Take down the walls

Easter Sermon on Matthew 28:1-10

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! 

The very first Easter-morning was very quiet. Nothing indicated that this would be a turning point in history or even a glorious day. It did not feel like Easter. There were no Easter-eggs, not Easter bonnets, no family-dinners and first barbecuing. 

It was as unsettling and confusing and frightening as could be. This day after the big Pessach celebration in Jerusalem. When Jesus’ friends and family did not feel like celebrating at all. They were in shock, totally hopeless and very confused. 

They had believed in Jesus who had said to be the Son of God. They had traveled with him and seen him heal and restore people. And they had witnessed his horrible crucifixion. Which seemed to mark the end of his mission.

The friends hunkered down in their houses, hidden from their neighbors and mourned and grieved and cried their eyes out. Who had betrayed whom? 

Was Jesus just a charlatan? Or had God changed his mind? Or had they as friends not done enough to prevent Jesus from dying? 

The disciples were confused, not sure who to blame, not sure what to do. So, most of them just entered a kind of survival-mode, returned home to Galilee and made it numbly from day to day, eating what they had stocked up. They talked little, because there was little to talk about. They fully socially distanced themselves from anybody. They breathed and existed. They just wished to travel back in time and to undo what had happened. They just wanted to go back to normal.

Thank God, some women were brave enough to leave the house and to visit the tomb on the third day. Surely, they had no hope of entering the tomb to see Jesus’ body because of the guards posted there. The authorities had remained nervous even after Jesus was dead and buried and his disciples scattered. 

They had asked Pilate to make the tomb “secure,” so that Jesus’ disciples would not steal the body and try to claim that Jesus had risen (27:62-64). Pilate told them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can” (27:65). Literally, he said: Make it as secure as you know how. Perhaps Pilate said more than he realized. The guards sealed the tomb with a stone and stood watch to keep death in its place. 

So, what were the two Marys expecting, then, to see or to do? Simply to keep silent, mournful vigil? Or is it possible that Jesus’ words about rising from the dead on the third day gave them a glimmer of hope and that they wanted to see what would happen on this morning of the third day?

In any case, it is probably safe to say that they were not prepared for what did happen. 

Suddenly, there was an earthquake. The strong guards, posted in front of the tomb, clearly were not expecting this and fell to the earth as if they were dead. What an irony: the living become as the dead, while the dead are revealed to be living by an angel. 

It seems though that eventually, the guards woke up from their death-like state, because some went to tell the chief priests what had happened. The chief priests and elders, faced with their failure to “secure” the tomb from divine intervention, nevertheless tried to control the situation. They bribed the guards to say that Jesus’ disciples came while they were sleeping and stole his body (Matthew 28:11-15). 

Unlike the guards, the women didn’t faint. Instead, they saw an angel roll back the stone and heard him say: “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.”

Do not be afraid. Jesus is not here. He is raised. That’s, in short, the Easter message, Mary and Mary get to hear. They are invited by the angel to take a look inside to see for themselves. In a movie, this would be the moment to start yelling at the screen: Don’t go in there, it’s a trap! 

Well, this story is not a horror movie or a crime thriller. Easter is a story of trust and love and dedication. And it’s a story of physical distancing to be as close as can be.

Jesus, the Son of God, died at the cross, distancing himself in the greatest possible way from his friends and his family. Other Gods reign in glory, that’s what we kind of expect a God to do. Every God knows how to be glorious, that’s one of God’s main attributes. What’s so special about our God is that he chose to be nothing special. 

Our God became so human in Jesus Christ, that there was nothing to strip off. He didn’t just turn into a glorious king to beat his enemies the moment he was supposed to die. Our God stays until the very end and dies. He stays and eventually ends up on the Intensive Care Unit. He stays and suffers and dies. 

He is a silent hero, a stay-at-home hero. He saves lives by doing nothing else than staying calm. He stays and suffers and dies.

That’s the first reason why I believe in Jesus Christ. Because God knows what pain feels like. Because God knows what desperation feels like. Because God knows how it is to lose the best you have. Because God can truly say: Been there, done that. 

Easter is a story of physical distancing to be as close as can be. The resurrected Christ comes close to his friends. Yet, anytime they start to truly recognize him, he will be gone. Unlike Lazarus, Jesus was not just brought back to the life he left. His resurrection didn’t mean that life went “back to normal”. Back to before Good Friday. 

The resurrection of Christ did not undo death and pain and grief. No magic memory spell was cast so that the world would forget what had happened at the cross. (Lately, my kids are into Harry Potter, as you can tell.) 

The second reason why I believe in Jesus Christ, is because God didn’t get stuck in the pain. He stayed, he suffered, he died. And he lived. 

With the resurrected Christ began a new time. Introduced by two women who didn’t feel like Easter joy at all that day. Started by two women who believed and proclaimed that Jesus was risen. And that meant: They didn’t have to be driven by fear anymore. They didn’t have to hide anymore, ashamed of having followed a God who couldn’t even save himself. 

The Son of God had not lied to them. God had not abandoned them. God may die at a cross, But he will not be limited by stone-walls.

Take that, you authorities and people who build walls to make sure that death stays where it is.

Don’t be afraid, said the angel to Mary and Mary. Don’t be afraid, told Jesus them. Don’t be afraid. Because the tomb is empty. The guards worked in vain. There was nothing to guard. Because you cannot lock God away.

That’s the Easter message I personally need the most right now. Because I am afraid of so many things. Of real things like loved ones dying without somebody by their side, because no one is allowed to be with them. I am worried about people grieving alone, without any hugs. I am afraid of what the world will look like in a couple of months. When we will be back to normal, and it will be a new normal we cannot anticipate right now. 

This year, I didn’t feel like Easter. Baking and cooking and coloring eggs helped a little bit, but this joyful, happy, truly excited feeling I usually have before Easter, that didn’t come. Until this morning. Just like Mary and Mary I am torn between awe over our new reality and joy over Christ’s resurrection. 

And all I have right now are Jesus’ words: Don’t be afraid. The tomb is empty. You are guarding human fears. But God is alive and out in the world. Tell everyone. Because things become real when we say them. Or shout them. Or cry them. Or whisper them. Or sing them.

Just like that song from “The King and I” where Anna sings: 

Whenever I feel afraid
I hold my head erect
And whistle a happy tune
So no one will suspect
I'm afraid.
While shivering in my shoes
I strike a careless pose
And whistle a happy tune
And no one ever knows
I'm afraid.

That’s how I picture Mary and Mary walking towards Galilee. Singing the truth, they just learned. Against all likelihood and fear. To not be afraid. Because Christ is risen. A truth they have no idea where it will lead them or how people will hear it or if anyone will believe them. A truth they heard on a day that did not feel like Easter at all. And yet, it was truly Easter. Because Christ is risen. Amen.