The Resurrection of Our Lord (Easter Sunday) – March 31st, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Matthew 28:1–15
“Christ Is King”
Theme: Easter is the day we celebrate the victory of Christ our King.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Oh, what a great day to praise God. Every Christian should celebrate Easter as the greatest day of the year. Why? Because it is the culmination of everything up to this point. It’s not just an added stone on top of a great pile of God’s works, but it is the cornerstone of our salvation. It is the sparkling gem in the crown of our redemption. For without the resurrection of Christ, the world would still not be redeemed.
Everything culminates in this day. If there were no Easter, we would not be able to celebrate Christmas or Good Friday or anything else. Christmas would mean nothing if that little baby did not rise from the dead. Good Friday would leave us despairing in darkness, for the final victory would not be won. Everything about Jesus—his conception, birth, baptism, teaching, miracles, rebukes, prayer, trials, suffering, and death—revolves around his resurrection and this victory.
What victory do we celebrate today on Easter? The victory that means that Christ is King.
In a country without a king, we are not acquainted with how kings are made. Often, yes, they are born. A prince is born to royalty and takes over from his father. But in the olden days, you had to earn the right to call yourself king by conquest. You needed to conquer enemies, subjugate them, and declare your rule over them. We live now in a genteel age where that is frowned upon, but I want you to have the joy of a people whose enemies are vanquished, and Jesus is your Lord and King.
But if you’ve noticed, just like we don’t have kings in America, it doesn’t seem like we vanquish our foes anymore. Perhaps the closest analog to celebrating the vanquishing of one’s enemies happens in sports where you pit one team against another, especially as our sports lead to championship games. There was a lot of rejoicing in February as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers.
But you can tell that these aren’t real enemies, or even a real reason to celebrate for more than a few weeks. How many of you are still talking about that game on a regular basis? How many of you will celebrate this Chiefs’ victory the day after the next Super Bowl? How many generations of people will relive the glories of that overtime game into the decades?
No, sports victories come and go. They live now only history books. Even many battles and wars live only in history books, whether or not they have impacted our lives today.
The victory of Jesus is far greater than any human battle or war or game or championship that has ever been won. Why is this? It’s because the victory that Jesus won involves you and your life right now. When Christ suffered and died, he was your substitute. He died instead of you. When He rose again, he brought you with him up from the grave to glory and victory.
You are connected to Jesus. St. Paul says, “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom 6:5).
In His suffering, death, and resurrection, Christ fulfilled the law, conquered sin, robbed death of his power, crushed the head of the devil, destroyed hell’s power, and triumphed over all his enemies. His enemies are our enemies. His battle was our battle, so is His victory our victory, His triumph our triumph, His conquest our conquest.
This is why we can call Christ our King. He is not merely a prince who had inherited kingship upon the death of his father. No, it is more than that—His Father has bestowed kingship upon him who defeated his enemies. He has won that title by right of conquest—and we are the beneficiaries.
We live in Christ’s kingdom even now. What is the benefit of Christ’s kingdom? Christ bestows on us the benefits of his victory. His life is our life; his acquittal is our acquittal; his justification is our justification.
This is great comfort for us as we fight our very real enemies here in this life. Sin takes many names, and you know what forms they take as temptations in your life. You know the guilt that accompanies sin when you commit them. Death raises its scary head when we hear a bad diagnosis or when we lose a loved one. And the devil is always there too with his temptations to doubt and despair.
In the midst of all of that, Christ remains victorious. Even if it does not seem like many battles are being won in your life, Jesus tells you, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19) and “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
What then should we do in answer to this Easter message of triumph? First believe it. Take comfort in it, now and always.
Tell me, what should a criminal who has been condemned to death but later receives a pardon from the governor do when he hears of that pardon? Should he reject that word from the governor? No, but he should accept it and gladly take advantage of it, leaving prison as soon as possible!
Tell me, what should a beggar do when a rich man gives a great gift to him without any strings attached? Wouldn’t he be foolish to reject it or even more to think that he had earned it in any way? Of course. The beggar should accept the gift and thank his benefactor.
What must we do to enjoy the great comfort of Christ’s resurrection? We must believe it! We must accept that Christ is our King and thank Him for His victory. We must live every day with the joy and knowledge that Christ is risen.
This joy and knowledge in the victory of Christ gives us peace. If we go into the story of Christ’s resurrection, we see this example in the people who see the risen Christ. Before they believed in the resurrection, they were full of fear and were comfortless. But after they see Jesus, they take hold of his feet and worship him. Comfort, peace, joy, and life enter their troubled hearts.
This is the bounty that Christ your King has laid out for you to taste and see. His table of grace is set, so lay hold of it and enjoy his bounties.
And when our enemies rise again and again, we need to remind ourselves that they are defeated by our King. Lay aside all sin—“cleanse out the old leaven,” as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:7. “Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (8).
When death knocks, remember the words of Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (25–27)
And when the devil comes knocking, know that he is already defeated. All of this is cause for great joy—the greatest joy of all! It’s a time to celebrate even more than when the Chiefs won the Super Bowl. In fact, I dare you to do just that. Today is the day of salvation. This victory celebration will continue not just one year, but all the years until Christ comes again on the Last Day. For that, we praise him, here and now, and into eternity.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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