Easter Day. Mathew 28:1-10. April 24, 2011

Liturgical Occasion: Easter Festival
Text: Matthew 28:1-10
Date: April 24, 2011
Rev Paul Schlueter

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed. Alleluia!
Dear friends in Christ, Grace, mercy and peace be to you from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus.
Our text for today is the Gospel from Matthew 28.
“Greetings! Do not be afraid” said Jesus. “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me.”
Do not be afraid. The angel had only minutes before delivered that identical message to those women. Do not be afraid. And a natural message that would have been to deliver. After all, they were witness to a terrifying site. An angel, whose appearance was like lightening. His face shining like the son and his clothes as white as snow. He was shining with all the glory of heaven. Beautiful, yet terrible. How could they not be afraid?
And then they saw Jesus. The risen and resurrected Lord. Formerly his glory was masked and hidden by his humanity. But now he was victorious over sin and victorious over death. Now he stood before them glorified. And the man who had been dead, the man they had seen taken down from the cross, stood before them very much alive. And he said, “Greetings do not be afraid.”
There is something to notice here. That message, “do not be afraid” is repeated two times. Both times heavenly beings speak those words to the earthly. But, both times the message is spoken only to the women. The women are not the only representatives of the human race present in this story. There are the men, the guards, stationed there at the tomb to keep Jesus in. Hard hearted, unbelieving men. They saw the angel and they too were terrified. So Terrified in fact that they became like corpses. The living became as those who are dead, while the dead became as those who are alive. The angel commanded the women to lay aside their fear. No such command for the men, for the soldiers. They remain struck by fear and unable to move.
And thus we see the response of the unbelievers to the risen Christ. They should see, they should hear, they should believe. They should turn in repentance and faith to fall down and worship at the feet of the Lord of heaven and earth. But they do not. They are struck with fear. They behave like they are dead. No better than a corpse.
But for those who believe. Those who have faith, they receive a gift, a message of hope and salvation. But also a command. The angel said to them:
“I Know you are here seeking Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold he is going before you to Galilee, there you will see him. See I have told you.”
Matthew tells us that the women received this message with great joy. But also with fear. And they went and they did as the angel commanded them.
Now this Easter text gives us three messages. Three messages that I want to leave with you today. The first is this:
“Don’t be afraid.”
That was the message the angel gave to the women at the tomb. That was the message the risen Christ gave when he met them along the way. That same message has been written down and recorded for you.
The women were afraid for their lives. They came to the tomb that morning with fear in their hearts. After all, they had just seen Jesus arrested, falsely accused, and murdered by the temple rulers. The temple rulers. They were supposed to be the ones who upheld the law and did what was right. They were the authorities. The standard that set the standard of right and wrong for everyone else to follow. And they were the chief murderers. They were the very ones who perpetrated this great offense, this greatest of offenses.
Imagine how you would feel, how your view of your place in the world would shake if the government you trusted suddenly turned and instead of defending righteousness and truth became the ones working against it.
This was the case with the women and so they were afraid. They carried that fear with them to the tomb.
Until they saw the angel. The messenger of heaven. All of a sudden the initial fear left, the fear of men left, the fear of those who had the power to perpetrate unrighteousness in the world left and instead they feared God. They feared the angel as the messenger of God. They feared judgment and righteous punishment because they were suddenly jarringly reminded of the Holy. And in this reminder they were reduced to fear.
The same thing happens with us. We come to fear sinful men, people who dishonor God and therefore they dishonor His Church with their schemes and their sin. We see what they have done to others and we fear what they could do to us. We come to God with this fear.
God tells us not to be afraid. Such fear is idolatry. Such fear is sin. “I tell you,” says Jesus,” do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.1 Yes, I tell you, fear him!” Luke 12:4-5
Remember those unbelieving soldiers. Remember their response when they were confronted with the author of life. They fell in fear and were like those who were dead. Unbelief denies the Lord. But there comes a day when the unbelievers must acknowledge the truth of that thing he spent his life denying. That day is terrible and terrifying. It reduces the living to the dead.
But for believers, for those who have faith, the message of the resurrection and the recognition of our Living Savior, is a message of joy! It is a message of rejoicing and great gladness.
Remember the women. They heard the message with fear and trembling, but also with great joy. They came to the tomb fearing the world, and sinful men. They soon discovered that Jesus had defeated the world, Indeed greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Jesus has overcome the world. Jesus has overcome the devil. Fear of the world can melt away.
There is a second message. A second truth revealed to us in our text. That message is the call to obey. The angel, the messenger of God gave the women a task: go tell the disciples and then meet Jesus in Galilee. Jesus repeated that command. You also have been given a command.
This text is Matthew 28. At the end of this chapter Jesus will command his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the Name of the Father and of the /Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching those nations to obey all things he has commanded. You are included in that text. You are the nations. It is your duty to obey all things that Christ has commanded. It is your duty to open your bible, turn back to the sermon on the mount, hear the commands of Jesus regarding marital faithfulness, love of your brother, generosity in your gifts, praying, worship, laying up your treasures in heaven, judgments of others. These teachings come with a warning. Not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only him who does the will of my father.
Have you obeyed these commands? Have you fulfilled this word of Jesus. The women in our text did what Christ commanded. The disciples did what Christ commanded. Have you done what Christ has commanded you?
In all honesty we have not. You are guilty and likewise I am guilty. But Christ is risen. And just as Christ has overcome the world, so has he overcome the world in you. He has overcome sin. He has overcome death. He has overcome the unbelief that would turn you to a corpse like one of those soldiers. He has sent to you his Spirit. He has enlightened you with faith. He has strengthened you so that you might live in that life of faith.
The Lord is Risen. He is risen indeed. The truth that your Lord is alive means so much for you. It is such a great blessing for you.
When the women recognized Jesus they fell at his feet and they worshipped him. They grabbed hold of him by his feet and did not want to let go. In the same way, our Lord grabs hold of you. This day, he reaches out to you with his own body and blood. He places his flesh, he pours his blood, the blood of sacrifice and the blood of the covenant into you so that he holds you and you are his and he does not, he will not let you go.
This Easter day, remember your lord. He has overcome the world so do not be afraid. He has given to you his word, obey that word. He is with you to the end of the age. Rejoice and be glad. You Lord is Risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Amen. Now may the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen