Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
Quincy, IL
Rev. Larry D. Troxel
The First Sunday of Easter at Sunrise
The Resurrection of Our Lord
Sunday, March 23, 2008 at 6:30 a.m.
“Come and See the Salvation of the LORD.”
(Exodus 14:13–14)
13And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today.
For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.14The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Unrestrained joy fills our hearts, our mouths, and our lives this morning. For Christ is risen, and we too shall rise.
The enemies of God and of His people have experienced an overwhelming defeat. No longer can sin enslave us.
No longer can guilt oppress us. No longer can death and the grave immobilize us with fear. No longer can Satan
and hell threaten us with their terrors. Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, and in Him we have life that is new today,
every day, and forever.
Just two days ago Satan danced with glee as Jesus hung on the cross, abandoned by God His Father, appearing
to all the world to be the ultimate loser. With calm confidence the tomb received His lifeless body, with the stone
sealed with the seal of Roman Governor, guarded by a detachment of soldiers. Sin, death, the grave, Satan, and
hell rejoiced at their apparent victory.
But then the unexpected happened. Life was restored to Jesus’ lifeless body. Risen in glorious victory,
the Savior first proclaimed His victory in hell itself, leaving Satan hopelessly defeated. Then the tomb was opened
by a mighty angel, letting all the world see that the Savior no longer was there. Death and the grave were left in
defeated shambles. And the enslaving power of sin was broken completely. The followers of Jesus, at first so
slow to believe such good news, soon were rejoicing. And the world has never been the same. Christ is risen,
and in Him we, too, shall rise.
Because Christ Jesus has risen in victory over sin, death, the grave, Satan, and hell, we live in a peace and a
confidence which nothing can destroy. Even when we seem to be immersed in the most impossible
circumstances and we can see no way out of such terrible troubles, we still live in confident hope because
Christ Jesus is risen. And nothing can separate us from the love He has for us.
God’s Word for us at sunrise on this Day of the Resurrection of Our Lord is the Word God had for His
Old Testament people, the Israelites, as they stood on the banks of the Red Sea, desert hills on either side
hemming them in, and the Egyptian chariots coming close behind them. In that moment when all seemed
hopeless, when death and disaster seemed so unavoidable, Moses said to them, “Fear not, stand
firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see
today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Because
Jesus is risen from the dead, those same promises apply to us. “Fear not, stand firm, and see the
salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today. … The LORD will fight for you, and you have
only to be silent.”
Just as Moses said, “Fear not,” to the Israelites, so our Savior, risen from the dead, says to us,
“Peace be with you.”1 And with that word, Jesus gives us true peace, peace which
drives out all fear, peace which is wholeness, peace with God which enables us to be at peace within ourselves
and with the other people in our lives. Now the future cannot immobilize us in fear. Now, not even death and the
grave can immobilize us in fear. They are defeated enemies, and Jesus has won the victory for us.
Moses said to the panicking Israelites, “Stand firm.” God’s Word says the same thing to us:
“Stand firm. Let nothing move you.” “Stand firm in the faith.” “Stand firm, then,
and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” “Stand firm then,” arrayed
with the full armor of God. “Stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you.” “Stand
firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”2 We can do this because
Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, and He has placed us on the solid foundation of His holy Word. Those who
panic at the first sign of trouble do so because they have forgotten the significance of Jesus’ resurrection
and the power of His Word.
Related to standing firm is the next thing Moses said to the Israelites. “You have only to be silent.”
God calls on us to be silent when trouble looms so that we can hear His Word. For it is through His Word that
we are reminded of the power of Jesus’ resurrection. It is through His Word that we receive the Good
News that our sins have been forgiven and that we live at peace with God. Certainly we are to pray in the face
of trouble. God even invites us to do so. But God also says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”3
“Watch to see the salvation of the LORD.” Keep you eyes fixed on Jesus. He will always act for
your eternal good. And remember that His deliverance may come from the direction from which you least
expect it. So often in our lives it seems that the answers to our prayers come “out of the blue,”
when we least expect them and never in the way we are anticipating. God seems to go out of His way to make
certain that we realize that our deliverance from every trouble comes only from Him. That is the way God acted
for the Israelites. They did not expect to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground. But that is exactly what God
had them do. The disciples of Jesus did not expect Him to rise from the dead, even though He had told them
repeatedly that is what He would do. So keep your eyes open. Watch to see how God will act for you. You can
be certain that He will act on your behalf because He already has accomplished the greatest deliverance for
you through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
So God calls us to listen to His Word, His promises to us in Christ Jesus. Especially when times seem tough
and troubles loom, make the time to listen to God’s Word. In Christ Jesus, He will strengthen you,
cause you to stand, and give you reason for rejoicing.
And then, when God gives the word, move out. With the Red Sea parted, the Israelites crossed on dry ground.
You can almost hear them saying to one another, “Don’t let the dust choke you.” God
opened the way of salvation for more than two million people and all their livestock and possessions. And
as the last Israelite reached the opposite shore, the waters flowed back together and the entire Egyptian
army perished.
So Christ Jesus has risen. His resurrection has been attested by more than five hundred eyewitnesses.4
His resurrection has been proclaimed to us in His Word and applied to us in Holy Baptism. Now He commissions
us to move out and to carry this Good News to all people, to people here in Quincy, to people in all the world. We have
no reason to live in fear. We have no reason to doubt the power of God’s Word. Instead, we live in confident hope,
hope that is more than a politician’s empty word, hope that is based on the life-changing fact that Christ Jesus
is risen from the dead. In Him we have seen and continue to see the salvation of the LORD. Amen.
1. John 20:19, 21, 26
2. 1 Corinthians 15:58; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 6:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:15
3. Psalm 46:10
4. 1 Corinthians 15:5–7
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