Easter Joy
Psalm 30
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Let us begin by my asking you a question. What brings you the most joy in your life? (Pause) That does not seem on the surface to be a difficult question, or is it? You may have many joys in your life that may immediately come to mind. Perhaps it was your wedding day, children's birthday, and let us not forget grandchildren's visitation day, if you have grandchildren. Think about that list for a moment. How many of you had Christ's Resurrection on your list?
Psalm 30, written by King David, extols his joy in the LORD because the LORD had helped him escape a dangerous situation. David escaped near death, and his first response was to sing a psalm of joy to the LORD. Now think about how Jesus' disciples felt when they learned that He had risen from the grave on Easter morning just like He said he would. After a horrifying week, which started with rejoicing, ended in death, the first thing the followers of Jesus did on that first Easter morning was to express their joy that the Master was alive and well.
How many of you have Christ's Resurrection on their joys list? Should not the event of Jesus' Resurrection from the grave be number one on your joy list? In Matthew's Gospel chapter 28, verse 8, we discover that Mary Magdalene and Mary Jesus' mother felt great joy when they discovered the empty tomb and that Christ had risen. Easter joy was in their hearts. Jesus was alive, thus proving the truth of everything that He told them while He was with them. On Easter evening, He showed the nail holes in his hands and feet to His disciples, and their joy overwhelmed them.
In John's Gospel, chapter 16, verse 20, we read that sorrow was turned into joy. John compares sorrow to joy as a woman giving birth. You moms know how much pain and concern there is when you are giving birth. There are so many things that could go wrong during childbirth. The pain of contractions is a distractor from what was biologically happening. When the baby is born and cries for the first time, think about the joy in your heart that you just birthed a new human being. When that new baby is handed to you the pain is forgotten and is replaced by your love for that baby. You know that you will love that child for the rest of your days and beyond.
That kind of joy was experienced by the disciples and followers of Jesus on the first Easter. The men and women who know Jesus and those who traveled with him experienced the great deliverance of the LORD's promises on the Resurrection morning. The prophets had told the people for centuries that a day would come when the Messiah of the world would sacrifice Himself for them. The sign of the promise was not fully understood or fully known at that moment. They discovered that the first Easter morning what everything Jesus told them meant. The years of Jesus' teaching and the events of Passion week started to make some sense. They rejoiced and were glad in the event of that first Easter. Jesus had transformed their heaviness of sackcloth and mourning into an incredible, almost indescribable joy. The world had not seen a great joy like this since the beginning of time when the LORD placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It could be called a divine joy. That is how intense that first Easter Joy was.
How about the joy Jesus must have felt that morning. He triumphed over Satan. He brought us the message of how to prepare ourselves for entrance into Heaven. Through His willingness to obey the Father's commandment, He saved us from eternity to Satan. We can be accepted into the LORD's Heaven because of the Resurrection. Jesus received His throne in Heaven, and that had to be an incredibly joyous event.
Twenty centuries have passed since Jesus' Resurrection. Every year in the spring, we come together as His church and celebrate His Resurrection. We come together to remember the events that led to the Resurrection. Some of the events fill us with emotions of sadness. The climax of the week is Easter morning, when we are filled with Easter Joy. Honestly speaking, Easter joy has been diminishing over the past two and probably more decades. Two decades ago, the church was so filled; how filled was it? (Pause) We had to put folding chairs in the aisle ways in the sanctuary. Today's Easter is not a good one to look at for attendance. Actually, 2020 was also poor. In 2019 Easter worship attendance was not as good as it was in the late 20th century, the 1990s. What happened? It is difficult to pass down Easter Joy's feelings to the next generation with low attendance and membership. Easter chocolate is a beautiful thing, but it is not a substitute for Easter joy because the LORD raised Christ from the dead.
During Passion Week, Satan, Jesus' opponent, threw everything that he could at Him. Satan got his followers to throw everything they could against Jesus. Satan got Jesus tortured by the Romans so that anyone else would have cried "uncle" at any time. Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross and raise up so that all could see. Nothing changed immediately for Jesus. His torture on the cross continued until His death. Satan thought that he won the battle. However, it is the war that mattered. Jesus' Resurrection was a clear sign that Jesus won the war and Satan had to go!
What did His disciples do upon seeing Jesus alive? They broke out into Easter joy and praised God with hymns and songs. Ancient hymns, as a rule, were full of God's imagery, God's wonderful attributes, and His wonderous nature. Jesus' free will, sacrifice for our sins, and for our forgiveness were always in the early Christian tributes of words. Is that the same today? Easter morning does not have the joy connected with it as it used to. Many people who call themselves Christians do not come to the church to experience Easter Joy on Easter. The day of the C & E Christian is gone. It is regrettable for these Christians because Easter Joy is the foundation of Christianity. Without Easter Joy, there is nothing to hold onto. The LORD becomes unknown to future generations because of what is happening today.
When a pharmaceutical researcher discovers a new drug that will cure a pandemic, like Covid-19, he will rejoice and joyfully submit his findings to the Food and Drug Administration for approval. When a historian discovers some unknown writings that better explain a time in history, the historian becomes joyful about the discovery. The same joy can be seen when a mathematician discovers a new postulation that has eluded him for years.
Easter joy is a lot bigger than that! It is bigger than a new discovery. It is bigger than a new born child. It is bigger than finding a one hundred dollar bill in a parking lot! Easter joy is the biggest joy anyone of us can ever experience. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive. His promise of eternal life with the forgiveness of sin is absolute and true.
Jesus' Resurrection is the foundation of all truth in the world. It is more than a Christian creed. It is a message that is not only meant for believers. It is a message meant for the entire world. The truth of the LORD's wanting for us to be restored to Him so that we can join him in Heaven cannot be overemphasized.
The earliest sermons that have been preserved for us to read today almost entirely concentrate on Christ's Resurrection. The disciples journeyed away from Jerusalem with the message of Christ's Resurrection. The Book of Acts tells us how people received the message with Easter joy in their hearts. This message was accepted by so many people in the ancient world. They believed the event as a fact and that the LORD had prepared a way for them to come back to Him. They accepted the foundation of the LORD's divine love for us. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14 that if Christ had not risen from the dead, his preaching was in vain.
Out faith in Jesus Christ is based on the Resurrection. Easter joy keeps us together as a family. Easter joy allows us to share and to help each other. Easter joy promotes us to help our neighbors and to share the message of Jesus Christ's Resurrection. The message of acceptance into the LORD's family, the Kingdom of Heaven, is open to everyone. Even those who have not accepted Jesus as their Savior will discover at death that Jesus will be there waiting to bring Easter joy into their hearts.
Before the remainder of the faith and Jesus' teachings can be instilled into one's soul, Easter must be there. Easter joy opens the mind to so many different things. The rock of Christianity is Jesus' Resurrection. If you do not believe in this event, then the rest of Christianity does not make sense. Jesus went to the cross because of His teaching. Jesus believed in everything that He taught us. He went to His death for that message. His Resurrection proves everything!
Believe it or not, Jesus' Resurrection and our belief in it brings one more thing to light. That item is our future. What's in our future? Unless you have the gift of prophecy, you do not know what it is. Wait just a minute. That is not necessarily true. I ask you again, what brings you joy? Hopefully, the first item on your list is Jesus' Resurrection. Now that it is the top item, you are ready to receive a great part of Easter Joy.
Are you ready? (Pause) It is the truth of the universe that when your body ceases, your soul will not die. Instead, your soul will also rise to the LORD. You will experience a future resurrection in the same manner that Jesus' experienced His Resurrection. Yes, each of us will be resurrected so that we can join our Savior Jesus in Heaven. The death of the body is not the end of existence. Instead, it is the beginning of the next chapter. What awaits us in Heaven is Easter joy on steroids. It is grand that words and images cannot describe it. Our flesh bodies would not be able to survive such joy. That is why the joy of Heaven, or should I say our unique Easter joy, will occur when Jesus raises each of us from the grave.
I pray that you believe in a future resurrection. I pray that you have Easter joy in your heart. Do not forget that you need to share Easter joy with your families, friends, and neighbors. Go out and proclaim to the world what Easter joy is and how they can be a part of the greatest thing the LORD God has ever done for us.
