Life Interrupts Death

Matthew 28:1-10

Easter Day

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen.  The sermon text for Easter Day is the Gospel reading Matthew 28.  It was July 27th, 1998.  I was living in Red Wing, MN.  I was in the middle of doing laundry when the phone rang.  It was my younger brother Dan calling me.  I remember his words very well.  “Dad is in the hospital.  It’s serious. You need to come”.  I immediately went to the hospital.  My father was still in the emergency room when I arrived. He had passed out at work earlier that day because of a brain aneurysm.  He fell into a comma for several weeks and eventually passed away.  I was 26 years old at the time and his death hit me very hard. 

Death interrupts life. Many of you here today have experienced the same thing that I have been describing.  Not necessarily the same details but the same outcome.  Many of you have lost loved ones, family members and friends to death.  Death does indeed interrupt life.  Death causes great sorrow and pain.  Not only do we experience sorrow when a loved one passes away but we also understand that we will also die.  Death comes because of sin.  All of us live in this world for a brief period of time.  We have our ups and downs, we experience joy and sadness.  We live out our days knowing that we will eventually die.  Most people put it out of their mind because it is too hard to think about.  But the fact remains, the wages of sin is death. Death interrupts life.  

We see that in our Gospel reading for today.  Death interrupted the lives of those around Jesus.  Mary Magdalene and the other women and the disciples were devastated because of Jesus death on the cross.  Mary and the other women grieved and the disciples hid in a room dazed and confused.  The death of Jesus interrupted all of their lives.  The followers of Jesus knew that He was the promised Savior and they believed in Him so when He died their hopes were shattered.  They might have thought that Jesus was going to liberate them from the Romans but instead the Romans nailed Him to a cross.  They probably had ideas that Jesus would wear a golden crown not a crown of thorns.  I am sure that they looked forward to the amazing things that He was going to do in the future but instead He died a terrible death and was placed in a tomb.

Death interrupts life. Death was seen as interrupting the life of Jesus.  Our Lord’s life was amazing.  He was sinless.  He preached the Word of God to the people.  He performed miracles.  He healed people.  He made the blind see and the deaf hear.  Jesus showed compassion to those who were lost.  I am sure His followers thought that if Jesus would have lived longer, He could have done so much good.  But His life seemed to be cut short when He died on Good Friday. 

What the disciples did not understand at the time was that the ultimate good was done at the cross. Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins of the world.  Our sins. Your sins.  He died to save us from death and hell.  What the disciples did not understand at the time was that Jesus would not stay dead, but He would be the One who would defeat death.  They forgot what the Lord said to them, that He would rise three days later.    

When we look at our Gospel text for today, we see that Jesus Christ is the One who interrupts death.  Recall what took place on Easter Morning when Mary and the others went to tomb.  “But the angel said to the women; do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as He said.  Come; see the place where He lay.  Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him”. Later on Jesus showed the women at the tomb that He was indeed alive.  “And behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings!  And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid; go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Once the followers of Jesus knew that He was alive their grief was turned into joy.  There fear was turned into hope.  Their pain was healed.  After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and when the disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit they went out into the world and proclaimed that Jesus had risen from the dead.  It is good news for all people.    

The single most important person in the world is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  The single most important events in all of history is our Lord’s death and our Lord’s resurrection.  The life of Jesus interrupts death.  After my father passed away there came a time when I had to move forward.  So how do you do that?  At my father’s funeral the Gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed.  I was reminded that Jesus had already defeated death by His resurrection.

Jesus is not dead, but alive. Christ now sits at the right hand of God and reigns over all things.  That means that the Lord looks after His people.  He is present in time of trouble and gives us the strength to endure all things.  He gives us wisdom and courage to confess the truth.  He comes to us in His Word to keep us steadfast in our faith.   

We are all able to move forward, as brothers and sisters in Christ, even in the face of death, because of our Lord’s victory over death.  Easter is the greatest celebration in the church year for good reason because we live in the light of the resurrection.   The resurrection of Jesus gives us the assurance that God accepted His Son’s sacrifice on the cross.  The resurrection of Jesus means that we are forgiven people of God.  The resurrection of our Lord means that death is not finale. It is the resurrection of Christ that gives us comfort, joy and peace right now.  It is the resurrection of Jesus that gives us the assurance that we will be part of the finale resurrection on the last day.   It is the resurrection of Jesus that gives us the assurance of eternal life. 

Jesus is the single most important person in the entire world.  Our Lord’s death and resurrection are the most important events in all of history.  Jesus’ life interrupted death.  Through Christ Jesus we will be in the presence of God forever.  We will have life eternal with God that will never be interrupted by sin, pain, or death.  We will have life eternal with God that will be filled with great joy.  Christ is risen.  He is risen indeed.  Amen.