There
is so much that can be said about the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Along with the crucifixion, it is the key event in human
history. It is the foundation of all Christian doctrine. It is the core
of the Gospel message. It is the heart of Christian worship. All those
things and more deserve our attention.
Many
Scriptures point us to newness and life on this day. In the Gospel from Matthew 28, we see a specific account of the
discovery of Jesus' empty tomb. There are two main reactions to this
event. The first is fear. There is the fear of uncertainty about what the empty
tomb means and fear about the dazzling the
angel. Jesus' followers feared many things- Roman soldiers, the
priestly establishment, life in a world where Jesus dies,
their own weaknesses, and so on. Such tangible fears are real, but there is another element in the disciples'
fear. They is fear of the divine power manifested in the act of
resurrection.
Many
modern people don't even want to acknowledge the word "fear" for this
human reaction. But if we
take God's awesome power seriously, we will experience some healthy fear
in facing His mighty acts. Such fear is natural, but we do
need to move beyond it.
Now let us turn to the second basic reaction to the resurrection. Matthew
28:8 (KJV) says, "And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy."
The good news of Jesus' resurrection from the dead starts to transform
natural fear into great spiritual joy. The fear of divine power is
changed into a deep awareness of divine comfort- of faith, hope and
love. Mary Magdalene and other disciples begin to change. Rejection,
cross and tomb do not have the final word. Jesus is alive, and because
He lives, His followers can also live in joy. And they can share this
good news with others,
On
Easter and every day, we Christians should be filled with great joy. In
the New Testament, joy is more than ordinary happiness. A person may be
happy about some Easter dessert, but true joy is spiritual. Jesus
speaks of joy repeatedly (for example, John 15-17). Joy is connected
with believing (Romans 15:13) and can come even through suffering(1
Peter 1:5-6). Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). So we
may not be superficially happy about many things in our world. We may be
sad, troubled or worried about disease, disaster, injustice or personal
issues. Those things are real. Yet, through faith in the good news of
the risen Christ, we can still find deep and profound joy. On this day
of all days, I conclude, "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice in the
Lord" (Philippians 3:1)! He is risen! Alleluia!
