What did Jesus’ life and death mean? We shall have to wait a few days to see. Those of you who were here for Good Friday services may remember these words with which I closed my sermon. Today, I complete if you will my Holy Triduum Trilogy. Having preached on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, I now preach on Easter. Yes, I know on our calendar it is already the Second Sunday of Easter, but our Gospel lesson from John still comes from the experience of that first Easter night. It is still Easter and just a few days have passed.
It is time to see what meaning Christ’s life and death have for us. We can begin to answer the question because we now can view his life and death from the viewpoint of the resurrection. All we had on Good Friday in the midst of his death were questions. With Easter, we have a way to find some answers.
Most religious people even if they are not Christians would say that Jesus was a great teacher. Many would acknowledge that he was a great healer and miracle worker. As important as those things are, they were but signs pointing to a more important reality; a reality not totally revealed until the events we continue to remember in John’s lesson for today.
Even in Jesus’ time, many would ascribe to him the status of a great teacher and prophet the likes of which there had been others in Israel’s history; Moses, Elijah, and most recently John the Baptist to name but a few. In reality though, Jesus was not a person who could be compared to any other. As much as there were similarities with others, there was something quite unique about Jesus. Jesus’ attempts to explain to his disciples that he would have to die and rise again were never really understood as long as he was among them. Immediately after his death, it would seem that their emotions took over. It was not a time for reason to interpret all that Jesus had taught. Isn’t that often the experience for us when someone close to us dies. In those first days, don’t we largely live in our emotions as varied and as complex as they can be? We largely find peace and meaning in their lives in the ensuing days and months.
John’s Gospel tells us that even after finding the tomb empty, neither Mary, Peter nor John understood the scripture that he must rise from the dead. Each had to first have a personal encounter with the risen Lord. Jesus spoke Mary’s name in the garden and he appeared to the disciples in the upper room that evening saying “Peace be with you.” With these personal encounters, they each believed.
Many give Thomas a bum rap for his refusal to believe unless he too personally encountered this risen Christ. In the end, he only wanted the same experience the others had. It seems inevitable to me that each of the apostles would need this experience so that their testimony would all rest on the same foundation of having encountered the risen Christ.
The real meaning of Christ’s life and death come only in his resurrection. Only now could he be truly known as the way, the truth and the life. Only now could he truly be known as Son of Man and Son of God. Only now could Christ’s sacrifice be known as the means of our reconciliation with God and our way to eternal life.
It is not because of Christ’s teaching that we are here today. It is not because of Christ’s holy life that we are here today. It is not because of Christ’s miracles and healings that we are here today. We are here today because of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. All of the others would long have been forgotten, but for Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
It is the resurrected Christ that says to the disciples that first Easter night: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Christ knew that not everyone would be able to have the same encounter with him that these disciples had. He was sending the disciples out to teach and to proclaim his resurrection as eye witnesses, but not alone. He breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” By the Holy Spirit they were empowered to proclaim the Good News of the resurrection and forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. They did this with boldness and power and not even imprisonment or death could stop them.
In our reading from Acts, we encounter the apostles before the same council that had sentenced Jesus to death and it is not their first time there. We pick up the story in mid stream and I discovered that unfortunately we do not hear the earlier portion in any of the lections appointed for Sundays in the three year lectionary cycle according to the Revised Common Lectionary we now use.
Peter and the other apostles were boldly proclaiming the gospel and many were being added to the Lord. The sick and those with unclean spirits were being cured. The high priests had had enough. All of the apostles were arrested and thrown into prison. It would be easy to imagine that the apostles at this point might have been expecting an outcome similar to that of Jesus. Perhaps they were expecting a trial and death the very next day, but that’s not what happened.
Instead we are told that an angel of the Lord opens the prison doors and commands them: “Go stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” We are no longer dealing with the same bunch of apostles that ran scared after Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. We are talking about the apostles after their encounter with the risen Christ and their receiving of the Holy Spirit. Can you imagine the fear of the high priests when they received the news that these same apostles were free from their imprisonment and were back at the temple teaching on the very next day after their arrest? They were brought back to the same council and instructed once again to stop teaching in Jesus’ name to which Peter and the apostles responded: “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” They were not rearrested, but released. The only hope this council had was that this movement was of human origin and would die out. If indeed it was of God, they realized they would not be able to stop it.
We find ourselves here today because the teaching of the apostles was of God. No attempts in all the 2000+ years since have been able to stop the spread of the Gospel; no persecution, no hardship, not even the death of so many on account of their faith. The spread of the Gospel has not been stopped by apathy, false teachings or scandals that from time to time have entered the Church.
Rather on the basis of the preaching of the Gospel in every generation people have been raised up that have had their own personal encounter with the risen Christ. Not in the same way as did the apostles, but every bit as real. Our generation is no exception.
In our own day, in our own lives, we hear Christ calling us by name, saying to us: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit.” In our own days when the challenges to the Gospel are every much as real as in any other age, we are the disciples. The apostles have gone on before us. We are the ones who know the risen Lord. We are the ones called to preach and teach by word and example in the temple, in the streets, in our families; wherever we find ourselves.
We have received the same Spirit that the apostles received. We cannot leave this work to others. We too are members of Christ’s Body. We are his hands and feet and mouth. Prison doors will be flung open for us. What prison do you find yourself in? The door can be opened. We will be challenged and persecuted, but we too will triumph. We are the ones today through whom the Holy Spirit is working to add great numbers to the Lord. Let us say yes to Christ when he calls our name. And if you have doubts like Thomas did, engage them in the midst of the community of believers. It is in the midst of this community that when you encounter the risen Lord you will proclaim as Thomas did, “My Lord and my God.”
In the Spirit, we will boldly say as did the apostles, to any who would stop us from proclaiming the Good News of Christ crucified and risen from the dead:
We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.
In just a few moments, as we exchange the peace, let us hear for ourselves as did the apostles that first Easter night these words of Jesus that started it all: “Peace be with you.” Let us see in each other the risen Christ.
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