Angels Thrill to Bid

In Nomine Iesu
St. Luke 24:1-12
April 21, 2019
Easter C

Dear Saints of Our Savior~

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Oh, the sweet joy that sentence gives. It’s so concise and compact. It proclaims the beating heart of all our hope with crisp clarity. It’s a statement of fact and conviction—a declaration that death is defeated. Many of the hymns we sing this morning begin with similar declarations: Jesus Christ is risen today. Our Savior lives. Jesus Lives! The Victory’s Won. I know that my Redeemer lives. Strong statements, one and all, declaring death’s demise.

But do you realize that Easter actually begins with a question? The first words spoken at the tomb in today’s text are not a declarative statement of fact, but a question: Why do you seek the living one among the dead? Now, an aptly worded question can be a powerful tool for teaching. If you attend one of my Bible classes, then you know that it’s sometimes all about asking the right questions, rather than just lecturing on the answers.

Why do you seek the living one among the dead? What’s going on with those angels as they pose this question to the women? Is their aim to reproach the women, to correct the women, to chastise the women for what they should have already known? Or are the angels smiling—gently teasing the women with a timely question—thrilling to bid these sad women to welcome the best news the world has ever known?

Like me, you’ve probably visited the tombs of some very famous people. I’ve seen where Luther was laid to rest. I’ve been to where Bach is buried. I’ve been to the tombs of presidents Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. And there’s a certain protocol—a reverent decorum—when you visit such places. Hushed voices. Bowed heads. Quiet contemplation.

But these Easter angels seem to be breaking all the rules with their inappropriate tomb-talking! And that’s the point, perhaps. Easter breaks all the rules where death is concerned. The angels are talking in a tomb—which is no longer a tomb! It was just temporarily a tomb. To be a tomb, a corpse is needed—or at least a few dry bones. But that tomb—on that morning—was empty. Its temporary occupant had checked out earlier that morning—leaving His linens behind. The tomb was the logical place to look for the body of Jesus. But the angels’ question requires that logic be set aside: Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

Whether you think their question is pious or impertinent, these Easter angels are so important—so much more than mere window-dressing to the resurrection. Angels are, by definition, messengers from God. They speak for God Himself. Their questions and answers . . . are God’s questions and answers. And it is by the voice of these angels that the women are re-directed from the wrong place to the right place.

We need to be re-directed too. For we too have a sinful tendency to look for life in all the wrong places. We worship our idols and expect them to provide for us. We bow the knee to a successful career. We give all we have to academic achievement and good grades. We sell our soul to get friends with benefits, or an uptick in our profit margins. We hope these idols can make us more alive, but knowing all the while that they can ultimately deliver only death. We need re-direction. We need repentance. Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

Listen to the angels. Let them re-direct you, as they did the women: “Remember how he told you . . . that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And the women—they remembered His words. The angels re-directed the women from their own fear and confusion to the crystal clear words and promises of Jesus. Jesus had predicted His death and resurrection just as it had happened. And if He gets that right—if His words about that prove to be true—then we can surely believe every other word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

What changed everything for the women at the tomb was remembering the words of Jesus. But rather than remembering those words, we rely on our feelings, our experiences and our emotions as the keys that determine the decisions we make and the directions we take. If it feels good, do it. If it seems right, go for it. Listen to your heart. That’s really bad advice—given that our feelings are flawed and our hearts are by nature sinful and unclean. If you’re going through life guided by your feelings and emotions—allowing them to define who you are and where you stand in relation to God and one another—then, to borrow a phrase from St. Paul, you are “of all people most to be pitied.”

Our feelings and emotions can’t help us when it comes to our deepest questions and needs. We simply don’t have the answers. (We think we do, but we don’t.) The Easter angels tell us: If you want answers—if you want real life—remember His words. Remember how He told you. Remember what Jesus said and how He promised. Jesus has the words of eternal life. “I am the resurrection and the life,” He says, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” “Because I live,” he says, “you shall live also.” Those who trust in Jesus, who remember His words, they have the answers. They have the ability to seek Him where He may be found.

Why do you seek the living one among the dead? Isn’t it interesting how Easter began with a message from the angels before the risen Christ actually appeared in the flesh? Why did God orchestrate Easter in such a way that the main players could only hear about it first, before they actually saw the risen Christ? God didn’t have to do it that way. It could have been the risen Christ sitting in the tomb waiting for the women instead of angels. But it wasn’t. Why not? So that those women—and all of us—would learn what it means to walk by faith and not by sight—so that we learn to trust and depend on the words of Jesus, even when we can’t see Jesus in the flesh—to teach us to trust the Word of God and the messengers of God more than our own two eyes.

The angels’ question was about the “living one.” We know who that is. Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Jesus promised it, predicted it, preached it—and it came to pass. What He said would happen—happened. This is why we gather around His Word on every first day of the week. His Word is truth. His Word changes everything. When Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” we take Him at His Word. When Jesus says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,” we take Him at His Word. You can be as confident of your resurrection as you are that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. Our preaching is not in vain. Your faith is not in vain. Your sins are forgiven. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ. And it all hangs on this little sentence, “He is risen.”

On the cross Jesus was clothed with your sins, wrapped up in your wickedness, but those grave clothes are left behind in the tomb. Your sin is buried and remains in the tomb. The wrath of God was spilled and spent completely on Jesus. And there is now no more for you: No more wrath, no more punishment, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And you can celebrate this holy day in no better way than as you remember what he told you. “This is my body, given for you. This cup is the new testament in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do as often as you drink it.” The Savior’s love and life are here for you. Here is the best place of all to come looking for the Living One, Jesus the Christ.

And remember this—that every Sunday is a little Easter. Every Sunday is a resurrection celebration. Every week we leave behind a dying world to seek the “Living One” where He has promised to be found. On the first day of every week Jesus Christ comes to serve you in the preaching of His Word, and in the bread that is His body and the wine that is His blood. Every Sunday the Lord comes to remind you of your own resurrection, and a blessed reunion in heaven with those you love who have departed with faith in Christ.

Why do you seek the living one among the dead? That question begins the thrilling good news of Easter. And it points ahead to Easter’s final fulfillment—when you and I will also be numbered among the “living ones,” when we will all “check out” of our temporary tombs, clothed in white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, singing an eternal alleluia chorus to our Savior.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!