Easter
Dear friends in Christ. Today we come to the heart and core of the Christian faith—Easter, the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Without Easter, without Jesus rising bodily from the dead that first Easter morning, there would be no Christianity. Jesus would be just like all the other founders of various religions—dead and decayed in the tomb. St. Paul puts it this way [1 Cor. 15.17, 20]: And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!...But now Christ is risen from the dead... The thing is, Jesus’ bodily resurrection is a well attested to historical fact. Again, the blessed Apostle [1Cor. 15.4-8] records: that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. There can be and is no doubt, Jesus rose bodily, physically from the dead that first Easter.
What does that mean for us? Our synodical catechism has a lovely section pointing out why Jesus’ resurrection is so important and comforting [Question #145]. It states that:
- Jesus' resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God and quotes St. Paul [Rm. 1.4]: [Jesus was] declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead;
- Jesus’ resurrection also shows that His doctrine is truth and quotes Jesus’ own words [John 8.28]: When you have lifted up the Son of Man [here Jesus refers to His crucifixion] then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on My own but speak just what the Father has taught Me;
- Jesus’ resurrection is also of greatest comfort to us because it shows God the Father accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for the reconciliation of the world and here St. Paul is again quoted [Rm 4.25]: [Christ] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
- And the fourth comforting thing about Jesus’ resurrection is that all believers in Christ will rise to eternal life in heaven with all the saints, the angels and the holy Triune God. Here Jesus’ words of promise are pointed to [John 11.25-26; 14.19]: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die; and because I live, you also will live.
What a glorious day of joy Easter is for us! Jesus is risen from the dead, conqueror of sin, death, devil and hell.
That’s exactly what we find in our text from the OT prophet, St. Zephaniah. Here in our text, he is looking ahead and sees Easter, the results of Easter, of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and His conquest of the devil. As we examine our text we will see that Easter is a joyous day both for us and also for God.
1. St. Zephaniah begins our joyous text: The LORD has taken away the judgments against you. That’s what Easter is about. Good Friday was all about Jesus—the holy, sinless God-man, taking upon Himself all of our sins, being charged with every single sin of every single person, becoming the world’s sinner and being made sin itself [2 Cor. 5.21], and there going to the cross to endure the wrath and punishment of God for those sins. There on the cross Jesus endured the very pangs of hell crying out [Mt. 27.46]: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? The judgment of God over our sin was poured out on Jesus, who was forsaken by God, that is, He suffered hell and died. That’s what St. Paul means when he writes: [Christ] was delivered over to death for our sins. The judgments of God against sin are real. With Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross we see what an affront sin is to God, what an offense to His holiness each one of our sins is. Here we see what we earn and deserve from God as a result of our sin.
But there’s Easter! And what does Easter show us? It shows us that Jesus, the holy and sinless One, not only took our sins upon Himself, became sin for us but also precisely by that He offered up the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, the sacrifice that reconciled us sinners to the holy God. That’s why St. Paul doesn’t stop with: [Christ] was delivered over to death for our sins, but continues with, He was raised to life for our justification. And why? Because He is/ offered the once for all perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world reconciling us sinners to the holy God; now all of God’s anger over our sin has already been poured out on Him; all sins have been paid for, perfectly/ completely by Jesus for us. Now there has to be Easter, Jesus has to be raised—why? there is no sin--our sin Jesus willingly took on Himself-- holding Him in death; death has no claim on Him. Since Jesus was raised to life that means that, in Him, we have been declared / pronounced forgiven. Easter is God’s pronouncement on the world “Forgiven!” In Jesus, The LORD has taken away the judgments against you. Do you ever doubt your forgiveness? Do you ever think you committed a sin too great to be forgiven? Do you drag around all sorts of guilt over sin? Don’t! Easter! Look to the empty tomb and there see your forgiveness.
That’s what the prophet did in our text: The LORD has taken away the judgments against you. He was blessed to look ahead and to see that the sentence of condemnation spoken over each one of us because of our sin was taken away that Easter morning. Because of Jesus and His holy life for us and His innocent suffering and death for us our condemnation was cancelled, our guilt was pardoned and the indictment against us quashed. Now, in Jesus, there is nothing but pure forgiveness: The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, or in the words of St. Paul [Rm. 8.33-34]: Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen. For us, it is “Happy Easter” because it shows we live in God’s grace and forgiveness.
As St. Zephaniah looks ahead and sees Easter, Jesus’ resurrection, he also sees the destruction of sin, death, devil and hell—all our spiritual enemies. He says: The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. Our holy and gracious Lord has taken the judgments away from us, forgiving us our sin, and now our spiritual enemies are defeated and can do us no harm. He has cleared them away, like one clears away, dirt, garbage or stones. In His mercy, by the suffering of Jesus, the LORD has taken away the judgments against you; that’s what Easter shows. If the punishments for our sins are gone/ forgiven, that means that sin, guilt, and death are gone as well. In His mercy, as the Lord forgives us our sin, the consequences of our sin are gone—death and hell are no longer a threat. Jesus defeated them. Jesus entered death and destroyed it, rising again from the dead. Jesus descended into hell, the devil’s very stronghold, Easter Sunday morning to proclaim His victory over the devil and all his host. He has cleared away [our] enemies. Jesus overcame all our enemies: sin, death, devil and hell—and why? So that they can and should no longer harm us! What a Happy Easter for us! Sin, death, devil and hell—all our spiritual enemies lie defeated, by Jesus for us. Now we can live before God in peace and happiness—our sins are forgiven; we are reconciled to Him; He is our dear heavenly Father and we are now His dear children and heirs of heaven. Glorious, happy Easter for us!
But Easter gets even better as St. Zephaniah looks ahead and describes Easter’s blessings to us. Not only has the LORD taken away the judgments against [us], not only has He cleared away [our] enemies, but also The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. We have the Lord with us. We, dear Christian, are the people of God. The prophet Isaiah [59.2] writes: Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His Face from you.... But Easter! With our sin forgiven and with our guilt taken away, the Lord has no reason to be separate from us—He is with us. He is with us with His protecting power. With the Lord with us, we need not fear any evil—just like St. David writes in the psalm [23.4]: I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Easter means that Jesus is alive and that He, the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst. As He is in our midst He is giving us His gifts of forgiveness of sin, life and salvation—all that He won for us by His holy life and innocent suffering and death. He promises us [Mt.18.20; 28.20]: where two or three have been gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them; andI am with you always, even to the very end of the age. Especially now as we gather in church around His word and sacrament, where He has promised to meet us, He is giving these fruits of His victory: forgiveness, life, peace with God, eternal life in the holy absolution, in the word and in the Blessed Sacrament where there is no doubt of His presence with us as He, the risen and ascended Christ, gives us His very body and blood. As we hold fast to our risen Lord daily in prayer and Scripture reading and as we find ourselves in His midst as He meets us in church in His word and sacrament no evil is able to hurt or hinder or salvation. He the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst constantly giving us the fruits of His resurrection victory.
Because of the weakness of our old sinful nature and because our spiritual enemies are out to destroy our faith in Jesus and thus our salvation; because of the daily fight against sin; because time of trial will come, our prophet also says: On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save…” We have the glorious promise and assurance that through it all, the Lord is with us—after all He can be because He rose from the dead; He can be because He is the almighty God. In our times of weakness and trials He is close and powerful to help us; He even gives us His Holy Spirit to strengthen us and to keep us from being broken by evils. What a happy day Easter is for us! Here we have the glorious message in our trials: Fear not. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.
2. But it is not just Happy Easter for us, but it is also Happy Easter for Jesus. St. Zephaniah also records Jesus’ joy at Easter: he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will be quiet with his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. What joy for God that first Easter was! The goal of His saving work was reached. The purpose of the Father in sending His Son was reached. The Son accomplished His task of saving the world from its sin and reconciling the world to Him. Our Lord’s Easter joy—we are in His presence; we are His dear Christians; we are receiving in Spirit worked faith all of His gifts and blessings! As Jesus looks over the Church, how He rejoices to sees His Christians joyfully serving Him. We who were all by nature formerly His enemies are now His dear Christians and heirs of heaven. He did not suffer the agonies of hell and die in vain. He rose from the dead and His dear Christians, the Church, is the fruit of Easter. His is a profound joy: he will be quiet with his love. He silently contemplates His Church and overwhelming joy fills His heart. His is a deeply felt love so absorbed in thinking and admiring the object of His love—His dear Christians. That’s the joy of the Lord in us, His Church—sinners whom He rescued from sin, death, devil and hell. That’s the Lord’s Easter joy! He has a hearty delight in us and from His heart and lips comes a joyous shout so that heaven echoes and reechoes with jubilation. He will exult over you with loud singing. Because He has joy in us we have joy in Him.
Dear Christian, Easter is a celebration of greatest joy—for us because our sins are forgiven and Jesus conquered our spiritual enemies; we are now reconciled and at peace with God. And Easter is a celebration of greatest joy for the Lord because here His mercy and work to save us reached its goal and He delights in us. Happy Easter!