Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: 1. Thessalonians 4,13-18. Easter Vigil

Sunday, April 21, 2019

1. Thessalonians 4,13-18. Easter Vigil

✠ Let no one mourn their transgressions, ✠

1. Thessalonians 4,13-18 2519

Osternacht 033 weiß

Sulpicius and Servilianus, Martyrs at Rome 117

Johannes Bugenhagen, Pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Wittenberg, ✠ 1558

20. April 2019

1. O Christ, the Bringer of Eternal Life, remove the sting of death, tear asunder the gates of Hades, so that we may rejoice in Your victory over death and Hades. Amen.

2. »But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the advent of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.«

3. We all grieve death. Death is the deadly sting that affects fallen man. The grave follows death and the separation is now physically complete. All we have left of our loved ones is a grave marker, a tombstone, a crypt or an urn. Death is brutal: earth to earth and ashes to ashes. So it was for those who loved Jesus. They removed His corpse from the cross, quickly wrapped Him in a burial shroud, hastily buried him in a nearby tomb and covered His face and head with a veil. They then left to celebrate the Sabbath rest and mourn the loss of their Messiah and friend. Hades welcomed the souls of those who died, and it welcomed Jesus too.

4. There is a great silence and stillness on earth today (Bishop Melito of Sardis ¶ 1). The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep (Bishop Melito of Sardis ¶ 1). The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh (Bishop Melito of Sardis ¶ 1). But something strange is happening (Bishop Melito of Sardis ¶ 1). God has died in the flesh and now it is Hades that trembles with fear, for Christ has raised up all who have slept since the world began (Bishop Melito of Sardis ¶ 1).

5. Saint Paul tells us: »For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.« Paul says death is merely a sleep; when you sleep you wake up again. So too in Christ, all who fall asleep in death will be woken up by Christ. He had descended into Hades to search for those who had fallen asleep before Him. Christ visited those dwelling in darkness and in the shadow of Death. He went to free from sorrow those captive in Hades, bringing forth first Adam and Eve, He who is both the Second Adam and the Son of Eve. He took them by the hand and raised them up, saying: „Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, for I, the Christ, give you light« [Isaiah 60,1-3] (Bishop Melito ¶ 2) .Yes, the Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, announcing there the gospel of His advent and of the forgiveness of sins conferred upon those who believe in Him (Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book 5, Chapter 31, ¶ 2). Sampson once tore asunder the city gate of Gaza and carried it away, this opening the Philistine city to those who would go in or out. Likewise Christ has torn open the gates of Hades. And none who were consigned there need remain anymore. Christ has lead the captives out.

6. Behold, the cry is fast approaching with the rising Sunday dawn: Rejoice, for the Sleeper has awakened! Do not fear, for He has risen just as He told you He would! Christ has risen and He brings with him a train of captives set free from sin, Death, Hades and the Devil. The Apostle Paul Paul proclaims: »All who are in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has arrived« (2. Corinthians 5,17-18). In Christ we are a new creation. The old has died on the cross with Christ, and the new arises with Him on Easter. Darkness has fallen on Good Friday, but the light of Easter dawn is about to rise above the horizon.

7. For our sake Christ took on human flesh, suffered, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into Hades. All this He did to ransom us back to God the Father. Christ bore His cross and shed His blood to save the world from its sinfulness. The Serpent lead Adam out of the earthly paradise of the Garden of Eden, but Christ our Savior leads us into the heavenly Paradise to dwell with Him for all eternity. Let us leave this place, and with her eyes on Jesus follow Him from the grave to His empty tomb and the bright light of His resurrection. Amen.

8. Let us pray. O Almighty, Ever-Living God, whose Only-begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead, and rose from there to glory, grant that Your faithful people, who were buried with Him in Holy Baptism, may, by His resurrection, obtain eternal life (Holy Saturday Collect). Amen.

for pardon has dawned from the grave

✠

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.

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

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, April 21, 2019

1. Thessalonians 4,13-18. Easter Vigil

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