(By Dave, 10 min)
Scripture
Matthew 28: 2-10
Jesus Has Risen
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
What scared them?
This gospel reading opens with the heading: “Jesus Has Risen”. It seems jubilation would be the very next thing you would read. Instead, it’s fear. Four times in six verses fear is identified in the characters of the story. Perhaps fear is important to the context of Easter.
When something threatens our life, fear is the natural response. I suspect the guards were worried for their lives. They experienced an earthquake caused by an immaculate being now perched on an enormous stone they were charged to keep closed. The men were also likely paralyzed with fear by witnessing something that was clearly unknown and supernatural. We fear what we do not know especially when it may be associated with life or death.
Mary and Mary were also fearful, but theirs seems to have a different cause. The angel tells them not to be afraid and then immediately explains where the body is as if their fear is caused by losing the person they deeply loved. Later when they encounter Jesus, they are once again fearful. This time it seems their fear is the Old Testament “fear of the Lord”. A fear that is more associated with awe and devotion as opposed to personal jeopardy. We know this because they fall on their knees to worship the risen Jesus who then calms them before giving them their role.
Do not be afraid, hope is here
The gospel story nicely encapsulates the sources of fear most of us have. There are times when threats to our lives produce fear like having an airplane in which you are flying start to free fall. Other times we are fearful of the unknown. Although not a supernatural unknown like an angel on a boulder, an example might be the sinking feeling a law-abiding taxpayer experiences when reading an audit letter from the IRS. He has no idea how to respond to an organization with that much power or if his response will be accepted. We also become fearful of changing circumstances like the women who came upon the opened tomb, especially when it involves a loved one. The anxiety that assails a person when she learns that a previously healthy loved one is now gravely ill comes to mind.
Fear is something with which all humans can relate, but why did God juxtapose it to something as beautiful as the resurrection of Jesus? I think it is because hope is the only sustaining remedy to fear, and a living Jesus is hope that supersedes everything. Jesus tells us the same thing he told the women “Do not be afraid.” The Lord of our salvation lives.
When my mother was first told she had cancer it was far along. She feared her end was imminent, and it was a shock because there were no signs or symptoms that led her to believe she was in peril. One day she seemed fine and the next was told she was gravely ill. Her diagnosing oncologist said her life would soon be over, but the physician she saw for chemotherapy disagreed. I was in the room when the treating oncologist sincerely told my mother there was a chance the cancer could be driven into submission. My mom started to cry and said that was the only hopeful comment she received since her diagnosis. She hugged the doctor and left with her fear eased.
Mom’s story was brought to mind when I watched a really good movie the other day about a person abused in prison. One of the climactic moments is when the prisoner screams at his attorney that he would rather be dead than go back to jail. He then crumples into a ball and squeaks out “I’m just so scared. I’m so tired of being scared.” This is how my mom felt. She was just so scared and suddenly the physician gave her a ray of hope. Alas hope is all it was, and my mother passed away in less than a year.
Jesus is not like chemotherapy or any man-made intervention. Because of Easter, he is not a chance that maybe you will be better. He is a guarantee that you will be physically and emotionally restored and forever washed clean of your sin to live in harmony with our triune God. My mom’s fear was eased with just a chance that the medical treatment might help. Perhaps your fear, whatever it may be, can be eased by the much greater guarantee Jesus gives us. A guarantee that will not fail.
Empathy
But there is another blessing that Easter represents. When the women encounter Jesus on the road they fall at his feet and worship. Their Old Testament fear was poured out in devotion. Jesus tells them not to be afraid. We can take our fear to a living Jesus because he knows how we feel. He stands willing and ready to hear that we are just so scared and don’t want to be scared anymore. Jesus understands because he was fully human when he accepted his pathway to the resurrection. Gethsemane tells us he too feared the whip that scourged, the spear that pierced, the betrayal, and the suffering on the cross. And yet he knew his future would bring him restored to the road where the women first encountered him. Only now our living God can empathize with us.
Jesus understands our fear and you can carry your concerns to him in your prayers knowing he understands. We have a God who can empathize with all that we feel so that when you pray: Lord I am just so scared and don’t want to be scared anymore, Jesus will understand. The women are told not be afraid because Jesus is standing right with them. There is no curtain or cloud on the mountain dividing them from him. Jesus is right next to us as well because HE HAS RISEN and stands arm around our shoulders listening intently having already made our future bright.
It’s personal for me
Several years ago, I was diagnosed with a nasty autoimmune condition. Unremitting chronic and ever worsening pain is the main symptom. Blessedly, there are some medications that help, but since the onset of this condition the pain has slowly and relentlessly worsened. There is no medical treatment for it beyond what I’m doing. Likewise, I have two friends who have chemotherapy induced neuropathic pain. Their suffering is pharmacologically recalcitrant and unremitting. I have friends who carry intrapersonal burdens so that they fear circumstances that trigger their emotions. Still others who will lose loved ones and must likely face the fear of being alone. Others who have already lost loved ones and now understandably fear their loneliness even as they bear it.
Jesus knows my fear and that of my dear friends. On Easter he gave us hope like the physician who talked to my mom, only his hope is certain. Our future is not only darkness like he walked on Good Friday. For all who believe, our future is brighter than anything in our past.
I pray to Jesus every day to help me on this journey, and whatever your fear is, I hope you will join me in that. The promise of salvation doesn’t wipe clean the fear of suffering, but it provides the one guaranteed remedy for overcoming fear; certainty that what you fear will end in joy. For this we have so much to be grateful on this and every Easter Sunday.
May your heart sing with joy no matter what you fear today because you are saved. May you take comfort knowing that your fear can be laid at the feet of the one who has rescued you and be understood and received. I hope you have the fear of awe and amazement at what was done for you and yet will hear Jesus’s words to the women inviting them and you to have peace in approaching him. There is no one to whom I would rather turn and no future I would rather have than the one Jesus gave us on Easter.
So be well my brothers and sisters in Christ and know that God loves you through all the joyous times in your life and all the fearful ones. It’s my sincere hope that if you entered this Easter day full of fear this gospel message will give you hope in abundance. God bless you this and every day, and a very happy Easter to you.
Dave
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