Easter
Matthew 28:1-10
(copied and used as an outline from a 2008 sermon preached in Charleston, SC)
The Testimony of Two Women at the Tomb
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
As we read Matthew and think on what John had to say to us a couple of weeks ago, we see that it has been but two weeks or so at the most since Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. A lot has happened in that short time. All the crowds that saw that miracle and believed and then welcomed Him into Jerusalem last week, must have done some hard thinking as last week came to a close. The very One that did what only God could do. He raised the dead. He lifted not a finger in defense of His own life. The One that clearly demonstrated power that had never been seen before when he gave sight to the man born blind, was Himself blinded by the pain of the cross on Good Friday and didn’t so much as cast a curse in the direction of His persecutors nor shy away from the cup of His Father’s wrath.
It didn’t make sense to even the disciples. Jesus, who they had by now confessed to be the Messiah; the One that Peter James and John had seen transformed on the mountain; the One that they trusted was not being manifested in any way that they would desire. Kings simply did not ascend their thrones with a crown of thorns by way of crucifixion.
Even these close companions of Jesus, the two Marys in the text did not expect what happened on Easter morning. Matthew records for us that they went to see the tomb and that is all they did see unless you count the spectacular side show of the earthquake and the angel announcing Jesus’ resurrection. But there was no Jesus there in the tomb. They came expecting to see His body, expecting to pay their respects and give Him a proper burial. They came to see Jesus in the tomb. But He was not there and I don’t mean just His spirit or His soul wasn’t there. All of Him wasn’t there. The angel shows them the empty tomb, “See, I have told you.” They become the eye-witnesses of the tomb’s unsealing as it reveals it’s emptiness.
These women were there at the tomb and saw it all. The earthquake, the angel rolling back the stone, his brilliant appearance, and the silencing of the guards as they trembled and became like dead men. They witnessed the unsealing of the tomb and yet there was nothing inside when the angel bid them come forward for a look, “See, I have told you.” Other than a word of urgency on the part of the angel for the women to hurry to the disciples, Matthew relays this story in an almost matter of fact tone, piecing together the facts as the women later told the story. By now all had become used to unusual events when it came to Jesus. But this was different. This would change everything. If Jesus had risen as the angel said, then this had to be told; the news, the good news had to be spread.
And then there He was, Jesus, standing before them in that body that the angel showed them wasn’t there in the tomb. And to emphasize the point, the women laid hold of Him by taking His feet as they worshiped Him. They fell prostrate upon the ground, extending their arms to touch His feet. Giving Him the Honor and praise, the worship due only to God. And so He is; God incarnate who just days earlier suffered inhuman punishment, anguish and death all for the sake of those He loved – the disciples, these two Marys, and you. Things were coming together for these ladies. Not saying that they understand everything, but they sure have learned to recognize their Lord and their incarnate God when they see Him.
I remember mentioning to you in the past of my experiences with a visiting troop of Jehovah’s Witnesses as they tried to convert me and I tried to help them see the full Gospel. When the first one visited, I tried to draw out her understanding of Jesus and all that surrounds Him. I was a bit surprised at what she believed. She proceeded to tell me that Jesus had a perfect “body” that was sacrificed and that He was given a new body to replace the old dead one. In a right context I could maybe accept that as an initial explanation of one just learning the faith, but I pressed her for a more detailed explanation and she continued along that track of a body that was disposed of, discarded and thrown away because it no longer was of any use or value. Every objection that I made she would try to counter. She said that everything was based upon Scripture, but when I offered to open up the Scriptures, she had run out of time and needed to press on with her duties.
The witness of these two Marys in our text very quickly dismisses any such idea of a body that was discarded. The tomb didn’t possess a corpse while Jesus assumed another body. The tomb was empty as the angel said. “HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE HAS RISEN!”
The lady at my door could not accept the irrational. She could not accept that Jesus would keep a body that had been so horribly abused. She wanted to get rid of that scandal of the cross. She wanted a Savior that was above all the mundane and simple things of this life. She could not see that God had become like us in order to save us. He took to Himself flesh that in the flesh, He might conquer our enemy of death, that He might put an end to the dominion of sin, that He would free us from the fetters of Satan’s prison. The angel that announces Jesus’ resurrection, appears like lightening and has clothes that appeared as white as snow, but no such description accompanies Jesus. He was ordinary, mundane, simple, human in form and substance. But He was still God incarnate; both God and man; the crucified and risen Lord and He is worthy of all the worship that was given Him.
The Marys of our text perhaps went looking for Jesus in the wrong place initially, but they recognized Him when He presented Himself to them. The woman that came to my door refused to recognize Jesus as He presents Himself to us today still in the ordinary and the mundane. She looks for Jesus instead where and how she would like to see Him rather than where and how He presents Himself.
If God were to so easily discard the body of Jesus in favor of something much better, what hope is there for us? When the creation is just a disposable mess, it leaves us as the refuse. But God who created and called things good, is not in the business of discarding that creation. He is in the business of making it new through death and resurrection; specifically through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Here (holding up the Bible) is Jesus; in every Word uttered, in every whisper breathed, in every exclamation of HE IS RISEN! He is here presenting Himself as evidence and the means of God’s expressed love for you, as evidence that God cares for your very being; as proof and assurance that God resurrects the dead and that new life awaits all those who have faith in Him.
It was not at the tomb that our Marys found Jesus, but it was as they turned away from it with the angel’s message for the disciples that Jesus made Himself known to them. His words to them were very simple, first a greeting and then absolution. “Greetings,” He says. The same words the angel spoke to His mother, Mary, when was announced His conception. And blessed were they to behold their Lord incarnate as was Mary to bear her incarnate Lord. Jesus continues with those familiar words of Luke 1, “Do not be afraid.” He speaks to these women His Holy Absolution. The very Lord who has power over death and the grave speaks words of comfort. He expresses to them His favor. He forgives them their initial unbelief and absolves them of their sin as they lay prostrate before Him holding onto His feet. He is announcing God’s grace to them in His very presence in that body resurrected and victorious over the grave. He bestows on them the forgiveness won by Him declaring it in those very wounds that these woman felt in His feet, wounds that point to life that has overcome death.
Our Lord has the same words of absolution for you. He forgives you your moments of unbelief and announces God’s grace to you even as you cling to His very body and blood in this Sacrament. For here, He presents Himself to you in the ordinary means of bread and wine. Perhaps not the first place that we would seek to find Him, no flashes of lightening and white as snow apparel, but it is where He has declared to us to be. It is where we are to find Him for our forgiveness.
Our Lord is risen and He continues to give out His resurrected body for you even upon this altar, so that you like the Marys in our text can cling to Him in humble adoration and worship; worship that calls Him Lord and God and trusts His Word as He declares your sins forgiven. Worship that does not look for a Jesus in the tomb, but trusts that Word of God proclaimed as the angel declared, “HE IS NOT HERE! FOR HE HAS RISEN!” And He is here (hold up Bible) and here (point to the altar) as He has promised to be. Do not be afraid for He has promised to be with you to the very end of the age as he bears peace for you with God; a peace that surpasses all human understanding to guard your hearts and minds in Him. Amen