Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In the resurrection, our view of Jesus is complete, the full picture of the Gospel comes into focus.  The resurrection does not alleviate the scandal of the cross, but it assures the Church that the cross was part of God’s plan from the very start. The resurrection fortifies us against the temptation to downplay the cross and thereby compromise the faith. This is what Christianity is all about. This is what our lives are all about. Christ who was crucified is risen! We have the words of our Lord, the Holy Scripture, the hearing of the Word points us to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Especially in the Gospel according to Luke, we hear how Jesus’ disciples just didn’t get it. He had told them over and over again of his death and resurrection, pointed them back to the promises of God in the Old Testament, and it just didn’t sink in. Jesus had been clear on several occasions concerning what was going to happen to Him by His death, and His resurrection.  What a contrast of those women who found the open and empty tomb and then the disciples who heard their confession.  To them, it seemed like an idle tale, wishful thinking at best. It seemed too good to be true, this Good News of Jesus’ resurrection.  We hear these words and sometimes wonder how dense they were.  How could they not have understood, how could they not have gotten it?  But are we really that different.

We too struggle with our faith, with our trust in God, and our lack of understanding. We read the Scriptures, yet we do not always see. We believe that through faith in Christ alone, our sins are forgiven.  Yet how often we fail to live as though this were true.  It seemed too easy to be saved by faith alone and not by your works.  We live our lives and wonder how and where God is active in the midst of our own sadness and struggles.  We worry and we fret about tomorrow, about the future of our country and of our children and grandchildren.  All too often find ourselves stumbling through life making things up as we skirt by. And we continue in our sins, knowing full well what is right and wrong, but caring more for our temporary comfort or pleasure than for the sacrifice of Christ for us.  And when we hear this Good News again, when we hear the Gospel, we know we should be joyful and happy and yet we aren’t. 

There is no moving beyond the Gospel. There is no more to fully see, to understand, to believe, than Jesus Christ and Him crucified for the forgiveness of your sins, who was raised three days later.  All of the Old Testament leads up to Him. All the New Testament points to Him.  The Word of God proclaims this Christ, delivers this Christ, to you for your salvation. It is the center of our preaching, our teaching, and our worship. 

We are called today to repent, for we have all been careless and lazy when it comes to Christ and His Word.  The words of the angels are a message for us here today as well, “Remember how He told you.”  We were not there to see the empty tomb. We were not there to see the nail holes in our Savior’s hand, in His feet, His spear pierced side.  But we still have His Word, and it is by means of His Word that He creates and sustains faith in Him.  The Word of God penetrates our hearts and minds and produces faith in Christ.  It is on account of His resurrection that our minds and eyes are opened to God’s Word. The disciples and the people of Israel could not understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of Scripture until after the resurrection. Only in light of the resurrection of Christ from the dead was the fullness of faith brought to light. 

Last week, one of our church family members died.  Bill Morgan. Many of you knew him, he had been part of Zion for a long, long time.  Some of you saw him in his last days or weeks and saw how he was fading.  The day before he died, I sat by his bedside along with his wife.  I don’t think she noticed at the time, but while we prayed together the Commendation of the Dying, Bill’s lips would move along with the words of the Confession, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Words he had said for most of his seventy-nine years of life, he remembered, and by faith, he believed, because of Jesus’ resurrection.

Now, some might say that this was a bad time to die, in days before Good Friday and in the light of Easter. But is there really a better time?  For it is during this time of the year that we remember the clearest the lengths to which our Lord Jesus went to save us by His death upon the cross.  And it is today that we remember the Word of the Lord, that Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  This great enemy of death, while it may strike us all, has lost bite.

We preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified because there is salvation in no other.  We teach Him who is the way, the truth, and the life -- the way that led through suffering, cross, and death... the truth of Him who exchanged His righteousness for our sin and bore it all up obedient to the cross... the life that Christ now lives, victorious over sin and death. The resurrection is our future, our hope, our certainty and security. Trouble will come. Fear will seize us. Worry will test us. But the risen Christ is always for us.  Jesus doesn’t leave us at the cross. And He doesn’t leave us at an empty tomb.  Tombs are for dead people, and He is not there, and neither shall we be upon the Day of Resurrection. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!