Acts 10.34-43
In the house of a Roman centurion, Peter shares what God taught him in a vision: that forgiveness of sins is offered to all, whatever their background, if they believe in Jesus Christ, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and raised from the dead.
Peter began to speak: “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Matthew 28:1-10
On Easter morning an angel rolls the stone away and tells the two women that Jesus is risen, and they must tell others. Jesus himself repeats the instructions, and both reassure them there is nothing to fear.
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “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. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
“Do not be afraid.” (Matthew 28:5)
There is a delightful book by Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth entitled Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? Little Bear’s problem is that he is scared of the dark. Big Bear provides bigger and bigger lanterns but nothing helps. Little Bear knows that outside the cave there is a lot of darkness, and the lanterns make no difference. Eventually Big Bear takes Little Bear outside to look up to the sky and face his fears. When Little Bear sees the moon and the stars, shining far above, splitting the darkness, he is at last able to fall asleep. Now, it’s natural to be afraid of the dark. But Matthew’s story of the resurrection tells us about people who were afraid of the light.
Sometimes, the darkness is easier to cope with. The disciples of Jesus had lived through a roller coaster of emotions during that first Holy Week. They had been carried along by the cheering crowds of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. They had spent the festival vigilant in the face of the risk to Jesus from the authorities – Jewish and Roman. They had experienced the intimacy of eating and drinking with Jesus and one another at the Passover supper. And then the fear, the shame, the despair and the grief of Jesus’ arrest, trial and horrific death. In those circumstances, the deadness of grief seems welcome. It offers the chance to retreat into the dark and to stop feeling for a while. There is comfort in the dark, and a certain bleak peace. So two women called Mary go early in the morning to a tomb they know to be secure and guarded. They go to grieve. The bright light of a Jerusalem morning may be shining around them, but there is darkness in their hearts. And perhaps there is comfort in that. Now that it is all over and the adventure of travelling with Jesus has come to an end, they can do what women do – weep for the dead, and tend to the living. They are sad, of course, devastated even, but they are not afraid, not any more. When the worst you feared has happened, there is no more reason to be afraid. So it is not the darkness that scares them out of their wits, but the light – the light from two figures who ought not to be there. One is from another world, an angel, who should not exist in the real world of a Jerusalem garden. The other – well the other should be dead. Both break into the darkness of grief and despair with a searing white light of hope and joy. And the women are afraid. Grief they understood, it has its rituals and its expectations, and they know what is expected. But this new thing, this unexpected joy, this painfully bright light, this is terrifying. In their grief the walk to the tomb has been long and slow. Now all is movement. They run from the angel and from the empty tomb, not knowing whether to scream or sing. And they run headlong into Jesus. Little wonder that they fall at his feet. And his first words to them echo the message of the angel earlier: “Do not be afraid; go and tell.” Each of the Gospel writers tells the story of the resurrection in a distinctive way. None of the Gospels attempts to tell us what happened to Jesus between Good Friday and Easter Day. That remains a mystery. Instead, the Gospel writers show us the effect of the resurrection on those who were there. Matthew’s account describes an earthquake and an angel like lightning. But he is not alone in describing the first reaction of those who experienced the resurrection as one of fear.
As Christians the world over sing alleluia on Easter Day, it’s probably not the fear of the first believers we are feeling, more like the events that have overtaken the world – events that have had an effect on all of our lives. But perhaps we should not completely lose sight of those first witnesses – they may even give us courage as we move forward in our lives. The women at the tomb were right to be afraid. A bright light had pierced the gloom of the world, and nothing – nothing would ever be the same again. Dark death had been overcome. All the old, comfortable certainties had failed. The world had been turned upside down. And there were consequences. No returning to the safety of simple domestic life for the two Marys, but a commission to spread the news. And no safety for us either, if the light pierces through our lives and into our hearts today, but a life committed to the truth. A life committed to making the message of Jesus real and active to all those we have contact with. The words to the women at the tomb are the words that Jesus speaks to us on this Easter day: “Do not be afraid; go and tell.”
COLLECT PRAYER
Lord of all life and power, who through the mighty resurrection of your Son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him: grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise and honour, glory and might, now and in all eternity. Amen.
A happy, courageous, and Christ-filled Easter to you all
Bill