April 8, 2012
Dear friends in Christ.
As we have gathered in worship on this glorious
Easter Sunday, we have gathered to raise our hearts and voice in praise of our
Lord Jesus who though he was crucified has now risen from death and now lives
and rules eternally. We have joined our
hearts and our voices together as we have sung beautiful hymns reminding us
that Jesus has risen from the dead, that because Jesus is alive we know that he
has won the victory, that we know that our redeemer lives. In fact, what better message could there be
for us today than the message that Jesus is alive! For this message that Jesus, our Savior has
been raised from the dead and is now alive, is the central message of salvation
recorded in the Bible. In fact, it was
this message that inspired Samuel Medley to write his beautiful eight stanza
hymn that we sang only a few moments ago.
That beautiful hymn which echoes the words of Job in our lesson for
today; the words that Job spoke something like two thousand years before Jesus
was born.
In fact, I would like to invite you, if you haven’t
already, to open your Bibles to our lesson in Job 19:23-25. Now, as you are opening to Job 19:23, let me
remind you of some of the things that had happened to Job. He was the one who lost all his children and
all his possessions in a single day. He
is the one who endured painful sores, which covered his body. He is the one who endured seven days of
silence when his friends came to comfort him, because when his friends came
they didn’t know what to say to him. Job
was the one who was in such a pitiable condition that they couldn’t even say,
“Cheer up, old friend. At least you
still have your health.” For it was
obvious to them that Job didn’t even have that anymore. Yet even in the midst of his sorrow. Even in the midst of his suffering, the Lord
strengthened Job and he was able to utter the beautiful words of our lesson
today: 23 “Oh, that my words were
recorded, that they were written on a scroll, 24 that they were inscribed with an
iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! 25 I know that my Redeemer
lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin
has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!(Job
19:23–27, NIV84)
What an amazing confession of faith from a man who
was suffering so terribly! What an
amazing confession of the facts that took place something like two-thousand
years later! What an amazing echo of
what the women told the disciples when they returned from the tomb on that
Easter morning! What an amazing thing
for the disciples to hear that Jesus, their Savior, the one whom they had seen
crucified; the one who they saw give up his life and die; the one whom the saw
laid in a tomb that was sealed by the religious leaders and the Romans; He was
now alive! Yet, as you know, the
disciples did not believe it right away.
Partly because they had not fully comprehended what Jesus had taught
them, and, I’m sure, partly because of the emotional roller coaster that they
had ridden for the past week. It had
only been seven days earlier when Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem in triumph to
the shouts of “Hosanna! Hosanna to the
Son of David! Hosanna in the
highest!” But then, a mere five days
later, Jesus was on trial for crimes he had never committed. Though his followers had shouted as loudly as
they could, their cries of, “Jesus!” could not compete with the cries of
“Barabbas!” when Pilate asked, “Whom shall I release to you?” Though Jesus’ followers had cried out,
“Release him!” they still could not drown out the echoing cries of “Crucify
him! Crucify him!” when Pilate asked, “What shall I do with him?”
Now it was early Sunday morning, just after sunrise,
and the women were on their way to the tomb.
They were going to anoint Jesus body with spices and give him the proper
burial, which they had not had time to give him because it was so close to the
Sabbath. As they walked along they
remembered the stone in front of the tomb and wondered who would roll it away
for them. But when they got to the tomb
the stone had already been rolled away.
When they went into the tomb they found that Jesus was no longer there. There was only the angel who told them that
Jesus was not there because he had risen from the dead. Jesus, their Savior, was alive once
again! Though at first the women were
somewhat bewildered by this announcement and didn’t fully comprehend what the
angel was telling them, we understand and take comfort in the fact that Christ
Jesus, our Savior, has risen from the dead and is alive, just as Job confessed
so many years ago, “25 I know that my Redeemer lives,” (Job 19:25a, NIV84)
Could there be any greater comfort for us than the
comfort that comes from knowing that Jesus, our Savior, is alive? For the comfort we receive comes from knowing
that when Christ went to the cross he drank all the hellish dregs of the cup of
God’s wrath so that there would not be even one drop of suffering left for us
to drink. When Christ went to the cross
he went there to give his life in sacrifice so that by his death he would
completely pay the price that God demanded for the satisfaction and forgiveness
of our sins. But now, because we know
that Jesus has risen from the dead, we know that he has completed our
salvation. Because Jesus is alive, we
know that all of our sins have been forgiven.
Because Jesus is alive we know that sin and death have been defeated. Because Jesus is alive, we know that he is
our salvation. He is in heaven even now
interceding before God the Father on our behalf. He is in heaven even now preparing a place
for us, just as he has promised to do.
But the best part about knowing that Jesus is alive, is knowing that he
will return for us one day to take us home to be with him forever.
Amazingly, even this is something that Job confessed
and prophesied a couple thousand years before Jesus was even born! For when Job spoke his beautiful confession
he didn’t just stop by saying, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Rather, he continued on as he said in verse
25: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the
earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart
yearns within me! (Job 19:25–27, NIV84)
Though Job did not know Jesus as we know him, he
knew that the Lord would one day send the Redeemer who would not only save him
from his sins, but would also return for him one day. Well, this hope to which Job was clinging is
the same hope that the disciples cherished and taught to the people in every
city and country where they traveled.
For the disciples knew, as Job did, that this same Jesus who had been taken
from them into heaven would come back in the same way they had seen him
go. (Acts 1:11)
My friends, we have that same confidence in Jesus,
our Savior, today. Because we know that
Jesus our Savior has risen for the dead and is alive, living and ruling in
heaven, we also know that one day he will return for us. Perhaps that day will be today. Perhaps it will be tomorrow. Perhaps it won’t be for many, many years. But no matter when that day comes we have
Job’s prophecy that one day our Redeemer will stand upon the earth, and we have
Jesus’ own promise when he tells us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust
in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not
so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with
me that you also may be where I am.(John 14:1–3, NIV84)
What a wondrous day that will be when Jesus returns
to take us home to be with him! For on
that day as Job said, “He will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has
been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with
my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!(Job 19:25–27,
NIV84)
Because Jesus came to earth, suffered under the
terrible weight of sin, and died on the cross, he has removed our sins
forever. Because Jesus rose again from
the dead we have no doubts that Jesus is our Salvation. We know that through him our God sees us as
holy and righteous people. We know that
by his resurrection he has defeated Satan and the power of death forever. We know that because Jesus has crushed Satan
and his power, Satan can no longer harm us. We know that because of Jesus death
and resurrection, our death will be nothing more than a nap our bodies will
take while we wait for our Savior’s return.
Because of all of this we can sing for joy with Job, with the Apostles,
with Samuel Medley, and with all Christians, “I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever-living Head! He lives
and grants me daily breath; He lives, and I shall conquer death. He lives my
mansion to prepare; He lives to bring my safely there. He lives, all glory to his
name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same. Oh, the sweet joy this sentence
gives: "I know that my Redeemer lives!"
Amen.
Pastor
David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
