Early on Sunday morning, as the
new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the
tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from
heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his
clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him,
and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are
looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said
would happen. Come, see where his body
was lying. And now, go
quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going
ahead of you to Galilee. You will see
him there. Remember what I have told
you.” The women ran
quickly from the tomb. They were very
frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the
disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted
them. And they ran to him, grasped his
feet, and worshiped him. Then
Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they
will see me there.” Matthew 28:1 - 10 (NLT)
Have you ever waited
for something with great expectation, and then the whole picture changed?
In February 1967 I
waited in a little room off the main sanctuary of the Smithtown Methodist church. Waiting was difficult for this good
event. After what seemed an eternity, my
brother Thom and I finally stepped into the side aisle. We took our positions at the front of the
church and began waiting again. Then, she
appeared. The "she" was
Elizabeth, my bride-to-be. The wait was
worth it! She was beautiful, my best
friend, and she was walking that aisle to become my wife. My only thought (that I can remember) was:
This is too good to be true!
The two Marys must
have felt that way. The angel told them
Jesus had risen from the dead. They were
awed, anxious and overjoyed. They began
to run to tell the disciples, filled with a mixture of joy and trembling. This was definitely too good to be true.
The question for
them (and us) is:
Was the resurrection too good to be
true?
Four hundred years
before Jesus was born, the Greek philosopher Socrates drank poison and waited
to die with his disciples around him.
One of them asked, Shall we live
again? The dying man could only
say, I hope so, but no man can know.[1]
Hope in the
resurrection is too good to be true for many people. Hope in the resurrection was too good to be
true for the disciples Friday morning as the soldiers took Jesus away from
Gethsemane. It was too good to be true
later at Pilate's house. Hope in the
resurrection was gone Friday afternoon at Golgotha. Their hope was beaten, bloodied and blown
away as Jesus was carried from the cross.
Their hope was laid on a stone ledge in a borrowed hole in the ground. Their hope was now dust. Their dreams of the Kingdom of God on Earth
were too good to be true!
Sadly and tenderly
Sunday morning the women came to anoint the body of Jesus. Their hope was shattered also. But, then there was an empty tomb, and an
angel, changing hopeless resignation into hopeful rejoicing. They believed. They wondered. Their hearts raced. Could it actually be true? Or was this really too good to be true?
The angels told them
to go tell the disciples.
Suddenly,
in the midst of this confused flight to tell the disciples, the Master
appeared. He greeted them! But, was this Jesus, or a ghost? The women were confronted with the reality of
the resurrection. And when resurrection
is standing in front of you, you’re confronted with the one question that makes
sense, and must be answered:
Do
you believe?
And then a second
question:
If you believe, what happens to those
who accept this resurrection?
Here’s what happens
when you accept the resurrection as fact:
#1 When you accept the reality of the resurrection you'll see Jesus
This passage has
always reminded me of what an elderly preacher once told me about faith. He said, There
are people who say (about Christianity), 'I won't believe it till I see
it.' Their problem is they won't see it
until they believe.
The women accepted
the angel's message about Jesus' resurrection.
They began to act upon it; they began to run to tell the disciples, and
they saw Jesus. They saw Him because they accepted the reality of his
resurrection on faith. They believed;
they saw!
#2. When you accept the reality of the resurrection you'll worship Jesus
The word for worship
means to prostrate oneself. The women
fell on their faces with respect and awe for Jesus. (I believe I would also if I'd just seen a
dead man get up and walk!)
The reality of the
resurrection is such that it causes us to want to worship Jesus. The answer for empty churches and empty
hearts these days is not more programs or things to do. The answer is the resurrection.
When Saul was on the
road to Damascus to persecute the church, he met Jesus. He immediately began to worship, saying, "Lord,
what do you want from me?"
When the reality of the resurrection becomes your reality, you won't
have to ask someone else what to do – you will fall down and hold onto Jesus'
feet, because your heart won't let you do anything else! You’ll see Jesus, you’ll worship Jesus, and…
#3. When you accept the reality of the resurrection you'll tell others about Jesus
The angel (v.7) and
Jesus (v.10) both told the women to go and tell someone. The real resurrection is something that is
too good to hold down.
And so, Your Questions today:
Do you believe in
the resurrection, and will you tell someone?
British minister,
W.E. Sangster, began to lose his voice and mobility in the mid 1950's. Disease caused muscular atrophy. Sangster's voice eventually failed completely
and his legs became useless. On Easter
morning just a few weeks before his death, he took a pen and shakily wrote his
daughter a letter. In it he said,
It is terrible to wake up on Easter morning and have
no voice with which to shout, 'He is risen!' – but it would be still more
terrible to have a voice and not want to shout.[2]
On this resurrection
morning, let me encourage you to believe the reality of our Lord’s resurrection
– He's alive. Accept this “too good to
be true” reality for yourself and see Jesus, worship
Jesus, tell others about Jesus.
Do it in the name of
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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