Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Allelujah! Our text is the Holy Gospel reading which has already been read.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the disciples just didn't get it when Jesus said, "A little while, and you will see Me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see Me." They didn't get it, even though over the past three years Jesus had repeatedly told them about what He was going up to Jerusalem to do. St. Luke says that Jesus told the twelve, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise." But they understood none of these things".

Nothing had changed on Maundy Thursday; they still didn't get it. Now, on the night when Jesus was betrayed (which is the setting of John chapters 13-17: the Last Supper and ) He took bread and wine and gave it to these very disciples saying, "This is My body given for you, this is My blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins," which is as clear a reference to His upcoming suffering and death as you could get, and still the disciples don't understand what it means that Jesus is going away for a little while.

And this is why they would experience sorrow in a short time: because of their unbelief. Jesus had told them what He was about to do, and they did not believe it, and this is why they would be sorrowful: because they did not yet believe the whole story of His passion, death, and resurrection. If they had believed the words Jesus had spoken to prepare them for that little while, they would have known He would only be gone "a little while" and then there would be joy. But instead they were excessively sorrowful when Jesus died, because they did not believe His promise to rise.

Instead of clinging to the words of Jesus, the disciples did what typical sinners do: they focused on themselves instead of focusing on Jesus. Right after the Lord's Supper, Jesus told them on the Mount of Olives: "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same.

The disciples focused on themselves and their ability to follow Jesus, and this soon led them even deeper into sorrow. For we know the rest of the story. Shortly after, when Jesus was arrested, "all the disciples left Him and fled". And there was sorrow for them, deep sorrow over their sin, their failure to keep their pledge to Jesus that they would never fall away, never deny Him by words or actions. They experienced the sorrow of contrition, they feared God's wrath against their sins, for they had broken their vows to the Lord of glory, and they were ashamed of their cowardice. (And it is worth asking ourselves the question, "How have we done at keeping the vows we have made to the Lord?" That should lead us to contrition as well).

Even on Easter Sunday, nothing had changed for the disciples. They were cowering together in the upper room with the door locked, because they thought they were next. For fear of the Jews, they huddled together, wondering if they would have to suffer for being followers of Jesus, who had been crucified. Again, we see their unbelief, for Jesus had told His followers in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account". All disciples (including us) should leap at the chance to be blessed by persecution on account of Jesus, but what were they doing? Hiding out. And so not only were they sorrowful that their Jesus was dead, they also were sorrowful that they had so miserably sinned by fleeing in His hour of distress.

Again, notice how unbelief is the real culprit here: in the Gospel reading, didn't Jesus say: "you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you"? He promised that their sorrow would not endure forever! And notice how Jesus tells them not to look at themselves but at Him when He explains the meaning of His saying, "a little while, and you will see me no longer…you will not see me…you will not see me…" but then, "I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice!" When disciples are left to their own devices, they cannot see Jesus. The first disciples did not see Jesus crucified for them because they had fled, and they could not see Him after He was buried because He was in the tomb. But look at how Jesus takes the initiative and seeks them out in the upper room after He rises. He doesn't wait for them to find Him—that never would have happened! Instead, He seeks out and sees them first, and only then do they see Him and rejoice.

As we heard about in our Gospel reading two weeks ago, on the evening of Easter Sunday, "the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord". This was the fulfillment of the promise that He would see them again, and their hearts would rejoice, and no one would take their joy from them! And this joy is completely His gift to them, not something they accomplish on their own.

Look at how He overcomes their sorrow: by showing them that He is truly risen from the grave and has overcome death, He removed the sorrow they had because of their loss of their beloved Lord. And by showing them the hands and side that had been pierced for their sins, by saying, "Peace be with you," He showed them that their sin of abandoning Him had been forgiven, and that He had no wrath toward them. Instead, He came speaking grace, mercy, peace, and everlasting life. And that is why they were overjoyed when they saw the Lord! Jesus delivered joy to them by His resurrection and by His forgiveness of all of their sins, "for where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation".

And He does the same for you! You are a poor, miserable sinner, but what has Jesus done for you? He has sought you out, called you to repentance, washed you clean with His Baptism, made you His disciple, brought you into His Church to feed and nourish your faith week in and week out by speaking grace, mercy, and peace to you through the Word and Sacraments. He has turned your sorrow over sin into joy that comes from being at peace with God; He has turned your fear of death into joyful hope by promising you everlasting life. What great joy it is to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus and His Word!

Yet why do we not always live as if these Easter realities are true? Why are there times when we are like the disciples and cannot see Jesus and the joy He brings, but instead we are turned in on ourselves and our own miserable condition? There are two main reasons.

First, sometimes we go through a little while of not seeing Jesus because of our own sinfulness, just like the first disciples. They sorrowed because they made vows to Jesus that they didn't fulfill, and so they were brought to tears of repentance after they failed. Likewise, so often when we don't see Jesus, when our eyes are not fixed on Him but are turned in on ourselves, it is because of our sinfulness, it is because we seek joy in fleshly things rather than in the joy given by Christ in the Gospel.

In our Epistle reading, St. Peter said, "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul". Our sinful flesh seeks temporal joy in excessive use of the good gifts God has given us, and Satan convinces us that we will find joy there, just as he convinced Adam and Eve that the forbidden fruit would bring more joy than faith in God's Word. God has given us sex, food, alcohol, possessions, and all the gifts of the creation as good gifts to enjoy according to His Word, but our sinful flesh perverts our use of these good things by the filth of pornography, sexual immorality, and adultery; by the excesses of gluttony and drunkenness; by greed and covetousness. St. Peter does not simply say that these sins are wrong, immoral; he says that they are waging war against your souls! Through fleshly, sinful passions, Satan wants to lead you away from the joy of Christ and into the eternal sorrows of hell, the sorrow of facing God's judgment and having to answer for your sins for yourself.

Repent! Heed St. Peter's warning, for the sins of the flesh can take our eyes off Jesus and back onto ourselves, which leads only to death and despair. Repent! Ask God to use His Word to produce the godly sorrow of contrition in your hearts, as St. Paul explains, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death". So every day of your life, ask the Holy Spirit to use His Word to produce in you the sorrow of contrition so that you grieve over your sins and say, "How could I have done such a great sin against You, O Lord God? How could I be so ungrateful? How could I ignore Your Word so callously? Have mercy on me, O Lord, a sinner!"

But when you are experiencing that little while of sorrow over your sins, don't remain there. Look up, for Jesus comes with the Gospel to save you and bring you joy! Look again to Jesus, who comes to you this morning with absolution, proclaiming forgiveness to you for all the sins you have committed. "Peace be with you," He says, as He holds up His nail-scarred hands to show you that you are forgiven, at peace with God. Just as Jesus came to the disciples after His resurrection to relieve their sorrow and bring them joy, so also does the Lord come to the penitent sinner with words that bring great joy. He says, "I forgive you all of your sins. I love you. Come to My Table. Welcome home." He uses His nail-scarred hands to deliver peace to you by absolving you through the mouth of His ministers and by placing His own body given and blood shed for you into your mouths, for the forgiveness of sins.

But even penitent sinners who find great joy in the Gospel sometimes find themselves not able to see Jesus for a while. When grief and pain and burdens overwhelm our lives, Satan uses these sorrows to cover our eyes so that we cannot see Jesus and His great mercy, even though Jesus never stops seeking us out. When we suffer, the devil tempts us to doubt that we have a gracious God. He tempts us to believe that we are not God's children but instead that we are forsaken, abandoned, left on our own, much as the disciples felt after Jesus had died.

When in our suffering we begin to approach the point of despair – which is just where Satan wants us to be – then we need the reassurance of our Gospel reading, where Jesus promises, "Just a little while, and I will see you." He promises that He will take the initiative and show you the way out of despair and back into hope. He promises to come to you with the light of His Gospel, to grant you the strength to endure. He won't let it go on too long in sorrow, as He promises in 1 Cor. 10:13, "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

But even though in our hearts we know this promise of grace, how does our sinful flesh respond to suffering and troubles? Our sinful flesh is impatient and childish, because it cries out, "This will never end" rather than saying, "I know this is only for a little while. My Lord Jesus will deliver me."

One of my daughters stubbed her toe, and she demanded that we do something to ease the pain. We told her, "It will feel better in just a little while after the pain wears off." But she didn't believe us. "No! It will never get better!" she screamed. And for a child, that is how it seems: the pain will never end. Of course, two minutes later she was playing and never thought again about her toe.

Can't you see how our sinful, unbelieving flesh is childish? When we are sorrowing, Satan and our sinful flesh try to convince us that it will never end and that God has cast us off forever. But in your new man, in your spirit, you know this is not true. Through the faith worked in you by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, you know that it is only for a little while that you must suffer here on earth before finally our Lord delivers us to heaven. Yet when the devil and the sinful flesh begins to drive out the Spirit, then you begin to lose hope.

This is why it is so essential to arm yourself every day with the weapons and defenses that will protect you in times of suffering. It is easy to be a Christian when everything is going great, but what about when trials come? Then you need strength to endure. And the Lord gives you a way to see Him again, even when He seems absent. In His Word and Sacraments here in the Church, He provides you with balm and healing that assures you of everlasting life and the joy that will soon come. And whenever you are in trouble (which is really every day), your Lord invites you to call upon Him through prayer, and He promises to answer you with grace and mercy. And when you search the Scriptures for the promises of the Gospel, at home and at church, He gives you the divine encouragement that will strengthen you in your time of need, as we heard in the Old Testament reading from Lamentations: "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord".

As you wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord during this earthly life, you should find your greatest joy in Christ's Word and Sacraments where He shows you that He is always gracious to you, no matter what may come. And by His grace the "little while" of your suffering can be made to seem even shorter, because you know where to look for true and lasting joy. As Jeremiah the prophet said, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16). Yes, rejoice dear Christians, because you are called by God's name, for you are baptized. With the water He has placed His name upon you and promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." You have been told the ending to the story in advance: joy awaits you forever, and so let the words of the Lord to you in Baptism be a joy and delight in your heart.

If we focus on our feelings and experiences, how bad things seem to be going for us and how miserable we are, then surely we will end up in despair. So instead of focusing on our plight, we must focus on Christ our Lord's promises as we quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. In our Gospel reading, He said this: "So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you". And then finally, Jesus tells all His disciples, "In that day you will ask me nothing." What He means is that, in heaven, you will not need to ask for anything more, because then your joy will be full, and it will never be taken away from you. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.