Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: 1. Corinthians 15,19-28. Easter Sunday

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

1. Corinthians 15,19-28. Easter Sunday

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

1. Corinthians 15,19-28 2820

Ostersonntag 034

Julius, Bishop of Rome, ✠ 352
Sabas the Goth, Martyr 372

12. April 2020

1. O Jesus, as we now open our eyes and look into the bright day, we seem to begin life anew after having lain in death, as it were, during the peaceful slumber of the night. Yes, now we begin really to live, since You live and have risen from the dead. By Your resurrection You have won for us this happiness, so that in You we may have life and have it abundantly. Let us truly realize the happiness that comes from Your return to life! Let the noble life that is in You be gloriously manifested and break forth in us, so that not only we experience it, but others may also see this new life in us. Amen. (Starck 86 ¶ 1)

2. »If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 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 coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the reign to God the Father after destroying every rule and 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. For »God has put all things in subjection under His feet.« But when it says: »all things are put in subjection,« it is plain that He is excepted who put all things in subjection under Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him, so that God may be all in all.«

3. Christ is risen! He has risen indeed. Hallelujah! Rejoice now, all you heavenly choirs of angels; rejoice now, all creation; sound forth, trumpet of salvation, and proclaim the triumph of our King. Rejoice, too, all the earth, in the radiance of the light now poured upon you and made brilliant by the brightness of the Everlasting King; know that the ancient darkness has been forever banished. Rejoice, O Church of Christ, clothed in the brightness of this light; let all this house of God ring out with rejoicing, with the praises of all God’s faithful people (Exsultet; Altar Book 533).

4. We heard about Jesus’ Messianic entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where He is proclaimed the Son of David and the Messiah. We then follow through on this acclamation throughout Holy Week commorating on the events of Monday Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Today we see the culmination of Holy Week and the Lord’s Heilsgeschichte (salvation history) in the resurrection of Jesus.

5. This year we celebrate a simpler Easter. Normally we would have dozens of Easter lilies adorning our altar, people gathering in their Easter finest and joyous singing matched only by Christmas Eve. Today we stay away due to a respiratory virus, but nonetheless we still gather spiritually using video and Facebook Live; we are gathered in Jesus’ Name united by Him though we are distanced by locality. Something similar happened that first Easter. Jesus was buried in the tomb and His disciples stayed away. Then on Sunday morning some women went before dawn to the tomb to finish the Jewish burial rite that had been hastily abbreviated late Friday as a Sabbath approached. They go to the tomb … and Jesus is not there; their separation from the Lord continues.

6. The women at Easter dawn did not see or speak to the risen Christ. They only saw the empty tomb, the discarded burial cloth and an angel seated where Jesus had been placed. This angel told the startled women: »Do not be afraid. Jesus has risen. Go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going to Galilee. You will see Him there, just as He told you« (Mark 16,6-7). The angel points the women back to Jesus’ teaching that He must be delivered over to the Gentiles, be killed and rise on the third day (Luke 18,31-33).

7. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1. Corinthians 15: » If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 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.« The apostle reminds us that the cornerstone of our Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus. This one event and doctrine sets Christianity apart from every other religion; remove this event and doctrine and Christianity is on par with every religion in the world and would likewise be relegated to a religion of works, morals and parables. Jesus’ resurrection elevates Christianity above all religions. His tomb is empty, He is risen and this has cosmic consequences. We die in Adam, and are alive in Christ. Adam’s sin has been paid for, death is nothing to fear, Jesus is alive and He will raise us up on the last day.

8. Ah, but some, maybe many, will scoff and say: Where’s the proof? Always the skeptic finds joy in the Greeks and their wisdom. Twenty years after the first Easter, the Corinthian Christians were grappling with their wisdom vis-à-vis their faith. So we continue in that intellectual struggle. Here Mark’s Gospel gives us clarity. Remember, Mark ends his Gospel at a point when no one, not even Mary Magdalene, have seen the Lord. The women see the empty tomb, the angel tells them Jesus has risen and they flee the garden in astonishment.

9. Mark ends his Gospel as he did for a specific reason, and in doing so he answers the question that Christians have asked since the first generation of Christians died and joined Jesus in Paradise. That question is: „Wouldn’t it be easier to believe in Jesus if we had some proof?“ Mark’s answer is „It was ever thus. If you had been there it would not have been any easier than it is today. The evidence would have been ambiguous, even with your Lord. What you have is what the disciples and the women had, also on that Easter morning: you have the promise of his Word, a Word that is ever sure“ (Voelz 61). The only proof we have from Mark is that the tomb is empty, an angel told the women that Jesus has risen and they go and tell the apostles. But this word is a sure word for it is a word founded upon the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and a word founded upon the Very Word Himself, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10. We have what Christians have always had: the testimony of Mary Magdalene, the report of the women, the account of the 12 and Paul’s wonderful treat us in first Corinthians 15: Jesus is risen. We have seen him. Rejoice and believe.

11. The tomb was empty on Easter Sunday, and the Apostle Paul proclaims what the empty tomb means: »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.« In these two sentences, the apostle highlights the importance of Christ crucified and risen. On the cross, Jesus atoned for all our sin; and with the empty tomb, Jesus is the first fruit of those to rise from the dead. His atonement and resurrection are ours through Baptism and received by faith. The Apostle Paul tells us that »The last enemy to be destroyed is death.« The empty tomb is what victory looks like, first Christ’ victory and then yours, for in Baptism you have been united to Christ, His resurrection and victory. The women saw this victory first at Easter dawn, and we have heard this victory proclaimed again this day. Remember you Baptism that connects and unites you to Christ’s death and resurrection.

12. Your Baptism works forgiveness of sins, rescues from Death and the Devil and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, for whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16,16), and in your Baptism you were therefore buried with Christ into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, you too may live a new life (Romans 6,4).

13. O glorious day! We are separated but not separated. Christ is with us, we are His brothers and sisters through our Baptism, and He unites us together by faith and in the spirit now and always.

14. Today we have heard the culmination of Holy Week and the Lord’s Heilsgeschichte (salvation history) in the resurrection of Jesus. Next week we will hear that on the evening of Easter Sunday the disciples were social distancing themselves from the Jews for fear of them, then Jesus arrived and stood among them and said to them: „Peace be with you.“, and He showed them His hands and His side. Amen.

15. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, make us joyful of Your resurrection and fill us with delightful hope so that whether we live or are awaiting death we are nevertheless assured of the resurrection of the dead. O Lord Christ, You were once dead but have become alive again so that You have the keys of Death and the Grave, therefore 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).

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

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.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

1. Corinthians 15,19-28. Easter Sunday

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