And Gives Me Life

Go Tell My Brothers…They Will See Me

4.9.23 [Matthew 28:1-15] River of Life (The Festival of the Resurrection)

Here…you’re family. Nowadays a lot of people, places, and organizations tell you you’ll be treated like you’re family when you’re with them. Almost everyone—from your kids’ coach, to your favorite restaurant, to your local plumber, mechanic, or medical professional—will tell you that you’re not just another number. You’re not just another client or customer. You’re family.

It comforting to hear because you put a lot of trust in those folks. You trust them with your kids. You trust them with your food. You trust them to not take advantage of your emergency or ignorance or vulnerable situation. You want them to treat you like family.

But it’s not just coach-speak or customer-retention verbiage. You likely heard We’re a family in the workplace too. Maybe you were part of a family-run business. Even though you weren’t blood, they told you you were like family. Big companies say it too.

Perhaps, no one uses the concept of family, or brotherhood, more than the military. The idea is simple. We’re all in this together and we are going to have to make sacrifices for the greater good, so let’s pull together, let’s have each other’s backs. Let's act like family.

We even talk about deep friendships this way. That some people are like a brother from another mother. The kind of family you choose.

There is something very comforting about this idea. We all want to feel like we are more than just a cog in a machine. We all want to think that the people we work with & for genuinely care about us. We all want to spend our time with people who love us like family.

Call me naive, but I don’t think everyone uses this idea to manipulate you. Each of them aspires to treat you like family. But things happen. Higher-ups go in a different direction. Policies change. The balls get dropped. Suddenly “being family” doesn’t mean what it once did.

When the season’s over, “the family” goes their separate ways. Being family doesn’t mean you get a discount on your meal or a price break on your big repair. Being family doesn’t mean your job is safe. Being family doesn’t mean your brothers-in-arms will be there for you if you've behaved selfishly or cowardly. Being family doesn’t mean your best friend will forgive you. When tensions rise, when the stressors mount, these kinds of family connections tend to fall apart.

But you still want that comfort and relational security. You still want to have a place you know you belong. You still crave knowing someone will stand with you through thick or thin. Don’t we all?

Our God knows this about us and gives us this comfort and security in his Risen Son. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. And this Risen Christ gives us reason to rejoice and the comfort of knowing we are family.

So much was going on that first Easter morning. At dawn, the women went to the tomb. They wanted to pay their last respects and bury the body of their friend Jesus properly. But God had other plans.

That morning there was a violent earthquake. An angel of the Lord, who was as bright as lightning came down from heaven and rolled back the stone from the tomb and sat on it. The Roman soldiers who were tasked with guarding the tomb were so terrified of what had happened and what they were seeing that they shook and fell to the ground like dead men. But they weren’t the only ones who were afraid. The two Marys were afraid as well. But the angel had an incredible message.

(Mt. 28:5-7) Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for the crucified Jesus. But he is not here. He has risen, just as he said. Go ahead and take a look around, but don’t take too much time. You must go and tell his disciples the good news.

These women did what anyone would do. They were joyful. But still shocked, confused, and a little afraid. They ran to tell Jesus’ disciples. And suddenly, there he was. Jesus. And the first words out of his resurrected mouth were (Mt 28:9) Greetings! or welcome or good morning or rejoice. (Χαίρετε is very flexible)

Then they did what anyone would do. They went to him. They clasped his feet and they worshiped their Risen Lord. But Jesus had more to say. He knew in this moment, as joyful as they were, they still were shocked, confused, and a little afraid. So he said: (Mt. 28:10) Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me.

(Mt. 28:10) Go and tell my brothers…they will see me. Here, for the first time, Jesus calls his disciples my brothers. Here, at his Resurrection, Jesus relates what his suffering, death, and glorious resurrection have accomplished for them and for us. To most people, Jesus was their Rabbi and they were his students. If you asked the disciples themselves, they would say he was more than a Rabbi. He was their Lord and they were his servants. For most of the time they spent with Jesus, these men were known as disciples. Which is really just a fancy way of saying “followers”. The idea was that by following Jesus these men would learn something from him and they would begin to think like him, talk like him, and live like him. And the past days had been a fiery test.

If we were to evaluate the Twelve as one would evaluate students, we would give them all F’s. They had not learned much from Jesus it seemed. He had told them he would be rejected by the Jewish leaders, betrayed by one of them, handed over to the Gentiles, crucified and buried and on the third day he would rise. But when it was all happening right before their very eyes, it seemed like all of Jesus’ words had gone in one ear and out the other. They didn’t seem to retain nearly anything Jesus told them.

Somehow, they were worse followers than students. When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, (Mt. 26:56) all the disciples deserted him and fled. Of the two that did follow him out of the Garden, one of them, Peter, denied even knowing Jesus three times.

They weren’t very good servants either. Servants don’t tell their masters what to do. But that didn’t stop the disciples from telling Jesus to send the crowd of 5,000 away because it was getting late and they needed to eat. That didn’t stop them from trying to shoo away parents who wanted Jesus to bless their little ones. That didn’t stop Peter from rebuking Jesus when he spoke of his suffering and death. Good servants don’t bicker about their own greatness. Good servants don’t run and hide as their Lord is languishing and dying.

The disciples weren’t good students, followers, or servants. And, truth be told, we aren’t either. Time and again, we think we know what God has said, but we haven’t really listened carefully. Time and again, we say we’re following God but our steps say otherwise. Time and again, we act like we’re living lives of service to God, but we aren’t so humble. We’re more passionate about our interests than the interests of others. We’re more inclined to serve our own agendas than to submit to the will of God.

Like the eleven, we’re disciples that deserve demotion. We are followers that should be left behind. We are servants who should be sent away.

But look at what Jesus says: Tell my brothers I want to see them. Jesus doesn’t demote them. He doesn’t tell them, hey I’ll give you a clean slate or a fresh start. He promotes them to a place you can’t earn. Here, they became family. And Jesus makes us his family too.

Here’s what Jesus did on Easter Sunday. After sharing in our humanity, he tasted death in our place. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. We weren’t just bad students, poor followers, or shabby servants. We were sinful. Wicked. Rebellious. Dead in our transgressions. That’s why Jesus died. But by his death and resurrection, Jesus broke the power of sin, death, and the devil. He did all this to help us. He made atonement for our sins. And now, this Jesus who has made us holy has also made us family. (Heb. 2:11) Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. We are his blood-bought family.

What does that mean for us? Well for one, our status before God is not as a customer or an employee. God’s love for you is not contingent on what you bring to his bottom line. God’s love for you is contingent on what Christ has done for you. Jesus has come to save sinners like you and me. People who are not always great students. People who are not always fervent followers. People who are not always thoughtful or helpful servants. Here, in the Resurrection, Christ has made us family. Through the waters of Baptism, God has claimed you as his own beloved child. Through the life, death, and resurrection, you have been reconciled to your heavenly Father. Here and now, we are family.

Since that is true, since that is the very reason that Christ came to this world, why he suffered and died, and what he proclaimed upon his Resurrection, we know this is tremendously important to God. He has prepared an eternal place for you in his home. He wants you to pray to him as your Father. He wants you to look up to him like a loving brother. God wants you to relish time with him.

Since we are eternal family, since we are loved unconditionally and undeservedly, how can we not make time with our family a joyful habit? Isn’t this what love is and does?

If you have family here, you wouldn’t say you love them and only see them once or twice a year. You do it regularly. Because it’s important. Because it’s good. Because it brings you great joy. Because they love you and you love them. Your brother Jesus and your heavenly Father love you even more and rejoice every time you spend time with them in the Word and in his house with his family.

Some of us may live a fair distance from our earthly family. Don’t you then make being with them a priority? You are willing to spend a lot of time, energy, and money to make that happen. You plan it out.

Being with your heavenly Father and your beloved brother, Jesus, is an even greater joy and a far higher priority. And you don’t have to go through all the trouble of making travel arrangements. He is right here. And here, he gives you an added blessing. He makes this community of believers your family.

When we say this as the church we are not speaking in platitudes. We are not aspiring for this to be true. This is the reality that our Risen Savior has made happen. Because he is overjoyed to call us his brothers and sisters, we are overjoyed to live as family. To be there in good times and in bad. To bear each other's burdens. To forgive as we have been forgiven and to comfort with the comfort we have received from God himself. That’s why we say, here, we’re all family.

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. And because of his great victory, because of his unrivaled power, and because of his unconditional love, here we are family. Amen.