We gather here because Jesus wasn’t there

Sermon for Easter Sunday

1 Corinthians 5:6-8  +  Mark 16:1-8

Last year on Easter Sunday we gathered here in defiance of our government. We gathered here, even as we are gathered here today, with no guarantees of safety, with no promises of immunity to the plague that was spreading and has now spread throughout the world, and with no assurance that we wouldn’t be fined or even arrested for gathering together around the Word and Sacrament of Christ. We gathered here, not because we wanted to defy the governor, but because we wanted to defy the devil, because we were determined to worship the One who is King over all creation and to seek His help, for ourselves and for our neighbors, because we would not be robbed of the opportunity to celebrate and proclaim the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We gathered here then, even as we gather here today, because, when the women arrived at the tomb on the morning of that first day of the week, Jesus wasn’t there.

The Holy Spirit holds those faithful women up to us as role models for women of every age. They were absolutely devoted to Jesus and His Word. They were the ones who provided for Him during His earthly ministry from their own resources. They had also followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they were there watching as He hung from the cross on Good Friday.

They were also there when He was buried, but they didn’t have time to properly tend to His dead body on Friday, because they had been racing against sunset, when the Sabbath began. They weren’t satisfied with it; their Lord deserved better, they thought. They wanted to serve Him better, even in death. So they rested on the Sabbath, even as Jesus’ body rested in the tomb. Then they bought spices—even the hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes provided by Joseph and Nicodemus wasn’t enough, in their mind. They got everything ready, so that, the very first chance they got, as soon as the first light hit the land on Sunday morning, they would be there.

But there was a problem, one they hadn’t worked out how to fix: the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb. They had seen how large and heavy it was. And for some reason, they didn’t want to ask the men to help them with this task. They were the ones who had attended to Jesus’ needs throughout His ministry. They wanted to do this alone.

But how? How could they move the stone? How could they serve their Lord in His death? There’s an even more horrifying question, if you think about it, one which the women didn’t even consider: What would it mean for them and for their children if they found their Lord the Christ lying dead in the tomb when they got there? In the end, none of those questions mattered. Because Jesus wasn’t there.

The stone was rolled away when they got there. An angel had taken care of that, not for Jesus’ sake, but so that they could see the evidence of the great truth. The angel himself announced that simple, life-altering Easter Gospel: Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

This is one of those rare Gospel readings where we don’t meet Jesus or hear Jesus at all. But, today, that’s the point. If you see Jesus still in the tomb on the third day, then something is terribly wrong. Then He lied about His resurrection; He lied about His authority to lay down His life and take it up again. If Jesus was there in the tomb, then His death was just like any other. It wasn’t a sacrifice for sin. It has no power to justify, no power to save. There can be no forgiveness of sins, because we don’t have an Advocate or Mediator or Intercessor to plead His death on our behalf. If God’s people had found their God in the tomb that day, then you and I would be on our own  to face God’s wrath and judgment for our sins. We’d be on our own to face all this world’s hatred and corruption and cruelty. We’d be on our own against the devil. And we’d be on our own against the grave.

But, dear Christians, you’re not on your own. You’re not left to fend for yourself and perish. Because Jesus wasn’t there.

Because Jesus wasn’t there, you’re not on your own against the devil, against his many temptations, accusations, and deceptions, against his demonic influence on the world. You’re not on your own against the plague and pestilence either of disease or of false doctrine with which the devil would harass and destroy our race. You’re not on your own when death comes and hell would gladly suck you in. Because Jesus wasn’t there in the tomb, you have a living Mediator before God to defend you against all the powers of hell.

Because Jesus wasn’t there, you’re not on your own against the world, with its cares, riches, and pleasures, or against the coming persecution in all its various forms. You’re not on your own against the world’s lies and empty promises, against the government’s oppression, against society’s growing hatred of the truth and of all that is good and noble and right. You’re not on your own to spread the Gospel in the world, either, or to build or to preserve the Church. Because Jesus wasn’t there in the tomb, He will be with you, to guard and to guide, to strengthen and to uphold.

Because Jesus wasn’t there, you’re not on your own against your sinful flesh, against its passions and desires and against the condemnation you deserve for your sins. You’re not on your own to struggle against temptation, or to hold onto your precious faith, or to find your path and your place in the world. Because Jesus wasn’t there in the tomb, you have a Redeemer who lives, who was delivered up for your sins and raised to life for your justification, a Savior who didn’t just die for you, but who now lives and reigns to see you justified through faith, washed in Holy Baptism, preserved through His Word, and brought safely through this valley of tears to Himself in Paradise.

And so we gather again today on this Easter Sunday to celebrate the defeat of death and the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ—a victory that He won, not for Himself, but for us who were once doomed to die an everlasting death, but are now destined to live forever in glory. We gather here today to celebrate the real absence of Jesus’ body in the tomb, even as we celebrate the real presence of Jesus’ body and blood in the Holy Sacrament. We gather here because Jesus wasn’t there. He is still Emmanuel, God with us. He is risen indeed! Amen.