Sermon - Easter 2019

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

A joyous Easter to you all! Christ Jesus has endured the agony of the crucifixion, the shame of the cross, the punishment for our sins, and He has risen from the grave! The angels have declared, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here!” Our Lord Jesus on Good Friday bowed His head and gave up His spirit. On Easter Christ lifted up His head, clothed in the Divine Glory! He once was crowned with thorns, but now He is crowned with majesty from on high! “Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

What a joyous celebratory day! We all wear our Easter best, gathered here to feast upon our Lamb who was sacrificed for us. This day truly is a joyous day worthy of glad shouts of rejoicing! But why? Why do we gather here on Easter? Why are we so happy and filled with jubilation?

Many well-meaning Christians assume that today is a good day just because Christ’s suffering has ended; because His resurrection proves that He is God; because the underdog, Jesus, has risen from the grave and come back to life! 

But that’s not really what it’s all about. The miracles Jesus performed were sufficient to prove that He is God. Jesus is more than an underdog, in fact He’s God, He never was an underdog because He was always on top, He was never going to lose this battle against Satan. Moreover, Jesus’ death and resurrection weren’t done for Himself. It’s not like watching a superhero movie where the hero emerges from the rubble against all odds in order to win the day, and we shed a tear because the hero has overcome his enemies and won the battle for himself in his heart. 

No. The true object of the Christian’s Easter joy is entirely different. It’s about answering the question the three women asked each other in the Gospel, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” Who will roll away the stone from our grave? When we’re laid into a tomb, who will remove the dirt, unseal the vault, and unlock the casket for us? Who will put the flesh and skin and the beating heart around our lifeless bones? Who will breathe the breath of life into our still cold bodies? Jesus. Christ’s resurrection opens the tomb for us.

You see, we celebrate the Easter Feast not because it was important for Christ to rise from the dead, but we rejoice because it’s important for us. For our sake Jesus died and was raised. Just as His crucifixion is for us, so is His resurrection for us. 

We really ought to view the resurrected Christ as our substitute. He didn’t die for Himself and neither did He rise for Himself, but for us. When Jesus died on Good Friday, He wasn’t being punished for His own sins but for the sins of the world. He carried upon Himself our sins, in our place, as our substitute. When He was raised from the dead, He left the burden of our sins in the ground, He left them in the grave. Our sins are out of sight, both from our eyes and from the eyes of God; Jesus left them in the tomb, they’re buried forever.

Jesus wasn’t crucified for anything that He had done, but He was crucified because of all of our sin. The prophet Isaiah explains, “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.” When Jesus suffered and died He paid the debt which our sins had incurred. When He rose from the dead, our punishment had been mete out upon Him, our debt had been paid with His blood in full, so our punishment has come to an end and our debt has been paid completely.

Our Lord suffered and died, He is the crucified one, the One whom God condemned to death in our place. Jesus is our substitute; that should have been us on the cross, we should be the ones who are punished because of our sins, we should be the ones rotting for eternity in the grave suffering the torments  of hell. But Christ took our places. So when Jesus was awakened from the dead, raised by the Father, He was acquitted. He needed no acquittal on His own behalf, for He was not a sinner. So tell me, who is justified in Jesus? Who is forgiven of their sins by Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection? Us! We were! We are acquitted of all of our grievous sins! When the Father raised Jesus from the dead, He raised us from the dead! 

Jesus’ life is our life! Jesus’ acquittal is our acquittal! Jesus’ justification is our justification! “Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification… One act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” Jesus doesn’t lie when He says to you, “Because I live, you also will live… I have overcome the world.”

Thus the resurrection of Jesus rolls away the stone from your tomb! “Death is swallowed up in victory!... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” So you see, the resurrection of Jesus doesn’t matter for the sake of Jesus, but for our sake! His resurrection is the means by which God’s grace and mercy are abundantly revealed and delivered to us! 

“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!” Because of Christ’s resurrection we will be raised from the dead as well. Our bodies shall rise from the grave and we shall live eternally because Christ, our substitute, has died and been raised for us.

“And if Christ had not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins...But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Our dear Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for us, suffered on the cross on our behalf, atoning for our sins, acquitting us of any punishment which we deserve, and now He has been raised from the grave, also on our behalf, so that our lives too are restored in Him. The resurrection of Jesus matters not because of bunnies and candy, but because this is how the grave has lost its sting so that you might live forever. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!