proclaimed victory over death; that he who was hidden away in the tomb is about to show the world that you will appear with him in glory.
With this fullness of joy, we should join the two Marys ... in telling your brothers. in telling your sisters. in telling the world. that Jesus has not only died for you, but that he who has united himself with us in baptism has been raised.
Jesus, who was sinless ... that is, the only innocent man who ever walked the earth, received the full punishment for sin ... not only for your sin, but for the sins of the world. He paid your unpayable debt in full. He has sanctified the Sabbath rest for you. And now because of the new covenant he sealed with his own blood, He has delivered to you life and salvation ... today, and forever.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
The grave of Jesus is empty. ... Not because someone stole his body, as the Jewish leaders feared. That is why those Roman centurions were stationed at the tomb. No, Jesus has been raised from the dead. This is news of earth shaking proportions. The earth shook at the news that Jesus had died for you, and now it is shaking at the news that Jesus has been raised from the dead. What better reason do you have to have faith in Jesus!
Anyone who believes now that Jesus has risen from the dead and that God is totally responsible for it will be changed forever. When you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that he was raised, you will be saved.
Death has lost its sting. Death has been defeated. Jesus has been raised, thus he is providing an eternal hope the world does not have. Even more than that, you who were baptized were baptized into his resurrection and his eternal life apart from pain, and darkness, and misery, and anguish, and fear, and sadness.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
4.
All of scripture was written to express the fullness of this truth. It begins with the fullness of creation. It leads us to the promise of a savior. It reveals the glory of God. And it shows us our savior. He lived a life of active righteousness. He died in the place of unrighteousness. He was raised to the glory of God, and he promises you his inheritance.
So Peter opened his mouth and began preaching. ... You yourselves know what happened ... how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power ... We are witnesses of all he did ... They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. But God raised him on the third day ... To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, what a beautiful treasure we have. We have the fullness of the Gospel right here. God has delivered to us the forgiveness of sins by coming to us in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has lived for us, died for us, and risen for us.
Without the resurrection we could not confess any of this truth. Without the resurrection, we could not confess that I believe in God the Father almighty. Without the resurrection, there would be no forgiveness of sins. Without the resurrection, there would be no life and salvation. Without the resurrection, there would be no reason to have great joy, or hope, or love. Without the resurrection ... we would be empty.
But thanks be to God, Christ has been raised from the dead and we are filled with a glorious and inexpressible joy as we await the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Rejoice always. I will say it again, rejoice!