Easter follow-up to the random naked guy

On Thursday night, a guy who was with the disciples ran away naked when Jesus was arrested. Tomorrow morning, when Jesus rises, the living Lord will be naked. And he'll leave behind his grave clothes so we and that naked guy can all be wrapped up in Christ's death and resurrection. The only caveat as that a fella needs to be dead and naked in order to raised and wrapped.

In the Catechism's explanation of baptism's daily benefits, I think Luther used the word "drowned" rather than "washed" on purpose. "Washed" allows the self-continuity project of the old sinner to progress unabated. But "drowned" means the old you is done, kaput, finis. Only when that happens can the resurrection happen.

That's why any act of the will in regard to God can't get you saved, whether it's accepting Jesus, fighting abortion/gay marriage/name-your-own policitical issue, or getting a Hollister t-shirt to impress you middle school friends. When we rely on anything this side of death, then the sinner still gets to retain the ability of the self to do something, and that means our First-Commandment-breaking penchant still swims with its head above water. Frantically paddling, yes, but also desperate for shallower waters than God offers in baptism.

As Luther says in Thesis 18 of the 1518 Heidelberg Disputation, "Only when we completely despair of ourselves do we merit the mercy of Christ" (or something like that). That means I ain't never gonna get clean, no amount of scrubbing can help, and no religious bar of Irish Spring can do the trick. It seems to me that the only people who can really mean it when they say they need what Christ has to offer are the dead and naked. And the new resurrected you will wear your grave-grime joyfully as the very reason Jesus made himself yours.


This means our Easter prayer needs to be, "Gracious God, make me dead and strip me clean. And then wind your eternal grace around me. Only then will I have your promised abundant life." That's what Luther meant when he told us to sin boldly and trust all the more boldly in Christ's mercy.