1. Corinthians 15,1-11. Easter

1. Corinthians 15,1-11  2223

Ostersonntag  35 ad ecclesiae et mundo (to Church and world)

Mary Clopas, sister of the Mother of God, John 19,25

Dietrich Bonhöffer, Pastor and Confessor, 1945 

Coptic Martyrs (44+) in Alexandria and Tanta, Egypt by ISIS on Palm Sunday, ✠ 2017 

9. April 2023

1. ℣ When I awake, I am still with Thee. Hallelujah!: 

℟ Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me. Hallelujah! (Psalm 139,18b.5b). 

O Christ Jesus, this is the day of Your resurrection; we rejoice and are glad in it, for we give thanks to You, for You are good; for Your merciful steadfast love endures forever.  Amen. (Psalm 118,24.1 Gradual). 

2. »Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.« 

3. The Apostle Paul summarizes the gospel with 3 points: 

I. Christ crucified for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

II. He was buried and

III. He was raised on the 3. day in accordance with the Scriptures.   

Paul grounds this gospel with firsthand eyewitness testimony. He lists the people who saw and spoke to the resurrected Christ: Peter (Cephas), James and Paul, all the apostles and 500 disciples. Most of these people were still living when Paul wrote his epistle in ad 55; if the Corinthians had any questions they can ask any of these people and hear their testimony of the resurrection. 2000 years later we can’t ask these people for they have gone on to be with Jesus, but we have the written testimony of the apostles in the Gospels and the New Testament that have preserved in writing their testimony to the resurrection. 

4. Paul also grounds the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ with the Scriptures; he says the Torah and the Prophets speak of Jesus’ death and resurrection before they occurred. Paul does not give specific Scriptural references in his epistle, but we can deduce which Scriptures he most likely had in mind. Three particular Old Testament passages speak of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. »For You will not abandon My soul in Hades nor let Your Holy One see destruction/corruption« (Psalm 15,10 lxx; 16,10). »But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of Yahweh to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of Yahweh shall prosper in His hand. Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, My Servant, make all to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of all, and makes intercession for the transgressors« (Isaiah 53,5-6.9-12). »After 2 days He will restore us to health; on the 3. day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him« (Hosea 6,2 lxx). 

5. About 100 years after Paul, Tertullian (155-220) wrote a treatise called On the Resurrection of the Flesh. Three of his many points are: 

I. the resurrection of the dead is a central doctrine of the faith, and it is based on Christ’s bodily resurrection;

II. the resurrection of the dead is a source of hope and comfort for Christians; and

III. the resurrection is necessary for justice to be done. 

Tertullian writes: For it is unjust that the good should suffer and the wicked prosper (Chapter 23). Therefore, Tertullian argues that Christ’s resurrection had to happen. The cross unjustly punished and killed an innocent and righteous Jesus. Pilate himself had affirmed Jesus’ innocence. In order for Good Friday to be vindicated, Easter Sunday had to occur. The righteous Jesus had to rise from His tomb to prove His innocence. This is why Good Friday and Easter Sunday are always spoken as a couplet: you can’t have one without the other. Jesus took upon Himself our guilty verdict, shed His blood to redeem us and died in our place. He purchased the forgiveness of sin on Good Friday. Jesus overcame death by descending into hell, returning from it and rising up from His grave. The Apostle Peter preaches this on Pentecost: »Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works, wonders and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified« (Acts 2,22-24.36). 

6. About 50 years after Tertullian’s treatise, Cyprian of Carthage (210-58) wrote a lengthy essay on 1. Corinthians 15 titled Treatise 36 On the Resurrection of the Flesh; 3 of his main points are: 

I. the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our faith and hope; 

II. the resurrection of Christ is the victory over death; and 

III. the resurrection of Christ is the promise of our own resurrection. 

Good Friday and Easter Sunday are what sets Christianity apart from every other religion. Christ’s death and resurrection is the gospel that is preached and what we believe. Tertullian and Cyprian were expounding upon what Paul wrote in 1. Corinthians: »But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a Man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all 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 He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule, every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death« (1. Corinthians 15,20-26). 

7. On Good Friday we bow our head before the crucified Jesus in sorrow and shame for our sin; on Easter Sunday we kneel before the risen Jesus in adoration and thanksgiving for the salvation He brings. The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles tell us the following: 

I. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary took hold of Jesus’ feet and worshipped Him (Matthew 28,9)

II. Mary Magdalen, Joanna and Mary the mother of James told the apostles that Jesus’ tomb was empty and that He had risen from the dead (Luke 24,10)

III. Mary Magdalen announced to the disciples that she had seen the Lord (John 20,18)

IV. Thomas exclaimed: My Lord and my God! (John 20,28)

V. Paul saw the risen Jesus whose appearance was brighter than the sun (Acts 26,13). 

8. Our faith is trustworthy and true. Jesus’ tomb is empty, and He is risen. Our sins are forgiven. Jesus’ crucifixion is vindicated by His resurrection. Jesus had told Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in Him shall live, yes, live eternally with Him (John 11,25). On Friday, Death had seized our Lord Jesus Christ, but on Sunday it could not keep its hold on His Life; today Death has lost its dominion and has suffered a kind of death itself; on Friday creation mourned and the sun darkened, but on Sunday the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light [Isaiah 9,2; Matthew 4,16] (Amphilochius of Iconium Homily 5: For Holy Saturday). Rejoice, for Christ is risen, and He brings with Him the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4,17)! 

9. Christ brings me to the portal, 

Which to heaven leads,

At which with words immortal

The rhyme thus reads:

»Who there My praise has shared,

Will have a crown prepared;

Who there with Me dies, 

Will here also arise.« (Auf, auf, mein Herz, mit Freuden elkg 453,9 2021 Paul Gerhardt 1653). 

This is most certainly true. 

10. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7).  Amen. 

11. Let us pray. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, to joy and rejoicing unspeakable and full of glory in Him.  Amen. (Easter, Vespers Collect 5. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

 

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover. 

The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.