Go and tell!

In the darkness of early morning, Sunday April 7 in the year 30, two women made their way through the grave yard. Matthew tells us they wanted to “see the tomb.” Actually, they wanted to finish a job not yet completed just before Sabbath. They wanted to properly anoint the dead body of Jesus with traditional burial spices and prepare it for final interment. According to burial practice this would be the last chance to pay proper final respect to their beloved Jesus.

I am sure the events of the previous week were still on their minds. A grand arrival in Jerusalem the week before had made it seem everything would be fine. Things went downhill dramatically from there. There were tense situations at the temple over several days. There had been Jesus’ arrest after being betrayed by Judas for money. There had been an illegal trial, brutal beating, and undeserved crucifixion. There had been the humiliation of hasty burial in a borrowed tomb.

Now, as they approach the tomb at dawn’s first light, the women are loaded down both with sorrows and with burial spices with which to do their grim work.

Suddenly darkness and stillness are interrupted with the rumble of earthquake and bright light. An angel has appeared and rolled away the stone at the entrance to the tomb. The temple guard, stationed there to make sure the tomb is not pilfered, are quaking in their boots, frozen in fear.

Ignoring the soldiers, the angel addresses the women directly. “Don’t be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen. See? Now, go quickly and tell his disciples that Jesus is risen from the dead and goes before you to Galilee. He will see you there.”

Amazed, the women headed out with great joy to tell the disciples the good news. As they went they ran into Jesus. “Rejoice!” he said. As they fell at his feet to worship Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and I will meet them there.”

Every year we rehearse and retell the story of Jesus’ resurrection, and with good cause. It is the cornerstone of our faith and the essential element of Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom. The message of God’s transcendent kingdom requires a resurrected Jesus and people who will live into the resurrection in the present time.

The resurrection is a future hope, no doubt. There definitely will be a time when the dead in Christ will rise to new life. But at the same time the resurrection is a present reality in which we who believe in Jesus live every day.

The point of the Easter story is that Jesus rose victorious from a tragic death by torture and lives, as the writer of Hebrews put it, at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us.

The point of Matthew’s version is emphasized by repetition, and two things recur. The women are told to not be afraid and they are told to go and tell the good news of Jesus’ resurrection and that Jesus goes ahead to Galilee.

Fear and anxiety disable us more than anything else. Unpleasant experiences easily fuel less than hopeful expectations that keep us from moving forward. We wonder what will happen next and look for the safer mode, which more often than not is inactivity. While occasional stillness is helpful perpetual stagnation is deadly. Do not be afraid, Jesus said.

The remedy many times is to keep moving. Jesus didn’t let a little thing like humiliation, torture, and death slow him down. Even in death he kept moving, descending to Sheol to redeem the faithful and plunder the grave. Now, in resurrection, he is already gone from the tomb, moving on the Galilee to meet his disciples there.

Keep moving, Jesus told the women. Go tell the disciples to keep moving. Don’t be paralyzed by fear and inaction, but keep going!

A quick look down the page in Matthew 28 lets us know that when Jesus finally meets up with the disciples the message is the same: Go! As they go, he said, they are to make new disciples for Jesus, baptizing them into the kingdom, and teaching them what he had taught them.

Resurrection is movement into the present reality that God is very much involved in the affairs of the world, very much using us to introduce others to the transcendent kingdom that is present but largely unseen until we look for it.

Alleluia! He is risen! Let us arise, and go and tell.

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Matthew 28:1-10 (Easter A)