Behold The Man” March 31, 2024 Easter Sunday

Posted by on Apr 16, 2024 in Sermon archives, Uncategorized

“Behold, The Man”

Isaiah 25:6-9    / Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

1 Corinthians 15:1-11     / Acts 10:34-43

John 20:1-18

Good morning , salutations, greetings, welcome, and let me take this opportunity to remind you all once more that “Christ has risen.”

“He is risen indeed.”  And if I live to be 110 I swear there will never be a time when those words will fail to give me a special kind of joy. It’s hard to explain, really. All I can think to say is that this feeling  of joy and contentment and peace that comes from  a savior who willingly submits to some of the most egregious treatment we can imagine is wrapped up in a lot of things.

The sacrificial love of our Redeemer  is wrapped up in every memory from every Easter service we have known since we were small children. It is wrapped up in memories of chocolate and rabbits and eggs, sure;  but as we have grown and matured in our faith and understanding, it is the resurrection of Christ divine that captures our imagination.

Consider the numerous times that Jesus told his disciples of what was to come: how he told them that in Jerusalem he would be arrested and killed, but on the third day he would rise from the dead to walk amongst them. The prophets of old had testified to the words of Jesus. But his disciples didn’t believe him. They didn’t want to believe him. It certainly didn’t fit in with their plans of a mighty Messiah who would strike down their enemies and free them from the oppression of Rome, and so they refused to believe him.

 

You know, I have to wonder how often we might find ourselves of the same mind as those disciples long ago. I mean, death is so final. My first real experience with death happened when I was in elementary school. We were on our way home on the bus when some of the kids shouted out to me that they had spotted Herman, my long haired dachshund, laying beside the road. I didn’t want to believe it, even though it was fairly obvious that Herman had been hit by a car and chances were good that Herman was dead. Once I got home, I told my dad and we went out to see for ourselves. Sure enough, my terrible suspicions were true. My dad picked him up and brought him to the house and that’s when the grief overwhelmed me. I remember sobbing uncontrollably to the point where my folks had had enough.

“I don’t know what you’re crying about,” they said. “You hardly ever fed him and didn’t take care of him unless we told you to.”  This, of course, didn’t help much at the time, but looking back, I’ve come to realize that  perhaps they may have had a point. I’ve come to realize that my tears were shed only partially for this pet that I cared for. The fact is that I had experienced death in all of its gruesome finality for the first time and it shook me down deep in a way I had never felt before.

When Jesus reached into the tomb for his good friend Lazarus, no one gave a thought that he  might live again. There was only speculation that if he   had gotten there earlier, then perhaps Lazarus might be spared. But for those who witnessed Lazarus walking away from  the tomb, there could be no doubt: he had been brought back from the dead.   the news, of course, spread like wildfire.

Those who were paying attention undoubtedly remembered the many times that Jesus of Nazareth had told them that truly the time would come when he will be arrested and killed and on the third day arise from the dead. Today is the day that we not only celebrate the resurrection, but we marvel at it as well.  We are an Easter people, we are a resurrection people. It is the crux of our faith and the  foundation of our understanding of the depths of God’s love. As hard as it might  be to wrap our heads around the idea that our God has no limits, even   in death, we gather here today to marvel at the fact that no matter how puny or worthless or undeserving we may feel,  our God graced upon us this incredible act  of unconditional love.

It was Ralph Milton who once said.” God did not need Jesus to suffer and die in the cross in order to save us. Rather, we needed it, so we could know the depth of human sin, the breadth of God’s graciousness and love, and ultimately God’s triumph over sin and death.”

So, what does it mean to be a ‘resurrection people?’ We might start by coming to terms with the word resurrection. It was the theologian Bruce  Epperly who wrote:

“Resurrection is the ultimate antidote to death in all its faces, from bigotry and xenophobia to physical annihilation. Resurrection plays no favorites. Although I am no biblical literalist, for a moment I will play the literalist game, asking those who restrict resurrection to a favored few believers, what is it about “for as all died in Adam, all will be made alive in Christ” that you don’t understand? “All” means “all” not part or predestined or believers, but “all.”

 

“At the very least, resurrection touches us all, providing a pathway from death to life for everyone, even those who are afar off as a result of doubt, behavior, or religious tradition. As Paul says elsewhere, God will be “all in all.”

“God will be all in all,” and with that being said, I have to confess that is why I still have a hunger and a crying need to participate in the act of worship. With that being said, I come to church hoping to see beyond the veil of death. I come to worship, especially on Easter Sunday, with my grief and my pain and my loss to discover once again that with death comes resurrection. I hold in my heart the memories of my mother who led me to my faith and of my father who struggled with his, as well as my sister who was finally able to taste the love of Christ before her death.

To be a resurrection people is to live in the promise that God will be All in all.

And so, as we gather together to celebrate the promise of resurrection, let us be mindful of those who have come before. Let us seek to embrace the mystery of life that comes after death. That is the beauty, that is the glory of a resurrection people.

When Pontius Pilot had Jesus arrested, he interviewed him with the hopes of breaking his resolve. He failed. But rather than seek some sort of justice, some sort of resolution, he cast Jesus to the mercy of the crowd. I’ve always been intrigued about how this came to be. Rather than whipping the crowd into a further frenzy by proclaiming his many wrongdoings, he stood before them with Jesus of Nazareth and said simply, “Behold the man,” and that was enough to put them over the top.

“Crucify him,” they cried. The same crowd who had shouted “hosanna, Lord save us”  were all too eager to kill the man. Out of fear, out of discontent, out of anger they chose to ignore the true son of God That could not be stifled or curtailed by death. This is the resurrection story and this is why we remain a resurrection people. No grandiose statements, no blustering pronouncements of privilege or predetermination; only the calm assurance that in Christ, death does not have the last word. I’d like to close with the words of L. R. Knost who tells us:

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.

So with that being said, I will invite you to go out into the world a resurrection people, A Christ like people, and true children of God.

So help me now- “He is risen!”  ‘He is risen indeed.’

Amen and Shalom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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