Matthew 28:8

Posted by DJL on May 5, 2014 in Daily Bread | 1 comment

So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Notice, please, that it’s “fear and great joy.” Not just “great joy,” which is more likely what we would have expected. That is, when we think about the women coming to the tomb on that first Easter and discovering not Jesus’ dead body but the news that he has been raised from death and is alive, I’m guessing most of us imagine that they felt great joy. Surprise, perhaps also, but mainly joy.

And they do. But also, Matthew says, fear.

Which makes a lot of sense when you think about it just a little longer. Because resurrection doesn’t simply return Jesus to them, it upends their whole existence. Resurrection breaks the rules of nature. Resurrection means that there are no limits, no boundaries you can count on, no laws, even, that you can ultimately trust. Because if there’s one limit, boundary, and law we all count on, it’s that of death. For in all of our life and experience, the universe seems generally unwilling to give back what it took from us in death.

Except now. Because when God raises Jesus from the dead, God does not simply restores life but also creates once again, breaking the known laws of the existing universe and creating the possibility for life beyond the grave.

And so the women are afraid. They have no idea what to expect, no idea if there is anything left they can count on, no idea what this God of life and renewal and redemption might do next.

Fear and great joy. Perhaps that’s just what we ought to feel anytime we approach the God of resurrection. For we know not how we will be changed in God’s presence, only that we will.

Prayer: Dear God, grant us courage to embrace your gifts of resurrection and new life and embolden us to share with others the news of how you have changed us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.