The Easter Impossibility

This being Easter, I have decided to post an Easter sermon from 2004.  We will continue with the study of I Thessalonians next week.   

Acts 2:22-36

The Romans had done their worst.  These experts in the science of death had crucified Jesus and left no doubt that he was dead.  Centuries later there would be those who would suggest that somehow Jesus had survived the crucifixion but such a notion would have made the soldiers on the execution detail laugh and the early Christians shake their heads in wonder.

The soldiers would have asked, “Are you saying we didn’t do our job?  Do you think we wouldn’t have made absolutely sure he was dead before we reported to Pilate?”

The early Christians would have said, “You know, we saw him afterwards, he was no survivor, he was a victor.  If he had merely survived, we would have taken care of him, tried to nurse him back to health;   we wouldn’t have died for him!”

Still, that theory and others continue to crop up from time to time, theories born in the hearts of those who say, “Dead men don’t live again.  Easter is an impossibility.”

We forget sometimes that the first men and women who told the story of Christ’s resurrection would have been quick to say, “We agree with you—except in this case.” 

In fact, Peter observes that for Easter not to have taken place would be the real impossibility.

Let me remind you of the context in which he makes this statement.  It was the Day of Pentecost, a Jewish holiday some fifty days after the Passover.  In this case, it was some fifty days following the crucifixion and resurrection.  At this time, only a handful of people knew about the empty tomb—the authorities who had an elaborate story to explain it, a story which had more holes in it than a matzo cracker, and the band of believers who had seen the Risen Christ.  I honestly don’t know if they had told anyone outside their group about the resurrection before this occasion.  What is clear is that people only began to genuinely believe them after the miracle which took place on Pentecost, the miracle which bestowed upon them the gift of the Holy Spirit.  That experience was so remarkable that the crowds came to them and asked for an explanation.

Peter may have been somewhat new to the preaching business but he was eager to comply.  The passage I read this morning came from his sermon.

I want to focus on his declaration that it was impossible for
Easter not to have taken place. 

What I intend to say is implicit in Peter’s message;  it is explicit in the rest of the New Testament.

It Was Impossible for Christ to Have Remained in the Grip of Death If God’s Word was to be Trusted.

Most of the Gospel writers, especially Matthew, liked to point out that Jesus’ life and ministry often fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. 

While the Old Testament prophets were primarily preachers and critics of their own age, we shouldn’t forget that, with their ministry of forth-telling, there was a ministry of foretelling.  Although not every prophet spoke of the coming Messiah, it was possible to comb through the prophets and come away with a very specific picture of the One who would come to be the Savior.  Some of these hints about his character and work were even found in the books of the law and in the books of poetry.

At the very beginning of his Gospel Matthew points out that Micah—a prophet who labored some eight centuries before the birth of Christ—predicted he would be born in Bethlehem.

Other Gospel writers would also point out whenever prophecies, both specific and general, about God’s appointed messenger, the Messiah, were fulfilled in Christ’s ministry.

A whole cluster of those prophecies seem to have been fulfilled during the final week of Christ’s earthly life.  The triumphal entry on Palm Sunday was such a prophecy.  Even the soldiers gambling for his sparse wardrobe was predicted. 

If you’ve seen The Passion of the Christ, you’ll remember that the film begins with a quotation from the great eighth-century prophet Isaiah.  It comes from Isaiah 53 which is at the heart of the predictions about the Suffering Servant—another title for the Messiah.

   Let me read the quoted portion in context from the New Living Translation.

3.  He was despised and rejected-a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care.

 4.  Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows* that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!

 5.  But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!

 6.  All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.

 7.  He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

 8.  From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins-that he was suffering their punishment?

Isaiah and others had predicted the specific events of the Passion but few understood that these ancient predictions were being fulfilled before their eyes.  Only after the Resurrection did it all become clear.  Now, Peter stood before the crowds at the temple and told them that not only was the crucifixion foretold, but the Resurrection had been prophesied as well.

In a declaration which reaches back to the psalms, Peter recounts God’s pledge that his “Holy One” would not “rot in the grave” as one translation puts it.  This “Holy One” would escape the grave.

Then, before the listeners could protest that this promise was addressed to King David, Peter points out that the tomb of Israel’s beloved King is one of the city’s great tourist attractions.

Over the centuries David’s skeleton had fallen to dust.  David may have been writing about those times when God had rescued him from death, but he eventually died and was buried.  This promise was fulfilled only in the unique experience of Jesus.

Had it turned out otherwise God would not have kept his word to the Messiah.  But God did keep his word.  Peter and the other disciples were witnesses of that very fact.

Easter reminds us that God’s word can be trusted.  In fact, it is impossible for him not to keep his word.  His word to you and me is a promise of salvation to those who trust the Risen Christ.  If we trust him, God will keep his word.

[If I were preaching this message today (2015) instead of Easter 2004 I might have added a note that “It Was Impossible for Christ to Have Remained in the Grip of Death If God’s Justice was to be Displayed.” I would have underscored Jesus’ sinless life and stressed how death was the consequence of sin.  In Jesus had not sinned, he did not deserve to suffer death.  For Jesus to have remained in the grave would have been a profound injustice.  This is hinted at in the next section but the emphasis is somewhat different.  Since 2004, I’ve met more Christians who seem ignorant of the Biblical insistence on Jesus’ sinlessness; perhaps it reflects our failure to clearly communicate what the Bible says about him.]

It Was Impossible for Christ to Have Remained in the Grip of Death If Our Hope of Forgiveness was to be Justified.

Recently a national news magazine had a cover story about the significance of Christ’s death.  It was actually a survey of the theories of the atonement.  It reviewed the three most frequently given answers to the question,
Why did Christ die?

One theory suggests that Christ’s death brought victory over evil.   In its crudest form, the theory says that God performed a kind of “bait and switch” trick on Satan.  Most Christians reject that version of the theory.  Instead, they stress that Christ’s death and resurrection over the power of Satan and all the forces of evil.

There’s truth in this but it doesn’t explain all that happened as a result of what Christ did.  Let’s face it, God could have defeated Satan and just let us be observers.

Another theory suggests that Christ’s death was an example to us.  Most of those who hold this theory deny the resurrection took place.  They say that Christ was an example of loving altruism and self-sacrifice.  According to this theory, which is sometimes called the moral influence theory, Christ’s life and death ought to inspire us to live for others.

There is truth in this theory also.  The New Testament does tell us that Jesus is an example to follow in our relationships with others.  But, again, it’s not all there was to Christ’s death.

Years ago evangelist D. M. Stearns was preaching in Philadelphia.  One evening a stranger approached him and said, “I don’t like the way you spoke about the cross.  I think it would be far better to preach Jesus as teacher and example.” 

Stearns replied, “If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?”

“I certainly would,” said the stranger.

“All right then,” said Stearns, “let’s take the first step.  He did no sin.  Can you claim that for yourself?”

Confused and surprised, the man said, “Why, no.  I do sin.”

Stearns replied, “Well, then, your greatest need it to have a Savior, not an example.”

Ultimately, Christ died as our substitute.  He died to pay the penalty for the broken law, the law we all have broken.  The penalty for breaking that law was death;   we each had to pay that penalty unless someone could be found who would pay it for us.  The problem was, only someone who had never sinned could pay the penalty for those who had.

When God took on humanity, when the second Person of the Trinity became a man, he embraced the challenge of living in the same world in which we lived, only living here without succumbing to the enticements to sin, to rebel against God’s law.  Because he did live without sin he became the perfect Substitute.  He could bear the penalty for our sins.  The Resurrection was the affirmation that his sacrifice had been accepted.

Peter would later write to Jewish-Christians he had ministered to over the years:  “Christ also suffered when he died for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.”

Paul told the Romans that their salvation rested on Christ’s death. 

22.  We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.

 23.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard.

 24.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.

 25.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times.

 26.  And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.

That’s a powerful explanation of what the passion of the Christ was all about.  He died that we might know forgiveness and salvation, that we might have the hope of heaven.

Yet, the story of the Cross is incomplete without the story of the Empty Tomb.  When Mel Gibson was asked why he included a brief scene of the Risen Christ ready to leave the tomb on the first Easter morning he said, “Without the resurrection, our faith is dead.  The story’s not complete without it.”  Gibson was merely echoing Paul’s sentiment.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians:  “And if Christ hasn't been raised from death, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins!”

[Twice this week I’ve been in a conversation about Gibson’s film.  The first focused on how the film—taking its text directly from the Gospel accounts (in Aramaic, no less)—had little of the Hollywood spin usually associated with “Biblical epics.”  Of course, the film did have its own “spin” by introducing certain traditions not supported by the Scriptures (e.g., Mary Magdalene as the forgiven prostitute) but these did not detract from the film’s power. Despite its flaws, the film causes us to ask why the cross was necessary.  The second conversation concerned Gibson’s own personal failures—drunken driving, anti-Semitism, and alleged domestic violence.  Gibson reminds us that ever since the women carried the message of the empty tomb to the disciples, that message has been carried by flawed messengers.  The messengers are flawed but the message is reliable.]

But the great news is, Christ has been raised, the tomb is empty.  We can have confidence that our sins have been forgiven. 

It Was Impossible for Christ to Have Remained in the Grip of Death If We Were to Find Any Comfort in the Face of Our Mortality.

Yesterday, Pat and I drove past a cemetery.  There was a relatively new grave near the road and a family was at that grave.  It looked like a mother, a father, a boy and a girl had come to that grave to do some work on it.  The father and the children were on their knees beside the grave planting flowers.  Maybe it was the children’s grandfather or grandmother who had recently been buried there.  I don’t know.  Anyway, the children were learning one of the lessons we all eventually learn:  Death is an inevitable reality.  There are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters who will be gathering around family tables this afternoon with the knowledge that a loved one who joined them last Easter wouldn’t be joining them.  That loved one may have died in an accident or from a lingering disease, from a sudden, ruthless condition which took the medical professionals by surprise, or perhaps that loved one died from the bullet or bomb of an enemy.  In any case, death has crashed the party.

The Resurrection has transformed the way we look at death.  The Christian’s grief is painful, the Christian’s tears are just as hot as those of the non-Christian, the Christian feels the ache of loneliness just as surely as the non-Christian, but something is different.  There comes a time when the Christian can shake a fist at death and shout with Paul, “O, Death, where is your victory?”

Dr. Merrill Tenney, long-time professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, wrote about the difference Christ’s resurrection makes when we face the reality of death.

By raising Jesus from the dead God proved that human existence need not end in the tragedy of death….

The resurrection is the fullest disclosure of God’s power…because it had overcome his greatest obstacle.  The perfection of life is frustrated by the presence of death, for when man attains the maturity and strength that would enable him to accomplish his finest work, decay and death overtake him.  Rarely does anyone retain to old age sufficient vigor to execute the plans conceived in youth.  The resurrection is the antithesis of human weakness, for it concentrates in one act the vastness of the divine strength.”

Rare is the person who hasn’t lost a loved one to death.  And the truth is, all of us must one day face the reality of our mortality.  Most of us know this.  Still, even when the actuarial table is open before us, we want to bet that we will somehow beat the odds.

Easter faith accepts the reality of death.  We know that death, like a ravenous tiger, stalks us but because of the resurrection we know the tiger has had its fangs and claws removed.

Without the resurrection every pastor who ever stood at a graveside, searching for words of comfort for a grieving family, would have nothing to say. 

Thank God we do have something to say. 

Conclusion

As I prepared this message I ran across a story I heard long ago.  It concerns a Muslim who had decided to become a Christian.  A friend asked him why he had decided to abandon the faith of his family and homeland.

He said, “Imagine you were walking down an unfamiliar road and came to a place where the road split into two roads.  Would you rather ask the way from a dead man or a man who is alive?”

Those who would tell us that Easter is impossible are condemning us to guessing which way to take.

In fact, it is impossible that the God who loved us enough to face the cross for us would leave us without Someone to point the way to Him.  On the night before his death, Christ told his disciples that He was that Way—the true and living way.