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Lent comes to a climax at Easter, the Sunday that commemorates the resurrection
of Jesus Christ! For the most part, the journey this sermon series, “The
Jesus Walk,” has taken has been through Luke. So, the Easter text will
be from Luke’s Gospel as well.
Characteristically, Luke reminds us that it was seemingly insignificant people—at
least in the eyes of the culture—who were the first eyewitnesses of
the Resurrection. The list of women in 24:10 became the first evangelists,
relaying the Good News of the resurrection of Christ to the disciples. A common
theme among all the resurrection accounts in all the Gospels is one of surprise,
shock and at first disbelief! This is because, as many New Testament scholars
point out, the concept of resurrection was highly disputed among many in Jesus’
day. We know that the Sadducees disputed resurrection, but even the Pharisees’
concept of resurrection was generally of something in the distant future for
a select few. Therefore, Jesus’ resurrection represented the biggest
“paradigm shift” in religious history! Luke takes this theme further
in the first few chapters of Acts, where the sermons preached by Peter center
upon the resurrection of Jesus (“you put him to death . . . but God
raised him from the dead,” as in Acts 2:23-24).
In Luke’s account, the angels remind the women to examine for themselves
the evidence of the empty tomb, to remember what Jesus had predicted and promised,
and then go tell the others the good news.
In the play Man of La Mancha, Don Quixote sings, “The Impossible Dream.”
This is what this text invites all of us to do: to let ourselves really believe
that Jesus had not only died for us, but had risen from the dead. Old Testament
commentators note that the greatest enemy of human beings was not sin (it
was bad, but after all, there were sacrifices and other provisions to be made
for sin), it was death! Even righteous men and women express downright fear
of death at times in the Old Testament. Jesus’ resurrection is the final
nail in the coffin—for death! Death and all the fear and hopelessness
that goes with it are shown to be helpless because of God’s power in
raising Jesus from the dead. A hope beyond death, the greatest need for all
of us mere mortals, is the great message that springs from this text. Remembering
the promise of Jesus and re-experiencing His words of comfort and hope is
our greatest need. This is why the sacrament of Holy Communion is such a key
element of Christian worship. When the women remembered the words of Christ
their gloom and despair turned to joy and zeal(24:8). (Note: A similar experience
takes place in the next section of Luke 24 on the Emmaus Road, which more
specifically centers around Jesus breaking of the bread in a way that may
point to the sacrament of Communion: “. . .by the breaking of the bread
He was known to them,” according to verse 35).
The Jesus walk includes difficult roads: hostile crowds, lonely valleys and
crosses. However, God responds to our obedience by keeping His promise that
not even death can stop His love for us and His work in us. The faithfulness
of God’s promises is a key element of the Easter story: God promised
to redeem completely, and God did through Jesus Christ! As we experience this
truth in our lives, we are called to share it with others, relying continually
upon the promises of God along the way.
The title of my message sums up the words of the angels in this text to the
women who are privy to this great discovery of the empty tomb: look (at the
empty tomb), remember (the words of Jesus), and go (so that others can know
the Good News of God’s grace!). Like the women who approached the tomb
on that first Easter morning, we look with expectant hearts toward our hope.
We are called to remember the promise of resurrection and peace from the lips
of our Lord, and to go eagerly, filled with God’s Good News, into a
world in need of life.
(For the full manuscript of this
sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons”.)
Easter Sunday should be the one service where the Church can feel free to
add all kinds of traditional elements—from liturgy to sacred hymns—that
highlight the over 2,000 year old message that still brings life to those
seeking after God today: “Jesus is risen!” Even in more contemporary
settings, it seems that people are hungry for a connection to those Christian
traditions that highlight the unique character of the Church and the unique
thing that God has done in raising Jesus from the dead. Therefore, this Easter
message should be accompanied by other elements that highlight this wonderfully
told narrative by Luke’s Gospel. In my congregation, we always do all
of the lexical readings for Easter, we precede the Easter Sunday service with
Holy Week services and we provide opportunities to share in a variety of both
contemporary and traditional songs of praise and celebration. Lent, the long
“wilderness wandering,” has passed, and the time for real celebration
of the truths of God we have learned during our time of drawing nearer and
sacrifice have come in the person of the resurrected Christ.
As far as the text itself, I believe it is important to highlight the wonder and excitement throughout: first among the women and then among the other disciples. Also, the admonition to “go” in response to the resurrection becomes the call of Christ to His Church to this very moment. He is risen indeed!