A post-resurrection story is told about Lazarus, the man Jesus brought back from the dead. You won't find this post-resurrection story in the Bible, but it has the ring of truth. After Jesus was raised from the dead, all the disciples were empowered to witness for him all over the world. Easter set them free. They told everyone they met that Jesus was Lord of all.

The Roman officials saw these followers of Christ as troublemakers because they refused to acknowledge Caesar as Lord. Many Christians were arrested. Some were fed to the lions; some burned at the stake.

According to the story, Lazarus was arrested and threatened with death. He was brought before the Roman Emperor Caligula who ordered him to renounce his faith in Christ. "I cannot and will not renounce my faith in Jesus as Lord," Lazarus replied.

"You don't understand," Caligula said. "I have power of life and death over you. If you don't renounce Jesus as Lord and proclaim me as Lord, I will have you killed."

According to the story, Lazarus laughed. He laughed uncontrollably. He laughed right in the face of the most powerful ruler in the world. Finally, when he finished laughing, Lazarus said, "You are the one who doesn't understand. Death is dead, Caligula. Death is dead. I've been there. I know."

That's what Saint Peter preached in Caesarea to the household of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, death is dead. Death does not have ultimate power over us. "Jesus is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36b).

Peter's sermon is our Easter text today. Peter's sermon in Caesarea can be summarized in two terse statements: 1) Jesus is Lord of all and 2) we are his witnesses.

Jesus Is Lord Of All

We know about the Apostles' Creed. Some of us know about the Nicene Creed. A few of us know about the Athanasian Creed. These are called the three ecumenical creeds of Christendom, but the first creed of the early Christians was "Jesus is Lord."

That's the creed that got the early Christians in trouble with the Roman rulers. These early followers of Christ insisted that Jesus, not Caesar, was Lord, the ultimate ruler to whom they owed their highest loyalty and obedience. Let's look at three implications of this creed, "Jesus is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36).

First, that Jesus is Lord of all means that all people can be saved by this confession. After Peter's sermon, Cornelius and his family confessed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and were baptized. Peter's sermon emphasized that all people, Gentiles as well as Jews, could become disciples of Jesus. That was a revolutionary thought since Peter was a Jew and Jews of that time looked down on Gentiles as heathens who were beyond the reach of salvation. When a Gentile was impressed by Jewish monotheism and morality, and desired to become a Jew by faith, he was circumcised and became what was called a "God-fearer."

Cornelius was a God-fearer. "He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God" (Acts 10:2). Allowed into the community of believers, God-fearers were nevertheless regarded as second-class citizens. Since most of the earliest Christians were Jewish, this attitude about Gentiles became a real point of contention in the early church.

Some Jewish Christians insisted that Gentiles had to become Jews by circumcision before they could become Christians. Peter's vision as recorded in Acts 10:1-33 preceded his visit to Cornelius. In that vision, God told Peter that Gentiles were not unclean. They, too, could become Christians. "God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean," Peter said (Acts 10:28). "God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34).

The gospel of salvation is for all people everywhere. No one is excluded from God's grace given in Jesus Christ and his cross. Jesus died that all might be saved. Cornelius was a God-fearer who became a Christian.

Cornelius was also a Roman centurion. That meant that he had loyalty and sworn obedience to Rome. He was under Rome's authority. He represented the Romans in Caesarea where he was stationed. That also meant that he was in charge of 100 soldiers who were under his authority. Cornelius understood what it meant to have authority and be under authority. When Peter preached that "Jesus is Lord of all," Cornelius understood that he was faced with a major conflict. He chose Jesus over Caesar as Lord of life.

That Jesus is Lord of all not only means that he is the Lord over Jews, Gentiles, and all people everywhere, but that he is my Lord as well. If we do not translate and apply this creed to our lives, we relegate it to the margins of life as an interesting biblical emphasis. We would be mere admirers of Jesus' way and words, but not disciples. That Jesus is Lord of all means that as a Christian I come under his ultimate authority.

Martin Luther, in The Small Catechism, interprets the meaning of the second article of the Apostles' Creed like this: "I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord...." That's not just powerful theology. That's personal confession, the way of salvation.

Second, that Jesus is Lord of all means that he is Lord of life. This new life in Christ is extraordinary. It was for Cornelius. It is for us as well. In baptism, Christ added a plus to Cornelius' life, to the lives of his family, and to our lives as well. The cross of Christ, God's plus, is made on the foreheads of those who are baptized. That means that the baptized are given something extra for their lives.

In John 2:1-11 we read that Jesus turned water into wine. Water is ordinary; wine extraordinary. This was the first of his signs. That means that this was the kind of thing Jesus did throughout his ministry. He took ordinary people and made them extraordinary, extra-ordinary. Christ adds a plus to our ordinary lives.

We have looked at two implications of Peter's words, "Jesus is Lord of all." He is Lord of all people, of every color and kind, race, culture, and my Lord. He is also Lord of life. I am called to come under his authority for living my life.

The third implication of this first-century creed that Jesus is Lord of all is that death is not fatal. Since "God raised him on the third day ..." (Acts 10:40), that means that we are baptized into his death and resurrection and that as he is raised from death, we, too, have new life after death. That's what the celebration of Easter is all about!

For Christ, death was just a brief stopover on the way to heaven. So, for us there is the very real physical death, but that death is not permanent, not final, not fatal. Through Christ we are promised life after death. Jesus said, "If it were not so, I would have told you." He also said, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Saint Paul puts it this way: "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people the most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:19). He adds, "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:54b-58).

Peter proclaimed new life for all in Christ Jesus. He proclaimed life over death. He also said we are witnesses for Christ.

We Are Christ's Witnesses

In four different places in his sermon, Peter uses the term "witnesses" or the term "testify."

"We are witnesses to all that he (Jesus) did both in Judea and in Jerusalem" (Acts 10:39).

"... to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose form the dead" (Acts 10:41).

"He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42).

"All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" (Acts 10:43).

Clearly, these passages mean that Peter and the apostles (and the prophets before them) were witnesses. In addition, all Christians are called to be witnesses for Christ. Not all are evangelists, but all are witnesses. The word "evangelist" comes from the New Testament word, euangelizzomai. It means "someone who announces and declares the gospel." The word "witness" comes from the New Testament word marturein. It means "someone who shares the gospel." Not all Christians are called to be evangelists, declaring or preaching the gospel, but all are called to share their faith with others. All evangelists are witnesses, but not all witnesses are evangelists.

Jesus, the Lord of all, said to the apostles (and to all Christians): "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ..." (Matthew 28:18-19). He also said, "... You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Since Jesus is Lord of all, we are called to witness to the Lordship of Christ beyond all barriers -- language, culture, prejudice, geography, economic class, or education. All people of every color and kind can receive the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ (Acts 10:35b). That's the good news of Easter.

Since Jesus is Lord of all, we are called to witness that life can be extraordinary for those who believe. In Christ the extra added to life can be called spiritual joy. In Christ, an extraordinary joy is added to ordinary life. Only in Christ can people find the joy they were intended to know when they were born. Through Peter's sermon, that joy came to the household of Cornelius.

Elsewhere Peter puts it this way: "Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy ..." (1 Peter 1:8). The Revised Standard translates this blessing of believing as "an unutterable and exalted joy."

People want this joy. They need this joy. Therefore we witness for Christ through whom they can have this joy. That's the good news of Easter.

Since Jesus is Lord of all, we are called to witness to the glorious Easter message that Christ came back from the grave and that we, too, may have life over death through him. Death is not fatal. By Christ's resurrection, death is dealt a deadly blow. We may die physically, but since the grave could not hold our Lord, the grave can't hold us, either.

Christ precedes us into our graves and then says, "Come along. Follow me. I'll show you the way out of here." Death is not fatal. That's the good news of Easter.

During World War II, a pastor was standing next to a gaping hole made by a bomb. He was contemplating the horrors of death and destruction. Suddenly, a member of his church appeared and looked at the havoc that had recently claimed her husband. "I'm so sorry," the pastor said. "I wish I could have done more to help you and your husband."

"You did more than you know," the widow replied. "You prepared my husband for eternity."

That's what we do as God's witnesses: prepare one another for eternity. That's the good news of Easter.

Some years ago, when the Communists ruled Russia with an iron fist and persecuted Christians, a state official appeared at an Easter gathering of Christians. He went to the microphone and boldly announced: "This business of faith is foolish. It is nothing but a hoax. There is no God. There is no Christ. There is no resurrection. Is there anyone here who would like to come forward and try to deny what I am saying?"

There was a long silence. Then a Russian Orthodox priest stepped forward to the microphone.

"Well," the official said cynically. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The priest turned from the Communist official and looked at the crowd. "I have only one thing to say," he asserted. "Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!"

With one voice, the crowd cried out, "He is risen indeed."

We celebrate Easter with the same exchange. Since Jesus is Lord of all and death is now dead, and since Jesus offers Easter joy to all for this life and the next, we boldly assert as Christ's witnesses.

"Jesus Christ is risen from the dead."

Response: "He is risen indeed."