Did you feel the earthquake? I was lying in bed thinking about how I wanted to talk about the earthquake in Matthew’s resurrection account when my bed started shaking violently. You can’t make up this stuff. Lying in the dark, I instantly realized I was experiencing an earthquake. Then my iPhone received an earthquake alarm, just in case I slept through the dramatic event. The next day my son Parker texted me from Texas asking if I felt it. The earthquake was table conversation at our soup supper on Maundy Thursday. Earthquakes are unifying events that almost everyone feels and the power of which cannot be denied. Maybe that is why Matthew starts the account of Jesus’ resurrection with an earthquake! The event itself and its consequences are literally seismic! Earlier in Matthew, when Jesus is hanging from the cross and the sky goes dark for three hours, there is an earthquake! (27:54). Now when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary arrive at the tomb, which had been secured with a Roman seal and guards posted, the earth quakes again. READ Matthew 28:1-10
There is an old, historic village in Salem, North Carolina. Every Easter morning, in the early hours of this day, thousands of people, many of them tourists who have come especially for this event, make their way towards the courtyard in front of a 200-year-old church, founded by the Moravians. Before daylight, five hundred members of various brass bands echo hymns from different parts of the city. Everyone converges on Salem Square to listen to the mystical-sounding music. As the first hint of the rising sun begins to soften the darkness, a hush falls over the vast throng of worshipers. When the church bell tolls at 6AM, the Bishop emerges from the church and announces in a loud, unwavering voice, “Christ is Risen!” And the crowd thunders back, “Christ is Risen indeed!” Then the band begins to play “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” and everyone joins in the signing there in front of the church.
Then, in total silence, they walk in faithful procession to “God’s Acre,” and ancient cemetery where all the graves, with their newly-polished gravestones, are covered with flowers. Even the oldest graves, some of them dating back 300 years, are decorated with forsythia, jonquils, tulips, azaleas- whatever happens to be blooming at the time. The service concludes there, with more singing and remembrance of those who have died since the previous Easter. There, in the awesome silence, with the beauty of the flowers all arounds, it’s as if the living are united with the dead in worship. A writer who witnessed the event said, ‘When you are in the midst of all this majesty and beauty, you cannot fail to believe in the resurrection.” (Sermons.com, Johnny Dean). That’s why we are here! To celebrate, to proclaim, to profess our belief in the resurrection of Jesus and by extension our new life in Christ. We too shout the call response and sign Alleluias in our hymns to unite with the centuries of Christians who anchor their faith in the resurrection of Christ.
Yet for the Marys and the Roman guards this first Easter morning was anything but a celebration. They endured an earthquake, saw a radiant angel who told them Jesus has been raised, and experience overwhelming fear. Remember, Matthew is the only gospel to have guards posted at the tomb. Guards sent by the chief priests who sealed the tomb so that no one could “steal the body” and say Jesus was raised. So when the angel appears and rolls away the stone, it breaks the seal, it defies Roman authority and the finality of death. Resurrection power.
Now the women simply wanted to see the tomb, visit their Lord. But instead, a message greets them. “First, they feel a message-a great earthquake, that shakes the foundations (unleashing the triumphant power of God.) Then, they see a message-quite literally” (Working Preacher, Rolf Jacobson). Angels are messengers from God so seeing the angel sitting on the stone is seeing the message of God. Finally, they hear a message: “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.” The angel’s words created fear and great joy for the women. A joy that was then magnified by seeing their risen Lor. At first, I wondered what Jesus’ one word greeting meant, “Greetings!” But it lost something in translation. Jesus greets them, “chairete,” meaning “All hail!” “Joy be to you!” “Be of good cheer!” Jesus meets Mary and Mary with joy, tremendous joy. In response, the women fall to Jesus’s feet and worship him. They have the privilege of worshipping their risen Lord. They worship him and we worship him today. May we worship Jesus with the same awe, the same devotion, and the same humbling surrender.
In Bible Study this week we read the Emmaus story where the disciples did not recognize Jesus initially, only after the breaking of the bread. So, I am keenly aware that these two women who were at the cross (27:55), who saw Jesus body laid in the tomb (27:61) recognize Jesus immediately and are the first to get to see the risen Lord. That Jesus chose Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to speak to, to comfort by letting them worship at his feet. Their devotion made them the first apostles to the apostles. Creating a chain of telling the miracle and wonder of Jesus having victory over death. And we are to continue their efforts, telling people about our risen Lord. As Acts reminds us, there is no partiality, only God’s power and inclusion. This summary of the faith calls us as believers to witness to God’s saving power in Jesus Christ. We do this because we are the message, we believe the resurrection message, so we share it. When we come to Christ’s table we eat with our risen Lord. You see when we break bread with Jesus, when we partake of communion, it is our Galilee, where we, like the first disciples, meet our risen Lord. Where the Easter morning promise comes true and we meet God’s Son. In communion, we see Jesus.
We can do this because of God’s amazing power. The Easter story is not over, it continues to this day through the Holy Spirit, through out devotion to Jesus, through God’s love for us, when we see Jesus in the breaking of the bread. “Christ’s resurrection means that the story of Jesus is “to be continued” in you, and in me, and in every life that is touched by the power of the good news that, “He is risen” (Working Preacher, Rolf Jacobson).
That’s the seismic resurrection message. God is unleashing power. Resurrection power. God did it on Easter morning raising Jesus from the dead, in the seismic earthquake, and the angel messenger. Because of God’s resurrection power, “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54; Isaiah 25:7-8) both for Jesus and for us.
That’s Easter power. Resurrection power. “God wants to resurrect us from whatever defeat is in our lives and then give us victorious death. God wants to resurrect us from a life of loneliness and gloom into one of meaning and joy. God wants to resurrect us from a life deadened by fear to a life enlivened by confidence” (Sermons.com, John H. Krahn).
I want to leave you with a new Easter symbol. Do you remember the flood story in Genesis, when God promised to never be angry with the people again and flood the earth? God made a covenant and sealed that promise with a rainbow. So that whenever it rained and a rainbow appeared it would remind God of this promise (Genesis 9:13-17). This Easter, I want us to think about earthquakes in a new way. Not only as powerful, scary, and potentially destructive events, but as a demonstration of God’s resurrection power. The seismic moment when the stone was rolled away and God’s Son was made alive. That when the earth shakes now it reminds you of the moment when Jesus was raised from the dead and you were freed from sin and granted eternal life. Yes, earthquakes can be scary. Yes, death can be scary. But not when we trust in God’s resurrection power. So the next time the earth shakes beneath your feet, I hope you stand firm in God’s resurrection power. Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!
