TITLE: “Who Will Roll Away the Stone?”

In the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Our text for the Resurrection of Our Lord is the Gospel lesson for the day from Mark 16, the words of the women at the tomb, as follows:  Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?

It’s hard to miss the love and devotion that these women had for their Lord.  Early Sunday morning, after the Sabbath, they bring expensive spices to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus.  Some of these women had been with Jesus for years, and they cared deeply about this man who had healed their hurts and forgiven their sins.  But he was dead.  What could they do but give Him a proper burial.

Very early that Sunday, then they go to the tomb.  And as they are on the way to the tomb, the thought occurred to them, Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?  This is no little rock that they could move by just pushing out of the way.  Remember that the chief priests had insisted that the tomb be closed and sealed, so that Jesus disciples could not come and steal the body.  This was a large stone, several feet in diameter, and there was no way that three women could move this stone out of the way.  In their grief they had forgotten.

It is very easy to forget that God is in control of our lives.  This is especially true in the face of death and adversity.  How many times had Jesus predicted that He would suffer, die for our sins, and rise again on the third day?  How many times?  The women knew the prophecies.  They knew the story.  But in their grief they could not bear to have hope.  They could not bear to face the fact that maybe Jesus was wrong.  Maybe He couldn’t rise from the dead.  I mean, it is a far-fetched prophecy.

And we do the same thing.  Our griefs, our fears all drive us away from believing what Jesus had prophesied.  Jesus says that if you live and believe in Him, you will never die.  Jesus says that His indestructible live is now yours in the waters of Holy Baptism.  Jesus says that because He lives, you too can live.  Indeed, that you do live in Him.  We would say with Paul, If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men (I Cor. 15:19).  Who will roll the stone away from our hearts?  Who indeed?

But as they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away!  And as they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, really an angel, sitting on the right side in a white robe.  And they were afraid.  Don’t be alarmed, he said.  You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.  He has risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him. 

Death came through one man, Adam, so many years ago.  That death was a result of sin.  That sin, that horrible unbelief in a giving, loving God, it was that sin which had to be paid with a price.  But not just any price.  The price was death.  Well, my friends, that price his been paid.  Death has been defeated!  As St. Paul wrote in our Epistle lesson, For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also though a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 

If you look at the Christ of Good Friday, you see a man mocked, spat upon, with a thorn of crowns and the sin of the whole world laid upon His shoulder.  He died for you.  But what do you see this day?  With the women we see the empty tomb.  Christ has risen from the dead, and we rise with Him.  That same Jesus who died three days ago is alive again.  Who will roll the stone away from your heart to give you faith in the Risen One?  Only Jesus.

So what does this mean for you today?  As we gather here today with family and friends to celebrate Christ’s Great Resurrection, what does this matter to you?  It is simply a great story that we repeat year after year after year?  No, this is more than a story.  This is a reality that goes far deeper than any story or fairy tale.

God placed the weight of sin upon Jesus’ shoulders.  When you look at your life and at yourself, you see sin and the stain of wrongdoing at every turn.  It’s there, don’t kid yourself.  As we confessed at the beginning of the service, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  But God takes those sins, and of those things that each one of us has done with our lives, and He put them upon Jesus on Good Friday.

And so it is this morning that we with the women look into the tomb.  Is Jesus still there?  Are my sins still bound to me like cords of death?  Does my life continue as if nothing has happened!  No!  For the Jesus who stands before you today is risen from the dead!  The stone is rolled away, death has no power anymore.  And because He is risen from the dead, because that stone is rolled away, your sins are gone, you are free!  No more guilt, no more fear of death.  Your sins are no longer with you, they are left in the tomb.  But Christ is not there.  Death has no more dominion over Him or over you.  Christ is not in the tomb, but He is here, now, and lives to gives you gifts eternal!  

Perhaps Isaiah said it best so many years ago:

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all people, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.  The Almighty Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.  The Lord has spoken (Isaiah 25: 7).

Death is swallowed up in victory.  Victory for you and me.  Victory for Ruby Hubeler,  Ardis Peperkorn, Gisella Kutchka and all those who have died in the faith this past year.  There is victory and rejoicing this day, for Satan’s kingdom is overthrown and the grave no longer holds us captive.  Let the world live in denial of death and the grave.  Let them continue their plight of trying to live as if God doesn’t matter.  It is their loss.  For Jesus lives, and we have a hope that is stronger than death.  We have a Savior who died and rose again.  We have a God who wipes away tears, who knows our suffering better than we know it ourselves, and who turns our cries of Hosanna into Alleluias of joy.

This God, this great conqueror over death and the grave, now bids you to Feast upon Himself.  For if ever there was a day for rejoicing, it is today.  This is the Feast of Victory, where Jesus Christ gives you His resurrected body and blood to eat and drink so that you may live forever with Him.  Every Sunday is a victory celebration, for week after week we gather in this place to rejoice in all of the great things God has given us in Christ Jesus.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the certain and sure hope of your own eternal life.  And He gives you His resurrection body to eat and drink as a token and sign that eternal life is yours.  You are free from the tyranny of death.  You have been washed in baptismal waters, and have risen anew with Him to live forever!  Now that is cause for rejoicing.

So raise your voices high!  Sound the organ, let the instruments ring forth!  For our God who was dead is alive and lives forever!  May our cry ever be that of Isaiah:

Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.  This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation (Isaiah 25:9)

In the victorious name of Jesus.  Amen.

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

The Resurrection of Our Lord (April 23, 2000)

Mark 16: 1-8 & Isaiah 25:6-9

Send E-Mail to Pastor Peperkorn

Last Revised: April 25, 2000