The Resurrection is our Guide

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The Resurrection Is Our Guide

If only I had a guide. One of the parts of walking through this time of virus as we are in is that God’s gift of vocation is highlighted. Vocation is this amazing teaching in his word that God calls us into various places and stations in our lives. And through us he blesses those around us. Truck drivers didn’t get a whole lot of attention before. Now our nations realizes where we would be without them. But you could say the same for nurses. And, if you watch the news, the nurses who are exposed to people with the virus are being highlighted for their service. And that is good. But this morning, as I read once more these words from the end of the gospel according to Matthew, I think of nurses in memory care. I think of the countless times they find an elderly person either sitting or standing, sighing or crying. And when they find that person they ask the question, “can I help you?” And the person says, “why am I here?” And with such patience and skill the nurse guides them where they need to be. This morning, that’s what Christ’s resurrection is for us. It is our guide. It is here to help us sort out the messiness of our lives. In Matthew 28, we read: “¹ After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. ² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28:1–4 NIV11-GKE)

Very early on Sunday morning an angel went to work. The angel rolled away the stone over Jesus’ grave. And then what did he do? He sat on it. So you have to picture this powerful and impressive angel rolling away this massive stone over the door to the tomb. And then what does he do? He sits on it. And why is he sitting on it? He is sitting on it because he gets to be a guide. When these ladies show us he gets to guide them to a different guide. And what is that guide? The angel guides them straight to the resurrection of Jesus. That, really and truly, is their guide. And the resurrection is their guide first of all back to Jesus’ word. Notice what the angel says: “⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”” (Matthew 28:5–7 NIV11-GKE)

The angel reminds them that, when you think about it, there should be nothing new or shocking about what was going on that morning for one simple reason: Jesus told them again and again that this is what was going to happen. Jesus would be tortured. He would die to pay for their sins. He would rise to prove that they are forgiven. The resurrection was their guide. And it had to be their guide because they had lost sight of what Jesus said. And we can see why they lost sight of what Jesus said. What Jesus said was too much for them to understand. What Jesus underwent was too much for them to endure. So the resurrection guided them back—back to Jesus’ word.

They lost sight. But my dear friends in Christ, we too can lose sight of what is important too. Satan is so very skilfull at taking good gifts and making them into little gods that we worship. A lady in a nursing home might say, “why am I here?” and not know the answer. But we too can say the same. When we gather together for worship what are we here for? When we look at that question we begin to see how we can take the gifts God gives us and make them into little gods and idols. People want to gather together to have a wedding here in this church because it’s pretty. But that’s not the real reason we have a wedding in a church. People want to be buried out there in that cemetery. But that’s not the most important reason why we have a funeral. People come here on Sunday morning for the music and for the fellowship. But that’s not the most important reason we gather. The biggest reason we gather together is what the angel shares with us here. Jesus’ resurrection is our guide. It is our guide back to his word. Appreciate the prettiness of our church. Appreciate the gift of being buried next to your family in the cemetery. Appreciate the music and the fellowship. But we see our sin when all of these are more important than Jesus’ word. For Jesus’ word is what shows us our sin. Jesus’ word is what gives us salvation.

And, to sometimes to teach us about the truest gifts, God takes them away for a little while. If you have a little toddler who likes to tear the heads off of her dolls, what do you do? You take the doll away from her. And you do this not because you hate her, but instead because you want her to appreciate the gift and take care of it. For his own reasons God has taken away our ability to worship together this Easter. But let’s take advantage of this. Let’s use this as an opportunity to repent of the times the lesser gifts overtook the greater gifts—the times that other gifts drowned out God’s word. And let us return once again to God’s word. Let us read it. Let us study it. Let us hear Jesus speaking to us still today through it. For that’s what the resurrection guides us to. The resurrection guides us back to Jesus’ word—and all the forgiveness contained in it. But the resurrection guides us in another direction: “⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”” (Matthew 28:8–10 NIV11-GKE)

The resurrection guides us back to Jesus’ word. But notice what we see in these words. The resurrection also guides us forward to the wonder of heaven. As we read these words and we put ourselves in the shoes of these women, when they saw Jesus, what did they have the natural need to do? They had the natural need to bow down and grasp him.¹ Their Savior rose with his real body. And they had this need to know that it was true. They had this need to know not just by sight but also by touch that this was true. And in his gracious kindness toward them, he lets them touch him and worship him.

And right there is where we see our own temptation to sin. If, on the one hand, we have the temptation to make too little of what happens in worship, hearing God’s word and studying it, then what we see here in these words is the opposite temptation. We face the temptation to make to much of worship here. It almost seems like an offensive statement to make, doesn’t it? But my friends, we can sin if we conclude that worship here will compare to worship there in heaven. Wonder—true, amazing wonder is there waiting for us in heaven. That’s what Jesus’ resurrection guides us to as well. There, in heaven, we, just like these women, will get to grasp his feet. And on the Last Day, we will get to do this with our own bodies, forgiven of every sin and stain, and made perfect in every way.

So, in a very real way, even when we gather together, our worship still falls flat because we do not get to grasp what our hearts and hands yearn for: Jesus our Savior. But that’s why both Jesus and the angel guide us back to his word. What will get you from this day to the Last Day? God’s word will. That’s why we read it. That’s why we listen when it is read. That’s why we memorize it. That is why we study it in bible classes. We do all this with the word because the resurrection is the fulfillment of it.

So let us end where we began. We can be thankful for the nurse who says, “let me guide you” when the person says, “where am I?” But even more so, we can be thankful to our Triune God. For Jesus’ resurrection is our guide. It is our guide back to his word. It is our guide forward to heaven’s wonder. Amen.