Vigil of Easter

The Resurrection of Our Lord: Vigil of Easter

The Baptism of James Ambrose Ford

April 16, 2022

Text: Mark 16:1-8

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

            From ancient days, the central feature of the Easter Vigil was the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.  This was particularly so for adult catechumens (though we will not complain that tonight we have an infant who has received the saving Bath).  It was the night when the catechumens who had completed three years of instruction… instruction that intensified during Lent… came to the climax of their catechetical journey with Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. 

            As the Church waits in the darkness for the Light to dawn, keeping vigil with Christ, yearning for the Good News of the empty tomb, straining to hear and sing the Easter Acclamation, the whole history of salvation is rehearsed for us in the Service of Readings as the grand finale of our catechesis.  And all the readings in this Service are images of Holy Baptism.

            As in the beginning (Gen. 1-2), God created the heavens and the earth, so in Baptism, God creates us anew.

            As in the flood (Gen. 7-9), God cleansed the earth of evil, but preserved believing Noah and His family, eight souls in all, safe in the ark, so in Baptism, God cleanses us of sin, and preserves us safe in the Ark of His Holy Church.

            As in the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 14-15), God drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his host, so in Baptism, God releases us from the tyranny of our ancient enemies, sin, death, and the devil, and drowns our old sinful nature.

            As God brought Israel safely through the sea on dry ground, so in Baptism, God surrounds us with a watery wall of protection on each side, and brings us safely through the water, to life and freedom on the far shore. 

            And as God protected the three young men (Dan. 3) in the burning, fiery furnace, by the presence of “one like a son of the gods” (v. 25; ESV) (and we know who that is!), so in Baptism, God protects us through every fiery trial, and He is with us in it, in the flesh of the Son of God.

            And there are more traditional readings for the Vigil.  This Service could last for hours if we did the whole thing!  After all, it is designed to be an all-night Vigil.  These four readings constitute the minimal for the Service of Readings (and the deliverance at the Red Sea is never to be left out), but then, try some of these additional Scriptures on for size:

            As God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen. 22), but staid the father’s knife and Himself provided the sacrifice as a substitute, so in Baptism we bring our children to God, who stays His own wrath and provides His Son Jesus to be the Sacrifice in their place.

            As God says through the Prophet Isaiah (55), that His Word is like the rain and snow that water the earth, making it sprout and grow, so in Baptism, God waters us with the Word, so that we grow in faith and bear fruits of love.  Indeed, He promises that His Word never returns to Him empty, but accomplishes His purposes and succeeds in the thing for which He sends it.

            As God promised through the Prophet Ezekiel (36) that He would sprinkle His people Israel with clean water, to cleanse them from idolatry and wickedness, and give them a new heart and His Holy Spirit, so in Baptism, God cleanses us by water with the Word, reclaims us from all false gods, creates in us a new heart, and grants us His Holy Spirit.

            And so it continues.  It is a veritable litany. 

            As God commanded Moses (Deut. 31) to put a new song on the lips of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land, to remind them of His Torah, keep it before their eyes and on their tongues, so in Baptism, God opens our lips, that our mouths may declare His praise in faithful confession of His Word. 

            As God showed Ezekiel (37) the valley of dry bones, and sent His Spirit to clothe the bones with flesh and raise them to life, so in Baptism God raises us who are dry and dead to new, and Spirit-animated life, clothed with the very righteousness of Christ.

            As God led Job (19), in the midst of his afflictions, to cry out, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (vv. 25-27), so in Baptism, God grants us faith in our risen and living Lord, who will return and raise us from the dead, bodily, that our own eyes may see Him for ourselves.

            As God sent the Prophet Jonah (3) to preach to unbelieving Nineveh, and they believed the Word of the LORD, and repented of their sins, so in Baptism, God grants us ears to hear and believe His Word, and true repentance for our sins. 

            And as God comforted His people through the preaching of the Prophet Zechariah (3), by the promise that He would gather His people into His saving presence, taking away all the judgments against them, and saving them from their oppressors, so in Baptism, God comforts us with His bodily presence in the Church, which He has gathered here to Himself.  Our sins are forgiven.  Our enemies are conquered.  And there is Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, enthroned upon the altar. 

            Holy Baptism is the sinner’s death with Christ on the cross, and the new man’s resurrection with Christ in His risen body.  “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4).  And so there is the young man’s proclamation in our Holy Gospel: “Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; he is not here” (Mark 16:6).  The tomb is empty.  Jesus lives.  He is the fulfillment of all the Scriptures.  And He is your life and salvation. 

            This evening, James Ambrose died with Christ before our very eyes.  Now there is nothing left for him to do but live in Christ.  And so it is with us in our Baptism.  We died.  Sure, there is the physical expiration and burial to come, unless the Lord returns first.  But our death is done.  Now, we live.  God’s own child, I gladly say it.  A New Creation.  Released from tyranny.  Cleansed from sin.  Planted and watered in His Kingdom.  A place reserved at His royal Table.  His own Name written upon us.  Our own bodily resurrection to come. 

            Beloved, the Light has dawned.  There is no more waiting.  Now we say it with Spirit-wrought joy: Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.