The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor
© 2022, Dr. Tamilio
The two biggest days on the Christian calendar are Christmas and Easter. These are the biggies. No other days come close. Both of these holy days are celebratory, joyous, and festive. A dinner typically follows with family members and friends. These days just feel different than all other days.
All four Gospels record Jesus’ resurrection, each focusing on a different aspect of it. Today, we read Matthew’s account, in which, New Testament scholar David L. Turner notes, “Jesus’s resurrection is announced, not explained.”[1] Verses 1 through 10 contain 210 words in the New International Version. The word “afraid” is used four times. Four times! That’s quite a bit of repetition for such a short passage — and quite a strange adjective to use for such a joyful occurrence.
Other harrowing words and phrases are employed here: there was a violent earthquake and the guards shook and became like dead men, which probably means that they were so distraught that they fainted.
It doesn’t take much to figure out why the people who discovered the empty tomb and those guarding it were so afraid. It isn’t every day that people rise from the dead! Even though Jesus told his followers that he would do so, there must have been a big part of them that didn’t believe him. And even if they did believe him, the experience of the event must have still been earth-shattering for them.
But the word joy is also used here. At the end of the passage, Matthew writes, “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” Fear and joy? What’s this all about? In a recently published online article, Rev. Jay Sanders writes, “It’s a strange mixture. We don’t usually hear about people being afraid and joyful at the same time. It’s always one or the other. Either someone is afraid or they are happy. It never seems to be both.”[2]
But not so fast. These emotions often seem to go together. Have you ever noticed that the act of crying is quite similar to laughing hysterically? In fact, both acts feel the same. I feel emotionally exhausted after a good cry — just as I do when I laugh hysterically. I feel it in my chest and in my breath. Many experts claim that extreme love and extreme hatred trigger similar receptors in the brain. It is not surprising, therefore, that the women who found the tomb empty that first Eastern morning felt emotions that ranged from terrifying fear to great joy.
This is history’s pivotal movement. I use that word “pivotal” purposely. To “pivot” is to turn. All of time resolves around this occurrence. This should elicit from us every possible emotion. How could it not? Love. Hate. Joy. Fear. Laughter. Tears. Endless emotions. Endless possibilities.
Theologians have offered a host of explanations for the resurrection. Some feel as if it didn’t happen in a literal sense, but that Jesus rose in the hearts of the disciples. Others feel that the establishment of the Church (which Paul calls the body of Christ) is the way that the crucified Jesus continues to live. Both of these theories (and others) highlight some very interesting theological ideas about Jesus’ followers and the Church. However, at the end of the day, the resurrection either occurred or it didn’t. There is no way of getting around this monumental, normative claim. Paul said that our very faith hinges upon it. Addressing the skeptics in Corinth, the Apostle writes, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”[3] In a like manner, the theologian Father Gerald O’Collins writes, “In a profound sense, Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all.”[4]
In sum, the entirety of our faith is built upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This event is foundational.
The joy we feel regarding Christ rising from the dead is accompanied by fear — a fear that is not unlike what the first witnesses of the resurrection felt. The people in power 2000 years ago tried to silence God’s Messiah by nailing him to a cross. When Jesus cried out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” the religious elites and political authorities who crucified him thought they had won. But the grave was not victorious. Death did not have the final word. In an act that would change the course of history, Jesus rose from the dead. In so doing, he offers new life to his followers, which includes you and me. The joy we feel over this is obvious. The fear, I believe, is due to what this event will spawn.
Think for a moment: we are following a man whom people in power wanted dead! They are not going to take his rising from the grave lightly. Even though the guards became like dead men, there were others (and there will be others) who will try to bury God’s truth in a borrowed tomb. They will roll stones in front of it. They will post a sentry. But the truth will rise. We are ambassadors of that truth and are called to spread it, even in the face of opposition. Jesus foretold this in John 8:31-32. He said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must…take up their cross and follow me.”[5] Obviously, he knew that being a disciple means facing hardships, just as he knew that he would face betrayal, trial, torture, and crucifixion when he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Whenever God’s truth is preached there will be crosses. But the resurrection shows us that death will not win — death cannot win. The sacred life that is within Christ will overcome it. It did so two millennia ago and it will do so again and again and again. Give God a cross and he will give you an empty tomb.
So even though this is startling, don’t be afraid. Notice: this message is told to the women twice at the tomb. First, an angel appears to them and says, “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.” A few verses later, the risen Christ says, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
So do not be afraid, my friends. Face it. Face all of it. Christ is with you. Christ is with us. The tomb is empty and the living One goes before us to show us the way to everlasting life. No fear is needed. Only joy. Only Jesus. Only life. Everlasting life in the life of God. Amen.
[1] David L. Turner, Matthew (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 679.
[2] Taken from christianindex.org/fear-great-joy-resurrection-meditation
[3] 1 Corinthians 15:14 (NIV).
[4] Gerald O’Collins, The Easter Jesus (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1973), 134.
[5] Matthew 16:24 (NIV).