Resurrection Forgiveness - Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter (April 14, 2024)

Scripture Readings: Acts 3:12–21 | Psalm 4 | 1 John 3:1–7 | Luke 24:36–48

“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48).
 
Today we continue our journey through the season of Easter… 50 days of celebrating and contemplating the beautiful reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
This Good News that Jesus lives stands at the centre of the Christian faith. It is the foundation for everything else that we believe about God’s purposes, for us, and for our world.
 
And this morning, our Scripture readings invite us to explore the deep but often overlooked connection between the resurrection of Jesus, and the message of forgiveness.
 
Why is forgiveness of sins such a big part of the story of Easter?
 
The connection to Good Friday seems a bit more straightforward. After all, it was at the cross Scripture tells us, that the Living God dealt with our sins once and for all, like in our reading last Sunday from 1 John Chapter 2, which says Jesus is “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2). It was through His death that our Lord became God’s way of dealing with our world’s failures… offering Himself as the sacrifice to reconcile us to God and to one another… making atonement… at-one-ment… for us through His broken body, and blood shed on our behalf.
 
Exploring the full meaning of the cross is a lifetime’s work. And there are multiple ways that the Bible invites us to think about and understand what Christ’s atonement actually entails. One picture or image alone can’t capture the depth of it’s significance.
 
One way that Christ’s work on the cross is portrayed in Scripture is as God’s victory over the forces of darkness… defeating evil, disarming the powers of death, and undoing the devil’s schemes to separate us from the love of the Living God. Christ conquers our oppressors at the cross.
 
Another biblical image is that, on the cross, Jesus offered Himself up as a sacrificial offering, that cleanses us of the stain of sin… purifying us from our own evil and guilt, so that we can be prepared to properly share in the holy life of the Living God. Christ cleanses us at the cross.
 
Yet another well known image from the Bible is the language of redemption… a word that specifically refers to the payment of a ransom to set free those who are captives… settling all our debts, and breaking every bond so that we can be free to start a new life in God’s blessed company. Christ pays the cost for our freedom at the cross.
 
These are just three of the most common ways that the Bible itself talks about Jesus’ death, and what it accomplished, and all these images are deeply connected to the Christian conception of forgiveness: rescue… cleansing… freedom.
 
But if all Jesus needed to do was to die on the cross… why is it that none of the disciples were talking about the Good News of God’s forgiveness in Jesus’ name on Holy Saturday? Before Christ rose again? What changed their minds and convinced them that Christ’s death was not just another tragedy… another failure… another example of all that is wrong with our messed up, broken world?

What changed their minds was the wonderful, world-changing news that Jesus didn’t stay dead… He rose again from the grave, and lives even now. And that reality changes everything!
 
The resurrection of Jesus proved that what had happened to Him was not just some tragic event… but the Living God transforming even our worst failure into the way He would deal with all our sin once and for all.
 
In our Gospel reading from Luke Chapter 24, the bewildered disciples see Jesus their Rabbi alive again. Eating, drinking… seemingly more alive than ever before… no longer under death’s power, but filled full with the Holy Spirit’s life.
 
Luke 24:36-43, “While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.”
 
The disciples took some time to put two and two together… but I don’t think we can blame them. They simply could not imagine that what they were witnessing was really true… and yet it was! Jesus had died, but He was alive again. Against all hope, He had passed through death, and come back better than before. What we humans have always feared… the grave, Jesus endured, and overcame… not just for Himself, but for us all. No wonder it took a few moments to sink in.
 
And as they still struggled to get their heads around the Good News their Lord had risen again, Jesus starts showing them from the Scriptures that this had been God’s plan all along. That Jesus was sent to suffer and die, and be raised again to new life… as the culmination of God’s great rescue mission to restore His beloved but broken world.
 
Luke 24:44-45, Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures…”
 
This is what the whole story of the Bible is pointing us to… Christ’s death and resurrection. The whole story hinges on what Jesus did on the cross… and on His rising again.
 
And the resurrection of Jesus showed the first disciples, and it shows you and I today that God’s great rescue plan worked! It has all been accomplished! It’s got God’s final seal of approval. We’re not just left wondering if death and darkness will somehow still win in the end… or if we still bear the stains of our sins… or if we will ever be set free. Jesus was not abandoned to the grave, but raised in glory. All that He came to do, He has done. His atoning work to bring reconcile us to God has truly worked. In Him, we are truly reunited to the Living God, and can have peace with one another. We don’t need to doubt God’s intentions towards us, or despair that we are too far gone to be forgiven.

The resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee that while the Good News may seem too good, it really is true!
 
And as witnesses to this world-changing truth, Christ’s disciples… back then and here today, now had a key part to play in this story: Luke 24:46-48,
 
“and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
 
The first disciples were His witnesses in their day, and we are His witnesses in ours… sharing the Good News of Jesus, the Risen Lord with everyone, and proclaiming forgiveness of sins in His name.
 
Why? Because our world desperately needs it!
 
Consider the unending cycles of violence and retaliation tearing families, communities, countries, and our world apart at this very moment. Think of the destruction of Gaza that Israel’s armies brought down in response to the terrorism they endured… and now the threats of retaliation and spreading conflicts within the region. Think of all the untold numbers of needless deaths and suffering, and evil that we humans have committed against each other over the centuries… conflicts driven by fear, and pride, and bitterness… and wrath... and hunger for revenge.
 
Consider all those who are weighed down by shame, and guilt, and feelings of worthlessness… which drives so many to seek relief in self-destructive ways… trying to numb the pain for a moment at least… and cutting themselves off from the connection to those around them.
 
Consider all those who are trapped… unable to break free from all sorts of bonds: from destructive habits… from toxic relationships… from crushing circumstances, some far beyond their control… desperately trying to make it through just one more day, and longing for some relief.
 
The Risen Jesus sends us into this world… into our world… with the Good News of the real forgiveness that it needs more than ever.

And this Good News is meant not for some, but for all nations! A truly worldwide rescue has been enacted… staring in Jerusalem, where God’s own covenant people crucified the Messiah, Jesus Christ… and where He was raised from the dead… turning even our worst failures on their heads.
 
For it was while we humans were at our absolute worst… killing our sinless Saviour at the cross… that God was at work conquering our true foes… cleansing us of our sins by Christ’s own blood… and paying the high cost for our freedom… then raising Christ again to bring His divine new life about, turning our world upside down by this gift of forgiveness and self-giving love.
 
This all connects in our first reading this morning in Acts Chapter 3, and St. Peter’s response to the crowds gathered at the gates of the Temple, after seeing a man healed before their eyes.
 
Just before our reading takes place, we are told how this healing came about in the days after the Risen Lord poured out the Holy Spirit on the Church at Pentecost.

Acts 3:1-10, “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”  And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
 
We could say so much about this passage, but one point will do for now, and that is that: faith in Jesus Christ the Risen Lord connects us with the power and life of God’s new creation. God remains at work in the lives of those who trust and follow Jesus… to carry on what Christ began.
 
But as the crowds gathered, Peter and John take the opportunity to share the Good News that had restored this man’s legs, and brought him so much joy.

Acts 3:11-16, “While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.”
 
Again, St. Peter pulls no punches. He makes the guilt of his own people clear. But then he makes clear the way forward:

Acts 3:17-21, “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.”
 
Repent. Turn around and trust in Jesus.
 
Let what God’s Messiah has done wipe away your sins, so you may be forgiven… and share in God’s new life here and now, as we await Jesus’ return and God’s universal restoration. In other words, St. Peter says to start living resurrection lives now… because in Jesus, the Risen Lord, God’s new creation has already begun.
 
This same idea is shared in our reading from the first letter from St. John, where the apostle points us to the gracious love of God that draws us into the new life of His family:

1 John 3:1-3, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
 
St. John says that in Christ, and what He accomplished for us at the cross, we have become the children of God… adopted into God’s family, to share in His life, and become like Him. This beautiful truth calls us into a new way of life, leaving behind our old ways, and looking ahead to our hope of being raised to be with Jesus forever.
 
This is our destiny as believers:
We will be like Him… resurrected like Him, with new bodies filled with God’s Spirit, /and no longer subject to death.
We will be like Him… cleansed from all our faults and failures… and all that keeps us from having full fellowship with God and with each other.
We will be like Him… set free from slavery of all sorts… to self-centredness, fear, hatred, bitterness, shame… set free to truly love, and truly live God’s way forever.
 
The Good News of Christ’s resurrection offers us true forgiveness of sins… so that we can start the new life of God here and now, showing the world all around us the Good News of the Risen Lord in all its fulness by how we live.
 
It means leaving our sins behind… placing them in Christ’s hands at the cross… and trusting Him to deal with them.
 
It means letting the reality of Easter reshape our minds and our imaginations… our understanding of what God is up to, and our own part in His worldwide rescue mission.
 
It means trusting that, even when we fail… Jesus Christ the Risen Lord remains ready to forgive us. Calling us to turn around, take His hand, and let His holy love transform us.
 
And it means trusting that, even when others fail… and fail badly… that Jesus Christ the Risen Lord remains ready to forgive them too! That the promise of true forgiveness of sins in His name is meant for everyone.
 
The resurrection of Jesus assures us of God’s gift of forgiveness. Jesus really did accomplish God’s atoning work for us. Jesus really did begin God’s new creation. Jesus really did open this new life up to us, and to everyone who will turn to Him and trust in His name.
 
And because of this Good News, we His people today really do have work to do: to show the world… our friends, and family, and neighbours, and strangers, and even enemies… both by our words and especially our actions, that in Jesus’ name, forgiveness really is possible… as we await with hope Christ’s coming again in glory to restore all things. Amen.