Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

This statement makes us feel good. It's fun to say it. It announces to us that Christ has defeated sin and death. It tells us we will live eternally, and even that our bodies will rise again on the day He returns. It tells us that we don't need to fear death. It gives us joy.

Usually when we talk about joy, we are talking about emotions. Despite what you may think (O.K. here it comes) --we are. We are talking about emotions. We have every reason to be emotional about what this statement means. Death is no longer to be feared. How can you hear that without some kind of emotional reaction? Relief, joy, excitement--I don't know, but if it's true and you believe it, it's hard to imagine no reaction to it. This means we don't need something to MAKE us excited or something to MAKE us joyful; that's just emotional manipulation; the news alone can do it. If we don't get excited by it or relieved, I would think it's because we don't think about what it means or we have something else on our minds. But go ahead. Think about it. Get emotional about it.

But I don't think our emotions could ever even approach what it was like for the disciples the weeks after Jesus had risen from the dead. Make no mistake; they saw it. They saw Him die. He was physically, bodily, actually dead. Then they saw Him alive again. He was physically, bodily, actually alive. They saw it all. They didn't question it. And it gave them great joy.

Now perhaps, we don't feel that joy because we don't have an empty grave or a resurrected man in front of us. For us, if we don't want to believe the Bible, we still have a lot of proof. Consider these: Soldiers claim they fell asleep while they were on guard, and while they slept somebody stole the body. If they had fallen asleep they should have been killed for failing in their mission. Their superiors were paid off. He did rise.

Consider also this: Although we can't prove the resurrection like we might want in this day, it could have been so easily disproved back in the day it happened. But it wasn't. Then there were all these eyewitnesses of His resurrection. And at the time the first letters to the churches were written many of those eyewitnesses were still alive. Readers were even encouraged to talk to those witnesses. You don't do that when you know it's a fake. The chicken-hearted disciples who hid for a couple weeks immediately after the resurrection become bold enough to die for the faith. You don't do that when you know it's a fake.

The church exploded in growth, based on what? A lie? No, that doesn't happen when it's a fake and easily proved to be so. Maybe--after all the witnesses have died off, and the story can be embellished, then you might see growth. When the so-called facts can made a little more interesting, but not immediately--not unless it was true.

But an empty grave and a risen man. That would catch a person's attention and interest. The people looked at the apostles, and could tell they had been with Jesus. And so the announcement, "Christ is risen!" was simply a statement of fact that anyone could see. Maybe at first they wouldn't even be inclined to respond exactly the way we do. Maybe they would say, "Yeah, I know. Isn't it great!

But that's not the mood of the room when Jesus is talking to them in the upper room, the scene in our text today. They were so low, the upper room could have been the basement. And they still didn't know what He was talking about or how bad it was going to get. They just hated the idea of seeing Him go--wherever it would be, for however long it would be.

It turned out it wasn't long before He was gone. This was Thursday night. That "little while" was only about 2 or 3 hours. They go to the garden of Gethsemane, and He is arrested. And it got worse. He was tried and executed. Not even 24 hours had passed since He said, "In a little while."

If the upper room was as good as a basement then it was a subterranean cavern after He died. They were crushed. Their dreams were gone. The light in their lives had gone out. There was no reason for hope. None! He told them they would see Him again, but do you think they were listening? No, they didn't hear. He said they would see Him again, but they must have forgotten. Although you can't forget what you don't hear. "In a little while you will not see me, and then in a little while you will see me." This little while was just a little while, this time He spent in the grave, but it must have seemed an eternity. And then He was with them again.

Now, nothing could bring them down. Nothing. They were filled with joy, with peace, with confidence. They had suffered hell, so it seemed; so nothing will ever be as bad. Bad times would come for them, but there was no comparison.

Their joy of the resurrection could not be shaken. The time while He was gone was miserable. But now He is back. And even after He ascended, they knew He wasn't really gone.

Are there times for you when it seems He is gone? The clouds have covered His face. They are hiding Him, and it seems like you will never see Him again? Your loneliness is crushing you. Your emptiness has made you feel hollow. Your fear of what you are going through is sucking out your life. Things aren't going as you hope. And sometimes, to relieve the distress or the pain, or the emptiness, you take things into your own hands. You know what is right, but you can't see Him anymore. It seems like He is gone, and you ask yourself, "What's the use? What's the point? If He is not here, what difference does it make if I try to do things my way, even if it means to disobey Him?"

Have you been there? Are you there now? Then listen to what Jesus said to His disciples. "In a little while you will not see me, and then in a little while you will see me." These little whiles will come and then they will be gone.

Now, here's the word is for "little while." Micron. That's how little. A micron. But it doesn't feel like that. Sometimes it seems so long, that it feels like the sun will never come out again. But it will. He promised it.

I feel I need to say something about depression, clinical depression. That's a different animal. Clinical depression is a physical condition, a situation where the chemicals are out of balance. Even so, the sun may break through occasionally. And yet, that doesn't mean to not seek professional help.

But for the case of a God's child who is not suffering depression, but whose life has hit a spot that has not been so bright and sunny, the promise applies. It has been made to all of God's baptized people, His people who cling to the grace given to them in Christ.

This is the promise that will be given to Kayden, this afternoon. Oh yeah, it won't mean much to him for quite a while. He'll have to get into his upper grade school years and even older than that to really know what it means, but this is the event by which He knows this promise is spoken to him. On May 3, 2009, our Lord will have graciously adopted Kayden into His family, and told Him, "Now Kayden, when you are older, there will be little whiles when life won't seem so great. Remember this day, the day I baptized you. Hold on for dear life to my claim on you. Remember the promise that is yours. They will only be little whiles. They are only microns. And then that little while will be gone again. They'll come back, but remember my promise so you can face them.

Perhaps this is another reason why the Lord's Supper is so important. It breaks through. Good or bad days, the Lord gives to us the very body and blood that He sacrificed so we could be His. When life is rough, it is our reminder that He is still there, just hidden by clouds. When life is going well, it is our reminder that He is still there, now smiling and shining on us. Either way, we are told He is here for us. He has paid the price so we can be His children.

Which brings me to my last point-the price He paid so we could have this promise. We are told a little while and it will be past. We are told that, as repentant sinners, God will never turn away from us. We can endure however bad it gets, because we know He won't turn away from us. Not Jesus. He didn't have that same assurance.

A woman who is in labor knows what is going to come at the end of her pain. Nowadays, the pain can be relieved in many different ways, but even so, she knows what will happen--a tiny human will be born. Beth just went through this herself just a couple weeks ago, when Kayden was born. The pain was intense, and although eventually it was relieved, she had to go through it to give birth to Kayden.

Just like a woman in labor, we know it will be over. And we know throughout it all, our gracious God, watches over us.

Jesus didn't have that confidence. He had no reason for it. As He hung on the cross, He saw His Father turn His back.

Nor was the little while just a little while. The price He paid for our sins was an eternity in hell. Yet here on earth, in earth time, it seemed to only be a couple hours. He cries out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me."

He didn't have the promise we have. To us who seek His face who look to Him for mercy, which we know we have in Christ, it may seem He is not to be found, but He is still there. For Jesus, He was really gone. Jesus suffered hell. Every last bit of God's favor was completely withdrawn. All He felt was divine wrath. But this wasn't just a man enduring hell for us, it was God Himself. Yes, God died. To understand this, here's a brief quote from the Formula of Concord. "For God in His own nature cannot die; but now that God and man are united in one person, it is called God's death when the man dies who is one substance or one person with God."

You want to know the extent of God's love and mercy to you, your seal that your suffering is only a little while? Look at Christ, who endured death and hell. God didn't do this simply to prove His love. He did it so He could love you; so He could make us lovable. And indeed in Christ, He does.

When the little whiles seem to get too long, remember Jesus on the cross, and remember His promise that I will say a little bit differently, "There will be little whiles when you won't see me, but they are only little whiles, and then you will see me again. Therefore, you may not always feel joy like excitement, and peace and relief, but with this promise, no matter what you endure, you can always know joy, an unshakable joy whether you feel it or not.

AMEN