I Know That My Redeemer Lives! - Easter Sunday - Job 19:23-27

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! In this powerful Easter sermon, Dr. Cary Larson proclaims the undeniable truth of the empty tomb and the living Savior who conquered death for you, delivering unshakable hope, full forgiveness, and the promise of your own resurrection.

Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

Transcript

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In the cascading layers of noise in our ever-changing world, discovering a space for reflection and inspiration is increasingly rare. Welcome then to Faith Comes by Hearing, a unique podcast series that cuts through the clamor, carrying the timeless messages of the gospel into our lives with renewed relevance. Join Dr. Carrie Larson, the presiding pastor of the American Association of Lutheran Churches, as he ventures into the challenges of everyday life and the deep need to hear the truth that we are saved by grace, through faith, through Christ Jesus alone. Each episode is an invitation not just to listen, but to truly hear and embrace the good news of Christ Jesus for you and for all.

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Hallelujah. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. It's true. Jesus Christ is risen. You see, there's two undeniable facts about our Easter message. On the third day, the tomb was really empty. And Jesus was and is alive. This is his crowning evidence of his messiahship and that he in fact is indeed the Son of God. When Jesus was challenged by the opposition to perform one incredible miracle, one sign in which we know that is indisputable that you are before Abraham, Jesus said that he would give him a sign, all right, the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he also said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. That was too much. His enemies couldn't take it in. The hardened heart would not permit such news. The sign of Jonah is fulfilled. As Jonah was in the belly of the fish and came forth alive. So Jesus went into the tomb. A really, really dead Jesus. And night and day, night and day, and night and day, our Lord laid in the tomb. Ah, but the skeptic says there was really, if you said he died on Friday and he raised up, he was rose again on Sunday, I count less than three days. Look at the scriptures again. It is about night and day, night and day, and night and day. We remember the accounts of those who bore witness, either from first hand or from eyewitnesses, that the sun did not shine just before Jesus died. It is recorded that the sun failed. An eclipse, we can say, but it was night, and then it was day, and then it was night and day and night, and just before the dawn, the women were coming to the tomb. It was a crack of dawn, it had to be because they couldn't go anywhere until sunrise. And the tomb was empty. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish, and on the third day was spewed onto the shore, so the grave spewed out our Lord and Savior. Death cannot handle our risen Lord. And this is the truth. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. Does it make a difference? Does it really matter that Jesus is physically rose from the dead? Oh, my friends, it makes all the difference in the world. First and foremost, you have to have a really, really dead Jesus, not just mostly dead, but really dead. He had to pay fully for all our sins. Only blood could make us whole. Only the Son of God can bear the weight of the world. And his word from the cross was real. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why did he die so quickly when they assumed that he should have been still alive at the time when the Jews demanded or requested nicely and firmly that if the legs of these on the cross would be broken so that they could die quickly, and yet Jesus was already dead because he had the burdens of the world, our sins. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, and he breathed his last. And you have a dead Jesus. Physically, dead. They placed him into a rich man's tomb. And even Jesus, even dead, fulfills scripture. His body lies in the tomb and thus blessing all the graves of those who believe in him. And on the third day, he rises. And with the empty tomb, because he is physically alive, physically risen. You know your sins are forgiven. If it wasn't that way, then Paul himself says, we are the most to be pitied. We are still in our sins, we are dead in our trespasses, and those who died in hope of him are still just dead. And we of all people, we would be the better if we never lived at all. If Jesus hadn't physically rose from the tomb, where's the hope? Where's the hope that when we stand at an open grave, unless you have a physically resurrected Jesus? I drive our boys of the American Legion nuts because I don't follow protocol. Protocol for those who have served our country, and honors are rendered for them as they're justly due. Is my little service at the graveside is done, and then the captain of the guard calls for the detail to stand at attention, and they give a firearm salute, and then taps are played beautifully. Tradition calls for that to be the last word. I defy that. Because you, dear brother and sister in Christ, do not need to hear taps as the last word. You need to hear this. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. And as long as I bear the call, I will stand at an open grave and proclaim such. Taps does not provide us comfort. Taps does not provide us anything at all but sorrow. But the proclamation of the risen Christ is what we need to hear. You see, his resurrection is your resurrection. The guarantee of his life eternal is your guarantee. And this is why we celebrate this day. This is our High Holy Day. It wasn't by accident that little book that I read to the children. I know you were listening along too. Started off with Christmas. Because he came for that purpose of the plan to fulfill the plan, and the plan came to its completion with his glorious resurrection, and we will celebrate down the road his ascension. And we wait with eager hearts to see our Lord again. And he will come. And he will judge the living and the dead, we will say. But fear not, dear Christian, you have nothing to worry about. Judgment is not yours. For you will be so found right and sound before your God. For your Lord will reveal his wounds that he bears as trophies. And he says, Father, forgive, for I have paid for these. These are my sheep. And Lord, just as I have risen, cause life to be in them and let them be with you for all eternity. This is why Easter is a big deal for us. This is why we celebrate this. Because without this, we are doomed. We are destroyed. Death has lost its grip on us, you see. We're called by Paul to keep the things that are eternal in mind. Because everything that we have, my friends, no matter how important they are in our life, are either dust or rust when all is said and done. Anyone see a U-Haul behind a Hearst? I've yet to see one. And so those physical things, those earthly things that we value so much, they're only temporary. But what we have in Jesus Christ is eternal. What we have together as those redeemed by a living God is forever. As I say with tongue in cheek, you guys better get along. You got all eternity together. It's because of what Jesus has done. Every other religion in the world demands of their followers to die for their God. The Christian faith has a God that dies for them. No doubt, perhaps you've been watching TV and there's all sorts of things about Horace or some others, about how the Christian faith is only some sort of cheap copy of some stuff that is old. But you know what? Every one of those stories are false and cause doubt. Every one of those stories does not end with a resurrected God for your sake. All the other mythology, it's for the glory of the other one. The risen Lord is for your glory. For my glory. Why do I do this? And you look to the cross and you look to the empty tomb just as you sang moments ago. And you trust what your Lord says to you by way of using my voice. I forgive you all your sins. There, my friends, is our joy. There, my friends, is our peace. Your eternal life has started already. And you have a long time. Matter of moments, we'll pray the Lord's Prayer, and us Lutherans like to emphasize that forever thing by saying, forever and ever, as if forever wasn't long enough. It's merely to emphasize that we have eternity with a living God. A God who walks with you every step of the way. I praise God, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and He has walked with us every step of the way, and I praise Him because He's not a Nambi-Pamby God. He has a power to change lives, he has a power to open hearts, he has a power to heal people, has power to walk with them even when they suffer. That no matter what this life divvies out on us, we never are pulled away from his hand. He says, Those who've been put in my hand by the Father, they can never leave my hand. And we rest in that. Dear friends, find peace in your Lord on this day. Your sins are forgiven. The empty tomb is evident. And He is risen, He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. And that guarantees your resolute resurrection as well. And what that will be like, I don't know. But everything in the Bible leads us to indicate that it's going to be good. Better than our wildest dreams. In the days when it's dark, the days when life doesn't make sense, I rest in that hope. I ask that you rest with me in that hope. Because everything else in life doesn't. I heard just the other day that if faith was a hundred percent certain, we would celebrate this day as if it was Columbus Day. Who cares? But because this faith addresses a bit of mystery, how can one person who is really dead be alive? And how can this alive person be in with an underbread and wine? It is a mystery, and if I tried to explain it to you, I'd be a liar. But faith informs you he is here. Faith informs you that his body and blood is truly present. And faith informs you that though this body be decayed, I will see with my own eyes my redeemer. For my redeemer lives!.