Easter Sunday

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And 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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then 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.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

—Matthew 28:1-10 (NRSV)

Here is where the Christian faith begins—with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the main event of Easter—the return to life of the One who was crucified, dead, and buried. The main event of Easter—and the very thing that is hardest to believe.

The resurrection defies our understanding, and it pushes our reasoning abilities to the breaking point. Fortunately, we do not have to explain the resurrection. No. Because Jesus’ resurrection explains us. It establishes who we are and why we believe today. Because the resurrection happened—because Easter happened—the church happened.

The story of Easter is so familiar that we sometimes fail to hear some of the details of the account. On all three years of the liturgical cycle, the Revised Common Lectionary points us to John’s report (John 20:1-18). Today, however, I want to look at Matthew’s account of the first Easter morning—and, specifically, at three details which are reported there.

First, the stone was rolled away—not to let Jesus out—but to let us in! I say this because the idea that God rolled the stone away from the door to let Jesus escape is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture.

Remember the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded in the last chapter of John’s Gospel? On two occasions, John tells us, Jesus suddenly appeared in the midst of the disciples—even when they were behind locked doors!

Locked doors never kept Jesus in or out. Matthew makes this clear in today’s reading. In his account of the resurrection it was after Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had come to the tomb that “there was a great earthquake,” and an angel of the Lord rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

For centuries, the curious have always wanted to peer into the dark depths of death—but the tomb has been sealed with secrecy. The tomb has always mocked us. It has always stood as the “dead end” of all our efforts to see beyond this life into the life to come. But on the first Easter morning, the angel tells the two women to look inside the tomb, saying: “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matt. 28:5-6)

Easter rolls the stone door of the tomb away for us so that we might penetrate the mystery of death. Easter makes the tomb into a tunnel—a tunnel into the heart of the eternal; and it shows us that the holy heart of God is love and life. God rolls the door of the tomb away not to let Jesus out—but to let us in—to allow us to see that Christ’s promises are true.

Second, the tomb is not completely empty. Christ’s body is absent, but the place is filled with the words of the angel—the words that say: “He is not here; for he has been raised.” The words that continue on, saying: “Come, see the place where he lay. Then 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.’”  (Matt. 28:6-7)

If the women on that first Easter morning had looked into an empty and silent tomb, then our resurrection faith would be a belief based on human speculation, an assumption of the moment, an argument based on negative evidence. But no! Our faith is based on a word spoken to us by God. It is based on God’s holy promise, spoken by Christ before he died, and upon God’s holy assurance—spoken by the angel on the first Easter Sunday. That same word that echoed in that Easter tomb still fills the emptiness of our world today: “Christ is risen!”

The tomb has become a trumpet proclaiming the victory of life over death, and the continuation of Christ’s presence and mission in this world—first in Galilee, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.

The third detail is this: because of Easter, we can turn our backs on the grave. Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary—having heard the angel’s message—turned their backs on the grave and ran with “great joy” to tell the disciples.

Joy is the key word here. Christ was buried, but he wouldn’t stay dead! The tomb could not hold him. And because of him, the tomb cannot hold us, either. This indeed is what Jesus promised to us before he died, a promise that seemed—at the time—totally incredible. However, because of that first Easter morning, we know it was a matter of fact and substance.

The stone was rolled away from the tomb—not to let Jesus out, but to let us in!

The stone was rolled away from the tomb, to show us that death is not the end, but is rather a new beginning. A new beginning that proclaims the victory of life over death. A new beginning which allows us to turn our backs on the grave. A new beginning which calls us to embrace the future with faith and with hope. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen.