VICTORY! (Easter Sermon)

I. Alive! Jesus is victorious!

II. Alleluia! We, as his people, are victorious!

Revelation 19:11-16 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our risen and victorious Savior, dear Christian friends,

Albert Ryder created a painting he called “The Race Track”. It is a dark, dreary-looking painting. It depicts a lone, ghostlike horseman wielding a huge scythe. On the ground is a large snake.

When you hear that the painting is subtitled, “Death on a Pale Horse”, you will quickly understand that it illustrates what the Bible book of Revelation (6:7-8) describes and it will tell you why the rider and horse are racing the opposite way on the track— in order to destroy every other rider, including you and me, as he/she heads toward the finish line. No one will escape the scythe of death. Meanwhile, the snake in the painting is a depiction of Satan as the one “who holds the power of death” (Heb 2:14).

While that painting is depressing and un-Easter-like, it is reality as we face the power of Satan and the possibility of death every day, something we note especially today as this is predicted to be the highest single-day death toll as a result of COVID-19. But on this Easter Sunday, we will focus on another horse and its rider that the Bible book of Revelation also makes known to us. On this glorious Easter Sunday morning, we conclude our midweek Lent series entitled “The Son of God Goes Forth to War” and focusing on the work of our warrior Jesus, we get to celebrate VICTORY! I. Alive! Jesus is victorious! and II. Alleluia! We, as his people, are victorious!.

God gave the Apostle John a revelation of heaven and other things in order that he and we might know more about our Savior and our salvation. John wrote, I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself…. his name is the Word of God….On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.

This rider on the white horse goes by many names, one of which we do not even know, but we most frequently call him Jesus. He is the Son of God. He is our hero. He is our warrior.

On Friday, we spoke about how he defeated Satan and his army on the cross of Calvary. His loud and anguished cry of “It is finished” (Jn 19:30) announced to all the world that Satan was powerless to destroy us.

Yet, Jesus still died that day. He was buried in the ground. He looked defeated…by death.

Yet, when John looked, he didn’t see a dead Jesus. He saw him who was alive, who was still active: judging and making war and wearing many crowns. Yes, Jesus is alive! Jesus is victorious!

That is what Easter is all about! Scripture tells us, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” (1 Cor 15:20). Because “the last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15:26), Jesus’ empty tomb makes it clear that he is victorious, more powerful than death.

Jesus is Faithful and True, for he promised that even though his body, referring to it as a temple, would be destroyed, yet in three days it/he would rise again (Jn 2:19). Jesus is the Word of God, which claims that his reign will never end (Is 9:7). He is king of kings and lord of lords as his resurrec