Luke 24:1-12 (Easter Sunday)

Luke 24:1-12 (Easter Sunday)                                           
St. John,Galveston 4/20/25
Rev. Alan Taylor 
“God’s Nonsense”
 
+ In Nomine Jesu +
 
    Christ Is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!

    It’s quite a day, isn’t it? Take a moment, if you would, and look around you.Take in the sights, the sounds, and even the smells. One sanctuary is beautiful this morning, isn't it? Look all the Easter lilies! They’re so white and fragrant. And the music…how great it is to be able to sing the “Alleluias” again within these walls. Easter is such a wonderful time of the year.

    Of course, Easter isn’t really about the sights, the sounds and the smells, is it? In fact, it’s ultimately about that which evades our senses. What our eyes have not seen and our ears have not heard, we are nonetheless called upon to believe. It’s a remarkable thing really, that is, belief in the resurrection from the dead. It’s so remarkable, in fact, that the day Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples referred to His rising as “God’s Nonsense.” We’ll come back to that in a few minutes, but the disciples reaction was so startling, that I have chosen to use it the theme for this morning’s message; “God’s Nonsense.”
 
    For the women who came to the tomb on the first Easter morning it was a life transforming event. Remember, they didn’t go there knowing that Jesus’ had risen from the dead and that He had defeated the grave. In fact, they went there fully prepared to anoint Jesus body in the Jewish burial rite! In other words, they went there to confront death itself! In this case, the death of their King! They were perplexed that morning. How could this have happened? How could Jesus have been crucified? In virtually every respect, the women would have been counted among the walking wounded. A broken heart, it has been said, makes the loudest sound that no one hears. 
 
    They're hearts were broken because their teacher, their friend, their Lord, had been nailed to a cross and left there to die! He was lifted up for all the people to see, and He was left there until He gasped for the breath that would never come. Perhaps the image of Jesus’ slumping body hanging from the cross surfaced in nightmares that the women couldn’t chase away.  They went to the tomb that day out of devotion, but in going there, they knew that they would have to see their Lord’s cold, lifeless body lying on that slab of stone. Indeed, a breaking heart makes the loudest sound the sound that no one hears.
 
    Of course, when they arrived at the tomb, the women didn’t find Jesus’ body. Instead, the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and there was no one in it. There were two men there who were wearing shining white garments. The men asked the ladies “why do you seek the living among the dead?”
 
    “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”  It’s a strange question, isn't it? No one walks through the cemetery, the one next door, or anywhere for that matter, looking for the living. Do they?  The women must have thought to themselves “what kind of a question is that?” They knew what death looked like. They saw Jesus’ slump on the cross. They heard His words as He gave up His spirit to His Father.  How is it then that these two men make reference to the living in the place where you would only expect to find the dead?
 
    The men went on to say, “Jesus is not here, He is risen!”  “Do you remember what He said to you before,” they asked?  “The Son of Man must suffer many things.  He will be crucified but on the third day He will rise again from the dead.” The women remembered Jesus’ words and in a great deal of excitement, they went to the others to tell them what had happened.  It’s amazing! Jesus is alive!! We saw Him die, but He’s come back to life!!  They proclaimed those words joyously, and then, of course, everybody said, “Christ Is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed. Alleluia,” right!? Well, no! That’s not what happened at all. To the disciples, the women’s words seemed like “idle tales,” or, as that statement could be translated into English, the women’s words seemed like “nonsense.”                         
 
    And so, on this Easter Sunday morning, we are called once again to reflect upon and rejoice in “God’s Nonsense.” For the Christian, Jesus says, “whoever lives and believes in Me, will never die.”  Our ears hear the promise, but our eyes see a conflicting story, for we have all stood and wept at the grave of a loved one. We are told that “death has been swallowed up in victory.” And yet, as we stand at the grave of a loved one, God’s promise seems like “nonsense.”
 
    Jesus’ resurrection from the dead brings us face to face with the very substance of faith. Faith is “the confidence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The women saw the empty tomb and it had a profound impact on their lives. The others didn’t see and they were inclined to hear the women’s message as “idle tales,” or, as “nonsense.”    
 
    Consider with me for a moment though the cross of Jesus.  As you know, there were three crosses on that hill that day. There were two thieves who were crucified along side of Jesus. One reviled Him, the other prayed to Him. One mocked Him, the other praised Him. The first believed what his eyes saw; a wretched bleeding man hanging from a cross. The second saw what his faith gave him; “This is the King of the Jews.” For sure, Jesus didn’t look like a king, and there is the true test of faith. Faithlessness calls Jesus a foolish imposter, rails at Him as receiving what He deserved. Faith calls Him King and confesses the coming of His kingdom. Faithlessness calls the Gospel story nonsense because it doesn’t conform to its view of reality. Faith calls the “God’s Nonsense” the only hope for a lost and dying world, even as it calls Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, the only hope for the heart that breaks at death, the heart that makes that loud sound that no one hears.   
 
    Martin Luther, having pondered the facts of Easter, once declared: “One can never speak of Easter without rising to his feet. The sanctuary is never so full as it is on Easter Sunday. Hearing its message and assurances is like Jacob hearing that his son Joseph was still alive. It is almost too incredible to believe. It sounds too good to be true.”
 
    In fact, it sounded so good to the disciples, that they took the women’s message as “nonsense.” Perhaps. But it’s “God’s Nonsense.” God’s Son, God’s gift to us, intercedes to put the pieces of the broken heart back together again. What seems unbelievable, what seems like nonsense, becomes our new reality in the face of death’s awful blow.      
    
    There is an interesting old legend from Greek mythology about a hero called Ulysses. One day he returned home from one of his adventures to find that the entire nation was in mourning. When he asked why, he was told, “Haven’t you heard?  Our queen is dead.” When he hurried to the palace, Ulysses discovered that it was true. The queen was, in fact, dead.  Ulysses then went on his most perilous adventure. He went out to the lonely tomb and wrestled with the ancient enemy, death, and fought death for the life of the queen. He snatched the life of the queen from the clutches of death, and he took her back to the palace in his arms, handing her alive back to the king.
 
    Of course, in ancient lore, there was never really any hope that the story about Ulysses and the Queen was actually true. Jesus though did enter the grave through death, to wrestle death and conquer it for us, and as He stands outside that tomb victorious, He says to us, “I am alive, and because I live, you shall live also.”  

In 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 +