Lectionary Readings: Year A, The Resurrection of Christ

There’s an optical illusion titled My Wife and My Mother In Law. You know, you look at it one way, and you see an old woman with a hat and a head scarf, but you look at it another way, and you see a young woman with her hair up, looking away. The first time you saw it, you might have wondered how on earth the other people cannot see what you see, and vice versa. It’s a mystery that needs solving, and that is exciting. But when suddenly it becomes clear to you, then you can no longer look at that picture the same way, because now you see it both ways – as an old woman and a young woman. And the next time you see this image, you effortlessly switch between both viewpoints. Because the mystery is gone, and the excitement for figuring out this mystery has faded. 

This is often what we contend with when we come to this story of Jesus coming back to life. Every single one of us has heard the story – some of us probably hundreds of times. We know what’s going to happen by the end of the story, so we don’t think about it much anymore. The mystery has faded, and the excitement at the mystery of the incarnation – the death and resurrection – seems to have dried up as well.

Because of this, it’s hard to put ourselves into the minds of these women in the Gospel – the two Marys. They had come to see the tomb, and when they got there, there was a mighty earthquake, and an angel of God came down from heaven, rolled back the stone, and sat on it. The angel’s appearance was like lightning, and his clothing shone like sunlight on fresh snow. There were two guards stationed outside the tomb, because the leaders of the people feared that Jesus’ followers would steal Jesus’ body. And what did those two guards do when they saw the angel? They fainted. 

That’s what it means when it says that the “guards shook and became like dead men.” They fainted. Two men, two soldiers, set to protect the tomb of a dead man shook like the earth did, and passed out from so much fear. 

But these women didn’t. Obviously they were afraid, but at least they didn’t faint. And because of their fear, the angel turns to them and says, “Do not be afraid.”

Now, look, today I’m dressed all in white. My clothes may not be shining like lightning, but I’m wearing all white. I may not be as big as the angel, and I probably couldn’t move a huge stone that weighed two to four thousand pounds all by myself. But I’m wearing all white, so it’s kind of the same, right? If all of a sudden aliens started dropping from the sky in beams of light and lifting heavy dump trucks and cars over their heads, everyone in here would probably be scared out of our wits. And imagine if one of these alien creatures came through the front door, carrying a Volkswagen Beetle under its arm with the intent to smash things up. And now imagine if I – remember, I’m dressed all in white today – if I said to you in a calm voice, “Don’t be afraid.” 

I bet every single one of you would say, “Yeah, whatever dude. I’m out of here.” Because why would you trust a guy who is just as small a creature as you are when compared to an alien carrying a VW Bug under its arm?

The messenger is as important as the message. And so when the angel of God sees that these two women are scared, he tells them, “Do not be afraid.” And since the message comes from someone like him – huge, clothes shining like sunlight on fresh snow – it’s a bit easier to accept. Then the angel takes them over to the tomb that no longer has this massive stone in front of it, and he says, “I know you’re looking for Jesus, the one who was crucified. He is not here, because he’s been raised from the dead, just as he said. Go, quickly, and tell his disciples that he’s going to meet them all in Galilee.”

Sometimes, it seems when we are trying to help people dealing with difficult times, we are unable to calm their fears, or help them to see any hope for the future. And that’s because they cannot see how we are any different from who they are. How are we going to be able to help them deal with the insurmountable odds that they are facing? How are our thoughts and prayers going to help them deal with the fear they are facing? How can we – small and miniscule people – stand up to the giant, the monster fear that they are facing? The way they see it, we can’t. Because more often than not, the messenger is as important as the message.

So when these women hear the message – from the angel – that Jesus is alive, they are stricken with a sense of urgency. Can this really be true? Can Jesus really be alive? He must be. We saw the stone rolled in front of the tomb after he died, and we saw this angel move the stone and show us the empty tomb. It must be so! It has to be!

And so, we are told, “They left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”

I’ve wondered about that phrase: “With fear and great joy.” I can understand the joy at the possibility that their friend, their teacher, had risen from the dead. And an angel had told them not to be afraid. Why would it be fear and great joy?

Twenty five years ago, I was working in the Qwest Plaza building in Seattle – now part of Centurylink. My offices were in the second sub-basement, and a group of us decided to go out for lunch that day. We had just stepped out of the elevator and taken maybe ten steps into the entrance hall when I heard a loud noise that sounded like a semi truck compression braking down a long mountain road. Everyone stopped walking, and we all looked around, trying to solve the mystery. Then someone yelled, “Earthquake.” And immediately, I yelled out, “Everyone to the doors. Get cover.” And it’s amazing how many people listened to what I said at that moment, because every one of us was somewhere where we had cover if this thirty-two story building should come down on our heads. 

It’s amazing what goes through your head during something like this. You have multiple streams of thought all going on simultaneously, and one of my thoughts was, “Maybe standing here in the doorways wasn’t such a smart idea. What if all the windows explode? We could all be seriously injured.” But the other thought that was going through my head was sheer awe at what was happening. I was transfixed – mesmerized – as I looked out the window, and saw the sidewalk across the street undulating like ripples in a pond when you throw a pebble into it.

And then it was all over. And the news reports came in. The Nisqually Quake, as they called it, was 6.8 on the Richter scale, and when all was said and done, had caused over a billion dollars worth of damage. But here we all were, after the earthquake was over, standing safe and sound. And the only thing that I can really remember is that I was overjoyed, first for being alive, and second for the amazing thing that I had witnessed as I stared out that window during the quake. That’s the closest I can come to thinking what these women might have experienced. An enormous earthquake, and they are alive. An angel from heaven, shining bright, and telling them that Jesus is alive. Can that really be true? Amazing if it is! Let’s go tell everyone what we have seen. That, I think, is fear, and great joy.

And so, back to the Gospel, as these women are running to tell the other disciples, Jesus himself appears in front of them, and says, “Hey hello!” This word that Jesus used can mean “greetings,” or “be glad,” or even more appropriate to the day, it can mean “rejoice!” And the women instantly recognize Jesus, and they fall down at his feet and they worship him. They worship him, and they rejoice. And, oddly enough, Jesus, too, tells these women, “Do not be afraid.”

Sometimes, the messenger is the message. Jesus, the one who had suffered at the hands of his enemies, has been made whole. Jesus, the one who had been crucified, is risen from the dead. Jesus, the one who had died is now alive. And Jesus is telling them, “Do not be afraid.” And they fall down and worship him because they are in awe at the fact that Jesus, the one who was crucified, is alive and standing before them. What Jesus said would happen has come to pass. The fear they experienced carries the deep respect that comes from being in awe at someone’s power and majesty. They had seen the mighty works in the earthquake, and had seen the angel move the stone aside. And now Jesus, raised from the dead stands before them. They are afraid, they are overjoyed, and they are also comforted.

I can stand here and tell you not to be afraid, but you might still be afraid – because in some situations, I am just as powerless as you. But when Jesus says these words, they carry a whole lot more weight. Because it is in the power and majesty that Jesus’ words not to be afraid actually do carry some meaning. Jesus can command the heavens and earth to move, Jesus can cause the earth to rumble and shake, and Jesus can have angels do his bidding. Jesus, in all his power, would be an unstoppable force, someone to be truly feared. But instead of flexing his muscles, Jesus says to these women, “Do not be afraid.” And since it comes from him, it is also comforting.

The Scottish pastor, Oswald Chambers, said, “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

And this is what those women experienced. They had seen the mighty power of God, and they were in awe of Jesus. And at his words, they were comforted. And in that comfort, they feared nothing else. Jesus was alive – and in their awe of him, they too were made to be full of life. 

Why? Because when you are not afraid, that is when your life begins to fill with peace. And it is in this peace that you find that life can be an abundant source of joy – not just for you, but everyone around you too. It is an abundant life.

We may have heard this story of Jesus’ resurrection a hundred times, and so the mystery and the majesty of this story often fails to move us. We may have heard the story so many times that we no longer think about what it means to have an abundant life. Maybe we no longer think about this story, because rather than fearing God, we fear everything else.

But you see, it is when this story reinvigorates a sense of mystery in us, and when we stand in awe of God, that Jesus rises from the dead again and again. Because he comes to life in each of us, and raises us up to live a new and abundant life in him.

And so, on this Easter morning, I pray: May you fear God so much, that you fear nothing else at all. And that this absence of fear brings you peace and joy, and newness of life.

[This sermon was delivered at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Wickenburg, AZ on April 5, 2026.]