The Message of Easter: There’s Nothing to Fear :: Matthew 28:1-10

So departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to announce [this] to his disciples ... Stop being afraid! I know you seek Jesus, who was crucified. ... But he was raised, just as he said. We’ve seen the empty tomb! We’ve seen our risen Lord! Stop being afraid! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

This is the message of Easter! 

There is now nothing to fear! 

You have been absolved of your sin on account of the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. ... You who are baptized have been united in the death and resurrection of Jesus ... You who confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead will be saved. ... You who wait to celebrate his death and resurrection that brings the forgiveness of sins in the Lord’s Supper ... there is nothing to fear. Our Lord Jesus has broken the bonds of sin and death. He has risen to new life. He has fulfilled the promises of God. He has defeated the devil. He has overcome the world. And is destroying death. He has covered your sin. And is making you whole. It is finished! 

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

This is the everlasting message of Easter! Stop being afraid! 

4.

So now ... why are any of you afraid? What on earth do you have to fear?

To answer that question, let’s first revisit our Gospel reading. In Saint Matthew’s account of the Resurrection of our Lord, there are two kinds of fear being reported. There is the fear of God and his wrath ... fear that leaves us like dead men. And there is the reverent fear of God that brings us new life by grace through the Faith that comes in and with Christ. This is the fear experienced by the women who believe in Jesus.

Listen again to our Gospel reading. As Matthews reports, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ... two of the women who witnessed the death of Jesus (Mt 27:55-56) and who saw him buried (Mt 27:61) ... went to the tomb before dawn on Easter. And behold, a great earthquake occurred for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and once he arrived, he rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And from fear of him, those guarding [the tomb] became like the dead. 

Then the angel said to the women, Stop being afraid! I know that you seek Jesus, the crucified one. He is not here, for he was raised, just as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then quickly be on your way. Tell his disciples that he was raised from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. 

So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and they ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! So when they came before him, they seized his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, Stop being afraid! Go tell my brothers they should go to Galilee. And there they will see me. 

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah! 

3.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, sin and death are persistent enemies. And they give us great reason to fear the full fury of God’s wrath. You saw what it did to Jesus, didn’t you? Our Lord Jesus became sin for you on the cross. 

Sin brings shame. Sin causes doubt and despair. Sin steals the hope of men. Sin kills. Sin destroys. It leads to death. And ultimately it will all end up in the unquenchable fire of hell. As the close of the commandments reminds us, God will punish the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generations of those who hate him. 

How tragic it is that today there are people ... even those who say they are followers of Christ ... who refuse to acknowledge the sin that does this to us? They don’t believe in God ... they say they can do there own thing. They don’t believe in Jesus ... they say they can save themselves if they just make themselves holy. They don’t believe in sin ... they think that God created us to be who we want to be, not who he wants us to be. They call good evil ... crucifying our Lord. They call evil good ... destroying themselves. They don’t even believe in the resurrection. They have no hope. We should really fear that. 

These are the sins that killed our Lord. Jesus did not come merely to give us a good word about good living. He did not come merely to teach us to be social justice warriors. He did not come merely to teach us to love and be loved. That’s what the Law does. 

Jesus came first to call you to repentance, confessing your sin ... and then believing the Gospel ... that he was born to live for you and in you ... that he was born to be sufficient for you and in you ... that he died for you and was buried for you ... so that he could rise from the dead as the firstfruits of the resurrection. 

So what are you waiting for? As the angel told us, Stop being afraid! Your sin died with Jesus. It was buried. It will never be heard from again. And now he has been raised. And now you will be too. 

THERE’S NOW NOTHING TO FEAR ... NOW THAT EASTER IS HERE.

This is where our text has been leading us today.

2.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, embrace the faith in this Word of God. 

There is nothing now to fear. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

It wasn’t enough that Jesus died on the cross. A dead Jesus does you no good. He had to rise from the dead, too. The Resurrection of Jesus is inseparable from this Gospel of Jesus Christ. His birth, his life, his death, his rest, his resurrection, his ascension, and his promise to come again are all more than enough to save you. In Jesus, salvation is complete. 

Death has lost its sting. Just look at the empty tomb. To quote Paul, If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, [and] you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ perished. If in this life in Christ we have hope only, we are all men to be most pitied. But now Christ has been raised out of the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 15:17-20). 

Almighty God the Father, through his only begotten son, our Lord Jesus, has indeed overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us.

1.

And on account of his resurrection, you now can have real hope that overcomes fear. We can because God has united us with Christ in his death and resurrection through baptism. 

All of the Father’s wrath against sin was poured out upon Jesus on the cross ... so that you don’t have to be like the dead men guarding the tomb. Now we can walk in the newness of life and Stop being afraid! The Father raised the Son into eternal life so that ... like the women at the tomb ... we will arise to seize the body of our Lord ... knowing that He is risen! When they grabbed hold of his feet, they proved he’s not a phantom or nice idea. He is risen indeed! His death blotted our all sins. Hallelujah! His resurrection declared all men are indeed forgiven and free. All sin was destroyed in the body of Christ on the cross. And new life was given in the resurrection. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring this good news (Isa 52:7). 

Let us, therefore, heed God’s Word through Saint Paul in our epistle ... now and forevermore ... celebrating the festival ... the festival of forgiveness that never ends ... not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil ... the leaven of denial and false pride ... but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (2 Cor 5:8). 

That is why the Lord gave us his Sacraments: they give us a healthy fear. 

Baptism cleanses us so that we can stand before the altar and stop being afraid as we receive his life-giving body and blood. Absolution continues to remind us of these truths so that we can stop being afraid. As Luther teaches us in the catechism, It is because of your distress Christ has given us his command, invitation, and promise in the sacrament. This ought to move you to seek his gifts, without fear, just as Jesus told us. If you are heavy-laden with fear and feel your weakness, then go joyfully to this sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength (Mt 11:28). 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in leading us to remember and confess his life, his death, his rest, his resurrection, his ascension, and his coming again ... we know that forgiveness is complete, certain, and assured. From YHWH this has come to pass: It is wonderful in our eyes (Ps 118:23). 

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! 

And now nothing can separate you from him ... in Jesus’ name. Amen.