Mark 16:1-8 (Easter Sunday)
St. John, Galveston 3/31/2024
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!

As I read through the Gospel reading for this morning, from Mark 16, and as I looked over the events of this past week, it occurred to me that the meaning of various events in our lives is often revealed to us with the passage of time. I realize that’s not a great revelation, but it does bear remembering, especially as we reflect this morning on Mark’s account of the first Easter morning and the women who came to the Jesus’ tomb.

Again, the meaning of events in our lives is often revealed to us with the passage of time. This past week, a huge container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key bridge that spanned across Baltimore harbor. After it was hit, the bridge instantly collapsed into the water. Just moments after it happened, people began to search for answers to their questions. Why did it happen? What went wrong? Was the accident due to some sort mechanical problem on the ship, or was it human error? Worse yet, was it not an accident at all? Was it a terrorist attack? When the incident occurred, no one had the answers to any of those questions. Speculation ran rampant as people tried to figure out what caused the ship to hit the bridge. In the meantime, people went through a gamut of emotions as they waited for more information.

In the Gospel reading for this Easter Sunday, we heard about the women who went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint His body with spices and oils. Before they got to the tomb, we are told that they were worried about who was going to roll the stone away from the entrance because it was very large. When they got there though, the stone was already rolled away and there was a young man, who was clothed in a white robe, sitting inside the tomb on the right side. The women were alarmed when the saw that the tomb was empty and that there was a young man sitting there. The man said to them …

     “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  
    He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But 
    go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. 
    There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and 
    fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, 
    and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

Some find the ending to Mark’s Gospel somewhat unsatisfying. In some ways, we expect people to approach Easter Sunday in the same way. And so, as it is scripted in our minds, on finding the tomb empty, the women should have looked at each other and said, “Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia?” But they didn’t! Instead, they trembled at what they found! Why? Why were they astonished? Why were they afraid? It could be, I suppose, that they weren’t Lutherans. But that’s not an altogether acceptable answer.

Again, the meaning of events in our lives is often revealed to us with the passage of time. You may recall that Jesus had told His disciples that He was going to be crucified and that He was going to be raised from the dead on the third day. Since He had told them what was going to happen, none of what happened over the last three days of His life was a surprise. Still, the disciples weren’t sure what to make of Jesus’ revelation. In fact, on one of the occasions when Jesus talked about His death, Peter tried to prevent Him from going to the cross. On another occasion, James and John took Jesus aside and asked for the two best seats in the Kingdom. The disciples really didn’t understand what Jesus’ death and resurrection were about. So, how were the two Mary’s and Salome supposed to process what took place over the last three days?

Since it is Easter morning, I’m going to focus primarily on the empty tomb and the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. But, as a Christian preacher and teacher, I would be remiss if I didn’t also make reference to the meaning of His crucifixion. After all, Jesus’ crucifixion without His resurrection from the dead and vice versa, is of no avail. In other words, one without the other has no meaning.

As to His crucifixion, when Jesus died on the cross, He atoned for the sins of the whole world, including your sins and mine. He did so, in order to credit His righteousness to you. As the Apostle later wrote, “God made Him who knew no sin, to be sin, that you might be the righteousness of God in Him.” Literally, Jesus became what He was not, in order to make you what you were not. It’s what Martin Luther referred to as the Great Exchange. You became Jesus’ sin and He became your righteousness.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead alarmed and even frightened the women who were there that day, in part, because they didn’t fully understand what it meant, not only for the world, but also for them personally. What I’d like to do in our remaining time this morning, is reflect for a bit on the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

First, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, which, by the way, is recorded in the Scriptures, as well as by secular sources, indicates that what He said is, in fact, true. At the very least, what He said about His death and resurrection is true, but so is everything else He said and taught. In other words, Jesus rising from the dead, a central teaching of the Christian faith, validates every other aspect of the Christian faith. All of the promises that Jesus made throughout His life and ministry are true. Chief among those promises is that He came to forgive the sins of sinners.

And so, as you’ve gathered here today on this Easter Sunday, you can be certain that God, in Christ, has forgiven you your sins. It’s an amazing thing really. Forgiveness, that is. The Scriptures say, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” Even more, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead means that God is not against you. Rather, He is for you. And, of course, “If God is for us, then who can be against us.”  “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us  all things?

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead also assures you that the Father has accepted His Son’s sacrifice on your behalf. The wages of sin is death. The death, however, due for your sin, was paid by Jesus. His rising from the dead indicates that the Father was well pleased with the sacrifice of His Son. As such, you needn’t live your life as if you had to make restitution for all of your failings. In fact, baptized into Christ Jesus, the Father is as pleased with you as He is with His own dear Son.

And finally, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead means that death has been defeated. It’s the one thing that hovers over all of us, isn’t it? Death, that is. But, Jesus has taken the sting out of death. For the Christian, death becomes a portal through which we pass from this world to the next, from mortality to immortality.

I know many of you here today have felt very keenly the loss of a loved one. I know you have also found hope and even joy in the promise of the resurrection from the dead. As Jesus rose, so those whose faith and trust are, or have been in Him, will rise too. And so, there is a new and brighter day to come. You will see those you loved so dearly in this life again.

The answers to all of our questions regarding Jesus’ death and resurrection are here in the Scriptures. Learning from them, we are drawn ever closer to Him because He has defeated sin, death and the grave for us, for you. It is that realization that moves us to come to Easter with such joy and confidence. And so, we declare yet again, “Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +