Passing Through the Waters (Mark 16:1-8)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Easter Vigil

“Passing Through the Waters”

Mark 16.1-8

20 April 2019

Reverend Jacob Sutton, Pastor

+ In the Name of Jesus +

Passing through the waters of creation—those dark waters of the firmament and the deep—the Lord God caused the land to be separated from the seas, and from that land, He delivered Adam, and gave him the gift of life.

Passing through the waters of the Great Flood, the Lord God caused believing Noah and his family, eight souls in all, to be delivered from the evil of a wicked and perverse generation, and the drowning judgment and death of the deluge. The multitudes who rejected the Lord were destroyed; the faithful Church was saved. With this delivery, God gave the gift of life.

Passing through the waters of the Red Sea, the Lord God caused the children of Israel to be delivered from the bondage of Pharaoh. The sea was but a path of dry ground as they passed through; yet it became a watery grave for the godless army that pursued them.

Passing through the waters of your mother’s womb, the Lord God caused you to come forth, and He breathed into your nostrils the breath of life. He delivered you, and brought you into this bodily life. To live, you had to die to the one place and be delivered into the next.

Passing through the waters of the Church’s womb—the Lord’s Holy Font—the Lord God caused you to be forgiven of all your sin, rescued you from death and the devil, and gave you eternal salvation. In that miraculous moment, the sacred waters became a watery tomb for your “Old Adam”—that old sinful nature. Yet, at the same time He brought faith to a new creature, and a new member of His faithful Church was saved. With this joyous event, God gave the gift of life – eternal life!

Dear friends in Christ, on this holiest of nights, we rejoice as we see beyond the large stone and peek into that empty tomb. The Lord Jesus is not forever dead. “He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16.6–7) He arose from the chains of death, proclaimed His victory over death and hell, and directed His angels to decree this glorious Gospel to the women who would arrive in a few hours.

It is this life giving, earth shattering, history making news of the crucified Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection that gives meaning and validity to your Baptism. Be joyfully assured that He whom the grave could not hold is willingly joined to you through the waters which passed from His pierced side and through His font. For by His blood and water, He has made you clean and holy, righteous to stand beside Him at the still waters of the river of eternal life that flows through the heavenly home He even now leads you to.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit +