“LOOK AMONG THE LIVING”
Easter Day, the Resurrection of Our Lord
March 27, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
“Why do you seek the Living among the dead?”
Luke 24:5 (ESV)
When you go to visit the grave of a departed loved one, what do you
expect to find there? A marker perhaps, if someone has purchased one
and had it installed. If there are others besides yourself who were
close to that person, you might expect to find a flower arrangement or
two. If the person has died very recently, you may wonder as you make
your way to the cemetery whether or not the funeral flowers are still
there. And if it’s been a few months since your loved one died, it’s
possible that you might expect to find some freshly laid sod on the
grave. But whatever your expectations might be, I think it’s safe to
say that when you go to visit the grave of a loved one, you don’t
expect to find that grave to be open and empty. And if you did find
that, you no doubt would be horrified, assuming that someone has shown
the ultimate disrespect by tampering with the remains of your dear
one.
That’s probably how those women felt when they arrived at Jesus’ tomb
on the first Easter morning. It had been a very difficult weekend for
those followers of Jesus. The Passover Sabbath, their only respite
from the brutal events of the past few days, was now over. The women
sadly made their way to Joseph’s garden tomb to finish the embalming
process for their Master, who had been buried hurriedly just before
the Sabbath began. Perhaps they thought that they could find some
consolation in this final act of kindness. But there was no
consolation to be found there. Their grief was magnified by their
discovery that the sealed tomb was wide open and the burial slab and
grave linens inside were vacant. What were their feelings? The four
Gospels give several descriptions: “fear” (Matthew 28:8), “trembling
and astonishment” (Mark 16:8), “weeping” (John 20:11). No matter what
anyone’s precise sentiments may have been, this much is clear: No one
was expecting on that morning to find an empty tomb and a living
Christ.
That skepticism shouldn’t really surprise us, though. We’re
skeptical too. We almost have to be. The world that we live in has
taught us so many things that make us skeptical. It has taught us
that dead people remain dead, that if we hear something that sounds
too good to be true, it probably is, that if things are going badly
for us, they most likely will only get worse, and that if something
good does happen in our lives, it probably won’t last. It is a world
that shatters our fondest dreams, destroys our greatest hopes, and
prepares us to expect nothing but the worst. It’s difficult to have
hope in a world such as this. It’s difficult to be motivated to do
anything worthwhile or to try to make a positive difference when all
that we can expect is failure and defeat.
The question of the angels that serves as our Easter text is truly
remarkable. “Why do you seek the Living among the dead?” That
question turns everything around. It turned the women’s deepest
sorrow into their greatest joy. It turned defeated and dejected
followers of Jesus into bold proclaimers of His Gospel. “Why do you
seek the Living among the dead?” When you stop to think about it,
this question tells so much more than it asks. The angels are gently
telling these grieving friends of the Lord that if they are looking
for Jesus, they’re looking in the wrong place. A tomb is a place for
dead people, and Jesus is very much alive. The question is a gentle
reminder to the women (and to us) that Jesus earlier had predicted His
death and resurrection several times. It shouldn’t really be
surprising or amazing to the followers of Jesus to find Him on Easter
morning not lying in a grave, but walking about, glorified. The
angels’ question announces, very simply yet very powerfully, that the
Lord has made good on His promise that death and the grave could not
hold Him.
The question could just as easily be addressed to you and me: “Why
do [we] seek the Living among the dead?” We are “seeking the living
among the dead” when we look to human strength to find the solutions
to the problems that we face in life. If we’re looking for a way out
of the rut of skepticism that engulfs us and causes us to find a dark
cloud around every silver lining, why look to the world? The world is
the problem, not the solution. If we’re searching for peace, love,
hope, joy, gladness, and everything else that makes life beautiful,
and we’re searching for these things in this world, we’re looking in
the wrong place. We may as well be “seek[ing] the living among the
dead,” because these blessings are nowhere to be found in this world
any more than a living Savior is to be found in a tomb.
But these wonderful things can be found. They are found not in the
deadness of this world, but in the Living One--Jesus Christ--the One
who died and is alive forevermore--the One who has faced the worst
that life has to offer and has emerged victorious over it all. His
power and glory are infinite. There is nothing that He cannot
accomplish. There is no enemy that He has not conquered, no fear that
He has not overcome, no obstacle that He has not mastered. In Him is
complete victory--victory over sadness and frustration, over sin and
death, over Satan and hell itself. If we’re looking for genuine
peace, love, hope, joy, and gladness, all we need do is look to Jesus
Christ because He is the One who has it all and gives it all.
What’s more, through His Holy Spirit this risen and victorious Savior
gives to you and to me all the power of His resurrection. “Because I
live,” He says, “you also will live” (John 14:19). That means that we
who through faith belong to Jesus Christ and who through Baptism are
united with Him in His death and reaurrection have at our disposal all
of the power that He displayed by rising from the dead. It means that
we will overcome death and everything else that comes our way just as
certainly as Jesus did. Easter proclaims that Jesus’ suffering and
death gives meaning to al ofl the difficulties and hardships that we
face in life, including death itself. His empty tomb is a testimony
to the fact that not even death can cancel out His victory because His
resurrection is the ultimate victory. And according to His promise,
His victory is our victory!
“Why do you seek the Living among the dead?” Having been to that
open and empty tomb of Jesus, and having heard the proclamation of His
resurrection from the dead, we can now go, even as the women went
immediately to the disciples, to share the joy. We can go out into
our world with His message of hope, knowing that we are not going
alone or defeated, because He is alive and goes with us, providing for
us with the power of His resurrection, so that nothing is beyond our
reach. Life is not always pleasant. There are many things that
frustrate us and make skeptics of the best of us. But the world and
its frustrations cannot stop us from rejoicing in our risen Savior and
sharing the joy of His victory with others with complete confidence.
We “can [indeed] do all things through [Christ] who strengthens” us
(Philippians 4:13), because He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!
Amen.
May the God of peace, who brought again from the dead that great
Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, by the blood of the everlasting
covenant equip you thoroughly for the doing of His will. May He work
in you everything which is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, our
Lord, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. He who calls you
is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.