Easter
Sunday March 27, 2016
Luke
24:1-12 Easter’s “Why?” Question
Dear
fellow redeemed,
We may
assume it’s the most frequently asked question by the grieving regardless of
your background.
1)
A
women’s three-year-old son is playing near the driveway and is killed by a hit
and run driver.
2)
A
soon-to-be bride witnesses her fiancee die of a heart attack as she watches
helplessly.
3)
A
child is told by his mother that Dad will not be returning home on leave as he
was planning.
For he was recently killed abroad by enemy fire.
* “Why?”
“Why did this have to happen to him?”
Why today? Why in this way? Why God?
We may
call it the Good Friday “why?”
* If there were ever a death, you see, out
of which people would have trouble making sense,
it would be the death of our Lord
Jesus. This was the promised
Christ!
This was God’s chosen one!
This was the eternally begotten Son
of the Father!”
* Why should he be crucified as a common
criminal?
Why should he be sentenced to the
most barbaric form of torture known to man?
* “My God my God, why have you forsaken (our Lord)!”
Three
days later we may assume things would not get a lot easier for either the
disciples or the
women
who made the trip to Jesus’ tomb.
* However perhaps the ladies could silence
their “why?” question by busying themselves
with the day’s obligations. Funerals are always good that way.
They help you get your mind off your
sorrow, for a little while, anyway.
* And so on the third day the women made
their way to the grave to embalm the Lord Jesus.
Then
again to have a funeral, you need a body.
And that presented a problem for them.
* When
they entered the tomb we’re told “they did not find
the body of the Lord Jesus.”
Why? First they torture his body, murdering the
Lord. Now they steal his body? Why?
Why God?
Well,
this morning we have a different “why?” question to ask; not a question for the Lord but from
the
Lord.
* In the words of his messengers, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
We may call it Easter’s “Why?” Question.
*
The question on the day of a
funeral, of course, is whether you’ve come to the service in
order to listen and be comforted or
in order to cry and sulk.
* If you’ve come to be comforted, your
word to your fellow grievers will also be comforting.
“His suffering is over! She’s at peace!” He’s with his Lord!”
*
Unfortunately, our typical words often
change in the event that our loved one has died at a
young age or perhaps suddenly or tragically.
*
One remarks: “You poor thing!” “He
was too young!” “She had so much to live for!
So much to give!”
* A family member suggests: “I should have gone first!”
Or someone with a little less tact
remarks: “what a waste.”
Now, the
person’s intentions may be good.
* But they’re doing nothing to help you
connect your loss to your Christian faith.
They’re simply helping you repeat
your “why?” question.
* We may wonder whether the women fell victim to this sort of
thinking.
“But Jesus had so
much to live for!”
“The people he
could have healed!” “The suffering he
could have ended!”
* Presumably they were not seeing the connection between the
Passover and the suffering
and death of their Lord.
The Old Testament Passover lamb was slaughtered in such a
way that the blood would flow freely from the stretched
out and extended body.
* And so it would be for Christ at the
time of his scourging. With his body outstretched
his lashes would cause the blood to flow
freely from all the members of his body.
* Why submit to this? Was it to somehow solicit
sympathy from those who stood watching?
Was Christ giving them a chance to
comment “you poor thing; you’re too young!”
We may
not know what the women said who witnessed Christ’s suffering.
* But we may imagine on the third day after that there was more
making an impression on
them than the ruthless scourging.
* They had seen him crucified; bulky
spikes attaching his flesh to a cross.
His body left to suffocate; his
lungs eventually collapsing.
* And if it might be argued that his
crucifixion was the actual day of his funeral, the talk was
not predominantly words of
compassion, but jeering and mocking.
* Instead of loved ones adjusting his
pillow, trying to make him comfortable, we have sadistic
scoundrels casting lots for a
seamless garment.
* We can almost hear the cries from the
side line: “what a waste!”
We must know, however, that
funerals typically are not for spectators.
They’re for the survivors;
family and loved ones of the deceased.
* Unfortunately, sympathy can be turned inward.
Perhaps they haven’t had that “why?” question answered
yet in a satisfactory way.
* Or perhaps they’re not anticipating that they ever will.
They may be convinced there isn’t an answer that can satisfy
them.
* The question “why?” you see, serves as a complaint; a protest
against God.
“How can you be so
uncaring?!”
And that being the case, it’s also an
excuse to feel sorry for oneself.
That’s how the funeral is often
perceived. It’s a day, as a survivor, to
feel sorry for yourself.
* Consider the reaction of the eleven.
They’re approached by the women who obviously are
extremely excited.
It’s not every day you see a couple of angels, and with
news that Christ is risen!
* But they don’t believe the women. Their words seem like an idle tale.
* Actually according to law, they weren’t required to believe a woman’s
witness.
Imagine that!
According to the law, this day should not be a day for believing, but for
feeling sorry for yourself.
Interestingly, we see the same
thing in our modern age of liberty.
* According to the law you don’t have to believe anything.
You may live your life feeling sorry for yourself.
You can have
our own religion, or you can have no religion at all.
You can simply keep asking the question “why?” Why me?
Why now? Why this way?
* And sometimes it has a way of rubbing off on you and me.
I’m thinking about our time to mourn when the funeral is
over.
“There is a
time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” Solomon
declares.
* But you and I know we’re not required to experience healing in a designated period of time.
There’s no rule on how long the grieving period must
last.
* And for some that’s apparently just
fine.
Sometimes it’s easier to keep asking
why, than to listen to the answer why.
* We see
this with mourners who’d rather dwell on how much better their life used to be,
than
on how much better the new life is
for their departed loved one.
* It seems that working through the
grieving; feeling positive about the future without our loved
one is the same as betraying our loved one.
* So we feel sorry; sorry for ourselves and sorry for them.
Shall
we talk about their happiness in heaven?
It seems a bit silly.
* Sometimes we may be guilty of this even before death arrives.
We’re afraid to let a loved one talk
about dying and their readiness for heaven.
* It doesn’t make sense to talk about a new life away from us,
however perfect a life it be.
It makes more sense that this dying loved one feel sorry
along with us.
Honestly? You may be reminded
of your husband’s “sympathy pains”.
* Have you heard of Couvade Syndrome?
Researchers tell us that this phenomenon – in which men
experience physical symptoms
and pains associated with late-stage pregnancy – is
surprisingly common.
* Really! You’re in pain because I’m in pain; because you love
me so much you don’t want
me to be in pain alone? How about helping me figure out how the heck
to get rid of the
pain?
* Jesus Christ does much more than sympathize with us. He dies
for us and then he rises again
to prove to that he died for
us and that his death saved us.
* This was the message of the angels. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
He is not here; he has risen! Remember
how he told you, while he was still in Galilee that the
Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third
day rise.”
* “You don’t have to look for the living
among the dead!
Look for yourselves! The tomb is empty.
* “This can mean only one thing! It’s just as Jesus told you!
Death
could not hold him! He’s the Lord God,
after all!”
* We may argue that the women should have
put two and two together.
Yes. The stone is rolled away. But why ask “why?” They knew why he had come!
* Yet in his loving grace, Christ sends
angels to help the women decipher what’s staring
back at them in the form of an empty
tomb. “Remember what the Lord told you
in Galilee.”
“And they remembered his words.”
And we should know that we’re really
no different than these women.
* We know Jesus has conquered sin and death by dying and rising
again.
He’s prepared a place for us in heaven.
But then comes the day when we’re
unexpectedly stung by death.
And we want to know why.
* Perhaps, you’re embarrassed and ashamed by the question.
But to tell you the truth asking “why” is as natural as
death itself.
* Rather than trying to avoid or bury the question, you’d do
better letting the question simply
lead you to a second “why?” question; “Why do you seek the
living among the dead?”
* Call to mind Easter’s
“Why?” Question.
For that’s when you may recall the words of Christ.
As told by the angels, “He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you . . .
the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified and on
the third day rise.”
* To fulfill his promise, he had to be
crucified.
He’s the Lamb of God, who along can
take away the sins of the world.
* Therefore, in order to take away our sin, he had to die. He had to receive the penalty
for our sin – being judged and
condemned in our place.
* And for this reason he had to be a
fellow human being.
In our place he had to be crucified and suffer death, for it was the only way the
God-Man would redeem sinners, earning in our behalf
forgiveness and everlasting life.
Have you ever wondered why the
women and disciples failed to remember Jesus’ Words?
* It may be that they didn’t want to remember.
The words about his arrest and crucifixion simply induced
fear and anguish.
* In a matter of speaking, that can happen
when we hear God’s Word.
At first, we don’t want to hear about
the death of Christ.
Christ’s death simply reminds me of
the death of that family member and the grief we’re
experiencing.
* Christ’s death also reminds me that I’m
responsible for his death, for I’ve fallen short of
God’s perfect standard and deserve
nothing less than to die myself by crucifixion.
* But then we hear the very same word
concerning our Savior’s death, and we realize that
it was right there on that very cross
that he obligated himself to save me.
And so it was that Christ must rise
from the dead.
* He didn’t come to our world to merely earn
a passing grade for us; so that when our sin
is all gone we may nevertheless die
that sad pathetic death.
* No.
Christ came that he might die, but also that he might rise again.
To assure me that what he did on the
cross was valid and counted for a world of sinners
and for me, he had to rise again.
* And so he did! He died and rose for you so that you may hear
why and so that you may
believe.
The question “why?” is one we’re
bound to ask regardless of our background.
* Imagine finding yourself standing with the women or the eleven
that day Christ died.
I’m sure it would be similar to your visit to the funeral
home after the tragic death of a loved
one.
* The remark of the day would sound
something like this: “The poor soul!
Christ had so much to live for!”
* That’s true. But he had even more to die for, didn’t he?!
And we do too; you and I and that
loved one you can’t imagine being without.
* Death’s sting, you see, has been
removed. It may no longer have the last
word.
And Jesus has told us why.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me,
though he die, yet shall he live.” Amen.
May the peace of God which
passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
