Christ is Risen!

Matthew 28:1-10

It is here! The day we’ve been waiting for has arrived. Jesus is back.

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” - Matthew 28:1-10

He told them this would happen, and yet, they had trouble believing.

We believe because we have been told the story. Not by Mary Magdalene, or anyone present at the time, but by the Gospel writers.

The accounts are a little different, but the basic story is the same.

Something unbelievable happened inside that sealed tomb, and to this day, scientists and theologians are trying to make sense of it.

People will try to convince you that it never happened. There is no historical evidence, they say, and yet there is the shroud.

No one has been able to prove that it is a fake. Nor have they figured out how it could have been produced.

What we can surmise is that some unknown amount of energy created the image at the moment that Jesus was resurrected.

Wow.

The guards must have experienced it, and they couldn’t move.

The two women came to complete the burial rites, anointing the body. But the body was gone.

In this account, they saw an angel who told them what had happened and instructed them to tell the men.

But Jesus appeared to them. He greeted them as if it were any ordinary encounter.

I’m surprised they didn’t have heart attacks.

Imagine if we could reproduce that wonder and amazement today. We wake up like it is any other day, and we have things we planned to do, only to encounter Jesus, risen, greeting us.

How marvelous!

“Do not be afraid,” he says. “Go and tell the others.”

Yeah!

We should go and tell everyone. He is risen! Do you realize how impossibly amazing that is?

Whether you believe or not, whether you have been raised in the faith or are struggling to find it, today is the day to begin to wonder about how great God is.

For the next several weeks, the risen Jesus will be walking among us, and most of us will not recognize him.

Not because we don’t believe, but because he will appear to be like anyone else, everyone else.

That is the message of this day. He is risen. He walks among us. We walks with us. We should never be afraid, for we are never alone.

Hallelujah!

More to come...

---