Easter Sermon

Mark 16:1-8 (ESV)
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
[2] And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
[3] And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
[4] And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back— it was very large.
[5] And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
[6] And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
[7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
[8] And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

He is Risen!
He has risen, He is not here! That is the message with which the angel greeted the women. He has risen. It’s a joyous message. It filled them with trembling and astonishment, they didn’t know how to take it. I’m still not sure we have reconciled ourselves to it. The whole Christian life is one of trying to comprehend it, letting it sink in, and shape our lives. The whole Christian life revolves around it, he has risen. He is Risen! 3 baptisms this morning, 3 confirmations, so I promised the elders a shorter sermon. And I do mean to deliver. But think on this, 3 baptisms and 3 confirmations, and why? Because He is Risen!
It is what baptism is about, just as the whole Christian life is a baptized life, just as baptism is about this and this only, delivering his resurrected life to you! The man who said I am the resurrection and the life, anyone who believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live. That man is risen. Is risen. My word processor is going crazy with that sentence structure, is risen. It seems to hate the word. Is risen! Not he rose, but He is Risen! He is still alive to this very day. He lives. And you therefore, you were buried with him into his death, so that just as he was raised by the glory of the Father, you too might walk in the newness of life. The Newness of life, that is what just happened to Alex, Marissa and Mariana, Jesus their Lord and Savior who died on the cross for their sins, he just gave them the Newness of life, he baptized them into his death and resurrection. They now live with that as you and I live in that. It is something that permeates our whole life, even when we aren’t looking, but look! Please look! You have the Newness of Life!
What is that? It is life eternal only Jesus can give, because he and he alone is risen from the dead. You, you have the Newness of Life. It is the life of the resurrection, it is a life lived in the love and forgiveness of the Father wrought by the death and resurrection of the Son. It is yours. It’s a life perpetually new, perpetually raised from sin and death. It is life forgiven again and again. It is life lived perpetually in the cool damp calmness of the morning. Life new every day, like the sun breaking over the mountains. Life forgiven in the death and Resurrection of the one who is Risen. Life in Jesus Christ, For He is Risen!