1. Peter 1,3-9. Quasimodogeniti

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Peter 1,3-9              2719

Quasimodogeniti (1. Sonntag nach Ostern)  036   

Vitalis of Ravenna, Italy. Martyr 62

28. April 2019 

1. O Almighty God, who by the death of Your Son has destroyed death, and by His resurrection has brought again innocence and eternal life, so that we, being redeemed from the power of the Devil, might lives in Your reign: grant that we, with our whole hearts, may believe; and, in that faith abiding, evermore praise and thank You.  Amen. (Löhe 476-77) 

2. »Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your lives.« 

  3. The Sunday after Easter historically gives us the pericope of Thomas, the apostle who would not believe in the resurrection unless he sees for himself the crucifixion marks on Jesus’ hands and side. Thomas wants physical evidence and proof of Jesus’ resurrection. Mary Magdalene had this physical evidence on Easter morning as she saw and touched the risen Jesus. The 10 apostles likewise had this physical evidence on Easter evening as they saw, and, presumably, touched Jesus’ hands and side. Thomas lacked that physical evidence; all he had was the testimony of Magdalena and his fellow apostles. 

4. The Apostle Peter writes in his epistle: »Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us.« Mary Magdalene, the 10 apostles and eventually the Apostle Thomas confessed this living hope through the resurrection of Christ. 

5. But Thomas’ critical skepticism is the foundation for modern man’s or woman’s skepticism of the resurrection. Jesus’ tomb was empty on Easter morning; the disciples, the Jews and the Romans all affirm this truth. The important question is why is Jesus’ tomb empty. The Church confesses that the tomb is empty because Jesus rose from the grave; this confession traces all the way back to the first people to see the risen Jesus: Mary Magdalene and the other woman who had gone to the tomb at sunrise on Easter. All the apostles testify to have seen, touched and spoken to the risen Jesus. Over 500 disciples were eyewitnesses to the risen Jesus, and countless Scriptures and Christian writings confess the risen Christ. Our testimony stretches back nearly 2000 years. 

6. A true skeptic will doubt the Christian claim that Christ rose from the tomb. 1. century Jews fell into one of two camps regarding the resurrection: 1. the Sadducees denied the idea of a resurrection altogether; 2. most Jews, including the Pharisees, believed the resurrection would occur on the last day when everyone will be raised up and then judgment would be meted out: the righteous being with God and the wicked being consigned to punishment. This was the position of Mary and Martha when they discussed Lazarus with Jesus: they believed he would be resurrected at the end of history, on the last day, but Jesus said, no, he will be resurrected now, and this foreshadowed Jesus’ own resurrection. That Jesus rose on Easter morning was unexpected, unthinkable and unorthodox; He should not have risen on Sunday but on the last day with everyone else. And this is affirmed by the women, the apostles and Thomas: they were not expecting a risen Jesus on Sunday, and yet there He is before them in the flesh. 

7. The Apostle Paul tells us: »Christ has been raised from the dead as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man death arrived, by a Man the resurrection of the dead has arrived also. 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 the end arrives, when He delivers the reign to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power« (1. Corinthians 15,20-24). 

8. In this we rejoice, for our faith in the risen Jesus results in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though we have not seen Him, yet we love and believe in Him. The Apostle Thomas saw the risen Jesus and confessed: »My Lord and my God! (John 20,28). 

9. But we are not Thomas. We have not seen the risen Jesus, and yet we believe. We have the testimony of Mary Magdalene and Thomas in the Holy Gospels. We have the  testimony of the apostles in their epistles. We have 2000 years of preaching from pastors and the teaching of our parents and grandparents. Our evidence is in the written Scriptures and the stories we have been told. The Holy Spirit has created our faith through these proclamations. Therefore Jesus tells us: »Blessed are you who have not seen and yet have believed« (John 20,29). We confess with Thomas: Jesus, you are my Lord and my God!  Amen and Amen.  

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You have done great things for us, particularly rising from the grave, so that believing in Your resurrection from the dead we hope in our own resurrection by Your hand on the last day. Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.