He Is Risen
By Dr. Stephanie Averill
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
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. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 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.’ Now I have told you.”
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. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:1-10
Because He is Risen, I don’t need to fear my own inadequacy and failure because the power to do His will and bear His good news to the world was never dependent on me.
I’m not sure how many of you are old enough to remember, but in the 90s “No Fear” became a big thing – a meme, if you will – plastered all over clothes, bumper stickers, and became the slogan for so many things, including many in the church. The problem with a slogan though, is that it stops short. There are a LOT of things to be afraid of in this world. I doubt I need to list them for you. And I don’t know about you, but just psyching myself up with “no fear no fear no fear” isn’t going to make me want to jump out of an airplane or fight a gorilla. After 9/11, the university I was attending at the time held a prayer service of sorts, with representatives from various world religions. The Christian chaplain, trying to be ecumenical, paraphrased rather than quoting a scripture: “Come… all who are weary, and find rest.” It was incredibly jarring to me, because that person cut out the entire reason we can receive (not find) rest, the entire reason we can fear not: Jesus. The RISEN, REIGNING JESUS.
I grew up in the Church, so for me, Easter means singing certain songs. Join in if you know it, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.”
So true, but at the same time in the midst of swirling trials, it can be so hard to feel that way. But at the end of the day, it’s not because the Risen Jesus isn’t big enough to overcome our fears, but because our understanding of Him is too small. So, in the Spirit of this Lenten season in anticipation of Holy Week, and in true understanding of this beautiful passage, I want to pose two challenges for you:
Are you seeking Jesus?
Are you serving Jesus?
Seeking Jesus:
Our passage starts out with two women walking to Jesus’ tomb. They think they’re going to find a dead body, but their love draws them all the same. They came at dawn, the very first moment they were able after the Sabbath.
Sometimes faith doesn’t begin with perfect confidence, but simply by bringing our mourning hearts to our Lord.
So what comes next? “ 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. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” I absolutely love this image! A stone that required several men to roll in to seal the tomb, and this angel just swoops down, brushes it aside and sits down on it like, “whoop… what’s next?”
The guards the passage says were like dead men, but look at what the angel does – he speaks to the women who were seeking Jesus – “Do not be afraid!” God sends his message of comfort to those who are drawing close and seeking him. But it’s not a glib Polyanna optimism. He knows our need: “I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.” The fact that He is Risen does not wipe away the pain of His crucifixion. It redeems it. Jesus’ victory over sin and death is made all the more glorious because of the crushing weight He bore.
The story written by God across the ages never ends in the tomb, not their story and not ours. The angel invites them to come and see the place where He lay. Come and see the spot that should have been a sign of defeat and see that it is empty. See that Christ is risen in every sense of the Word. Sisters, we may not be able to physically walk into an empty tomb, but we can walk into the pages of our Bible. Lean in and get to know the Risen Christ. Know that He is risen from the dead and that it MEANS something. As Paul wrote in Romans 1: Jesus “through the Spirit of holiness [he] was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:4)
THIS is why the fact that He is Risen can mean we have no fear. He is over all and in all and through all. When we fear, what we need more than anything is to seek Jesus, to lean in and come to know Him in all his resurrection power and glory in a new way.
So, I ask again: Are you seeking Jesus? And are you Serving Jesus?
Serving Jesus.
The next step is obvious. What does the angel say? Go and tell. Go and tell the disciples not only that Jesus is alive, but that He has gone ahead of them. That they will have access to Him. Friends, though we may not be able to touch a physical Jesus we can share just as if not a more amazing message. Jesus is alive, and we can have access to his Holy Spirit inside of us! Listen to these words that Scripture uses to describe it: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27) And when Scripture uses the term “hope,” it isn’t some mamby pamby wistful thing. It is the eager anticipation of something certain and sure. Because He is Risen, we have the hope of Glory.
I don’t know about you, but I often don’t feel very glorious in my Christian walk, but look here back at our passage! The women hurried away “afraid yet full of joy.” They are obeying, running even, but full of fear as well as joy. Perfection isn’t a requirement. Jesus meets them along the way and what do they do? They worship Him. Because of COURSE they do! He is RISEN!
That should astound and drive us to our knees as quickly as it did them. We serve our Jesus through telling people about him, yes, but first and foremost we serve Him in our worship, not just in our singing but in laying down our resources, our ambitions, our relationships, our dreams, our very lives down before Him.
We owe him everything. Galatians 2:20 says that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Because He died, I died to my old, sinful, toxic fleshly self. But because He is Risen, oh praise God because He is Risen, I am risen, too. And that new life is His: completely, totally, utterly, finally, beautifully.
And just as after the women worshipped Jesus He sent them out with the same message to go and tell, so too are we given that charge. Go and make disciples. Go and share His Word. Go and live such a life that the watching world will see and know that He is RISEN.
Aaaaand if you’re like me, that’s where the do not be afraid flies out the window. I worry about tomorrow, and next week, and next year. I worry about all the bad things that could happen. And most of all I worry that I will never, ever be enough in the face of the sheer awfulness of evil in the world… and in my own sinful flesh.
As usual, our cure lies not in our courage but in the Word: In Romans 8, Paul writes: “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit [His spirit, not mine] gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:10-12)
Because He is Risen, I don’t need to fear the future, not because it isn’t scary but because He is powerful. Because He is Risen I don’t need to fear disaster, not because it won’t ever come, but because I know from His Word that He is a God of Justice, and of Mercy, and of Love. That He is using every awful thing that happens to craft me into His resurrected image, and that He will have the final victory over everything that would come against His Children. Because He is Risen, I don’t need to fear my own inadequacy and failure because the power to do His will and bear His good news to the world was never dependent on me.
He is RISEN. And that changes everything.
Dr. Stephanie Averill is a stay-at-home mom and history professor in Fort Drum, New York. She lives the nomadic Army life with her chaplain husband Jonathan and their three children. When she’s not kissing boo boos for the kiddos or grading masters theses (and hopefully not getting the two mixed up), she volunteers in the military community, plays her guitar, and chips away at the three or four writing projects she always seems to have going at once.