It’s amazing what a brief description we’re given of such a world changing event, isn’t it? Here’s Jesus Christ, the Son of God, coming back to life after being crucified by the Jewish and Roman authorities and all we get are three verses of terse almost bare boned narrative. There was an earthquake, an angel of the Lord came and rolled the stone away and sat on it. That’s a nice touch, isn’t it? And the guards were frozen with fear. That’s it. No razzmatazz. No superlatives. Just the simple facts. You can tell Hollywood had nothing to do with it!
So why are we given such little detail? Is it perhaps that the spectacle wasn’t the point? The real point was that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. The gospel writers all tell us that the tomb was empty; that Jesus was no longer there; that Jesus is alive. Here is the great significance of this day that’s the central festival of the Christian year. We worship a risen saviour. He’s alive.
But then if that were all there were to it the gospel would have stopped there. In fact the gospels may never have been written. Nor would the rest of the New Testament. But do you see what happens straight away?
The women have arrived. The angel has come down and frightened the living daylights out of these tough Roman guards; and then the angel says to the women, "Don’t be afraid. I know why you’re here. Jesus isn’t here any more. Just have a look in the tomb. It’s empty. Now I’ve got a job for you."
It doesn’t take long for Jesus followers to be given a job does it? And notice what that job is: "Go quickly and tell his disciples, ’He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’" And off they go. But as they’re hurrying back to tell the disciples this exciting news, who do they meet but Jesus himself. "Greetings" he says. Can you imagine how they were feeling? They may have wondered whether the angel was telling the truth, though his message would have been fairly compelling, I guess, hearing it from an angel sitting there on the stone that’s just been rolled away from a now empty tomb. But then, suddenly to be met by Jesus! They would have been totally overwhelmed, wouldn’t they? So much so that they fall to the ground, take hold of his feet and worship him.
Here’s the one they’ve followed for the last three years with as much love if not more than the 12 disciples and they just want to hold on to him, even if it is as an object of worship.
But that’s not to be. They can’t hold on to the risen Jesus. He’s here for just a few more weeks before he’ll return to his Father in heaven. He’s no longer bound by human limitations of time and space. That’s made clear by his instruction to them. - Remember they have a job to do. And he repeats the instruction. They’re to go and tell the disciples to go to Galilee where he’ll meet them.
And that’s almost the end of Matthew’s gospel account. His final report, a few verses later is of their final encounter with Jesus. They go to the top of a mountain and Jesus gives them his final instructions. Now they all have a job to do. In fact it’s the same job. He says "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
At that moment the disciples become apostles. They’re no longer students. Now they’re ones who are sent out to proclaim the gospel. First it was the women who were sent to proclaim the gospel to the disciples. He is risen! Now they’re to go and tell all nations about Jesus. They’re to make disciples. The students have become the teachers. And what are they to teach? "Teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." In other words they’re to make disciples who will become apostles. And so the process will continue year after year. In fact we’re still doing that aren’t we? Part of our mission statement is to speak the gospel and teach the Bible. We teach the Bible so people will be able to speak the gospel. Our aim is to grow Christians to a level of maturity where they’ll be able to bring others into a relationship with Christ.
Our Easter meditation that we started on Friday finished a moment ago with the account of Thomas - our apostle. His is a great story isn’t it? He’s such an enigma. He’s at one level a cynic, a doubter, a pragmatist. He just wants to see the holes in Jesus’ hands. But at another level he’s totally committed to Jesus. When Jesus says he’s going to Bethany to heal Lazarus, in the final weeks of his life, the disciples object. "You’d be committing suicide!" they say. "The Jewish leaders are out to get you. You’ll be walking right into their trap." But when Jesus insists on going, who is it who speaks up? It’s good old Thomas. He says: "Well guys, if Jesus is going, we’d better go with him, so we can die alongside him!" That’s commitment isn’t it? Absolute loyalty and devotion! And when Jesus in his grace and compassion stands before Thomas holding out his nail pierced hands, it’s Thomas who falls on his knees to worship, just as the women had when they first encountered the risen Jesus.
And if we can believe the traditions of the Church it’s Thomas who goes the furthest in carrying out Jesus’ instruction to go and make disciples of all nations, travelling all the way to India and maybe even beyond, overcoming language barriers, distance and culture to share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.
And what does God think of people like Thomas? What does God think of you when you make the effort to tell your friends the good news? Well according to Isaiah, he thinks you’ve got lovely feet.
There’s probably a few people here today who doubt that. I mean, they’ve seen their feet with their socks off and they’re anything but beautiful. But you know, when you use those feet to take you to someone who has no knowledge of Jesus Christ, even if its only next door, they take on a whole new worth. They’re beautiful, not because they’re particularly shapely but because they’re the means by which that person can receive the gift of eternal life. They’re the means by which that person can experience the overwhelming grace of God who accepts us despite our failings, despite our rebellious nature, despite all the things human beings would say disqualify us from being loved or accepted. Can you imagine a person who has no self esteem, or a person who’s done such terrible things that they can never hold their head up in public again, or a person who’s so ashamed of what’s happened to them in the past; can you imagine that person hearing the good news of God’s total acceptance of them; of God wiping clean the slate so they can stand before him without fear, without shame or guilt. If you were that person how would you feel about the person who brought you that message. You’d want to fall down and kiss their feet wouldn’t you?
Romans chapter 10 quotes that passage from Isaiah. But first it warns us that no-one is going to be saved unless someone tells them. No-one is going to tell them unless they’re first sent to do it. The women had an angel and then Jesus to send them. The apostles also had Jesus to send them. But today we rely on one another telling us, encouraging us to go, to lift up our feet and get out there to make disciples.
We don’t have to be a Thomas and travel to India or a Billy Graham and speak to thousands at a time. We might just be like those women who went back and told their friends. Your message might be as simple as to say what a great community you’re part of at St Thomas’ Burwood; what a difference it makes to be part of a group of Christians who meet together to encourage and support one another. Do you know there’s something like 60-70% of the population who’ve never experienced a Christian community in action? Who’s only experience of being in a church will be at a funeral, or perhaps a wedding? That’s tragic isn’t it? Well, our job is to tell them about God’s church; and to invite them to come and experience it. And when they do come the job of the rest of us is to welcome them as guests of our heavenly Father.
And finally, remember that Jesus doesn’t just give us a job and leave us to it. He also promises to go with us. He says "Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." He’s sent his Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us and guide us on our way.
Jesus’ rising to life wasn’t just for himself. Nor was it just for us. Do you remember what God’s plan for the world was when he first put Adam and Eve in the garden? Do you remember what his plan was when he called Abraham or when he sent Moses to bring his people out of Egypt? It was to form a people who’d demonstrate to the nations around them the blessings of being part of God’s people.
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And when Jesus came it was to fulfil that plan, to form a new people, a new Israel, no longer racially determined but joined by a common faith in Jesus Christ, who would not only demonstrate the blessings of God by the way we live in Christian community but who’d go out and tell people about it and who’d live such an exemplary life that people would want to join us. This is our job. Empowered by God’s Holy Spirit we’re called to go out, to spread the good news. Jesus Christ has come to bring us back to God, to clear the way for us to enter once again into his presence. Christ has died to forgive our sins. Christ has risen to bring us new life. And so on this Easter morning we repeat the great cry of Christians down the ages:
Christ is risen:
He is Risen Indeed!
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