Göttinger Predigten
Göttinger Predigten im Internet hg. von U. Nembach
Easter Vigil, 03/31/2013
Sermon on Romans 6:3-11, by John E. Priest
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia! {my congregation knows to make this response]
The death he died, he died to sin. But the life he lives, he lives to God.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Death no longer has any dominion over him. And if we have died with him, we will also live with him.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
And "jump," said the devil. To Jesus he said it: "Jump!"
For this we have to go back to the time right after Jesus was baptized. Jesus'd been out in the wilderness forty days fasting. That's when the devil put him to the test. He took him - the devil did - he took him to the pinnacle of the temple, which was the top of an enormous wall towering over an abyss below. To jump from this spot would be certain death. "But," said the devil, "didn't God say, ‘He'll give his angels charge of you. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against at stone'? So jump," said the devil. To Jesus he said it: "Jump! Check it out to see if God won't save you as he said."
Well - but Jesus didn't jump. He would not put the Lord his God to the test like that.
But then again, when the devil was tempting Jesus to jump - you know what he was doing? Aping God. That's what he was doing. Aping God. A cheap imitation to be sure. But aping God is the best the devil can come up with. And so he often does.
Because, you see, even before the devil tempted Jesus to do so, in a way he'd already jumped - not at the bidding of the devil, mind you, but by the will of his Father in heaven.
"Jump," said the Father. To his eternal and only Son the Father said it: "Jump!" So Jesus did. He left his heavenly home and came down to a far country. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he came down from heaven, was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and became Man.
The womb is perhaps the safest place for a human to be (although, sadly, that's not always the case). But Jesus, God's Son, was not content to stay there in that haven. He came down out of the womb and was born. And immediately he was in trouble - the tyrant King Herod seeking after his life. It's tough being God when you're a man, you see.
And finally Jesus, all grown up, after a whirlwind tour of Galilee preaching and teaching with mighty deeds of power, was beset by enemies until they killed him, and the devil had his way. Jesus jumped into the cold, dark and drear ocean of death, where there is no hope, no light, no breath. And the heavenly Father sent no angels to take charge of him to bear him up, lest he strike his foot against a stone. He died.
And why? Why did the heavenly Father ask this of his Son? Why did he tell him to jump?
Because of Adam. For the sake of Adam. You know who Adam is, don't you? Adam is us.
For ages Adam had been confined in a tomb of his own devising - out of which there was no exit. Picture it as being underneath that dark and drear ocean of death, far underneath the muck and mud at the ocean's floor. There Adam lay languishing in a narrow cave that reeked of sin and death. In his own excrement he lay - a figure quite the opposite of the noble sovereign of creation God had made him to be.
It was for the sake of this miserable wretch that God the Father told his Son to jump. And jump he did. It was a rescue mission. Down from the commanding heights of heaven's high peaks, descending like a master diver through the air, into the ocean of death without a splash, down through the muck and mire at the bottom. Finally he bursts through the leaded walls of Adam's tomb, grabs him by the wrist, yanks him out of that prison, and jumps again - this time up. Back up through the muck dragging Adam with him. Back up through the water, through the ocean depths of death and sin. Finally he breaks the surface. The angels, who were not sent to break his fall, have still been watching with bated breath. And when they see him burst up from the water, they cheer:
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
And then Jesus the Son drags Adam's lifeless body to the shore, pounds his chest to restart his heart, places his mouth over Adam's lips to breathe into him the breath of life, which is the Holy Spirit. And Adam becomes a living being again.
He sits up. He looks around. He hardly knows what's happened. Being raised form the dead can be a disorienting thing, you see - at least at first. But Adam gets his bearings. He stands and looks out over the world, his realm. Christ clothes him in the royal robes he was meant to sport all along, but which he'd traded in for rags. But this time - no - he will not trade them in again. He will not.
He turns and sees his Savior. He sees the scars from the nails and spear in his hands and side. And at the sight of them, he kneels. He kneels to worship and adore his Lord - kneeling being Adam's new royal posture before his God.
And Adam begins to sing as once he did before he lost his voice:
Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands
For our offenses given;
But now at God's right hand he stands
And brings us life from heaven.
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of hallelujah! [first verse of Luther's hymn]
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The death he died, he died to sin. But the life he lives, he lives to God.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Death no longer has any dominion over him. And if we have died with him, we shall also live with him.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Amen.