by Revd George Mwaura

Resurrection Hope – Matthew 28: 1–10

Lord, we thank you for the gift of your Word, and as we reflect on the Easter Sunday event, we pray that you would open our hearts and our minds to hear afresh your message of resurrection in the name of the one who overcame death.

Amen

A few years ago, I witnessed a truly funny incident in Bolton town square. Every two years, the city holds a community Easter Passion drama and people from all over Bolton are invited to audition for the different roles. The job of selecting the cast was relatively easy. However, the part of Jesus was difficult to cast. No one seemed to fit the new director’s idea of what Jesus should be like – no one, that is, except for the most unlikely character: a hefty six-foot heavily tattooed man who worked for the council as a bin man: or to be politically correct; a waste management advisor! Surely, he must be out of the question, reasoned many of us. How could the director select someone to play the part of Jesus who cursed like a squaddie and had a reputation for fighting in the pubs? But he was the one she chose, because he was the logical choice: an ordinary non-pretentious person.

On the day of the play itself, the town square was heaving with people. When it came to the part where Jesus was led away to be crucified, one very short man who was part of the crowd, became so caught up in the heat of the moment and kept shouting: ‘Crucify him, crucify him!’ And as Jesus went past him carrying the Cross, the little man spat in his face. Ho, ho, Ooh! The big fellow stopped dead in his tracks; the director froze: the audience waited with bated breath — the silence was ominous. Slowly, the big guy reached up and wiped the spit off his face, stooped down a bit and eyeballed the little man, then hissed, just loud enough for most of us to hear, ‘I’ll be back to take care of you – after the Resurrection!’

Indeed, the events that took place after the Resurrection in our Gospel reading today are what has made this day known as Easter Sunday so special. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary certainly did not expect anything special. After all, they had seen Jesus die on the Cross. As they made their way to anoint his body; all they were expecting was the bleak, cold reality of death. But, when they arrived, they were surprised at what they discovered: the tomb was open; the stone rolled away; the body missing. The burial clothes were lying on the stone in the shape of a body. According to the story, an angel of the Lord said to the women: Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen from the dead. The women then left, and on the way encountered the risen Christ. He was alive!

And that, my good friends, is the Easter Event. It is a true story, the narrative of an experience relayed in several ways by the four gospel writers. Everyone who heard this story was overwhelmed by it, because they did not expect it: but it was not a figment of their imaginations; oh no, it was reality – Jesus was alive! This is a story that is so simple, yet hugely important. I don’t completely understand it myself, but I believe it with every fibre of my being. I really don’t know what I would preach if I didn’t believe in the Resurrection of Jesus. I believe it because of the difference it has made in my own life and indeed the lives of millions of others who have encountered the risen Christ.

Two things to note from the Resurrection: First, after the Resurrection, there was disbelief. When the women were first told, they didn’t believe; they thought someone had stolen the body of Jesus. All they wanted was to give him a proper burial and so they had trouble believing the Resurrection angle at first. Then, they ran back and told the disciples who disbelieved them as well – primarily because they were women. In first-century Palestine, a woman’s witness was not considered valid, unless supported by a man! Again, when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room, Thomas was not there, and when they told him of their experience he simply said: Unless I see him for myself, I will not believe.

Unfortunately, many of us are like that too: imprisoned by disbelief. We may not say it loudly, but we say it by the way we live our lives. We are filled with doubt, loneliness and despair, and often we feel as if our lives don’t matter – as if no one cares. Because we live as if we do not need God’s help, when our best human efforts fail, we get discouraged and feel alone.

On Easter Sunday morning, the followers of Jesus suddenly realised … he was alive, he cared, and they were not alone any more. And neither are we: In the first four months of this year, our world has been turned upside down by COVID-19. Our winter seem never ending. It’s as if we have been permanently left in the wilderness to fight the demons of Corona alone. At the moment life feels bleak. But, if you open the eyes of faith, I believe that you, too, can experience the risen Jesus; and when you do, you will discover a God who cares so passionately about us and what is happening in our world right now. A God caring enough to let his own son die so that you and I might have eternal life. No matter how frustrating, confusing, or scary this crisis gets, fear doesn’t have the final say. The final say belongs to God. We read in 1 John 4: 18 : There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. Our hope is built on the perfect love of Jesus Christ, and we’ve been called to share that love with the world. We do not know how long this winter will last nor how long we will be exiled; that shouldn’t be our major concern. Our primary task in the coming weeks and months is to do all we can to bring hope to God’s people – practically and spiritually as we learn how to be a diaspora church in the corona times.

The second thing we need to note is this: After the resurrection, there was a joyful hope. When the women went to the tomb, there was sorrow in their hearts. They were there to anoint the body, but how would they roll away the stone? When they arrived, however, the stone had been rolled away and the angel of the Lord said to them, ‘He is not here; he is risen!’ Then, Matthew tells us that they left the tomb filled with joy. But the joy they felt was more than simple happiness; it was a joy that was filled with hope. And the joyful hope that came alive to those first disciples was that Jesus was resurrected from the grave – and if this was possible; well, then they too would be conquerors of the grave. This joyful hope of conquering death brought the disciples out of hiding and sent them into the world proclaiming the good news of the Easter Event. They were changed people because they knew that God had not deserted them.

The Apostle Paul proclaimed this joyful hope when he wrote to the church in Rome saying: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers – and, dare I add, not even Corona – will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the joyful hope of the Easter Event. Like I confessed earlier, I do not completely understand the mystery of the Resurrection. I have no answer for why and how Jesus walked out of that tomb alive. But I believe that he did it! I believe that the tomb is empty. And because he lives, I am here to tell you the Good News of the Gospel – you too will live, long after the dreadful Corona, long after your earthly journey has come to an end!

Happy Easter everyone!

Amen