Freedom from Fear
Matthew 28:1-10

What do you fear the most? I suspect it is a little different for each of us. Some people fear the present. One of the phenomena associated with 24/7 cable television and smart phones is that people are instantly and constantly aware of what is happening all around the world. The knowledge of good and evil has bred insecurity and fear.
I compiled a list of the things that I am aware of which make me uneasy: high inflation, possible economic recession, the weakness in our banking system, millions of people flooding into our nation from the southern border, tens of thousands dying of fentanyl poisoning, rising crime and homelessness in our cities, mass shootings, pervasive mental illness, widespread addiction, profound confusion about the most basic traits of human identity, secularization, “woke” ideology, corruption at all levels of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, political and cultural polarization, racial hatred, biased media, social media, radicalized institutions of higher learning and suspect public school curriculum, violent entertainment, the declension of Christianity, natural disasters, dangerous viruses, the rise of artificially intelligent and increasingly autonomous machines, the evil axis of China/North Korea, Russia, and Iran, the South American, Central American, and Mexican Drug Cartels, and the possibility of a third world war. It is a disconcerting list. These are all legitimate causes for concern or fear in the present.
Other people fear the future: a health crisis (heart attack, stroke, cancer, or debilitating illness), dementia, financial insecurity, a car accident or a fall, the bad choices of our children or grandchildren. Again, these are all legitimate causes for fear.
Finally, some people fear the past. Perhaps you were a victim of physical, emotional, or even sexual abuse, and the memories still haunt you. Perhaps there are other experiences that impinge upon your psyche, losses you cannot come to terms with like a death or a divorce or a tragedy. Perhaps the past you fear is the result of personal moral failings: sinning against God, your family, a friend, your business partner, or your neighbor. Fear, whether it is of things past, present, or future is a universal human experience.
There was a lot of fear on Easter Sunday morning. The guards at the tomb experienced debilitating fear. They were men who were accustomed to danger, but when the earth shook and an angel descended from heaven, whose “appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow,” when the angel rolled the stone away from the entrance of the tomb, the guards shook with fear and became catatonic. They were literally paralyzed with fear. The women, Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary, must have been afraid too. It was barely daybreak. They were in a graveyard. Soldiers were sprawled all over the ground. They too experienced the earthquake, the angel’s descent, appearance, and mighty act. They must have been afraid.
The first thing the angel says on Easter morning is “Do not be afraid.” After greeting the two women, the first thing Jesus says to them is “Do not be afraid.” The message of Easter morning is intended to free us from fear: fear of the past, fear of the present, and fear of the future.
Consider first the context of the angel’s message. The tomb was empty. The body was gone. The tombs of the leaders of the world’s religions are still occupied. The patriarchs of Judaism are still buried. Mohammed is still entombed. Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, is still in the grave. You can visit their tombs to this day. But Jesus’ body was not there. Something completely out of the ordinary had occurred. Something new was afoot in the world.
Next consider the proclamation of the angel. “He has been raised from the dead.” His tortured and crucified physical body was transformed into a glorious spiritual body. The women had witnessed Jesus’ sinless life, his divine teaching, his miraculous works, his atoning death, but Jesus’ resurrection was something completely beyond human experience. His resurrection confirmed the truth of all that he claimed. He was the Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the Savior of the world. Jesus’ resurrection is the critical event that dispels our doubts and fears. Jesus Christ overcame death and lives forever. This gives us hope and courage to confront the fears we face. What is the worst that can happen? The worst that can happen is the realization of all our fears about the past, the present, or the future. Our fears end in suffering, chaos, and death, but Jesus has overcome the worst the world can do. He conquered suffering, sin, and death. These have lost their sting for us.
Furthermore, Jesus is going ahead of us to Galilee; there we will see him. Galilee represents all that we fear: the chaotic present, the uncontrollable future, and the haunting past. The promise of the angel is immediately confirmed to the two women. Suddenly, Jesus meets them. They see him. The disciples would have the same experience later that day. Whatever fear the past, the present, or the future holds over us, these events and the message of Easter trump them all. The tomb is empty. Jesus is risen. He goes before us in life. We will see him. We can go to Galilee.
A second and related reason to cast off our fears is the veracity of the angel’s message. The truthfulness of the message is all important. What separates Christianity from all other religions is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul understood the critical importance of the resurrection and wrote, ‘If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain, and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:12-18). Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection.
The resurrection proves that all of Jesus’ claims about himself are true. He really was and is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the Savior of the world. These things actually happened in time, space, and history. As Matthew Arnold, a nineteenth- century English scholar, famously said, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best attested fact in history.” Sir Edward Clark, a famous nineteenth-century British lawyer, said of the resurrection, “As a lawyer I have made a prolonged study of the evidence for the first Easter. To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling. As a lawyer I accept it unreservedly as the testimony of men to facts that they were able to substantiate.” Josh McDowell is an American lawyer who set out to disprove the truth of the resurrection. He spent countless hours examining the proofs for the resurrection. In the end, he became convinced by the evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead! McDowell became a disciple of Jesus Christ and wrote an important book entitled Evidence That Demands a Verdict. In the empty tomb we see the surety of our faith. Our faith is not in vain. We do not misrepresent God. Our faith is not futile. We are not still in our sins. The Christian dead have not perished. We are not to be pitied. The events and message of Easter can free us from fear because they are true.
Finally, the events of Easter are powerful and empowering. Unlike the guards who collapsed in a catatonic state, the women retained their wits. Not only that, but they obeyed the angel’s four commands. They came, they saw, they went, and they told. Did they do it perfectly? No. They were filled with joy, but they were also filled with fear. Yet they had the courage to act. They might have collapsed or fled in terror, but they did not. The guards did not receive the angel’s message, but the women did. The message gave them power to overcome their fear and to head for Galilee. The Easter events and message can give us the power to cope with our fears and face an uncertain future.
What do you fear the most? Do you fear the present? Do you fear the future? Do you fear the past? Most Christians do not fear death because of Jesus’ sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. We have the assurance of forgiveness and the promise of heaven, a dwelling place in the Father’s house with Jesus. We do fear dying, especially a slow or painful death, and I suppose that is why the present, past, and future still have power over us, but Jesus’ message to us is “Do not be afraid.”
The message of Easter is true. The tomb is empty. Jesus is raised from the dead. Jesus goes before us into the Galilees of our lives. There we will see him. The message of Easter is powerful. It transformed ordinary women. It transformed ordinary men. Together, they turned the world upside down with the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Easter message can transform us too. In the risen Christ, the hopes and fears of all the years are met with unshakeable courage.
Do not be afraid. The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! He goes before us into Galilee. Alleluia! Amen!