04 April 2021

Hear the Voice of Christ Jesus, Calling You by Name

Christ has died, and Christ is risen; He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Of course you know and believe this, you boldly and gladly confess it.  That is why you are here.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, your Savior, has made your death and grave His own, so that His Resurrection and His Life may be yours also.  So it is, and so shall it ever be, by virtue of your Holy Baptism in His Name.  For His bodily Resurrection from the dead is God’s resounding “Yes, and Amen!” to your every prayer, the surety of your Life and your Salvation.

So it is that this holy and blessed morning and this glorious Easter Day are full of joy and gladness.  Indeed, the entire Christian faith and life are buoyed up by this very Easter joy.  Even your fasting is not without a joyful hope in Christ; and your feasting is ever and always exuberant. Alleluia!

Yet, even on this happy morning, your joy may yet be tinged with sadness — some sorrow in your heart or in the back of your mind — some bittersweet memory or aching regret, or the encroaching threats of life in this world, which do not seem to be at all resolved by such things as the Gospel, not even on Easter Sunday.  And perhaps there are other days and nights when joy is an elusive stranger and sadness reigns over you like a dark cloud ready to burst and drown you in its torrents.

How easily, it seems, your Jesus and your joy in Him appear to be taken away and hidden from you — and you do not know where or how to find Him.

You may be fully convinced of His death, His holy Cross and Passion, but you cannot understand what it really means — far less are you able to comprehend His Resurrection from the dead — not by way of your fallen human reason or the senses of your flesh.  Not when you insist on looking for Him in your empty tomb, and not when you fail to hear and heed His voice.  Then you perceive only suffering and death — not only His, but your own — and you cannot see the Resurrection.

Then you are like Israel, backed up against the Red Sea, hounded by Pharaoh, and scared to death, even though your Passover Lamb has been sacrificed and the angel of death has passed over you.

But now give attention to the Holy Gospel you have heard again this morning.  It is not in the tomb that you will find Jesus, nor in the garden, but in His voice, calling you by name, calling you from death to life in Him.  Where Christ is now laid is upon your heart by the Holy Spirit with the Word of the Gospel, that you may believe in Him, and that, believing, you may have life in His name.

But why, then, are you weeping?  Whether within your heart and mind or outwardly for all to see, why do you sorrow and cry?  What is the matter?  Why are you so troubled and so sad?

When you look at your life, what do you see and perceive?  If it is not Christ Jesus and His joy, where and how are you looking?  What do you seek, if not Him, who is both crucified and risen?

Do you not know, and have you not heard?  Have you not yet understood the Holy Scriptures, that the Christ must rise from the dead?  Not only in Himself, but for you, and in you by His grace.

Let Him be your Teacher and Rabboni.  Listen to Him, and learn from Him.  Hear and heed His voice, as He is calling you by name; for you are His own sheep, and He is your Good Shepherd.

Do not attempt to grasp or cling to the Lord Jesus Christ in this world as you have come to know it in your comfort zone.  Your worldly wisdom, knowledge, and experience never will be able to find or comprehend Him.  But, no, be rid of the yeast and leaven of this body and life on earth — not by hiding yourself away or taking your own life, but by the cleansing Word of Christ Jesus.

Repent of your sorrow and despair, that you may feast upon the same Lord Jesus Christ, your true Passover Lamb, who has been sacrificed for you and for the many, for the forgiveness of sins.

But, again, how shall you find Him, that you may feast upon Him in faith and with thanksgiving?

Hear His Word to you, and so receive what His voice gives to you, which is nothing less than Himself, His Father and His Spirit, His Life and health and every good, His Body and His Blood.  For with His Word He reveals Himself to you, gives Himself to you, and brings you through the Red Sea (and the Jordan) to His Father in heaven — who is now also your God and your Father.

Cling to your Savior and Good Shepherd, then, by hearing His Word and treasuring it in your heart and life.  For with His Word, indeed, He places Himself into your hand, into your mouth and body.  So does He pour out His holy and precious Blood for you, which covers you and shields you from death and the devil.  And He feeds you with His crucified and risen Body.

Consider that!  Have you not heard?  His Body has not been lost or taken away, but it is given to you here and now within His Church on earth; so that your body, also, shall likewise be raised up from death to life and glorified in Him; and that your heart may find true peace and joy in Him.

Today and every day, He is your Strength and your Song; for He has become your Salvation!  He was put to death for your sins, but He is risen for your justification.  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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