“Christ is Risen! Don’t Be Afraid! Go and Tell!”
Matthew 28:1-10
3/23/08
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Alleluia! The women who went to the Lord’s tomb on that
first Easter Sunday came expecting Jesus’ body to still be lying
there. Even though the Lord had told them that He was going to
rise again from the dead, neither they nor the disciples had understood
what He was saying. And while they had witnessed Jesus’
ability to raise others from the dead, given His own death on the cross
the women thought it was all over for Jesus. They had come not to
check to see if He still lay in the tomb, but to finish the embalming
and anointing of the body which they weren’t able to complete on
the Sabbath.
But when they got there they were astonished to find
the tomb opened and empty with an angel outside sitting on top of the
stone which he had rolled away, telling them not to be afraid, that
Jesus had risen from the dead, and that they were to go quickly and
tell His disciples. Imagine you had been there with these women
and what an exciting yet fearful event this would have been.
Fearful, because we are afraid of what we don’t know, can’t
control, and can’t explain. St. Mark tells us that the
ladies “went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and
astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they
were afraid.” Had we been there, we too would have had the
same reaction as these women, afraid not only at the appearance of an
angel, but also afraid of what Christ’s resurrection might mean
for us. These women represent us today as we encounter the
reality of Christ’s empty tomb through the proclamation that He
is risen. But to us also, just as to these women, are given the
same words of comfort that the angel gave them: Jesus is risen,
don’t be afraid, go and tell...
First, Jesus is risen. The angel declared a
simple, historical fact to these women: Their Lord was no longer
in the tomb. And this was not because someone had stolen the
body, but because He had risen from the dead. The resurrection of
Christ is a historical fact, a fact to which the writers of the N.T.
documents were eye-witnesses. The Apostle Peter writes, “We
did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of
His majesty.” The Apostle John writes, “That which we
have seen and heard we proclaim also to you...” And the
Apostle Paul writes that the resurrected Jesus appeared to more than
five hundred witnesses at one time. These witnesses proclaimed
Christ crucified and risen from the dead, a proclamation which the
hostile witnesses who were still alive then could have disproved at any
time by simply producing the body of Jesus. But there was no body
to produce. Instead, they tried to silence the proclamation of
His resurrection by putting to death those who testified to it.
The eye-witnesses paid for their testimony about Jesus with their
lives.
Now, we have a lot of religious fanatics today who
are willing to die for what they believe - suicide bombers who kill
both themselves and others for their false god Allah.
What’s the difference? Muslims give their lives for their
faith; Christians give their lives for their faith. The
difference is that the followers of Allah believe that their religion
is true, even though it can be proven to be false. The followers
of Christ believe that Christianity is true, because it can be proven
beyond a reasonable doubt that it is true. The disciples claimed
that Jesus had risen from the dead, because He appeared to them in the
flesh. They never would have proclaimed Him risen from the dead,
if this was a lie they had made up. If they had stolen the body
and hidden it away somewhere, the minute someone threatened to kill
them for proclaiming Him alive, they would have cracked; they would not
have given their lives for something they knew was false. Many
will give their lives for something they believe is true but
isn’t; very few (if any) will give their lives for something they
know is a lie. Muslims give their lives for something they
believe is true, but in reality it is not. Jesus showed Himself
to be alive after His resurrection, a fact to which hundreds of
witnesses testified and who sealed this testimony with their own
blood. No other religion can give you someone who has overcome
death and the grave like Jesus has. And if anyone can and ought
to be believed it’s He who was crucified, died, was buried, and
rose again from the dead on the third day. By His resurrection
from the dead Jesus proved Himself to be who He claimed to be - God in
the flesh.
This leads us to the second words of comfort spoken
by the angel: “Don’t be afraid!” Again,
when the women were confronted with the fact that Jesus had risen from
the dead, fear struck them. Here was something beyond their
comprehension, something they couldn’t explain. Not only
were they being told that Jesus had risen, but they were being told
this by an angel. In the O.T. these awesome beings usually
announced God’s judgment and then carried it out. What
would this mean for these ladies? What does it mean for us?
Has Jesus come back from the dead to pour out His divine vengeance on
us now for crucifying Him? Are we now going to “get
it” for our sins against Him? The angel dispels these fears
with the words “Do not fear!” Christ’s
resurrection, far from meaning God’s judgment upon us, means that
God’s judgment has been satisfied by Christ’s sacrifice on
the cross. His resurrection is God’s seal of approval on
His Son’s work of atoning for our sins, fulfilling all
righteousness for us. Christ’s resurrection is the proof
that Jesus has conquered sin, death, and the devil. The devil can
no longer accuse us of sin before God. The Apostle Paul tells us
that Christ’s resurrection is the sign that our sins have been
taken care of. We are no longer in our sins; they are no longer
with us; they went with Christ to the cross and then to the grave,
where He left them. Our sins, which once separated us from God,
have now been separated from us as far as the east is from the
west. Not only have our sins been removed from us, but so has the
wages of sin - death. Death was the devil’s weapon, but
because of Christ’s resurrection it has lost its sting; Satan can
no longer threaten us with it. Christ’s resurrection is the
guarantee of our own bodily resurrection. We who believe in Jesus
and have been baptized in His Name have not only been crucified with
Him but have also been raised with Him. Because He lives, we will
live also. That includes not only the eternal life we have now by
faith, but the life to come on the Last Day, when our crucified and
risen Lord calls us up from our graves to live and reign with Him in
His heavenly kingdom forever. And so, Christ’s resurrection
is nothing to fear. In fact, it delivers us from all fear.
Finally, having been told that Jesus had risen from
the dead and that they weren’t to be afraid, the women were then
told to go quickly and tell this news to the disciples. And
Matthew writes that they “departed quickly from the tomb with
fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.” Here
fear is mentioned again, but this is a different kind of fear than the
fear of dread or terror. It’s the fear of excitement and
awe, a fear that’s coupled with great joy, the kind of fear you
might have at the announcement of the birth of a child. This is a
good kind of fear, the fear with which the women left the tomb.
And they left quickly. They were excited about the news they had
to give. It was joyful news, news they wanted to get to the
disciples as quickly as possible. And this is the news that we
are given to proclaim to others today.
Often times, we are not as enthusiastic or excited
about the news as these women were, nor can we create this enthusiasm
and excitement in ourselves; the Lord does it as He continues to
deliver the good news to us. It’s only as we are first on
the receiving end of the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen for
us and our salvation that we can then take that message to
others. Only as our crucified and risen Lord meets us here in His
Word and at His Table, giving us His greeting of peace, can we then
tell others the good news by the power and boldness He gives us by His
Spirit. This is what is illustrated by the Lord’s meeting
these ladies as they were on their way to the disciples. He came
to them and gave them His greetings. This was more than just
saying “Hello” to them. To be greeted by the Lord is
to be given His peace and to be assured of His favor. Jesus came
to these ladies with His words of peace and favor, and they worshipped
Him. He comes to us today with these same words and we worship
Him, confessing what He has done for us, giving Him our thanks and
praise. It’s what the divine service is all about -
receiving from the Lord His words and His gifts to us, then responding
with our thanks and praise. And just as He told these women not
to be afraid but to go and tell, so He tells us the same things:
Don’t be afraid! Go and tell! At that time He told
the ladies to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee; there they
would see Him. Today He tells us that He will meet us in His Word
and His Sacraments; they are the “Galilee” where Jesus
meets us today.
Hear again, then, the words of your Lord spoken from
the mouths of His angels today, the called and ordained servants of His
Word. These same words, spoken to the women on that first Easter
Sunday, are for you: Jesus is risen, don’t be afraid, go
and tell. The Lord has overcome sin, death, and the devil for
you; He has appeased God’s wrath, so that you don’t have to
fear His punishment but live under His grace, mercy, and peace; and He
gives you the joy, the words, and the boldness to go and tell others
the good news about His death and His resurrection as He meets you in
His Word and Sacraments. Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!