EASTER SUNDAY (1)
Text: 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
Lord Jesus, today w e joyfully and triumphantly exclaim: " For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." V.7b. For you were delivered for our offences and were raised again for our justification. You were dead, and behold! you live forever and ever and have the keys of hell and death.
Oh, what blessed people this has made us! You appeased the Father's wrath; no more wrath therefore rests upon us. You have fulfilled all the demands of the Law; its threats are no longer directed against us. You have borne and erased all sins; therefore no sin can accuse and condemn us. You have conquered death and him who had the power of death; death therefore cannot kill us any more. You have stormed and demolished the prison of hell; therefore hell cannot swallow and hold us captive. You have turned our tribulations into a way to glory; no tribulation can therefore frighten us.
Oh bless our celebration today as we commemorate your resurrection from the dead, that we may all understand what blessed people you have made us thereby; may we rise in your power from the grave of our sins and walk with you even here in a new life until we finally come where you are and see your glory which you had before the foundations of the world were laid, and triumph and rule with you in your Father's kingdom forever and ever. Amen.
Quote the text here: 1 Corinthians 5: 6-8.
Dear friends in the Lord!
Among the various great deeds of God which we Christians customarily celebrate together is the victorious resurrection of the Lord; of all such occasions, this was the first instituted by the Christian Church. The celebration of Sunday had no other purpose but to remember every week the resurrection of the Lord. Although the early Christians made no difference among the days but considered all days of the week of equal worth, a holy day dedicated to the Lord (therefore at first they gathered every day as a congregation for services), they nevertheless designated the day of the Lord's resurrection as " The Lord's Day," in a very special sense. Very soon, in addition to the weekly celebration of the Lord's resurrection, they also introduced a yearly commemoration of this day, the Easter festival. Of all the yearly festivals which the Christian Church introduced, Easter again was the first. From the beginning it was the main festival of Christians, the yearly festival of victory and rejoicing, the festival of festivals. To differentiate it from the usual Sundays it was often called the " Great Day of the Lord." No festival was kept with greater rejoicing than Easter.
In the early Church fasting and praying upon one's knees was the custom; but on the regular Sunday and still less on Easter Sunday no one fasted or prayed on his knees. Tertullian, the old Church historian in North Africa, writes: " W e consider fasting or praying on our knees on the day of the Lord a sin." Why? Another Church historian in Asia Minor, named Irenaeus, gives us the answer. He writes: "We do not pray on our knees on the day of the Lord because it is a symbol of the resurrection. This custom started back in the times of the apostles." Later on they even went so far as to establish by Church law, that those church officers, who transgressed this custom, who on any Sunday or on Easter Sunday would fast or pray on their knees, would be dismissed from their office; the lay person who became guilty of the same transgression should
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be excommunicated. They claimed that he could not possibly believe from his heart in Christ's victorious resurrection if on that day he would lie sorrowfully in the dust before God without showing signs of great joy. Not to s tand up on that day to pray, praise, and thank God with a happy erect head seemed to the early Christians a denial of the victory which Christ had earned for all men, yes, damnable unbelief. Therefore at the dawn of the Easter festival the early Christians greeted each other with the joyful words of victory: "The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!"
Oh my friends, what has happened to this age when one celebrated Easter so truly, so from his whole heart, so with an overflowing soul, in a word, so happy in the faith? What has happened to this age when it was deemed a sin to pass the Easter festival in sorrow over sin? What has happened to the age when he who was not happy in the faith during the Easter festival was not deemed a Christian, was considered one who had fallen from the faith? Where are the Christians today whose first thought on waking on Easter morning is about Christ's glorious victory? Where are the Christians today whose first greeting upon meeting a brother or sister in the faith on Easter morning is: "Christ is arisen, From the grave's dark prison. We now rejoice with gladness; Christ will end all sadness."? (137,1).
Of course, no one fasts on Easter nor prays on his knees before God; why not? Because he perhaps does not want to deny Christ's glorious victory? Alas, no! Only too many do not do it on Easter Sunday because they do not do it on any other day. Alas, an Easter joy which swallows up all spiritual sorrow is a rarity among Christians these days.
Well then, in this hour permit me with God's help to try to kindle in your heart a little spark of true Easter joy through God's Word; on the basis of today's Epistle I present to you:
THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO IN TRIUMPHANT FAITH CAN EXCLAIM: "FOR EVEN CHRIST OUR PASSOVER IS SACRIFICED FOR US!"
In so doing I will show you:
1. Why They are Such Blessed People, and
2. UNDER WHAT HOLY OBLIGATION This Blessed Condition Places Them.
I.
" For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." My friends, these words are the gleaming center of our today's Epistle. if we wish to understand these words and learn to apply them correctly to ourselves, we must first vividly picture to ourselves the condition in which the Israelites were when they received the command to sacrifice the passover lamb. At that time they were in Egypt; Pharaoh, a cruel tyrant, ruled the land; lid had made slaves of the Children of Israel; the Egyptians owed them many thanks and for Joseph's sake were welcomed; but now through inhuman heartless taskmasters he forced upon them unbearable slavery. Through Moses God sent the most terrible plagues upon the Egyptians in order to soften Pharaoh's hardened heart and move him to permit Israel to leave. Pharaoh, however, only hardened His heart after every plague so much the more.
But finally the hour of deliverance struck. As the tenth and final plague God sent an angel of death throughout the land; in one night he killed the first-born in every Egyptian house, whilst the Lord had given the Israelites
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the command to kill a lamb and paint its blood on the lintel and the two side posts of the doors of their homes; this assured them that the angel of death would pass over and spare those homes which were painted with the blood of the passover lamb. In that frightful night every Egyptian house, the house of the king as well as the hovel of the least inhabitant, was filled with weeping and crying, grief and lamentation; all the homes of the Israelites, on the other hand, resounded with the songs of rejoicing, and at dawn, now urged by Pharaoh himself to hurry up, they left the land of slavery to go to the promised land on the other side of the Red Sea.
My friends, all these were meaningful Old Testament prototypes, which were not fulfilled until the New Testament times. Egypt stood for the whole world. The tyrant, Pharaoh, pictured the prince of the world, the devil. The angel of death signified eternal death. The passover lamb pictured Christ who was sacrificed on the cross and rose again. Painting the sides and lintel of the door with the blood of the lamb signified faith in Christ, Israel's joyful exodus to the promised land stood for the Christian's leaving this world through a blessed deat h to go to his eternal heavenly home.
See from this, what unhappy people the unbelieving children of this world are, and second, what extremely blessed people Christians are.
In this world the unbelievers are under the dreadful domination of the hellish Pharaoh. Their sinful lusts are, as it were, the pitiless taskmasters, which continually urge, drive, and compel them to serve sin and vanity. Temporal and spiritual death is the angel of death, which goes throughout the world from house to house. It tears all the children of this world from this life and drags them as slaves of their sins before God's stern judgment. Are not they unutterably unhappy people?
I ask you who want to know nothing of a Lamb sacrificed for you, is it not true? Are you children of this world happy? Has earthly wealth, which you may have chased, the pleasures of this world which you enjoyed, the honor in men's eyes really made you happy? In the midst of all your earthly glory do you not often hear a voice in your heart which says to you, that there is a holy God whom you do not serve and about whose commands you are unconcerned, who will some day drag you into his court? Do not these thoughts from which you cannot free yourselves so embitter your whole life, that you never have peace of heart?
Or why do you otherwise try so hard to drowned your thoughts of death? Is it not because your own conscience preaches that death is not the end? When you become sick, do you not often hear with trembling the soft footsteps of the angel of death who goes throughout the world, the footsteps of that messenger of temporal and eternal death, who will end all your temporal happiness in terror, be it today or tomorrow, because you wish to know nothing of the blood of the Lamb before whom alone the angel of death shrinks back!? If only you would examine yourselves on this Easter festival and by faith allow your hearts to be sprinkled with the blood of the reconciliation which flowed for you! Then today even you could and would be happy.
What happy people all those are who in faith can triumphantly exclaim: " For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." Of course, true Christians are still in the Egypt of this world, where the hellish Pharaoh has erected his throne; true, they are not free from his temptations but through the blood of their Passover Lamb they are free from his tyranny. Even true Christians still bear sinful desires in their members, which as hellish taskmasters continually entice, incite, and drive them on to serve sin; but by the blood of their Pass over Lamb they have the power to resist and conquer their sinful desires. Yes, the angel of eternal death appears at the door of the Christian's heart as well;
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but because their hearts are sprinkled by faith with the blood of their Passover Lamb, the angel of death must pass them by, yes, he changes himself into an angel of forbearance. And even Christians must finally leave the Egypt of this world and go through the Red Sea of the last temptation, but only to enter the promised land of eternal life.
Therefore, are not you Christians really most blessed people? Though the hellish Pharaoh may have clapped the strongest bonds upon you, through his resurrection your Passover Lamb has become a lion and conquered him; he therefore will and must release you from his kingdom. Though the Egyptians of this world may pursue you to drag you back, just as Pharaoh's army did, you can nevertheless be most confident; your Passover Lamb is your bulwark; while safe on the other shore of the sea and hidden in Christ's Church you sing your victory song: " Christ is our passover," the army of Pharaoh, the army of this world, will be swallowed up before your eyes by the waves of divine wrath. Though your way to the promised land may lead through the barren wilderness of this life, though it may be a longer or shorter time, though it may be a most weary journey, you do not travel alone; your Passover Lamb goes with you; yes, he goes ahead; he is your pillar of cloud to give you shade during the hot day and your pillar of fire to give you light during the dark night; he feeds you with heavenly manna, and gives you water from the spiritual Rock of his sweet Gospel, and finally, as your heavenly Joshua, leads you dry-shod through the Jordan of a blessed death into the eternal Canaan of heaven. Are you not really inexpressibly blessed people? Yes, of a truth yes ! Pull of joy myself, I say to you today: "Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice ! "
II.
My friends, I have just shown you why those who in faith can triumphantly exclaim: " Even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us," are such happy people. Permit me on the basis of our text to show you secondly under what obligation this blessed condition places us.
" Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened." Vv. 6.7a, Thus the apostle begins his admonition in our text; as the reason for his admonition he adds; " For Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." V.7b.
If we wish to understand these words and learn to apply them correctly to ourselves, we must once more go back to the history of Israel. There we hear that when God appointed the Passover lamb to protect Israel from the angel of death, he as the same time decreed that they should throw away the yeast and eat only unleavened bread. And God bound them to this so sternly that he added the threat, that whoever at Easter time would eat leavened bread would be rooted out of the Children of Israel.
As all the other ceremonies in connection with decreeing the passover lamb were nothing but prototypes, so was also this ordinance. The law in regard to throwing away all the yeast signified daily repentance; eating unleavened bread pictured daily sanctification. Paul writes at the close of our today's text: " Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." V. 8.
So you see, you faithful Easter Christians are obligated to do two
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things: daily repentance and daily sanctification. Throw opt the old leaven of malice and wickedness and keep the Easter with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth! According to our text that is what must also be said today to true Christians.
Perhaps you will think: Is not a call to repentance and sanctification a dissonance, a disturbing mournful sound amid our Easter songs of joy and happiness? Would that not be clearly against the prohibition of the early Church· not to fast during Easter and pray on bended knee? I answer: No, no, my friends! Tell me, is it something sorrowful to be free from sin and clothed with everything which pleases God? Certainly not.
Well, then, today I say to you as Paul once said to the Corinthians: " Purge out therefore the old leaven." my dear Christians! I mean: Go into your heart; even if you let no sin rule in you any longer, you will find that many a sin is still not as completely rooted out of your heart as it should be. Up! Up! Today at the empty grave of Christ is the right time and place to search even the most secret corner of your heart and, if you should find a weed or a sin sprouting there, to tear it out with its roots with all the power of your faith. Of a truth, the more your heart and life will become a garden of God ever more free of this poisonous weed the happier you will become !
Therefore with Paul I say this to you: Oh, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, I beg, I admonish you; " Let us keep the feast... with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." This is what I mean: If you go into your heart and life, you will find that you should have a much more ardent love, a much deeper humility, much greater patience, much more firm hope, a much more heavenly mind, in short a much more lustrous gleam of all Christian virtues, even if the blood of the Passover Lamb has cleansed you, yes even if he has given you a new heart through faith. Up, there, up! since the Lord waves his flag of victory in a new heavenly life, let us also begin to walk with him in such a new heavenly life even more zealously than before.
You see, that, that is briefly what the blessed state in which we Christians are, should obligate us to do.
Oh, that this were the fruit of our present Easter celebration and that God's Spirit would deeply impress this Easter message deeply in your heart! You would not only end our beloved Easter festivities as doubly blessed people; but from now on you would also celebrate Easter, in faith, partake of your Pass over Lamb, and you would also purge all the leaven of sin from your heart every day, daily partake of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, daily rise with Christ from the grave of your sins and walk with him in a new heavenly life. If you should die today or tomorrow, you would die in the Lord and by a blessed death enter with him into a life of eternal glory.
May Jesus Christ, our precious Passover Lamb, help us all do that through the power of his bloody sacrifice and his victorious resurrection. To him be thanks, praise, glory, and honor in time and eternity. Amen.