For column "From the Minister's Study", The Citizen, April 5, 2024
It was a
dumb idea, going to look at the tomb. The men disciples had probably told the
women it was pointless. After all, Pilate had ordered the chief priests and
Pharisees to take a guard and make the tomb as secure as possible. They’d even
put a seal on the stone besides posting an armed guard. What point was there in
going to look at the tomb? The deed had been done, the miracle-working Christ
had been killed. It was a stupid idea. But something inside the women’s hearts
tugged them toward the tomb. The heart has reasons the mind knows nothing
about. Perhaps it was their faith pulling them there – He who had been right
about so many things could not be wrong about this. And God has a way of taking
what seems stupid to the wise and turning it into His crowning glory, exceeding
the capacities of His creatures.
Matthew’s
account of the events which unfolded early that morning presents us with 5
“G’s” as hooks on which to hang the story. First, grief: “After the
Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary went to look at the tomb.” (Matthew 28:1) When someone dies, to those who
have been most closely attached to them, the things associated with them become
extra special. I recall one family that made their deceased teenage son’s room
into a sort of “shrine”. People are drawn to cemeteries to place flowers at the
grave of family members. We see crosses at the roadside where there’s been a
fatal traffic accident. Grief draws us like a magnet to the place of burial, to
the photos, the personal articles we associate with those we’ve loved.
As the women
were drawn to the tomb, are there things you’re grieving? Relationships or
harsh realities that didn’t turn out the way you expected? Loss of health or
wealth, some dashed hope? Maybe you can relate a bit to how disheartened the
two Mary’s must have felt. But they didn’t see how this could be the conclusion
of the plot for the miracle-working, truth-teaching, hypocrisy-confronting
Rabbi from Galilee. And so maybe even in your present grief, God has another
chapter coming.
Besides
grief, there are guards. V4 mentions the guards that had been posted by
the religious leaders. They would be armed to prevent robbery or interference
of any kind, and they had sealed the stone on the tomb to lock in the body.
If grief is
about loss, “guards” are about limitations. Something’s locked
you out. You’re hitting a brick wall. What’s holding you back? Finances,
perhaps – always too much “month” and not enough “money”? Is it limited
physical ability – your age is slowly creeping up on you and affecting how much
you can do? Is it lack of time – never enough hours in the day to accomplish
what you’d like to do? Or limitations of a different sort – maybe someone in
your past has fed some negative thoughts into your head that always rise up to
jinx you, that become an invisible wall stopping you from taking that next
step. Somebody’s said, “You’re not bright enough” or pretty enough or strong
enough; “You’ll never amount to anything.” In our subconscious, those curses
from the past have powerful force to hold us back, to block us from becoming
who God designed us to be. What forces are “guarding” you negatively, blocking
your way, intimidating you?
But God’s
ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). No
matter what our griefs and guards, our losses and limitations, the Almighty God
has some surprises in store for those who come to Him. Call this the golly factor!
Now the word “golly” is not in Matthew’s text, but that would be our reaction
if we witnessed verses 2-3: “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of
the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone
and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as
snow.” GOLLY! “The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and
became like dead men.” (28:4)
An angel is
a messenger of God, one sent at His command to enact His will. God’s power is
linked to His promise, His stated purpose. When God shows up, when He
steps into the middle of our most despairing circumstances, sparks will fly!
Stand back! Jesus had pointedly predicted to His disciples on at least three
occasions that He’d be crucified, dead, and then rise from the dead, but it
didn’t seem to register with them. The angel Gabriel had reminded Jesus’ mother
before His birth, “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) In Matthew
19(26) Jesus had looked at His disciples and said, “With man this is
impossible, but with God all things are possible.” At Gethsemane, wrestling
with the agonizing decision about going to the cross with its ultimate pain and
shame, Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for You.” And the
Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3(21) that our Lord Jesus “by the power
that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our
lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Never underestimate
God’s power – faith allows for a “golly” factor! Don’t dismiss God out of the
equation of your life circumstances. All things are possible with Him –
resurrection morning is proof of that!
Grief -
guards - golly - the 4th G is greeting. The empty tomb is one thing –
the apostle John seemed convinced even just by the way the graveclothes were
laid out with the body seemingly vaporized from between them – but Christian
faith is not based on the lack of something. “So the women hurried away
from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his
feet and worshiped him.” (28:8-9)
Somewhere,
back centuries ago, at the very first of all these Easter celebrations, historically
/ definitely / spatially and in-time, somebody met a risen Jesus bodily
present. They could clasp His feet. They had come expecting a place – to
look at a tomb – but instead they encountered a Person. He greeted them;
and so He meets us today, one-on-one, challenging us as He did Martha outside
her brother’s tomb – “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me
will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never
die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25f)
For any
other religious system, take away its founder and the system still stands more
or less, as a body of teaching, a system of principles. But Christianity is
different: without its founder, it just doesn’t work, it makes no sense. You
can never reduce Christian faith to a mere bunch of rules to live by: at its
core is the God-Man who seeks relationship with you, greeting you,
inviting you to follow Him and know Him and take up His cross and live with Him
eternally! Will you grasp that – Him – clasp His nail-pierced feet?
The last “G”
here is go. What did the angel tell the women in verses 6-7? “He is not
here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then
go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going
ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’” And what did Jesus tell
the women when He met them? “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers
to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” (28:10)
Go...
The Good News about Jesus is not something stationary that we can polish like a
silver trophy and keep on a shelf, to look at once in a while and feel good.
“That’s what I believe; isn’t it exquisite?!” No, the Easter message is
dynamic, portable, meant to be taken on the road wherever you go and to whomever
you meet: “He has risen! He’s alive! You can meet Him, too! History will
never be the same again.” And my story will never be the same again –
because knowing Him transforms all my griefs and limitations. His power shakes
and shapes me, His forgiveness and mercy receive and redeem me, His love heals
and holds me. Because He lives, life for me will be from now on forever
different, guided and guarded by His divine hand.
So – what
are you waiting for? You’ve got truly Good News to share! Let’s “go quickly”
and tell others this amazing fact.
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