How Do We Know You Are the Christ? (Matthew 11:2-11)

Third Wednesday in Advent

December 19, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

How many of you have ever wondered to yourself, “Did I really do the right thing?”  How many of you have ever wished that you could take back something you’ve said, or go back in time and fix something you did?  How many of you have ever seized one of those perfect opportunities that come your way only once every few years, and then doubted the choice you made?  Has it ever happened that as you sat alone, playing and replaying the event in your mind, you still wondered if you had made the right choice—even when all the evidence shows that you made the right decision.  Has it ever happened to you that you still doubted your actions, even after talking with friends who assured you that it was the right thing to do? 

Well, if anything like this has ever happened to you, then you are not alone, because this is the very thing that happened to John, the forerunner of the Christ!  As he sat in prison, locked away because he had boldly confronted Herod, the ruler of those lands, accusing Herod of sin because he had enticed his sister-in-law away from his brother Philip and she had become Herod’s wife; as John sat in prison, he had plenty of time to wonder if he had done the right thing.  He had plenty of time to wonder if he had backed the right horse so to speak, which is why he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the one who was to come or if they should be looking for someone else.  Essentially John was asking Jesus, “How do we know that you are the Christ?”

As Matthew tells us: “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” 7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:2–11, NIV84)

How do we know that you are the Christ?  This was a question that was weighing heavily on John’s mind as he sat in prison.  This was a doubt that satan most likely introduced into his mind as he had all the time in the world to review his ministry, his preaching, and all his activity in the name of the Christ of whom he was the forerunner.  This was a doubt that marked John as who he truly was, a child of God who needed the Lord’s strength and encouragement; just as Elijah did when he ran away from Jezebel and traveled to Mt. Sinai where he received strength and encouragement from the Lord; just we need strength and encouragement in our lives when doubts come creeping in and cause us to wonder about what we’ve been taught.

How do we know that you are the Christ?  When John’s disciples asked this question of Jesus, Jesus knew the encouragement that John needed.  For Jesus simply answers, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” (Matthew 11:4-6, NIV84)  Essentially what Jesus is saying is, “Judge for yourself, based on what you have heard and seen.” “Judge for yourself, based on the things I am doing; the very things which Isaiah said I would do.”  “Judge for yourself and you will see that there is no doubt that I am the one who was to come!  You do not need to be looking forward to someone else!  This is how you can be certain that I am the Christ.”

What a comfort these words must have been to John as he sat in prison!  What a great assurance for him to hear his cousin and his Savior assure him not only that he, Jesus, was, indeed, the Christ, the one who was to come into the world as the Messiah, but that he, John, the forerunner, had done his job of preparing the way for the Lord, extremely well.  This, in fact was the very thing Jesus was telling the crowd, as John’s disciples were departing to go back to John with Jesus’ answer.  Matthew tells us, “As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:7–11, NIV84)

As Jesus stood before the crowd of people there, he told them, in no uncertain terms, that even though John was currently sitting in prison, he had done his job to prepare the way for the Savior!  John was the messenger whom the Lord God had revealed ahead of the Savior to prepare his way.  John was the one who pointed Jesus out as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the Word.  John was the one who had so eloquently proclaimed the Law of God, cutting the people to the heart, moving them to repentances, and thus preparing them to receive Jesus as their Savior.  Thus, in pointing to his actions as the Messiah, and pointing to John’s actions as the forerunner to the Messiah, Jesus reveals two witnesses that proclaim him as the Christ who was to come to be the Savior of the world!  He is the Christ not simply because he said so, but because he was the one who accomplished what the Scriptures said the Christ would do.  He was the Christ not simply because he said so, but because John, the forerunner whom the Scriptures foretold, prepared the way before him and proclaimed him to be the Christ, the one who was to come to be the Savior of the world.

Today we can have the same confidence that the Lord bestowed upon John while he sat in prison.  For today, as we look forward to the celebration of our Savior’s birth, we can be absolutely certain that he is indeed the Christ.  We can be absolutely certain that he came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  He is the one who came into the world to live a perfect life under the requirements of his own law; a perfect life that he has lovingly applied to you and me through faith.  He is the one who came into this world to give his life as the Lamb of Atonement, so that his payment for our sins might wipe God’s slate clean.  He is the one who came into this world to preach the Gospel so that his Word might be carried to every nation, tribe, people, and language; that they might believe in him.  He is the one who came into the world so that you and I might be made his own and live under him in his kingdom. 

What a comfort it is to have our Savior’s assurance that we don’t need to look for anyone else!  By his words, by his actions, by his fulfillment of all the prophecies, we know that he is the Christ, the one who was to come into the world!  What a comfort it is to know that this great assurance is there, written down for us so that we can look at it again and again.  Though we may still face decisions in our lives that cause us to wonder if we did the right thing, when it comes to our Savior, we never need to wonder.  Though we will face times when we will doubt our actions, or wish we could go back and do them over, when it comes to our salvation, we can always be confident, because we know: Jesus is the Christ who came into the world to free us from our sins so that we could be his own and live under him in his kingdom.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Behold! The Plans of our Enemy, Revealed! (Revelation 12:1-17)

August 26, 2012

Series: What I'd Like to Know Is…(5/6)

 

Dear friends in Christ.

During World War II, one of the greatest weapons that the allies had was their ability to understand the plans of their enemies.  Because they had broken the enemy’s code, there were many times that they knew what their enemy’s next move was and they were able to counter it.  Well, for us as Christians, the same thing is true.  We have been blessed by the Lord, because today the plans of our enemy have been revealed to us! Though satan had sought to keep his plans from us and to lead us astray without even our knowing what he was up to, it is the Lord Jesus who reveals satan’s plans to us in our lesson today. 

Now, if you haven’t already done so, I invite you to turn with me to our lesson in Revelation 12, and we’ll take a look at the plans that satan has utilized in an effort to win the victory over us.  As John writes, he begins by taking us back in time, in a symbolic way, to the birth of Christ.  We see a woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and with twelve stars encircling her brow as a crown of victory.  She is pregnant and ready to give birth, and from the context of the chapter, we quickly realize that this woman represents the Church—the gathering of God’s believer on earth.  It is through this Church, specifically the line of David and the House of Israel through which the Savior came.  He is the child with which the Old Testament Church was pregnant with expectation for millennia, and as Chapter 12 begins, John reveals satan’s plan to do away with the Christ.  John writes, “A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days." (Revelation 12:1–6, NIV84)

This was satan’s plan from the beginning!  Ever since the Lord had promised Adam and Eve that he would send a Savior, satan had been standing in readiness, seeking to destroy the child so that we would have no Savior.  He sought to destroy the Israelites by leading them away from the worship of the true God, but the Lord always retained many faithful people in Israel.  He tried to destroy the line of David when Queen Athaliah killed off all of the royal family in Judah.  Thus satan hoped that he might do away with the line of the Savior and thus destroy the Christ before he was even born!  But the Lord intervened and spared the life of Joash, the next king in David’s line and the next ancestor in the line of the Savior. (2 Kings 11).  Satan tried to destroy the line of the Savior by turning the religion of the Israelites into Pharisaical rules and regulations which ultimately kept people from learning about or understanding the promise of the Messiah.  Yet, the Lord again kept the message of salvation alive in the hearts of many of his people.  Even when the Savior was born, satan sought to destroy him when Herod ordered all the babies 2 years and younger to be executed.  But again the Lord intervened and his son was swept away to Egypt.  Satan sought to destroy Jesus by tempting him, in the wilderness, but Jesus did not succumb to his temptations.  Satan sought to destroy Jesus through the Pharisees, Sadducees, Teachers of the Law, and other critics who constantly sought to trap in falsehood, but they never succeeded.  Satan tried to destroy Jesus by tempting Jesus to water down his message or become simply a bread king as we’ve heard in our Gospel lessons from John 6 for the past few weeks, but Jesus kept on teaching the truth of God’s Word wherever he went, and never once watered down the message.  Finally satan tried to destroy Jesus by raising up such a hatred of him that his own people chose to crucify him.  Yet, Jesus used this very event to complete his mission.  He willingly gave up his life on the cross so that he could forgive the sins of the world.  He endured the very punishment of hell in our place giving his life over to death, and thus destroy satan, stifling and completely running his plan to destroy the source of our salvation.

Even though satan sought to destroy Jesus and his ability to be our Savior, Jesus completed his mission.  He saved his people.  He destroyed the power of the devil, and at his ascension, Jesus was snatched up to God and to his throne where he now lives and reigns over us.  Though for a short time the Church on earth enjoyed the physical presence of her Lord and Savior, today, the Church is left to sojourn in the desert of this world.  But even though we are living in the desert of this sin-filled world, we are still being fed and nourished by the Lord and his Word.  We have the comfort of congregations like this one, where we have the opportunity to hear the Word of God on a regular basis; where we are cared for by our Lord and be built up in our faith until the time when our Savior comes again on the Last Day!  This is the 1,260 days that John writes about here!  Whether it is written as 1,260 days, 42 months, 3 ½ years, or time, times and half a time, it all means the same thing.  It is the symbolic time of the New Testament Era—the complete amount of time that must pass from the day of Jesus’ ascension until the day of his return on the Last Day.

But taking out Jesus was only part of satan’s plan!  Not only did he want to destroy Jesus’ ability to be our Savior so that we would be trapped in our sins with no hope of salvation, satan also wanted to take over heaven itself and become the new god!  Take a look at what John writes beginning with verse 7: “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”" (Revelation 12:7–12, NIV84)

Though it is very possible that John here receives a flash back to the day when satan originally rebelled against the Lord, from the context, it seems more likely that John sees a picture of the war that took place when Jesus was going to the cross.  It seems that even as Jesus is arrested (Luke 22:52-53) and is led to the cross; even as Jesus is enduring the pains of hell and damnation; even as God the Father seems to be distracted by the plight of his Son and he rejects him for the sin that he has become on the cross, it seems that satan takes the opportunity to storm the halls of heaven itself so that he might once and for all overthrow the Lord, and become the new ruler of creation.  Why does it seem this way?  Because the only battle in which satan lost the ability to accuse is the battle that ended with Jesus’ death on the cross.  It was after this battle, before Jesus rose from the dead that he victoriously marched through hell itself declaring total victory over our enemy, the devil.  It is through this battle that the salvation and the power of our God and the authority of his Christ came because satan, the accuser of our brothers had been hurled down.

This is what John saw in our lesson today.  He saw satan, as his plans come to ruin as he lost the battle when he was defeated by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  He saw satan as his plans come to ruin when he went up against the angels of heaven and learned that he was not strong enough to defeat the angels of God who fought against him and all his demons with the power of the Lord God himself.  He saw satan defeated, losing his ability to accuse us of our sins because through faith in Jesus our sins have been washed away.  Our dirty, stinking, filthy, sin-filled garments have been removed by Jesus and replaced by a robe of his righteousness and holiness.  No longer can satan accuse us, because through faith in Jesus our Savior, we are at peace with God and members of his household! 

But even though satan has been defeated, he has not given up.  He is still fighting against the Lord to this very day.  Though the first two plans that the Lord revealed to us today may have failed, satan is very resilient.  Even though satan is not able to defeat the Lord of Hosts, and even though he is not able to defeat Christ’s bride, the Church because the Lord has promised that the gates of hell will never overcome her, satan has implemented a new plan—a plan that has been working since the beginning of time!  Take a look at verse 13-17: “When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus." (Revelation 12:13–17, NIV84)

Even though satan is not able to defeat the Lord, or completely destroy the Lord’s Church, he still seeks to do everything he can to separate the Church, and her offspring from the Lord.  He spews out false doctrine in an effort to overtake, dilute, and utterly destroy the truth of salvation.  He slowly infuses thoughts of social justice, social change and other social agendas into the messages that congregations teach in an effort to change their focus from a message of salvation through faith in Jesus to a message of making this world better for the benefit of all society.  He takes the message of God’s great love that moved him to send Jesus to be our Savior to free us from our sins so that we could be forgiven and live with him forever in heaven, and begins to corrupt it into thoughts of God being nothing more than love.  Thus the thoughts naturally follow that if God is love he must love me no matter what, and if God loves me no matter what it doesn’t matter how I live because God loves me for who I am.  So, because God loves me for who I am, I can then live in God’s love by loving others in whatever way seems best to me, whether they be men or women.  Thus, through satan’s deception, the God who is love has been replaced by Love, which has become, to many, a god.  Just think, how many congregations hasn’t satan infiltrated, diluting and even stealing the message of salvation from God’s children, separating them from him and him from them?  How many times hasn’t satan’s war against those who hold to the testimony of Jesus been effective enough to make them turn from their faith and walk away from the Lord?  How often hasn’t satan worked in our congregation and been successful in separating some from their Lord and Savior here at Grace?

Though I wish we were immune to satan’s plans, how often hasn’t he sent anger and frustration rippling through our congregation in an effort to separate us from the love of our God?  How often hasn’t he sought to make even the strongest Christians question their faith in God?  How often hasn’t he sought to fill our hearts with a lukewarm attitude toward worship and Bible study?  How often hasn’t he sought to fill us with the attitude that it is more important for us to be spiritual than it is for us to be religious?  How often hasn’t he set parents and children against each other, pushing and pushing until children simply refuse to come to church because the message is out dated or it simply doesn’t speak to them anyway?  How often hasn’t he set husbands and wives against each other in arguments that are only meant to drive a wedge between them and their God?

These are but a few of the ways that satan is seeking even now to destroy us and separate us from the Lord Jesus, our Savior.  But even though he is seeking to separate us, we have the benefit of knowing his plans, and as GI Joe would say, “Knowing is half the battle!”  The other half is equipping and going on the offensive.  So, do just that!  Equip yourselves against satan’s schemes.  Build yourselves up in the Word of God through regular worship and regular Bible study.  Review the battle plans with which the Lord has equipped you in his Word.  Put on the full armor of salvation and speak to the Lord with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs on a regular basis.  Live in the love that Jesus has lavished upon you—the forgiveness of sins.  Remind yourselves daily of your baptisms, and seek to drown, your enemy every day through sorrow over your sins and repentance.  Thus, strengthened by the Lord, you will be built up in your faith, strengthened in your knowledge of forgiveness and ready to stand against your enemy, because today the Lord has revealed his plans to you, and drawn you closer to the Lord, your Savior, who has separated you from satan and made you his own through faith in Christ Jesus. 

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Give praise to Christ your King! (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)

November 20, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

Louis Albert Banks tells of an elderly Christian man, a fine singer, who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and that surgery was required. In the hospital after everything was ready for the operation, the man said to the doctor, "Are you sure I will never sing again?" The surgeon found it difficult to answer his question. He simply shook his head no. The patient then asked if he could sit up for a moment. "I've had many good times singing the praises of God," he said. "And now you tell me I can never sing again. I have one song that will be my last. It will be of gratitude and praise to God." There in the doctor's presence the man sang softly the words of Isaac Watts' hymn, "I'll praise my Maker while I've breath, And when my voice is lost in death, Praise shall employ my nobler power; My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life, and thought, and being last, Or immortality endures." [1]

Though we may not be facing the prospect of losing our ability to sing or praise the Lord our God, today as we have gathered in worship on this Christ the King Sunday, we have gathered one more time to give praise to Christ our King.  We have gathered to give praise to the Lord our God and Jesus Christ who is our Savior and our King because he is the one who has freed us from sin and death by his death and resurrection from the dead.  We have gathered to give praise to Christ our King because he is the one who has promised that through faith in him we will be given the gift of eternal life by his side forever in his heavenly kingdom.  We have gathered to give praise to Christ our King because we know that on the Last Day, when he returns in glory and judgment, he will raise our bodies from the ground, glorify them, reunite our bodies and souls and take us, once again, to live with him forever in his heavenly kingdom.

In fact, these are the very things that the Apostle Paul is writing about in our lesson today.  So if you haven’t done so already, I invite you to open your Bibles with me to our lesson in 1 Corinthians 15 beginning with verse 20.  Now, as you are turning to 1 Corinthians 15, let me set the stage for you.  As Paul wrote the words of our lesson today, the Christians in Corinth were having a little bit of trouble with the concept of the resurrection.  You see, the Corinthians were still rather new in their faith and they were having a bit of a struggle getting past their Greek logic, which told them that there was nothing after death, because death was simply the end of a person.  Because of this, they were even having a tough time understanding and holding on to the idea that Jesus had risen from the dead.  It was because of this that Paul writes as he does in our lesson today.  “20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.”(1 Corinthians 15:20–28, NIV84)

In such a beautiful, simple, and straight forward way, the Apostle Paul assures us that we have every reason to praise Christ as our King because he is the one who was raised from death to the glory of God the Father.  Not only is he the one who was raised from death to the glory of God the Father, he is the one who will also awaken each and every one of us from the sleep of death and raise our bodies from the ground on the last day.  He is writing to assure us of this very simple and very important truth, because you and I are really no different than the Corinthians of Paul’s day.  We too, are living in a sin-filled world which is constantly seeking to convince us that we only go around once and after that, we die.  We are living in a world that is doing everything it can to convince us that there is no afterlife, that there is no resurrection, and that death is the end of everything. 

But as Christians, we know that death isn’t the end of everything.  We know and believe that death is only the beginning of our eternal life with Christ, and that is why Paul’s words are so comforting to us this morning.  They are so comforting because they assure us that even though death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  They assure us that even though we will all die because we are Adam’s descendants, in Christ, we will all be made alive.  They assure us that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so also will Christ our King raise us up on the last day!  Though one day we will all close our eyes in the sleep of death, our Savior has promised us that our souls will be carried to his side where we will live with our King forever.  Though one day our bodies will rest in the earth where they will decay and return to the dust they came from, we know that when our Savior returns, He will raise our bodies from their graves.  We know that in the same way a car enthusiast will resurrect a rusted frame from a junkyard, Christ will raise our bodies from the ground.  In the same way that the enthusiast will work on that vehicle, refurbishing and restoring it until it is in better than mint condition, so also Christ will restore our bodies to their perfect sinless condition.  Then, when our King has glorified our bodies, he will reunite our soul and body, and in that day he will destroy death forever.

Take a look, once more, at those beautiful words in our lesson today, beginning with verse 22:  “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-27, NIV84)

What greater reason could there be for us to give praise to Christ our King than the assurance Paul gives us that he who has freed us from sin and death by his resurrection from the dead, will also, one day, completely destroy death on the day he returns!  As Christians, this is the day to which we are looking forward!  We are looking forward to the day when Christ our King returns and destroys death forever.  We are looking forward to it, because death is still the enemy, which gives us the most heartache and grief.  Death is the enemy that makes us look up to the skies and cry out in sorrow: “Why, Lord?  Why have you taken my loved one from me?”  Death is the enemy that makes us long for our Savior’s return.  Though we have grown accustom to death because death has become a part of life, death it is not something that our Savior ever intended us to face.  Rather death came into this world as a result of sin, and because of sin we all must face it one day.  But even though we will all close our eyes in death one day, we can take comfort in the knowledge that Christ, our King, has already conquered it.  For as Paul tells us a little later on in this chapter, “ ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’  ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

This is the victory which Christ, our King, won for us when he went to the cross.  For on that cross Christ endured the anguish and torment of hell itself in order to pay the price of our sins.  On that cross, satan bruised Christ’s heal as Christ fulfilled the Scriptures and feed us from the power of the devil.  On that cross, though it seemed that death had finally been victorious and conquered the Son of God as Jesus cried out, “It is finished”, Jesus actually defeated death by giving up his own life.  During those few days when Jesus body lay in the tomb and we thought that all hope was lost, Jesus was proclaiming his victory over the devil and all his evil angels.  Then, on the third day, Jesus shattered whatever victory death might seem to have had by doing what no other human being has ever been able to do.  On that day, Jesus took back his life and rose from the dead.  Though death will still give us grief and sorrow, because of Christ’s victory we know that it is nothing more than a sleep from which we will awaken in heaven.  Though it will still hurt to say farewell to our friends and loved ones when their times come, we know that death is nothing more than a doorway from this life to eternal life.  Though death is still an unnatural event that our Lord never intended us to face, because of Jesus’ victory we are looking forward to the last day when he will destroy death forever. 

Yes, on that day, Christ our King will place all power and all dominion under his feet, destroying them forever, as our lesson tells us beginning with verse 24, “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.(1 Corinthians 15:24–26, NIV84)

What a great day that will be, the day when our Savior-King returns in his glory to take us to be with him forever!  For on that day he will raise our bodies from the grave, glorify them, and reunite them with our souls.  On that day he will bring the end of all powers, authority, and dominion as he finally and completely destroys death forever.  So, as you leave here today, remember this fact.  As you go through the week making all your Thanksgiving preparations give praise to the Lord.  When Sunday comes again and you are getting ready for church, remember how your Savior will raise you up on the last day when he destroys death forever, and give praise to Christ, your King.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

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[1] Copied from: http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/praise.htm Accessed November 19, 2011.