Worship

Easter Dawn                      April 5, 2026

Zechariah 8:19-23              Pastor Ryan Wolfe

Our Fasting Gives Way to Feasting

Brothers and sisters, fellow victors in Christ. For many people today is a day of feasting: eggs and dinner rolls, chocolates and jelly beans, ham and potatoes, all enjoyed in the company of family and friends we don’t always get to see. Of course, for us it’s even better because we also feast on the triumphant news of Jesus’ victory over death, over the devil, over sin itself. We celebrate those angelic words, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

But back up for a minute. Did you fast during Lent? I’m not talking about missing a meal because you were too busy or fasting intermittently to lose weight. I’m talking about the spiritual discipline of fasting. It might surprise you, but God only commanded the Israelites to abstain from food once a year: on the Day of Atonement, when fasting showed the people’s sorrow over sin. But voluntarily fasting – that was common. David fasted as he prayed for the life of his infant son. Esther asked the Jews in Persia to fast while she prepared to ask King Xerxes to spare all the Jews in her country. Jesus, who fasted himself for 40 days in the wilderness, spoke about fasting as if it were a widely observed custom among the Jews. And in Acts, we see New Testament believers at Antioch fasting and praying for God’s favor before they send Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey.

Fasting as a spiritual discipline is less popular today, but maybe it should be more common. You can fast to express remorse over sin, to call on God’s help, to focus on devotional time, or to remind us of everything Jesus gave up for us. In his Small Catechism Martin Luther acknowledged that “fasting…may serve a good purpose” in preparing one’s heart to receive the Lord’s Supper. So maybe we should abstain from something we like every once in a while, whether it’s food or sweets or alcohol or social media. But no matter what you “fast” from for a while, we all know how much we anticipate the celebration at the end. And after 40 days of fasting from our full, open celebration of resurrection joy in Lent, today – Resurrection Day – our fasting gives way to feasting!

Since Ash Wednesday we’ve been listening to Zechariah, the Holy Week Prophet. None of his prophecies directly foretell the Messiah’s resurrection, but today we hear the prophet predict a time when fasting would give way to feasting. He says that in this time God’s people would be so joyful that even nonbelievers would chase after the believers in the hope of attaining the Lord’s blessing. It’s an unfamiliar, but fantastic part of God’s Word. Hear these three statements of God from Zechariah 8:19-23: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace. This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.’ And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him. This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”

Even if you didn’t give up any food or activity during Lent, it was still a time of figurative fasting, a time to lament that it was our sins that led to Jesus’ suffering and death. We confessed that we have not always been faithful. That we have not always loved truth and peace. That we deserve to be separated from God’s presence for all eternity.

But Lent is also a time to rejoice that the words of the prophets have been fulfilled. That the world has been reconciled to God because was Jesus separated from God’s presence on the cross. He was pierced for us. Crushed for us. His wounds bring us peace. Lenten sorrow MUST end in Easter joy, or we’re not doing either correctly.

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “The fasts…will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.”

The time of fasting has ended, God says. Let the feasting begin! Easter is joyful and glad for God’s people because we are celebrating that Jesus’ work is complete. The resurrection is God’s confirmation to the world that Jesus did what he came to do. Because Jesus rose to new life free from sin we know that we too rise in new life in faith. Paul describes this in Romans six as us being “buried with him through baptism” and then “raised to new life with him.” In faith, God gives us a new nature that loves truth and peace. The truth that he has risen an the peace that we are reconciled to God because of it.

That’s why you rolled out of bed early this morning. Not to see the lilies and the white altar cloths, but to hear the return of “Alleluia!” and to shout, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” Don’t be shy. Let your joy be evident to everyone! That is what Zechariah foresaw after all in God’s second statement.

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.’ And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him.”

Easter is one of two times in the year when church members are most likely to invite family and friends to worship with them. Maybe you did that this year. And maybe they came! But even if the people you invited didn’t show up today, I promise you that around the world “many peoples and powerful nations” have come “to seek the LORD Almighty” on this triumphant day. As the prophet says, we ourselves have come to see this thing. And what do we see when we come? We find that sin’s barrier to Gods throne of grace is removed in Christ. Inhabitants of cities around the world celebrate today as we entreat the Lord and trust that he hears our every prayer.

And our Easter joy is infectious. The third paragraph: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”

Too often we take it for granted that God is with us. Of course he is! We know it when we are here in this place. We understand it when God’s blessings are obvious. But it’s true even when those blessings aren’t as clear. God was with Mary Magdalene as she wept outside the tomb even before she heard Jesus say her name. God was with the apostles while they hid behind locked doors even before Jesus appeared and greeted them saying, “Peace be with you!” God was with the Emmaus disciples as they wondered and wandered on the road.

And you know what? Brothers and sisters in Jesus, God is with you. With you who are persecuted for your faith, as you hold on tightly under pressure. With you who suffer, as you ache with pain and weep with grief. God is with you who stand alone outside the walls, faithfully defending the truth in a hostile world. God is with you parents as you train and prepare your children for life in a world as cold to God as any in history. But listen again to what God says in this last statement:

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”

As our living Savior brings you through the obstacles of a dying world, others are taking note. Let your confidence in Christ show! Fellow victors in Jesus, live your faith out loud! Live it so loud that the people around you are envious of your joy. Worship here so often that if your neighbors see your car in the driveway on Sunday, they wonder if you’re sick. And when they ask, and some will, why you have peace even while you deal with the same struggles they do… then you can tell them that you have God with you. The God who told Isaiah, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (It’s Isaiah 41:10 if you want to mark it in your own Bible.)

On Easter Sunday, the joy of Jesus’ victory overwhelms the sadness of Jesus’ sacrifice. The fasting is over – the feasting begins. So don’t hold back. Feast on the blessings you have because Jesus, the Son of God, is risen as he said he would. Feast because his life means we will live eternally as well. Fill your heart. Stuff your soul with the truth and triumph of the resurrection. And don’t be surprised if one or two or ten people around you take hold of you by the hem of your clothing and say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”

May our good and gracious God be with each of you on this Feast of the Resurrection. Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.