The Resurrection of Our Lord (Easter Sunday) – April 20th, 2025
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Mark 16:1–8
“The Mighty Deeds of God”
Theme: Mighty deeds of the Bible are all surpassed by the Resurrection.
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!
Mighty deeds of man are often forgotten or relegated to footnotes or history, especially if they have no direct application to our lives today. History class is often described as boring by students. Students might ask, why learn about Alexander, Julius Caesar, or Charlemagne if they won’t help me get or keep a job one day? And yet, we still yearn for mighty deeds to be done among us today. But we would find it preposterous if someone were to ask us how Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs helped us get or keep our jobs. Very few of us are directly connected in that way to the mighty deeds of the Chiefs. You could make the case that George Washington or others have a greater impact on your life today than Patrick Mahomes.
Nonetheless, hearing mighty deeds satisfies us in a different way than our pocketbook—these stories energize us, entertain us, and speak to our human condition of overcoming our own enemies. How much greater, then, are the mighty deeds of God that He has worked among us? These might deeds—especially the Resurrection of Jesus—are not just abstract footnotes in history. God uses them to speak to our humanity in all its strengths and flaws. Let’s hear of some of the most important.
The greatest of the Old Testament deeds was the Passover, in which God liberated his people from the Egyptians by the Tenth Plague. He told the Israelites to celebrate a special meal of lamb and unleavened bread. They were to paint lamb’s blood on their doorposts and lintels, and God would pass over those houses as he killed the firstborn. Later he would tell the Israelites to pass this story down to their children: “And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses” (Exod 12:26–27). Through the death and blood of a lamb, God saved his people. The next mighty act would be to destroy the armies that chased down the people, drowning them in the Red Sea. The people would rejoice and sing at that deliverance from their enemies. We should notice one important thing: when God acts with a mighty hand, His purpose is to bring, sustain, and protect life. He protected the life of the Israelites from death at the hand of the Egyptians.
The Egyptians were not the only enemies that God would save his people from by a mighty hand. God brought the walls of Jericho down. He stopped the sun in the sky so Joshua could rout the Amorites. God ended the civilization of the Assyrians by wiping out its army of 170,000. God used many mighty deeds to save his people from their enemies. Yes, these enemies died in the process, but they were the ones constantly trying to thwart God’s plan and opposite His chosen people. God saved the lives of his people by acting for them.
Armies are not the only enemies that man has. God fed his people with manna and quail. He brought water out of a rock to quench their thirst. God gave food to save a widow and her son. God used prophets to raise the dead—Elijah and Elisha both did this. God sustained life in the midst of famine and need.
Finally, God performed some mighty deeds in Babylon. Three young men were saved from the fiery furnace. Daniel was saved from the lion’s den by God who shut the mouths of the lions. They prayed to God, and he delivered them.
We tell all these stories to our children because they are important. They are not just stories of the past that have no bearing on us today. They are not just stories of man that can be relegated to the history books. God acts for his people through these stories. He shows us that he brings, sustains, and protects life. He uses them to point us forward to the greatest act of salvation of all: the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate the day when God raised His Son. Of course, for us to celebrate this day, we also have to recognize what was necessary first: that Jesus needed to die on the cross of Calvary for us. We cannot have Easter without Good Friday. But Good Friday would also have no meaning if Jesus stayed dead. Both Jesus’ Death and resurrection are greater than all the Great Deeds of the Old Testament.
You could argue that many of God’s other great deeds are BIGGER. So they might seem. Separating a whole sea by dividing it in two is BIG. Feeding 2 million people day after day with manna and quail is HUGE. Stopping the sun in the sky is COSMIC. But the death and resurrection of Jesus are greater than all these deeds. They apply to all people of all time. You could argue that those events I just mentioned happened once and never again, and barely have any effect on us today. It might be tempting for us to think that once we’ve heard them, we don’t need to hear them again. But we need to hear all these stories, especially the death and resurrection of Jesus, again and again and again. Why? Because God continues to work in your life to bring, sustain, and protect life for you—both physically and spiritually.
How does Jesus bring life to you? Not only did He create you in your mother’s womb, but he give you the new birth of the Spirit in Holy Baptism. How does Jesus sustain your life? He provides the food of this earth, but he also sustains your faith by His Word and Sacrament. How does Jesus protect your life?
Jesus in his cross and resurrection defeated all your worst enemies in one fell swoop. Sin he paid for by the blood of the cross. Romans 6 says, “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God” (10). Death, another great enemy of ours, has been swallowed up by Jesus’s victory. One ancient image of death is of a mouth that swallows and always has room for more. Jesus was swallowed up by death for three days, and it could not keep him inside.
He burst forth and promises that we too will rise again: “this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:53). We will see God one day: “after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26). Finally, the devil, our ancient foe, is bound and can accuse us no longer. Although he might tempt us, we know that Christ is stronger and protects us.
It is part of humanity to yearn for great deeds. And the greatest one of all has been accomplished nearly 2000 years ago. It was not on some ancient battlefield. It was not on a gridiron where two teams play each other for glory and a trophy. It was Jesus Christ who won the victory over the grave. Hear again what the angels told the women: “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:5).
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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