Matthew 28:1-10

Easter Day | April 09, 2023 | Matthew 28.1-10 | Richard O. Johnson |

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 worshiped 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) 

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Yes, in a world that sometimes seems to offer nothing but tragedy—war, prejudice, violence, natural disaster—He is risen indeed!  That is the good news of this day—that Christ breaks free from all that would bind him.

This theme is wonderfully told in Matthew’s gospel. Let us go back just a few verses and see what Matthew tells us about the tomb of Jesus. First, we hear about Joseph of Arimathea, who is, Matthew says, a disciple of Jesus. He gets Pilate to give him Jesus’ body, and he places it in his own tomb. Then Joseph rolls “a great stone to the door of the tomb.” Joseph is trying to see that the body of the dead Savior is kept secure. After all that has happened, he fears that enemies will come and desecrate the grave.

But the authorities are afraid, as well. The Pharisees go to Pilate out of concern that Jesus’ followers might steal the body and claim he has been raised from the dead. At their request, Pilate has the tomb sealed, andhe  posts guards to ensure that there is no funny business.

Of course, it is all for naught. Christ breaks free! As Charles Wesley’s great Easter hymn puts it:

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; 

Christ has burst the gates of hell. 

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal

Then Matthew very methodically tells how all the human precautions are indeed vain!  First, the seal is broken and the stone is rolled away. Then the guards are struck down. And the tomb itself is empty! Nothing keeps him in, nothing! Christ breaks free!

And it happens in our world, again and again! Sometimes those who try to keep Christ imprisoned are his enemies. George H. W. Bush, when he was Vice President, witnessed what he called the “most profound act of civil disobedience.” He was attending the funeral of Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev. The funeral was long and dreary, as almost everything about the Soviet system seemed to be. Brezhnev’s widow stood throughout the ceremony, betraying no emotion whatsoever as the Soviet ritual droned on. But when the soldiers moved in to close the casket, Mrs. Brezhnev stepped forward; and there, in the presence of the high priests of atheism, in that society officially hostile to all religion, Mrs. Brezhnev leaned over and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest. Vain the stone, the watch, the seal! Christ breaks free!

Sometimes it is Christ’s friends who try to hold him down. Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple, with the best of intentions, is the one who placed the stone in front of the grave—the stone on which the angel now so casually sits! Ah, the friends of Jesus too often try to hold him down! Perhaps the most common example is our tendency to keep our faith a private thing, to insist that what really matters is our own personal religious experience.

But Christ will not be kept down! There is a wonderful story about a monk who one day in the chapel was having an incredible experience of Christ. Christ was so real to him that day, so utterly present! The monk longed to stay there and enjoy the presence of his Lord. But he remembered that his job that day was to go into the town and serve the homeless and the destitute. So he left the chapel to do his service. When he returned that evening to the chapel for evening prayer, he found Christ waiting for him. “Had you stayed,” the Lord said, “I would have gone. Because you went, I have stayed.”

Christ breaks free!

We see much the same idea in Matthew’s account of the women. The angel instructs them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus has been raised. They might have lingered at the tomb; if I encountered an angel, I think I would love to linger! But they go running to do the task they’ve been given—and Jesus, says Matthew, met them on the way. You see, we so often try to hold him back! We try to keep him in—to lock the doors of the church and keep him here! But he breaks free! He meets us, not here in this building, but in life, in the needs of those around us, in the tears and sorrows of the world. That is where he will be, and where he asks us to find him. Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!

Now of course Christ’s breaking free goes far beyond a tomb in Jerusalem twenty centuries ago. The seal was broken, the stone rolled away back then; but he is yet today rolling away the stones that pervade our lives, the stones that try to keep us in, the stones of despair and hopelessness, of fear and anxiety, the stones of hatred and resentment.

Gail Zimmerman’s life fell apart when she got a call one winter morning saying that her mother had been struck by a pick-up truck, driven by a seventeen-year-old high school senior named Christine. The police investigation indicated the girl was not really at fault; she had simply turned a corner and been blinded by the sun, and in that instant failed to see the pedestrian. For months Gail felt resentment and anger. She hated that this girl could go on with her life, while her own children would not remember their grandmother. Then one day she chanced to see Christine in the park, and the expression on her face made it clear that “going on with her life” was not really what was happening at all. The girl felt terribly responsible and guilt-ridden, even months later; and when Christine cautiously approached Gail and asked how she was doing, Gail took a deep breath and suddenly saw what life looked like right now from Christine’s eyes. Gail asked her if she’d like to come to lunch one day and talk. And slowly, out of so much pain, grew a deep and lasting friendship. Christ breaking free—rolling away the stone of resentment and anger.

Rolling away the stone

When the Berlin Wall was first erected, tensions were high between East and West. Adding insult to injury, the East German authorities one morning brought truckloads of garbage to the wall and threw it over into the West. The West Berliners were outraged, and much talk occurred about how to respond. But Mayor Willi Brandt had the perfect answer, and it is what happened. The West Berliners gathered together all the flowers and fragrant greenery they could find, brought them to an appointed place beside the wall, and threw them over on to the Eastern side. A huge banner was erected: “Each gives what it has!” The East German communist government had thrown garbage; the West German people threw back flowers. Christ breaking free—rolling away the stone of hostility and division!

And what are the stones in your life that need to be moved, the stones that would keep you in the darkness and despair of the tomb? Fear? Sorrow? Prejudice? Self-doubt? Anger? Nothing can keep Christ from rolling those stones away and breaking free. Vain the stone, the watch, the seal! On this Easter morning, the glad news is that Christ has broken free, and he wants to meet you! He offers to release you from what binds you, to free you from your prison. There was nothing and is nothing that could contain him; and with him, there is nothing that can contain you. Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!—not just for him, but for you. For Christ is alive!

Look, now he stands!   

Stones could not hold him down for long; 

The Risen One is made upright and moves again. 

He speaks, he is God’s wish of life raised up for all: 

Our Lord Christ lives in resurrection strength made strong. 

This broken world  

is touched by Christ; oh, rise and live, 

Creation, rise. Your Lord is risen indeed! 

He shapes all things, transforming them;  

he makes them new:  

He blesses all existence in the living God. 

[George Utech, Lutheran Book of Worship #152]

May he bless you this day and roll away the stones that keep you from life and joy. For Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

—

Pastor Richard O. Johnson

Webster, NY