Sermon - Easter 2018 - Mark 16:1-8

Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

“And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.” Behold, today I declare to you that Christ has rolled away the great stony edifice of death! The resurrection of Jesus has removed the exceedingly large stone of death from us so that the grave has lost its might!

For from birth upon you a covering has been cast, a shroud has enfolded you, a veil has been stretched over all the nations of the earth. From the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, death has enveloped all the peoples of the earth. Death has covered you like a grim blanket, casting you into the grave of utter darkness, shutting you in like a great stone barrier. 

We like to hide the shadowy fact of death and deny its cold existence. Instead of a funeral, we prefer to call it a celebration of life. Instead of admitting that someone has died, we say that they simply passed away. We fill our lives with vain pleasures, instead of pursuing after the hope found in the resurrection of the dead. We even refuse to admit that the wages of our sins which we commit is death. 

It is true, “if you live according to the flesh you will die.” From this death no one can “give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice.” Don’t be fooled, you cannot atone for your sins. They are like a great weight which cannot be lifted by you whatsoever. They are like the stone which guards the entrance to the grave. Don’t think you’re good enough, or that you’ve accomplished anything which removes that boulder from your grave’s escape. For you aren’t worthy. 

So on this great Feast of Easter, we don’t celebrate our accomplishments, we don’t celebrate our worthiness, we don’t celebrate family or friends, but we celebrate “Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified!” Yes, on this most joyous of celebrations we rejoice in Jesus who is the crucified One. The one who bears in his hands and His feet the marks of the cross. 

For upon the cross Jesus bore your sins and He took upon Himself the wages of your sin: death. Jesus Christ is the one who has been crucified for your sins. Jesus is the one who died your death. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” Jesus died because that is the cost of our sin. 

Therefore Jesus is evermore the crucified Savior! He suffered the agony of Good Friday by being beaten, flogged, and nailed to the tree, so that we would be save eternally. The suffering Jesus endured is the cross, so that by His death He would remove the great stone of death from you. Jesus bore the burden which is far to heavy for us to remove, and this burden was lifted from us when Jesus died. 

On Easter, we don’t celebrate an empty cross. We celebrate a cross upon which Jesus’ body hangs, because that is the cross from which death is vanquished and our death is swallowed up by Jesus’ death. When you see a cross with Jesus’ body hanging on it, it should remind you that the fear and weight of your death has been removed from you because of that crucifixion. Jesus’ suffering and agony is the source of your relief and comfort from death’s dread weight upon you. 

Nevertheless, while on Easter we don’t celebrate an empty cross but a Jesus filled cross, we do however celebrate an empty tomb. The tomb which Mary, Mary, and Solome visited didn’t contain the body of Jesus as they expected, instead “He has risen; He is not here.” Though His dead, lifeless body was laid into the grave, He has risen from the dead because by dying He removed sin’s curse of death from mankind. Christ is risen! Never to die again! But always to live and reign eternally! 

So in the resurrection of Jesus, we see evidenced for us what shall take place in our death as well. Since Christ has been raised from the dead, so shall we who die in this body be raised from the dead! The great stone which locks us in the grave has been removed. No longer does death and the grave hold any power over you, for Christ has removed death’s weight, and opened the tomb’s door for you to be raised from the dead.

When you and your loved ones die while having faith in Christ, it is not permanent.  You will not pass away into a dark abyss of non-existence, but your soul is raised unto heaven to dwell in the presence of Christ at the very moment of death. Your body will not be lost, but it shall rest in its quiet sleeping chamber until Christ returns and raises your body from the grave. Like the tomb of Jesus, your grave will become empty! Your body won’t be there! Christ shall raise your body, the very body that is seated in your pew right now, shall be raised in perfection and immortality like the perfected body of Jesus. 

On this great Easter Feast, we join together with the three women who sought to anoint the body of Jesus, we join together with all of Jesus’ disciples, and we proclaim aloud that our Savior Christ Jesus has been raised from the dead! “This is a sight that gladdens— What peace it doth impart! Now nothing ever saddens The joy within my heart. No gloom shall ever shake, No foe shall ever take The hope which God’s own Son In love for me has won.”

We join with Job who foretold the resurrection that would ensue as a result of Christ’s resurrection from the grave: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”

Today all of our voices shout aloud the same Easter proclamation which fills our thoughts and hopes throughout our Christian walk of faith: Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!