Easter 2009– “God’s Truth vs. Satan’s Lies.”  Luke 24:1-9

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.  The text for our sermon meditation is taken from the Gospel account of St Luke, the 24^th Chapter:

 

      On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"

      Then they remembered his words.  When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.

 

So far the reading.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!

 

      One Palm Sunday, a Sunday School teacher announced to the children that the following Sunday, Easter Sunday, their pastor was going to visit the class.  In preparation for this visit, the teacher rehearsed questions and answers with the children.  Each child was assigned and question they would be asked by the pastor and the answer they were to give.  On little boy was given the question “Who saved you?” and he was to answer, “Jesus saved me!”

 

      Well, Easter Sunday came and the pastor visited the classroom ad began to ask the children questions.  When he asked the question, “Who saved you?” there was only silence.  The silence continued briefly until a little girl raised her hand and said, “Pastor, the boy Jesus saved is home sick with the mumps.”

 

      As humorous as this is, there is a subtle lie revealed in the response by the little girl.  The lie placed before us by Satan is that some people think Jesus did not save them.  Many people, and sadly some Christians, too, fall victim to this lie.  The teacher did not realize what she was doing when she had only one child rehearse the question about Jesus’ salvation.  The other children misinterpreted the death and resurrection of Jesus to be for only one child and not for them all.  This was revealed in the words of the girl who had raised her hand and explained the situation.

 

      Satan’s lie is insidious.  It is based in the seeds of doubt which Satan casts so liberally into the world.  Those seeds of doubt can begin to grow and cause people to have a crisis of faith, or to reject the salvation of Jesus Christ altogether.  Such truth can be seen even in the close followers of Jesus – the women who went to his tomb to finish the burial preparations, and the disciples who doubted the women’s report of Jesus’ resurrection.

 

      Luke writes: “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.”

 

      Mark says that these spices were to finish burial preparations begun the previous Friday by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.  These two men had taken Jesus’ lifeless body down from the cross and buried it according to the custom of the Jews.  These two men had carefully anointed Jesus’ body in the burial spices and ointments and then wrapped him in the burial cloths – one around the body and a separate cloth for the head. 

 

      That same day, the tomb was closed with a large round stone.  On this stone was the seal made by men.  In front of this tomb was the squad of soldiers tasked with keeping the living out of Jesus’ tomb.  Yet, they were unable to keep the resurrected in, but we are getting ahead of ourselves.

 

      Now the women came to finish what had been started.  Their hearts and minds were fixed fully on the spectacle of Jesus crucifixion and death and they gave no thought to what Jesus had told them earlier.  They fully expected to see their Lord’s body in the tomb.  They were even wondering how they would open the tomb.

 

      For both the women and the disciples, Jesus was dead.  Their relationship with their Teacher, their Rabbi, was ended.  They had witnessed from a distance the bleeding, abused and now lifeless body of Jesus taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb.  The words which Jesus spoke to them were a dim memory clouded by pain, uncertainty and doubt.

 

      This is the difficulty that afflicts each of us at one time or another.  We are struggling with some difficulty – an illness or injury, a family emergency, or some equally distracting event in our lives.  Many times, we focus only on the present and forget about the grace of God in the past or the promise of God for the future.  We focus our attention on those things that would distract us from the truth.  We are caught in the emotion of the moment, and act upon emotion rather than considering the true nature of the trial, difficulty or problem.  We lose sight of the right action and we grope around as if we are in a dark room trying to feel our way to the door.

 

      The women were doing this very thing as they walked to the tomb that first Easter morning.  Expecting to have to move the stone, after getting past the guards, the women the women were shocked out of their sorrow darkened journey.  For when they reach the tomb, it is no longer closed to them.  No, the tomb stands wide open.  The darkness of death has been replaced by the light of life.  Listen to Luke’s account of this journey.

 

“…suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,”

 

      But still the joy was clouded by fear.  The women fell to the ground in fear at the sight of the two angelic beings, and covered their faces.  You know how it is when you are afraid, especially children, we cover our faces seeking protection, or thinking we can hide behind our hands.  What an imposing sight this must have been for the women.  They have recently witnessed the death of their teacher.  Now, they are faced with his open tomb, which certainly means his body is no longer there.  Moreover, these two angelic beings are giving them a strange message.  Indeed, it is a terrifying moment.

 

      However, terror is not the goal of the angels and their message.  Rather, they are bringing good news of fulfillment and life.  Snapping the women out of their fear, the angels begin a normal conversation with them.  Luke writes:

 

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'”

 

      There is a mild rebuke for lack of memory.  “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”  This is to bring the women back to the reality of the situation.  Remember what Jesus told you they continue.  Everything you witnessed these last days happened according to what Jesus had said.  His betrayal and crucifixion were foretold by Jesus.  Remember what the outcome would be?  This course of events would not end with death, but with life.  Jesus is risen as he said.

 

      People often forget the truth that accompanies Jesus’ death.  Like the women who journeyed to the tomb that Easter morning, they forget that Jesus died for a purpose, a great purpose.  That great purpose is to effect the plan of salvation established by God from the foundation of the earth and all creation.  St Paul so richly describes this great salvation in his first epistle to the Corinthian Church.

 

      “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures …”

 

      Paul simply states to the believers in Rome:

 

      “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

 

      Why do we doubt this promise so firmly founded in Jesus death and resurrection?  We give in to the lie that Jesus did not die for our sin.  We sometimes may think that we have committed the sin that is too great for Jesus’ sacrifice to cover.  We think that we are unlovable because of what we have done.  We think God could never love me, because of the life I have lived.  We abandon the hope that our gracious God would offer us. 

 

      Surely, like these women that first Easter, we need a gentle rebuke and a tender glance from our Savior to look again at the empty tomb and see that Jesus’ death is your death, and Jesus’ resurrection is  the sure guarantee of your own resurrection from death.

 

      God has indeed saved you!  In the resurrected Jesus, God has revealed to you the depth of His love and commitment to save a world lost in sin and wandering in the thick fog of Satan’s lies.  The voice of God calls to the lost and leads the lost o the safety of the empty tomb.  The same word of God burns off the thick fog of doubt and reveals the safe harbor of forgiveness in the resurrected Jesus Christ.

 

      “Grave where is thy victory?  Death where is they sting?  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

 

      Christ is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!  Amen.