Easter Sunday

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An early 20^th-century philosopher-poet, seeing the end of her days rapidly approaching, asked a friend, “What is the answer?” She reasoned, that if there was no answer, then there was no question – no meaning – no truth – just a passing, sad existence to all things – all people – all time. — ‘Is there an answer’, and does the death & resurrection of JESUS of Nazareth have anything to do with it? Do the events of JESUS’ Passion bring resolution to this philosopher-poet’s dilemma, or is there indeed, just a passing, mundane, sad existence to all things – all people – all time?  

Beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas Iscariot, one of the chosen Twelve, betrayed the LORD JESUS with a kiss, one might have agreed with Gertrude Stein and thought there was no question and no answer. At that moment, JESUS’ movement seemed in dire straits; the Apostolic college began to unravel with a kiss – the Shepherd was struck and the sheep began to scatter. — We read about the continuance of the dissolution of JESUS’ faithful band of believers in St. John’s account of the LORD’s Resurrection on the first day of the week after JESUS was crucified. Mary Magdalene, out of whom JESUS had cast seven demons, came to the sepulcher with a few other women to ritually prepare JESUS’ body with spices. These had loved JESUS, and followed JESUS, but now they believed He was dead. — Meanwhile, St. Mark tells us that Peter and John were themselves together, separately, weeping and mourning with some of the other disciples over the events of the previous days, when JESUS was executed by the Jews at the hands of Pontius Pilate. The point is that the disciples were not together, and like the philosopher-poet, they must have all been asking themselves (and each other), what was the meaning of it all – what was the answer for all this brutality and death of the Good Shepherd, JESUS. The one who claimed to be GOD, but who was obviously not, if He was indeed, dead. — Why did He have to die in such a gruesome manner? — What was its purpose? After all, it seemed unnecessary and avoidable; if JESUS had wanted to avoid it. If this is the question, what is the answer? 

It was not as if JESUS had kept His closest friends from knowing his fate, thus barring them from knowing the answer. — On three different occasions, the LORD told the Twelve that He would be killed, and yet, He would rise again on the third day. In St. Matthew 20.7-19, on their way up to Jerusalem for the last time, we read: “JESUS … took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death – And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” — Yet, even at this hour, when Mary Magdalene and the other women went to Christ’s tomb, finding the stone rolled away, and the tomb empty, they could not fathom the answer. As St. John tells us in his Gospel, “For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead” (St. John 20.9).  

As we read through the gospel accounts of the Resurrection miracle, though they do not initially have the answer, we can see JESUS’ followers begin to formulate the question. Mary Magdalene, after seeing the empty tomb, runs to Peter and John, exclaiming, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him” (St. John 20.3). Even though we do not have any of Peter and John’s words recorded once they came to the empty tomb, their actions speak volumes. St. Luke tells us that after hearing Mary’s testimony, “Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened” (St. Luke 24.12). — Peter too, was beginning to formulate the question. 

The clearest account of the formulation of the question to which the answer was demonstrably revealed that first, Easter morning, comes when two of the LORD’s followers were later that day leaving Jerusalem, heading ten miles west to a city called Emmaus. These followers of JESUS encountered a Man they thought was a stranger to them, and clueless concerning the day’s events. By His speech, these disciples were amazed to find someone so removed from all that had happened in Jerusalem since the Passover Feast. According to St. Luke in 24.19-24, they asked the Man, “‘Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?’ And He said to them, ‘What things?’ So, they said to Him, ‘The things concerning JESUS of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before GOD and all the people. And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.’” 

I am sure you have figured out the question for yourself. — If there is no answer then there is no question, the skeptics are correct. If the LORD JESUS did not rise from the dead, defeating the powers of sin and death, then there is no ‘there-there’ – no hope – no meaning – no answer to anything everlasting and meaningful – nothing transcendent. Mankind, then, if Christ did not rise from the dead … is lost. — As St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15.13-19: “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of GOD, because we have testified of GOD that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, [if Christ was not raised from the dead], we are of all men the most pitiable.” 

But being a witness of the Risen Christ himself, St. Paul stands fast on the promised reality that Christ JESUS is risen indeed, our faith in Him is not in vain, and there is, because the stone was rolled away and the tomb empty, an answer – in fact, dear friends, the Answer! Paul emphatically continues, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remains to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15.3-8).  

So, directly put, and clearly articulated, the question is this: Was JESUS’ life for nothing, being tragically ended on the Cross? Or, did JESUS of Nazareth die and then truly rise from the dead as He said He would on the third day, conquering sin and death, so that all who believe on Him should inherit eternal life and the promise of a future Resurrection with Him in His Kingdom? — The answer that skeptics and the enemies of JESUS would give us is, unequivocally, ‘no’. They would say it was scientifically impossible – childishly unbelievable – highly improbable! At best a scheme was undertaken, as the religious leaders at that time anticipated, and His body stolen to feign His rising from the dead. — Even after witnessing the events of the earthquake on the Morning of the first Easter, when the stone was rolled away from JESUS’ tomb by heavenly angels, St. Matthew tells us how some of the skeptics, (the Jewish leaders & the Roman soldiers), responded to the question. We read in St. Mattew 28.11-15: “Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened [at the tomb of JESUS]. — When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, ‘Tell them, “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.” And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.’ So, they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” 

With the demonstration of all of this evidence, the most important thing remaining today, is to surmise how you and I answer the question, for it is clear what the Holy Scriptures say. You see, “Christianity is not just about the historical fact that JESUS was crucified; it is about the astonishing and thrilling truth that He died in order that we might be forgiven our sins [and made adopted sons & daughters of GOD]. St. Paul [in his writings], makes a clear distinction between the event of the death of JESUS and the significance of this event. That Christ died is a simple matter of history; that Christ died for our sins is the essence of the Good News of the Gospel, itself.”¹ This is why, when we hear what has been said by millions of individual souls who have encountered the Risen Christ JESUS in their lives through His revelation in the Holy Scriptures and through the mighty deeds of His Holy Spirit in their hearts and lives, saying ‘yes’ to the question, we must sit up and pay attention. We must ask ourselves: do I believe – would I be one of JESUS’ followers? For, if Christ is risen, then he is not merely a wonderful man. If Christ is risen, He is not only the returning Messianic King.  If Christ is risen, then He is Himself the LORD GOD of Hosts, and everything He says is true.”² If JESUS be risen indeed, then He is the King of Glory and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. 

We pose the question here again: Was JESUS of Nazareth crucified dead on a Roman cross, and did He rise from the dead on the third day as He said He would? — And today, we answer emphatically and unequivocally, YES! The answer is certainly ‘yes’!  Then the only thing left to ask ourselves, is why? The Te Deum laudamus, of the Morning Office of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, satisfies that question: JESUS, the Christ, “has overcome the sharpness of death, and has opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.”³ — Thus, all that has been written in Holy Scriptures, and cited here today, has been done so “that ye might believe that JESUS is the Christ, the Son of GOD; and that believing [in His death & resurrection], ye might have [the answer of] life through His Name” (St. John 21.31). 

 Brothers, sisters, and friends of St. Mark the Evangelist Church, our faith is not in vain, and we are to rejoice and say to the world writ large: There is a question and there is an answer! Christ JESUS, once dead, is risen from the dead by the power of GOD to bring life everlasting and His Resurrection power to all of them who believe. — This is what we mean when we say together: The LORD is risen! –  He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen, and Amen! 

1 McGrath, Alister, I Believe, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 61. 

2 Johnston, Peter. AnglicanCompass.com. “Ecstasy at the Tomb.” Accessed 20 April 2025. https://anglicancompass.com/ecstasy-at-the-empty-tomb/?utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Easter+Sunday%3A+He+is+Risen%21+-+17327915  

3 The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, (New York: Prayer Book Commission Publishers, 1928), 10.