“And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24:2-3, ESV)

Once as a teenager, while on a band trip to Florida, a buddy and I decided it would be cool to be buried in the sand on the beach. To make it interesting, we decided to dig a hole deep enough so that we could be buried up to our chins while standing up. Brilliant, right?

Maybe not.

At first, as the sand was pushed down on my feet and legs, I thought this was “pretty cool.” But as the weight of the sand began piling on my stomach and chest, I started to think I was a fool.

By the time the sand was up to my chin, the weight of the sand was tremendous. The load of the sand felt like it was crushing my chest and smashing my legs. I couldn’t move. I was trapped. I felt like I was suffocating. I was immobilized and helpless. Cemented in place, I was petrified in a tomb of sand. It felt like my very life was being drained from my body. (Note to self: Don’t ever do that again!)

Life is full of figurative burials.

Have you been buried before? I wouldn’t wish that crushing feeling on anyone else. Yet even if you have never been buried in sand like I was, my hunch is that you have been buried by life. No doubt, you have had points in your life when you were in it up to your neck, when you felt immobilized and helpless, when you felt like you were buried in a tomb of sand and the life was being drained from you. Life’s figurative burials can be just as crushing and unexpected as if you were trying to have fun at the beach with a buddy.

Maybe you have been buried in questions:

• “If God is so good, why does He let bad things happen?”

• “Why did God let my baby die?”

• “Why did God let me lose my job?”

• “If Jesus is the light, why am I in the dark?”

Questions aren’t the only things that can bury us. Maybe you have been buried in disappointment:

• “You’re just not like your older brother!”

• “You’re nothing like our last boss!”

• “You’re just not the husband I thought you would be.”

And then, of course, there are all our responsibilities. Papers to grade, parents to call, cows to milk, fields to plant, deadlines to meet, family to see, bills to pay.

Finally, we can’t forget about how the past can consume us: the minute we lost our temper, the hour we lost our purity, the day we lost control, the years we lost our priorities.

Buried.

We are in it up to our necks. We are six feet under. We are suffocating, immobilized, helpless.

Jesus can relate.

Buried—in it up to His neck, immobilized and rendered helpless by the nails in His hands and the spikes through His feet. His very life drained from Him, Jesus Christ died and was buried. He was sealed in a tomb.

Jesus was dead.

Or at least that’s what the women thought early on that first day of the week:

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.” (Luke 24:1)

No doubt, these women and the disciples were buried in questions, buried in fears, buried in hurts, buried in guilt. They were in it up to their necks, suffocating in their shame, immobilized by disappointment.

Jesus, their Lord, had died.

But then they came to the tomb.

“And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24:2)

Jesus is buried no longer.

The story of Jesus Christ does not end “crucified, died, and was buried.” Rather, Easter declares, “The third day He rose again from the dead!” (Apostles’ Creed).

Our Lenten journey leads us to this reminder. There is life in the tomb! And because Jesus’ life is our life through baptism, even when we are buried by life or when we are finally buried in death, Jesus brings us abundant life.

He knows what it is to be buried, both figuratively and literally. Thus, He says:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Yes, all who are buried in the harshness and the hurts of life, all who are buried by the guilt and the shame of life, and all who are buried by the grief and sorrow of life—Jesus brings rest for your weary soul and abundant life to your fearful heart.

Sin is cleansed, shame is removed, burdens are lightened, and sorrow is turned to hope. That’s the power of Christ’s life in you. In fact, as no tomb could hold down the body of Jesus Christ, be assured that no tomb can hold down the body of those who die believing in Him.

We are buried no longer.

There is no greater assurance of this than when you go to the Lord’s Supper and eat of His body and blood. When you have the Lord’s body and blood in you, it means that you have the power of a death-defeater coursing through your veins! You have the absolute assurance that no tomb can keep you down.

This means that every time you go to the tomb of a loved one who died believing in Jesus Christ—who died having His body and blood in them—know there is life in that tomb. Jesus Himself proclaims it:

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelations 1:17b-18)

When you are buried with Jesus, there is always life in the tomb.

Thus, when you are buried by the burdens and the sorrows of this life, turn to Jesus and rest in His love. The things making you feel crushed no longer have a hold on you. Jesus has a hold on you!

Baptized into His life, fed by His sacramental body and blood, we are wrapped into the life of Jesus right here and right now, unto all eternity. Questions, disappointments, responsibilities, and our past no longer consume us or give us our identity. Our identity is rooted in the freedom from death and burial that Christ freely gives us.

This Easter, may Christ—the life of all the living—fill you full. Alleluia, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Lucas

Rev. Dr. Lucas V. Woodford
President
Minnesota South District, LCMS
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