Matthew 28:1-10 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day
of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And
behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from
heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was
like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the
guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women,
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is
not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7
Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and
behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have
told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy,
and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said,
“Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to
Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Jesus did not waste any time, did He?
As a matter of fact here, Jesus sent an angel before He
appeared to the women at the tomb, but the message is clear, from both the
angel and from Jesus, exactly what He wanted them to do, and what Jesus wants
us to do today: Do not be afraid. Go and tell.
Jesus’ angelic messenger tells Mary and Mary, “Do not be
afraid, go quickly and tell his disciples he is risen from the dead.” Then
Jesus meets them himself before they get out of the garden and tells them the
very same thing, from his own lips: “Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers
to go to Galilee and there they will see me.”
We discussed earlier this morning in the Sunrise Service how
these women might have felt, the Message translation of this text says they
left with hearts which were deep in wonder and full of joy. How could you not
be full of wonder that your friend, your teacher, your master was alive again?
Especially after you witnessed his sham trial in a kangaroo court and state
execution by crucifixion- you’ve literally just watched your loved one die and
be put in the ground, and now here He is, alive once more! How would you not
been deep in wonder and full of joy, but our text here says they left with fear
and great joy.
There are different kinds of fear, fear can be reverence for
something, kind of like how we fear fire- we don’t grab hot pans off the stove,
not because we’re scared, but because we don’t want to get burned and know what
might happen. There’s also fear that’s being terrified of something to the
point that you actively avoid it. In every case, fear equals avoidance, and
Jesus did not want these two women He loved, his friends, to be scared of Him
in any manner.
What Jesus did goes against the normal rules for being a
human. We’re born, we live, we die. But not Christ- not the Son of Man and Son
of God- who was indeed fully human, and yet also fully God, and so, even as His
human body was nailed to the cross and died, His Divinity would not let Him
remain dead in the tomb. Jesus’ resurrection broke the rules for humanity
because we broke the rules of God. We sinned, and to pay the debt we owe to
God, Christ died on that cross on Golgotha in our place, and as He lives now,
if we believe and trust in Him, then we too shall live forever with Him in
Heaven.
Jesus shattered the bonds of sin and darkness and there is
not time for us to lose.
This is the Gospel. This is the Good News. This was the
message the angel and Jesus instructed Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of
James to take to the disciples: Jesus is alive! Jesus died, and on this Easter
Sunday, Jesus is alive now and forevermore!
We’ve celebrated this majestic, miraculous day for 2,000
years as the Church, and yet, despite the miracle, despite the appearance of
snow white, lightning angels, and a resurrected Savior, Jesus wasn’t about the
fanfare, about the fear, Jesus was about getting His people to work!
Go and tell! Go tell the Good News! Go, right now, quickly,
and tell the world that Christ Jesus is risen today! Go and tell them that He
lives! He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
And so, this is our mission.
While Jesus walked the earth, He told us the Greatest
Commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your
soul, and all your mind, and all your strength, and that a second commandment
was like it- to love your neighbors as you love yourself. And after Jesus was
raised to life, but before He ascended to Heaven, Jesus gave us the Great
Commission, to go into all the world and make disciples.
What could be a better way to do all three together: to love
God with everything we are, to love our neighbors, everyone everywhere all over
the world, than by fulfilling this mission, this Great Commission: to Go and
Tell.
In our celebration of our Risen King, go tell the world of
Jesus and His great love, a love for all of us, for all of humanity, a love so
great He stepped out of Heaven, took upon Himself human flesh and gave His own
life for us as a sacrifice so that through Him, we might have an eternal home
in Heaven.
We praise Jesus for His great and mighty works in defeating
death, and now the mission has passed on from Mary, and Mary, and the disciples
to us. It’s up to us now to Go and Tell.
As we come to a close this Easter Sunday, I would like to
offer you the lyrics to my favorite Easter Hymn, “Up from the Grave He Arose:”
Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,
vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!
Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior;
he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed.
Now Go and Tell.
Happy Easter!
No comments:
Post a Comment