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Sermon for Easter Sunday – April 20, 2025
Luke 24:1-12
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
The women came to the tomb carrying spices. These were not tiny cannisters of cinnamon, like we find in our cupboards. These were more like sacks of flour, several pounds worth of granulated aloe and myrrh – enough to encase an entire human body from head to foot according to the burial customs of the Jewish people. Early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women carried these spices to Jesus’ tomb.
But this wasn’t the only thing these women carried. They also carried the weight of grief and sorrow. They had watched their Lord suffer and die on a cross. No doubt there were images from that horrible day that kept running through their minds. Maybe that’s why they were up so early. Maybe they couldn’t sleep.
They also carried the weight of fear, fear for what might happen next. If they did this to Jesus, what would they do to his followers? There was a reason the disciples were hiding out! What would happen to their friends? Their loved ones? Were they next?
They also carried the weight of hopelessness. Jesus had brought light and life and love into their lives, and now the cruelty of the world seemed to have snuffed it out. What hope was there in a world that crucified someone who brought healing and restoration and the forgiveness of sin?
The women were carrying all these things to the tomb because they assumed that Jesus was dead. They carried them because they had forgotten what Jesus had told them. And so when they came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away, they were confused. When they entered the tomb and saw that there was no body there, they were perplexed.
Then they saw two men in gleaming white robes who said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” There is a sense here from these men that they should have known this! They are essentially saying, What are you doing here? Why did you think you’d find Jesus here, in the tomb? Don’t you remember what he told you? But that was the problem – they didn’t remember! And so the men had to remind them. “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.”
Jesus had told them exactly what would happen. He told them he would suffer, and die, but then rise again on the third day. He told them multiple times. It was now the third day, but they completely forgot what he had said, and so these women were carrying things they didn’t need to be carrying.
I think this account of Christ’s resurrection in the Gospel of Luke bears an uncanny resemblance to how we live so much of our lives. We go through life carrying things we do not need to be carrying, and it is because we forget what Jesus has said. We forget what Christ has done. We forget the promises our Lord has made to us. We forget what happened on the third day. We forget that he has conquered sin and death and promises to share that victory with us.
We carry so much grief and sorrow. This is entirely understandable. I’ve had seasons when I’ve felt buried under it too. But because Jesus has been raised, we don’t need to be crushed by this weight. His resurrection lightens that load by showing us that the crosses of this life will not have the last word.
We carry so much fear – whether it is low grade anxiety or full-blown panic. We worry about the future. We worry about our loved ones. We worry about what will happen next. Much of this is understandable, but again, we let it weigh us down more than we need to. The resurrection lightens this load too. Fear is constantly saying, “What if? What if? What if?” while resurrection faith says, “Even if….” Even if my greatest fears are realized, Jesus has been raised, and so there is a future beyond that worst thing that can happen.
We often carry a burden of hopelessness. We often look at the world around us with its never-ending problems, with its steady stream of tragedies, with its conflicts and its callousness, and it is easy to lose hope. What hope do we have in a world where God continues to be driven out and put on a cross?
Well, our hope comes from the one who endured the cross and rose again! There are very real troubles, yes, and we shouldn’t ignore them or resign ourselves to them, but I love how St. Paul describes these troubles in Second Corinthians. He calls them “slight momentary afflictions.” In light of the resurrection and the eternal weight of glory being revealed to us, they are merely “slight momentary afflictions.” We can live in hope because Jesus has been raised as the first fruits of a kingdom yet to come, as the Apostle says in our epistle reading for today. Our hope is in him!
We carry so much that we do not need to carry because we forget what Jesus told us. We forget was he has done. We forget what he has promised. Well today, dear friends, is the day we go from carrying burdens to remembering promises.
We can set down those burial spices because Jesus has ultimately defeated death and promises to share that victory with us. “I am the resurrection and the life,” he has promised us. “Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.”
“I will not leave you orphaned,” he has promised us. “My peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
“In this world you will have troubles,” Jesus says, “But take heart; for I have overcome the world.”
“Come to me,” Jesus says, “all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
All of these promises are true and trustworthy because of the resurrection. Jesus wasn’t just some ancient teacher spewing flowery platitudes. He wasn’t just a man who was wise and compassionate but is now long dead. Jesus is our living Lord, and because he has been raised, we can trust that he has the power to keep every promise he has made to us. Because he has been raised, his ministry of healing and restoration and the forgiveness of sin can and does continue.
Are there things you are carrying today that you don’t need to be carrying? Are there assumptions about this world and about your life that are weighing you down? Is there something you may have forgotten? Like the women at the tomb on the first Easter morning, there are things we all need to remember. There are things we all need to be reminded of. I know I do.
Not long before his death from cancer in 2023, pastor and author Timothy Keller and his wife Kathy did an interview for a show on YouTube. Timothy Keller served for many years as pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. He was the founder of the Gospel Coalition. He wrote many well-loved books about Jesus and the gospel. In this interview he talked about how in the midst of all of his suffering from cancer, he and his wife kept reminding each other that Jesus had been raised. Even the great Timothy Keller needed to be reminded! At that point in the interview, he then looked directly into the camera and said, “If Jesus Christ was really, truly, raised from the dead – you know what? – everything is going to be alright. Whatever you’re worried about right now, whatever you’re afraid of, everything is actually going to be okay.”
Dear friends, on this Easter Sunday God invites you to set down those things you don’t need to be carrying. On this day of joy and hope and celebration, God reminds you of what Jesus has said, of the promises he has made to you. On this day of resurrection, God reminds you of what happened on the third day. Jesus rose again, just as he said he would.
So set down those burial spices and be reminded of this: Jesus was really, truly raised from the dead – and because of that, everything is going to be alright.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church