“Alleluia!” We’ve already sung it several times and now I can say it: Alleluia! We haven’t heard this word for the entire season of Lent but this evening we can shout out “alleluia!” which – as I’m sure you all know – means “Praise God!” We can, indeed, praise God because he has saved us through his son. He has saved us from darkness and fear, from sin and death. And, we can all really embrace this saving work as we continue to struggle in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. After a long year of living in fear, many of us are still hiding behind closed doors and we are still called to protect ourselves and others with masked faces. We have seen the numbers go down and up and down and up again and wonder “when will it all end?” In the meantime, we are living in fear for our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
The women who came to the grave that first Easter morning were afraid, too. As they were approaching the tomb, they were afraid that they could not anoint Jesus’ body because of the heavy stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb. I’m sure they were even more afraid of the Roman guards who were watching over the tomb. They became even more fearful as they saw that the stone had been rolled back from the entrance of the tomb. And, they were utterly amazed when they saw an angel, clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side of the tomb. I’m sure the women were frightened out of their skin. But, then they heard the angel who said, “Do not be amazed!” There was nothing to fear. It’s a phrase we hear from God or his angel throughout the Bible. God assured Jacob with “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt” when famine ravaged the land. When Moses was afraid as he encountered God in the burning bush, God assured him; “Do not be afraid; I will be with you.” When the Pharaoh’s chariots approached the fleeing Israelites and they turned to Moses in fear, he, in turn, assured them by saying, “Do not fear! Stand your ground and see the victory the Lord will win for you today!” When the angel of God was sent to Joseph and to Mary to announce the birth of our savior, he assured each of them with, “do not be afraid.”
When the disciples of Jesus cried out in fear as he approached them walking on water in the midst of a storm, he assured them, “Do not be afraid, it is I.” It’s a phrase we need to hear today, “do not be afraid, I am with you,” as the news about the pandemic continues to frighten so many of us.
And, just as the recent news is finally giving us a glimmer of hope with the continuing expanded vaccinations, so the news that God or his angel gave these various people throughout salvation history was always filled them with hope. The news the angel gave to the women at the tomb gave them more than just a glimmer of hope. “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.” They did not yet fully understand what being raised meant but this was certainly a message of hope that began to assuage their fear. Their fear was to be allayed even more when they met the risen Jesus, as we hear in Matthew’s gospel. According to that account, they embraced him and did him homage. And again, Jesus assured them, “Do not be afraid.”
In this evening’s reading from the letter to the Romans, we hear St. Paul assure the Christians in Rome – and us – that, “just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too might live in newness of life.” He goes on to proclaim, “if then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”
The Easter message is a message of hope in the face of fear. It is an assurance that God always accompanies us, especially in our darkest hours. It is a promise that we who believe in Jesus and follow his way will be saved from death and live with him in the resurrection. We still don’t really know what that means but the risen Lord has assured us that it is filled with unimaginable joy for all eternity. That is why we can say, with full assurance, “Alleluia; praise God!” Like the women who went to the tomb, we too, are utterly amazed. And, we can rejoice for we know that Jesus is, indeed, raised from the dead. Death has no more power over him. Nor does it have power over us! Let us rejoice, for our Lord has risen and in him we have the power to live confidently here on earth – even in these fearful times – as we await the time we are called to the fullness life with him in heaven!