He is Risen                                                      Luke 24:1-12

Happy Easter, three days ago our Lord and Savior took our sins on his back. He was scourged, nailed to a cross and for the first and only time in his existence Jesus was totally removed from the Father.

Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” With this separation from God Jesus experienced all the punishment for our sins. By his death God the Father exhausted all his anger over our sins for all eternity.

Pretty good story isn’t it? It must have seen that way to those at the time. Here is a man who is scholarly about scripture; here is a man who preached of redemption with God, a new relationship between the Father and us. Here is a man who claimed to be the Messiah, the one who came from God, the savior of mankind; and now he’s dead. Even the disciples, men who lived with him, men who heard all his messages; even these scattered and hid afraid and not understanding. Up to now the story of Jesus; who he is, what he did; is just that, a story.

On Friday Jesus was crucified and buried behind a huge rock. Now it’s Sunday; the stone is moved and Jesus is alive. And he’s not in some mystical or spiritual form; he is alive with a physical body. A body with the marks of his Passion A body with a beating heart in his chest.

The Resurrection, this is the proof; proof that Jesus is exactly who he said he is, proof that he accomplished exactly what he said he would, proof that God accepted his sacrifice for us all. And here is the proof that the promise of God to believers is fulfilled, we will be resurrected and live forever.

Our faith is based on two events; the crucifixion and the resurrection, but there are so many layers to these events. So much to see. So much to enlighten us.

The ancient sacrificial system was an attempt to atone for man’s sins but the blood of goats and lambs was a temporary fix needing to be repeated constantly. Sacrificial animals were bred and sold for this purpose.

The Passover sacrificial lambs were bred and raised in the City of David and this points us to Jesus; God’s perfect sacrificial lamb who comes from the lineage of David. Isaiah 1:11 records God saying, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? Says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.” God was telling Israel that they lost sight of what the sacrifices were for, they were to show your repentance and your turning to God, but the ancients were using them like a “Get out of jail free” card.

God tells men that they didn’t learn and they were unable to redeem themselves. So God                          out of love does what we could not do. He replaces the imperfect sacrifices with animal blood with the perfect sacrifice of his own blood. Isaiah 53 says, “It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. And after he suffered…he will be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many.’

Good Friday. The synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and John all talk of the Tamid; the perpetual sacrifice of an unblemished male lamb intended for the forgiveness of all the sins of Israel. This sacrifice was done twice a day, at 9 in the morning and at 3 in the afternoon.

Mark 15:25, “It was 9 in the morning when they crucified him.” Later in Mark 15 it says, At 3 in the afternoon Jesus cried out…and Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.” Mark is telling us that Jesus is the true Tamid. The one who is unblemished, sinless; the true perpetual sacrifice that replaces the atoning power of the temple cult. The true sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin.

I think this is why Mark stresses the effect of Jesus death on the temple, the tearing of the Tabernacle curtain. Before this men needed to have a priest intercede for them with God. Now Jesus is our interceder. We can approach God ourselves, without guilt, without fear.

Easter. The stone has been moved away from the mouth of the tomb and Jesus walked out. Jesus is God, he could have just appeared wherever he wanted. Remember later he will just appear inside a locked room with the disciples. Why roll the stone aside?

Before I continue I want to look at two things first that will help us. First in Exodus God writes the law on stone tablets with his finger. Later when a adulteress is brought before Jesus to test him on the law, he bends down and writes on the cobblestone with his finger showing us he knows the law, he is the one who wrote it in the first place. In the New Testament stone represents the Commandments and the law.

Second is the account of Lazarus in John 11. He is also in a tomb with a stone in front; Jesus has the stone rolled aside and then calls Lazarus out. He shows us that if we believe in him the law will be moved aside and like Abraham we will be counted as righteous by our belief. We will be reborn in a new life as Lazarus was reborn from the tomb.

Back to Easter morning. Jesus paid our sin debt on Friday, why do we need Easter Sunday? Like I said before, it is the proof he is who he said he is and he did what he said he would. But there’s more to it than this. Without his walking out of the tomb his death would have little power. What good is it to have our sins forgiven if death still has a hold on us?

Death is behind the stone, behind the Commandments. Jesus has fulfilled the Tamid, he is alive. He rolled the stone aside and our life is in him.

Now before anyone starts thinking I’m saying you have the freedom to go out and sin let’s look at Paul’s writings in the Book of Romans. Roman’s 6, “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves you are slave of the one you obey either of sin which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness. But thanks be to God…you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

Easter, the events of this morning; which were orchestrated by God, show us that if we are in Christ, we are not condemned to death behind the stone. By our faith in Christ the stone has been removed from our lives.

We are human, we will sin, and we will go against God at times. And without Christ in our lives we would be cold and dead without hope; and behind the stone.

But we have Christ. And like him we are free of the grave.

Today let us rejoice. We should sing glorious praise to God. Through the Tamid; the perpetual sacrifice of the unblemished Christ, our sins; past, present and future are forgiven.

Through the resurrection all of God’s promises are fulfilled, We now walk out of the tomb created by sin. And with Jesus we will spend eternity in the presence of God the Father.

Happy Easter.