Easter in the Land of Milk And Honey
Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who rose to bring us into the Promised Land.
It’s good to see you here so early, to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection.
If you were still milking cows, for those of us who used to do that, you’d have wake up really early to first get the cows milked, and then get here in time for the Sunrise Service.
I have to admit, I’m happy I didn’t have to get up at 3:00 and milk the cows before coming here this morning.
The reason I bring this up is because we’re going celebrate Easter in the land of milk and honey.
When God’s people were slaves in Egypt, He promised them that He would secure their freedom… and lead them to a land flowing with milk and honey, a fertile land that would support their livestock… and in which could grow crops and plant orchards, and have abundant harvests.
God promised them in Leviticus 20:24, ‘You shall inherit the land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
He promised that if they would obey Him, they would live long in that blessed land. And in that land, the promised Messiah would be born.
God made many promises to His Old Testament people, but chief among them was that He would send them His own Son to be their Savior.
God has also made many promises to His New Testament people, including us today – extraordinary promises… like that He won’t hold our sins against us, but will wipe them out, totally forgive us…
… that death will not be the end of us, but we’ll live again, and forever…
… that the day will come when we’ll never be sad nor wanting in any way, but eternally cared for, forever fulfilled in body, mind and soul…
Our God can make these incredible promises because of His Son. Because God knew He would send His Son…
… because He knew His Son would be pure and holy…
… because He knew His Son would be loving and courageous to die for the sins of the world…
… because He knew His Son would rise in glory and power, and ascend into Heaven….
… and then, Father and Son together would send the Holy Spirit, giving us the power to believe…
Because of all this, God could make and keep that promise He made to His people long ago, to bring them into a blessed land, an Easter land, a land of life… because in that land, the Messiah would live and die and rise.
All the good God did in the Old Testament, He did on account of His holy, someday incarnate, someday crucified, and someday risen Son.
For the same reason, because of His victorious, risen Son, God has brought us today into this spiritual land of milk and honey, the Church on earth…
… and someday, for the sake of His risen Son, He’ll bring us into His eternal land of milk and honey in Heaven.
Before the people of Israel could enter into that abundant land they had to cross a great desert, and wander for 40 years.
Before God’s Son could rise to save and glorify us, He had to live in this fallen world, this desert of sin and wilderness of suffering.
But He did it only with love… never with sin.
And He took His love and holiness to the cross as a sacrifice, to offer it to God to count as ours, to suffer and die in our place, and fulfill His promise to win our deliverance from death.
God was pleased with His Son’s sacrifice of holy love, and He accepted it.
The sins of the world Jesus took upon Himself were forgiven, and He rose as the Victor over sin and death, to bring His children into a spiritual land of milk and honey, this Promised Land of Grace, the Church on earth…
… and into an eternal land of milk and honey, His Promised Land of Glory, His Church in Heaven.
All because He died and is risen indeed!
In our Sunrise Gospel, very early in the morning, Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb, and found the stone rolled away.
She didn’t know what to make of it, so she ran and told Peter and John, who ran to tomb, went inside, and found it empty.
After a while they went back home, but Mary stayed… and she cried.
Then she looked inside the tomb, and saw two angels, sitting where Jesus’ body had lain. They asked her why she was crying.
She told them why… and then her tears were interrupted by a man she thought to be the grounds keeper…
But then He said her name, “Mary”, and she saw who it was…
“Rabboni, Teacher”, she said.
Jesus talked to her for awhile, and then she ran and told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”. I just talked to Him. He’s alive!
When Mary saw her Lord being crucified, and then saw Him buried, her heart was broken… her dreams about Jesus being her Messiah came crashing down.
But when she saw Him alive again, and heard Him say her name, all her dreams came true, you might say.
In an instant Mary went from living in a land of gloom and despair, to a promised land of hope and joy.
Jesus showed that He is God’s Son indeed…
… and more powerful and amazing than anyone imagined…
… more than a teacher and a miracle-worker, but the One who kept and fulfilled all God’s promises to humanity, winning back our life, which we had wasted and thrown away because of our sin.
Like Jesus, we walk through this fallen world, and it isn’t easy; it’s a corrupt place in many ways; we’re always contending with sin and evil… sin is always before us, and always within us.
But Jesus, by His mighty resurrection, overcame this land and culture of sin and death.
As our Epistle says, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Through Him, we now live in a spiritual land of milk and honey, a land of spiritual abundance, where God’s grace and His blessings abound…
… where the love of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit abound…
… where God’s comfort abounds through the Gospel and the Sacrament of His risen Son’s body and blood…
… where truth abounds in God’s Word, and His light shines for the world.
This abundant life of faith and grace through Christ, in His Church, leads to a land of abundant life without end…
… and abundant love, perfect love for all…
… and abundant joy, so many things in Heaven to be so happy about, nothing to be sad about…
… and abundant peace, living in total harmony with God, and angels, and with all the family of Heaven…
… and abundant glory… beauty like we’ve never seen before… everything just perfect… and perfect forever.
Praise be to our risen Lord! He’s done it all for us!
May we serve Him with joy, in this place of abundant mercy…
… and with eternal joy, may we serve in that blessed place of abundant glory forever.
And as we serve, we rejoice that the abundant peace of God, that passes our understanding, is guarding our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, our Lord who is risen in glory forever!
Alleluia! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.