The Hope of Glory & the End of the Story The Resurrection of Our Lord

Read: Mark 16:1-8

"He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” (Mk. 16:6)

As we conclude this devotional study on the Lord's gracious presence, we
rejoice to declare His absence—His absence from the tomb. The women have
come to the tomb to prepare Jesus' body for burial, but He's not there. He's risen
from the dead. To rise from the dead, He's conquered death once for all—for
all time and for all people. He isn't going to die again, but lives forever.
When the women first hear the news, they're afraid and silent. But Jesus is
still risen, and He still lives forever!

The presence of God is woven into the story of His people throughout
history; but while the Bible ends with Revelation 22, the story continues. Where
death is conquered, only life remains. Where death is no more, there is no more
end. Remember: all that Jesus does, He does for you. He was crucified for you,
to redeem you from sin. He rose again to conquer death for you. He ascended
into heaven so that you might be taken to heaven, too; and because He lives
forever, so do you. That's the end of the story.

There are two great temptations to distract you from heaven. One is to
delight so much in the things of this world that you care nothing for what lies
hereafter; this is the plight of our society today, and its hype of pleasurable life
is really a culture of death. The other temptation is to be so crushed by the
effects of sin on this dying world as to simply give up in despair. Like the
women at the tomb, you will at times be silent and afraid. As one who spends a
fair amount of time visiting the ill, the disturbed, the dying and the imprisoned, I
seem to have mislaid my rose-colored glasses. I'm really quite happy if the Lord
returns in glory today. I give thanks to the Lord for the hope of heaven and the
assurance of eternal life.

I remember a phone call I received from a fellow pastor when things were
going poorly in my first parish, where some had literally demanded that I stop
preaching the Word of God. The outlook was grim, and I related the situation to
this pastor and said, “The end of the story is going to be ugly.” He replied, “No!
You know the end of the story, and it begins with the resurrection of the dead.
In the meantime, you've got a couple chapters to endure.” So do you. Your
afflictions may be far different from mine, but the devil, the world and your own
sinful flesh are going to do their evil best to beat the Life out of you. Such
chapters come, and they can get pretty long.

But they're not the end of the story; nor, despite their boasts, are they the
main theme. Here is the theme of history: your Savior is with you. Having
become flesh to live, die, rise and ascend, He comes to give these to you. He's
joined you to His death and resurrection in Baptism, when He put His name on
you. The Word-made-flesh still speaks His life-giving, wonder-working Word
to forgive your sins. He feeds you His Supper for forgiveness, to strengthen and
preserve you in the one true faith until...life everlasting!
That's the end of the story. And it's only the beginning.

The Lord be with you. Amen  ¶ 4/15/2006 10:53:00 PM 0 Comments

  Holy Saturday, Easter Eve - Rest and Descent
Read: I Peter 3:19-22

...also He went and preached to the spirits in prison... (I Pet. 3:19).

In between the services of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Saturday gets
little notice or recognition. It is, however, a most opportune time to address a
little-publicized event that is recorded in I Peter 3 and the Apostles' Creed: in
between “was crucified, dead and buried” and “the third day He rose again from
the dead,” you find, “He descended into hell.”

There He is, in hell. Why?

Why does Jesus do anything and everything? He does it for you.
He is not there to suffer. He has already suffered an eternity of hell on the
cross, because it was there that God forsook His Son and damned Him for the
sins of the world. By the time Jesus died on the cross, the judgment was done
and the sacrifice complete. “It is finished,” preached the Lord, and “Father, into
Your hands I commend My spirit.”

No, Jesus is not there to suffer. He descends into hell to demonstrate His
complete victory over His enemies—your enemies.

Historically, wars on earth usually involve land: one army is here, the other
is there, and each one tries to rob the other of real estate. Everyone knows that
an army has won the victory when its commander can march into the enemy's
palace and sit in their king's throne. Like a high-stakes game of “capture the
flag,” it indicates that the foe is defeated. A recent parallel would be the famous
scene of U.S. Forces entering Baghdad and toppling the statue of Saddam
Hussein, signifying the end of his oppressive regime.

If hell is the one place where the Lord is absent with grace, one would think
it could be the last stronghold of opposition. Here, the devil and his angels
could plot their comeback strategy and operate at least upon on the pretense of
power. But it is not so; and to demonstrate His complete victory for you, Jesus
marches into hell to proclaim His victory over sin and grave, devil and hell.
When the Lord puts His name on you in Baptism, the devil paints you with a
bullseye. He will use every affliction possible to convince you that the Lord is
weak or uncaring or angry. You must always remember that the devil is a liar.
And when he whispers such temptations into your ear, remember the descent
into hell. You are no match for the evil one; but so thoroughly is Satan beaten
that Christ can march into hell, declare His victory and the devil's defeat...and
then march right back out again.

The old evil foe has been toppled, and he will never have any power again.
That victory is yours in Christ, who descended into hell and declared His
victory for you.
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Yesterday, Good Friday, I went to the Tre Ore Service and Good Friday Vespers. The extended readings of the passion account from the Gospel of John, combined with the Reproaches, had its desired effect I think. I was reminded that what happened on the cross was not just something that happened 2000 years ago in a land on the other side of the world, but it was done because of me, and for me. The love of God in Christ, for us, is a thing to glorious to comprehend. Even though I cannot understand it, I certainly accept it and rejoice in it.

Today is the 50th anniversary of my baptism. I am convinced that this was an act by God, wherein He adopted me into His family as a son. I think it is very important to see it in this way, not as some declaration I make announcing my faith in God to the world, but as an act of the gracious God saving me from my sins. As is said in the Small Chatechism, By nature I am spiritually blind, dead, and an enemy of God, as the Scriptures teach; therefore, "I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him."

1 Cor. 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of
God, for they.are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.

Eph. 2:1 You were dead in your transgressions and sins.

Rom. 8:7 The sinful mind is hostile to God.

Eph. 2:8-9 By grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.

1 Cor. 12:3 No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

See here for an explanation of baptism.  ¶ 4/15/2006 08:09:00 AM 0 Comments