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“Do Not Be Afraid”

Sermon by Dr. Greg Knox Jones
on Matthew 28:1-10
given March 23, 2008, Easter

Money, war, race and sex.  Four favorites that have been dominating our news.  There is the barrage of news about the meltdown in the financial markets and whether our political leaders should use the “R” word to describe the economy; last week marked the five-year anniversary of the seemingly endless war in Iraq; there is the uproar over Barack Obama’s pastor and charges of racism in the presidential primaries; and then there was the overnight flameout of New York’s governor, a.k.a. client #9.  And with all of the attention on these four items, you may have not heard the news about the recent death of a notable person.  Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote “The Hokie Pokey” died peacefully at the age of 93.  The most traumatic part for the family was getting him into the coffin.  They put his left leg in, and that’s when the trouble began.
Easter Sunday, more than any other day of the year, is the time for us to snicker at death.  On Easter, we affirm that, as ugly and as seemingly final as it is, death is not the end.  This is the day when Christians are bold enough to declare that death does not have the last laugh.  Instead, God does.  And God’s laugh echoes down the centuries, giving countless people from all points on the globe, the courage to live in hope because Christ rose from the dead and promised that this temporal, physical existence is not all there is.  There is something more.
All four gospels tell the story of that early Sunday morning when women, who had been faithful to Jesus, made their way to his tomb.  The gospels of Mark and Luke provide the detail that the women were taking spices to anoint his body.  We assume they were also going there to grieve; to kick the dirt, to let the tears flow and the curse words fly, to try to come to terms with the quick turn of events that had taken Jesus’ life, and to imagine what might have been if things had turned out differently.
Over the years, several people have remarked to me that the death of their loved one had been such a shock, that the visitation, the burial and the memorial service seemed like a dream.  A woman, whose 21 year-old daughter died suddenly, told me she felt as if she were sleep walking through those days.  There were moments when she believed she would wake up and discover it was only a nightmare; and there were other moments of intense pain when reality seeped in and she knew the terrible news was genuine.  She experienced a kaleidoscope of emotions.  Tears flowed as she pondered her loss, smiles returned as she remembered the good times, anger erupted as the unfairness of it struck, laughter came when she recalled a funny incident.
It seems reasonable to assume that the women who went to the tomb of Jesus experienced a plethora of emotions.  Jesus rose on the third day, but the women had not gone through three 24-hour time periods.  From late afternoon Friday, when Jesus died, to early morning Sunday, when he rose, is little more than 36 hours.  So, the women’s emotions were still very raw.
All four gospels inform us that when the women reached the tomb, the stone covering the entrance had been rolled back.  And Matthew’s Gospel informs us that there was an angel who said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised.”  The angel encouraged the women to enter the tomb and examine for themselves where the body of Jesus had been placed.  Then, once they saw that the tomb was empty, he instructed them to go to the disciples and tell them that Jesus “has been raised from the dead.”
This is the amazing claim upon which Christianity is founded.  It is also the incredible assertion that makes many 21st century people squirm.  It is so far beyond the bounds of our experience that many ask: “Could it possibly be true?”
When it comes to religion, many people will only accept what they believe is reasonable and verifiable.  They have closed their capacity for mystery and make no room for the remarkable.
And so some have suggested that perhaps Jesus was not really dead.  Perhaps he appeared to be dead, but still had a flicker of life within him.  However, the gospel stories seem to preclude any such possibility.  They tell us that Jesus was flogged and then his hands and feet were nailed to the cross.  The Gospel of John tells us that after Jesus had been hanging on the cross for a few hours they were going to break his legs to hasten his death, but did not need to break them because he was already dead.  Just to make sure, a spear was thrust into his side.  The Gospel of Mark informs us that when Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could bury Jesus, Pilate summoned a soldier to make sure that Jesus had been dead for some time before handing over his body.
The gospel writers speak with one unambiguous voice in declaring that the life had gone completely out of Jesus.  He was not taken down from the cross prematurely.  He was not unconscious, but still had a faint heart beat and some slight brain activity.  The cool, damp air of the tomb did not revive him.  He was dead, expired, perished, deceased.  He had passed away, checked out, bit the dust.  His life was over.  
Surely, the reaction of the women at the tomb confirms this.  When told that Jesus was raised, the women were both shocked and afraid because they did not see how it could possibly be true.  Matthew’s gospel says the women “left quickly with fear and great joy,” an interesting mixture.  Mark’s gospel says that “terror and amazement seized” the women and they were so afraid they did not tell anyone.  Luke’s gospel tells us that the women were “terrified.”
Even though the women detested death and were grieved by it, at least they knew how to deal with it.  You get together with friends, you visit the gravesite, you go home and eat comfort food, you bury your head in your pillow and weep.  But, the women were stunned and afraid because the body of Jesus was nowhere to be found, and a strange messenger said he was alive.
As we know, the disciples did not buy the women’s story.  They, too, knew for a fact that Jesus was dead.  They bellowed, “What is this nonsense you women are muttering about him being alive?”  But then, the disciples experienced the risen Christ and they were awestruck that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
When I ponder life after death, I wonder about the form we will take.  If our lifeless body is in the ground or has been cremated, will we be recognizable?  The gospels include some interesting stories about Jesus appearing to his followers that give us hints regarding the form Jesus’ body took following the resurrection.  The details are murky; in some ways his body is similar to his pre-death body, yet in other ways it is different.  For instance, the Gospel of John tells us that when Mary Magdalene first lays eyes on him, she mistakes him for the gardener.  Luke’s gospel says that Jesus appears to two of the disciples who are walking to Emmaus, and they do not initially recognize him.  Our guest speaker in two weeks, Sir John Polkinghorne, writes that following the resurrection, Jesus’ body possesses “the unprecedented properties that allow him to appear and disappear in locked rooms, yet still bearing the scars of the (crucifixion).”1  In some ways Jesus is different – he is not limited to what physical bodies are capable of doing – but in some ways he is the same person that his friends knew before he was killed.
The Apostle Paul takes a stab at describing this difference between our earthly, physical body and the form of existence we will take after death.  In a letter to the church in Corinth, he distinguishes between a physical body and a spiritual body.  Our flesh and blood physical body will die, but we will be transformed into a spiritual body that is imperishable.  Over the years, many people have been certain that they have been visited by their recently deceased loved ones, and the appearances of Jesus to his disciples may be analogous to these.
It’s too far-fetched for me to believe that the disciples could have initiated the movement that launched Christianity if they had NOT experienced the risen Christ.  While he was alive they often misunderstood him.  When he was arrested, Peter was frightened for his own life and denied even knowing Jesus.  Following the crucifixion, all of the disciples hid behind locked doors, afraid that the authorities might grab them next.  But then, something happened that produced a radical transformation in them.  These men, who fled when Jesus was still alive, became courageous witnesses who refused to stop talking about Christ, until they were executed.  The resurrection of Christ and his appearance to them must have been the life-changing event.
And Christians have been gathering ever since, to declare that the resurrection of Christ is what makes us people of hope who believe that this life is not all there is.
John Buchanan tells of his good friend, Walter Bouman, who taught theology at a Lutheran seminary.  Not long after Bouman retired, he was diagnosed with cancer.  Buchanan says, “In one of his final sermons, Bouman talked not about anger, but rather his simple sadness that he would not be able to see his grandchildren grow up.  He also talked about life and beauty and commitment to things that matter, and living every day of life to its fullest.”
“One day his grandchildren asked him what he thought heaven would be like, and Bouman said, ‘It will have great music without station breaks.’  The grandchildren replied, ‘But you like Bach and Beethoven, what if someone likes Led Zeppelin?’ Without skipping a beat, Bouman answered, ‘They will be provided a soundproof room.’”
“Then, as it was getting closer to the end, a newspaper reporter quizzed him about how he remained so buoyant, so alive, [even though he was dying].  Bouman replied, ‘My greatest source of encouragement is the Christian story of God.  The news that Jesus of Nazareth has been raised from death, and that death no longer has dominion over him.  I have bet my living and now I am able to bet my dying that Jesus will have the last word.”2
The resurrection of Christ declares, “Do not be afraid.  Do not be afraid to hope for something astonishing and majestic and glorious!”

NOTES

1. 1. John Polkinghorne, The Faith of a Physicist, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), p. 115.
   

2. John M. Buchanan, “A Task Waiting…Music to be Performed,” April 8, 2007.

    

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