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 28:8-10
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the Easter angel "sat" (Mt. 28:2b) on the grave stone! You have to love that! The messenger was just sitting there waiting for the two Marys to show up. Pilate's tomb guards had already been knocked out with fear (Mt. 28:4).
Angels have quite a track record of telling human beings not to be afraid, and that's precisely what the Easter angel said to the ladies. Then the good news of the resurrection was shared, and they, the ladies, were on their way to tell of it.
We are told that they were afraid and joyful at the same time, so they couldn't quite follow the angel's declaration to the letter. But at least, now, there was joy intermingled with the fear.
Joy and fear are duking it out -- like emotional "Rock em', Sock em'" robots! Which emotion will gain the upper hand?
It's all interrupted by Jesus! He greets them; they fall to the ground in the posture of worship. Again, there comes an admonition to not be afraid. But this time it's from the mouth of Jesus. He didn't say to not be joyful; He said to to not be afraid. They can keep the joy!
God grant that we keep ours!
PD
No comments:
Post a Comment