Psalm 118:14–24 & Matthew 28:1–10
In Psalm 118, in the face of this rising opposition, God himself was the
psalmist’s strength, enabling him to overcome his enemies. God was his
song, empowering him to overcome his own inner anxieties. God was
his salvation, delivering him from his suffering. Because the Lord had
intervened, they were filled with shouts of joy and victory. Their song
was, “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things.” The psalmist
confessed that God develops and deepens him even through trial and
refining process.
In response, the psalmist must lead all God’s people into God’s house to
declare God’s greatness. Once again, the psalmist gave thanks to God
for answering his prayers in his day of trouble. The psalmist reflected on
God’s mighty works of salvation, and God himself was his salvation.
In today’s text, the victory over the surrounding nations had been
achieved by God, and people rejoice in God’s eternal plan. This is the
day the LORD has made and saved. This looked ahead to the death of
Christ on the cross, a day which was the eternal plan of God.
Yesterday was Holy Saturday, and we waited for Easter in our stillness.
Mary’s stillness and her space of grief also remind us of the value of
being still and quiet, of the place of wonder and the challenge.
Sometimes we do not need to rush to the answer or next activity. God
invites us to have stillness to encounter Risen Christ even in our busy
life.
It was dawn on Sunday morning. The resurrection morning is the
foundation for the church’s selection of Sunday as the new day of
worship. We call it the Lord’s Day. The Sabbath ended at sunset the
night before. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at Jesus’
tomb and saw what had happened there. There had been a violent
earthquake which seems to indicate the angel’s moving of the stone. It
was mentioned that Roman guards were shaken with fear and became
like dead men due to the angel’s power and brilliant appearance. After
he had rolled away the stone, he sat on it. The stone that would have
taken several men to move was nothing to the angel of the Lord and the
Almighty who had sent him. This symbolized God’s conquest over all
barriers to his will.
The stone was rolled away by people after Jesus’ death, but it was taken
away by the angel of the Lord after Jesus’ resurrection. It was rolled
away so that others could look in and witness the empty tomb. The
angel’s appearance looked like lightning, and his clothes were white as
snow. The angel demonstrated the glory of heaven and the God of
heaven.
When the two women arrived, they were terrified by the appearance of
the brilliant being sitting on the stone. The angel said, “Do not be afraid.”
Matthew used a term that implies a command to stop doing something
that was already being done. It seems like a command rather than a
comfort. The women were to stop being afraid. May we stop fearing and
start rejoicing. Jesus has risen!
The angel gave the reason they need not fear, “I know that you are
looking for Jesus, who was crucified.” The salvation Jesus brought
through his death, the victory he won, and the obedience he displayed
will stand for eternity. The news the angel brought them was also reason
to stop fearing and start rejoicing: He is not here; he has risen, just as he
said. The angel invited them to look into the open, empty tomb: Come
and see the place where he lay. This invitation strengthened their faith
and prepared them to serve as eyewitnesses to the disciples.
These two women witnessed that Jesus was gone, the angel said to
them, “Go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead.”
They were given the honour of taking the news to the disciples. Jesus is
going ahead of his disciples to Galilee, and that he will meet them there.
This is a fulfillment of the promise he made to his disciples in 26:32.
Galilee is not only the place where Jesus had promised to gather his
scattered sheep again. It is also the place where he called disciples,
taught the crowds, healed the sick, appointed the Twelve, showed
compassion on the suffering, offered the weary rest, spoke in parables,
fed the multitudes, blessed the children, challenged a rich man, and
taught about a Messiah who would suffer. The risen Jesus is to be
expected in the places of his future ministry through his disciples, where
healing, feeding, teaching, and even suffering are undertaken.
The two women were drawn on by great joy at the unbelievable news
they had heard and left the tomb. They ran to tell his disciples, but along the way they stopped short. Suddenly Jesus, the risen king himself, met
them and said, Greetings.
This time Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.” Jesus’ words were
authoritative and comforting and conveyed strength. Jesus then gave
the same instructions that the angel had given: Go and tell my brothers
to go to Galilee. He also repeated the same promise the angel had
given: There they will see me. The women went on their way with even
more to tell, for a heavenly visitor reported Jesus’ resurrection and
showd them proof, and the Risen Christ himself had appeared to them.
We have hope of eternal life because of his conquest of death. Jesus is
alive and deals with us personally. Even in the face of undeniable
evidence, people may doubt to believe. However, as in verse 20, Jesus
promised that he is with us always, to the very end of the age. Jesus
goes with us and empowers us, wherever we go, as we fulfill our
mandate to make disciples. (19) The risen king is always with us. How
can we communicate the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection with others?
May we think of Jesus’ resurrection and what it means to us daily.
What Life in Christ means to me is rising and moving forward again from
the hurting world, looking at the crucified and resurrected Lord. It also
means a daily commitment to following Jesus, seeking and enlarging the
kingdom of God in my life, being a Jesus’ disciple and making His
disciples, doing a beautiful thing to Jesus and others, taking my eyes off
the empty tomb and placing them on the Lord, opening my hearts to
receive the risen Christ with hope in the new life God promised, a
constant pursuit of spiritual growth and transformation that God leads,
and living my life in a way that honours and glorifies God.
Just like the light of dawn, the two women’s understanding, and their
vision grow until they can experience the fullness of the Resurrection;
until it is the joy of God’s presence rather than the fear of God’s absence
that compels them to proclaim what they have experienced.
Today’s Scripture readings remind us of the boundary breaking
presence of the living God. May we experience Jesus’ presence and
God’s grace in our lives. May we cry out in joy that we are in God’s
grace, looking at the Risen Christ. Jesus invites us to join the joy of
God’s presence. The Easter season is a time of joy! A time for change!
“The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”
Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)