1. Samuel 2,1-2.6-8a. The Feast of Christ's Resurrection

✠ Jesus Christ, Gottessohn ✠

1. Samuel 2,1-2.6-8a 2512

Ostersonntag  034 weiß

Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, † 170   

8. April 2012

    1. O Lord Jesus Christ, grant that the festival of Your glorious and gracious resurrection which we celebrate this day may indeed be for all of us a true Easter festival, a festival of resurrection, of life, of liberty, of grace, of forgiveness, of righteousness and joy. And grant that today no one of us may leave this church, dedicated to Your glory, without recognizing, believing and therefore rejoicing in the fact that also each one of us has long ago been truly reconciled through You to our Heavenly Father, and that in You all our sins have long ago been forgiven (Walther 229).  Amen. 

    2. When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 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. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, „Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they placed Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.“ And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  

    3. On the first day of the week, Mark the Evangelist tells us that the women went to Jesus’ tomb. These noble women were prominent disciples of Jesus. Mary Magdalene (who is the only lady mentioned by name in all Four Gospel accounts of Easter Sunday) was a woman from whom Jesus had exorcised seven demons. She was a wealthy woman who supported Jesus’ ministry out of her means. Salome was the wife of Zebedee, the mother of the apostles James and John, and (according to Christian tradition) the sister of the Virgin Mary. The other Mary mentioned here was the mother of James, and this James was also an apostle of Jesus. These women traveled with the twelve apostles. They saw the miracles Jesus performed. They heard the teachings and parables. They ate and fellowshipped with Jesus. They supported the ministry of Jesus. Mary, Salome and the others believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of Man and the King of Israel. These women nobly awakened early on Sunday morning to apply spices to Jesus’ corpse so as to complete the Jewish burial rite.

4. These women expected to find the corpse of Jesus in the grave where He had been placed on late Friday afternoon. The women went in mourning to finish burying their Lord and friend. When they arrive at the tomb, they see a sight that no one wants to see when visiting the grave of a loved one: the tomb is open and the body is gone. Who has broken into the tomb, and why have they taken the body of Jesus? were probably the initial questions that ran through their minds.

    5. What exactly did these blessed women see? They saw the large stone that safely secured the tomb had been rolled clear away. They saw a stranger at the tomb: a certain young man dressed in white. The corpse of Jesus was not in the opened tomb. It becomes clear soon enough that what these women beheld was angels’ work, for this young man dressed in white is indeed an angel who is given the glorious task to proclaim the Easter gospel: »Jesus was crucified, but He has risen. He is not here. Go to Galilee and tell His disciples« (Mark 16,6-7).

    6. In the Gospel according to Mark, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome were the first human beings to see the empty grave of Jesus. They were following the Biblical tradition of women confessing the resurrection. Hannah, the mother of the Prophet Samuel, confessed her Jewish faith, saying: »Yahweh kills and brings to life; He brings down to the grave and raises up« (1. Samuel 2,6). The people of God consistently confess that God will raise people up from the grave.

    7. Such confession, however, looked for the resurrection at some distant, future time when on the last day Yahweh raises up all the dead back to life with a physical body. The Prophet Hosea described that last day, writing: »Yahweh declares: „I will redeem them from the grave and rescue them from death. O Death, I am going to be a pestilence to you. O Grave, I am going to be a sting to you“« (Hosea 13,14). Mary Magdalene and Salome all believed that on the last day Yahweh would raise them and all people back to new resurrected life. Remember also the discussion Jesus had with His dear friends Mary and Martha at Lazarus’ tomb, how the sisters knew that on the last day their beloved brother would be raised from his grave. The women, however, in Mark 16 behold that last day inaugurated with their very own eyes. They saw Jesus redeemed from the grave. They saw Jesus recused from death. The risen Jesus slays death and kills the grave. „In His suffering, these enemies confidently gripped Christ; in the resurrection, He came back again from the slaughter and showed Himself as the Victorious Prince“ (Gerhard 317). The last day resurrection victory had been brought forward in time, to the present, and impacted the lives of these faithful women. 

    8. Mark the Evangelist describes the women’s reaction to this miraculous sight: »And the women went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid« (Mark 16,8). Why might these godly, faithful women be afraid? „The crucified Christ is risen. We want to consider two points written in our Scripture reading. 1. The resurrection of the crucified leaves us frightened of God’s power. 2. The resurrection of the crucified Christ gives new hope to those who are frightened and lets them participate in the eternal life“

 (Wenz §3).

    9. „Dear congregation! The women’s terror comes from God. The angel is God’s messenger. As a messenger of God, he rushes into the women’s terror, he disrupts their grief, … so that they are beside themselves with fear. This is the one necessary aspect of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because the resurrection is only possible if the Living, Holy God Himself was at work here. Terror, fear and trembling seize people in the Bible whenever they come close to this Living, Holy God“ (Wenz §11-12). The women experienced the aftermath of something miraculous and Divine. They were in the presence of God’s almighty power, and they rightly were afraid of His Divine might. Dead people do not rise up to new life. Such is our human experience. But on Easter Sunday Jesus’ grave is empty. His body is gone. 

     10. An empty tomb, however, is not resurrection faith nor faith in the resurrection of Jesus. An empty grave is merely an empty grave. There are any number of reasons why and how Jesus’ grave could be empty. Therefore the angel tells the women why the grave is empty: he proclaims that Jesus has risen, just as He taught and promised (Mark 8,31). Jesus has the power to lay down His life, and the power to take up His life again (John 10,17). His grave is empty because Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection gives new hope to those who are afraid of God’s mighty power. Jesus’ resurrection lets us participate in eternal life. The Apostle Paul beautifully explained the participation in everlasting life by saying: »Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as a man brought death, so also a man has brought the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, then at His advent those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when Christ delivers the reign to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.« (1. Corinthians 15,20-24), and also: »Our Lord Jesus Christ will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory« (Philippians 3,20-21). 

11. Mark ends his Easter Gospel with: »And the women went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid« (Mark 16,8). At this point they have not seen the risen Jesus, but they have only seen that His grave is empty and heard that He has risen. Mark leaves us with the glorious anticipation of the women yet to tell the disciples the gospel and the joy of seeing Jesus risen with their own eyes. At verse 8 the women merely have the spoken word to create faith, and thus they are in the same state that we ourselves are in. We only have the proclaimed gospel that Jesus has risen, but soon we will behold the presence of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper when His body and blood are given out to us in the Sacrament. Behold, Christ is risen; He is risen indeed! Your sin is forgiven. Jesus will raise you up on the last day and give you eternal life in His Divine presence. Go, and proclaim this gospel to your neighbors.  Amen. 

    13. Let us pray. O Lord, Most Merciful and Gracious God! The power of Your resurrection makes it clear to us that we are redeemed from the fear of death, and that we are no longer shaken and horrified by our life on this sinful earth. O Lord, make us joyful of Your resurrection and fill us with delightful hope so that we whether we live or are awaiting death we are nevertheless assured of the resurrection of the dead. O Lord Jesus, You were once dead but have become alive again so that You have the keys of Death and the Grave so that we sing our Hosannas and our Hallelujahs for You are our propitiation both in the hour of our parting and in our resurrection! By Your death and Your resurrection, we live!  Amen. (Löhe 6 §7).

Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden.

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

     Gerhard, Johann. Postilla, Vol. 1. Copyright © 2003 The Center for the Study of Lutheran Orthodoxy.

Löhe, Wilhelm. A sermon preached on Mark 16,1-8 on Osterfeste. Translation © 2011 The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind.

    Walther, C. F. W. The Word of His Grace. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod Translation Committee, translator. Copyright © 1978 Graphic Publishing Company, Inc.

    Wenz, Armin. A sermon preached on Mark 16,1-8 on Ostersonntag, 12. April 2009 in Oberursel, Germany. Copyright © 2009 Armin Wenz. Translation © 2011 The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind.