April 20, 2025 | Easter Sunday
Matthew 28:1-10 and 16-20 (ESV)
28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and 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.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”…
…16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Like the disciples, we hear your call to “go and tell,” to spread the good news of your love and grace.
Grant us the courage to rise above our doubts and fears, embracing the journey ahead with a steadfast heart.
We rest our worries at your feet, knowing that you hold the keys to all tomorrows.
May we find in your resurrection the assurance of a new day, a fresh start, and the unshakable truth that you are with us always.
Just as the women clung to your feet, may we hold fast to your promises, finding comfort in You.
1) Finding Courage while Facing Fear
Matthew 28:1-6 (ESV)
28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and 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.”
Grant us the courage to rise above our doubts and fears, embracing the journey ahead with a steadfast heart.
2 responses in the face of fear:
a) v.3: His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
b) v.5-6: 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
“The young man’s (the Angel) appearance and garb are appropriately angelic: brilliant, glorious, and pure. The whole scene terrifies the guards and temporarily paralyzes them, so that they cannot intervene. The verb “shook” in v. 4 comes from the same root (seis-) as the “earthquake” in v. 2.”
Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 427.
“28:5–7 On their arrival, the women are understandably terrified as well though delighted that the question of Mark 16:3 (“who will roll the stone away?”) has been resolved. The angel reveals his understanding of their mission. They are looking for a corpse, but no body remains. Jesus is resurrected, not just spiritually alive, so that the tomb is empty. His own predictions have come true (16:21; 17:23; 20:19). Contra the NIV “he has risen,” the voice of the verb ēgerthē is passive (“he was raised”). No text of Scripture ever speaks of Jesus as raising himself but always as being raised by God. The angel’s emphasis, “who was crucified” (v. 5), underlines the reality of Jesus’ death. “Come and see the place” verifies that this is the correct tomb and correct location within the tomb, thus stressing that he really is alive.”
Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 427.
Scripture is filed with 365 instances of the instruction to “fear not”, or “do not be afraid”: Here, in Greek this is Μη ύμεισ φοβεĩσθε (may umeys fobesthe)
The difference in the guards and the women is that the women realized the peace that was made possible in Christ…
Consider vv.5b-6 and see if you pick-up on a clue:
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
The phrase “as he said” is revealing…because it indicates that the women had heard Jesus foretell his suffering, death and resurrection and we know this too be the case. 9 times throughout the synoptic gospels Jesus predicts what will happen to him:
Matthew 16, 17, and 20
Mark 8,9, and 10
Luke 9:21-22 and 43-45; and 18
In spite of the fact that the disciples misunderstood the prediction (repeatedly) in its immediate context, I cannot help but wonder if in the presence of the angel of the Lord, seeing the rock which covered the tomb rolled away, and understanding that the tomb was really empty led the truth of the resurrection to finally click or the ladies the tomb.
God’s fulfillment of promises (and our remembrance of these promises) help us to live into the repeated scriptural instruction to “do not be afraid”.
2) Finding Comfort at the Feet of our Resurrected Lord
Matthew 28:8-9 (ESV)
8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
The response of the women clearly evidences the difference in their response to the resurrection and the source of their peace and comfort…For the guard this resurrection meant that they were in trouble. For the women, the resurrection meant that Christ was in fact the son of God. And the implication are clear as these verse play out.
The guards experience paralysis (fear, scared to the point of the loss of motor function).
The women, on the other hand, depart the tomb in order to do what the angel had instructed them to do and in doing so they encounter the resurrected Lord…”with fear and great joy”
At that moment, faced with a miraculous encounter with the angel of the Lord the women leave the tomb and it is then that they encounter Jesus and at that moment the only thing that matter was holding onto Jesus and worshipping Him.
When is the last time that you felt the undeniable desire to worship our Lord, to such an extent that nothing else in the world mattered?
Though the women were beginning to gain a fuller understanding of the resurrection it wasn’t until they saw Jesus that the breadth and depth of what had occurred set in.
In that moment they worship Him, yes, and they earlier fear, their sadness, their worry…every other emotion was washed away by the appearance of the risen Christ…in short, in this brief 2 verses we see the nature of what our response to the resurrection should be too…a surrender of everything else that we may be holding onto and worship, worship, worship!
In the face of the resurrected Christ our submission and worship should be inescapable…and the message that we deliver as a result should be unequivocally life changing.
3) Finding Forgiveness and Hope in the Resurrection
Matthew 28:10 (ESV)
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”…
In the women’s encounter with Jesus we see a message similar to that of the angel in verse 5 and 6:
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.”
Jesus repeats very closely the words of the angel in vv. 5 and 7. But he now calls the disciples his “brothers,” the only such place in the Gospels (but cf. Rom 8:29 and Heb 2:11), disclosing keen psychological insight. Not only does he show himself as still loving and accepting those who had abandoned him, but he even treats them as equals! In other words, they remain laborers with him in the work of the Father. Jesus is neither denying his uniqueness nor deifying the disciples. But he is portraying the church as a brotherhood that manifests more equality than hierarchy, even if some functional differentiation between leaders and followers is clear from other Scriptures
Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 428.
In this command Jesus highlights the unifying work accomplished by his life, suffering, death, and resurrection…which is unity and the inclusion of those who submit to and follow Him into the family of God. And this is the same that the resurrection makes available for you today…
Questions:
1) What are you most afraid of today? Why?
2) How does the fulfillment of the promise of Christ’s resurrection affect your fear?
3) What most effectively helps you overcome your fear? Where do you find comfort?
4) What scriptures do you rely upon to combat your fear?
5) How does the resurrection inspire hope in your personal life?
6) What are the implication of Jesus’ use of the word “brother” in regard to the disciples? How does this information the way that you see yourself as a follow of Christ?
