Let us
pray, Jesus Christ You have risen from the dead. You have set us free from the bonds of sin,
death and the devil. May we be set free
from that which binds us and understand our freedom is the gift of eternal life
You freely offer to each of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this Easter
morning. AMEN.
He is
Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!
When
Voldemort came to Hogwarts with Harry’s lifeless body, and suddenly realized
that Harry was not dead, but alive, the joy that surged through Harry’s friends
changed the landscape of the movie and what the power of the Resurrection Stone
was of the Three Deathly Hallows. Yet
for us today, this Easter morning, our landscape changes as well. We do not have a ‘Resurrection Stone’, but we
have something more powerful and more meaningful for each and every one of us. We have a risen Savior, Jesus Christ. From the Garden where He was betrayed to the
chambers of the Chief Priest and Elders to Caiaphas then to Pilate, Jesus
Christ journey ended being led to the Cross on Golgotha and then died and was
buried in a new tomb. But Jesus Christ,
Lord of the World, died and rose from the dead to set You and me free.
Jesus
Christ is Risen! Jesus Christ as He had
predicted came to Jerusalem, entered riding on the colt the foal of a
donkey. The people expected His coming
as King to set them free from the tyranny of the Romans and renew the Kingdom
of God promised to the people of Israel.
But Jesus Christ came to set us free from something more profound and which
bound us for all eternity, our sins. In
Jesus Christ setting us free from our sins, He accomplished what no animal
sacrifice, and no other death could do.
Through His atoning sacrifice of His own life on Calvary for you and for
me, Jesus Christ has set us free from the bonds of sin and eternity. Jesus Christ in true suffering servant
fashion endured Hell here on earth to set us free from our sins and rise on the
third day in complete fulfillment of the plan of salvation for all of mankind. Jesus Christ in rising from the dead looses
the bonds and shackles that we live in and with and frees us to proclaim long
and hard, “Jesus Christ is Risen today!!!
Alleluia”
For
Jesus Christ is risen from the grave.
The cloths which were wrapped around Jesus lifeless Head and Body are
neatly folded in the tomb and the stone that closed the entrance is rolled
away. Jesus Christ now in His
resurrected and perfect Body, no longer marred and disfigured, is recognizable
with the pierced Hands, Feet and Side is risen from the grave for you and for
me.
Jesus
Christ is risen and we are free. The
sins that bound us we are set free from.
The eternal consequence of Hell that we deserve, we are set free from. We are set free by the innocent Blood of
Jesus Christ that was spilled by the soldiers, the nails the spear and in our
receiving the sacrament this morning we are set free and given eternal life by
Jesus Christ for you and for me.
Today is
Easter, but for four young ladies we also celebrate First Communion. Today Alexis, Danielle, Kaylee and Sydney
receive for the first time a foretaste of the feast to come. They receive the precious Body and Blood of
Jesus Christ, given and shed for them for the forgiveness of sins for the first
time. In their receipt of Jesus Christ
they receive the gift of eternal life that was promised to them when they were
baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In their receiving the Lord’s Supper they
understand in a more tangible way the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the joy of
the resurrection we celebrate this morning.
In, with and under the Bread and Wine, which is the Body and Blood of
Jesus Christ they receive the forgiveness of sins offered by Jesus Christ for
them and for each of us. For Jesus
Christ did not come into this world to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through Him and His sacrifice for our sins on the Cross of
Calvary that frees all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this
morning. Jesus Christ is risen
today! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! AMEN.
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