St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34-43;Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4;Matthew 28:1-15a
Gospel: Matthew 28:1-15a
1After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
11While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. 12After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13telling them, “You must say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15So they took the money and did as they were directed.
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Truth Telling
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! However, can you believe these guys? It’s like, come on, man! Playing dead? They had armor, helmets, shields, swords, maybe bows, and certainly horses. They were the Roman army.
Do you know who was more afraid than they were, terrified actually? Those ladies, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. They were lost, angry, perplexed. They had left everything. And their hopes? They were so high! Instead, their ground was taken from underneath them, and they are now sunk in grief. The two Marys could be paralyzed like the other disciples, yet, there were they. They had a duty to the tend to the body of Christ.
Those soldiers had one job, as suggested to Pilate by the temple leaders (Matthew 27:62-66). They were to protect Jesus’ corpse, ensuring that the promise of resurrection could be denied. They were sure they had crushed and killed the annoying speck of trouble and did not want to give the disciples any chance to sneak in the middle of the night, take the body, then say, he is risen!
I know. It’s kind of short-sighted. But again, it was how the world worked, and it still does. The alliance between the temple leaders and the Roman authorities was bearing fruit. For them, that is. Therefore, why change what was working, right! It was in their best self-interest to keep things as they were.
However, what they should have realized by then, but were too blind to see, was that God’s agenda was advancing very nicely so far, regardless of their best efforts. You heard before that the Spirit blows where it chooses, and such Spirit is very wise. Therefore, too bad for them; this is exactly the time when the heavens decide to make a show of their power.
Poop on a stick! No, no, no, this cannot be happening. Who Is going to tell Pilate about this? I wonder if this is when the commander clown may have said, I have an idea. Let us play dead and pretend nothing is happening! The heart cannot feel what the eyes cannot see, right? Well, unfortunately, it was happening. It did happen.
So, after the two ladies were in their way, the bozos returned to the city and told the temple authorities. Oh, no. No, no, no, this must be denied! We must tell our truth! It did not happen! Here, take some money – I wonder how was left for almsgiving after Judas and this platoon of Soldiers – Is that enough? Good, tell Pilate this WAS a con, so you don’t get in trouble. And for the sake of everything we deem sacred, tell, no, swear to Pilate the body was stolen while you were sleeping. We will stand by you. By this, everyone will know this Jesus from Nazareth and his disciples for who they are, impostors and destroyers of what is good, for us! “So they took the money and did as they were directed (Matthew 28:15b).”
Some others also did as they were directed. They were grieving and afraid, but Mary Magdalene and the other Mary took heart. Maybe the divine presence lifted the fog of evil, and something clicked. “He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said!” My Lord and my God, our Savior lives! Suddenly joy overwhelmed them. They ran, but the living Christ stopped them in their tracks.
Greetings, beloved! Do not be afraid. Go and tell. Meet him in Galilee. The land of deep darkness has now seen the greatest light. For this, he came into the world, to testify to the truth. Testify with him. Do not be afraid. Go and tell. Bear witness to what really happened. Bear witness to better things. The Lord has done it. The example has been set. The rejected has become the new cornerstone. We now understand what he has done for us. Go and tell, wash one another’s feet. For the sake of a people yet unborn, love as we are loved. By this, everyone will know we are his disciples.
Christ is Risen! Our Lord and Savior is risen Indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 