Luke
24:1-12
The
Resurrection of Our Lord
April
21, 2019
So
often historical things happen, and people don’t truly understand the
significance and the implications until well after the fact. Sometimes, these events aren’t even
well-known to the public.
Take,
for instance, the attempted assassination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in
1933. "Joe" Zangara, an
Italian immigrant, and an anarchist, fired his handgun at Roosevelt, who was in
Miami giving a speech. But Zangara was
only 5 feet tall, and needed to stand on a wobbly metal folding chair to get a
good look over the crowd and aim at his target.
His first shot missed, and as he was then grabbed by the crowd he got
off four more wild shots. But that first
shot instead hit another target – Anton Cermak, the mayor of Chicago at the
time – who later died from his wounds.
Had
Zangara been a little more accurate, or perhaps a bit taller, and killed his
intended target Roosevelt, it’s hard to imagine how history would have been
different. Had Roosevelt been
assassinated, his conservative Texas running mate, John Nance Garner, would
most likely have come to power. "The New Deal, the move toward
internationalism — these would never have happened," says one historian,
"It would have changed the history of the world in the 20th century. I
don't think the Kennedy assassination changed things as much as Roosevelt's
would have."
We look
back, today, on a much more important event that is far more well-known and
changed far more of the course of history.
It is also a life-and-death story, or rather a death-and-life story. We mark, of course, the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. And it is just as real and
historical as any other thing that has truly happened. The body of Jesus was never found. There were hundreds of eyewitnesses to the
risen Christ. And his followers spread
the news of it to the corners of the earth, at great personal cost and often in
the face of their own persecution and death.
People don’t become martyrs for a lie.
Large groups of people don’t share hallucinations. The resurrection
really happened! Christ is truly alive, truly rose from the dead, lives and
reigns to all eternity. Christ is risen!
And oh
how the world would be different today if Christ had not been raised! No Christian Church with all of the blessings
that it has brought through the ages – advances in science, social improvements
like the abolition of slavery, the establishment of hospitals and schools,
much, maybe even most, of the fabric of Western Civiliation owes its existence
to the Christian church and its people.
But more than that. It’s not just
history on the macro-level. It matters
to each of us, individually. It’s quite personal.
St.
Paul interprets the resurrection in his letter to the Corinthians, “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith
is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen
asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we
are of all people most to be pitied.”
In
other words, if Jesus isn’t alive, if he didn’t rise from the dead, then:
Your faith is futile. It’s useless.
We might as well burn down Notre Dame completely and all the other
Christian churches. Make them something
more useful. Throw away your
bibles. Pastors will have to go find a
job at Home Depot. We can all find
something better to do on Sundays like go fishing or sleep in. If Jesus isn’t alive, none of this
matters. But you are here today. At that means that on some level, it does
matter to you. And whether your faith is
strong or flagging, whether you are an every Sunday Christian or not so sure or
committed… Jesus Christ is still alive, and the faith is not futile.
Paul
goes on to say, if Christ hasn’t been raised:
then you are still in your sins! See, the whole point of Jesus dying on the
cross was to pay for, cover, take away your sins. All the things that you do that break the
rules, offend God and hurt your neighbor.
It’s a long list, friends, if we could even begin to count our sins. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, though,
we’d be stuck holding that stinky bag.
We wouldn’t know for sure that God forgave us, that he loves us, or that
Christ’s death was good enough to wipe those sins away. But Jesus is indeed alive, and that means
that everything he said was true, and every promise he made is entirely trustworthy. We don’t have to worry about God judging our
sins – because Christ is risen!
And
finally, Paul says, if Christ hasn’t been raised, then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. There’s no hope for them. Who wants to live in a world where there’s no
hope beyond the grave? That’s it, lights
out, you just are no more. What a
nihilistic, dead-end of despair. And yet
that is where the secular world would point us, to the gaping black hole of
death from which no one or nothing ever returns. Thanks be to God that’s not how it is. For us who are in Christ, we go where he
goes. He conquered death. And we too will rise. Our loved ones in Christ are safe in his
care, even now, and we will meet them again face to face, in the flesh, at the
resurrection on the last day.
If
Christ isn’t raised, if it all ends here, if this life is all there is – then
Paul concludes, we are to be pitied more
than all men. And quite frankly,
many do find Christians to be pitiful.
Or worse. For those who deny the
resurrection, who don’t believe that Jesus lives, they see us as backward,
deluded, brain-washed, superstitious, anti-intellectual, holier-than-thou,
mind-numbed zealots who place our faith in a fairy tale. They see all this Christianity as a waste of
time at best. They pity us, or they mock us, or they marginalize us as they see
fit.
But
reality is just the opposite. Those who
are truly to be pitied are those who don’t know or can’t see or won’t believe
the truth of Jesus Christ. They are without
hope. Their future only leads to
despair. We have a hope that does not
fail, and a life even beyond death!
Paul
unpacks so much of the meaning of this day for us, but on that first Easter
morning, it was all so bewildering.
Nobody knew what was going on. They
were running here and there. There was weeping and grieving and hiding. They
were confused and fearful, and yet…
The joy
of this shocking realization began to hit them in various ways. The stone was rolled away, and the body was
gone, and the women are “perplexed” we are told. What does it all mean? Then, even more strangeness, two men appear
out of nowhere. Who are they? Angels?
Their dazzling apparel testifies.
And their words all the more…
“Don’t
you remember his words?” His words – we
should all, always remember his words.
Jesus knew this would happen. He
told them it would happen. He started
already, way back in Luke chapter 9, the Son of Man would be crucified… and on
the third day rise!
The
women told the men, and the men didn’t believe it right away. They thought it was an “idle tale”. Maybe you can relate to that, too.
So often,
even today, we Christians hear the words of Christ but they don’t make sense,
they don’t sink in, we don’t understand them, or maybe we just don’t believe
them. Maybe we heard them long ago, but
we don’t consider that they are very relevant today. But then something changes – a circumstance
of life, a shock to the system, or sometimes just plain old maturity, and the
Holy Spirit enlightens us so we can see.
“Oh, THAT’s what this was all about!”
For the women, for the apostles, they all had their Easter “aha”
moments.
So let
the words of the angels and the words of our Lord and the account of the
apostle Luke remind you, also, today, of the blessed resurrection!
Why are
you seeking the living among the dead?
That’s what makes no sense, after all.
Let it sink in, friends, Jesus is alive!
Death couldn’t hope to stop him, or even contain him. He has swallowed death up in victory. By his death he has destroyed death, and by
his life he has brought life and immortality to light. He lives, he lives, he lives! Christ is risen!
And
that is the best news for you, dear Christian.
Because he lives, your faith is not in vain. Because he lives, your sins are no more. Because he lives, death can’t contain you
either. Oh, it will seem to, for a
little while. Your friends and family
will cry at your funeral. But your rest
in the grave will be like Christ’s – a temporary arrangement. Your resurrection is on its way. Where Christ has gone, we will follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment