READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Job 19:23-27
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
- St. Mark 16:1-8
Grace, Mercy, and Peace are secure for you from God our Father, through our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Crucified of God!
Who speaks to us, even today, and we have been given ears to hear:
“But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going
before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
With these words, God tenderly invites Mary to believe that she incorrectly recited her catechism. She got pretty far, but when it came time to recite St. Mark 14:28, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee” which was only four days before this, during the Last Supper.
Memory plays a key role in Faith and is, in fact, the job of the Holy Spirit. That He will “teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). When we remember, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. In order to foster this life of remembrance, we go back to the basics.
Back to basics. Nuts and bolts. If you want to master anything, they say, you need to master the basics. Everybody knows Jesus was raised from the dead, right? That’s basic Christianity! Good. We’ll start there today.
And we’ll even start like this: the Bible does not have to be the Word of God in order to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ! How about them apples? It can be regarded as merely a volume of literature from its own time and place. Pastor, are you saying you don’t need faith for the resurrection? Just hold on and we’ll get there.
Basics of basics is: Jesus rose from the dead. while that is a statement of faith, it is also a statement of historic fact. God is so great that He has opened Himself up to history to be investigated. And if you want to start somewhere with your friend, to get them to church, here are 5 historical facts that pert near all historians, believers and skeptics, believe about Jesus:
1. Jesus died by crucifixion
2. Jesus’s tomb was empty, after His burial
3. Jesus’s disciples sincerely believed that He rose from the dead and appeared to them
4. Paul, the Church Persecutor, converted and started preaching about the risen Jesus
5. James, the skeptic, converted and preached the resurrection as well
To historians, the New Testament is just a collection of papers bearing witness to a certain time and place. Jesus on the cross is attested to by more than just the Bible, but the books of the Bible have also been shown to be historically accurate. Meaning, both the New Testament and outside sources agree there was a man named Jesus and that He died by crucifixion.
The same accounts also agree that the tomb of Jesus was empty, after His crucifixion. that doesn’t mean resurrection yet, but it does mean that many witnesses, even opponents of each other, agree that somehow the tomb was empty. either Jesus revived or His disciples stole His body. regardless, Jesus was not where He was left, Easter morning.
Third, most New Testament scholars agree that those who followed Jesus actually believed that He rose from the dead and appeared to them for a period of time. It is what those disciples wrote and attested to, which is the focus, not that it was true or not. Truth aside, it is historically accurate to say a buncha folks believe they saw Jesus after His death.
Fourth and fifth are tied together. St. Paul and St. James were both opponents of the Faith. St Paul because he was a Jew and St. James because Jesus was his brother and you don’t believe crazy things about your brother. Yet in both cases, these two opponents changed their minds. They both encountered some event that led to them siding with their opponents, instead.
The question then comes: what’s the best, historic explanation for all the facts? Skeptics’ arguments can account for some of these facts, 2 or three at one time, but not all. The Bible, as God’s Word, accounts for and explains all the facts. That is, the truth of the resurrection and the proof that Jesus lives takes all these historic facts and ties them together.
That is the only explanation that does that. Which means, to begin to talk about the resurrection of Jesus, doesn't take a leap of faith, so to speak. the leap of faith comes when you want to explain the necessity and benefits of the resurrection of Jesus. That’s when you must rely on God's Word as God’s Word.
God’s Word can be verified out side of faith. He opens Himself to such investigation. If I were writing an epistle or other part of what would become a Bible, I would do it differently. I would never make any of my claims falsifiable. I would make it so that its never possible to prove that my claims are false.
So the resurrection is true with or without faith. What faith claims for us is the God-given benefits. What are the benefits of a resurrection?
In Psalm 17:15, David expresses confidence that God will satisfy him as well with a resurrection, “As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.” How does David know this will happen? He explains in Psalm 16:10, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
At Pentecost Peter applies Psalm 16 to God raising Christ from the dead (Acts 2:22-28). Peter points out the obvious, namely, that David is dead in his tomb to this day (2:29). But not so for Christ! “Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he [David] foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses” (2:30-32)
Ps 22:29 that all of God’s people will also undergo a resurrection, “All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.”
Psalm 103:4 “He redeems your life from the pit”
Hosea 6:2 announces, “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.”
Isaiah 26:19 echoes the hope of a resurrection from the perspective of the saints, “Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.”
Though the resurrection is fact, only the Word and Sacraments produce faith. Faith that the resurrection is not just fact, but doctrine. Doctrine that gives life and hands over the benefits of that resurrection to those who believe.
Of those Easter promises, St. John Chrysostom from the 4th century, preaches:
If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast.
If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense.
If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward.
If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast.
If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore.
If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing.
If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.
And he shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts.
And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering.
Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second.
You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day.
Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast.
The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free.
He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.
By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive.
He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions.
It was embittered, for it was abolished.
It was embittered, for it was mocked.
It was embittered, for it was slain.
It was embittered, for it was overthrown.
It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.
It took a body, and met God face to face.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?
Christ is risen, and you are overthrown.
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.
Christ is risen, and life reigns.
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.
For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.
Forever and ever.
Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!