The Word of the Lord, from the Gospel according to Matthew,
chapter 28, verses 1-10 (MSG translation)
Matthew 28 1-4 After the Sabbath, as
the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came
to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their
feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were
standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning
blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were
scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move.
5-6 The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear
here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is
not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he
was placed.
7 “Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He
is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see
him there.’ That’s the message.”
8-10 The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time
in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them,
stopping them in their tracks. “Good morning!” he said. They fell to their
knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, “You’re holding on to
me for dear life! Don’t be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they
are to go to Galilee, and that I’ll meet them there.”
I’d like to go back and highlight the last of that passage,
verse 8: “The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving
the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples.” Deep in wonder and full of joy. Here
this pair of friends, come grieving the execution of their Savior, their
Messiah, the Son of Man and Son of God Jesus.
Instead of coming to sit vigil at the tomb and mourn the
loss of Jesus, to sit and weep and remember their lives with Jesus, instead of
any of that, when they reach the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid, these
women are interrupted by a huge earthquake and a Divine messenger, an angel of
the Lord, who tells them, “You’re looking for Jesus? He’s not here- he is
risen, just like He said He would be. So leave and go tell the disciples to
meet Him in Galilee.”
And so, we pause for just a second in the story. Just for a second.
We cannot imagine what was going through these women’s minds- first this
earthquake, and then Mary and Mary meet an angel who brings them the Gospel-
the Good News- Jesus is not here, He’s risen back to life! The angel then
instructs them- Go tell the disciples, Jesus will meet them in Galilee.
What would YOU do? First you survive an enormous earthquake,
and then an angel appears from nowhere and tells you- ‘Go find the disciples
and tell them Jesus isn’t dead, He’s alive, and He’s going to meet you soon.’
I might have stopped and thought about this for a second. I
might have wondered if this had really happened, if maybe I wasn’t
hallucinating or if something was wrong with me, or maybe I might have been
like those guards, scared to death of this earthquake and this angel rolling
the stone away, but not these women!
Scripture here tells us they were deep in wonder and full of
joy. But they didn’t stop and discuss it, they didn’t do any number of things
that someone in this situation could have done, they followed the angel’s
directions immediately, with hearts that were deep in wonder and full of joy. Maybe
they thought, “How can this be?” But how could you keep from being excited over
the moon that someone you watched die was alive once more, what greater joy
might there be?
What love Jesus shows here, knowing that in our humanity,
sometimes we need our senses to be convinced of what our heart is telling us,
so He appears to them both and greets them, and Jesus speaks words here we all
need to hear this Easter morning: “Don’t be frightened.”
When we love the One who has defeated death, the One who has
sacrificed Himself for our sins, what is there to be scared of, for we know
that when we believe and trust in Jesus, that our permanent home is in Heaven.
As we go forward into celebrating Easter today with phone
calls and texts and video chats because we can’t be physically together yet,
hear the Good News of Jesus: Don’t be frightened, there’s nothing to fear. Do
all the things: wash your hands for 20 seconds, and wear masks when you go out,
and don’t buy all the toilet paper, and check on one another, but don’t be
frightened.
Instead, let your hearts be deep in wonder about the love we
can create together when our world comes back together. Be deep in wonder about
all the ways we can love our neighbors as we love ourselves throughout this
crisis. Be full of joy that indeed on this Easter morning, Christ is risen. Be
full of joy that Jesus loved you so much He died on the cross just for you, so
that through Him, you might know Heaven as your home, too.
May you be blessed this Easter Sunday as we celebrate the
Resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
Alleluia!
He is risen- Christ Jesus is risen indeed. Go forth deep in wonder and full of
joy!
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