Do Not Be Afraid
Listen to the Good News according to Matthew:
“After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 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. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 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.” 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 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
April 24, 2011
Psalm 46, Matthew 28:1-10, Do Not Be Afraid
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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Reading the story of Jesus in the Gospels, it is interesting to me that the beginning and the end of Jesus’ life involve a message, a body being wrapped and laid down in a cave, and then a commissioning.
In Luke chapter 2 we hear the words of the angel which are similar to the words of the angel in Matthew 28. Both angels begin by encouraging the shepherds and the women respectively not to be afraid. Proclaiming Jesus’ birth, “the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child.”
Luke 2:10-12; 16-17.
In Matthew 28:5-6a, the women who have gone to the tomb to more fully and finally anoint Jesus’ body for burial also have a close encounter with an angel. “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.”
On the night of Jesus’ birth and on the day of his resurrection, the heavenly message begins, “Do not be afraid.” It is good for us to remember this. Fear has become a marketable commodity. It is used to drive television and radio ratings. Some people constantly pander to other’s fears so they can make themselves rich. As Christians we are not to live in fear. If we have faith in a God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, then there is no need to fear. Psalm 46 which we heard earlier begins with the words, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.” Our faith gives us courage, assurance, and comfort in even the most challenging circumstances. God’s message to us given through the angels is, “Do not be afraid.” You can be sure that anyone who is encouraging us to fear is usually selling something or has a personal agenda they’re pushing. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “Keep your fears to yourself and share your courage with others.” That’s good advice.
The night he was born, the baby Jesus was wrapped in bands of cloth, and laid in a manger in a cave where there was a small measure of privacy and warmth for Mary and Joseph. The day he died, Jesus was also wrapped in cloths and placed in a cave, in a new tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. When Joseph arrived home that Friday night, he told his wife that he gave his tomb to someone. She got upset and said to him, “How could you do that? After all the time and money you spent building it. It was just finished and has never been used. What are we going to use now for our selves?” Joseph said, “Don’t worry, it’s only for the weekend.” s
As a baby, Jesus was picked up and held by his mother. On the day of his resurrection, Jesus was raised by his heavenly Father. At the beginning and the end of his life, the cave would not be the end of the story. That is helpful for us when we feel we’re stuck in a dark uncomfortable place in life, as Christians we remember, “If I’m in stuck in a cave, it’s not the end of the story.”
At Jesus’ birth and resurrection there were witnesses who were commissioned to share a message. The shepherds went quickly to tell Mary and Joseph all that the angel had reported about the baby. On the first Easter morning the women heard not only from an angel, they also were met by the risen Lord (The Gospel of Matthew 28:10), “Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
We too have a message to share with others about Jesus. A former Archbishop of Milan, Italy told the following story: “Many years ago outside the cathedral in Milan there were three teenagers and one of the three turned to the other two and said, ‘I dare you to go into the cathedral into the confession box and tell the priest a load of obscene things that will really shock him.’ So one of the two says, ‘I’ll go.’ The boy walks into the cathedral, goes into the confession box and the priest says, ‘What do you want to confess?’ He begins to tell him a lot of obscene, inappropriate things. The priest was not shocked, he just listened. When the young man had finished, the priest said to him, “I want you to walk out of the cathedral, walk down the steps, turn around and face the cathedral, look up high, and there you’ll see a crucifix, the figure of Jesus on a cross. I want you to point to the crucifix and say, ‘I don’t care.’ So he runs out of the cathedral, down the steps and bumps into his two friends. And his friends ask, ‘Did you shock him?’ ‘Yeah, I told him’
‘What did he say?’ ‘Well he told me to do something,’
‘What did he tell you to do?’ ‘I’ll do it now.’
He turns round, faces the cathedral, looks up, and there’s this huge crucifix, he points at the crucifix and says ‘I…’ and at that moment, something dawned on him. What was Jesus doing on the cross? Because he knew the story he thought, ‘Did he do it for me? He did it for me. What does it mean?’ He knelt to the ground in front of his two friends – now that took courage – he said, ‘Jesus did you do that for me, what does it mean? I want to know. I want to change.’ He got up transformed. The archbishop of Milan then said, ‘I know that that story is true, because I was the teenager.’
The message of God’s love in Jesus and the hope that is ours in his being raised from the dead is one we are to share because Jesus did what he did for us. When Jesus was being crucified, at perhaps the greatest moment in history people were playing games. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, there were soldiers down below, throwing dice, gambling to see who would win his robe. At the greatest moment in history, people were playing games. We don’t want to play games with Jesus. This is about our life here on earth and it’s about our destiny.
Think of your life like a car. To be a Christian means having Jesus in the car of your life. If he’s not in the car of your life then you’re not connected to Jesus. This morning if you think he’s not in your life, you can invite him into the car of your life. Now, I would imagine however for many of us here, Jesus is already in the car of our life, if that is the case let me ask some questions: If Jesus is in the car of your life where is he? Is he in the trunk? Do we drive our car to church, unlock the trunk, get Jesus out for religious happy hour and at the end you put Jesus back in the trunk. We may not want some other people to know that we’re a little bit of a Jesus follower.
Others are saying “No, he’s not in the trunk, he’s in the car.” Well where is he in the car? Is he on the back seat, in other words he’s a bit of a passenger in your life? Some of us would say no, he’s in the front, the front passenger seat, in other words he’s a companion, but he’s still a passenger.
Others are thinking, we know where your going with this – you’re going to ask, ‘Is Jesus in the drivers seat of the car of your life’, If you think Jesus is in the driving seat of the car of your life, here’s a question: Are you a back seat driver?
When you get to a crossroad, Jesus turns left, where are you going? I’m going down the road of forgiveness, I’m not going to forgive her!
The car gets to a rotary; Jesus turns right, where are you going? I’m going down the road of generosity; I don’t want to be generous!
Jesus will also take us down the road of suffering, which we don’t want to go down either, but it is a way which Jesus is well acquainted with because he’s been down it before. It’s easy to say that Jesus is in the driving seat of my life; however our attitudes and actions will reveal the truth of our claim.
We just spent ten weeks on the Ten Commandments in worship and we talked about how the 1st Commandment is about putting God first in your life.
Easter morning is a good time to ask ourselves if that is true. St Augustine said, ‘Christ is not valued at, all unless He be valued above all. Christ is not Lord at all unless He is Lord of all.’
Loving Jesus Christ gives us a greater capacity to love others.
To some people Jesus is nothing.
To others He is something.
Then there are those to whom Jesus is everything.
General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army, was asked the secret of his amazing Christian Life. William Booth answered, “I told Jesus that He could have all that there is of William Booth.” Can Jesus have all of you?
Will you put Him in the driving seat of the car of your life?
Many a false step is made by standing still. The women at the tomb who are told not to be afraid are also told, “go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” If we’re going to see Jesus, we need to take a step of faith.
Before returning to Hitler’s Germany Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in England and America. While in England he spoke these words in a sermon while a pastor in London. “No one has yet believed in God and the kingdom of God, no one has yet heard about the realm of the resurrected, and not been homesick from that hour, waiting and looking forward joyfully to being released from bodily existence.
Whether we are young or old makes no difference. What are twenty or thirty or forty years in the sight of God? And which of us knows how near he or she may already be to the goal? That life only really begins when it ends here on earth, that all that is here is only the prologue before the curtain goes up- that is for young and old alike to think about. Why are we so afraid when we think about death?…Death is only dreadful for those who live in dread and fear of it. Death is not wild and terrible, if only we can be still and hold fast to God’s Word. Death is not bitter, if we have not become bitter ourselves. Death is grace, the greatest gift of grace that God gives to people who believe in him. Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle, it beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize that it is the gateway to our homeland, the tabernacle of joy, the everlasting kingdom of peace. How do we know that dying is so dreadful? Who knows whether, in our human fear and anguish we are only shivering and shuddering at the most glorious, heavenly, blessed event in the world?
Death is hell and night and cold, if it is not transformed by our faith.
But that is just what is so marvelous, that we can transform death.”
Because Jesus has been raised we need not be afraid.
As we celebrate the joy of Easter, I hope we will remember the words of the angels who heralded Christ’s birth and his resurrection as well as the Lord himself, “Do not be afraid.” Instead of allowing fear to shape our worldview, I pray we will allow the hope and good news of Jesus Christ to be the force that shapes our view of life and death and the world in which we live. We are the shepherds and women of our time who are commissioned to go and tell others that Jesus has been born, he has been raised, death has been overcome and we need not live in fear of death or anything else.
Blessing: Do not be afraid. He has been raised. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.