Easter Sunday 2023 Matthew 28:1-10 (NIV)
Suddenly Jesus met them.
The women had looked into the place where they fully expected to see Jesus. They had looked into the dark place and found something very unexpected. I wonder what emotions had overwhelmed them as they looked to find the broken, beaten body of their beloved Jesus. I wonder what emotions overwhelmed them when they had not found him there. I wonder what emotions overwhelmed their thoughts as they turned to go tell the others. I’m not sure I can imagine.
Were they simply sad that Jesus wasn’t where they expected him to be? Somehow, I think there had to be more.
Confusion? He was there before. This is exactly where we left him. He should be there now. Fear? What if we can’t find him again? What if he is lost forever? What will we do if we cannot touch Jesus again?
Resolved? In John’s gospel, Mary continues at the tomb. Were they resolved to stay there until they found him again? He has to be here, we put him here. Here, right here!
The angels, those voices that we so often can’t quite hear or make out, maybe the whispers in the wind, tell them to go away and spread the news that Jesus has moved on from the tomb. I can almost hear that conversation.
“They are going to think we are crazy. They will never believe us. I’m not sure what to say to them.”
And as they walked away from what they thought they knew, suddenly Jesus met them.
And suddenly Jesus met them. And what does he say? The most repeated statement in the Bible. Don’t be afraid.
And they clasped his feet. The word in Greek means to hold fast or to take power over. Kind of a “you’re not getting away from me” hold.
And Jesus says don’t be afraid, you won’t lose me. Go and tell. You’ll see me in another place.
I have been on a faith journey for most of my life. And it seems that Jesus is always leading me somewhere else. Just when I think I've arrived, Jesus says go. I'm a lot like the disciples in that I don’t always get it. Too often I have gone my own way or try to do my own thing. But there is something I have always found. Even when I go to dark places, to places that house death, Jesus meets me there. Always!
For me this is what the resurrection story is all about. Even when life has taken a turn for the absolute worst, Jesus rises up and meets me there.
I am also very much like the women in this story. I want to grab ahold of Jesus and keep him right where I can find him. I don’t want him to move on. I want to gain some control over this Jesus that I have met and I don't want anything to change. I want it to stay the way it was. The way it has "always" been.
You remember the story of Nicodemus? Jesus tells him: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Life does not hold still for any of us. And fortunately neither does Jesus. Wherever we go, we can find Jesus. He says: “They will see me there.” But tell me, what does Jesus look like? We don’t know, do we? In John’s gospel, Mary mistakes him for the gardener. An ordinary laborer.
How will we know Jesus when he suddenly meets us along the way?
Recently, in one of the nursing homes, I was talking with a woman who said she didn’t recognize me at first because I was wearing a mask, but she knew my voice. Will we know his voice? That’s how Mary recognizes him in John’s gospel. He speaks her name and she knows him.
If we are to be people who benefit from the resurrection, then we must be people who recognize his voice. We must learn to listen for him. Perhaps in the birdsong outside your window or perhaps in the angry voices of people protesting on the street. One phrase in the hymn of St Patrick is Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. Will we know him when he meets us in others, in foreigners, in people we don’t like or agree with, or even in nature.
We are in frightening times. The well being of our churches is in question. Well being of our planet is in question. World peace is in question. Financial stability is in question. Will we know Jesus, when suddenly he meets us in those places. Will we trust him when he says go, and you will see me there? Or will we miss the resurrection story completely?
Wherever you are in your faith journey….fearful, doubting, confused, or even assured,Jesus will meet you there. And Jesus will remind you, if you will listen, the most repeated statement in scripture. Don’t be afraid. Go on and you will see me there.
Suddenly he met them,
Even as they walked away.
Their hearts within them so confused
By what the strangers had to say.
He is not here, not in the tomb,
There’s no reason for your tears.
He’s in your midst, at every turn,
Now go back and face your fears.
Then suddenly he met them,
And they knew the truth of love.
It raises up and finds us here,
In the Undying Heart of God.