A Better Resurrection

This morning we took our annual trip to the tomb with the women. There at that Easter tomb we hear a refrain that resounds almost one hundred times in just the New Testament: "Do not be afraid." The women had come out to the grave of their (supposedly) dead Master with a mixture of fear, powerlessness, and hopelessness. But suddenly they learned that their dear Lord was no longer dead. Just as he had promised, death held no power over him. In his saving power, they no longer had any reason to live in hopelessness and fear.

As they left the tomb, already the Easter message allowed the fear in their hearts to begin to mix with a great dawning joy. Then, as if the angelic messenger's words had not been enough, Jesus suddenly stood before them. They heard their risen Lord's lips repeat the refrain: "Do not be afraid." His repetition displays the patient mercy of the Savior who knows how difficult it is to drive fear from the hearts even of his believers! His repetition reveals he will not abandon them to their clinging fears. He wants them to know that their lives -- and their eternal lives -- are in the hands of a crucified and risen Lord. There is nothing more to fear.

That same Easter message still resounds to this day: "Do not be afraid." Easter proclaims that there is nothing in ancient times, current times or future times that can rightfully make us afraid --not plagues or pandemics or World Wars or anything else that brings death.

God's people repeatedly heard their almighty Lord reminding them, "Do not be afraid." Abram, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, the Israelites, Zechariah, Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the women at the tomb, and the disciples after the resurrection. They all heard the Lord announce to them, "Do not be afraid."

On this, the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord, we desire a confident, resurrection faith like the Heroes of Faith we hear about in Hebrews 11. They faced starvation, enemies, imprisonment, torture, and more. Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah faced impossible odds against the Midianites, Canaanites, Philistines, and Ammonites. David faced the giant Goliath and Samuel faced the darkening chapter in Israel's spiritual history. They were just a few of God's faithful people who marched against God's enemies trusting God's promises and found those promises to be true. They had no reason to be afraid because God was always present with them.

The writer to the Hebrews mentions some heroes of faith by name, but then he gives other unnamed examples. "Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies." Daniel faced certain death but found the lions' mouths locked. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the seven-fold fire of Nebuchadnezzar's furnace and emerged without a whiff of smoke on them. Elijah moved among Queen Jezebel's drawn swords which could not reach him. Samson's blindness, baldness, and weakness became a strength as he collapsed the fish god's temple on the thousands of Philistines. The Israelites carried the ark of the covenant into battle and routed numerous superior enemy forces.

Each of these heroes of faith faced death as an enemy and were granted the victory through their almighty Lord. But there were some whom death claimed as the spoils of war. Death visited the home of the widow of Zarephath, the home of the Shunamite woman, and the widow of Nain. All of them lost children to death. But all of them received their children back from the dead. Mothers tasted the bitter grief of loss, but later had it turned into joy by the resurrection. Lazarus, Eutychus, and the daughter of Jairus all came back to life through the power of the resurrection -- but all of them were subject to die again.

Jesus Christ promises a better resurrection. A resurrection that defeats death once and for all. A resurrection that means that death has lost its grip on you and me. A resurrection that means that no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck us from Christ's hand (CWS: 752). A resurrection that means that hell today is vanquished, heaven is won today (CW: 163)! A resurrection that means our flesh shall rest and for a season slumber till trump from east to west shall wake the dead in number" (CW: 160).

Other martyrs in Hebrews 11 died gruesome deaths by being stoned, sawed in two or put to death by the sword. Those who escaped the martyr's death barely eked out an existence as they lived like wild animals on the move, clothed with sheepskins and goatskins, roaming the deserts and mountains, hiding and sleeping in dank caves and dark holes in the ground.

A simple denial of Christ would have kept them from all this discomfort, hunger, suffering, and death. But it would also have lost them eternity. These heroes and martyrs of faith suffered and died looking for a better resurrection. "Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection." They prized the resurrection to come through Jesus Christ as far greater in value than earthly life. They valued earthly comfort little compared to the eternal Christ. Earth's safety was secondary when placed alongside eternal salvation. Earth shrank in importance when compared to heaven's glorious mansions.

What do we do when we face difficulties and suffering that are nowhere close to what these heroes of faith faced on a daily basis? When there are tensions in the home, our tendency is to lash out at our spouse, children, or parents. When society rages about gay marriage, our temptation is to go along with popular thought and against God's clear Word. When difficulties arise within the church, our first thought is to find a different church. When illness or debt plagues our bodies and families, our inclination is to cry out that life and God are unfair. When we don't like what God has to say about our misbehavior, our reaction is to simply stop hearing what God has to say ... and an easy way to do that is by staying away from God's house, his Word, and his worship. When death visits our family, our preference is to grieve, mourn, and wail like the rest of the world who have no hope.

Whenever difficulties, struggles, temptations, suffering, persecution or death become frequent, but unwelcome visitors in our lives, our tendency is to shut down, run away, cut ties, give up or curl up in the fetal position and let the Devil and the world have their way with us.

Fellow saints, we have a better Savior who promises a better resurrection. It is this resurrection faith that allowed Gideon, Samson, David, Daniel, and the others to do such amazing things. It is this resurrection faith that allows us to be confident and deal successfully with our difficulties. It is this resurrection faith that allows us to go into battle against the unholy triple alliance of the Devil, the world, and our sinful flesh.

Like those heroes of faith in the Old and New Testaments, we test and trust God's promises -- all fulfilled in the person, works, and words of Jesus -- and find them to be true.

Because of Jesus, one thief is in Paradise. Because of Jesus, the gates of hell have been slammed shut and the gates of heaven have been thrown wide open to all those who believe in him as Savior. Because of Jesus, Satan and all his demons are already informed about their utter demise. Because of Jesus, we will be among God's white-robed saints streaming into heavenly glory.

Listen to the angel's message to the women at the tomb, "He is not here; he has risen!" Jesus rose from the grave and grabbed that rascal Death by the throat and robbed it of all the power it once had over mankind. Though Christ once was slain, he burst his three-day prison (CW: 160). "For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).

Because Jesus didn't stay in the grave, we won't either. Yes, death will take our lives, and our bodies will be placed in the ground, but death won't be able to hold us ... because we know that our Redeemer lives (CW: 152). And so, Jesus promises, "Because I live, you also will live." Jesus promises a better resurrection -- to a better hope during hopelessness, a better life in the middle of the valley of death, and a better forgiveness and life where there are guilt and sin.

Remember, our lives have never truly been in our own hands. Our lives rest in the nail-marked hands of the crucified and risen Christ. Even though fears still want to spook our hearts until heaven, yet here is where we go to silence them. Our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is not in mankind. Our hope is not in the media, medical experts, or government authorities. Our hope is in the God who wondrously created us and still more wondrously restored us to himself in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son. Our hope is in the fact of a Christ who was dead and is now alive.

Even in a fallen world where Death rides its pale horse to haunt and hunt us down, Jesus still patiently reassures us: "Do not be afraid." Death's back is broken. Satan's head has been stomped. The gates of Hades have been ripped off their hinges. Christ rides victorious on his white horse (Revelation 6:2). He has conquered and he continues to conquer. "Death is the last enemy to be done away with" (1 Corinthians 15:26), If Death is done, nothing else can win. If Death has been destroyed, then there is nothing else to fear.

Death lies broken and defeated. Now you get to decide what to do with the rest of your troubles, the worst of your fears, and the greatest of your anxieties. Can the terrors of troubles outweigh trusting in the Almighty God? Can the wrath of war overshadow the Lord of Armies? Can the dread of demons live up to their demands? Can the panic of pandemics be greater than Christ walking victoriously out of his grave?

Knowing that there was a better resurrection coming allowed all the heroes of faith throughout time to endure in the face of suffering and believe in the face of torture. Knowing that there is a better resurrection coming will get you through each day.

Peer into that empty tomb and find the answer for the emptiness of your grief. For your Savior provides you with the promise of a blessed, better resurrection reunion with your Christian loved ones.

Peer into that empty tomb and find the answer to the emptiness of your guilt. For your Savior provides you with the hope of forgiveness for every single sin, paid for by his divinely human blood poured out on the Roman cross.

Peer into that empty tomb and find the answer to your empty cynicism that comes so easily in a world living in its End Times. For your risen Christ gives you every reason to rejoice in this life for you have the assurance of eternal life.

Peer into that empty tomb and find the answer to your hopelessness, your despair, your fears and your worries. For if your resurrected Redeemer has already promised you a better resurrection to eternal life, don't you think he'll take care of the rest of your problems, too?

As we look at the bloody cross and the empty tomb, we are overwhelmed with the goodness of our God. Now the writer to the Hebrews is challenging us -- what are you going to do with it? You have been given a better resurrection through a better Savior. Share it. Confess it. Rejoice in it. Sing of it. Be comforted by it. Be emboldened by it. Live it. Die in it. And live in it again. Amen.