(This sermon was preached at our Easter dawn service at the local cemetery).
There is a family of related words often associated with Easter: “amazing,” “astonishing,” “bewildering,” “wonderful.”
Take a short moment to think about what amazes and astonishes you. Perhaps the golden glow of a sunrise. Or gently holding a soft, newborn baby. Watching seeds grow into a crop. What bewilders you? Perhaps the rapid pace of technological change. Or the seeming randomness and injustice of terror attacks (like the New Zealand mosque shooting) or disasters (such as the burning of Notre-Dame). What do you wonder about?
In our gospel reading we hear that some women find the stone rolled away from the entrance of Jesus’ tomb. They see two men in dazzling white clothes, who tell them that Jesus isn’t there, he is risen. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! The women rush back from the tomb and tell all the disciples. Peter runs to check things out for himself. He bends low, looking in to see what happened. Then ‘he went away, wondering to himself what had happened’ (Luke 24:12). He went away amazed, astonished, bewildered, wondering. He had thought the cords of death had entangled Jesus. He had thought that the grave had overcome his master. But could it be that somehow Jesus has been saved?
Today we wonder with Peter what happened. Why is the tomb empty? Where is Jesus? Is he really alive?
In this scene Peter does something which I think any curious human would do: he bends down to inspect the linen that Jesus’ body was wrapped in. He looks closely to see what’s happened. He’s asking himself: “Could Jesus be alive?” We too are called to look intently and inspect the ‘linen,’ as we wonder with Peter, asking: “Is Jesus really alive today?” Let’s work toward some answers to this good question.
First, yes, Jesus is really alive today because you have historic reports. Dozens of historic documents (not counting the New Testament) confirm that Jesus’ was crucified by the Romans, and that Jesus’ followers reported seeing him alive. There are at least 10 ancient non-Christian writers within 150 years of his life that give information about Jesus. Their collective references provide a storyline consistent with the New Testament.[1] In addition, the gospel accounts are early eyewitness testimony which reliably record that Jesus is risen. You can believe Jesus is really alive today because of historical facts and eyewitness testimony in Scripture.
Second, yes, Jesus is really alive today because you have God’s promise. The two men at the empty tomb invite the women to remember: ‘Remember how he told you, while he was still with you: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.” ’ (Luke 24:6–7). God has planned Jesus’ death and resurrection since the foundation of the world. In the Garden of Eden, God promises the serpent (the devil): “I will put hatred between you and the woman. Her son (referring to Jesus) will crush your head. And you will crush his heel.” (Genesis 3:15). You can believe Jesus is alive because God promised that his Son would defeat death by rising again.
Third, yes, Jesus is really alive today because you can experience his living presence. You experience Jesus’ presence in baptism. Through the water you are joined with Jesus’ death and resurrection, experiencing new life and comfort. Likewise you experience Jesus’ presence in Holy Communion. The words spoken over the bread and wine — “This is my body” and “This is my blood” — promise that Jesus is with you when you commune. One of Martin Luther’s colleagues put it like this: “In the Lord’s Supper the body and blood of Christ are truly present and are truly offered with those things that are seen, bread and wine. Moreover, we are talking about the presence of the living Christ, for we know that death no longer has dominion over him.” (Philip Melanchthon). You can believe that Jesus is really alive today because you experience his living presence.
Last, yes, Jesus is really alive today because you have the firm hope of new life. We gather this morning at tombs which contain the bodily remains of family members, loved ones, and locals. But we have the hope that, just as Jesus’ tomb is empty, one day these tombs, and our own tomb, will also be empty. Jesus has and is bringing you to new life. St Paul talks about this hope: ‘If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. … There is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then, all who belong to Christ, will be raised when he comes back.’ (1 Corinthians 15:17–24). Because Jesus Christ has been raised from death, you too have the firm hope of being raised from death to new life.
May we go from this place believing the historical reports and gospel accounts. May we go from this place trusting in God’s promise. May we go from this place expecting to experience the presence of the living Jesus. May we go from this place full of resurrection hope. Go in peace. Amen.
[1] For example: Lucian of Samosata, Josephus, Pliny the Younger.
