Matthew 28,1-10. Easter Vigil

 ✠ Let no one mourn their transgressions, ✠

Matthew 28,1,10           2421 

Osternacht 033

Agape, Chionia, Irene, Virgins, Martyrs at Thessalonia, 304

3. April 2021

1. O Christ, the Captor of Hades; You have torn asunder the gates of Hades, so that on the last day the coffin door that is closed upon our corpse will be open and our body resurrected to new life life.  Amen. 

2. »Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women: „Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.“

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 welcomes the souls of those who died, and it welcomed Jesus’ too.  

4. There is a hush and a pause around the world today, and not only because we are over a year into pandemic quarantines; the Church waits on baited breath. Christ is asleep in His tomb on Holy Saturday. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see His tomb. Before they arrived, there was an earthquake and an angel descending from heaven who rolled away the tombstone. 

5. Heaven and earth respond to the resurrection of Jesus. God sends His angel to announce the resurrection of His Son; the earth itself quakes as it willingly and joyfully relinquishes the body of Jesus. Heaven and earth rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection.  

6. Such a sight frightened the women. They were not expecting such signs. The angel quickly comforts them by explaining what they have witnessed: »Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.« 

7. Darkness had 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. The Christian era inaugurated by Christ has changed the world. Tomorrow we will celebrate the sunrise of a new day and a new era. Christ paid the price for all our sin on Friday; on Saturday He rested and then open the gates of Death and Hades; on Sunday He rose from His own grave. These redemptive acts have saved us and changed not only us but also the world. 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 © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.