A Message From Pastor Beth
DO NOT BE AFRAID; GO AND TELL MY BROTHERS TO GO TO GALILEE; THERE THEY WILL SEE ME.” MATTHEW 28:10
The scenes of that first Easter morning are very familiar. In the quiet of the early morning, women who brave the soldiers and even the stench of death come to the tomb to see Jesus, to pay their respects. We feel their confusion and their joy upon discovering an empty tomb and an angel. Nothing there is what they would have anticipated. There is nothing they could have done to prepare themselves for what they witnessed that day. There is joy, there is fear and there is confusion about just what has taken place.
But, as they leave the tomb, as they head out to tell the news to the disciples, they are met by someone who is familiar and yet strange. Jesus comes to them on their way, reassuring them, telling them not to be afraid of what has just happened. “Do not be afraid of me. I have risen from the dead.”
We can only imagine what the women felt at that point. But while it is tempting to leave the story there, it is not the end. Jesus sends them to tell the disciples but also tells them that he goes ahead of them, he will meet them in Galilee. Just as he met the women on their way after seeing the empty tomb, so, too, he goes ahead of the disciples, not simply in death but in life. He meets them in an unknown future, telling them not to be afraid, granting them his Spirit, breathing on them the courage that they will need in this new life that they are living. Everything has changed, not just death but also life, with Jesus’ resurrection.
The same is true for us. The resurrection not only changes what we face in death but also changes how we live life. “Do not be afraid”, Jesus says. “I am going ahead of you. I will meet you up ahead, in the unknown future as well as in death.” We can trust also that Jesus meets us up ahead, not just in death, but in life. This is the promise and the hope that we celebrate on Easter. The resurrection changes everything.
He is risen! He is risen indeed!!
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