Easter Day- the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ- Matthew 28:8

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!