Easter Sunday, 2019
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #188 Hallelujah
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #188 Hallelujah
Emmaus Witnesses
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior
The Easter lilies are in memory of our members, friends, and family who have passed into everlasting life, most recently on Good Friday, Virginia Roberts (our editor) lost her mother-in-law, about the time we prayed for her.
KJV 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
KJV Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst deliver Thy Son for our offenses, and didst raise Him again for our justification: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may rule and govern us according to Thy will; graciously keep us in the true faith; defend us from all sins, and after this life raise us unto eternal life, through the same, Thy beloved Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The Gospel Text for the Sermon
22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Background for the Luke 24 Gospel - Emmaus
Just before this passage is the description of the women and Peter seeing the empty tomb of Jesus. Just after is the appearance of Jesus in the locked room, with the Emmaus witnesses present.
As mentioned before, but worthy of repeating, the foremost expert in evidence, Simon Greenleaf, put Harvard Law School on the map by publishing a three-volume work on legal evidence. He then applied those rules to the Gospels and found that they gave every indication of being an accurate account of what happened. For example, the behavior of the disciples changed after the event, and all of them agreed on the fact of His resurrection.
https://y-jesus.com/simon-greenleaf-resurrection/
Naturally, the sceptics, modernists, and rationalists strain every mental muscle to declare it was not so, and yet we know that Jesus appeared to 500+ people before His ascension.
"1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."
So Jesus appeared in various circumstances to various people in addition to the disciples. Thus the enormous growth of the Christian Church began with "Our Report" (Isaiah 53:1).
"Who has believed our report and to whom has the Arm of the LORD been revealed?"
"Our Report" is not only the details of the arrest, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus, but also His resurrection from the dead, the empty tomb, His appearances to many who were completely changed forever by His divine conqueror of the greatest foe, death itself.
Where does faith come from? Clearly not from the great and wise who use the Scriptures to make a living but deny God's Truth in the Scriptures. They diminish faith and murder souls.
Nor does faith come from an act of will or a decision of the mind. "Our Report" is the source of faith, the Holy Spirit at work in the Word of God.
Why are the numbers failing today, the very facts the experts urged on us to examine? Why are all the mainline seminaries emptying faster than fast food outlets known for food poisoning? They work against Romans 10 - that faith comes from hearing the Report of the Gospel. The seminaries know better, or they imagine they do. They exist to produce Social Justice Warriors. So there lies the irony. Their incoming students do not need to know Greek, Hebrew, German, Latin, the Scriptures or the basic traditional doctrine of their denomination. They can be all types and all 57 genders, though their favorite label bi, which means two. Bi-sexual - two sexes - male and female made He them. But with such a vast orchard to pick from, the mainline denominations cannot find a bushel on graduation day. The more they merge, the smaller they get.
The main part of the sermon will be about believing Our Report and acting upon it.
Emmaus Witnesses
Luke 24:13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
The women and disciples found the tomb empty, so the Emmaus followers (not of the 12) were discussing these matters, which led to their meeting with the rest in the locked room.
Behold calls attention to the upcoming narrative. This is like saying - now listen to this.
15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden [GJ - prevented] that they should not know him.
It was His will that they discuss matters together, without the followers knowing the risen Lord. This is additional proof of how much the knowledge of the Resurrection changed everyone. What was a mystery (empty tomb) and a fear (they moved Him!) became the bedrock for preaching the Gospel.
17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
Jesus predicted three times that He would be tortured and killed, and rise from the dead. Their sad conversations meant that this message never penetrated their view of these events. Cleopas' question showed that everyone in Jerusalem knew about the crucifixion and the empty tomb. The drama only intensified the reach of the message, and how could it be otherwise? They were living in the one place in time where everything changed - Before Christ, and the Year of the Lord. The centerpoint (opposed by those who promote BCE and CE) is Christ. The calendar changers know that a calendar is culture. Radicals want to wipe out the culture they despise.
18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed (GJ - release by paying a ransom) Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
The evidence is that something very significant happened, but they took the tragic turn and decided that the prophet mighty in deed before God would have done what was necessary to set Israel free. Was Israel free? Not in their eyes. They had the events and teachings in the back of their minds, but they used the data in the wrong way, still resting on the material benefits of the Messiah, not the spiritual bondage which He finished by His atoning death.
Notice how many witnesses are mentioned - the women first, who saw angels; then, certain of the followers went to the tomb but did not see Him. The irony is that they are seeing Him and yet not seeing Him. That is a definite part of Jesus' teaching - that people see without seeing, hear without listening, and observe without comprehension. The Gospel is not for dabblers who wander by and see if they can obtain a quotation or two. For them, the parables and many stories are just perplexing - or they make fun of them.
Many people have said, and I have experienced, how a difficult story is so plain and powerful once the elements are studied - like the powerful man (Satan) overcome by a stronger man (Jesus). So persistent study of the Scriptures is always rewarding in that way.
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
That is quite a recruiting speech - Fools, slow to remember and believe what the prophets have revealed! Didn't Isaiah make it plain? Isn't Psalm 22 a perfect description of the crucifixion, with all its horrors. The picture was painted but nobody saw it at time.
Beginning with Moses...that is, beginning with Genesis and the Torah Scrolls, the Five Books of Moses, He taught them the Messianic Promises. (What do the liberal weevils say, hidden in the conservative seminaries? Oh no, those are not Messianic passages. We know - we went to graduate school and wrote papers.) Jesus preached about how He was found throughout the Scriptures. Still, they did not see, but they loved hearing what He said to them.
28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
The felt the attraction to the Word and asked Him to stay. "Abide with us" is a longing to be with Him. And he tarried - he stayed with them for a time.
30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
When Jesus repeated familiar actions and blessings, their eyes were opened and He vanished. "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Because they were believers, the Word of faith in Him was a fire within them as they listened to the pure truth revealed by the Lord of Creation, the Savior, the crucified and risen Messiah.
33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
They rushed back to tell the eleven the wonderful news, which was met with the additional news that Peter also saw Him. So they told the eleven their own story. Soon Jesus would appear to them all.
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| Caravaggio - Emmaus |
For Kevin W. Shen, who will have bypass surgery Monday in St. Louis. He is a family friend from way back in NML insurance days.
For Baby Andrea, who is being treated for eye problems.
