THE PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Almighty and ever-living God: to You alone belongs the power to call light out of darkness and life out of death, and with a mighty hand You have won the victory of salvation through Your Son Jesus Christ, who is our light and life. O God of light and life eternal, come to us, we pray, in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Come to us, living Lord Jesus, in the power of Your Spirit, and speak Your Word. Cast down every stronghold of evil, banish darkness with Your presence, seek and find those who are lost, bind up the brokenhearted, open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, and, in Your great mercy and power, call forth from the grave those who are dead in their sins that they might have new life by Your Word. May You, O living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be glorified in our midst as Your gospel is proclaimed for the salvation of Your people. Amen.

THE ASCRIPTION OF PRAISE

"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen!"

THE SERMON

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?" The angel’s question to the women is surprisingly, simple, straightforward, and right to the point. The women came to the tomb to anoint the dead body of Jesus. But Jesus was no longer dead, and His body was no longer there. The tomb was empty. And we’re here today to celebrate His resurrection, because God gives Christ’s victory over death and the grave to all who trust in Him and love Him with a sincere faith.

The cover of this week’s U.S. News & World Report shows a portrait of Jesus with the caption, "Why Jesus Was Killed," and the title of the cover story asks, "Why Did He Die?" Interesting, isn’t it, that in an issue dated the day after Easter, the cover story would focus on Jesus’ death rather than His resurrection? (Somewhere along the way, somebody missed something very important!) This article supposedly reports new clues about the historical circumstances surrounding and resulting in Jesus’ crucifixion, but it admits, "Indeed, from a historian’s point of view, the events leading up to Jesus’ death remain a tantalizing puzzle." In other words, from a strictly secular or human point of view, Jesus’ death — and the significance it has had in history — is difficult to explain. Indeed, that’s exactly right, because all secular attempts to describe and identify Jesus ultimately fail. They cannot explain His life, they cannot explain His death, and, most of all, they cannot explain His resurrection. The article concludes with the following observations:

Four years after that fateful Passover in Jerusalem ... ...the small core of Jesus’ followers, who had scattered frightened and confused at his crucifixion, were by then a rapidly growing sect whose astounding message of a risen Messiah was spreading through the synagogues of the region.

Within a few years, a former Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus would carry that message to the commercial towns of Asia Minor and to the imperial city of Rome, where increasing numbers of followers would be drawn into the ranks of this evolving movement. ... ... after 2,000 years, buffeted by the sometimes brutal tides of history, it remains as it was in the beginning — a faith rooted in the life and teachings of an enigmatic Jewish rabbi whose vision of God’s kingdom and whose death on a Roman cross would change the world.

Now, does that really solve the "tantalizing puzzle" of Jesus’ world-changing life and death? There’s something missing here! A faith "rooted in the life and teachings of an enigmatic rabbi" would not have, and could not have, changed the world. This author himself says, just a few sentences before, that "the small core of Jesus’ followers ... had scattered frightened and confused at his crucifixion." Now, you tell me: how could a small core of a dead man’s followers which "had scattered frightened and confused at his crucifixion," how could they, suffering persecution from both the Jewish authorities and the Roman empire, how could they become the leaders of a world-changing faith — a faith so world-changing that two-thousand years later, secular historians are still scratching their heads trying to solve the "tantalizing puzzle" of Jesus’ life and death, and secular news magazines still publish articles about Him at Christmastime and Easter, and all over the world today people are singing praises to Him and celebrating the victory over death and the promise of eternal life through Him? All of this, simply because He was an enigmatic Jewish rabbi put to death by Rome?

Dear friends, when you examine closely the life and teachings of Jesus, and His death, and the evidences of His resurrection from the dead, and the history of the world since the crucifixion, it makes much more sense to believe that Jesus was who He said He was — the Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 26:64; Matthew 16:16-17) — and that He rose bodily from the tomb in which He had been laid after His death by crucifixion. Only the Bible makes sense of the "tantalizing puzzle" of Jesus’ life, and death, and the spread of the Christian faith throughout the world. Only the Biblical gospel of Jesus Christ makes sense, in a coherent, consistent way, of who He was and is. And that gospel is this: "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve" (1^st Corinthians 15:3-5).

The Apostle Paul then goes on to write an autobiographical comment in his First Letter to the Corinthians, saying, "...last of all, He appeared to me also" (15:8). That’s an important note, because that Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus never would have changed from being a persecutor of Christians into a missionary for Christ if the risen Lord Jesus had not appeared to him. The original disciples themselves, that small core of His scattered and frightened followers, never would have believed that Jesus had risen from the dead if they had not seen Him. Indeed, when the women returned from the empty tomb on that first Easter morning and reported to the disciples that Jesus was risen, as the Scripture says, the disciples "did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (Luke 24:11). But when Peter saw the empty tomb for himself, he began to wonder. And then, when Jesus appeared to Peter and to the other disciples, and showed them His hands and His feet, then, and only then, they began to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. And only because they had seen Him, risen from the dead, and had been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit through Him, were they willing to go out into the world and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, the only Savior and coming Judge of the world. And only because they had seen Him, risen from the dead, were they willing to suffer persecution unto death for Him because they knew that through faith in Jesus they had eternal life. Quite simply, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only reasonable, coherent, consistent explanation for the empty tomb, and the changed lives of the disciples, and the changed life of the Pharisee Saul into the Apostle Paul, and the changed history of the world. The resurrection of Jesus is the key to understanding who Jesus is and why He died and why Christianity has spread, and continues to spread, over all the earth.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?" The angel’s question to the women is surprisingly, simple, straightforward, and right to the point. The women came to the tomb to anoint the dead body of Jesus. But Jesus was no longer dead, and His body was no longer there. The tomb was empty. And we’re here today to celebrate His resurrection, because God gives Christ’s victory over death and the grave to all who trust in Him and love Him with a sincere faith. Jesus said,

There are many more sayings of Jesus that we could quote, but the point is that the reality of His resurrection verifies and validates and vindicates and confirms what the Bible says about who Jesus was and is — the Son of God, who gives eternal life to all those who trust in Him. And, therefore, that means that resurrection of Jesus is not only a matter of historical significance but also a matter of ultimate concern for the world today. It is a matter of ultimate concern for you and me today. He is the living Lord of heaven and earth, the One who died for you: are you living for Him? He is the One whose perfect sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for your sins: have you repented of all your sins which sent Him to the cross, are you now trusting in Him alone for your salvation, and seeking with a heart filled with gratitude to live for His glory? He is the One who holds your life on earth, and your eternal destiny, and the whole history and destiny of the world in His nail-scarred hands: are you looking to Him everyday to be your strength and salvation, your Shepherd, your Brother, your Friend, and your God?

Dear friends, only Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, can make sense of the "tantalizing puzzle" of your life. So, if today you are not a Christian — if you do not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that He rose again on the third day — I urge you to consider the truth about Jesus Christ. You cannot explain Him away. To try to do so is as futile as ...looking for the living among the dead, for His resurrection was real and He is the risen Lord of heaven and earth. And so, I urge you to look at your own life in the light of Jesus Christ, because deep down you know that you have needs — real spiritual needs — that only He can meet. We all need to know that we are loved and accepted by Someone bigger and greater than ourselves. We all need to know that our sins are forgiven, and our guilt is taken away and not held against us. We all need to know that our life is not simply a meaningless blip on the time- line of history. We all need to know that even our worst mistakes, and greatest disappointments, and deepest hurts, and highest achievements are all part of a greater story which, in the end, will be transformed into glory. That’s what you need, and only Jesus Christ can meet you at your point of need and perfectly solve the "tantalizing puzzle" of your life.

Only Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, can fill that empty place in your soul and bring you assurance of peace with God, and peace with yourself. Only He, the living Lord, can cleanse you of your guilt, heal the wounds you have suffered in your soul, and deliver you from the emptiness which haunts you. Only Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, can love you with a perfect, everlasting love, and keep every promise He makes to you. Only Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, can walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death and bring you into the light of life eternal. Give up yourself to Him. Give up your pride, your false self-sufficiency, your self-glory, and your search for happiness in the things of this world. Accept His invitation to the fullness of life. Receive Him and welcome Him into your life through faith; embrace Him as your Savior; honor and obey Him as your Lord, and worship Him as your God.

And if you are someone who professes faith in Christ, but you realize that you have wandered long and far from Him as a lost sheep, and that your real commitment to Him has almost completely faded away, and your first love has grown cold, and there is no joy of salvation in your soul: I urge you, today, to hear and believe the gospel anew: that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, and now lives and reigns in heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords. He calls you to repentance and renewed faith. Repent of your lukewarmness and carelessness, and offer yourself anew to Jesus Christ, pledging with all sincerity to follow Him in grateful obedience to the glory of His name. Today, the living Lord Jesus offers you new grace and new mercy, and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, so that you may follow Him in newness of life.

And if you are someone who has come here today, with love for the Lord Jesus alive in your heart, and the joy of salvation welling-up in your soul, and you have come to celebrate, and to give honor and thanks to God for the gift of His Son your Savior; if you have come today knowing that you are a sinner, but with the happy assurance that you are a sinner saved by Jesus Christ, with a desire to serve Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of your life, then I would urge you, dear brother or sister, to remember and to celebrate the fact that you love Christ only because He first loved you; and you have found your joy in Him only because He first found you when you were lost and far from Him; and you have the fullness of life in Him only because He first gave life to you when you were dead in trespasses and sins; and you have seen His presence in your life only because He has opened your eyes, and you know Him only because He has made Himself known to you. And so I urge you all the more, brothers and sisters, no longer to live for yourself but for Him who died and rose again for you. Take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow Him, in the assurance that there is nothing in all creation, not even death itself, which can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord