Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter Sunday: The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord - 2012

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10AM Central Time

The Hymn #191               Christ the Lord                      2:97

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #188                Hallelujah                   2:20 

 Faith versus Feelings

The Communion Hymn # 206:1-5            Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense  2:81

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31The Hymn #189   He Is Arisen Glorious Word               4:77

KJV 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

KJV Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

Easter

Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst deliver Thy Son for our offenses, and didst raise Him again for our justification: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may rule and govern us according to Thy will; graciously keep us in the true faith; defend us from all sins, and after this life raise us unto eternal life, through the same, Thy beloved Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Faith versus Feelings

Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

Lenski points out that the women came to the tomb very early to finish the work they wished to do. Jesus died on Friday, so sundown was the Sabbath. After the Sabbath was over, Saturday evening, they had a little time to buy the expensive spices in liquid form. Powdered spices were used with the linen wraps (also expensive) that Joseph of Arimathea provided.

KJV Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. 44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. 45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.

The Gospel of John records that Nicodemus, who came to Him by night (Nick at Night – John 3) was also involved in the burial, so faith overcame fear, in spite of Nicodemus high standing with the religious leaders and the criminal reputation of Jesus.

The women came to the tomb very early on Sunday, before the sun was up. Sunday, in the Jewish reckoning, began Saturday evening.

Some have trouble with “after three days” because we think in Western terms, with 24 hours being a day. Jewish reckoning counted each part of a day as a separate day, so Jesus died on Friday, was in the tomb Saturday, and rose on the third day, which could have included Saturday in our time.

That is why many denominations have an Easter Vigil very late on Saturday, reciting the Scriptures of the Bible. In Moline we had sunrise services, but the Greek Orthodox had Easter Vigil, which we attended at least once, as college students who knew some Greek.

2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

Certain women were named in this group visiting the tomb. No men were present at this time. They were anxious to honor their dead Teacher, and they also wanted to speedy due to the effects of desert heat. (Note the contrast with Lazarus, when Jesus deliberately delayed His visit, so people feared being near the tomb, due to rapid decomposition.)

3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

On the way they realized that they did not make plans for removing the stone lid from the tomb. The closing of the tomb was more of a lid that rolled in a groove. A boulder to fit the opening would have defied movement by several men. But a stone lid might be muscled aside by several men – not by the women.

Luther describes the condition of the women as being overcome with emotion and grief. When we are in that condition we are not going to think are plan carefully. The crisis of the moment fills our minds. They were rushing to do what women normally did at that time. There were prescribed rituals, which are still followed in many cultures.

Mark does not deal with the soldiers guarding the tomb. We have four narratives, plus additional details from Paul, so we have a complete picture from all of them. Roman soldiers were posted to guard the tomb, but they fled when the earthquake opened the tomb and showed it to be empty.

Why soldiers? Jesus was far more dangerous to the leaders than the liberals of today allow. He arrived in Jerusalem as a king, with the crowds hailing Him as the Messiah. He brought with Him Lazarus, who was proof of His ability to raise the dead – a claim no one else could make. The religious authorities were so anxious about Lazarus that they plotted against him, too.

The guards tell us that the civil authorities were sufficiently afraid, ironically bearing witness to Jesus’ power over death. They would make sure that nothing happened.

The litmus test of an apostate is the denial of the Virgin Birth and the physical resurrection of Christ. I have used that more than once. In 1987 I found only one ELCA seminary professor who could support the resurrection of Christ. That man conceded in print that it “probably happened.” But the fact remains that no one has ever denied the facts. They simply do not believe in the divinity of Christ, so that settles the question for them. It does not affect their concept of reality. They marvel that the disciples loved Him so much that they believed it to be true.

My favorite response to the litmus test was from this Disciples of Christ seminary student – “Those are not important issues.” She bragged that the Unitarians studied at the same school. I said, “Why not?”

KJV John 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. 9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus. 12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. 14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. 17 The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.

4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

Our prepositions are often vague, but German and Greek prepositions are exact. The stone lid, very large, was not rolled aside in the groove, but thrown away from the entrance, flat on the ground, never to be used again.

Matthew tells us that an angel rolled the stone away and sat on it. It was not rolled aside in its groove in the regular way so as to be rolled back again to shut the entrance. No, it was hurled out of its groove by some tremendous power, thrown flat upon the ground in front of the tomb, thus making a seat for the angel who waited until the women drew near and then went inside the tomb. This stone was not again to be rolled in front of the entrance. It had been laid flat so that the tomb should stand wide open for all men to see that it was emptied of the body of Jesus, the bodiless wrappings lying undisturbed and flat just as they had been wrapped, mute but mighty evidence of the resurrection, John 20:5–10.

When the women looked up they saw the stone in this condition; note the change of prepositions, not ἀπό in the verb as in v. 3 but ἀπά; not “away from” in the regular way, in the groove, but “back,” rolled violently from the cliffside. To have all this understood properly Mark explains (γάρ) that the stone in question was “very great.” Poorer tombs had small openings and needed smaller stones to close them; but this rich man’s tomb had an opening that was of full height and needed a stone of proportionate size for its closing. Gordon’s Tomb, described in 15:46, agrees perfectly with all that the evangelists say about the stone and the door.

The opening of the tomb by the angel has been misunderstood by some interpreters. When the angel opened the tomb, Jesus had already risen. None of the evangelists describes the resurrection proper; it had no witnesses, it was wholly miraculous. Jesus left the tomb silently. His dead body was suddenly quickened (1 Pet. 3:18), filled with life, and in the same instant passed out of its funeral wrappings and out through the walls of the sealed and guarded tomb invisible to the eyes of men. Then, when the tomb was empty, the angel came and opened the tomb to show that it was indeed empty. At this coming of the angel and the earthquake he caused the Roman guard fell prostrate and, recovering somewhat, fled. Those paintings which portray the glorious Savior coming out of the opened door of the tomb while the guard falls in dismay at the sight of him are not in accord with the facts of the case. Silently, invisibly, wondrously, gloriously the living body passed through the rock.

This mode of being is described well in Concordia Triglotta, 1004, 100: “The incomprehensible, spiritual mode, according to which he neither occupies nor vacates space, but penetrates all creatures, wherever he pleases; as, to make an imperfect comparison, my sight penetrates and is in air, light, or water, and does not occupy or vacate space; as a sound or tone penetrates and is in air or water or board or wall, and also does not occupy or vacate space; likewise, as light and heat penetrate and are in air, water, glass, crystal, and the like; and much more of the like. This mode he used when he rose from the closed sepulcher, and passed through the closed door, and in the bread and wine in the Holy Supper.”

Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Mark's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 740.

5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

This was a large tomb, which meant a very expensive one. They went in, so this was not an economy-sized carved tomb, but a large one. They saw an angel in a long white garment, sitting on the right side. Two angels were present, but one spoke.

Their immediate reaction, on seeing the stone lid thrown down, would have been to assume that tomb robbers had been there. Many people are buried with precious objects, or there is the hope that this would be true of a rich man’s grave.

The women rushed in afraid and anxious about what they would see, because their emotions and experience told them they were doing the proper work of honoring the dead Master. That turned into an obvious robbery, and then an angelic message. In short order grief turned to terror, and terror into an astonishing revelation.

The angel’s message was brief, concise, and stunning in its content.

Fact – You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. They are in the right place and this stranger knows who they are.

Revelation – He is risen, which is one word in the text. This word cannot be misunderstood. It means He is risen from the dead. These women were followers, so they knew Jesus raised

1. the widow’s son,
2. the young girl,
3. and Lazarus.

The previous miracles now make sense of the resurrection of Christ. He is risen because He is far more than their concept of the Messiah. He is the Son of God, the only One capable of being both the High Priest and Lamb of God.

Revelation – He is not here. So many religious phonies talk like witch-doctors, impossible to understand. Here is a momentous revelation in the simplest possible words – He is not here, three simple words in the original text. The grave is not a place for the triumphant Son of God. Neither would it be for the followers and disciples. They would not dwell on the grave or mark it with a bronze plaque. They had to see the proof of the grave first, but they also saw the risen Christ Himself. That is why we concentrate on His Word rather than shrines to Him, whether historical or not.

Fact  - Look at the place where they laid Him. A thorough-going doubter might say, “Well, this could be a robbery of a tomb,” but that was not consistent with the proven ability of Jesus, His power over death. And it now made sense to those who believed in Him that this power extended to His own life as well. The Bible emphasizes two aspects of this – that the Father raised Him from the dead, and also that He gave up His life and took it up again (John 10).

KJV Mark 16:7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

Why is Peter named separately from the disciples? A Roman Catholic would say it is because Peter was the first pope. But if Peter was to be singled out as the most eminent, the first among equals (as the pope says today), it would have been, Go tell Peter and the disciples.

Just previously Peter had denied Jesus three times, as Jesus warned he would. Peter vociferously said that would never happen, and yet it did happen. Jesus was not one to shun Peter for the man’s impetuous weakness. If Jesus had done that, He would have included everyone except John, the only disciple present at the crucifixion.

Instead Jesus gave Peter a time of confession (Yes, Lord, I love You) and absolution “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus also built up the remaining disciples, so their failings and forgiveness became the foundation of their Gospel proclamation. The exception was Judas, who betrayed Jesus and lost hope.

KJV Mark 16:8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

One of those saint books would have had the women walking away in peace and joy, performing miracles and becoming nuns. No, they were ordinary people like us. They were still in shock, still afraid, beside themselves. There are four descriptions of their state:

1. Trembled
2. Amazed
3. Silent
4. Afraid.

The first half of Mark 16 is chosen for Easter Sunday, by tradition, because the rest of the Easter season fills in all the other details, including Mark 16:9-20.

Bible Butchers

But the liberal versions of the Bible have this, following the NIV, RSV apostasy –

NIV Mark 16:9 [The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.] When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

The most reliable early and other ancient witnesses are not reliable at all. They are the creation of one man and accepted ever since, following the example of the two weirdos, Wescott and Hort, who began this travesty.

Here is ESV information - http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/esv.htm

Would you hand over Bible translations, like the NIV, to proud homosexuals? - http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/NIV/worship.htm

Wescott and Hort - http://av1611.com/kjbp/articles/young-examination1.html

Application – Faith versus Feelings

One of the characteristics of Mark’s empty tomb account is the list of emotions experienced by the women. Luther went over the text rather quickly in one sermon and concentrated on a major theme in his sermons.

Feelings are just the opposite of faith. That is good to consider in an era where feelings are sacred, useful in clobbering other people too. Someone can start a lawsuit by saying, “He made me feel uncomfortable.” That happened with us when we were followed by a man down the street in Chicago, late at night. We were afraid, pure and simple. He made us uncomfortable. But when I turned around  I could see it was the president of the LCMS, Jack Preus (1978) and I was no longer afraid.

Our feelings are based upon all our experiences and our rather volatile emotions. Experiences themselves can generate emotions that move us forward or block us. If someone breaks things and blows out circuits doing repairs, as I have done, he is not likely to start any repair job.

We were buying our limo when one of the Duggars had to substitute. He could not do the paperwork. He was in a panic. Later a TV revealed that he could fix anything. His sister-in-law did the paperwork in record time, but I doubt that she could overhaul a bus, as he did with ease. Thus our feelings reflect our past experiences.

Faith in God’s Word means letting go of our human wisdom, human experiences, and our emotions.

One good example is regret. We regret our past sins, and that can nag at us. However, that does negate our forgiveness through faith in Christ. Those who place an emphasis upon emotions make it seem as if we are forgiven when we feel forgiven. That makes our emotions our Savior instead of Jesus.

That also makes people vulnerable to clever manipulation, so they do things to earn that forgiveness, until they feel they have earned enough.

That is why John 16:8 is the foundational statement about the Christian faith – the Holy Spirit convicts us of not trusting completely in Christ for our forgiveness. His triumph over death is a victory over sin at the same time.

He is all forgiveness, so doubting that complete and free forgiveness is a denial of His work as our great High Priest. No sin is so great that He cannot forgive, and no work by man is great enough to earn forgiveness. Therefore the sin against the Holy Spirit is not believing in Christ, rejecting forgiveness through Him, trusting in some other means.

Sure enough, the skeptics often rail against the atonement of Christ. They attack justification by faith. They mock the Means of Grace and make fun of a child-like faith.

Faith is the opposite of fear, which is probably our dominant emotion. Many of our actions and behaviors are the product of fear. Sometimes we need a healthy fear (electricity) but often we have morbid or irrational fears.

Faith is not an emotion, but it guides our emotions. Trust in God’s Word means we can say “God will provide” and “God will care for us as He always has.” It also means that negative experiences can be completely positive when transformed by the Holy Spirit through the Word.

I know many people who have been through the wringer with bad congregations, apostate denominations, and false teachers. That shows us the constant we need, the anchor of the Word of God. How can that be bad, to know what the pitfalls are, to treasure the treasure of the Gospel?

The anti-Book-of-Concord people taught me the Book of Concord. They made every page come alive.

The happy-clappy whoopee worship gurus motivated me to turn hymn verses into graphics for everyone to use.

The translation-du-jour salesmen taught me to look over the issue of translations and texts, to have a new appreciation of the KJV and the traditional text.

That is far better than being rocked to sleep by ease, luxury, and calm.

If we are a bare minority in each denomination, mourning the loss of confessional integrity, especially in the Lutheran Church, is it so bad to hold out hope and education for those who might also care in the coming years?

The disciples could have reckoned that they were against 99.9999999% of humanity, but they felt, they knew that the Word of God put them in the majority.

The seed of the Word grows.

The yeast of the Word leavens the batch.

KJV Matthew 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Johann Gerhard worked with Chemnitz
and taught justification by faith.
He was a prolific, orthodox Lutheran theologian.

EASTER SUNDAY

"When Christ arose, He brought with Him complete righteousness. For He arose for the sake of our righteousness, Romans 4:25. So then, when you, in a similar fashion, arise from sin through true repentance, you are justified from sins, for faith lays hold of this completed righteousness in Christ, by which we are enabled to stand before God."

Johann Gerhard Eleven Easter and Pentecostal Sermons, Malone: Repristination Press, 1996, p. 80. Romans 6:3-4; Romans 4:25. [Note: order the Gerhard sermons from Repristination Press, hunnius@aol.com

"That the Lord Christ, after His resurrection, wishes peace to the disciples and eats the broiled fish and honey comb in their presence, and thereby portrays the benefit and fruit of His resurrection. For through His death and resurrection He has reconciled us with God, His heavenly Father, so that we may from now on, through faith in Him, have peace with God, have peace in our hearts, and have peace against the accusations of the devil and our conscience. When a war lord victoriously overcomes the enemy, peace follows after. So also, since Christ has overcome all His and our enemies in His victorious resurrection, He can thereafter wish [us] peace...Through Him, Samson's riddle was fulfilled: From the eater came something to eat and sweetness from the strong one...He is the powerful Lion from the stem of Judah, Rev 5:5, which mightily fought and overcame so that ours souls find honey-sweet food in Him."

Johann Gerhard, Eleven Easter and Pentecostal Sermons, Malone: Repristination Press, 1996, p. 52. Judges 14:14,18.

"Furthermore, another reason for stating that the Lamb of God was slain from the beginning of the world is that God the Lord, soon after the Fall in the beginning, made the promise that He wanted to have the Seed of the woman step on and crush the head of the hellish snake; and, it would also occur that the snake would bite the woman's Seed in the heel. This stinging of the heel is none other than that Devil's inflicting himself on the woman's Seed and bringing Him to the cross."

Johann Gerhard, Eleven Easter and Pentecostal Sermons, Malone: Repristination Press, 1996, p. 60. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Genesis 3:15.

"He who follows his feelings will perish, but he who clings to the Word with his heart will be delivered."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 245. Mark 16:1-8.

"For when the heart clings to the Word, feelings and reasoning must fail."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 246. Mark 16:1-8.

"Therefore the Holy Spirit must come to our rescue, not only to preach the Word to us, but also to enlarge and impel us from within, yea, even to employ the devil, the world and all kinds of afflictions and persecutions to this end. Just as a pig's bladder must be rubbed with salt and thoroughly worked to distend it, so this old hide of ours must be well salted and plagued until we call for help and cry aloud, and so stretch and expand ourselves, both through internal and through external suffering, that we may finally succeed and attain this heart and cheer, joy and consolation, from Christ's resurrection."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 253. Mark 16:1-8.

"If I do not believe it, I will not receive its benefits; but that neither renders it false nor proves that anything is lacking in Christ."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 258. Mark 16:1-8.

"For this reason one should not be too credulous when a preacher comes softly like an angel of God, recommends himself very highly, and swears that his sole aim is to save souls, and says: 'Pax vobis!' For those are the very fellows the devil employs to honey people's mouths. Through them he gains an entrance to preach and to teach, in order that he may afterward inflict his injuries, and that though he accomplish nothing more for the present, he may, at least, confound the people's consciences and finally lead them into misery and despair."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 322. Luke 24:36-47.

"Thus we have two parts, preaching and believing. His coming to us is preaching; His standing in our hearts is faith. For it is not sufficient that He stand before our eyes and ears; He must stand in the midst of us in our hearts, and offer and impart to us peace."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., xd., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 355. John 20:19-31.

"The first and highest work of love a Christian ought to do when he has become a believer, is to bring others also to believe in the way he himself came to believe. And here you notice Christ begins and institutes the office of the ministry of the external Word in every Christian; for He Himself came with this office and the external Word."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 359. John 20:19-31.

"Now God drives us to this by holding the law before us, in order that through the law we may come to a knowledge of ourselves. For where there is not this knowledge, one can never be saved. He that is well needs no physician; but if a man is sick and desires to become well, he must know that he is weak and sick, otherwise he cannot be helped."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 370. John 20:19-31.

"Who are the people, therefore, to whom God makes known the resurrection of His Son? Women of little learning and poor fishermen."

Sermons of Martin Luther, The House Postils, 3 vols., ed., Eugene Klug, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996, II, p. 22. Luke 24:13-35.