Easter Is Not Enough

by Timothy Teuscher

Easter is not enough. That might sound like a radical, even improper, statement. But it’s true. After all, the forgiveness won by Jesus’ death on the cross must also be given to people. Peace with God, achieved by Jesus’ victory over the grave, must also be a peace bestowed on people. Otherwise, what’s the point of it?

And we see this in the disciples on that first Easter evening. For even though Jesus, to use the words of St. Paul, “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25), where were they? Why, behind locked doors in an upper room “for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). Coupled with that was the mental torture of the would’ves and could’ves and should’ves of the past few days. They were hopeless, helpless—captive to their fears. That upper room had become their tomb, the doors closed shut by the stone of fear.

But into their tomb appears the risen Lord Jesus who shows “them His hands and His side” (John 20:20). And He does not chastise them for forsaking Him when He was arrested. He does not rebuke Peter for denying Him. He does not criticize them for not believing the message of the women that He had risen from the dead. Instead, Jesus says to them: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). And by that word, they too are raised to life again—their hearts, as the Easter hymn puts it, “awake with gladness” (LSB 467:1). Just as death and the tomb could not keep Jesus in, so He would not let the deathly tomb of fear keep His disciples in. For this is why He died and rose again—that they might have peace and joy and life.

What sealed tombs of fear and sin do we live in? What would’ves and could’ves and should’ves haunt your mind? Maybe you do not live in fear every day. Perhaps you have mastered the art of hiding your guilt, your hurt, your fears, and putting on a happy face. But while you may be able to fool people some of the time, it’s still there, isn’t it? It still worries you, drags you down, and robs you of joy. And the name of this fear is Legion—fear of losing your job, fear of getting sick, fear of your family falling apart, fear of not having enough money for those retirement years, and, ultimately, fear of death and of then having to stand before the one holy God who will pass judgment upon your miserable life. Yes, we all have our own upper rooms with locked doors, our own tombs in which we live, our own “fightings and fears within, without” (LSB 570:3).

But as the risen Lord appeared to the disciples in that upper room on that first Easter evening, so He continues to do the same today. He comes not to chastise you for your fears but to comfort you in the midst of them. He comes not to accuse you but to forgive you. He comes not to demand something from you but to give something to you. He comes so that you may live not in regret and fear but in joy and peace.

He comes not to demand something from you but to give something to you. He comes so that you may live not in regret and fear but in joy and peace.

How does He do that today? Consider again the upper room on that first Easter evening. The risen Lord first gives peace, forgiveness, life—the blessings of His cross and empty tomb—to His frightened disciples personally and individually. And then, He gives it to them a second time, saying: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). The second is an expansion of the first; for just as Jesus was sent from the Father, so He now sends them as His apostles, His ambassadors, breathing His Holy Spirit upon them, equipping and empowering them to forgive others so that they, too, might have peace with God.

That is why at the beginning of the Divine Service, after we confess our sins and doubts and fears, we hear the words of absolution: “Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins” (LSB 151). That’s Easter. That’s Jesus’ death and resurrection. That’s what the Father sent His Son to do for you. But that’s not all that is said. For then come these words: “As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority…” Yes, the calling, the commissioning, the sending of the apostles, of pastors, in order to give to others the forgiveness and peace earned and won at Calvary’s cross and the empty garden tomb. And so, you then hear the following: “… I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Martin Luther put it this way: “Christ has achieved and won forgiveness of sins once for all on the cross and at the empty tomb, it is true. But He has not distributed or given it there. If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross and the empty tomb, for I will not find it given there. But I will find it in the Word of Christ that is preached and in the Sacrament of His body and blood which alone distributes, presents, offers, and gives it to me.”

Yes, the risen Lord appears in our midst through His Word. The risen Lord shows us His hands and His side today in the Holy Sacrament. The risen Lord comes into the closed tomb of your heart and mind in order to set you free from the fear of death, to forgive your sins, to assure you of eternal life, to give you peace.

And so, it’s true: Easter is not enough. The peace between sinners and the holy God which was achieved by Jesus’ victory over the grave must also be a peace bestowed on people. And so it indeed is, first by the apostles and now today by pastors who simply speak the words of Jesus Himself to fearful, doubting, guilt-ridden people… speaking with Jesus’ own authority and at His command… speaking to you of the forgiveness and peace won by His death and resurrection… bestowing to you personally and individually forgiveness of your sins and peace with God… and empowering you, thereby, to also share that peace with others. And do you remember what our risen Lord says about that? “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Rev. Dr. Timothy Teuscher is President of Lutheran Church–Canada.

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