Death, Interrupted - Easter 2015

Death, Interrupted

Pastor Allen Snapp  4/5/15

Luke 23:44-46, 50-56 

I want us to pause here for just a moment. This morning we join with millions of believers all around the world to celebrate Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thank God this is NOT where the gospel account of Jesus’ life ends. Thank God that Easter isn’t a day when followers of Jesus lay flowers at his grave to commemorate his memory. Thank God that Jesus isn’t a dead teacher, he’s a living Savior! Thank God for Easter Sunday!!

 But I want us to pause here a moment at the end of chapter 23 in order to point out that this is where most stories – really, ALL other stories – end. It doesn’t matter how important, or powerful, or wealthy, or good, a person is, their story and their life will end at the grave. The effects of what a person accomplished and the lives they have touched may continue to ripple outward for a time, but death brings their story to an abrupt halt. Loved ones will gather, just like at Jesus’ grave, with flowers and memories and mourn their passing, but their lives on this earth are over. Psalm 103 sums up the story-ending power of death well: The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; 16the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. (Psalm 103:15-16 NIV)

Death is the ultimate “elephant in the room”. We don’t like to talk about it or think about it, but it is an inevitable part of life. One hundred percent of the time life will be interrupted by death– sometimes it’s expected and sometimes it’s totally unexpected. We have a dear member in our church whose father is dying. He knows it, they know it, and yet they have the gift of time to gather as a family and make some sweet memories together before he departs. Other times death is totally unexpected, as in the tragic case of the Germanwings Flight 9525 where 149 people boarded expecting a short jaunt from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany where they had people to meet, appointments to keep, loved ones to hold, but their lives were cut short by the terrible actions of the co-pilot. The approach of death may be expected or it may come unexpectedly but 100% of the time life will eventually be interrupted by death and when it does, death doesn’t give back. Death’s hold is incredibly tenacious. It just doesn’t let go. Life is interrupted by death, but death is never, ever interrupted by life. Life may be cut short but death is never cut short, no one ever comes back from the grave…

…no one, that is, except Jesus. This is what makes Easter such a glorious and amazing celebration for us and for believers around the world and throughout history! The story 

doesn’t end at the grave. And so now it’s time to read on.

Luke 24:1-12

Let’s consider three reasons why, for everyone who places their trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection is the best news possible:

I.  Jesus’ resurrection speaks hope to the deepest longing in our hearts

Deep inside of us, we all long for eternal life. We are hard-wired to want to live forever. Ecclesiastes 3:11 

tells us that [God] has put eternity into man’s heart; it is God who made us that way. It’s not just that we want to eternal life for ourselves, we want it for those we love too. If you have lost a loved one, or if you think about losing someone that you love dearly, you know that it’s incredibly hard to accept that you would never, ever see them again. That their life is over forever, you will never hear their voice again, never hear them laugh again, never see their face again. Oh, how we long for that not to be true!

Over the last two centuries, faith in God has taken a hit because of the growing acceptance of the theory of evolution, which provides an explanation of life without God. To hard-core evolutionists life isn’t the product of a loving Creator but the product of a random and impersonal series of biological sequences that resulted in the world we live in, and the – dare I say it? – miraculous display of life we see all around us. My intention isn’t to wade into the subject of evolution or science with you this morning, but to point out that when we reduce life only to the years we live on this earth, and after that believe that there is nothing more, that death is the end of the line forever and ever, the Bible says we are going against a longing that God has hard-wired deeply into our souls. The desire that this isn’t all there is. 

The fact is that the belief that we are all simply the product of a series of random biological sequences isn’t big enough to answer our deepest longings or questions. What is life? Do our lives mean anything? If we are the product of impersonal biological reactions in a coldly impersonal universe, what can we possibly derive that meaning from? Can love be reduced to a series of chemical reactions? Can beauty be explained merely as animal instincts kicking in saying, “this promotes your self-preservation, therefore it is beautiful!” We might be able to swallow that when we’re thinking in broad, general terms, but when we look in the face of someone we love, something inside of us rebels against the thought that they are just a biological blip on a speck of dust in a brutally harsh and impersonal universe and that the cold wind of death will soon pass over them and they will cease to exist as if they never existed, and they will never exist again. We rebel against that thought because God has woven the hope of eternity deep 

within the fiber of life. 

But death would like us to believe that it is the ultimate end of the story. That death is the last word. That death interrupts life, but life never, ever interrupts death. But on this Easter morning, we know that isn’t true. The angel said, Why do you seek the living among the dead? Jesus did die; he was dead, but not anymore: the angel said He is not here, he has risen!! Jesus interrupted death with life!

At another funeral, as Martha and Mary grieved over their dead brother, thinking that he was lost forever, Jesus spoke these words like a shaft of light into their darkness and grief: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26) Then he went on to interrupt Lazarus’ death by raising him up from the dead. 

This is the living hope that Jesus’ resurrection speaks to us this morning: just as we know that one day our life will be interrupted by death, we know that the day is coming when our death will be interrupted by life. Resurrection life. Jesus is the resurrection and the life and that speaks hope to the deepest longing of our hearts, a longing that God put in us because we were created to live forever. 

II.  Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates his power over death…and sin

Ever think about the power of death? First of all, it has the power to bring our lives to a complete and total halt. When you die, everything you were doing stops, no exceptions. Every dream, goal, project, and relationship is fatally interrupted. It has that kind of power. 

Death also has the power to hold us and not let us come back. I listened to a fascinating but kind of creepy radio show this week. It was a rebroadcast of Bess Houdini’s last attempt to contact her late husband, the great magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini, in a séance held on the 10^th anniversary of his death and broadcast on radio for the world to hear. Houdini had promised Bess that he would try to come back and they set up a secret code so she would know it really was him. Now, after ten years of unsuccessfully trying to contact him, when once again Houdini did not give any sign of his presence, Bess blew out the candle she kept burning beside a photograph of her husband with the words, My last hope is gone. I do not believe that Houdini can come back to me, or to anyone… I now, reverently, turn out the light. It is finished. Good night Harry!

Not even Houdini could break the chains of death or pick the lock that held him. What kind of power can break that chain? What kind of power can raise a dead man back to life? What kind of power can interrupt death with life? What kind of power did it take to roll back the stone and raise Jesus from the dead?

The answer is here in Luke. Look with me at verses 6 and 7: He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. 

That “must” is a favorite word for Luke. It’s often called the “divine must” because it means something must happen, no way it’s not going to happen, because God has ordained it to happen. Death didn’t let go of Jesus willingly. Jesus didn’t negotiate his release from death. Death would have held him if it could, but the power of death was overwhelmed and overcome by a far, far, greater power, the power of God’s life. Death didn’t cooperate with Jesus, death was conquered by Jesus!

Let’s take a moment to consider what the Bible says death is. It’s not a friend. It came into the world because of the fall, when Adam and Eve sinned against God’s one command. When sin entered the world, death entered as well. They go together. Romans 6:23 says the “wages of sin is death” and 1 Cor. 15:56 says that the sting of death is sin. What this means is that death does not end our existence, it delivers us to God’s judgment. Heb. 9:27 says, it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. That’s the terrible sting of death, not the death itself, but the terrifying judgment that comes after it. 

This is why Jesus had to die. This is why Jesus said the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. He must be delivered to die if he was going to save us from our sins and from the power of death and the horrifying destiny of eternal death – which is eternal separation from God. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He took God’s judgment for our sins as if they were his own sins. When he declared it is finished! he was declaring that he had completely paid for our sins, that he had completely satisfied God’s righteous judgment of our sins. The resurrection is God the Father’s declaration that Jesus was right, it was finished, it was paid in full on the cross. God is fully satisfied with Jesus’ payment for our sins. 

Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates his power over sin, his power to cleanse us of our sin, his power to forgive us of our sins. His power to restore us back into relationship with God. His power to overcome death and its sting: Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?...thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (vv. 54-57) That power is inside of us. Resurrection power is at work in us! And that leads to the third reason the resurrection is the best news possible: 

III.  Jesus’ resurrection doesn’t just interrupt our death, it changes our life!

Jesus’ resurrection isn’t just a religious moment to be celebrated one Sunday a year. It’s a life-changer. Everything about how we live our lives should be affected by the resurrection. Knowing that we have been forgiven of our sins, reconciled to God, and that death is just the gateway to eternal life should change the way we see life, and the way we live life!

Recently I heard Paul Tripp say that everything in this life is a battle. Battle between doubt and faith. Between disappointment and hope. Between temptation and righteousness. Between fear and courage. Between self-protection and love. That is true, and believing in Jesus doesn’t take away that battle. But knowing that his resurrection power lives in us should fill our hearts with fresh faith every day to keep fighting the battles and an unshakable hope that we will have victory in these battles.

Maybe you’re fighting a battle against fear and it might even feel like fear is winning. You can keep fighting, knowing that fear will give way to faith because the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive! Maybe you’ve experienced a crushing disappointment in your life and its doing a number on your heart, but there is a living hope that burns in your heart because the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive! Parents, you don’t give up on your children, even when things seem to be going badly because you believe the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive! Husbands and wives, you don’t give up because of marital problems because the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive! Friends you don’t give up on your friends just because they are going in the wrong direction or have failed you in some way, because the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive!

We can keep going in the face of trials and hardships, we can keep battling in the midst of defeats and disappointments, we can keep hoping when there doesn’t seem to be any hope, because the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive. The resurrection changes how we live our lives, and Jesus’ resurrection power in us can overcome anything life can throw at us. We can be willing to risk and love and sacrifice in the name of Jesus because he isn’t a dead teacher who taught us how to live, he is the living Savior who IS the resurrection and the life.

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26)

Do you believe this? Do you believe this? Do you believe this? That question echoes throughout history and Easter Sunday is a day to say, “yes, I believe this with all my heart! I will live this day, and all my life, in the light of that amazing, awesome truth – Jesus is risen and he gives me resurrection life too!” 

Christian, we have SO much to celebrate in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: Maybe you would say, “Allen, I don’t know if I’ve ever believed this. I don’t have that kind of hope. That kind of certainty.” Jesus came to give you that hope and that life. He came to save your life by interrupting your death with life. Eternal life. Resurrection life. He invites you to come to him today, to ask him into your heart and life to be your Lord and Savior. 

You can come to Jesus and know that he will never turn you away.