Matthew 28:1-10 "Risen...Just As He Said"

          Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
          Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.  His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.  The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
           Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.  And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
           The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message.  And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”


 They came looking for a dead body -the body of a friend whom they had personally witnessed being brutally tortured and publicly executed.  He was dead.  No doubt about it.  Whipped until the brink of death, hung a cross, nails through wrists and ankles, spear thrust into His side.  He was dead.  Dead and, in fact, buried.  Their primary concern on this sad Sunday morning was who would roll away the giant stone sealing the tomb.  The body had not yet been properly prepared for burial.  There was no time for that before the Sabbath.  This was the soonest it could be done and it was unthinkable that their friend could not even receive a proper burial.  He was dead, He was their friend, and they wanted to give Him a kosher burial.


They arrived at the tomb to find that the stone was not going to be a problem as it had already been moved -by angel -to let the Living Lord out.  The angel was there.  It spoke to them. "He isn't here.  He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen."


It's true that Jesus had said that he would die and come back to life.  Once He was so publicly dead, however, it seemed unreasonable to assume that it could actually happen.  It was relatively easy to make true the part about dying; a different story altogether to keep the promise of returning to life.  

In retrospect, we might wonder at the disciples' and friends' skepticism.  I mean, if they actually believed Jesus was the Messiah, shouldn't they have expected His prophecy to come true?   Of course, given the 2000 years of church history and generations of theological understanding concerning the who, what, where, when and why of Jesus' death and resurrection, we have some insight and revelation that they did not have in the moment.  Still, if Jesus said it, shouldn't they have just accepted it at face value?  Shouldn't they have been eagerly anticipating His resurrection?


Now, as I'm thinking, though, I wonder about some of the other things Jesus said that even with 2000 years of understanding we still don't fully believe today.  After He rose from the dead, for instance, Jesus said that His followers would do all of the things He had done and even more because He was sending the Holy Spirit to indwell His followers.  In fact Jesus said it was actually better for us that He leave so that we could enjoy and learn and live in the benefit of the Holy Spirit in us.  But we don't really believe that.  The vast majority of Believers experience with the Holy Spirit is so nominal that it cannot possibly be true that it is better to have the Holy Spirit in us than Jesus beside us.  Either Jesus was lying (or mistaken) or we are missing something profoundly important.


And Jesus said that He was coming again.  In fact, He warned us, seriously warned us, to be ready and to live our lives expectantly.  But we don't.  We might believe (kind of) that He will return some day, but not soon.  This has got to be true because the vast majority of us live just like unbelievers.  We have the same hopes and dreams and buy the same kinds of houses and drive the same kinds of cars and continue to sock away money into the same retirement accounts and basically live exactly like those who never expect Jesus to return.  We can know for sure what we believe by what we do.


So, I think the words of the angel at the tomb have serious significance for we who follow Jesus today.  We should hear them clearly.  "He is risen from the dead,  just as he said would happen."