The Resurrection of our Lord, Cycle C

"Enough on the Passion--Now, the Resurrection!"

April 11, 2004

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Lessons:  Acts 10:34-43;  I Corinthians 15:19-26;  St. John 20:1-18

     "The Passion!  The Passion!"  Still, people are talking about the film, the Passion, produced, directed and marketed by Mel Gibson.  Still, people are talking about how realistic it is;  how powerful it is to see, in full color, all the pain, suffering and agony our Lord must have suffered, for us, for our salvation.  The Passion, of course, is important--not the film, the actual passion and death of our Lord--it's important, indeed, it's critical--but, I say, today-- enough about the Passion!  What we want to hear about, today--is the Resurrection!  I want to consider what it was like for Mary Magdalene to come to the tomb, early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark.  I want to imagine--how frightened she must have been, as she walked up the dusty dirt path, in the shadowy, eerie half-light of the time just before dawn.  I wonder--was she frightened?  Did she feel, as we would feel, walking through a graveyard, early in the morning while it was still dark?  Were there tears, flowing down her cheeks, as she approached the tomb, knowing that her friend, and teacher, her rabbi, had been humiliated, tortured, and crucified--and now lay dead, in a borrowed stone cave?  This Easter morning, do we need a film, to understand what Mary Magdalene, and Peter, and the others felt, and experienced, and saw, at dawn on the day of the Resurrection? 

     Of course not.  Because, we have the witness of Holy Scripture!  This morning, St. John, himself, describes for us, everything we need to know, about that first Easter Sunday.  Because, what do we really need to know, but this--that Christ is Risen!

     Yes, it's helpful for us to understand that Mary was first at the tomb--that she was first to discover that the stone had been removed from the tomb.  It's meaningful, for us to understand that Mary then ran to Simon Peter, and the beloved disciple--reporting, not a resurrection, but a robbery--as she concluded, in her haste, not that Jesus' body had been resurrected, but that it had been removed.  It strikes us as powerful, that Mary, in her grief, expecting a dead body, was not at all prepared for a risen Jesus, standing outside the tomb--thinking he was, of all things, the gardener!  All of this that St. John reports, is meaningful, and interesting, and speaks volumes to us, about that first Easter morn.  But, still, the most important thing is, Christ is Risen!  Jesus lives--and all his suffering and torture;  his pain and humiliation;  his crucifixion and bloody death--are eclipsed-- not minimized, but, now, replaced by the glory of His resurrection.  As indeed, it should be!  Not that the passion of our Lord becomes less meaningful, but in fact, it is the resurrection that gives the passion it's meaning.  Because, just another incident of arrest, trial and capital punishment--sadly, would have meant little in the history of the world.  Even the execution of an innocent man, is no front page headline.  Jesus' suffering and death, would have been, simply, one man's suffering and death, had it not been for the resurrection!  Had Mary Magdalene, and Peter and John, gone to the tomb on Sunday morning, and found the stone still in place, Jesus' lifeless body still wrapped in burial shrouds, with a memorial marker that read, "Here lies Jesus of Nazareth", nothing would've changed--not in our world, not in our lives.  But in fact, what was found was the direct opposite--not a stone reading, "Here lies…", but an empty tomb that proclaims, "He is not here!"  What met them at the tomb, was not a dead body, but a living Lord--who called Mary, by name, and who calls us, as well, by name--calling us to our senses, calling us to see him and know him, alive again--calling us, to go, and announce to others, to the world, "I have seen the Lord--and He's not dead, but living!"

     And this is why Jesus calls us.  This is why Jesus speaks our names!  Why does the Risen Jesus come to us?  So that we, too, can know, that He lives!  So that we too, can be convinced, that Christ, is…risen!  And because He lives--we, too, can live.  Because he lives, you and I, can experience new life, now, in the midst of our lives, which are sometimes, little more than living death.  Because He lives, you and I, who sometimes find ourselves trudging through life like zombies--weighed down with fear, grief, loneliness, shame, depression, struggles and trials-- can be renewed, and restored, and indeed, resurrected, here and now, because our Lord, who was dead, is now, alive, and so--He calls to us--he calls to you, and to me--Jesus says, "David!";  "Kathy!";  "Dick!";  "Margaret!";  "Katie!";  "Bill!"  "Natalie!"  He calls, "Christopher!";  "Brian!"  "Jennifer!" He calls your name--specifically, calling you out of this sometimes living death--into true life, and abundant life, now--as we live our lives, in Him, and for Him--our Risen Lord.  And not only does He call us to new life, now--He also will call us, by name, at that time when we are but dust and ashes, calling us forth, from our tomb, to new life, that will be eternal life.  Because, as St. Paul writes, "if for this life only, we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.  But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died--for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ!"   That, truly, is the meaning, and the message, of both the Passion, and the Resurrection--that Jesus suffered and died, yes--but that then, He was raised--to be the first fruits of all who die in Him--to be the first to be resurrected, so that, as in Adam all will die, so also will all who die in Him, be made alive!  And this message--this resurrection--gives us hope for our ultimate future, gives us the hope and the promise of life, after death.  But this message--this resurrection, gives us hope, also, then, for daily living.  It gives us hope and promise, to live our lives, day by day, in the light and joy and freedom, of Christ's presence.

     It's said that when Blessed Fr. Martin Luther was once disturbed by the accumulating burdens and pressures of leading the Reformation, his friends saw him writing with his finger on the dust of a table top.  And what did he write, but, "Vivit! Vivit!"  "He lives!  He lives!"  Luther drew great strength and comfort and courage, from the fact that Jesus is not dead, but alive--and because He lives, we also can live, fully, abundantly, joyfully--in spite of our uncertainties, challenges, trials and difficulties in life.  And as Luther drew strength and courage and comfort from the Resurrection, so do we!  Comfort, even when we are grieving, ill, lonely, or despairing.  The strength to live new lives, every day!  The courage to live, by God, as if we are resurrected--here and now--because we are being resurrected, here and now!  Because right here, right now, Jesus, risen from death, is present;  present in the Word, written, read and preached--present, soon, in the Sacrament of His body and blood--present, to raise us up, with Him.  Present, to raise us up, to "Go in peace--to serve the Lord.  Present, to raise us up, so that we, too, will proclaim, "I have seen the Lord!"  Present, to raise us up, so that we, too, will run to tell others--will run to spread the message--that Jesus' passion and death were not the last word--for God has the last word, and the word is "Resurrection!"  The word is, "Life!"  For you--for me--for the world!  Today, God has the last word--not Mel Gibson, not the media, and certainly not death nor the devil--but God!  God has the final word for us--and the word is, thank God, LIFE!  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.