Jesus is not still nailed to that cross, taking upon himself the wrath of God for all our sins. Jesus is no longer lying dead in a tomb, paying the consequences for those sins. He is alive. He paid the penalty, accepted the consequences and then rose above them, winning victory over sin and death — for us.
So, as Pastor Russ Rathier read us the story from Luke 24:1-8, when the women went seeking Jesus at the tomb, the question he asked this Easter morning was “why do you seek the living among the dead?”
These women were looking for the right person but in the wrong place. The angel of the Lord redirected them. Rathier explained how the Resurrection was meant to redirect us, from death to life, from the cross to the resurrection, from emotions to truth, from current events to God’s providence, from the law to the gospel, which ultimately redirects us from grief to joy.
OK, I know that’s a lot to take in. (Watch the full message at gracemoscow.org.)
Basically, what Rathier is saying is that the world is a dark and broken place. If we focus on that, we too will become dark and broken. But the resurrection of Christ redirects us. We can look to the cross, where Jesus paid for our sins. We can look to the tomb, where Jesus defeated death so that we can have eternal life. But we cannot get stuck there.
We must look to Christ who is alive and working in and through us. He redirects our steps so that we can live, love, preach and teach his will. His resurrection invites us to come and see, then redirects us to go and tell, our savior lives.
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