Fear, its been said, is the strongest emotion. There is no paralysis greater than fear, no more deadening agony than being faced with the unknown. Our fears take on form and become alive far too easily, like the little boy who could not sleep for all the goblins in his room, so he called out to his Mom for reassurance. She tried to soothe him by saying it was all in his head. To which he replied, “But Mom, the ghosts have left my head and are running around my room!” Far too often the ghosts who run rampant in our lives cannot be controled. Our fears may not be rational; few are. But still they control us and we cannot control them. What’s worse, our fears multiply and breed like cockroaches. At first light they scatter, but soon they crawl from the crevices. At any given moment, more often than not, we’re all afraid of something. Will there be money at the end of the month? Will I have a job? What’s this lump all about? Why is the car making that funny noise? Is she planning on leaving me? How did I do on the exam? What if she doesn’t love me any more? What will happen when they grow up? Our fears may petrify us from speaking in public, or they may imprison us in our own homes, too afraid to leave for fear of harm. We may run scared for so long that we have forgotten what life would be like without fear. We may put on the macho mask, only to find ourselves being fearful of feeling fear. Dave Barry summarizes fear in his own way, when he says, "All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears - of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, or speaking before a Rotary Club, and of the words 'Some Assembly Required.'" But for many, it is the fear of death which is the most gripping. Francis Bacon once said, “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark." It is the darkness of death which causes us to both shrink from the thought of death and to find in it some fascination. Each year millions of people take time out of their lives to visit Graceland and see Elvis’s grave. Others go to Forest Lawn to lay flowers on the grave of Marilyn Monroe. Still others stand in silence in Arlington Cemetery and watch the eternal flame burning on top of the grave of John and Robert Kennedy. Among the many visitors, thousands deeply wish with all their hearts that these people would return to life on this earth and continue to entertain or lead us. But deep down inside they also know that there is no power in the wishing, and so these graves remain closed. I wonder if those were the thoughts of the women who went to Jesus’s tomb on the Sunday after His death. They knew He spoke of life coming from death, but they were at the Cross, they had seen Him die, they watched as His body was wrapped, laid in the tomb and the boulder rolled into the rut. After the Passover Sabbath, the women returned to the tomb, to complete the hasty job left undone as the sun set on Friday. Their devotion stuffed their fear into the background, but fear in the defeat of death hung heavily around their necks. The predominant emotion that morning was fear, and the Resurrection speaks directly to fear, the fear of the woman, the soldiers and us. If we want to begin to grapple with our fears, the resurrection of Christ gives us the starting point for those answers.
DEVOTION AND DOUBT BRINGS THE WOMEN TO THE TOMB (Verse 1 ) In spite of all that the prophets had told of the Messiah's life, death, and resurrection, and all the times Jesus had told His disciples and these women about His death and resurrection, they did not believe. But what they lacked in faith they made up for in devotion, for they did what the disciples could not bring themselves to do. They went to the tomb to anoint the body. Anointing was a sign of love, devotion, and respect. Bringing spices to the tomb would be like bringing flowers to a grave today. As the sun rose that first morning, they made their way to the tomb, their hearts filled with grief and their hands with perfumes to cover the battered body of their dead Messiah. Their minds were not focused on what was promised, but with the fearsome concerns of how they could fulfill their devotion. Mark records their concern as they ask: "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" But their fears and concerns as to how they might enter the grave only masked the bigger concerns, the deeper fears they had. What they were really wondering was, "Now that Jesus has died and is buried, who will take away our fear of death? If God would not rescue Him, how can we be sure He will help us? Who will take away our fear of judgment? Who will take away our grief? Who will take away our suffering? Who will take away our sins? Who will take away our shame? Who will take away our fear of living? Who will take away our addictions? Who will take away our anxieties? Who will take away our burdens?...." Little did they realize that their fears would be radically removed by the Resurrection. DEFEAT OF DEATH BRINGS THE ANGEL TO THE TOMB (Verses 2-3) What the two Marys did not know was that earlier while they lived in doubt and dread, God was at work in the garden tomb. Just as the earth shook when Jesus breathed His last under the darkened sky, as if to tremble in fear of the awful fate of God’s Son bearing our sin, now the earth shook at the dawn of the new age with joyful exuberance. The earth quakes and the stone falls away. This is not to release Jesus from the tomb, but to show the world that He is not held prisoner there. This tomb, like many that litter the hills around Jerusalem, was carved out of the soft limestone. Against the entry way was then cut a grove into which a stone wheel would be placed. Rather than the round boulder we imagine, this stone was more like a large disk or wheel, rolled down the inclined rut until it fell into the depression in front of the crypt door. Matthew tells us the angel sat on the stone. It is not that the stone was rolled back up the incline and blocked into place, but that the stone was knocked over, flattened and the angel is pictured as perched on the leveled rock - so to proclaim the victory over sin, the defeat of death. Just as with the Crucifixion, there is little description. The details we are given provide the results of what God accomplished through the Resurrection. The first result is seen in the reaction of the soldiers sent to guard the tomb. DREAD AND DOOM SCATTERS THE SOLDIERS FROM THE TOMB (Verse 4) The guards stationed at the tomb were seasoned men of war, skilled to repel any attack by suicidal disciples desperate to fulfill their master’s plans. But what they encounter is unlike anything they ever could imagine. Men who were trained to know no fear, were reduced to a death-like trance. Using the same word to describe the earthquake, the men now quake in fear. The irony is intentional: the man inside and supposedly dead is alive; the men outside, supposedly alive, are mortified. They quake so much they lie motionless on the ground. The resurrection of God’s Son shakes the world’s assured foundations. The greatest power of the land thought that the stone, a seal, the guard, was enough security to ensure their fearless life - but their worst fears are realized as they One they killed is now alive. To these brave soldiers the angel spelled dread and doom, but it was to the women the angel spoke. God, with one messenger, comforts His servants, and terrifies His enemies. The resurrection of Christ strikes the fear of death to those who refuse to worship Him, but to those who are His, the Resurrection is the death of fear. WORSHIP AND WITNESS SENDS THE WOMEN FROM THE TOMB (Verses 5-8) The Angel of the Lord removes fear because of the empty tomb. “Do not be afraid!” While the soldiers fell panic stricken to the ground, the angel reassured the women. They were commanded not to fear. But I would have expected a rebuke, instead of a command not to fear. They came to take care of a dead body and did not believe that He would be raised. But instead their fears are relieved. As the little boy played outside in the warm August sun, the father heard a shrill cry. A bumblebee encircled the boy's head. Since he was deathly allergic to bee stings, he became petrified. The father ran toward him, reached out, grabbed the bee and squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic once again as it buzzed by the boy. His father saw his panic-stricken face. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his hand. There still stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he said. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you." That is the message of Easter. We need not be afraid. The sting of death is gone, the greatest fear we can imagine is removed. Christ has taken the sting. The grave has no victory over us. “He is not here; he has risen” is the reason for the absence of fear. These powerful words which remove our fear celebrate the bodily resurrection of Christ. If Jesus had been spiritually raised the angel should have said, “He is now everywhere.” The bodily resurrection removes our fear because it tells us that God loves the whole person, body and soul. As the tomb is still empty we know that Christ’s resurrection, and ours to follow, is not just an ideal, spiritual resurrection. It is not that Jesus’s influence is what is raised. Many great figures of history live on in their works or their heroism, but these historical figures are not themselves alive. Their tombs still bear their bodies. But the empty tomb means that Christ has risen, defeating death, removing our fear. Malcolm Muggeridge was a Marxist before he found Christ. His journalistic talent eventually led him to write some masterpieces for Christ, but he first wrote for Stalin. In the 1930s he went to Russia to do a story on the dying of religion in that atheistic empire. After completing his interviews with people in the Kremlin, he went to a Russian Orthodox service on Easter. The church was packed. At the end of the service a priest shouted, "Christ is risen!" The people yelled back, "He is risen indeed!" As the pronouncement was made, Muggeridge realized that they were right and Stalin was wrong. The risen Christ could not be controlled by the powers of fear in Russia. The Angel of the Lord gives us the response of worship and witness. We are invited to worship, to come and see. The angel does not say, "Don’t look in here! Take it by faith. Don’t ask any questions!" Instead the angel invites the women to check out the facts. "Come, use your eyes and your mind, and see if what I say is true." The Christian does not get a lobotomy when he or she makes the decision to be a disciple. The tomb is empty - we have reason to worship. The pyramids of Egypt are famous because they contained the mummified bodies of ancient Egyptian Kings. Westminster Abbey in London is revered, because in it rests the bodies of English nobles and notables. Mohammed's tomb houses his stone coffin and bones. Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C. is cherished for it is the honored resting place of many outstanding Americans. But the power of the Garden Tomb of Jesus is realized in that it is empty. The empty tomb is the evidence that His death as your substitute is accepted, that what He had promised is guaranteed. Like those women who came in those early hours of the first day of the week and saw that Jesus was not in the tomb, we too gather together to be reminded of that great fact. We far too quickly forget the reality of the Resurrection; far too often we think that a eulogy is all that is necessary, some nice thoughts as to who Jesus was. But because Jesus is risen, because the tomb is empty, we gather as God’s people to be reminded of that truth and to worship. Fear of death is gone, fear of the future is removed and no longer plagues us. We serve a Savior whose tomb is empty, who reigns supreme over us. We are then commanded to witness, to go and tell. What is the response to an empty tomb, to the missing body? How do we react to the fact that fear is abolished, for Christ triumphed over sin and death? We can be eager to speak, to tell. We can have confidence of the fact of the Resurrection, knowing that He is victorious. We possess a reason to speak out without fear - for the empty tomb reminds us that we are free to speak, to tell. The women respond to this wonderful message, but the message is not yet complete. It leaves unanswered questions. He has risen, He is going to meet us, but how will He respond? The disciples ran in fear; the women were faithful to care for his body, but like the men, did not believe He would be raised. Would He come to them in anger? Do they have still more reason to fear and be afraid? Verse 8 describes this wonderful mixed response: “afraid, yet filled with joy.” There is excitement and confusion at the same time. Like the newlyweds who are thrilled with marriage, yet are apprehensive as to what the future holds, the women know that God has defeated death, but it is far from certain how He would treat them. The empty tomb is wonderful, but not complete; an explanation is needed. FORGIVENESS SENT THE WOMEN TO THE DISCIPLES (Verses 9-10) Confrontation with Jesus clarifies the meaning of the empty tomb. Jesus welcomes them unlike the angel. The word is the common Greek greeting, still used today on the streets of Athens. It most similar to our word, “Hi!” But there is more to it than that. The word is literally a command, “Rejoice!” As Jesus returned from His defeat of death, He warmly receives these two frightened women running with a message of joy mixed with fear and He just says, “Rejoice!” Jesus greets them not with anger, but with joy. Having seen Him, not just an empty tomb; being warmly greeted and not condemned, they worship. There is a great relationship here of Christ’s deity and humanity. Notice what they do: they grab His ankles. They see not a spirit or phantom, but cling to flesh and blood. But they do more than that, they worship. The command by Jesus clarifies His forgiveness of His people. The command given is, “Do not be afraid.” - not the angel speaking the words to calm them, but their Lord. The difference is vital: “Go and tell my brothers." This scene with Jesus seems to just repeat, but there is a reason. Those they are to tell are not just disciples, students in trouble with an angry teacher. Because of the work of the Cross they are now “brothers”. Now the empty tomb comes into full focus, now the reason for the absence of fear is understood. Those whom Jesus calls brothers are the ones who boasted their allegiance, but ran when fear overtook them, denied Him when danger seemed too close, hid from the Cross, locked themselves in the upper room. These were fearful men, but they are His brothers. Why? Because the tomb is empty. These women are His sisters, the disciples His brothers not because they are worthy of the honor, but because He died to declare them His own. There need be no fear. Fear is the cotton jammed in our ears that keeps us from hearing the gospel. Fear screens out the good news from our lives and reflects back to us our own insecurities. But Christ comes to us, risen from the dead, no longer in the tomb, commanding we cease our fear, for He greets us warmly; He receives us as His brothers and sisters. The empty tomb, the Resurrection, is not only the historical fact that Jesus is risen, it is also the subjective, personal truth that we are forgiven, we are His brothers and sisters. It is not just the victory over death, it is the forgiveness of our sins. The empty cross tells us that God’s wrath was poured out on Christ and He is satisfied with the payment. The empty tomb tells us that God’s acceptance with us is complete; we are adopted as His own. In light of that we may leave here this day and every live every day without fear. For Christ calls us His own and promises through us to shine His grace. |