In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Very early in the morning, just about sunrise, three women
made their way to the tomb of Jesus. They brought spices to anoint His body,
showing how much they loved their Lord. Perhaps it was the grief, sorrow over
the death of Jesus, that distracted them from the fact that a large stone had
been placed over the entrance to the tomb. Along the way, they realized this
problem and grew concerned over how they would get into the tomb to tend to
Jesus’ body.
But when they arrived at the tomb, they discovered the stone
had been rolled away. The door to the tomb stood open. Inside the tomb, the
women did not see the body of Jesus. They saw a young man clothed in a long
white robe sitting where they expected to see Jesus. This man was an angel,
sent by God, to inform the women of Jesus’ resurrection.
The women were afraid of the man, but he quickly gave them
the reassurance commonly heard from holy angels, “Be not afraid.” The angel
knows they are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, and he boldly
proclaims, “He is risen! He is not here.” The angel then gives them a job—go
tell the disciples, including Peter, to seek the Lord in Galilee as He told you
before His death.”
These women quickly fled from the tomb, trembling and
afraid. It is somewhat suspicious that our text tells us the women were afraid
but not what they are afraid of. We know the Apostles will gather that first
Easter evening behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Perhaps the women are
also afraid to tell anyone about the resurrection for fear of the Jews. Or,
perhaps they are afraid of the angel. This particular angel appeared in the
form of a young man, so his appearance would not have been supernaturally
frightening. Maybe he spoke with such authority that the women were afraid of
his confidence.
Or maybe, the women were afraid of Jesus. Jesus had taught all
His disciples very clearly about the necessity of the crucifixion and the
resurrection. He even told them that they would scatter. These women, like
almost all the disciples, didn’t really understand or truly believe what Jesus
had said. Again, maybe their grief was blinding them to reality. So maybe they
were afraid that Jesus really had risen and here they are, carrying spices to
anoint His dead body—evidence of their lack of faith in Jesus’ words. Whatever
the reason, these women choose to disobey the word of the angel by telling no
one what they had seen.
But Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb and encountered our
Lord. She was the first person to whom Jesus revealed Himself in His
resurrected and glorified state. After seeing Jesus, she ran quickly to tell
the disciples what she had seen.
Then our Lord appeared to the two disciples on the road to
Emmaus, walking with them until evening. They did not recognize Him until He
agreed to stay with them for a meal. When He took bread, gave thanks, and broke
it before them, the eyes of these disciples were opened and they saw the
glorified Lord. Immediately, Jesus departed from them. These two disciples then
ran quickly to tell the others that they had seen Jesus.
Forty days later and after revealing Himself to many
disciples, Jesus gathered with the Eleven on the Mount of the Ascension. He
offered to His disciples His final teachings before being received into heaven
and sitting at the right hand of the Father:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who
does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who
believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new
tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will
by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”[1]
What wonderful words to hear from our risen Savior! Imagine
if you truly believed them. Because there are many in error who have taken to
dancing with venomous snakes and drinking poison, we are quick to dismiss these
words. Those who do such foolish things are tempting God—something Satan tried
to get Jesus to do but Jesus refused. Rather than take these things as
necessary requirements for faith, something to test out to see if you really
have faith, we should see them as flowing naturally from faith.
I said, “Imagine if you truly believed these words.” What I
mean is, imagine what it would be like not to be afraid of the Jews, the harsh
words of Jesus, your neighbors, your coworkers, your children? What if you
believed the words of Scripture to say exactly what they say and lived
according to them? What if the next time somebody asked, “Any plans this
weekend?” you responded, “Yeah, I’m going to go to church and learn more about
Jesus”? They might look at you like you’re crazy. They might laugh at you. So
what? It’s true. It should be true.
The Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Almighty Word by which
creation came to be, took your sins upon Himself; died the death you deserve so
that your sins would be buried deep in the earth; and then rose again to new
life so that you would receive eternal life with Him in heaven. Why be ashamed
of that? Why be afraid to tell someone about that? Doesn’t make much sense,
does it?
Rather, revel in the resurrection of Christ. Enjoy the feast
of the resurrection. Celebrate the death of Jesus for you, knowing that because
of it, you will see Him with your own two eyes, just as Job proclaimed.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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