The
Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Easter Sunday, 2021
V. Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
R. The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia!
“O go your way into his
gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him,
and speak good of his Name. For the Lord
is gracious, his mercy is everlasting; and his
truth endureth from generation to generation.”
(From the Jubilate Deo in the service of Daily
Morning Prayer.)
Today is the feast of the
Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Praise God! It is the feast of feasts for
us. We honor Christ’s victory over
death, sin and the grave. Today we
celebrate victory over Man’s ancient foe, Death. Today, we celebrate our status as sons and
daughters of the Most High God. As Christ is victor over the grave, so through
Him we are victorious over uncertainty and doubt. Our eternal destination is
made sure. Today, we affirm one fundamental truth, from John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
We affirm confidently that we share in Christ’s resurrection. We proclaim
to the world, “I am a Christian. I am
free from the fear of death. I am filled
with the love of God. I am an heir of
salvation and eternal life.”
Consider the following texts from the Word of God that clearly show us
this truth:
KJG John
11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth
in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”
KJG John 14:2 “In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it
were not so, 1, I
would have told you. I go to 2 prepare a place for you.”
KJG John 3:16 1
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth 2 in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.”
KJG Matthew 20:28 “Even as the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
On Maundy Thursday, Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist. It is the second
Dominical Sacrament, created by Christ himself.
The other is Holy Baptism. In this most blessed Sacrament, we remember
our Lord’s death and are fed sacramentally with Him each time we
participate in the Eucharist. On Good
Friday, Our Lord offered himself as the “one, perfect and sufficient sacrifice”
for us. On Holy Saturday, our Lord’s
body rested in the sepulcher. Today,
Easter Sunday, our Lord Christ rose from the dead and opened unto us the gates
of larger life.
St. Paul tells us that we
who have been baptized into his death also share in His resurrection. As Jesus told his disciples on Maundy Thurday:
( John 16:20): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and
lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow
shall be turned into joy.” Today is the day that we have joy like no other, for
we know that our Lord liveth and maketh intercession for us.
Christ’s resurrection is
foreshadowed in the O.T. In the glorious words of Job, chapter 19: “25 For I know that my
1 redeemer liveth, and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth: 26 And though after
my skin worms destroy this body, yet 1 in my flesh shall
I see God.” In the notes to the Geneva
Bible, it states: “In this Job declares plainly that he had a full hope, that
both the soul and body would enjoy the presence of God in the last
resurrection.”
We Christians know this to be
true. As Christ is, so shall we be.
Christ, coming to take our manhood upon Him, tasted death for every man. We will
not experience the chilling isolation He experienced on the Cross. Christ, our Captain of salvation, did this
for us. This is what we celebrate today.
Our Gospel tells us early in the
morning, Mary Magdalene came to the sepulcher, perhaps to mourn for Christ, or
as other Gospel accounts say, to anoint His body. Expecting to find the tomb
sealed, she finds it open. Immediately,
she thought that Jesus had been removed and ran to tell the other disciples.
Peter and “the other disciple”, John,
run to the tomb. John comes to the tomb first, sees the linen grave wrappings,
but does not go in. He hesitates. When Peter arrives, bold, strong, brash
Peter, he rushes into the tomb. He sees
the clothes and amazingly, the head napkin, neatly wrapped and lying by
itself. This is not a crime scene. No grave robber stole the body. It is a purposeful, designed situation where
our Lord gloriously rose from the dead, neatly wrapped the cloth that was
around His head, and went out.
Beloved in Christ, what is Easter to
you? Do you boldly believe in the power
of Christ’s Resurrection? Some did not. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 15, speaks of those who
doubted the resurrection: “13 But if there is no
resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen." 14 And if
Christ is not risen, then our preaching is
empty and your faith is also
empty." 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God,
because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not
raise up -- if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not
risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18
Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most
pitiable.”
We do not doubt. We proclaim this
message: Christ has died; Christ has risen; Christ will come again. The glorious Gospel continues: we are no longer slaves to sin and death. Meaninglessness
and oblivion are not in our future.
The promise of Easter isn’t only about the life hereafter, although this
is paramount. Yet, be that as it may, if that were all, many people, even
believers, might have some difficulty committing to the Christian Life. No, our new life in Christ means a
difference, a distinction, now, here on Earth.
This is where the difference lies.
Christians genuinely have hope and power to live a blessed, empowered
life in the Holy Trinity. Only in Christ
can we experience joy in our life despite our circumstances. Only in Christ can
we have the “peace that passeth understanding”, an “extra something” that sets
us apart from the World. It is that
grace that helps us live each day in joy, not despair; love, not hate; and a
sense of completeness as opposed to emptiness.
It is truly marvelous and truly mysterious
Consider what St. Paul said about false hope in Christ; he said: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of
all men the most pitiable.” If Christ
was not true, our belief would not be true. We would have a dire situation to
deal with. If Christ died and
stayed in the grave, we would have to agree. We would be he most pitiful of
people.
It is not so, however. In the most glorious of affirmations, the
Apostle continues: “20 But now Christ is risen from the
dead, and has become the firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”
This is
the truth of Easter. This is what we
celebrate today. This is our faith, our
hope, and our joy. Thanks be to God!
John 20:8 “Then
entered in therefore the other disciple also, who came first to the tomb, and
he saw, and believed.”
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