Text: Mark 16:1-8, with Isaiah 25:6-9
Let’s play pretend for a moment. Suppose that every social program in the world today were completely efficient. Suppose that all members of the United States Congress, all the courts, and even the United Nations had a sudden conversion, all got together, worked together well, and resolved to do something that actually works. They eliminate poverty. All sicknesses are cured; disease is a thing of the past. Everyone on the planet has something to eat; hunger has disappeared. We only have to work a 20-hour work week, the minimum wage is $100 per hour, and we all get one week of vacation each month. Sadness, depression, anxiety and frustration are non-existent, and crime has been abolished. Happiness reigns supreme, and everyone will die happy.
There’s only one problem with our pretend world: no matter how happy they might become, everyone would still die. And that’s certainly the bottom-line problem with our real world, isn’t it? Death holds us in its clutches. We are slaves to our sinful desires, and that scares us, well, to death. And we are powerless to change it. Just as the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, we are enslaved to sin and death. But our Lord Jesus, the Risen Savior, the Victorious Son of God in the Flesh, gives us His gift of immortality.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us that the women went to the tomb early in the morning. They expected to finish the burial process for Jesus. However, they got to see what they did not expect—an empty tomb and angels telling them, “He is not here, but is risen!” (Lk. 24:6). John’s gospel tells us that Mary ran back to tell Peter and John, and then Peter and John went running off to the empty tomb. There they saw proof positive that Jesus had risen—grave cloths on one end and the head cloth on the other end, folded up, nice and neat. No grave robbers would have taken such care. But the Lord of Life did. He chose to send a message through that folded up napkin. What message? He overcame death by His death; He lives and gives life; and He would give them His immortality.
I. Risen Jesus gives us the gift of immortality, that is, salvation.
Isaiah says death is “the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations” (Is. 25:7). And don’t we know it! We know how death suffocates us and snuffs out our life, as if we were wrapped too tightly and for too long in a thick blanket! Not only must we endure funerals and the loss of loved ones, we must also persevere through sicknesses and injuries. We must put up with the minor little aches and pains, along with eyes that need glasses and ears that need hearing aids. And if that isn’t enough, death even suffocates us at the beginning of life. How else should we consider still births, congenital birth defects, and babies who are lost or aborted before they can be born? Even creation, the world of nature, suffocates under the pall of death. “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” because it too lives in “bondage to decay.” Just notice how flowers fade away, trees die and rot, and water causes erosion. “The whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Rom. 8:19-22).
However, when Jesus rose from the dead, He swallowed up death forever. The thick blanket of death wrapped Him up and suffocated Him as He hung on the Cross. Then He, the Lord of all life, lay dead in the tomb, wrapped with grave cloths. Then He awoke from the sleep of death and swallowed the covering of death, and not just His own death, but “the covering that is cast over all peoples.” Jesus, the immortal Son of God, took on our flesh and blood so that “through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” And what does that mean for us? He releases us, frees us, rescues us, and saves us “who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb. 2:14-15). That’s what the Bible calls “salvation”—being delivered from the bondage of sin and death, both now and into eternity. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ” (1 Cor. 15:22-23). Now that Jesus rose from the dead, He gives you the gift of immortality.
Now every illness, every tragedy, and every funeral looks different to the eyes of faith. Instead of being bound to endure them with suffocating fear, we get to live through them trusting our Lord of Life. Death no longer holds us captive. Instead, it’s a gateway to life immortal with our Lord and Savior. “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God—with His gift of immortality—in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).
II. Risen Jesus gives us His immortality in His holy Meal.
But how do we get to live in this gift of immortality that Jesus gives us? Well, in your Baptism you are “united with Him in a death like His” and “united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Rom. 6:5). Jesus’ immortal life becomes yours. And, yes, there’s more! With the Lord of Life, there’s always more life to enjoy, now and forever!
Isaiah also talks about “a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” If you’ve been fasting during the season of Lent, now you get to feast. Even if you haven’t fasted, or if you tried but fell short, the Lord’s feast of life is still for you. The Lord Jesus certainly swallowed death for you, but now He gives you the privilege of feasting on His life. And He gives His life, His immortality, in the feast before us today. Yes, at this very Table the Risen Lord Jesus prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies of sin and death. Our risen Lord gives us His immortality in His holy Meal. As Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn. 6:54). We have access to immortality through sharing in the flesh and blood of our Risen Lord. “Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” (Jn. 6:58).
But you don’t have to wait until the Last Day to receive Jesus’ immortality in His Body and Blood. You can also receive His immortality here and now, this side of eternity. Yes, the Lord’s Supper helps you fend off the symptoms of death that still assault you. In the face of illness, tragedy, even death itself, let Jesus’ Body and Blood strengthen and comfort you. Let them be your “medicine of immortality.” Not only do you receive forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament, but you also receive life and salvation—Jesus’ life and His immortality that is your salvation. What a Savior! What a Life!
And finally today, let’s enjoy Jesus’ gift of immortality as Pastor John Chrysostom proclaimed it about 1700 years ago:
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!
Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hades when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!
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