Deo Gloria
April 12, 2020
Sermon for Easter
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Revelation 19:11-16
Theme: Victory!
This is a day of victory, a day of celebration in honor of our great champion, Jesus Christ, who is pictured here in our text. But before we take a closer look at this picture, let’s look at another, a painting by Albert Ryder entitled, “The Race Track.” It hangs in Cleveland’s Museum of Art today. Its subtitle reads, “Death on a Pale Horse.” The horseman is alone on the track and is wielding a huge scythe. On the ground along side the track is a big snake. Perhaps the first thing you notice as you look at the picture is that the rider is going clockwise—the wrong way around the track. The rider undoubtedly is going the “wrong way” so he can pick off everyone else as they race toward the finish line. And sadly, we know he will get them too, every last one. That pale rider, Death, is coming for me. He’s coming for you. He’s coming for your friends and family members. He’s coming for us all. He always wins. Or so it would seem. So it appears to us here in this world.
But now let’s go back to the picture from Revelation. The rider on the white horse is named the King of kings and Lord of lords. We might be a little afraid of him at first because his eyes are like blazing fire and a sharp sword comes out of his mouth and he “treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” And yet, we notice his power. He is able to overcome all. He is victorious over all. Here is the final image of the warrior we have been thinking about during this Lenten season. He has been successful in his mission, successful in his battle against Satan and sin and death. Today we celebrate his victory.
Our Savior Jesus is indeed the greatest warrior of all. But last we saw him on Good Friday, he didn’t look very successful or victorious. He was hanging on a cross. He had just declared, “It is finished,” and then voluntarily had given up his life. His body had fallen limp. His heart had stopped. He had breathed his last. “How can he be victorious if he is dead?” we might wonder.
Take another look: “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 wages war”(v. 11). One thing we notice in this revelation given to the apostle John is that this rider is not a statue. He is not carved in marble or made of bronze. He is alive and powerful, and he is actively at war—with the armies of heaven following him.
We know who this is. This is Jesus. And what a striking picture it is. He is no longer mocked and humiliated by Jewish leaders or Roman soldiers. He is no longer beaten and whipped. His head is not bowed. His body is not lifeless and cold. As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead”(v. 20).
That’s what today is all about! Victory! Death has actually been conquered. Yes, Jesus did die—no question. The Roman guard made absolutely sure of that before they took him down from the cross by thrusting that spear into his side. His body was then placed in a grave and the tomb sealed tight, which was all part of the plan, wasn’t it?
Jesus had to die in order to defeat one of our other enemies, the enemy of sin. Jesus willingly suffered and died on Calvary’s cross in our place so that we might be forgiven. This is what was pictured in all of those Old Testament sacrifices. Every lamb that was sacrificed for someone’s sin was a picture of Jesus who would be sacrificed for all people’s sins. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, the perfect Lamb of God, offered his life on the cross as a perfect payment for our sins. And because he did, our sins have been forgiven and our guilt has been taken away. Sin has been defeated.
But then Jesus did something else no one else has ever done, something no one else could do. He defeated death. He came back to life. He came out of the tomb under his own power. And there’s no doubt about that either. The Bible lists over a dozen different appearances of our risen Savior. The women at the tomb on Easter morning saw him. Mary Magdalene saw him. Peter saw him. Thomas saw him. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus saw him. At one point a crowd of more than 500 people saw him. He truly was alive.
How important that is for us! You know death is coming, don’t you? We all do. We try our best to keep it at bay and put it out of our minds. We do our best to eat right and get our exercise and get the best medical care we can; but we can’t stop it. Sooner or later it still is going to get us. There is no cure for death. Or is there?
Remember what Jesus said in our gospel lesson a couple of Sundays ago? “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies”(John 11:25). That’s you and me, friends. Jesus is talking about you and me. We will rise because the one who has conquered death said so. Oh yes, we must close our eyes in death one day just as Jesus did, but just like Jesus we will open them one day too and live forever. We must put aside our mortal bodies so that we might have a perfect, glorified body like Jesus. When will this happen? Paul tell us it will happen…
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”(1 Corinthians 15:52-54
Yes, today is a day of victory. Today we celebrate the rider on the white horse and his victory over our enemies, his victory over sin and death.
Unfortunately, not everyone is quite so eager to celebrate. You see, while his victory means forgiveness and life for his followers, it means death and judgment for his enemies, which is also something we see in this picture:
His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one but he himself knows. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 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. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.(vv. 12-16)
If you ever had the idea that Jesus is too weak or too kind to be tough on his enemies, you had better think again. This is the last picture we have of Jesus in the Bible. Yes, there are other pictures in the Bible too, pictures that display his grace and mercy. But this is the last. And it ought to make us all shake a bit in our shoes.
Jesus is portrayed with a sharp sword and an iron scepter. He is portrayed as carrying out the “wrath of God Almighty.” Notice too that his robe is “dipped in blood.” At first we might think that this is a reference to his own blood, the blood he shed on the cross, but we would be mistaken. The reference to his “treading the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty” helps us understand that this is a very graphic picture of the battle with his enemies. 800 years earlier the prophet Isaiah saw a vision of the Savior who was to come and he asked this question: “Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?” And this was the answer he received, “I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing”(Isaiah 63:2+3).
So what’s with all this anger and judgment? I thought God was a God of love and mercy and forgiveness. He is. God is indeed a God of love and mercy and forgiveness. That’s why he sent his Son Jesus to be our Savior. And that’s why Jesus suffered and died on the cross, to pay the penalty for our sins so that we might be forgiven. But that’s only part of the story, isn’t it? There’s more that the Bible tells us about God. The Bible also clearly teaches that God is a holy and just God, a God who cannot stand sin, a God who hates sin, a God who threatens to bring judgment on all his enemies, on all those who oppose him.
No doubt that includes Satan and the demons of hell. They have opposed Jesus and worked against him throughout the history of our world. They were the first to rebel against the King of kings and Lord of Lords, but they aren’t the last. There are many today who have joined them in that rebellion, people who mock and ridicule Jesus and his followers, people who want nothing to do with Jesus or his Word or his offer of forgiveness in the gospel. They will fall under the same judgment and punishment of the devil. Their opposition to the King of kings will be broken and they will be defeated. Their defeat will be both awful and eternal. As it says in Psalm 2, “[He] will rule them with an iron scepter; [he] will dash them to pieces like pottery”(v. 9).
Aren’t you glad you’re not among them? Aren’t you glad you’re not one of the enemies of Jesus, but one of his friends? Aren’t you glad that by grace through faith in Jesus, God has made you one of his dearly loved children and an heir of heaven? On the last day when our conquering hero returns in all his power and all his glory, instead of cowering in fear we will welcome him with joy and sing his praise. We will join all the saints and angels in giving glory and honor and praise to the rider on the white horse who has used his power for our benefit, to conquer sin and conquer death so that we might live with him forever in glory.
This is the picture John recorded for us in Revelation ch. 21:
I saw the Holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”(vv. 2-4)
Indeed the Bible says that we be like kings and queens with crowns on our heads and joyfully serve under the King of kings forever. Can’t you just see it, friends? Isn’t Easter grand? It’s a celebration of victory. The rider on the white horse, the King of kings and Lord and lords, has won. Sin has been defeated. Death has been defeated. And the celebration that begins today will continue forever in heaven. Amen.