Matthew 28:1-10 - He Is Risen

Have you ever been told something that was just too unbelievable? Maybe it might have been part of a prank and not been real at all, or maybe it might have been something that you just couldn’t let yourself truly believe, even though it was true. How do you respond when the miraculous happens? Do you respond with skepticism or with belief? If you’re too believing and hopeful you run the risk of being let down. If you’re too skeptical you miss out on things that are absolutely amazing. So the vast majority of us sit somewhere in the middle of skepticism and belief.

On many things, I skew much more towards skepticism than belief. Back in the 90’s there was a television show whose tagline was “the truth is out there” in which two FBI agents faced things that seemed impossible. One of them believed in the impossible, the other was full of skepticism. The real mistake I think the show made was never having the skeptic be right. But there are times that I worry about my skepticism. If I had been one of the disciples and my teacher had been killed in such a horrendous way, would I have immediately believed when I was told that he had come back from the dead? I’m not entirely sure. I know that, just like all his disciples, I wouldn’t have believed him when he promised to do so and would have waited to see it happen to truly understand it. I know I accept it now, but it is sometimes easier to believe in something miraculous that happened 2000 years ago than to believe that something miraculous can happen today. And yet, we serve the same God who brought Jesus back from the dead. We serve the same God who created this whole world with its many wonders. Perhaps we should put away our skepticism just a bit and trust that God is still able to do the amazing, to do the miraculous.

I. What a Week

We celebrate an amazing day today. We celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. But you cannot have resurrection without death. You cannot have Easter celebration without the pain that has come before. And it has been a hard week for Jesus’ disciples. It has been a hard week for the two Marys that we read about om this morning’s scripture. Just think, a week ago Jesus had been entering Jerusalem majestically, on a donkey. He had been proclaiming himself the prince of peace and had been fulfilling scripture showing him to be the messiah that all of Israel had been looking for. On Thursday night we spent time looking at the rest of the week as Jesus faced pain and suffering; as the joy of Palm Sunday evaporated into the reality of Jerusalem politics and as all those who joyously proclaimed “Hosanna” slowly left Jesus, and started to shout “Crucify him”. And when this hoped for messiah is killed in such a gruesome way, they aren’t even able to give him a proper burial because the Sabbath is coming and there are certain rules to be followed. So Jesus is hastily put in a tomb and a stone is rolled in front of the entrance so he won’t be disturbed.

We know that Jesus’ followers have not given up their love for their teacher. Though their greatest hopes for him have not come to be (or so it seems) they are still gathered together. I wonder what they must have been thinking after such a horrible week. They probably wondered why in the world they even came to Jerusalem. What a waste. They could not see any meaning in Jesus’ death. All they saw was pain and suffering, trial and tribulation, hope extinguished and evil victorious.

But then came Sunday morning. Some of the women who had followed Jesus decided that morning, on the third day since Jesus’ death, after the Sabbath was over, to go to his tomb and care for his body so it could be properly laid to rest.

It is at this point that things become confusing for them. What had seemed to be a straightforward job turns into a most amazing day for these followers of Jesus. For, as we read this morning, when they got to the tomb, they discovered that the stone had been rolled away and they discover that there is a man in the tomb (not Jesus) whose appearance we are told, is like lightning. And this man, or as we are told, this angel, tells these women some wonderful news. Jesus is not here. He has risen, just as he had promised he would. The angel shows the women the place where Jesus had been and tells them to tell the others, to share this news with the rest of the disciples.

II. Confusion

We know that the resurrection did not immediately bring peace to the disciples. It did not immediately bring sighs of relief. In all honesty, the disciples did not believe the women at first. Peter and John figured that they should check out the news themselves and ran to see the tomb for themselves, but the others didn’t even do this. Christianity did not begin with clarity, it began in confusion. It did not begin with certainty, it began with mystery. Oh, clarity and certainty came, but it was not where things began. The women did not go to the tomb to witness a resurrection. They went there to finish preparing Jesus’ body for proper burial. The disciples were living not with hope but filled with fear. And even when the women heard that Jesus had risen, from an angel no less, we are told that they were still filled with fear but at the same time filled with joy. Jesus’ resurrection was not expected. It was not normal. They were not able to put their minds around it. Just days before they had watched their teacher die. They thought it was over. But what seemed like the end was only the beginning. When it seemed that all was lost, all was yet to be gained.

And so there was confusion on that first Easter morning. There was confusion and fear and joy and excitement and worry that we can’t let our hopes get up too high. Imagine being there with these two Marys. Imagine grieving with them at the loss of Jesus. Imagine going through all that they had gone through this last week. And then, something happens that is beyond your greatest hope. He who was dead is now alive. You don’t want to trust it. You don’t want to get your hopes up. You don’t want to be disappointed yet again. You just aren’t sure that this could really be happening. You almost don’t want to let your hopes get up because it just might be true. And you aren’t sure whether you could really handle that.

It’s the way we’re built. We protect ourselves by preparing ourselves for the worst so that when it happens we are better able to handle it. We figure if we prepare ourselves to be disappointed, then when we are disappointed we are ready for it at least… and if, for some reason, things do go our way then we will be able to enjoy it all the more because we aren’t really expecting things to go our way at all. It is a self-defense mechanism that we all learn to build into ourselves. It starts when you are a child with your first crush, when you find out that person you like doesn’t like you back; and it continues when you apply for a job and don’t get it. The disappointments in your life help you to build up a wall of skepticism and pessimism that is designed to keep you from getting hurt. But this is not what the resurrection is about. For when the resurrection happens we discover that not only can the best happen, it does happen.

And so we see that these women after hearing from the angel are filled with joy but also filled with fear. The skeptic and the believer are both there in them. They are worried that something might have happened to Jesus but they are also hoping that what they have been told just possibly may be true.

And then they come face to face with their Lord. Now in the other gospels we discover that they don’t recognize Jesus right away but Matthew skips right over this to show us the ultimate result of Jesus’ resurrection. The women came to Jesus, clasped his feet and worshiped him. They allowed themselves to believe, and this belief brought them to worship their Lord.

They had never worshiped Jesus when he had walked among them. But now they see who he really is and they know the true power that he brings. Now all those things that he had taught them about himself are shown to be real. And so they, after witnessing the resurrection firsthand, worship Jesus. Now, even this meaningless death has meaning to it. Now all of a sudden, the things that Jesus had gone through were not just a horrible injustice. What amazes me is that even at this point, these women and the disciples probably had no clue what it was that Jesus had truly done for them. They probably didn’t understand that he died for them. All they knew was that he had risen from the dead. It probably wasn’t until much later that they realized what the resurrection really meant. But in the midst of the resurrection they found joy and they worshipped their Savior.

III. Resurrection People

We also worship our resurrected Savior. We are a resurrection people. This changes us. It changes what we are about. It changes how we live. It changes who we are. And so we come before Jesus to worship and praise him. We glorify him because he has risen. We even have more reason to rejoice because we understand the meaning behind his death and resurrection. We know that he faced death for each of us and that he took our sin on that cross with him. His death was for us. We know that in rising from the dead he showed his authority over death and sin and he showed us that he is capable of bringing us out of death into life. We know that God sacrificed all for each of us on that cross and we know that God made a promise to each of us as he left that tomb.

So as a resurrection people we no longer need fear death, for we know that there is something, someone greater than death. As a resurrection people we know that we no longer need fear sin, for we have someone with us who has taken away our sin. As a resurrection people we are allowed to believe that God will do miracles. As a resurrection people we realize that nothing is too much for God to deal with.

What are your greatest hopes? What is it that you are hoping and praying for God to do for you? Do you really trust God to be able to do this? He rose from the dead. He promises to bring us life out of our death. Do you believe that he can do your hearts desire for you?

It fits that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord in spring, though it is early in spring this year. Spring is a time of new birth. It is a time where the sun comes out and the days are getting longer and many of us are preparing to plant our crops. Spring is the time that we expect the earth to heat up. It is what we wait for throughout the winter. It is what helps us to make it through the winter. Jesus’ resurrection is the same. It is what allows us to make it through this world. It is what allows us to deal with the things in this world that plague us. He is risen. And we too will rise because of what he has done. And we too will have a place for us with no pain and no suffering and eternal joy. This is the mystery that we celebrate on Easter. We are celebrating the truth that God is able to do things that we cannot even imagine, that we cannot even think about. We are celebrating the truth that there can be joy in our lives no matter what we are going through because Jesus is alive and active in this world. There is so much to celebrate, for in rising from the dead, Jesus began something new and something powerful.

Easter morning began with confusion and mystery. It began with people not knowing what to believe and what to trust. But it also began with two women kneeling at Jesus’ feet, worshipping their Lord. As we face the confusion that this world brings; as we face the mystery that is our God’s love; let us join these women as we fall at Jesus’ feet and worship him with all our hearts. Amen.