2. Timothy 2,8-13. Easter Vigil homily

✠ Let no one mourn their transgressions, ✠

2. Timothy 2,8-13  2720 

Osternacht  033 weiß

Antipas, the faithful witness at Pergamum, Revelation 2,13

Mikael Agricola, Bishop of Torku, Finland, Reformer, ✠ 1557 

11. April 2020 

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. »Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the Offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: 

If we have died with Him, then we will also live with Him; 

if we endure, then we will also reign with Him;

if we deny Him, then He also will deny us; 

if we are faithless, then He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.«   

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 hush and a pause around the world today; the Church waits on baited breath. Christ is asleep in His tomb on Holy Saturday. For many, this past Thursday and Friday were just another end of the week; Saturday is no different. Not a thought or a care about Jesus and what He did nearly 2000 years ago in Jerusalem. But the Church knows; we keep the feast and the memorial of His last supper and crucifixion. We heard again how Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene and the women reverently and hastily buried Jesus in a tomb. We celebrated it a bit differently than is the norm, separated for a time because of a pandemic, but remember and celebrate we still did. We remained faithful even in trying times. Our faithfulness is about to be rewarded.

5. Saint Paul tells us: »If we have died with Jesus Christ, then we will also live with Him; if we endure, then we will also reign with Him.« Hades is about to get a very rude awakening. Death is about to be defeated. The Grave is about to lose what it is not supposed to lose. Something remarkable is about to happen: Jesus has descended into Hades to revive those who had fallen asleep before Him; He has descended to free those from their sorrow who are captive in Hades. Just as Moses told pharaoh to let Gods’ people go, Jesus told Hades to let His people go. Arise Adam, arise Eve, arise Abel, arise Seth, arise Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham and Japeth, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, arise you sons of Jacob, arise Moses, Aaron, and Joshua, arise David, Solomon, and all the patriarch, matriarch and those longing for the fulfillment of Genesis 3,15. The Serpent’s head has been crushed and the one who did it stands in your midst. The gates of Hades are torn asunder by one stronger than Sampson: it is Jesus who leads its captives free. The dead are now alive and dwelling with God in Paradise.The graves of all will one day release their bodies, for the one who has conquered Hades and Death is about to rise from His grave. 

6. Behold, the sun is about to rise on a new day and a new week. Christ has awakened and He brings with him a train of captives set free from sin, Death, Hades and the Devil. »If we are faithless, then Jesus remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.« And He will not deny you. He will not abandon you. He will deliver you; He will deliver us from the scourge of this coronavirus pandemic. Trust in Jesus, for He is the victor of Death and the Grave. Darkness has fallen on Good Friday, but the light of Easter dawn is about to rise above the horizon. Do you see it? Do you hear it? The light is about to ascend the horizon; the earth is trembling and the stone in front of the tomb is shaking. A light is about to descend from the heavens, an angelic light bearing forth the most wondrous of good news. The sunrise of a new day, yes, a new era. 

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 first Adam lost for us all the earthly paradise of the Garden of Eden, but Second Adam leads us back to the paradise, first in heaven where will will dwell with Him, the angels and all the saints who have preceded us and then into the new earthly paradise when Christ  creates a new heaven and earth where we will dwell with Him for all eternity. Let us leave this place, and with our eyes on Jesus follow Him from the grave to His empty tomb and the bright light of His resurrection. The dawn of Sunday is soon approaching, and so too is Christ’s 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. 

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

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