The
Resurrection of Our Lord (April 5, 2015)
WORDS AT
THE EMPTY TOMB (Mark 16:1-8)
We hear the voice of Jesus in the
Gospels. In fact, in some Bibles, the
very words that came from his mouth are printed in red ink. This practice has been around since 1899 when
the first New Testament was printed with the words of Christ in red. It was the idea of Louis Klopsch, editor of
the Christian Herald magazine. Klopsch wanted to print the words of Jesus in
the color of blood, since Jesus shed his blood for the sins of the world at the
cross, establishing the New Covenant, the free gift of the forgiveness of sins
by faith in Jesus’ finished work at the cross.[1]
In our Lenten midweek services this
year, we heard the words of Jesus from the cross. The “Seven Last Words of Jesus” has been a
familiar Lenten theme over the years, in particular on Good Friday when we
remember his death and all that it means for us.
Now, we are at the tomb. Here, there are no words from Jesus. No red letters. Only silence.
He is silent because he is not here.
And Jesus does often seem silent to us.
We tell him our hurts in prayer, and there is only silence. We cry out to him in the midst of our pain, and
our voice echoes back to us from the walls of our bedroom, the walls of our
study, the walls of our hospital room.
Especially in the face of death, Jesus seems silent. And we are afraid … like the women who came
to the tomb on Sunday morning after the Lord’s death … like the disciples who
fled and hid in fear … like Peter who was afraid of what God must think of him
after denying that he even knew Jesus. Jesus
is silent. We know how we have acted
towards God. And we are afraid of what
he must think of us.
But in fact, there is no silence at
the tomb. The empty tomb itself cries
out, “He has risen!” Jesus is who he
said he was. He is God in the
flesh. He is the Messiah. He is the Savior of the world. The cross and the empty tomb tell us exactly
what God thinks of us. He loves us.
In fact, there is no silence at the
tomb. Here, we do not hear the voice of
Jesus, but rather the voice of an angel.
He says, “Do not be alarmed. You
seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.”
The sinless Son of God was crucified as the once-for-all sacrifice for
sins. The punishment for the sins of the
world – for your sins and my sins – were laid upon Jesus, credited to his
account. Now, your account is marked “paid
in full.” The forgiveness of the world –
your forgiveness – has been earned by Jesus.
There is nothing left for you to do other than to receive his gift of
life and salvation by faith … by trusting in what Christ has done for you.
“He has risen; he is not here,” the
angel’s voice continues. Jesus is risen
from the dead as the victor over sin. He
is risen from the dead as the conqueror over all the consequences of sin … death,
which is the wages of sin; and hell, which is eternal separation from God for
all who refuse to receive the forgiveness of sins that Jesus has earned for
them, for those who think they don’t need a Savior.
But you who are baptized are united
to Jesus in his death and resurrection. In
Romans 6, Paul says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death,
in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Holy Baptism means the death of your sinful
nature. In baptism, your sinful nature
has been put to death so it is no longer the ruling force in your life. Paul says, “We know that our old self was
crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing,
so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin … For sin will have no dominion
over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:6, 14). Baptism means the creation and resurrection
of a new nature within you. In baptism,
you are made to be a new creation with a heart of faith and a new will that
wants to please God and obey him. In 2
Corinthians 5, Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has
come” (2 Cor. 5:17), and again in Romans 6, “Present yourselves to God as those
who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as
instruments of righteousness.” Baptism
means the death of the Law’s condemnation against you. In baptism, you are marked as one redeemed by
Christ the crucified. All that he accomplished
for you is applied to you personally. You are declared “not guilty.” In Romans 8, Paul boldly announces, “There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). And Baptism also is the promise of your own
resurrection on the Last Day when Jesus returns again in glory. Back in Romans 6, the apostle promises, “For
if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be
united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom. 6:5).
The late Christian theologian and philosopher
Francis Schaeffer wrote a book entitled “The God Who is There” with its sequel “He
is There and He Is Not Silent.” The
angel said to the women, “He has risen; he is not here.” Not “here” in the tomb, that is. But in fact, Jesus has risen … and he is
here! To paraphrase Francis Schaeffer:
“He is here and he is not silent.”
The voice of nature cries out to us
of God’s existence. Psalm 19:1 says, “The
heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Creation tells us that there is a
Creator. In Romans 2, Paul speaks of
those who do not have God’s written Law, yet “They show that the work of the
law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and
their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them” (Rom. 2:15). Our conscience tells us that there are
standards of right and wrong that come from somewhere … we say it’s God.
But nature does not tell us all that
we need to know. We need a further
revelation, and he’s given that to us in his Word, the Bible. Jesus speaks to us today through his Word …
and not just the red letters. In the
Bible, we hear God’s Word of Law which tells us what we are to do and not to do
… and we come to realize that we have failed to do God’s will. But God has given us another Word, his Word
of Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News
that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes
in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
The empty tomb cries out along with
the voice of the apostles who testified to having seen the risen Jesus. Paul also mentions that the Risen Jesus had
appeared to over five hundred people at one time. His opponents could have very easily produced
a dead body and put and end to any hysteria over the crazy expectations of his
followers. But his followers were not
expecting him to rise. They were hiding
in fear. Even though Jesus had told them
he would rise after three days, they still doubted. They were as surprised as anyone else when
the tomb was empty. But after they saw
the Risen Lord, they were changed like no one else in history and went out and
boldly added their voice to the angel that “He has risen!” We hear their testimony that Jesus is alive,
and he still speaks to us today through Christian parents, grandparents, Sunday
School teachers, pastors, and so on, as they faithfully teach the Scriptures to
us, which is the very Word of God.
He is here and he is not
silent. He is with us today, our
omnipresent, omnipotent Lord. “I am with
you always,” he said to his disciples. He
is with us also sacramentally in the bread and the wine: “This is my body; this
is my blood” he said to them on the night he was betrayed and gave us the Lord’s
Supper. This altar is our Galilee. This altar is our Jerusalem. This is the place where he is personally present
for us … for life, forgiveness, and salvation … just as he has told us in his
Word.
Come and meet him here.
Come
partake of his life here.
Come with trembling and astonishment
… not in fear, but in peace and joy, for…
Christ
is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.
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