3/29/59

Text: Acts 2: 24; “Death could not control him.” (Goodspeed).

“Death could not control Him!” These words are taken from one of the greatest sermons, and perhaps the first sermon, ever preached by a Christian minister. This sermon came after an earth-shaking series of events. Matters had come to a crisis for Jesus of Nazareth and His disciples. Danger had closed in upon Him. He had partaken of a last supper with His friends. That same night, He had been betrayed and taken and hurriedly tried and condemned. The next morning a mob had accompanied a detail of Roman soldiers to a hill outside the city where He had been crucified to death. Then, a couple of days later, word had come that He was, in truth, not dead but more gloriously alive than ever. His disciples had sensed His living presence with them. And now, upon the soul of each of them was vividly impressed the command of their risen, living Lord: “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28: 19-20.]

Fired by this command and by the holy spirit which had come upon them as they waited at Pentecost, they were starting out with the gospel that should make disciples among all people. Some had accused these enthusiastic apostles of being drunken. Peter retorted that it was unreasonable to accuse sane men of being drunken at nine o’clock in the morning, and then launched into his great sermon. His words carried such power that thousands believed what he said and were baptized.

This Peter is the same man that we met in earlier reading of the Gospels -- the big, impulsive, aggressive fisherman. He is the apostle who, only a few weeks before, had stood in an outer courtyard by the fire and, in answer to the questionings of a suspicious servant girl, had denied with cursings that he knew Jesus at all. [Mark 14: 66-72]. He is the same man who, heart-broken and bitterly ashamed, had walked weeping along the empty streets at dawn. But now this man is a towering giant, a fearless, fiery witness to the immortality of the righteous Christ! The crucifixion of Jesus is still fresh in the minds of the people who heard him; the resurrection of Christ is fresh in Peter’s mind.

“Men of Israel,” comes the arresting voice of the fisherman, “listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you know, was a man whom God commended to you by the wonders, portents, and signs that God did right among you through Him. But you, by the fixed purpose and intention of God, handed Him over to wicked men, and had Him crucified. But God set aside the pain of death and raised Him up, for death could not control Him.”

These words from Peter’s sermon carry the secret of his new power, and the power that gripped the other disciples of Christ. Only a little while before, on Good Friday, these men had been thoroughly beaten. If any cherished enterprise ever suffered a crushing defeat, their hopes and plans suffered that defeat at Golgotha. One of the twelve had gone out and hanged himself. One had denied his share in the fellowship. They all forsook their Leader and fled. When Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb, they buried with Him their hopes, their dreams, their future, and resigned themselves to despair.

But now these same men were sweeping, like a fire, through Palestine and Asia Minor. Within a short time they were in Africa and Europe with the good news that Christ lives and saves; that His death was a vindicating incident in His life eternal. They were unconquerable and irresistible. They laughed at the bonds put upon them by men; they sang in prison; and, when it came, they welcomed martyrdom for the sake of the gospel. Read their writings. Examine their testimony. Nothing can account for this vital change that came over them but the personal certainty that Christ lives.

For them Christ was a living presence. And, my friends, He is still a living presence! The risen Lord is no “dead fact stranded on the short of oblivious years.” He is a living reality!

Among you who are worshipping at this service today there may be those who have recently had pain, disappointment, bereavement, sorrow. You are not alone in that. It is the common lot of mortal man. We all face suffering and disappointment and death on this earth. It is a certainty from which you and I cannot escape. But if you and I are united with Christ, our risen, eternal life is also certain. For Christ breaks the control of sorrow and death. In Him, the love of God becomes the greater force.

Death lays hold upon everyone. It took Peter and Paul and the others. It will take you and me. It even took Jesus, our Lord. But it could not control Him, and it need not control you nor me. The Easter experience breaks the horror of it and lifts its stony weight from our hearts. It assures us that the Father will not leave our souls in horror, nor allow His holy ones to see corruption.

Easter is not just a celebration of remembrance; it is a celebration of recognition. It is not only an expression of gratitude for a past event; it is a brilliant ray of hope for eternity. It is an expression of love for Christ as we know Him now in our present time.

The flowers of Easter are not mere tender memorials of the dead. They are gifts to the risen Lord and recurring symbols of His lasting life. We are not whistling in the dark, but singing for triumphant joy in the morning. In the opening hour of this Easter day, we join the glorious company of those who “know Whom they have believed and are persuaded that he is able to keep that which they have committed to Him against that day.” [II Timothy 1: 12].

On the first Easter morn, those who, with heavy hearts, sought their Lord in a tomb, found only aching emptiness and a voice which said, “He is not here.” It was when they turned their eyes and hearts toward the light that they found Him, eternally living, in the dawn!

O ye people, lift up your hearts! For Christ is risen! He is here!

Allelujah!

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Dates and places delivered:

Inter-Church Federation Easter Sunrise Service; Punchbowl, Honolulu, March 24, 1940.

Wisconsin Rapids (Knight’s Templar Service) April 9, 1950.

Wisconsin Rapids, March 29, 1959.

Wisconsin Rapids, April 18, 1965.

Ecumenical Sunrise Service, Kahua Ranch, Kohala, Easter, April 6, 1969.

[there is also an entry for April 13, 1941, but there is another Easter sermon with that exact date.]