Preparing for Worship - April 5, 2026

We come this Sunday to the Resurrection of our Lord - the day often called Easter Sunday. We know that Christ Jesus died on Good Friday. Remember that for the Jews, a day ran from sundown to sundown (Genesis 1:5: “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day”). Jesus’ body was in the grave part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday, and on that third day, the day after the Sabbath,  He was raised, just as He had clearly predicted three times, in Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, and 20:18-19. Some groups try to say that this contradicts the parallel between Jesus and Jonah, where Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, like Jesus (Matthew 12:40). The Lutheran Study Bible indicates that this was simply “an ancient way of referring to any parts of three calendar days.” See the page on “Time Reckoning in the Bible” in the LSB, p.1567. Martin Franzmann also comments that Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:40 are “not intended as a prediction of the exact time that Jesus would be in the grave.” They simply indicate that Jesus was not in the grave long enough for His body to begin to see corruption, which many thought would begin by the end of three days (John 11:39). The Scriptures had also clearly said that the Lord would not let His “Holy One see corruption.” (See Psalm 16:9-10 and Acts 2:25-32 and Acts 13:35-37, etc.)

The Old Testament lesson is from Job 19: 23-27. Job had many troubles, as God allowed Satan to work on him for a time, and Job’s friends were very hard on him, too, accusing him of failing God and bringing his troubles on himself. Job had questions and struggles. Sometimes he asked, “If a man dies, shall he live again” (Job 14:14)? He feels he is near to death and says, “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me… If I hope for Sheol” (which sometimes means the place of the dead), "where then is my hope” (Job 17:1,13-16)? He says, “My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth” (Job 19:20). At the same time, Job does not lose faith and sometimes makes a great confession of his trust in his Lord. He says in Job 19:23ff that he wishes he could “write down his words in a book” or “engrave them on a rock forever.” He says, “I know that my Redeemer lives,” and that on “the last day He will stand on the earth.” Job confidently proclaims that even after his skin is destroyed by death, he will still be able to see God with his own eyes and in his own flesh, his own person, in his new life in the Lord in eternal life. Job says that his heart almost faints within him, thinking of such a great future with his Rescuer, his Redeemer. The great Easter hymn “I Know that my Redeemer Lives” begins with these words of Job and points to the hope we have in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, for this life and eternal life to come.

The psalm for this Sunday is a portion of Psalm 118, which points us to Palm Sunday and the coming of Jesus into Jerusalem to die for us and our redemption. We looked at much of the psalm last week, and you can review what is said in its closing verses in last week’s podcast. The opening verses, though, capture the theme of thanksgiving and victory in the Lord and in the work of Jesus our Redeemer. Four times we hear that “the steadfast love of the Lord lasts forever” (v.1-4). We know that “the Lord is on our side” because of what Christ has done for us, in His love and in the love of the Father Who sent Him (v.7). See the words of Romans 8:31-37 again. We know to “take refuge in the Lord,” rather than trusting in fellow human beings, no matter how powerful (v.8-9). There are times when we feel that we are “falling”, but the Lord “helps” us (v.13). We are full of strength and Easter songs about our Lord Jesus and His saving work that makes us “righteous” through the gift of faith in Him (v.14-15). “The right hand of the Lord exalted” His own Son from humiliation and suffering and death, and raised Him to His Easter resurrection and victory (v.16). (Remember Philippians 2:5-11, as well, from last week.) And the miracle of Easter is that we too shall live, even though we die, through the gifts of Christ to us (v.17-18). The words of Peter are good Easter Words for us all: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxiety on Him, for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

The Gospel lesson is Mark 16:1-8. Early on Sunday, when the Sabbath was past, three women went to the tomb where they had seen Jesus’ body placed. They hoped to anoint His body with spices, but seemed still to be in shock about His death and hadn’t thought about how they would get to His body, because of the large stone blocking the entrance. They found the stone rolled away and went in, and a young man was sitting there, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. (Sometimes this word also has the idea of being “distressed,” as in Mark 14:33, when this word is combined with the word “troubled,” when Jesus in Gethsemane was both distressed and troubled.) The young man is clearly an angel, as Matthew tells us (Matthew 28:2), and angels often appeared as men with very bright white robes (Matthew 28:3, Acts 1:10-11, Acts 10:3,30-31, etc.) The angel tells the women not to be alarmed. He knew that they were seeking the body of Jesus, who was crucified, and announced the amazing news: “He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” Then the angel told them to go and tell his disciples and Peter that they would be able to see Him alive again in Galilee, just as He had predicted (Mark 14:27-28). The women were already traumatized by the terrible death of Jesus. Now, all this seemed to be too much for these women to handle. They “fled from the tomb” and, at least at first, “they said nothing to anyone.” The words are piled up for their distressed feelings. They were “alarmed” and “seized” with “trembling” and “astonishment” and “fear.” (This is not unusual for people suddenly confronted with the majestic presence and work of the Lord. Remember that at the transfiguration of Jesus, Peter blurted out some words about building tents for Jesus and Moses and Elijah. But then we hear, “Peter did not know what to say, for they were terrified” (Mark 9:2-6).) We do know from other Gospels that the women at the tomb soon recovered from their shock, and Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and they were then able to go and tell what they had seen and heard. This reading ends abruptly here at Mark 16:8, because, as some translations indicate, “Some of the earliest manuscripts of Mark do not include 16:9-20.” Other earlier manuscripts do, though, and things said in v.9-20 are generally affirmed in other Scriptures. Above all, we listen to all the Gospels and all the Scriptures, and affirm our confidence in the risen Lord and Savior Jesus and His saving work and victory for us.

There are two choices for the Epistle lesson. The first is 1 Corinthians 15:51-58. Paul reminds us in v.50 that the kingdom of God is an inheritance promised to all believers through Christ our Savior. This is a mystery. We do not know when or how it will happen, but on the last day, when Christ returns, we shall all be changed. The bodies of the dead will be raised imperishable, and if we are still living, our bodies will be changed and become immortal. Death comes because of sin, but the ultimate victory comes through the resurrection of the body and reunification with the soul on the last day. God gives us that victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This does not mean that we just sleep when we die, until the resurrection, or that we go out of existence until the resurrection. Paul says, “For me to live in Christ and to die is gain… My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:21,23). Ecclesiastes 12:7 says that at death, for believers, “the dust returns to the earth and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Jesus promises, “I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:1-6). The Book of Revelation has pictures of the believers in heaven, already enjoying the blessings of eternal life in and with Christ the Lamb. But as Christ was raised on Easter, body and soul (the tomb was totally empty), so there will also be the resurrection and change of our bodies on the last day. There are also, of course, for those who live and die apart from Christ, warnings of eternal sorrow. “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous (through the gift of faith in Christ) will go into eternal life” (Matthew 25: 46). “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

The alternate Epistle is 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. This passage reminds us of how God gave His people the Passover meal in preparation for their being rescued from and leaving Egypt in the Old Testament, and to remember that rescue with the Passover meal in future years. Part of the preparation was getting rid of all yeast in the homes, symbolic of their sins and failings, and eating only unleavened bread, as a start in their new life in the Lord. A lamb was then sacrificed and its blood shed, in forgiveness of their sins. In New Testament times, we have Christ as our Passover Lamb, “who takes away our sins and the sins of the world” (John 1:29) through His death on the cross for us. We celebrate now “the festival” of His resurrection and our new life in Him and our Promised Land of eternal life. That also means battling the old life, the leaven of malice and evil and all that is against God’s will, and receiving the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth in God and His Word. (In the context of 1 Corinthians 5, there was some terrible immorality within the church that was being ignored. That was “leaven” that needed to be removed, or it could infect more and more people. The people needed the forgiveness and strength of Christ and His Word and the unleavened bread (and wine) of Christ in the Lord’s Supper that Paul talks about, especially in 1 Corinthians 10-11.) This is part of our new Resurrection Life in Christ, which blesses, forgives, and renews us all.