Matthews 28: 1-15 On the third day: another earth shaking,
life-giving, heart changing moment.
After Jesus died on the cross,
The very religious,
Pharisees and Priests
Were determined
That when it came
to Jesus,
death
should have
The last word.
They didn’t want to be
Bothered with Jesus,
With what he did,
With what he said,
With what he taught,
Ever again.
So, after Jesus’ body was laid in a tomb
And stone rolled
In front of it,
The priests and Pharisees
Wanted to make sure
That tomb
Was where Jesus
Stayed.
FOR-EVER.
So they went to Pilate
And requested
Guards
To keep watch
Over the grave,
Just to make sure, they said,
Nobody came by to snatch his corpse
What they really wanted
Was to make absolutely sure
that none of Jesus’ promises
About what going to happen after his death
Came true.
They knew what Jesus said:
That he would “Rise Again”
They wanted nothing at all
To do with that kind of a possibility.
And, the only thing
they wanted to happen
was for the corpse of Jesus -
To STAY, right where it was
And to start
rotting.
Pilate told them,
“Make it
As secure as
You Can.”
So that’s what they did,
They sealed the tomb shut,
And the guards
Kept watch.
(Nobody’s getting in or out)
To them, that was that,
Dead is dead.
The tomb is very secure.
And finally,
They were done,
SO DONE --
with Jesus.
But, then came Sunday.
And on the third day,
some women
Made their way to the tomb.
I suppose they were expecting
to find the tomb of Jesus
In the same condition
That they last saw it in on Friday,
They were expecting
The reality of cold hard
Death to meet them once again.
We often expect the same:
Death comes,
And it seems that it has brought
So much to a final cold end.
A life is over.
And that is that …
Nothing left to do
But clean out the closets
And grieve.
But, the women going to the tomb,
WOW! Were they in for a SURPRISE!
On that morning ,
At the tomb,
Something was happening!
On that morning,
Everything was about to change!
On the third day,
The earth began to quake.
The ground beneath their feet,
Began to shake
And shift.
That Easter morning,
The earth was trembling.
I’d guess the women’s
Knees were probably shaking too,
But, if the earthquake
Didn’t throw them off balance for a moment,
What they were about to experience,
At the empty tomb,
THAT’S going to DO IT
For sure.
To hearts that already know grief
Something else was about to be added,
FEAR.
That’s something we’re familiar with
In our day, in our time, too.
Fear. Fear of today,
Fear of what tomorrow will bring.
Many live daily with Fear as an unwelcome compaion.
The women were afraid,
Because of what had happened,
And what they were about to see.
On the third day,
While the earth was moving,
Beneath their feet,
From the sky,
From heaven above them,
Came an angel,
Bright with light,
White as snow.
[It seems] things were changing
Above and below.
And unexpected surprises
Were coming from all directions.
When the angel came down,
The angel rolled the stone away!
Turns out
That even though
They sealed the tomb
And made it as secure as they could,
--
That really wasn’t
Very secure.
Turns out
Everybody
was about
To find out
they weren’t
Done with
Jesus, after all.
When the stone was rolled away,
Where death was supposed to be --
There was nothing.
The tomb was
EMPTY.
And Jesus --
Had left
The grave.
At the sight of all of this,
The guards
Dropped
Like dead men.
But, the women did not.
The women were still very much awake,
And on account of their fear,
probably on high alert.
The angel
brought the women
the surprising news,
of that first
Easter morning
and every morning thereafter.
“Do not fear.
I know that you are looking
For Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here.
He has been raised
From the dead,
Just as he said.”
This was good news indeed.
HE LIVES!!
Death
Had been
Conquered.
Life
Had won
The victory!
The tomb is empty
And
Jesus
IS
ALIVE.
Those who wanted
what he did,
What he said,
What he taught,
Over and done with,
Gone and forgotten …
Those Who wanted
JESUS
Dead and buried
Forever
Were going to be
very disappointed.
Because Jesus --
Had been raised.
Now, Jesus was free from the grave
And loose in the world,
As resurrected, living LORD.
His Word
What he said,
What he taught,
would endure forever.
Well, the good news
the angel brought the women,
Immediately began its transforming work
In the lives of those women.
On the third day,
They were changed.
The angel passed on a message,
a command to the women.
The angel told them, they were to go tell the disciples,
That Jesus was alive,
That he would ‘go ahead of them’
and meet them again in Galilee,
When they heard it,
Their hearts were ready.
The women -- left the tomb in a hurry.
They ran from the tomb,
Ready to begin again
Ready to attend to what Jesus is doing,
Ready to hear what Jesus says,
And what Jesus teaches,
Ready to DO what he commands.
They ran to spread the good news that Jesus was alive.
Imagine, They had left their homes that morning,
Expecting only death and a tomb.
But, they ran from the tomb that morning,
Knowing LIFE was victorious.
They left ready to serve the mission they’d been given,
expecting to see
Jesus ALIVE.
And on that third day,
while they ran,
The women,
Who had known grief and fear,
Suddenly began to know
JOY.
Mind you, not all the fear was instantly gone --
But the news of that third day
that Jesus was alive
Had opened their hearts
-- just enough
To let in a reason to rejoice.
And while they ran,
Suddenly,
JESUS.
The RESURRECTED Jesus
Was right where they were running.
Suddenly,
On the third day,
JESUS was
WITH THEM
Again.
He said,
“Hello.”
And that’s when he had them.
The women fell to the ground,
Grabbed a hold of the feet
On that body of resurrection,
And didn’t want to let go.
And, they worshipped Jesus,
The living LORD.
And Jesus spoke again
To them,
And told them
For the second time that day,
“Don’t be afraid.”
And he sent them on, to continue the mission they’d been given.
On the third day,
Much had changed.
The earth had shaken.
An angel descended.
The stone was rolled away.
The tomb was empty.
Guards had fallen.
On the third day:
Death lost its grip
And Jesus was raised from the dead.
And on the third day,
grieving, fearful women
Were given a new possibility --
To experience joy again,
And courage again,
Both breaking into their hearts,
On the third day,
They were falling at the feet of Jesus,
Worshipping the one who had conquered death.
And the women became his witnesses,
On a mission he had sent them on.
What a change that was!!
Of course,
Others felt the ground shake
Beneath their feet too.
Saw the angel
And the empty tomb.
It didn’t make a difference.
The guards who fell like dead men
At the sight of an angel and an empty tomb?
Even though they knew what happened,
They were more than perfectly willing
To Accept a bribe,
And LIE.
The Priests and elders
heard what happened
From their own guards.
They went right back
To Pretending it didn’t happen.
What happened on the third day
Didn’t change them at all.
That was their choice.
But, it doesn’t have to be what happens to us.
What happened on the third day,
Changed the women who came to the tomb.
It changed the world.
It’s meant to change us, too.
This Easter day,
It’s our opportunity
To hear the good news again,
That Jesus has triumphed,
That he has won the victory over death,
So that we might never
Ever again have to go to a grave, a tomb,
Or face our own death,
Expecting death to have the last word.
It doesn’t. It never will
Because Jesus is alive.
On this Easter day,
It’s our opportunity,
To see some joy and courage,
Break into hearts long held in grief and fear.
It doesn’t mean grief/fear
will all go away, just like that,
But hearts can be opened,
Just enough -- that joy can enter in
Because Jesus is alive.
This Easter day,
It’s our opportunity
To worship the risen Lord
Because the living Lord is with us.
And on this Easter Day,
when we leave
We have the opportunity to begin again
To continue his mission
And to be his witnesses.
Witnesses to his life
And his love
Everywhere we go.
In the world.
Folks --
The world was changed
Because of what happened
On the third day.
You can be changed too --
Because he lives.
