The Natural History Museum in London used to have an earthquake simulator. You’d stand in the middle of a pretend Japanese supermarket and the floor would move, literally, under your feet. You’d get jolted back and forth. It always felt a little bit tame – I suspect they didn’t want anyone to hurt themselves and sue them – and I imagine the real thing would be a lot more frightening. When there’s a real earthquake, nothing is the same again. The tectonic plates beneath our feet will be in a different position to how they were before. Sometimes a whole new island or set of islands might be produced, as happened off Pakistan’s coast in 2013. Sometimes there are landslides or avalanches. Sometimes great buildings fall to the ground and whole cities are razed.
The resurrection was a seismic, world-changing event.
• According to the original Greek in Matthew’s Gospel, the earth quaked or shook when Jesus was born and the magi came to ask “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” King Herod, especially, was disturbed. It was a political earthquake, shaking up the status quo.
• And then the same word, from which we get our word ‘seismic’, was used when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the cheers of many, and all Jerusalem asked “Who is this man?”
• And then the earth quaked again when Jesus died on the cross and the curtain in the Temple that separated God from people split in two.
• And then, here on the first Easter day, when Jesus came back to life and the tomb was opened we read that there was a “violent earthquake” (v.2). Not only that, when it says that the guards were ‘shaken’ the same word is used. It was a ‘manquake’. The worldwas being shaken up… turned upside down by the invasion of God’s kingdom.
The resurrection signalled the start of a new age. There is a lot of apocalyptic imagery over the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday – rocks being split in two, the dead being raised, the earthquake, the angel like lightning – to those who experienced it, it must have felt like the end of the world. We know it wasn’t the end, but it was certainly the beginning of the end, the start of a new era – as the world was invaded by God’s Kingdom; as God’s victory over evil began to reverberate through the powers and principalities.
As this new era takes hold, we see four big shifts in Matthew 28:
1. Fear > Peace (vv.5-9)
The first shift is from fear to peace.
The women, understandably, are afraid. They come expecting to anoint a corpse, and there’s an earthquake, an angel and an empty tomb! They don’t understand what’s going on.
But the angel echoes the words of God throughout scripture: “Do not be afraid!” The angel then says twice, to really let it sink in: “He is not here, he has risen.” The angel shows them where Jesus laid, explains that this was all part of the plan – and sends them off to meet the risen Jesus. As they go to the disciples, Jesus meets with them, and again we hear those words: “Do not be afraid!”
Their fear is quelled by the presence of the living Jesus… just as it was when they were caught up in the storm on the lake, and Jesus walked out to meet them. Peace is not the absence of storms, it is the presence of God, the presence of Jesus in the midst of the storm. We need to hear this in the current situation!
So the disciples hold on to Jesus, they clasp at His feet. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says to the disciples twice “Peace be with you!” and he goes on to say, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” In Matthew’s Gospel, those words of peace aren’t recorded, but Jesus goes on to finish the entire Gospel with a definitive assurance, an assurance that echoes down the halls of history: “Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.”
The good news of the resurrection is that Jesus is alive. Jesus isn’t dead. We need to let those words of the angel sink deeply into our hearts: “He is not here, He has risen.” He isn’t confined to history like other great religious leaders. Jesus is alive and active – both in heaven and on earth. In heaven, Jesus prays for us at the Father’s right hand. And on earth, Jesus is with us through the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t leave us on our own. Jesus is here with you right now. So bring your fears to Jesus. Hold on to Him, and to let the presence of the living Christ embrace you and bring you peace.
2. Disciples > Brothers (vv.7, 10)
The second shift is one that’s easily overlooked. Almost entirely through Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ followers are called “disciples”. Even in Matthew 28, the angel tells the two Marys to “Go and tell his disciples” that Jesus is alive. But when Jesus appears, he refers to his disciples in a new way. He refers to them as “brothers”. It’s a subtle, but profound shift. The disciples are no longer just apprentices, they’re family. Why? Because through Jesus’ death on the cross, because of the forgiveness they have been shown, they have been adopted as God’s sons and daughters. They are brothers and sisters with Jesus Himself.
This was God’s plan all along. The good news of God is not just that we are forgiven of our sins. The forgiveness of Good Friday is the means to the end, not the end in itself. The end is the new creation, which started on Easter Sunday. And at the centre of the new creation is a new family. God’s people, welcomed back into a relationship with the Father; God’s people shining like stars with the light of Jesus in a dark and broken world; God’s people filled with, and empowered by, the Holy Spirit. God’s people as the new Temple, the place where heaven and earth meet. As family, we join the family business – which leads us to our third shift:
3. Worship > Mission (vv.9-10; 17-20)
There are three commands to ‘go’ in Matthew 28. The angel tells the two Marys “Go quickly and tell his disciples.” When Jesus appears to the brothers, they grab on to Jesus and worship Him, but Jesus says “Go and tell my brothers in Galilee!” And when the eleven go to Galilee, they worship but Jesus says, “Therefore go…”
This amazing news is not just for them, it’s not just for us – it’s for all people. And so the risen Jesus says to you and to me: “Go!” There’s work to be done.
This too was always a part of God’s plan. Resurrection and mission go together. In Isaiah 52:13, at the start of one of the Servant songs that looked ahead to Jesus, to His death and resurrection, 700 years in advance, we read “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.” And then after the song, in Isaiah 54, we read the results of Jesus’ suffering and exaltation:
“Sing…burst into song, shout for joy… Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left… Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth… For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer”
This is amazing news, news that wasn’t just for the first disciples, or for Israel, or even for us – but for the whole earth. So our worship can’t stay confined to the walls of the church. We can’t just spend our lives cocooned from the world at the feet of Jesus. It might be pure coincidence that the resurrection does not happen on the Sabbath, on the holy day, on the day of worship and rest. Resurrection happens on what was the first day of the week, a working day. So resurrection is not just for Sunday mornings in church. Resurrection is for our frontlines, for the stress and the anxiety, the busyness and the activity – the ordinary, everydayness of life.
Jesus isn’t confined, Jesus isn’t cocooned in our church buildings or services. Jesus’ heart is passionately for the world – for bringing resurrection hope to broken people. So, if we want to be faithful to Jesus, if we want to be where He is, we have to go with Him. We have to go, sharing the good news in word and deed.
The promise “I am with you always” is connected to the “Therefore go”. It’s in going, that we encounter the fullness of the presence of Jesus. Yes, we need time to rest, time to be at Jesus’ feet, quiet time to pray and reflect, time to receive from God. But we also, just as crucially, need time to go, to serve, to give, to bless – to be Jesus’ hands and feet. It’s not either/or. It’s not that some of us are reflectors and some of us activists. We need to both receive and give – and sometimes, paradoxically, it’s in the giving that we receive most.
We need to let Jesus change us – we need that seismic shift – from having hard hearts and soft feet, to having soft hearts and hard feet. We need to let worship lead us into mission.
4. Grief > Joy (v.8)
Lastly, there is one more shift in Matthew 28. The two Marys arrived at the tomb to anoint a corpse. They were sad, they were broken, they were grieving, but by the time they leave the tomb they are full of joy that Jesus is alive. That joy doesn’t go away. It spreads – even more infectiously than coronavirus. Through the book of Acts, we see joy as people come to faith. We see joy as the disciples – the brothers and sisters – carry on Jesus’ work in the face of opposition. Paul, despite facing horrendous physical and emotional hardship, is full of joy – calling for rejoicing, even whilst in chains.
Easter is a time of joy; we should be people of joy. Because Jesus is alive! God’s new creation is breaking in. I’ve left this point to last, because I think joy is crucial to mission.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not inclined to make a big purchase – whether a house or a car or an appliance – from a sales person who’s not enthusiastic and upbeat about their product. Jesus is not a product to sell, but there is something of an analogy. I have a theory that one of the biggest differences between many growing churches and declining churches is joy. Churches that are constantly lamenting decline, and changes in the church and society, will continue to decline. Because who wants to join a community like that? Whereas churches that are full of the joy of the Lord, churches that are full of resurrection hope and good news, churches that are willing to change and embrace the future that God has in store – will grow and flourish. Why? Because the world is crying out for joy and hope. They’ll look at us and say, “I want what they’ve got.”
It’s a bit like the film Sister Act. Whoopi Goldberg comes in to the convent as part of a witness protection programme: she’s a lapsed catholic, a bit of a mess. But God uses her to bring joy to that community – transforming it from an inward looking community in decline, to an outward community of joy and hope and transformation.
We can’t manufacture joy – but we can receive it by living faithfully, day by day, for Jesus Christ. By trusting in Him – and Him alone. Jesus will turn our fear into peace; our discipleship into brotherhood; our worship into mission; our grief into joy… and it will change us, seismically! We will never be the same again. And hopefully that change will overflow into this community. In Acts chapter 17, Paul and Silas are accused of ‘turning the world upside down’ as they proclaimed the good news about King Jesus. My prayer is that the same will be said of us. We will turn the world upside down, as death become life; as lives are touched and transformed by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Amen
