Good morning, Friends! Happy Easter!
Thank you all so much for coming here. Whether you’re here every Sunday, or whether you’re just here for the holiday, you’re welcome and we’re glad you’re here.
We’ve already had what many people at Springfield consider to be the main event of Easter – sausage biscuits and gravy, some things for the children to do, and the Flowering Cross.
There is something else, though. And that’s the Easter story.
Ever since New Year’s, we’ve been reading the gospel of Luke. Week by week, we’ve read about the miracles of Jesus, the healings he did, the stories he told to teach people about God’s way.
We talked about thin places – places and times where God seems closer to us than usual, where the wall between us and heaven almost seems to disappear.
We talked about Martha and Mary, the two sisters who welcomed Jesus into their home in different ways – Martha by being super busy, and Mary by stopping everything just to listen to Jesus. We’ve all got a little bit of both Martha and Mary inside of us.
Luke is the longest gospel. Luke has more special stories, more stories that are unique, than any of the others. Only Luke has the story of the shepherds at Christmas, and Jesus born in the stable.
Only Luke has the story of the Prodigal Son, who ran away and totally ruined his life – but his father welcomed him back with open arms. Luke has stories of amazing grace, amazing forgiveness.
If you haven’t been here since January, you sure missed a lot! We love the Bible, and we love to learn more about Jesus. But today is when all the stories about Jesus come together.
Luke tells the Easter story differently than any of the other gospels. In ALL the gospels, Jesus is betrayed by one of his closest friends. Jesus is arrested, given a mockery of a fair trial, beaten, and hung on a cross until he died.
But only in Luke, Jesus says, “Father, forgive them – they don’t know what they are doing!“
In all the gospels, Jesus is killed with thieves on either side of him. But only in Luke does Jesus tell the thief who repents, “Today you will be with me in Paradise. . .”
In all the gospels, Jesus prays on the cross. But only in Luke does Jesus say the children’s prayer of faith and trust – “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. . .“
Anyway, those things are all in the past now. It’s Easter morning. And a lot of things are still going on. And as you’ve heard me say before, people really didn’t understand it all at first. Easter was a day of discovery.
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground.
But the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.
When the women came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Luke 24:1-35
That’s the first part of the Easter story – Easter morning. They didn’t understand. They were all afraid. Nobody believed them.
In a way, I think that a lot of people are still stuck at this point in the story. We don’t really believe that Jesus is risen. Sure, we believe that he died. He died on the cross. It was incredibly painful. Everybody was sad and despairing.
But when the women came back from the cemetery, and said that the tomb was empty, nobody believed them. Even Peter, Jesus’ closest friend, didn’t realize what happened. Peter just walked back home, scratching his head and scared.
That’s where we still are today, I think. For every one person who’s filled with joy, with faith, hope and love on Easter, there are probably ten people who are still scared and scratching their heads. They still don’t get it, even if they’ve heard the Easter story, all through their entire lives.
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you?”
Jesus isn’t dead! He’s alive! That’s the message of Easter morning. It’s what gave Christians hope. And it still does.
If Jesus is dead and gone, that’s sad, but it’s history. It’s all done. But if Jesus is alive today, the whole world is different.
That’s where most of the other gospels leave the story. BUT – as people always say – there’s more! And only Luke tells us this part of the story.
That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
Jesus asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
“What things?” Jesus asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.
And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body.
They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, it’s nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
They asked each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
That’s the late afternoon of Easter Sunday. It’s getting on for sundown, and they stop for supper. Jesus has been explaining everything to them, but they still don’t realize it’s him.
Finally, Jesus broke the bread, and suddenly they knew. And in that moment, Jesus was gone again.
Maybe it was the prayer Jesus said. Maybe they recognized his voice, when he said grace. Maybe the sun was out of their eyes. Maybe it was so bright outside, the glare had them all mixed up.
We don’t know. But they said, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
We’re not talking about heartburn here. We’re talking about hearts on fire. These two had completely lost heart because of what had happened to Jesus. They were scared and running for their lives. But now, Jesus was alive, and they weren’t afraid of anything, any more.
It was night time by then. But they got up, left their supper uneaten, and went stumbling through the darkness, back the way they came, running through the night, to tell the others.
The rest of the apostles were back in Jerusalem, probably hiding somewhere.
The two guys who met Jesus on the road came bursting into the room and said, “It’s true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”
Then they told what had happened on the way, and how they recognized Jesus when he broke the bread.
And while they were still talking about all this, Luke says that Jesus himself came and stood among them. And the first thing Jesus said to them was, “Peace! Peace be with you!”
I always love that part. The first thing Jesus always says to us is, “Peace!” The second thing Jesus says is, “Why are you so scared? It’s me! Look at me! Touch me! I’m alive!”
They sat down again, and gave Jesus some supper.
Then, Luke says, Jesus opened their minds, to understand everything the Bible said. That’s so important. Part of what Easter means, is that our minds get opened.
Easter isn’t about blind faith. Easter is about trusting faith. It’s trusting what we know in our hearts is true. It’s moving forward, knowing that Jesus is right by our side.
It’s knowing that God can handle our doubts, and that God still loves us anyway. God loves us, all the time, no matter what. That’s what Easter means.
What happens next? Well, for that, I’m going to leave the gospel of Luke, and turn instead to the closing words of the gospel of John.
John says, “There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)
Easter isn’t the end of the story. It’s just the beginning. Jesus is still alive. Jesus is still at work.
The angel at the cemetery said, “He isn’t here – he has risen!” Go out and look for yourself. You’ll find that Jesus is already out there. And wherever you go, you’ll find that he’s there ahead of you.