Hello, welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org. This podcast is being recorded for Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023. Christ is risen, we declare every Easter morning. He is risen indeed, Alleluia, which is simply another way to say: “Praise the Lord!”
So let’s start by reading the Easter story from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 1-15. What happened on Easter? What REALLY happened? And what does it mean for us today? My Big Idea for today is that Easter Sunday vindicates Jesus—the empty tomb shows that he really is who he says he is. Easter Sunday also underscores the good news that it’s all about God’s grace, and nothing, not even death, can prevent God from accomplishing God’s good purpose for your life. And I’ll leave you with three takeaways: first, that you find hope and joy in the Easter story; second, that you go looking for Jesus “out there” in the neighborhood, and not just at church; and third, that you, like the first disciples, have the courage and love to tell the Easter story in your own life. Again, and again, and again.
Matthew 28:1-15
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
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Easter Sunday (Matthew 28)
Introduction
Hello, welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org. This podcast is being recorded for Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023. Christ is risen, we declare every Easter morning. He is risen indeed, Alleluia, which is simply another way to say: “Praise the Lord!”
So let’s start by reading the Easter story from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 1-15. What happened on Easter? What REALLY happened? And what does it mean for us today? My Big Idea for today is that Easter Sunday vindicates Jesus—the empty tomb shows that he really is who he says he is. Easter Sunday also underscores the good news that it’s all about God’s grace, and nothing, not even death, can prevent God from accomplishing God’s good purpose for your life. And I’ll leave you with three takeaways: first, that you find hope and joy in the Easter story; second, that you go looking for Jesus “out there” in the neighborhood, and not just at church; and third, that you, like the first disciples, have the courage and love to tell the Easter story in your own life. Again, and again, and again.
Matthew 28:1-15
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
What Happened on Easter Sunday
The gist of the story up to this point: Jesus of Nazareth is arrested on Thursday night, sentenced to death early Friday morning, crucified at noon that same day. By mid-afternoon he dies. Jewish custom forbids burial on the Sabbath, which would begin at 6pm that night, so he is quickly buried in a borrowed tomb before nightfall. Matthew 27 adds that the Jewish religious leaders are worried that the disciples of Jesus might sneak in and steal the body and then tell people that Jesus had been raised from the dead! They convince Rome to assign a security detail to guard the tomb. They also post an official government “No Trespassing” sign at the entrance of the tomb.
Ironically, it turns out that the Jewish leaders had nothing to fear from the disciples. They had all run away that Friday, probably hiding back in Bethany with Lazarus and his sisters. And they were still Jewish, afterall, and Saturday was the Sabbath. For them, even making plans to do anything was a violation of Sabbath observance. No, it wasn’t until early Sunday morning, at the break of dawn, that finally two of the disciples, both named Mary, get up the courage to even visit the tomb, to take a look.
They show up just in time to experience an earthquake, and flash of lightning. An angel scares the guards to death, ignores the No Trespassing sign, and pushes the stone away from the entrance. “Don’t be afraid” the angel says to the two disciples. “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. See for yourself, then go and tell the other disciples to get ready to meet up with Jesus back in Galilee.” Then, as a bonus, Jesus himself shows up on the way. He tells them the same thing.
Getting the Story Straight
The Bible tells the Easter story a little different in each gospel. How many disciples are there at the scene? Was it before dawn? After dawn? At dawn? Were those heavenly angels or just brightly clothed messengers? Had the stone already been rolled away, or did they witness the event personally? Was or was Jesus not dressed up like a gardener? The Bible doesn’t seem concerned about conflicting details of the Easter story. No efforts to corroborate the story. So maybe the details are less important than making sure the basic story gets told: Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. And on the third day he rose again.
Because there was another account making rounds out there. The rumor went around that the guards had fallen asleep and that the disciples had managed to pull of the heist of the century, stealing the body of Jesus in the dead of night. Not a great look for the guards, but Matthew says they were paid off. “This story has been widely circulated to this very day,” Matthew notes in verse 15.
Over the centuries there have been other stories “widely circulated” to counter the original Easter story. Some have theorized that he didn’t really die—it just LOOKED like he died. Sometimes people reason that while JESUS died, GOD didn’t. That the Spirit of God left Jesus of Nazareth before he took his last breath. And then, of course, the claim that Jesus never rose from the dead. The disciples stole the body. Or that the resurrection is a spiritual one, or a metaphor for how God can now live in our hearts.
The problem with all of these is that they contradict the varied but consistent biblical witness: that Jesus suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried, and on the third day he rose again. This is the heart of Easter. The Bible spends less time trying to “prove it really happened” and more time simply telling us what Easter Sunday means. Romans 8:28-39 is one such place.
Romans 8:28-39
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What Easter Means
Easter confirms the sovereignty of the grace of God. “Not even death can separate us from the love of God,” Paul declares in Romans 8. God is not subject to the law. God doesn’t have to play by certain rules. God is not limited by some higher truth or natural order. There is no cosmic karma or dualism. God’s will WILL be done. God’s purposes WILL be accomplished.
This is what Paul is talking about when he uses the language of being predestined, or elected. It means that it was grace all along. God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. We are justified, we have salvation, peace with God, and even life everlasting, not because of anything we did, but through the gift of God. It was never about what we could do for God: fancy Temples, animal sacrifices, or virtuous living. It was never about geography, gender, or genetics. After all, if God is for us—and the risen Jesus is proof of that—then who can be against us?
Life is still hard. “We face death all day long,” Paul says. We still face mortality, injustice, suffering, grief, and loss. There is so much we don’t understand, and so much we understand all too well, but can’t seem to do anything about… So God sends us messengers—angels, men dressed in white, a Guatemalan neighbor, a rainbow in the sky, a twelve-step sponsor, a post on Facebook—to shake the world, roll away the stone, and remind us not to be afraid.
God’s grace is sufficient and sovereign. And Jesus himself is vindicated. The resurrection validates and proves Jesus’ mission, ministry, and message. He is who he says he is! Christ Jesus who died and was raised to life, now sits at the right hand of God, which is another way of saying that Jesus carries the same authority as the Father who raised him.
Easter, in this sense, reveals that Jesus is True God, son of the Father; and truly human—one who was born, lived, and died here on planet Earth. So, if he is who he says he is, then we can also trust what he says. Jesus really is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Easter shows us that Jesus truly is all we need to know about what God is like, and all that we need to know about how to be human.
And therefore, Paul says, we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us.” God is sovereign. Jesus is who Jesus says he is. Jesus loved us enough to die for us, and then even death wasn’t strong enough to hold him. No, God is for us, Paul insists. Therefore we live and die and everything in between—held in the faithfulness and love of God.
Takeaways
First: Happy Easter! Christ has risen. He is risen, indeed: Alleluia. May the good news of the risen Christ Jesus fill you with faith and hope. If things are going well right now, give your thanks to God. And if you are going through a tough stretch right now, know that you are not alone. You are held in God’s love and faithfulness. The Spirit is praying for you. The Risen Christ is cheering for you. Remember, your circumstances don’t define you. Your feelings don’t define you. God is faithful, and the faithfulness of God is the only thing that matters.
Second, the Easter story tells us that Jesus isn’t, well, “here.” We gather on Easter Sunday morning to worship the risen Jesus, and that’s a good thing. But like that very first Easter, the angel tells us that Jesus isn’t here at the empty tomb. Jesus has gone ahead of us, out there, into the world. As theologian Alan Roxborough puts it: Jesus is loose in the neighborhood. The gospel of Matthew begins with the wisemen going out to look for Jesus, to worship him and offer their gifts. The gospel of Matthew ends with the disciples going out from the tomb to find Jesus, to worship him, and to offer their gifts.
Out there is where we see the face of Jesus in every person we meet. Out there is where we participate in the mission of the risen Christ. Out there is where we walk in Jesus’ steps, grow in his likeness, take up our crosses, learn compassion, rely on the Holy Spirit, die to sin, and rise to newness of life.
And third, tell the story of Easter Sunday. “Go and tell them that they will see me.” Tell the story, my friends. Tell it to your children. And to your grandchildren. If you don’t, who will? For a long time, we kind of left it to pastors and Sunday School teachers and camp counselors to tell the story. We thought that if we brought our kids to church, then the church would tell them the story. Well, maybe that worked for a while, but now they aren’t coming TO church, which means that the church needs to go to them. You are the church. You are the only Bible they might ever read. If you don’t tell them the Easter Story, who will?
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. And that means that Jesus is who he says he is. And that means that nothing—neither trouble or hardship or life or death or anything else in all creation—can stop God from loving you. Thanks be to God!
Conclusion
Thanks for listening today. I hope this podcast series is helping you fall more deeply in love with the God who created you, who loves you, and has a purpose for your life. To learn more about Faith, go to our website, www.faithshelton.org. Please “like” us, subscribe, donate, or sign-up for our newsletter. You can subscribe to this podcast on most podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple, and Google. Chas, thanks for your production work on this podcast every week. All glory…