Sermon for Easter Day Based on Matthew. 28:1-10 \
Theme:“The truth does matter to us. Doesn’t it?” 

The contrast between God and human beings continues, as we hear how the guards and the women react to the reality of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  Notice how both the guards and the women are overcome with abject fear! However, there the similarities cease. We are informed that the guards faint from fear. “For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.” 

How do the guards become like dead men? They faint of course. Conversely, the women we are told although initially in a state of fear become overjoyed and become witnesses to the disciples. For the guards (and all those who stand against Jesus) the fear is all encompassing. But those who follow Jesus, as the women did, fear turns to overwhelming joy! 

“So, they (the women) left the tomb quickly with fear and greatjoy and ranto tell his disciples. 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! This phrase seems to roll easily off the tongue for Christians on Easter Day. Doesn’t it? But how do we know that it is true? A resurrection of a body after all is not the easiest thing to believe. Is It?  We are constantly being informed that we live in a ‘post-truth’ age, that the truth does not matter, that it is relative, that it is what you make it to be – but do we really believe that to be true? The truth does matter to us. Doesn’t it?

If some truth is threatened, like on an issue of equality, then we will fight to preserve it. Don’t we? For instance, if your honesty were being called into question or if you had been slandered in some way then you would want the truth to be known. Wouldn’t you? Show me a parent who does not care when their child is caught lying. Instead, we teach our children from a very young age to tell the truth. Don’t we? Jesus had come to speak and enact God’s truth. At the beginning of John’s Gospel account, we are told that: 

‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us’ and that ‘he came from the Father full of grace and truth’ (1:14). Jesus himself said: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life’ (14:6). At his scandalous trial Jesus told Pilate: ‘everyone on the side of truth listens to me’, to which Pilate famously replied: ‘what is truth’? (18:37-38). 

Well, what was the truth? The truth was that Jesus had come to die for us. He had come to Jerusalem to be betrayed, condemned, mocked, beaten, and finally killed. Good Friday was not a mistake. Good Friday was God’s Son, the Messiah, choosing to enact God’s saving truth. It was the truth from his own very lips that led to the guilty verdict at his trial before the Jewish ruling council. The truth was that we needed the innocent Son of God to die for our sins and guilt. So, equipped with that truth, Jesus went willingly to the cross to suffer and die for us – to be our way, our truth, and our life. But I do not imagine a single follower of Jesus went to sleep that Good Friday night comforted by this truth, comforted by his death on the cross. 

There was no joy or hope or life for them that day. Rather, there was only sadness, despair, and death. That was the reality they had to deal with. That was the new truth they were confronted with less than a day after Jesus had shared the Passover with them and told them: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled; trust me’! They had this truth to come to terms with and it was not very pretty. Good Friday on its own has nothing to give us really. All it gives us is an innocent man dying an unjust death. It is not the first time something like this has happened in human history and it will not be the last. But Good Friday is not on its own. We do not stop our remembrance during Holy week on Friday – we simply pause, in anticipation of what is to come. That is the benefit of hindsight for us. The first followers of Jesus did not have that luxury though. They were dealing with the conclusion to a life story. They were involved in the bereavement stage, where the next thing to be done was to see to it that Jesus at least had a decent burial. 

Remember, that is what the women came to the tomb. They were not coming to see how the life of Jesus could continue. No, they were coming to give it a fitting end. And even that consolation was taken from them. 

They arrived at the tomb to encounter a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, had descending from heaven, and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then 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.’ 

They did not understand what was happening. Why would they? Humanly speaking that was impossible. Wasn’t it?  These two disciples were coming for closure to their grieving process, where the bereaved were taking steps to ensure they could try and move on in their lives, was interrupted by the risen Lord himself who re-entered their lives. We are told that suddenly Jesus met them both and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” 

Later Jesus would come to his other disciples, to bring them reassurance, peace, joy, hope and life. The truth of the cross meant nothing without the truth of the resurrection. They now had the complete story, and it would still take some time for this truth to sink in. You cannot tell me that this truth did not matter to them. It mattered. It mattered so much that it changed the course of their lives as it does ours. 

With the death of Jesus, the disciples had come to a place in their lives where they were not sure what to do next.  Had their journey simply just come to a stop? With Jesus’s resurrection from the dead the journey was set to continue, and it continues with the promise that it will not end. They were now moving on with their lives but moving on with the risen Lord at the centre of their lives. Why? 

Death had lost its sting; it had lost its ability to cast a shadow on their lives. They now lived with a sense of purpose that only the resurrection light could bring. This purpose erupts forth from the pages of history as we hear them declaring boldly that Jesus is risen from the dead and that he is Lord! This confession comes from the lips of a man who denied his Lord three times before his trial. It comes from the lips of a distraught woman who just wanted to find where they had laid the dead body of her Lord. It comes from the lips of countless others who should have been in confusion but were now united in their declaration of this amazing truth. This is a confession that has continued to echo down through the ages, all the way to where we are this morning. 

For their truth is our truth.  We believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. But we also believe that on the third day he rose again from the dead! That is a truth that sets us free. It sets us free to live with a renewed sense of purpose. It sets us free to serve under a Lord who not only died for us but who also now lives for us. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! So, let us get on with life; with the presence of our risen Lord and Saviour Jesus at the heart of it. Amen.