PASTOR'S MESSAGE

 

Freed from Death

                            Acts 2:22-36

 

One day Scott was showing off his new apartment to some friends.  Glenn asked “What’s that big brass basin for?”  “That’s the talking clock!” Scott answered.  So Glenn gave it an ear shattering pound with a hammer.  Suddenly, a voice on the other side of the wall screamed, “Knock it off, you idiot!  It’s 2 a.m.”

            What a rude awakening!  To be roused out of a sound sleep by a noisy gong.  To some extent, it’s like the rude awakening that the people received in our text for today.  You see, our text is a portion of St. Peter’s Pentecost sermon, where he tried to rouse the Jewish people out of the slumber of their sin, the complacency of their unbelief.  It was just a short time after Jesus’ death and resurrection, but the people had not yet grasped the significance of that earth-shattering event.  They were still rejecting Jesus as their Savior, not realizing that His being raised from the grave, His being awakened from death proved that He was the Messiah.   And so Peter said to them:  “MEN OF ISRAEL, LISTEN TO THIS:  JESUS OF NAZARETH WAS A MAN ACCREDITED BY GOD TO YOU BY MIRACLES, WONDERS AND SIGNS, WHICH GOD DID AMONG YOU THROUGH HIM, AS YOU YOURSELVES KNOW.  THIS MAN WAS HANDED OVER TO YOU BY GOD’S SET PURPOSE AND FOREKNOWLEDGE; AND YOU, WITH THE HELP OF WICKED MEN, PUT HIM TO DEATH BY NAILING HIM TO THE CROSS.”

            What a stinging rebuke.  God had accredited Jesus to them as their Messiah, by the miraculous sings and wonders Jesus had performed.  But instead of believing in the Savior, they murdered Him.  Obviously, then, they were not on God’s side.  They were His enemies.  They were just as wicked as the wicked men, who helped them.  What a piercing word of Law.  Yet, my friends, it’s the same piercing word of Law that you and I need to hear.  For by nature we too are on the wrong side.  The wickedness of the sinful flesh pervades our heart and soul.  And it expresses itself in the wicked things we do.  We may not reject Jesus outright, but when we stay away from the Means of Grace, failing to daily read our Bibles or regularly pray and worship or frequently partake of the Sacrament, we have indeed pushed Him out of our lives.  We may not have ever physically killed someone, but whenever we think evil of another or speak hateful words to another, we’ve already murdered them in our heart.  And in so doing, we’ve murdered Jesus.

            However, it is the surprising nature of God’s grace, that the murder of Jesus was a part of His plan all along.  For as Peter says in our text, it was with God’s set purpose and foreknowledge that Jesus was crucified.  Or as William Barclay so beautifully phrased it:  “The cross was a window in time allowing us to see the suffering love, which is eternally in the heart of God.”  Yes, God’s love for you and me is so eternal, that before the foundation of the world He had already planned to have His Son be put to death to save.  As a matter of fact, the verb itself ‘put to death’ indicates that.  In Greek it’s a word that means: ‘to snatch away.’  As such, it can also mean: ‘to annul or abolish.’  And that’s just what Jesus did to our murderous sins by His death on the cross – He snatched them away from us and abolished them forever.  Which means that the stinging rebuke, the slap in the face, the piercing word of condemnation is gone for good, swallowed up in Jesus blood.
            But how do we know that for sure?  Quite simply, because of what we celebrate in this Easter season – because Jesus did not remain in death, but rose victorious over it to prove that our salvation is complete.  That’s why went on to say:  “BUT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, FREEING HIM FROM THE AGONY OF DEATH, BECAUSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR DEATH TO KEEP ITS HOLD ON HIM!”  The fact that God freed Jesus from the agony of death is our certainty and assurance that we are forgiven and saved.  The resurrection of Christ is God’s seal of approval upon His work of salvation.  And as Peter points out in our text, all of that was foretold in the Old Testament.
            In fact, St. Peter quotes from the words of King David in Psalm 16.  This is one of those Psalms that David wrote while he was in exile, fearing for his life at the hands of King Saul.  It’s one of those Psalms which in Hebrew is called a miktam.  Translated literally, it means:  ‘a covering.’  A miktam was usually a prayer for help in time of insecurity, indicating the Psalmist’s dependence upon God to cover Him with the wings of His protection.  And this miktam of David is no exception.  In the words of King David:  “BECAUSE THE LORD IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.” 
            What a wonderful word of Hope.  Because the Risen Lord Jesus is our right-hand-man, our best friend, our champion, nothing can shake us up, no enemy can rock us from our firm footing or move us from our sure standing in God’s kingdom.  Indeed, David goes so far as to say:  “MY BODY ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE!”  The Greek version is a little different.  It says:  “MY FLESH WILL PITCH ITS TENT IN HOPE.”  It’s the picture of an Israeli nomad, out in the blistering sun and battering wind of the desert.  But he doesn’t mind, because he’s resting safe and sound inside his tent.  Likewise with us, when we’re blistered with anxieties and battered with hurts we too have a tent where we can rest safe and sound.  Our tent is hope – the hope of our God which will never fail us!
            And why did King David have this hope?  Because as he himself says, “YOU, O GOD, WILL NOT ABANDON ME TO THE GRAVE, NOR WILL YOU LET YOUR HOLY ONE SEE DECAY!”  In our text, Peter explains that this reference is ultimately a prophecy of the Messiah, Jesus Christ and His resurrection.  After all, He is the only truly Holy One who was not abandoned in the grave, and whose body did not see decay, because He arose triumphant on the third day.  However, it is because of Him and His resurrection that this also becomes applicable to you and me.  AS a matter of fact, some Hebrew texts actually translate it in the plural form:  “You will not abandon Your faithful ones.”  Dear friends, that is the promise God makes to you and me, because of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead.  He will not abandon us to the grave either, but will one day raise us up to everlasting life.  In truth, the word ‘abandon’ means: ‘to leave in the lurch, to leave someone behind in your dust.’  And the Good News of the Gospel, is that God will not do that to us.  Even though our physical body may die see decay, Jesus is coming back again to raise us from the dead and to give us a new body to replace the old one – a heavenly, supernatural, glorified body which will never see decay.  And in that way, like Jesus, we too will be freed from death!

            The late senator Jonathan Dolliver once included his father, a retired Methodist minister, in a dinner for congressional leaders, cabinet members, judges, and foreign diplomats.  During the evening he noticed his father in earnest conversation with a prominent foreign ambassador.  All he heard of the conversation as he approached was, “My brother, how is it with your soul?”  Thinking that question a bit out of place, he interrupted and led his father away.  When Rev. Dolliver died a short while later, a bouquet of rare and exquisite flowers arrived at the funeral home with a card which read, “To the man who cared about my soul,” signed by the ambassador.

            How good it is to know that Jesus Christ our Savior cared so much about our soul, that He not only died to destroy the power of death, but also rose again to give us the victory of eternal life.  Having received that precious salvation by the gift of faith, God wants us now to be concerned about the souls of others, by sharing with them the Good News of Jesus’ Resurrection victory.  That’s what Peter was getting at in our text, when he said:  “GOD HAS RAISED THIS JESUS TO LIFE, AND WE ARE ALL WITNESSES OF THIS FACT.”  A witness, of course, is someone who witnesses an event and then tells what he has seen and heard.  God has filled us with His Holy Spirit for that very purpose – so that we can tell about the greatest event in all of history.  We can share the story of Easter, wherever He gives us the opportunity.  May God grant it for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

           

                              

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