‘For He is Risen’
The Rev. Bradley D. Heinrichs
Editor’s note: This sermon was preached in Cuba on Palm Sunday, 2013
But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know
that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:5-6)
I
magine the despair these two women felt as they went to the tomb of Jesus to
anoint His body. Their lives must have been shattered, thinking that the man
who had triumphantly ridden into Jerusalem as the long-awaited Messiah and
Savior was now dead. Picture their fear and confusion when they saw the angel
sitting on the stone by the entrance to the sepulcher. Think of the great joy and
comfort they must have felt when they heard those words: “He is risen as He
said.”
These words from the New Testament are some of the most well known in
the Christian world today. Yet very few seem to have any real understanding of
the impact this has had on the spiritual welfare of the human race as a whole,
and on each of us individually. What do these few precious words mean to us?
In the New Church, we are supposed to have the clearest picture of the
true meaning of the Lord’s resurrection in modern day Christianity – and yet,
maybe even we fail to reflect as deeply as we should upon this momentous
event. Do we perhaps fail to appreciate fully the teachings we have in the
Writings, which give us the answers to the questions so many people can only
grasp at blindly in the dark?
Have we indeed failed to carry out the Lord’s commission to His disciples
when He said: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
At Easter it is customary for us to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection and
glorification. It is a time when we give thanks and praise to the Lord for the
greatest of all miracles that has ever been performed – the resurrection of His
131