He Is Not Here!
Text: Matthew 28:1-10
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen.
The
religious leaders of Jerusalem had been challenged by Jesus over and over and
over during the time of His ministry in Israel.
Their position of authority had been threatened and their power had been
undermined by Jesus’ bold proclamation of the Kingdom of God. As a result they began to plot how to destroy
Jesus. Their scheming and plotting
started very early on in the ministry of Jesus.
As
we know from the scriptures there were various times where Jesus was almost
destroyed, but it simply did not happen because the time was not right. It was not the hour for Jesus to suffer and
die. However, as we heard in last week’s
sermon, this Holy Week was the time when Jesus would willingly go to the cross
to suffer and die. Yes, we believe,
teach, and confess that it was Jesus’ mission to go to the cross; it was a
decision that He made on His own accord.
Thus, Jesus gave Himself up to those who had conspired to destroy
Him. As a result Jesus was arrested, put
on trial, at night, not for what He had done, but for who He was.
Did
you realize that countless Jewish Laws were broken to condemn Jesus. False testimonies were fabricated, the Jewish
trial to convict Him was held at night without a proper announcement. They accused Jesus of stirring up commotion
in the crowds, prohibiting poll taxes, and blasphemy. Thus, they condemned Him and brought Him to
Pontius Pilate at 6:00 AM where Jesus underwent a flogging that would have killed
most people. He was bloodied to an
unrecognizable status and mocked as if He wasn’t even human. The Roman Governor, Pilate, then broke the
Roman law by allowing Jesus to be crucified.
Keep in mind that it was illegal to have a man flogged, that is severely
whipped, and crucified on the same day for the Romans believed that that was
too unethical. Yes, the Jewish
leadership bent and twisted its jurisdiction with fabricated lies. Yes, the Roman Empire broke its own laws by
having Christ crucified. The full weight
of the Jewish System and the Roman System stood against Christ.
Not
only was the Jewish System and the Roman System against Christ, the disciples
had abandoned Jesus as well leaving only the Apostle John and a couple of women
at His side.
As
you already know, on the cross Jesus bled.
As His energy drained from His body it became more and more difficult
for Him to breathe as His body sunk low causing His arms to pull upwards.
Christ
also drug the sins of mankind upon Himself while on the cross. He was forsaken, that is abandoned, by the
Father as the Father judged this sin upon Christ.
When
everything was complete, He said, “It is finished” and He gave up His spirit.
After
His death, things were not yet complete.
The Roman Soldier to ensure death pierced Jesus’ side with a spear. Jesus was then placed in a tomb, and it was
sealed with a large stone. Roman soldiers
also were placed on the outside of the tomb to ensure that the large stone
would remain, that the tomb would continue to be sealed, so that the work and
person of Jesus would fade into history.
The
Jewish System, the Roman Empire, the flogging, the mocking, the crucifixion,
the stone, and the guards were all meant to dispose of Jesus Christ. They were meant to wipe Him from history,
they were meant to destroy Him, and they were meant to eradicate His followers. All the force that the world could muster was
devoted to exterminating this one called Jesus the Christ.
This
all makes sense now, when we consider the reaction of the women going to the
tomb that early Easter morning some two-thousand years ago. They were perplexed
and confused because the stone was rolled away.
What happened? Why didn’t the
soldiers keep it shut? Where was
Jesus? Did someone raid the tomb and
take His body? What is going on? Yes, Jesus had promised that He would rise
again, but after seeing the full force of the Jewish System, the brutalities of
the Roman Empire, and the fierce death of Jesus, would this be something He would
truly overcome? Thus they were perplexed
and confused seeing the stone rolled away and noticing that the body of Jesus
was not there.
After
seeing that the stone had been removed, the women encountered an Angel of the
Lord. This Angel explained and told them what had happened. The Angel said, “He is not here; for He was
raised just as He said.”
My
friends, Jesus is not here. He is not in
the tomb.
When I was a child I would ponder
Resurrection Sunday and think to myself, “I
am sure glad the stone was rolled away by the Angel to let Jesus out.” I imagined that Jesus came to life in the
tomb and simply had to wait in the tomb to be let out! It is a funny thought to consider. However,
the great truth about Easter Sunday is that Christ arose from the grave before
the stone of the tomb was removed. Yes,
in our Gospel reading from today we read that there was a great earthquake and
an Angel came down and rolled back the stone causing the soldiers to be struck
with fear as if they were dead. The
Angel then sat on the stone, with the light of the morning sun shining into the
dark tomb where Jesus once laid. But
where was Christ if He was not in the tomb waiting to get out? “Christ, after He was made alive in His
grave, descended into hell, not to suffer punishment, but to proclaim His
victory over His enemies in Hell.”[1]
Did you hear that? Christ went to Hell
to proclaim victory. He went into the
enemy territory to reveal that He was the victor. Then He went to be among the living. My friends, the stone wasn’t rolled away to
let Jesus out, rather the stone was rolled away for you and for me so that we
might know that He is not there. That He is not among the dead. It was rolled away to show the followers of
Jesus and reveal to all people the victory which Christ had obtained over sin,
death and the devil. It was as if the
curtain was pulled back so God could reveal what His suffering servant accomplished
on the cross! The empty tomb is icing on
the cake. It validates and points back
to what Jesus did on the cross. It
validates that death was not victorious and that what Jesus did on the cross
was truly, truly sufficient.
“He is not here!” These are the words of the Angel to the women
explaining and showing that Jesus silently and wondrously passed through the
rock. The words, “He is not here,” tells
us that the Jewish System, the Roman System, death, sin, and the devil cannot
and did not exterminate the one called Jesus the Christ. They could not wipe Him from history nor
could they destroy His kingdom that has no end.
Indeed, because Jesus is not in the
tomb we can confess that Jesus is Divine, for no mere man could overcome death,
especially the death that Jesus endured.
Indeed, because Jesus is not in the
tomb we can confess that everything Jesus taught was true.
Indeed, because Jesus is not in the
tomb we can confess that our sins have been truly paid for, that God’s wrath
was appeased, that death is powerless, and that the devil is a defeated
foe. We can confess that what happened
at the cross actually worked.
Indeed,
the empty tomb confirms, sanctions, validates that we have a living Savior and
victorious Savior; a living advocate. Because Jesus is not in the tomb, it
testifies that we too will rise again someday in Christ.
My
friends, we have a Lord that is not here.
Not where? Not in the grave. That is the testimony of the Angel to the
women that Easter Sunday long ago, and it is the testimony of God’s Word to you
today. Your Savior Jesus Christ is not
among the dead but among the living.
Christ is risen from the dead trampling over death by death. No scheme
of man and no power of evil could hold Him down.
Because
He lives, you will also live.
He
is not there.
Now,
the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, (St.
Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1991), 138.
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