“The Seal Has Been Broken”
a sermon by
Gregory A.W. Green
First Presbyterian Church
Charlotte, North Carolina
March 27, 2005
Let me begin by painting a scene, and as always, the painting is my own
interpretation. It is the night before what we have come to know as Easter. A quiet and
disturbing hush has settled across the land – sinking into every pore, filling every nook
and cranny, spreading through every crevice. It’s the kind of silence that weighs heavily
upon your soul – the kind of silence that drives you mad.
For the last couple of days, the birds haven’t been singing, the sun hasn’t shone,
the wind hasn’t blown. Nature has seemed eerily still – shocked by its maker lying dead
and entombed.
The disciples have all scattered – each to his own safest place, yet none of them
feel safe – only troubled and alone.
Peter sits in a chair, within some unknown house, by himself, with his head hung
low and his shoulders slumped, close to cracking under a burden of guilt – the kind of
guilt that makes your chest heavy and your breathing difficult.
He had told his master, he had told Jesus, that he wouldn’t abandon Him – and he
had meant it with all his heart. He had even pulled out his sword, prepared to defend
Jesus with his life … but then Jesus rebuked him, and told him to put his sword away.
How else was he to defend Jesus if not with his sword? How else was he to affirm his
allegiance?
Confused once again by his teacher, Peter had lowered his sword and watched as
the mercenary mob bound and carried Jesus away. Confused, he had followed at a
distance – wanting to keep Jesus in his sights – maybe Jesus would give him a sign, a
clue of what to do. But when no sign came and not knowing what was required of him,
having had his notions of allegiance turned upside down, he had crumbled and denied
Jesus – not once, but thrice.
And now wondering what had gone wrong – Peter sits trying to sort through his
thoughts, while overwhelmed with grief and guilt. After all, there is a fine line between
denial and betrayal.
Judas, the betrayer, having been left by Satan, was seized with remorse. In
repentance he had gone to the religious leaders of Israel to offer confession and make
restitution. However, because of the soured hearts of the religious elite, his confession
had gone unheard.
Tormented by the shame that comes without an assurance of pardon – Judas grew
despondent – and in his despair, having not received the grace that Christ had died to
give, Judas hung himself – making himself accursed.
The villainous priests are also distraught. Everything had gone as planned –
everything except Judas – but that was merely a hiccup. Jesus, however, had claimed that
He would rise again on the third day, and with the kind of power He had displayed – He
just might do it!
But what was to happen if His prophecy were to become true? What were to
happen if He really was to rise from the dead? The whole world really would go
clamoring after Him! Something had to be done to ensure that He remain dead! He had
to remain hidden within that crypt, or else all of their deceit would be brought to light, or
else all of their hard work and the city they had stooped so low to build would fall!
So in fear they approach Pilate the governor. Speaking of Jesus, the Eternal Word
and Truth as the deceiver, the priests concoct a tale of lies, urging Pilate to place guards
and seal the tomb.
Reluctantly Pilate agrees. Even he cannot get the events of the last couple of days
out of his mind. The trial had obviously been a sham – but he could not afford another
bloody rebellion so he had gone along. But that man – that Jesus – he had never met
anyone like Him.
The way He had looked at him, with those piercing eyes. Those eyes had
disturbed him. They wouldn’t allow him to sleep. His guards had said that the sky had
gone dark and the earth had shaken when He died. He himself had witnessed the
mysterious darkness and had felt the earth tremble violently. Rumor had it, the curtain
within the Jewish temple had torn in two at the same moment. Maybe he was a king after
all. Maybe He was the Son of God.
And so I imagine the night before Easter found all – Peter and the disciples, Pilate
and the religious leaders, all staring wide-eyed at some blank wall – wondering with
anxiety and anticipation what the morning might hold. And then it came.
While the dew was still on the ground, the women got up early to look at the tomb
– to gaze at the place where He had been laid. They did not expect to find Him alive,
they went only to pay their respects and to grieve. The women – those faithful and loving
women, who had stood at the foot of the cross beholding the last precious breaths of
Jesus. They simply needed to be near Him, and in that nearness feel His strength, even if
He could no longer embrace them or catch their tears in His hands.
Those wonderful, faithful women, who never left the side of Jesus, they went to
pay their respects to the one who had captured their hearts, filling them with love and
hope; resurrection was not on their minds.
But it was on the mind of Jesus and it was to them that Jesus would first reveal
Himself. That would be His gift to them for their devotion. He had said in the Sermon
on the Mount – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted … blessed are
the pure in heart, for they will see God?” Little did the women know that such was to be
there blessing upon this day.
And as they approached the tomb with bloodshot eyes and wearied spirits, all of
sudden the ground began to shake. Creation – the ground which had been opened up to
receive its Lord – revolted against the task of entombing its Creator. It had held Him
gently for three days, but no more.
The guards, those brave guards who were placed by the tomb to ensure that it
remain shut began to faint with terror. They had never seen an angel of the Lord before –
both beautiful and terrible – the angel shone like lightening, his clothes were as white as
fresh fallen snow, and his voice – his voice carried with it all the strength and authority of
heaven. In their awe and fright, the guards fell like dead.
But the women, they had come looking for their Lord. They were afraid, but were
also filled with a strange sense of joy. With joy and devotion in their hearts, fear was not
able to consume them, which allowed them to stand and hear the message that the angel
had descended to give. “He is risen! Why are you looking for the living among the
dead? Come and see the place where He was laid – He is no longer there! For He has
risen from the dead and is going ahead of you to Galilee. Go and tell His disciples that
the Lord is risen!”
How often do we look for the living among the dead? We come to the church and
stare at the altar. In reverence and awe we pay our respects and show our devotion. But
how often do we sing our praises, our anthems, and our hymns as if they were dirges?
We stand in our rows and pews as if the altar was a headstone and talk to God as if He
was dead and cannot hear us. We talk with little passion or conviction, sometimes
merely out of obligation, but God is not dead! Jesus is alive! And Active! And
powerful! He is risen says the angel – go and tell His disciples!
So the women hurry away – afraid yet full of joy, bearing the message of God
upon their hearts and their lips. I want to take a moment to talk about this idea of being
afraid yet full of joy. Too often we remain crippled by our fear. Too often we believe
that if we are afraid, then we are not called or gifted. Nothing could be farther from the
truth. Faith is by its very nature a scary thing. The Christian life is not something you
become comfortable in. God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.
Which is to say that God almost always calls us to act in those places where we
feel inadequate and afraid, because then when God works incredible things through us,
we not only feel the joy of being used by God, but we also recognize that any success we
experience is not the result of our own hands, our own toil, and our own insight – but the
result of God’s.
The women could have used their fear to easily talk themselves out of bearing
God’s message, but instead they hurried to carry out what they had been commissioned to
do. And in route to going where the angel had told then to go – the longing of their
hearts was fulfilled as the Risen Lord appeared suddenly before them and they clasped
His feet and worshipped Him.
Years ago it was reported that a KGB agent went into an Orthodox Church in
Moscow and saw several elderly women kissing the feet of a statue of Christ. He asked
them, “Are you prepared to kiss the feet of our beloved Party Secretary?” To which one
replied, “Why of course, but only if you crucify him first and then he rises from the
grave.”1
Those wonderful, devout women who came to look upon Jesus – I can see Him
bending down, with affection, lifting each chin so that their eyes met with His. I can see
Him brushing the side of His thumb across each cheek, drying their tears. They saw
Jesus and that is no small grace. And I can hear that voice that sounds like many waters
telling them to rise up and go to those who have been scattered – letting them know that
the shepherd has returned and will meet them in Galilee.
The religious and political leaders had done all they could to prevent such a
moment from happening. They had done everything within their power to prevent such a
message from going forth. They had placed a guard, sealed the tomb, sacrificed their
privileged position as bearers of truth and justice in order to spread deceit. They had lied.
They had manipulated. They had even used the temple offerings to bribe others into
deceit and betrayal. But if death couldn’t hold Jesus, than how could a stone, a couple of
guards, and a handful of dirty lies.
None of it was capable of keeping Him within the grave! His love demanded
resurrection. A crucified Jesus only accomplishes half of the mission; a crucified Jesus
fulfills only part of the plan.
The crucified Lord is our tragedy and shame, but the Risen Lord is our hope and
our joy! Because Jesus is risen, our sins have been forgiven! Because Jesus is risen,
death has been defeated! Because Jesus is risen, we have been adopted as God’s children
and stand to inherit eternal life!
The resurrection was needed to display the tremendous power of God’s love. It
could not be defeated. Lies could not corrupt it. Death could not contain it. Evil could
not withstand it. The resurrection testifies to the fact that Jesus was the Son of God and
came down to remove the sins of the world.
In every generation since the cross, there have been those who have wanted to
proclaim that God is dead. Jesus was a great man and teacher, but He never rose from the
dead – they want to claim. But if Jesus never rose from the dead than all of His teachings
are a farce and instead of him being a great man and a good teacher, He was either a
lunatic or a liar.
“The empty tomb is the fulcrum of faith, the pivotal point of our religion.
Christianity stands or falls with the resurrection. Without the resurrection, Christianity is
a faith that is a farce for fools. As the apostle Paul wrote, ‘If Jesus Christ was not raised
from the dead, we of all people are the most to be pitied, for our faith is in vain and our
1
Paraphrased from “Discover Joy when its Hard to Rejoice” a sermon delivered by Tim Dearborn at First
Presbyterian Church of Bellevue – Oct 23, 1994.
preaching is in vain and we have fooled ourselves with this preposterous hoax.’ Without
the resurrection, the Christian faith is a farce for fools. 2”
We try so hard, even today to keep Christ in the tomb. We argue that Scripture is
out of date and antiquated. We try to reduce Jesus to simply a good moral teacher. We
advocate for the right to have non-Christians guiding our Christian institutions.
We remove prayer from schools, take out lawsuits against courthouses that have
statues or art bearing the Ten Commandments. We lobby to have “Under God” removed
from the pledge, and “In God We Trust” removed from the dollar.
We try to shape the church into an agency after our own likeness, instead of after
Christ’s. We demand that the church advocate positions and ideals that make us feel
better instead ideologies that are consistent with Scripture as God’s Word.
We hold double standards concerning the definition of authentic science, advocate
false and painless views of unity, love, and truth; and we remain silent against injustice
and wickedness. All of these are methods of placing guards and attempts to seal the
stone.
The great irony is that it is those who claim to not believe in God, that try the
hardest to keep God dead. While those who claim to believe – are content to sit and stare
blankly and mournfully at a tombstone. Those closest to Jesus didn’t really believe he
would rise, but those who were farthest away, did everything they could to disprove God
incarnate, for they were the ones who were most afraid that God is in fact real, alive, and
among them.
Jesus Christ is risen and while the world may try to keep him dead – He is alive
and active among us today. And because He is alive – prayers are answered, lives are
transformed, sins are forgiven, and eternal life waits.
The question is: Are you willing to worship a risen Lord? Is there enough joy
and devotion in your heart to move beyond terror into obedience?
Out in California, there is a baked-out gorge called Death Valley. It is the lowest
place in the United States – 276 feet below sea level. It is also the hottest place in the
country with recorded temperatures that have reached 134 degrees. Streams flow into
Death Valley only to disappear. It is a wasteland that averages two and a half inches of
rainfall each year.
But some time ago a remarkable thing happened. For nineteen straight days, rain
drenched and fell upon that dry-boned place. Suddenly, all kinds of seeds, which had lain
dormant for years, began to burst into bloom. In a valley of death, there was suddenly
life!
2
Edward F. Markquart
That is the Easter message – a desert is now a garden; beauty transcends the ugly;
love outlasts hate; the tomb is empty; the grim and haunting outline of a cross silhouetted
on a hill has disappeared into the glow of Easter Joy and resurrection!3 Thanks be to
God.
3
Paraphrased from the “Miracle of Easter” complied and edited by Floyd Thatcher, p61