The Resurrection of Our Lord – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Mark 16:1-8 “Rejoicing in Resurrection Hope”
April 20, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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The Exordium
Almost exactly four months ago, we were talking about the season of hope and joy. Hope and joy usually fall to the Christmas season, and this is a good thing because the winter months can be dark and depressing. As these feelings can never be truly shaken in this life, even when the cold disappears, the season of hope and joy certainly doesn’t either! Scripture reveals to us that hope and joy are not supposed to come at different stages of the year, but we should have them every single day. St. Peter writes to us where our hope in this life is always found. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Before, we were perishable, defiled, and fading. We reflected on our lives and that is all we could see. Our inheritance of God’s kingdom looked out of reach for us forever. When the darkness looked like it would win two days ago, and all our hope was lost, we are here today because the light of the world can never be extinguished! We find the light where we should find darkness. We find it in the empty tomb. Jesus knew He would be our hope in this dark world. Knowing all that would happen, He told His disciples, “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). With the knowledge our Lord Jesus Christ lives, rise with joy to sing hymn # 348, He Is Arisen! Glorious Word!
He is arisen! Glorious Word! Now reconciled is God, my Lord;
The gates of heaven are open. My Jesus died triumphantly,
And Satan’s arrows broken lie, Destroyed hells direst weapon.
O hear What cheer! Christ victorious Riseth glorious,
Life He giveth— He was dead, but see, he liveth!
The sermon text for today is taken from the 16th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark. We read some verses once more in Jesus’ name:
And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go your way, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
And they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
We Pray: Almighty God, who through the resurrection of Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life, replenish us, we humbly ask You, with Your heavenly grace, that, dying unto sin always and living unto righteousness, we may at last triumph over death and the grave, in the full image of our risen Lord, to whom, with You and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 114)
To rejoice in the resurrection means to believe that coming back from death is possible. We know there have been a few resurrections in history and the people who followed Jesus would have known them as they happened in their history. Elijah and Elisha both brought children back from the dead. Jesus had performed miracles of resurrection as well. And while the confession was made that Jesus can raise people from the dead, this had escaped His followers’ thoughts. Distraught from Friday’s events, the women went to prepare His body. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. Behind this stone is a sight they should be ready for. Jesus had taught them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31-32).
And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! The great stone moved, and an angel is present just like at the moment of His birth, the signs of the greatest miracle are here along with the most important, Jesus body is gone. Even with the angel present, this doesn’t feel possible for the women. Jesus’ teaching is fulfilled in front of them, but they still don’t understand. For some, a lack of understanding was not an excuse. Jesus gave the same prediction to His enemies that this sign would happen. He told them, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Since the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He was ready for this weekend in history to come. He knew He would be raised for the world. Raised up on the cross and raised from the grave. No matter who He told, friend or foe, they weren’t ready. God doesn’t wait for His people to be ready. God’s actions were ready, the actions to show His ultimate love for His people.
As God reveals His love in an extraordinary way, we can’t go after the women who were surprised by what the angel told them. There are many who hear the angels’ words, “He is not here. See the place where they laid Him,” and they doubt these words too. While unbelievers will do their best to try and find a way to prove God’s holy angels false, it isn’t hard for the devil to try and convince us that Jesus never rose or even existed. He works the lie against us when he convinces us to hide from repentance. As the Holy Spirit works to convince our hearts to reflect on our repentance the devil wants us to turn away for fun or turn away believing our fallen state is too great for God to handle. If he convinces us our sins are too great for God to bear, he has essentially gotten us to believe in the lie that Jesus can’t rise from the dead. While we will always struggle with the impossible task of trying to get rid of our sinful stains, our only hope is believing in what Jesus said as witnessed by the women at the empty tomb. The tomb without Jesus is the tomb with our sins, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit (1 Peter 3:18).
The women had watched as the flesh of their Savior was laid in the tomb and though their eyes saw with grief this regular part of human life. Now they can only see what the angel shares, “He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” Where did He go? He couldn’t have been taken, with the seal and the guards. Guards who watched the angel roll the stone away. God was ready to reveal the truth of His love. He didn’t need the disciples to come and take Jesus’ flesh for His flesh is now alive again! Jesus stated the love of the Father for His Son. “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17-18). For His followers and His people, Jesus laid down His life two days ago on the cross and as He said, took His body up again in His glorious resurrection from the grave!
The women in the moment aren’t ready to rejoice in the resurrection yet, but we know it won’t be long. St. Matthew tells us they are second to see Him! So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him (Matthew 28:9). While His followers lack understanding for Jesus’ death, Jesus understood what His death and resurrection meant for them. His glorious resurrection would be their hope. It declares to them who He is as they fall to worship Him. Jesus suffered for their sins, and now He brings them closer to Himself, closer to God, because He is the Son of God and what He told them was the truth. He is risen!
As the women see this great sight and behold the empty tomb with the angel, their delight can only be found in the angels’ good news! The good news that has been proclaimed since the fall into sin. Found throughout Scripture is the hope of God’s triumph over the world’s enemies of sin, the devil, and death. It is illustrated in Jesus’ ancestor who fought the lion to save his sheep. David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him” (1 Samuel 17:34-35). The greater lion who prowls scheming to crush your hope is himself crushed as Jesus faces hell on the cross and bursts forth from death’s chains! The devil’s tyranny is destroyed, and you can rejoice in your resurrection hope!
Your hope is found in the words of the angel, “He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” You look and search with the women, but the result is the same. His body is not there. And if His body is not there, that means your sins have been left buried. For your resurrection hope is that God would do as He says He will by remembering your sins no more. No one can take away this joy of the empty tomb. The empty tomb is God’s promise fulfilled for you. This celebration is brought to you through your baptism. Jesus joins you to His work as St. Paul writes, 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 (Romans 6:4). Christ has been raised and with Him, your new life.
And they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. While the women started with fear and trembling, in your new life, you reveal to the world the truth of the empty tomb with your joy. As it was for Jesus’ followers, for some, it won’t be easy to hear, and some will try to stop you. Even if the devil succeeds in a temptation, he can never take your hope. You know the troubles of life will stay here because of the empty tomb. Jesus promises your body will rise also because He has removed the sting of death with His resurrection. Until that glorious day, you rejoice in the resurrection hope you have here and now. With hope that can’t be taken away, you can joyfully say, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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