Rev. Dr. Joel D. Biermann
Matthew 27:62-66
The Resurrection of our Lord, April 16, 2017
Tamper-evident packaging has become a standard part of life. Purchase a bottle of pain-reliever and you are forced to run the gauntlet of security measures before you can actually get to the relief. First the flaps must be torn off the box—the glue is designed not to pry apart. Then there’s printed shrink-wrap holding the cap in place. Once that’s removed, you’ve got to solve the child-resistant cap which technically isn’t a security measure, but one for safety—though it’s hard to tell the difference. With the lid off, there’s only one more level to conquer—the worst of them all: that tough multi-layered skin across the mouth of the bottle that must be punctured or torn or otherwise demolished. It cannot be peeled off cleanly; and, for those of us who like to keep things neat, that frayed, sloppy edge is the source of endless aggravation. But, it’s by design. The layers of protection are meant to give the consumer confidence that the product she holds is safe and untouched by sinister hands—though sometimes, it seems the goal is that it be untouched by consumer hands. The idea of a seal is not to prevent something from being opened; the idea is to ensure that anyone who is interested can tell that it’s been opened.
Seals have been around for thousands of years. And just like our tamper-evident seals, the purpose of ancient seals was not to impede access; locks, iron doors, moats, and chain did that. The goal of seals has always been to prove the authenticity of things. Some of the oldest seals were cylinders inscribed with a unique design or declaration. The seal would be rolled in wet clay leaving its distinctive mark. It wasn’t long before signet rings replaced the cylinders. Clay or wax seals on envelopes or packages could be stamped with the ring verifying both the sender and the contents.
So, on the morning after Jesus had been killed and buried, the leaders of the Sanhedrin knew that what they needed was a seal. They needed a seal on Joseph’s new tomb that had become the grave of Jesus. It seems that these leaders had a better memory of Jesus’ words and promises than his own disciples did. The leaders remembered Jesus’ declaration that after three days he would rise again. Schemers that they themselves were, it occurred to them that some of Jesus’ followers might scheme to steal the corpse and then declare a resurrection. They decided they needed to preclude any chance of this happening. Of course, their concerns were unwarranted. Their fear of a plot grossly over-estimated the capabilities of the disciples, who were worried about more pressing issues—like staying alive. Thoughts of resurrection did not even occur to them; the proof is their determined refusal to believe the news when the women announced the resurrection to them. The idea of a resurrection was the last thing on their minds; but it was foremost in the thoughts of the temple leadership.
The seal didn’t make the tomb impossible to open. It was just a seal—probably some cord or string stretched across the opening and fixed on each end with a lump of clay or some wax. Then that glob of wax or clay would have been imprinted with someone’s official seal. With the seal in place, no one could tamper with the grave. Of course, it’s wonderfully ironic that the effort to secure the tomb actually served to secure the truth of the resurrection.
With the seal in place and the guards on duty, Jesus rose. Long before the women arrived at the spot, very early on Sunday morning, Jesus returned to life in all of his holy, divine glory. With the seal still on the stone, the tomb was already empty. No one was there to watch when Jesus triumphed over death. And no one needed to roll back the stone to let the living body of Jesus out. Fully God, and yet fully human, Jesus simply passed through the stone walls of the tomb. Nothing in creation could stop the resurrected Lord. Jesus rose from the dead without disturbing the stone or the seal. He didn’t need to open the tomb. He simply left.
But, the seal was certainly broken, and the stone was rolled back to open the grave wide. It was not opened to let Jesus out, but to let the witnesses in. Human eyes needed to see the evidence. A detachment of petrified soldiers needed to see the vacant tomb. Peter and John needed to see the grave cloths lying in the shape of a corpse, but now empty and flat. They had to see the head linen folded up neatly by itself. The seal was broken. God broke it and opened the grave so that everyone could see the truth: there was no body. It was gone before the seal was gone. The miracle of Easter had happened as predicted. The tomb of Joseph was empty again. It would one day be available for its owner after all. Jesus was alive; no tomb could hold him.
God was breaking many seals that Easter morning. The seal on the tomb was only the beginning. There were also all those seals on the hearts and minds of Jesus’ disciples. Both the men and the women who had been following Jesus knew what they thought. They knew what they felt. The heartache was seared into them. The knowledge of what had happened was inescapable. Their conviction of sorrow and hopelessness was sealed. Jesus was dead. The thrill of following him was over. The dreams had evaporated suddenly and horribly. Their joy was gone. Their hope had died with Jesus. The women, remember, were on their way to care for a corpse. They were not thinking resurrection thoughts. They only wanted to give Jesus a “decent burial”. So, they spent a pile of money on expensive spices and ointments for the beaten, broken body and set off to do their final duty for Jesus. Their minds were sealed: Jesus was dead. It was over. The men were in even worse shape. Their despair and fear had crippled them. Like scared rabbits, they cowered out of sight and grieved all that was lost. The sudden tragedy of Friday had knocked them senseless. Their minds were sealed with certainty: Jesus was gone. It was over. Stubbornly sealed in their unbelief, they refused to accept the reports of the resurrection. On Easter morning, God had to deal with all those seals. He broke them all. He broke them with the living reality of Jesus. The empty tomb and empty grave linen forced a new thought; but, it was the living presence of Jesus with a physical body and blood that broke the seals of unbelief forever. Jesus was alive. There was no doubt. The seal of disbelief, defeat, and despair was destroyed.
God still breaks seals, today. Every time that an unbeliever repents and comes to faith, another seal has been broken. The seal of sin and disobedience is shattered and another person that had been closed and sealed to God’s grace is opened. The forgiveness and love of God floods in. Even in the lives of Christians, there are seals that still need breaking. You have your ideas about what God can’t or won’t do: he can’t allow something terrible to happen; he won’t allow you to suffer; he will shower you with material blessings. Your neat, simple ideas are set and sealed—even though they are very wrong.
Sometimes the ideas you have sealed in your thinking are about what you think you can or can’t do. You’ve convinced that no matter what, you can’t stop worrying. It’s impossible to let go and trust enough to count on God to handle everything the right way. Like the disciples, you are sealed against faith in God’s promises. Or you may be quite certain that you cannot speak out loud to another person about your faith in Christ. The idea of verbally witnessing to others strikes terror in your soul. You can’t do it…you won’t do it. Your mind is closed and sealed. Or you look at your budget and decide with conviction that it is impossible: you cannot give to God’s church the way that God directs. A tithe is out of the question; you simply won’t be able to make ends meet. It can’t be done. On this subject, your mind is shut tight and sealed. Or perhaps it’s your neighbor that is the problem. “Love your neighbor as yourself? You’ve got to be kidding,” you think, “you obviously don’t know my neighbor. There’s no way that I can love him—even if I do work with him every day.” Your mind is made up and sealed tight. Submit to your husband, love your wife sacrificially…no this view of marriage is too hard. It’s not realistic. You’ve already tried it countless times, and it’s not going to happen. You’re done. Your mind is closed and sealed. It happens a lot, doesn’t it? You make up your mind about something. You’ve decided. You’ve reached a firm conclusion and it’s not going to change. You are positive that you’ve got a handle on the truth, and that’s it. Your mind is closed and sealed. No one’s going to mess with it.
But it is God’s plan to do exactly that. God wants to tamper with the neat, secure seals in your life. He wants to open your hard, closed heart and your narrow, sealed thinking and give you a new way of experiencing all of life—his way. He wants to break the seals that limit your faith. He wants to smash the seals that constrict your Christian living. The disciples had made up their minds about Jesus and his death. But God came and broke their silly seals of certainty. He still does that. He still comes to people and opens minds to saving faith. He still comes to people and breaks stony hearts. He takes even the closed, sealed lives of hurt and bitter people and forces them open, breaking the foolish seals and pouring in his love. If your mind is closed and sealed, if your heart is hard and tight about someone or something, be warned: God is determined to break that seal. Through his word and through his truthful messengers, he will challenge your neat, clean, and wrong ideas, and give you instead his liberating truth. God breaks seals. He broke dozens on Easter morning. He wants to break a few hundred more this morning. He wants to break yours. Don’t put limits on God. Don’t tell him what he can’t do in your life. Don’t tell him what you can’t do as you follow him. For the disciples, an Easter resurrection was impossible. It could not be. But, God had a different idea. If you’ve closed and sealed God out of some part of your life, you can be sure that he has another idea. You can be certain that he will break that seal and open you to his truth and his love.
The Easter seal has been smashed. That means that when Jesus is done breaking into your hard, sealed heart, forming you into his own disciple, you can be certain that he has yet one more seal to shatter. This day of resurrection is the promise of the last and ultimate day of resurrection. On that coming day, every sealed tomb, every sealed grave, every sealed casket will be broken open. Yours will be broken open, and you and all of God’s people will step out of the grave and into the glorious reality of God’s new heaven and new earth. God will unseal your tomb, and you will be alive—perfectly, wonderfully alive—and fully restored to live with Christ in his kingdom, forever. That’s your unsealed Easter reality. Today is just the beginning. God’s not done breaking seals. Amen.