The First Day of the New Creation

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 15, 1990.

Sermon transcript

I have to tell you, I don’t think I was made for this age of electronic wizardry. I can’t quite work out the choreography of the thing. This morning we are in Luke’s Gospel, the 23rd chapter, and we will begin at verse 55. and read through the tenth verse of chapter 24. This is the word of God.

And the women also which came with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment. Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. and they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments, and as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words and returned from the sepulcher and told all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and other women that were with them which told these things unto the apostles. Pray together.

Lord, your word is prepared and that from before the foundation of the world, it is spoken in time, it brings to pass those things which you have ordained. And Lord, in light of those things you have performed, your word now inscripturated gives us the sense of the thing, the meaning, the right and proper interpretation as we observe how all things you have revealed hold together, indeed hold together in and through Christ. We know too, Lord, that you have prepared us, that we have been begotten again by your Word but also brought to this point in time where we might receive from you your Word’s intention. So, Lord, we pray that we may not run in place, stand still in our faith and not move forward or increase in our sanctification. Rather, Lord, may your Word work well within us perform that which pleases you, and we, Lord, being sanctified, may we be a delight to our God. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. The women. The women. First, the women.

Why the women? Why the women? their sex, setting them apart, the company of them, coming as they do, coming now to this tomb to give their attention to, to attend the consequences of corruption. They come then to the grave, and there they face the harsh truth of their ancient mother’s seduction. They are all Eve’s daughters, testifying now, en masse, to the tragedy of Eden. Why the women? It must be the women. It has to be the women. Two Marys are among them. Verse 10, chapter 24. The name means tear. Teardrop. Sorrow. Not one tear, but two.

One shed for those dying and those who have died, and especially now this one who has died, Jesus of Nazareth. And the other tier, it falls for the sake of the grievous state that all now find themselves in. The fall of man, the bonds of iniquity, and the horrifying consequences, the wages of sin, is death. So the tears flow. And that not without the weight of a stricken conscience born through the ages, through the centuries, through the millennia. The weight of a stricken conscience and the knowledge that woman is not only so utterly vulnerable, but so very much responsible.

So another death. One more child born of woman succumbs, dying to another casualty as we all are casualties of the fall. Even this one who seemed so promising, this one in whom there had been placed such hope, Even this one, greatly revered, is now dead, as all die. And day passes into night. Another Sabbath comes and it is bound to go, and thus it continues. unendingly.

Why the women? Who else but the women? But these women are not any women. These are Jewish women. And if there is to be hope grasped, kept in sight, if there is to be devotion and love demonstrated, it would be in these women. These are Jewish women, but more, these are Galilean women.

Galilee lies to the north, but sets its sights southward upon the great city And the eyes of the faithful in Galilee look unto the hills from whence cometh their help. And these women in Galilee are as expectant women as those pregnant, awaiting deliverance. Thus these women have joined themselves to Jesus in hope, as all Israel, in the entirety of that older administration from the Old Testament, has joined herself to her prophets in hope, looking for salvation. So while there are in the group of women those who bear names reminding us of grief and sorrow, there are also those women who bear testimony to God’s greatness and his grace and his power as he has demonstrated these things to Israel.

One of the women’s names is Joanna. Her name means gift or grace of God. Her name speaks for this company of Galilean women who are not strangers to God’s grace or His gift. And though these events have transpired in the week gone by, Yes, hopes have been raised, but now Jesus is dead. These women will continue to be Jewish women, Galilean women, filled with hope, expressive of grace. And one of the Marys is Magdalene. out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons. You can read of that in Luke 8, verse 2. Jesus healed her.

And even though he is now gone, even though he is dead, we will expect of this Jewish woman, this Galilean woman, healed, that she will continue to demonstrate her devotion to him in keeping with that activity in which she is presently engaged, namely anointing his body with the spices and the ointments. These women then, though they remind us of things in the garden, circumstances there and Eve herself, also remind us of Israel, faithful Israel, upon whom has been visited God’s grace, those who have been privileged to see the miraculous activities of God. And these then remain expectant of deliverance, a deliverance which will come at last when God will act to fulfill all his promises. But obviously, so it seems to them presently as they march out to the tomb, God has not yet acted nor will he so act soon. As high as they may reach in their grasp of hope, as great as their expectation may be, as marvelous as their devotion may seem to be, they now will work the dead Jesus within the fabric of their theology and doctrine.

And day passes into night, another Sabbath comes and it will go, and thus it continues unendingly. Nothing changes. Nothing changes. These women, one more thing needs to be said about them. We can see their devotion and we’ve spoken passingly about that devotion, but there is something more to be said about their devotion. Their devotion is focused, is it not?

Verse 56 of chapter 23, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. resilient in hope, none better, even though they are surrounded by the testimony of humanity’s dire condition, even though they might be crushed, resilient in hope and persevering, determined in their devotion, obeying the law, obeying what God has revealed. Through the ordeal, then, of Jesus’ death beyond his burial, these women will not abandon their expectant posture, nor will they abandon the law, the commandments. They will prove to be faithful Old Testament Israel, indeed, observing the law and maintaining that hope as best as they can. So this is the end of the matter. The cursed weight of conscience for sin and its consequences afflicts and abuses these daughters of Eve. And as daughters of Zion, They will continue to be expectant and hopeful in their circumstances and obedient as much as their strength will allow them to God’s commandments.

But so it is and so it will continue. For Jesus, even though he was an astounding and exceptional servant of God, has himself come and gone as all others before him. and everything is the same. Day passes into night, another Sabbath comes and goes. And thus it continues. But does it? But does it?

It is now the first day of the week. It is now the first day of the week. And on this day of days, unlike any day since the world’s first week, A rising light of the spreading dawn breaks forth and is now enhanced by the dazzling apparel of two men. They are called men. Verse 4 of chapter 24. They are called men, not angels. We’ve asked, why the women? Why not? Why the men?

You know, every other account has the angels, and you might note in verse 23 of the 24th chapter that the men there turn into angels. So Luke knows about the angels, but here he calls them men. Why the men? so that you might link these two men here with two others that appear earlier in Luke’s gospel.

Can you go back in your mind through the gospel, the last of the greatest events in Galilee before Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem, sets it as flint. Do you remember the Mount in Galilee where Jesus took a select group of his disciples and there was transfigured before them? And we are told that two men, two men appeared.

Verse 30 of chapter 9, Who were the two men, Moses and Elijah? The reason why now Luke wants you to see here two men is in order to link these two men with those two men mentioned previously, Moses and Elijah. What was Moses and Elijah’s purpose on the Mount of Transfiguration? Yes, to give encouragement to Jesus with respect to his task which he would accomplish at Jerusalem, but also, also, to give this joint testimony that the law, Moses, and the prophets, Elijah, are unto Christ.

And the fulfillment of all that was said by Moses and all that is embodied in Elijah comes to its realization and fulfillment in this world. So these two men then, or angels, represent the law and the prophets to the women. Let both the law and the prophets find their fulfillment, not in the dead Christ, not even in the crucified Christ, not even Christ as sacrificed, but in Christ risen. resurrected.

A different stroke has now been struck. The change has come. The chains have been broken. The die-cast has been shattered. And that Old Testament Sabbath and all that was contained in it, exemplary of that way of life, though it is fine, it gives way now to a better day, the day of resurrection and power, for the law would leave you impotent. It couldn’t save you.

And that Old Testament expectation It is not that which asserts itself within the daughters of Zion as something yet to be realized. For the fulfillment has come. And what of that sad story for humanity rising out of Eden and the unbearable burden borne by Eve and her daughters.

You see, it is the first day of the week in the new creation of God. And the light comes When the resurrected Christ, the stone is rolled away, the body slain by sin is not there, the living is not found among the dead, he is risen. He is alive. Right now, he is alive.

Tuesday will be utterly different for these Galilean women. Monday, excuse me, will be different for these Galilean women. Tomorrow will not be the same for them for the wheel, the wheel that has gone round and round through the ages and crushed all in its path, lies in pieces. Tomorrow cannot be the same for you if you in faith pass with these Galilean women into the wonderful new world of life from the dead through Jesus Christ the risen Lord.

It is truly a new day. The world has begun again. Life has started over. And this new day does not pass into night. The old Sabbath and former devotion to the law has come and gone. That oppressive cycle has indeed been broken. And you are walking testimonies to that fact.

Have you not been born again? Have you not been raised up with Jesus? Is not the former life of sin and despair a thing of the past? Even if you had hope as radiant as these Galilean women, or demonstrated devotion as wonderful as theirs, Even that has passed! For Christ, who is dead, is alive. He has been raised. And now you are alive, you who believe and trust in Him. Fill us, Lord, with the light that shines from Christ the risen Lord, that we might be illuminated throughout, understanding the greatness of our God, understanding how precious our Savior is, for He is not like all others. who are born and live and then die but he has been raised he is alive and by him Lord we live not only today but forever we bless your name for we are not deserving Yet you in your mercy have kindly dealt with us for the sake of your Son whom we love. Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.