That we may obtain this faith [by which is received justification], the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ’s sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. (AC V, Triglotta)

Also [our churches] teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. (AC VII, Triglotta)

Although the Church properly is the congregation of saints and true believers, nevertheless, since in this life many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith, it is lawful to use Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of Christ: The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, etc. Matt. 23, 2. Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men. (AC VIII, Triglotta)

These are three articles from the Augsburg Confession—specifically, the fifth, seventh, and eighth. Do you not also find it amazing that the Confession—indeed, the entire Book of Concord—teaches the Scriptures so faithfully and beautifully. After all of these years—over two decades in the ministry—having studied the Book so much, gone through it so many times, I am still amazed how “in agreement” it is with the Scriptures. The church of the Lutheran Reformation really did get it right.

The open tomb, the empty bench, the unoccupied grave cloths, the folded handkerchief—these are all negative evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. They don’t necessarily prove that Jesus rose from the dead. They merely prove that Jesus is not in the grave.

One can assume that Jesus rose, given the negative evidence, but there needs to be more to make such an assumption. You can add to the negative evidence all the times that Jesus predicted His Passion. “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Matthew 16:21) Jesus predicted His Passion three times. Thereafter, Jesus suffered many things: He was rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes; He was killed. Furthermore, He was buried in a tomb and a large stone was rolled in front of it.

All of that stuff happened, as Jesus said. He also said that He would be raised on the third day. Adding Jesus’ predictions to the empty tomb, you now have circumstantial evidence.

Having gone through another Holy Week, you have witnessed again the Lord’s Passion. He rode into Jerusalem as a king, to His coronation of thorns and to take His place on the throne that is His cross, upon which He died. He rode in knowing full well what would happen to Him.

He knew He would be captured. He often gave glimpses of His hidden majesty when He avoided capture walking right through the midst of His enemies, but this time, He went into Jerusalem for the very purpose of being captured. He knew He would be beaten and flogged and spit upon. Again, there were many times when the Jews wanted to cast stones at Him or throw Him over a cliff, and He, quite divinely, passed right through the midst of them without a scratch, but this time, He went into Jerusalem for the very purpose of being abused and killed.

And His death was quite the injustice, at least from a worldly perspective. His only crime was to teach the people how God really was over and against the law-oriented religion of the Pharisees. He sought no earthly power—in fact, He turned down as much when Satan offered it to Him. (cf. Matthew 4:8-10) He sought no insurrection against the Roman occupying force—in fact, He commended paying taxes to Rome (something that is probably difficult to hear at this time of year)! (Matthew 22:17-21) Yet all kinds of false accusations were leveled against Him, even in the face of contrary and true evidence. He was innocent, and on top of that, He was sinless.

Still, His death was quite the blow that Justice demanded—Divine Justice. Inasmuch as He knew what He was riding into Jerusalem to accomplish, He also knew why. For the supper He would celebrate, the false accusations He would endure, the beatings He would suffer, and that inglorious death He would die were all for you. As St. Paul declared, and I have repeated over these past few weeks, “[God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) So what one could say, then, is that the worst sinner died on the cross, receiving the blow that Justice demanded, as commanded through the prophet Ezekiel: “The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4d) And this, as learned from the rest of Scripture, is eternal Death (with a capital d)—an eternal separation from God and His blissful glory.

So, as you look back at this past week, recalling what your ears have witnessed, you should see His Passion for you in everything that Jesus endured. More than that, you should see in His suffering and death the full wrath of God, every single last bit of it, leveled against one Man for the sin of the world. When Jesus hears those false accusations leveled against Him without saying a word back, He is receiving the condemnation due you, for those accusations are true of you. When Jesus receives the blows from the temple guards, as representing the heavenly kingdom, and from the Roman soldiers, as representing the earthly kingdom, those are the blows rightly due you for your sins against God and your crimes against the state (no matter how big or small). When Jesus was nailed to the cross and there was forsaken by God and died, He died forsaken for you, died the death you rightly deserve for having forsaken God and ignoring His Law and statutes, as it is written, “The soul who sins shall die.”

The nails are gone. The crown of thorns removed. The body of God is wrapped in linens and spiced, and laid in a new, rock-hewn tomb.

He descends into hell and proclaims victory over all of your foes. St. Peter wrote, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.” (1 Peter 3:18-20) How long did this take? Well, I doubt He spent an entire day telling the imprisoned spirits, “It is ended; I won,” but did so before the end of that day. So, there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day (cf. Genesis 1:31)—a very Good Friday.

Jesus told a parable of man who owned a vineyard. He had a hired vinedresser. In his vineyard was a fig tree. Over the course of three years, day after day, in season, the man went to the tree looking for fruit. He never found any. He told his man to cut it down; “Why should it use up the ground?”

To the man, this tree was a waste of space and resources. He let it live and grow for three years, hoping that it would produce fruit—that it would do what it is supposed to do. It never did. Why should this tree continue to take the time and land away from some other tree or plant that would actually produce fruit? Why should the man bear with it any longer waiting for this fig tree to do the thing for which it was planted.

But the vinedresser had another idea. Give it another year. He would dig a trench around it and fill it with fertilizer. He would pay it some extra special attention, give it some extra care. And if, at the end of that year of more and better care it still did not produce fruit, cut it down. The vinedresser told his master, “Let it alone this year also.”