Christ is risen!

First-fruits means more-fruits!

Dear Friends,

God be praised for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the grave. On the third day Jesus said, “That’s enough!” And His victory is our victory. His resurrection is our resurrection! His empty tomb is our unwavering hope.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted up here. Thank you for your patience. I was able to walk with my dad through the valley of the shadow of death. I, and my family, especially mom, appreciate your prayers.

Our hope is the in the resurrection of the dead, and Christ cannot disappoint us. But now, it’s back to work, ala King David, “I shall go to him.” 2 Samuel 12:23.

I have a back-log of interesting things to share with you Wednesday What-Noters, but we’ll focus this week on Easter stuff.

1/ The Lord Will Vindicate (Deuteronomy 32:36)

“Vindicate” is the other side of the coin of “justification.” To rescue us the Lord must over through our enemies: sin, death, and the devil.

2/ Easter Chronology

The ordering of events after the resurrection is notoriously difficult. I think this article does a beautiful job of syncing up the narratives from the four Gospels.

A harmony of the resurrection accounts.

It dives into the perspectives of the four Gospel writers, Matthew (staying in Bethany), Mark (from the house in Jerusalem with the upper room), Luke (from Mary’s perspective, starting also in Bethany), and John (who was staying in his family’s Jerusalem residence with Peter).

3/ Life without Easter (a Frank Knight poem)

Have you ever paused to wonder or give a moment’s thought
What our lives would be like without the gift that Easter brought?
For in Jesus’ resurrection our whole eternity is held,
If from death Christ was not raised, then all human hope is quelled.

Without that blessèd Easter morning, there is no hope indeed,
We remain in our trespasses if from death we’re never freed.
If the stone had not been moved, He would still be in the grave.
If He could not raise himself, you and I He could not save.

Without the message of the angels saying “Look! He is not here!”
Then our lives would be vain years filled with greed and pride and fear.
What a miserable existence for us to know there’s nothing more
Than to struggle through each day; no hope of life forevermore.

But the glorious resurrection of our Savior on that morn
Is the power and the promise that Jesus truly is firstborn
Of all of us who follow after, being raised to life anew
With knowledge of His great forgiveness; knowing that His Word is true!

As you celebrate this Easter, and you worship Christ that day
Please never treat it lightly, understand the price He paid.
How He sacrificed His own life for our sins to be atoned,
Then He rose again! Our One True Friend! We’ll see Him on His throne!

By Frank Knight

4/ How to know if your dreams are from God

This was an important study from the Worldwide Bible class at the beginning of the month:

5/ Eighteen Resurrection Quotations

Here’s the pile of quotations we gathered up for the Easter bulletin at St Paul, Austin.

I.

St. Athanasius on the Incarnation and Victory Over Death

For being Himself mighty, and Artificer of everything, He prepares the body in the Virgin as a temple unto Himself, and makes it His very own as an instrument, in it manifested, and in it dwelling. And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father — doing this, moreover, of His loving-kindness, to the end that, firstly, all being held to have died in Him, the law involving the ruin of men might be undone (inasmuch as its power was fully spent in the Lord's body, and had no longer holding-ground against men, his peers), and that, secondly, whereas men had turned toward corruption, He might turn them again toward incorruption, and quicken them from death by the appropriation of His body and by the grace of the Resurrection, banishing death from them like straw from the fire.

Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, 8:3-4

II.

St. Irenaeus on Christ's Universal Salvation

"For He came to save all through means of Himself—all, I say, who through Him are born again to God—infants, and children, and boys, and youths, and old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age… and at last, having been crucified and having risen again, He became the first-fruits of them that slept, that He might show forth the power of His resurrection, and that through His rising again all who believe in Him might attain unto God."

(Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-202), Against Heresies, Book II, Chapter 22, Section 4 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885, p. 391).

III.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus on Our Union with Christ

"Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him; yesterday I died with Him; today I am quickened with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him; today I rise with Him. Let us offer ourselves to Him who suffered and rose again for us… Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us; let us become gods through Him, since He became man for us… He rose again that we might believe in Him who raises us from the dead, and that we might have hope of eternal life."

Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329-390), Oration 1: On Easter and His Reluctance, Section 4-5 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 7, ed. Philip Schaff, Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894, p. 203).

IV.

Ignatius on Christ's Victory Over Death

“Now, He suffered all these things for our sakes, that we might be saved. And He suffered truly, even as also He truly raised up Himself, not, as certain unbelievers maintain, that He only seemed to suffer (as they themselves only seem to be Christians). And as they believe, so shall it happen unto them, when they shall be divested of their bodies, and be mere evil spirits. … For I know that after His resurrection also He was still possessed of flesh, and I believe that He is so now. When, for instance, He came to those who were with Peter, He said to them, ‘Lay hold, handle Me, and see that I am not an incorporeal spirit.’ And immediately they touched Him, and believed, being convinced both by His flesh and spirit. … And after His resurrection He ate and drank with them, as being possessed of flesh, although spiritually He was united to the Father.”

Ignatius of Antioch – Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (c. 110 AD)

V.

St. Athanasius on Death's Defeat

“A very strong proof of this destruction of death and its conquest by the cross is supplied by a present fact, namely this: All the disciples of Christ despise death; they take the offensive against it and, instead of fearing it, by the sign of the cross and by faith in Christ trample on it as on something dead. Before the divine sojourn of the Savior, even the holiest of men were afraid of death, and mourned the dead as those who perish. But now that the Savior has raised His body, death is no longer terrible, but all those who believe in Christ tread it underfoot as nothing, and prefer to die rather than to deny their faith in Christ, knowing full well that when they die they do not perish, but live indeed, and become incorruptible through the resurrection. But that devil who of old wickedly exulted in death, now… he alone it is who remains truly dead. There is proof of this too; for men who, before they believe in Christ, think death horrible and are afraid of it, once they are converted despise it so completely that they go eagerly to meet it, and themselves become witnesses of the Savior’s resurrection…. So weak has death become that even women, who used to be taken in by it, mock at it now as a dead thing robbed of all its strength. Death has become like a tyrant who has been completely conquered by the legitimate Monarch; bound hand and foot, the passers-by sneer at him, hitting him and abusing him, no longer afraid of his cruelty and rage, because of the King who has conquered him. So has death been conquered and branded for what it is by the Savior on the cross. It is bound hand and foot; all who are in Christ trample it as they pass and, as witnesses to Him, deride it, scoffing and saying, ‘O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?’”

St. Athanasius – On the Incarnation of the Word (§27, c. 320 AD)

VI.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem on the Joy of the Resurrection

“Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and keep high festival, all you that love Jesus; for He is risen. Rejoice, all you that mourned before, … for He who was spitefully entreated of them in this place is risen again. And as the discourse concerning the Cross was a sorrowful one, so let the good tidings of the Resurrection bring joy to the hearers. Let mourning be turned into gladness, and lamentation to joy; and let our mouth be filled with joy and gladness, because of Him who after His resurrection said ‘Rejoice.’ For I know the sorrow of Christ’s friends in these past days; because, as our discourse stopped short at the Death and the Burial, and did not tell the good tidings of the Resurrection, your mind was in suspense, to hear what you were longing for. Now, therefore, the Dead is risen, He who was free among the dead, and the deliverer of the dead. He who in dishonor wore patiently the crown of thorns, even He arose, and crowned Himself with the diadem of His victory over death.”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem – Catechetical Lecture 14 (c. 350 AD)

VII.

St. John Chrysostom on the Death of Death

“Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free! He that was taken by death has annihilated it. He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He angered it when it tasted of His flesh. When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: ‘O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world.’ Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and, lo! it encountered Heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the Invisible. … O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are abolished! Christ is risen, and the demons are cast down! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life is freed! Christ is risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead! For Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.”

St. John Chrysostom – Paschal (Easter) Homily (c. 400 AD)

VIII.

St. Augustine on Christ's Victory in Combat

“In this combat of Christ against Satan, of an unarmed man against a fully armed foe – in this duel of David against Goliath – Jesus won the victory over His mighty and brutal adversary. Stripped of His garments, with His body nailed to the cross, this mere thirty-three-year-old Savior triumphed over the devil, not by the sword, but by the radiance of His cross. He then descended to the netherworld and forced it to release His chosen ones. After His resurrection, He instructed His disciples. (Notice that when teaching, He is Reason itself; when judging, He is the Law; delivering souls, He is Grace; suffering, He is the Lamb; laid in the tomb, He is man; rising from it, He is God.) To us also He has promised resurrection and an eternal reward. To earthly men He gives heavenly things, and to mortals immortality; to corpses He gives living souls; to frail bodies, resurrection; to the dead, life; and to those He has regenerated, salvation.”

St. Augustine – Sermon for Easter Day (early 5th century)

IX.

Hic est dies verus Dei

A Resurrection poem by St Ambrose

This is truly God’s own day
gleaming with his blessed light—
the day when his sacred blood
washed away the crimes of a sinful world,

restored faith to the lost,
and gave the blind the gift of sight.
Breathes there a soul still bound by fear
although he sees the thief absolved of guilt?

He turned his cross into a reward,
gained Jesus by a moment’s faith,
was the first to reach the kingdom of God,
and entered in before the just.

Even the angels were astounded to see
Christ’s body scarred with pain,
and, close to him, the penitent thief
entering into the life of bliss.

Oh, mystery full of wonders:
that a whole world’s filth,
the sins of all mankind, and the vices of the flesh
should be cleansed by flesh itself!

Nothing could be more sublime
than very guilt begging for grace,
than love putting an end to fear,
death giving back life again,

death swallowing its own hook
and binding itself with its own bonds,
everyone’s life dying the death
but rising to life again,

death felling all of mankind
only to see it rise anew,
death destroyed by its own blow
and grieving that it alone has truly died.

—St. Ambrose trans. Edmond Bonin

(https://aquinas-in-english.neocities.org/Ambrose-Hic_est_dies_verus_Dei.pdf)

Now, the Lutheran Fathers:

X.

Martin Luther

Easter Tuesday Sermon (1524)

“The disciples are gathered there together in seclusion. They are afraid of the Jews, are, indeed, in danger of their lives; they are fearful and fainthearted and afraid of sin and death… This is written for us, that we might learn that the Gospel of Christ’s resurrection comforts only the fainthearted. And who are these? They are the poor, conscience-stricken ones, whose sins lie heavily upon them… To these contrite, poor, and needy souls, the Gospel offers comfort, to them it is a sweet savor.

…For the Gospel is a message and a testimony, which declares how the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, that He might remove sin, death and all evil from all who believe on Him. If I recognize Him as such a Savior, I have heard the Gospel aright… If now the Gospel teaches naught but that Christ has overcome sin and death by His resurrection, then we must indeed confess that it can be of service to none save those who feel sin and death.”

XI.

Resurrection Day Sermon on Mark 16:1-8

“If Christ has taken away death and our sins by His resurrection and has justified us, why do we then still feel death and sin within us?… To this I reply: I have often said before that feeling and faith are two different things… Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification, we cannot see it nor feel it, neither can we comprehend it with our reason. Therefore we must disregard our feeling and accept only the Word, write it into our heart and cling to it, even though it seems as if my sins were not taken from me… Our feelings must not be considered, but we must constantly insist that death, sin and hell have been conquered, although I feel that I am still under the power of death, sin and hell… Thus faith leads us quietly, contrary to all feeling and comprehension of reason, through sin, through death and through hell. Then we shall see salvation before our eyes, and then we shall know perfectly what we have believed, namely, that death and all sorrow have been conquered.”

XII.

On Christ’s Descent into Hell (1540)

“For there stands the text. It says, ‘He is risen!’—and not for Himself, but for our sake. It says that His resurrection is ours and that we will also rise with Him and not remain in death and the grave, but that in our bodies also we will celebrate an eternal Easter with Him… If we would only believe this, we would live and die well. For such faith would teach us splendidly that Christ did not only rise for His own Person, but that we are linked together with Him in such a way that His resurrection avails for us, and that we, too, stand and are included in that cry, ‘He is risen!’ Yes, we would understand that, on account of or through His resurrection, we, too, must rise and live with Him forever, that our resurrection to eternal life has already begun in Christ (as St. Paul also says), and is so certain that it is as if it had already happened, although it is still hidden from us and unseen.”

XIII.

Smalcald Articles (1537)

“Here is the first and chief article:

That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, “was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Now because this must be believed and cannot be obtained or grasped otherwise with any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us, as St. Paul says in Romans 3[:28, 26]… Nothing in this article can be conceded or given up, even if heaven and earth or whatever is transitory passed away. As St. Peter says in Acts 4[:12]: “There is no other name…given among mortals by which we must be saved.” “And by His bruises we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). On this article stands all that we teach and practice against the pope, the devil, and the world…

XIV.

Large Catechism (1529)

“He…died and was buried, that He might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe… And all this, in order to become my Lord; for He did none of these for Himself… And after that He rose again from the dead, swallowed up and devoured death, and finally ascended into heaven and assumed the government at the Father’s right hand, so that the devil and all powers must be subject to Him… until finally, at the last day, He will completely part and separate us from the wicked world, the devil, death, sin, etc.

…Ay, the entire Gospel which we preach is based on this, that we properly understand this article as that upon which our salvation and all our happiness rest, and which is so rich and comprehensive that we never can learn it fully.

Martin Chemnitz

XV.

Examination of the Council of Trent (1560s)

“And this whole action of the Mediator turns on this, whether the Father would accept that satisfaction and obedience of the Son for the whole world. But this the Father showed especially in this, that He did not leave in death the Son, whom He had smitten for the sins of the people, but raised Him from the dead and set Him at the right hand of His majesty.

Examination of the Council of Trent, I:8.4.13

Johann Gerhard (1582–1637)

XVI.

On Christ’s Resurrection and Justification

“Just as God punished our sins in Christ, which had been laid on and imputed to Him as our substitute, so also by raising Him from the dead He absolved Him of our sins which were imputed to Him, and therefore He also absolved us in Him, in order that the resurrection of Christ might thus be the cause and pledge and counterpart of our justification. In the resurrection of Christ we were absolved of our sins so that they no longer can condemn us before the judgment seat of God

XVII.

Sacred Meditations (1606), “The Spiritual Resurrection of the Godly”

“The resurrection of Christ is of no avail to thee unless Christ also rises in thy soul. As Christ should be conceived in thee, born in thee, and live in thee, so likewise ought He to arise in thee. Death precedes every resurrection, for he cannot arise again who has not first died; so it is with respect to our spiritual resurrection. Christ will not arise in thee unless the old Adam first die in thee; the inner man of the Spirit arises not until after the outer man of the flesh is dead and buried; the newness of the Spirit will not appear until the oldness of the flesh disappears. Nor is it enough that Christ should arise in thy soul but once, for the old Adam cannot be destroyed in a single moment. The old sinful nature strives daily to live anew in thee; and daily must thou destroy it that Christ may daily begin to live in thee… Therefore let Christ rise and live in thee, that thou mayst live eternally with Him in heaven. This is the first resurrection. ‘Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power’ (Rev. 20:5–6).

C. F. W. Walther

XVIII.

Easter Sermon (“Festival of Joy,” 1870)

“We must therefore conclude that the resurrection of Christ is not only an added stone in the structure of our salvation, but the cornerstone; the resurrection of Christ is not only a sparkling gem in the crown of our redemption, but the very crown itself; without the resurrection of Christ, the world still would not be redeemed.

And so it is. The resurrection of Christ makes it possible for one to rejoice in His birth, comfort himself in His suffering and death, and boast of His cross.

Let me know what you favorite is, and if you have other quotations that you appreciate.

A/ Dying Well Conference: July 7-9, 2025 in St Louis

Dying Well in Christ: A Forum on the Church’s Care at Life’s End, is a conference for pastors and the people of God who seek to learn more about and help foster a faithful practice of merciful care at life’s end within the body of Christ.

Join other faithful Lutherans July 7-9, 2025 on the campus of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis Missouri. Use this link to learn more and register: **https://www.csl.edu/dying-well-forum/

More soon.

Christ is risen!

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Christ is Risen! Pastor Wolfmueller

Psalm 27:4

www.wolfmueller.co

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