Luke 24:1-12
No More!
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today is the day that we say “no more”. It’s the day when we finally stand up to our bully. It’s the day when we finally draw a line in the sand and plant our feet firmly in the ground, promising that we shall not be moved. No more, we say! We’ve taken enough this time and now it’s time to be done! I’m not going to deal with your antics anymore... Satan! It’s over now! Indeed, the freedom we can feel now is unlike any other. It’s not just a release from bondage; it’s not just standing up to our bully; it’s not just the will and determination that rises to the occasion. No, this is different. For when we say no more today, we mean it. We don’t want this world to hold us back anymore. We won’t allow sin to chain us to our past. We certainly aren’t going to let the grave keep us down! All of this we could say... as we look like a child against a grown up... against Satan. Yes, all this we could say and we might get laughed at. However, Satan and the world will start listening... not because we’re the ones speaking... but because of who now stands behind us. It’s like those comics or comedies where a child scares off a big, burly man... only to turn around and see someone twice as big standing behind him. Today... that’s Jesus! Jesus who has ripped the door of the grave off its hinges. Jesus who dresses for war with a legion of angels behind him. By faith, it’s Jesus who scares away Satan. It’s Jesus who puts death back in his place. It’s Jesus who has said once and for all, no more!
On this Easter Sunday, let us turn around and see our Lord risen from the grave! See his hands reach out to us to give us life and peace! Three days Jesus laid in the tomb, but now, no more! For he is risen and now shows us:
THE HANDS OF DEATH CAN NO LONGER HOLD THE HANDS OF LIFE!
I.
We’re meant to revel today in our Lord’s victory. It’s a day of joy and happiness. What could possibly ruin a day like today? But even today, we know that we still live in a world ruled by sin and death. Even after Jesus has defeated them, they still afflict us. We suffer loss still and face despair due to health challenges, social issues, family, friends, from every aspect of life. Imagine being the disciples on this day though. Jesus had just died. He was laid into the tomb. We know that people don’t simply come back to life. As we read, “Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them and idle tale, and they did not believe them,” Luke 24:10-11. These women had seen the angels, been told Jesus was risen… and yet the apostles couldn’t believe it. It was news that didn’t move them. It didn’t change them. They were still consumed by their fear and despair for Friday.
And what about us? Is the resurrection an idle tale for us too? It certainly seems like it at times. We say we believe but we don’t always do what God tells us. It doesn’t move us in the way it should. Or maybe we don’t fully believe like we should because the world scares us. Jesus’ resurrection seems like a fairy tale some days… maybe because we’re still dealing with our sin. We’re still dealing with death. And yes, doubt will undoubtedly arise from time to time. But we’re called to listen above all to our Lord and what he teaches us. For he has taught us that this life isn’t everything. We’ve been taught that life isn’t found in wealth and abundance, but in serving and humility. We’ve been taught that so long as we’re on this earth, we will suffer, but not forever. Consider as Paul wrote, “If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… For [Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death,” 1 Corinthians 15:19-20, 25-26. Christ is the firstfruits. For his victory may not be readily apparent to us yet, but it will come to us also.
II.
This is why today matters to us. For the battle may still be raging around us, but the war has already been won! Jesus is risen! See the tomb where he was laid. There the women would go expecting to find Jesus still dead. But as we read, “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus…. Behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel…. The men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen,” Luke 24:2-6. These hands of death… the tomb, couldn’t hold Jesus any longer. Satan couldn’t silence the Lord of life! Rather, Jesus was raised from the dead so that from his hands, he may offer to us life everlasting! Jesus has been vindicated by his resurrection, that is, he has been shown to be our Lord of life, the one whom death cannot hold.
Today, let us revel in our Lord’s victory. Let us be filled with joy and happiness. Let us see our Lord who was crucified for us now risen from the dead! By Jesus’ death, he has brought an end to the hold that death had on you. He has ripped death’s door off its hinges. He has forgiven your sins by his blood poured out for you! Believe it, live it! This is no idle tale, but is true history. Our Lord now holds the keys of death so that even as we still suffer, our whole life remains in his hands… the hands of life eternal! As Isaiah wrote, God said, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind,” Isaiah 65:17. This life isn’t the end for us… because Jesus has opened wide the gates of heaven. He has joined us in our suffering through his death. He has joined us in the grave, so that we may join him in eternity!
No more is death able to hold us down. No more shall sin torment us. No more shall Satan taunt us with his power and tempt us with his reign. For Jesus is risen from the dead and has brought the kingdom of God to you in his death and resurrection! He has claimed you as his own so that we too may be raised to life eternal! In Jesus’ name! Amen!
Now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord!
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen!