{"id":9878,"date":"2021-02-07T19:49:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T19:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=9878"},"modified":"2022-10-06T10:01:15","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T08:01:15","slug":"luke-241-12-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/luke-241-12-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke 24:1-12"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Luke 24:1-12 [NRSV Text]
\n\u201cBut on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground but the men said to them, \u2018Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.\u2019 Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them to be an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

THIS WEEK\u2019S SERMON<\/p>\n

I need your help today. This sermon is only going to work if you help me. Those of you that know me best know that I could talk all day. But talking is not preaching. Preaching is sharing God\u2019s Good News. But what\u2019s the use of having Good News to share if no one listens? God\u2019s Good News is the greatest news of all. And I need you to help me get it across to everyone in this room that we have the greatest news of all today! If anyone leaves here without at least the tiniest bit of hope in God\u2019s Good News, then for them the sermon will have just been words. So please help me tell the Good News.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how you can help me. When I ask you the question, \u201cDo you think <\/em>Jesus is alive today?\u201d If you believe that Jesus is alive, I want you to answer, \u201cI know<\/em> that my Redeemer lives!\u201d OK, let\u2019s try it. Do you think<\/em> Jesus is alive today? I know<\/em> that my Redeemer lives!<\/p>\n

Of course if you want to get a bit more radical in your helping you could encourage me with an occasional \u201cAmen.\u201d Now I know that most lifelong Lutherans would sooner die than say \u201cAmen\u201d in the middle of a sermon. But if you didn\u2019t grow up Lutheran you can show the Frozen Chosen how it\u2019s done. Just one word of warning to those that are used to saying \u201cAmen\u201d at the end of things. If you want me to stop preaching, saying \u201cAmen\u201d won\u2019t help. It will only encourage me to go on longer.<\/p>\n

It was very early in the morning on the first Easter Sunday when a group of women went to Jesus\u2019 grave to lovingly anoint his body. They had been followers of Jesus. They had gladly heard his teaching. They had seen his mighty works. They had offered him hospitality and devotion. When he was arrested, beaten, and crucified, they were there. When he drew his last breath, they were there. When his body had been laid to rest, they were there. They had cried and cried and cried.<\/p>\n

Now on the third day they went to the tomb to offer their best and last caring ministry. They came early in the morning to anoint the body of their Master who had quickly been buried before the Passover began at sundown. When they came to the grave the stone was rolled away and there was no body in the tomb. What do you think about that? Do you think <\/em>Jesus is alive today? I know <\/em>that my Redeemer lives!<\/p>\n

Not having been Christians with 2,000 years of preaching and teaching these women didn\u2019t know what to think about the empty tomb. Luke tells us that while they were puzzling over this fact suddenly there were two men in dazzling clothes standing beside them. And the women were scared out of their wits and bowed their faces to the ground. No kidding! I\u2019ve seen my Mama chop a garden snake into 15 pieces without thinking. There\u2019s no telling what she would have done if two men in dazzling clothes suddenly stood beside her at an empty grave!<\/p>\n

The men in dazzling clothes said to the women, \u201cWhy do you look for the living among the dead! He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.\u201d Luke tells us \u201cthen they remembered Jesus\u2019 words.\u201d But what about you? Do you think<\/em> Jesus is alive today? I know<\/em> that my Redeemer lives!<\/p>\n

Luke goes on to say that remembering Jesus\u2019 words the women returned from the tomb and told the eleven apostles and all the rest of the disciples. \u201cBut these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now I have to say that it\u2019s clear that these men were not raised in the southern part of this country where if your Mama tells you something, you\u2019d best believe it. In our house, you knew that if Daddy told you a story it had been polished over the years with a number of embellishments. If he had been cut by flying glass in a car wreck, by the time we heard it, Daddy had lost three pints of blood. If he cracked a rib falling off a three-legged stool, he was dying. But if Mama told you something you\u2019d best believe it.<\/p>\n

Luke tells us, \u201cPeter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.\u201d Luke doesn\u2019t say that now Peter believed the women. Luke doesn\u2019t say that Peter went back to the others and said, \u201cBy golly they were right!\u201d No, Luke says that Peter was amazed at what had happened. But what about you? Do you think<\/em> Jesus is alive today? I know <\/em>that my Redeemer lives!<\/p>\n

Does it really matter that Jesus rose from the dead? After all if you believe in the immortality of the soul as many people do in the world, then maybe the resurrection isn\u2019t necessary. There are plenty of people that have thought that way. Maybe it\u2019s enough to be nice people that do nice things like service clubs and charitable organizations. And if you\u2019re nice then your soul goes into eternal bliss because you were a nice person.<\/p>\n

Well that\u2019s not the Christian faith. In fact if it didn\u2019t matter whether Jesus rose from the dead, there would be no reason to be here this morning. I would be earning my living some other way. You would have Sundays off forever. The world would be spared a lot of Christian hot air, Spam e-mails, and really awful books. And we would all be trying to be nice enough for our immortal souls to enjoy eternal bliss. But that\u2019s not the Christian faith.<\/p>\n

Both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament teach that our bodies matter and what we do with them matters. When God decided to save us from our sins, God became human in Jesus Christ. When Jairus\u2019 daughter and Lazarus died, Jesus raised them from the dead. When he told his disciples three times in advance what was going to happen to them, every time the Lord Jesus said that on the third day his body would be raised.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Do you think <\/em>Jesus is alive? I know <\/em>that my Redeemer lives!<\/p>\n

Paul declares in 1 Cor. 15:19: \u201cIf for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.\u201d When someone we love dies, we grieve that loss forever. We don\u2019t get over it. In time we have more good days than bad, but when you bury a child, a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a grandparent, a best friend, you don\u2019t get over it. The longer we live the more hurts we accumulate. Grief, at times, is overwhelming. Paul is reminding us that faith in Jesus doesn\u2019t promise us a pain-free life. Faith in Jesus gives us hope that even if our bodies die, we will live and one day we will receive bodies that can no longer wear out, feel pain, experience grief, or die.<\/p>\n

Yes, faith in Jesus is something more than an answer to our grieving. When we trust the promise of our Baptism, that we have died and been raised with Jesus, then we live with the resurrection hope that sin, death, and evil can\u2019t have the last word. The last word is Jesus, the one little word that fells the mightiest enemy that can attack us. Lies, betrayal, divorce, unemployment, addictions, demons within and demons without, disease, failure, disappointment, not even death itself can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus!<\/p>\n

We are not disembodied souls. We are not mere spirits housed in flesh. By the cross and empty tomb of God\u2019s only Son Jesus, by the washing of water and the Holy Spirit, we are beloved sons and daughters of God. Yes, these bodies are assaulted by repeated and cunning attacks of the old enemy; they wear out and fail us especially in death. But we shall live forever with God in bodies that have been made new, because the Resurrected Jesus promises in Revelation 21, \u201cBehold, I make all things new!\u201d<\/p>\n

On this most festive day, as the one holy catholic and apostolic Church gathers at the table to receive the body and blood of the Living God in bread and in wine, he makes us bold to shout in the face of all the forces of darkness. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!<\/p>\n

Indeed the Lord Jesus goes with us back into a world marred by the darkness. He goes to help us live hope-full lives. So once more I ask you: Do you think <\/em>Jesus is alive today? I know<\/em> that my Redeemer lives!<\/p>\n

Pastor Samuel D. Zumwalt
\nSt. Martin\u2019s Lutheran Church
\nAustin , Texas USA
\nszumwalt@saintmartins.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 24:1-12 [NRSV Text] \u201cBut on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,727,108,110,319,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-9878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lukas","category-archiv","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-24-chapter-24","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14043,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878\/revisions\/14043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9878"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=9878"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=9878"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=9878"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=9878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}