"Easter's Early Morning Message"

Sermon on Matthew 28:1-7

April 3 & 4, 1999

Saint Mark's, Watertown, WI

Pastor Karl Walther

Introduction: What Do You Fear?

Dear fellow Christians-- for whom, especially, God intends Easter's Early Morning Message:

"What do you fear?"

Now, I want you to think about that for a moment. "What do you fear?" I know it's not a "cool" or "in" thing to fear. And I know that men, especially, are not supposed to fear. But let's be honest with ourselves for a moment this morning and ask...:

"What do you fear?"

Do you fear the loss of your money? That's an understandable fear! Maybe you're young, and you're not sure you'll ever get a good job. Maybe you're middle-aged, and you're not sure you'll always be able to hang on to a good job. Maybe you're elderly, and you're really concerned that your little bit of savings and pension and social security is not going to be able to support you.

"What do you fear?"

Do you fear the loss of your reputation? That's an understandable fear! Maybe you look at all the awful injustice that takes place in this world, and you say to yourself, "I could just as well be a victim." Or maybe-- maybe you've actually done some really bad things that right now nobody knows about, but you're afraid that they'll become known.

"What do you fear?"

Do you fear the loss of your loved ones? That's an understandable fear! Maybe you've got a mom or a dad, a husband or wife, a brother or sister, a son or a daughter, who is in ill health-- and you're afraid they're not long for this world. Maybe you simply take a look at all the illnesses and all the accidents that take place in this world, and you say to yourself, "One of those could rob me of a loved one."

"What do you fear?"

Do you fear the loss of your own life? That's an understandable fear! Maybe you yourself have already, at one time or another, come close to dying. Maybe it's just that you realize that not one of us is any further from death than a single missed heartbeat, a single lost breath, a single virus, a single car accident, a single crazed gunman.

"What do you fear?"

Do you fear the loss of your own eternal life-- the loss of heaven? That's an understandable fear! You know all the many times you've failed to revere God, to love God, to trust God. You know all the many times you've failed to read his word, hear his word, and pray to him. You know all your disobedience, all your impatience, all your lust, all your lying, all your covetousness.

Theme: Easter's Early Morning Message

My fellow Christians, you see that there is an awful lot to fear in this wicked world. How can we cope with it? Well, that's where * EASTER'S EARLY MORNING MESSAGE comes in. "Easter's Early Morning Message" is, at least according to God's Word to us today, two-fold. First of all, (1) CHRIST CRUCIFIED HAS, MOST ASSUREDLY, RISEN. And so, secondly, (2) DON'T BE AFRAID.

God's Word: The Women Receive Easter's Early Morning Message

Let's consider together God's Word to us today-- Matthew chapter twenty-eight, verses one through seven. It begins: After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

So, today's account took place after the Sabbath. It was after Christ's suffering, death, and burial before sundown on Friday. It was also after an entire day of rest, in accordance with Old Testament law, on Saturday.

Today's account took place at dawn on the first day of the week. So, on the same day the Father initiated his creating activity, God would now initiate life after death. On the same day the Holy Spirit would (seven weeks later) found his Church, the resurrection foundation of the Church was now laid. And it was dawn-- probably five-thirty or six in the morning: with the sun's rays just beginning to illuminate the Temple Mount to the east.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were the women at hand. Mary Magdalene came from up north-- the western shores of the Sea of Galilee. Out of her Jesus had cast seven demons. Since that time she had followed Jesus and supported his ministry-- also financially. The other Mary was the mother of one of Jesus' disciples. With these two Marys, the other accounts inform us, were a couple of other, similar, faithful women.

And they went to look at the tomb. It was near Golgotha, the place of Christ's crucifixion. And so, it was just outside Jerusalem's city wall to the west. The tomb had been excavated out of rock. If it was like other tombs at the time, it probably had a little larger, but still snug entry room-- and then an entry way into a smaller back room with a shelf: on which the body was laid. Without any question, this tomb had a big stone blocking the opening to the outside. And a stone that big had to weigh many thousands of pounds.

So, as the women quietly made their way in the dark, we read: There was a violent earthquake. Think of it! It must have nearly knocked them from their feet! It must have lasted ten or twenty or thirty seconds-- shaking and quaking, with trees twisting and whole hills jostling.

What happened? Well: An angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. What did he look like? His appearance was like lightning. Extraordinary! Scary! Bright! White! And: sudden! And the angel's clothes were white as snow. Other-worldly! Holy! No wonder that: The guards -- at least half a dozen men, maybe many more -- The guards were so afraid of him that they shook the way the earth did and became like dead men. They fainted into an other-worldly faint.

And we might have done that, too, if we were there. Given our failure to revere the Lord, to love the Lord, to trust the Lord, we would have been terrified! Given our failure to read God's Word, to hear God's Word, to petition God's Name, we would have shaken! Given our disobedience, our impatience, our lusts, our lies, our covetousness, we would have fainted into an other-worldly faint! We would have become, physically, like the dead men we really are by nature, spiritually!

But-- but we read: The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid." And the original language here is all-encompassing: Do not be afraid-- now or ever! Why not? "I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here" among the dead; "He has risen, just as he said." And how sure is this? The women have eyewitness proof! The angel invites them: "Come and see the place where he lay." And having come and seen, they must go and tell: "Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee'"-- Galilee: your homeland, and the place where Christ discipled you. The angel concludes: "'There you will see him. Now I have told you.'"

God's Message For Our Hearts:

Christ Crucified Has, Most Assuredly, Risen!

That, then, is Easter's Early Morning Message. And what does it mean to us? Well, first of all, Christ Crucified Has, Most Assuredly, Risen from the dead.

Friends: "Christ Crucified Has, Most Assuredly, Risen!" The empty tomb guarantees it! No one could have arisen from the sleep of some sort of coma, stumbled from within to the opening of a tomb, and pushed a several ton piece of rock out of its uphill channel-- to escape, only to die sometime somewhere else.

No: "Christ Crucified Has, Most Assuredly, Risen!" The angel guarantees it! And who are we to argue with an angel? No angel from God in heaven tells a lie, and this one tells us Christ arose.

"Christ Crucified Has, Most Assuredly, Risen!" The women guarantee it! They couldn't have rolled that stone away. They couldn't have told an untrue story as amazing as this one with a straight face. And they couldn't have arranged for Jesus subsequently to appear to Mary Magdalene, to the women as a whole, to Peter, to the Emmaus disciples, to the ten, to the ten with Thomas, to the seven in Galilee, to five hundred at a time, to James, to the disciples at his ascension, and afterwards even to Paul on the road to Damascus and to John on the island of Patmos.

So: "Christ Jesus Has, Most Assuredly, Risen!" So what?

So: all your sins and all my sins and all the world's sins were buried in that tomb with Christ. He rose, leaving them behind. We rose, leaving them behind.

Do you need proof? God tells us in Romans six, four: We were buried with Christ through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too live a new life. God tells us in Romans eight, one: There is now no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death. God tells us in Romans eight, thirty-four: Who is he that condemns us? ... Why, Christ Jesus who died -- more than that, who was raised to life -- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

And that's just the book of Romans. How about First Corinthians fifteen, twenty-two: As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive? How about Second Corinthians five, fourteen and fifteen: One died for all, and therefore all died; and he died for all, that we who live should no longer live for ourselves but for him who died for us and was raised again? How about Galatians two, twenty: We have been crucified with Christ, and we no longer live, but Christ lives in us? How about Ephesians two, five and six: God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions; God raised us up with Christ? And how about...?

Well, the point is clear, isn't it? Your failure to revere the Lord, to love the Lord, to trust the Lord-- it's buried in Christ's tomb, and you will rise holy with him! Your failure to read God's Word, to hear God's Word, to petition God's name-- it's buried in Christ's tomb, and you will rise holy with him! Your disobedience and impatience, your lusts and lies, your covetousness-- they're buried in the tomb of Christ, and you will rise holy with him!

God's Message For Our Lives:

Don't Be Afraid!

That, then, is Easter's Early Morning Message: "Christ Crucified Has, Most Assuredly, Risen!" And so-- and so: "Don't Be Afraid!"

"Don't Be Afraid!" of the loss of your own eternal life. Christ has risen, you're attached to him, and he will raise you to life everlasting.

"Don't Be Afraid!" of the loss of your own physical life. Christ has risen, you're attached to him, and for you to die is actually gain.

"Don't Be Afraid!" of the loss of your loved ones. Christ has risen from the dead, just as he said. And so, you can trust Christ when he also says: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." And so we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

"Don't Be Afraid!" of the loss of your good reputation. Christ has risen from the dead, just as he said. And so, you can trust Christ when he also says: Your witness is in heaven; your advocate is on high; your intercessor is your friend, as your eyes pour out tears to God.

And "Don't Be Afraid!" of the loss of your money. Christ has risen from the dead, just as he said. And so, you can trust Christ when he also says in the words of the psalmist: I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

Conclusion: Christ Crucified Has Risen-- Don't Be Afraid!

Do you see, then, that that's "Easter's Early Morning Message"? Your hearts know very well the words of the angel: "Christ Crucified Has, Most Assuredly, Risen!" So, be sure to apply to your lives his other words, just as true: "Don't ever, ever be afraid!" Amen.

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O grave, is your sting? -- The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.