If you were here, for our worship service on Good Friday afternoon, you would have heard me end the sermon with words of encouragement to leave in silence, with an encouragement to leave in sorrow of repentance, to leave in the joy of the forgiveness of sins that our Savior won for us, with His death on the cross, and then to return this morning. It is so wonderful to see you this morning, as we rejoice in the empty grave, and as we rejoice in the promise of the resurrection, hearing the words in which the angels proclaim,

"He is not here;

He has risen!"

This is a story that may be familiar to you, and yet I believe it is worth retelling. Little Phillip was a second grade boy who had down syndrome. In his Sunday School class the teacher had asked all of the students to take a plastic egg home and fill it with something that reminded them of the resurrection. And so, those children took the egg home and came back the next week, excited to share with their teacher what they had found. One by one they began to open up their eggs and explain what was inside. One little boy opened up his egg and inside there was a stone. He said, "This reminds me of the the stone that they rolled away from the tomb and how it revealed that the grave was empty."

Another little girl had picked a spring flower and said that reminded her of the new life that comes forth in the spring.

And yet another child had drawn a picture of a butterfly and colored it quite beautifully, and said, "This reminds me just as a caterpillar goes into a cocoon and comes forth as a beautiful butterfly, so also Christ went into the grave, but He came forth in life."

Finally little Phillip opened his egg and it was empty. His fellow students thought that maybe Phillip had forgotten to do his assignment. And that is when Phillip said, "But the egg is empty! It reminds me of the message of the angels, 'He is not here, He is risen!'"

Later that summer, Phillip got an infection and passed away. During the visitation, prior to his funeral service, in walked his Sunday School teacher with his fellow Sunday School students. In the casket they laid open, empty, plastic, Easter Eggs, reminding everybody of how it had reminded Phillip of the empty grave and the resurrection.

Christ is not here.

He is risen!

Even in Phillip's death, it was a testimony to what he believed. Not only did Christ die on the cross for his sins, but Christ also conquered death. Through the conquering of death, He gives to us the promise of eternal life with Him in Heaven.

With that we rejoice! This morning, let us rise, as we rejoice in our festival Easter hymn,

He is Arisen, Glorious Word!

Our Easter Text is the Gospel Lesson for this day, recorded in Luke, chapter 24, looking at verses 1-12.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"

Then they remembered His words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Christ is arisen from the grave's dark prison. We now rejoice with gladness. Christ will end all sadness. Lord have mercy. Amen

Christ's resurrection unfolds with the message of the angels. We might even call the message of good news that the angels proclaimed that they get to be tagged the first evangelists in the holy, Christian Church, because it is they who announce to the women, and they are the first to hear, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He has risen!"

The women hear that good news that Christ is risen from the dead. And every time that we hear that good news, it is a great comfort for us, as well.

We have sung it in many of our Easter hymns already this morning, one of which comes from the words of Job in the Old Testament, as he proclaimed, hundreds of years before Jesus died and rose, "I know that my Redeemer lives."

But, as we hear the good news of Jesus' resurrection from the dead, not only is it a comfort for us, but we can also take that same message and use it in rebuking. After all, God's Word is useful for teaching and rebuking.

Recently there was a documentary on TV. (Maybe some of you saw it.) It was entitled 'The Lost Tomb of Jesus.' In that documentary the claim was made that the bones of Jesus had been found and that little box contained Jesus' bones. If that box contained Jesus' bones, then Christ would not have risen from the dead. The Bible tells us that if Christ is not risen, then our faith is futile and we are still in our sin.

Sin. Sometimes, sin is a word that is not very politically correct, anymore. And yet, the fact of the matter is that we are sinners. And, that does include you and me. That includes the person sitting on either side of you. That includes the person sitting in front of you and behind you. The Bible tells us the soul that sins will die. And the soul that sins deserves to be separated from God for all eternity and to endure everlasting destruction.

But, we also hear the good news in scripture, as it tells us, "God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

The message of Good Friday, that Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, continues into the good news of the message of the angels on Easter Morning,

"He is not here;

He has risen."

Notice in our text for this morning, the women don't only hear the good news that the angels share with them. They believe the good news that they are told. It is in verse eight that we are reminded that the women remembered the words that Jesus had told to them. Prior to His death, Jesus simply said, "I must suffer. I must be crucified, and on the third day I will rise to life."

The women not only heard the good news, but they also believed it. You maybe have heard it said that the longest distance in the world is the distance between our head and our heart. It is the difference between hearing the good news and believing the good news. That good news, for the women who went to the tomb, traveled that eighteen inches from a simple head knowledge to a heart knowledge of faith.

Let me put it this way. Let's say I have a couple of pocketfuls of one hundred dollar bills, this morning. I had one for everybody here. You would be pretty excited, wouldn't you? I said, "As you leave our worship service this morning, on a table, out in the narthex, there is a one hundred dollar bill for you. It is there for you to take. You can just pick one up and take it with you, when you leave."

Some of you may start thinking to yourself, "Well, I think Pastor Tweit is kind of 'crazy.' Why would he do that?" And so, you leave without taking that hundred bill with you.

Others of you are excited and say, "I am going to take that hundred dollar bill, because you believe me."

Now, who benefited from that good news that I proclaimed? Those who took the hundred dollar bill. They picked it up and made it their own. The same it is with the message of salvation. It is not only the angels who give us the good news, but it is also all of God's Word that gives us the good news of Christ's payment for our sins on the cross, and its proclamation of victory over death, with His resurrection. How is it that it becomes ours? Well, it becomes ours, as we pick up that good news by faith, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and make it our very own, not only hearing the message of good news, but also believing that message of good news.

As the women heard the message of good news, not only did they believe it on that first Easter Morning, but they were excited. The Bible tells us they were filled with joy, as they ran to share with the apostles and disciples that Christ had risen from the dead. And, on their way, Jesus appeared to them, to confirm His resurrection.

And so, may we, once again this Easter Season, not only hear the good news about Christ's death and resurrection, but also believe the good news of Christ's death and resurrection, and then take that message of good news and share it with others.

As we see the women doing that this morning, we hear that the disciples did not believe, at first. Sometimes, as we share the message of good news, maybe people won't believe the message that we share with them, either. And yet, as we share that message of Jesus' death and resurrection, we give the Holy Spirit His chance to go about and do His work, of bringing people to faith, and strengthening people in their faith in Jesus, as their Savior.

Phillip's plastic Easter egg was empty. It was a reminder to him of the message of the angels.

"Christ is not here;

He is risen."

This Easter Season, may we once again hear that good news of salvation. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. He rose again from the grave to proclaim victory over sin, death, and the grave. May we believe that good news and share it.

Christ is risen! He is arisen, indeed! Hallelujah!

Amen.