Do Not Be Afraid

Matthew 28:1-10

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.”

When were you last afraid?

On this Resurrection Sunday at Sparta Naz where this is a different buzz in the building, there is a choir on the platform, the baptistry is opened up, we’ve had a breakfast and a sunrise service, there is so much fun and excitement, we come into this place to celebrate and contemplate the resurrection of the Savior of the World. The implications of this resurrection are incredible. So much changes because Jesus is alive. So much can be different because Jesus is alive. We believe this to be true enough that we would put that truth in giant letters out on the wall that you see right as you walk in the doors each Sunday morning. So much is possible because Jesus is alive. Complete life transformation is possible because Jesus is alive. Complete family transformation is possible because Jesus is alive. Complete reconciliation is possible because Jesus is alive. Communities can be made different because Jesus is alive. Miracles can take place because Jesus is alive. Sin and death have been defeated. Jesus Christ has overcome the grave. Sin, where is your power? Death, where is your sting? Jesus is victorious. Our God has overcome! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

The word that the Lord has given to me to preach this morning may seem a little strange to some. It seems strange to me, too. But on this Resurrection Sunday the hope that I pray sticks with you as you participate in this service and as you leave this place is the hope that is found in Jesus’ words - “Do not be afraid.” And this is not a command from Jesus. Rather, it is an assurance from Jesus that no matter what you have walked through, are currently walking through, or will walk through some day, your Risen Savior who has overcome the grave with whom nothing is impossible is walking with you. The God who is perfect love can drive out all fear because his presence in any circumstance provides comfort and peace and even joy when seemingly nothing else can. The resurrection hope is not just to get us excited, though it does do that. This resurrection hope also carries us through. No matter what the circumstance is that comes my way, Jesus is alive and right there with me, walking through it too.

So, on Resurrection Sunday, we are going to talk about fear and anxiety. I know, it’s odd. Odd, but extremely relevant. We live in an incredibly anxious world. You and I, we have all felt the effects of worry and anxiety and fear. We are, as a whole, a people that are on edge. Uncertain about what is coming next, medicated to cope with it all, and impacted by the power of fear and anxiety and worry.

Fear can be debilitating. Fear can be crippling. It can cause your body to shut down. It can cause your brain to think all sorts of things. It can cause turmoil in so many facets of your life. It can change family dynamics, it can change relationships with coworkers and neighbors and friends. Fear and anxiety can be so pervasive and intrusive that it can make the life abundant seem like nothing more than a pipe dream.

When was the last time you were worried or afraid? I know this can be perhaps a sensitive question for some. It could have been that you were afraid you would not have enough money to make it through the rest of the month. Maybe the fear settled in as you dropped your kids off at school. Perhaps it is just the general uncertainty of the world right now that stirs up some fear and anxiety within you. Maybe the thought of getting in a car accident or running out of gas stokes fear within you. It could be a medical diagnosis. It could be a procedure coming up. It could be an individual, even. When was the last time you were worried or afraid? And what caused that worry and that fear?

As we encounter Jesus this Resurrection Sunday morning, we encounter the one who speaks these words of hope and assurance over his desperate disciples - “Do not be afraid.”

You kind of have to enter into the story a bit to understand the weight of these words. It is quite easy from our post resurrection, 21st century position to at times fly by some of the detail and the context of what exactly was going on during that time. Followers of Jesus had just seen their guy get crucified - he was killed in one of the most heinous ways. He was beaten. He was battered. He was spit on. He was ridiculed. He was hated in some of the most extreme ways. This Jesus who they had come to love and come to emulate was crucified right in front of them. They had given up everything to follow him. They had responded to his invitation. They had seen miracles. They had participated in miracles. They had done life with Jesus - something we can only imagine what it must have been like. To understand what they are feeling, then, you have to revisit some of the rest of the story. Of course they would be devastated. Of course they would be heartbroken. Of course they would be afraid. Of course they would be nervous. Of course they would be anxious. Jesus had told them that he would die and rise again, but you know how hard it is to believe those things until they actually start happening. And the Bible tells us that this didn’t really even make sense to them until after they had seen Jesus alive in their midst post resurrection.

When they see Jesus once again, this overflow of emotion, jubilation, anxiety, joy, overwhelm races through them and they latch on to Jesus’ feet and worship him. What was dead is alive. The one who had radically transformed their lives was with them again. And I kind of think they want him to stick around this time. They grab on to his feet and worship him. We see in the Gospel of John that Jesus has to almost convince his disciples that it is better that he would leave them than it would be for him to stay so that they can receive the Holy Spirit. Who wouldn’t want Jesus to remain with them if this is the story that you had just walked through? I’m doing everything I can to stay right next to Jesus if I am them. If that means playing “heavy boots” on his feet, then I’m doing that. But I don’t want to let him leave my sight again!

Add to that the layer that their lives are also threatened because of their affiliation with him. They don’t know what the day holds ahead of them. They don’t know what tomorrow might bring. Would they suffer the same kind of death that Jesus did? People knew that they were affiliated with Jesus. People knew that they were his disciples. And now all of that is threatened. Any security that they knew was gone. Any assurance that they had was challenged.

Here are Jesus’ words once again. “Do not be afraid.”

Can we be real for a few moments? The way that I have heard this concept talked about many times before is that as a people that believe in Jesus, we need to overcome our fear with faith. Faith over fear. And sometimes it is even pushed so far that it seems that as a people that follow Jesus we are not supposed to be or allowed to be afraid of anything.

The struggle with this that I have is that it doesn’t jive with my experience or the experiences of others around me. I don’t know about you, but there are still things that come up in my life that are scary or stir up worry or cause some anxiety. Does it make me a bad Christian that I experience these emotions and these responses to circumstance? Does following Jesus look like I become numb to the hurt and the hard in this world so that I don’t feel the weight of these things in life when they come up? Is that the transformation that Jesus does? And is that what he means when he tells his disciples to not be afraid? Is he telling them that they cannot be afraid? Is he telling them that they cannot worry? Is he telling them that they can never feel anxiety again because of his grace in their lives? I wonder if my conversion wasn’t genuine then since I still feel those things at times. Maybe I am not holy enough since I still feel those things at times. Maybe I am following Jesus wrong since I still feel these things at times...

I hope you can hear the facetiousness in my tone. The transformation that God does in our lives does not make us robots. He doesn’t rewire our hearts so that they no longer stop beating quicker when we are nervous or afraid. If anything, we get the image of the opposite that our hearts are turned to flesh away from the hardened stone that they were before God’s grace. What is happening, then, in my relationship with Jesus when I am nervous or afraid or worried? Jesus says, “Do not be afraid” to the disciples that are nervous that they are going to lose him again. He says, “Do not be afraid” to his disciples as they are uncertain about whether they will even be alive a week from now. Jesus says, “Do not be afraid” to his disciples in the midst of their worry and in the midst of the nervousness, and in the midst of their fear.

And I think we get to see something really beautiful about who Jesus is and how he interacts with us in this narrative surrounding the resurrection on this Resurrection Sunday here at Sparta Naz.

Jesus’ words of “Do not be afraid” are not words of correction to his disciples. He isn’t calling them out in their lack of faith or their skepticism or their worry. I don’t think it is fair to Jesus to hear these words and think that he is saying, “You have no reason to be afraid.” Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid” are words of assurance. No matter what circumstance Jesus’ disciples are walking through, they are never alone - He is right there with them. The belonging that they had come to know as they walked with him and worked with him and did life with him was all threatened by his death on the cross. But Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid” sound a whole lot more like, “It’s going to be alright” than anything else. Jesus is less concerned about his disciples having it all together and getting it right every single time and making sure they have appearances put together for everyone to see, and more concerned with their belonging and abiding with Him.

I wonder, before we move on this morning, if you can just breathe that in today. In your circumstance, in your situation, in your life, in your worry, in your anxiety, in your fear, hear Jesus saying to you, “Do not be afraid” and know that even when you are scared, when you are worried, when you are afraid, you are not alone in any of it.

Let’s revisit this passage to fill it out a little more. The word “afraid” is used four times in this passage alone if you are reading the NIV.

“The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.”

This first one is as the guards is as the violent earthquake struck, the angel of the Lord came down, rolled the stone away from the tomb and sat on it. The guards were so afraid that they shook and became like dead men. Talk about what fear can do, right?! That is a good glimpse of what fear without the assurance of Jesus can do to you. I’m telling you, I don’t know how people walk through this anxious world without Jesus. If I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit within me, there would be plenty of things in this life that would make me so afraid that I might just shake and become like a dead man too.

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.’”

This second instance in this passage are the words that the angel of the Lord spoke to the women who had gone to the tomb that day. The same sense of assurance is issued here that everything is going to be ok. The angel would go on to remind them of the words that Jesus had spoken and taught that he would rise again after dying. Again, it is going to be alright.

“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”

This is perhaps my favorite of all the times “afraid” is used in this passage because it is so real. The blend of afraid and filled with joy is so true to our experiences as well. We can feel so many different things all at the same time, and in this portion of the passage, we can see these women who have come to look at the tomb where Jesus was laid feeling both fear and joy at the same time, a complicated mix, for sure. There is so much unknown right now in the story for them. There is so much ahead of them that they can’t even begin to imagine. So there is both fear and joy, and none of that is wrong. Jesus meets them where they are at as well.

“Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

This last time that “afraid” is used is the one that you have heard a few times now. As the disciples are clasping on to Jesus’ feet and worshiping him, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.” It is not a condemnation. It is not an “I told you so” moment as they have not remembered what he taught about his resurrection. It is Jesus saying that he sees them where they are at, and he is with them right there in the thick of it.

A few other references

This isn’t the only place that Jesus tells his disciples to not be afraid.

Jesus is walking on the water and his disciples are freaking out a bit to which he responds:

Matthew 14:27 NIV

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John were terrified of what was taking place as the cloud covered them and they hear the voice of God speaking to them. To which Jesus says:

Matthew 17:6–7 NIV

When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”

When Jesus called Simon Peter away from fishing with an astounding catch of fish found just on the other side of the boat, Simon Peter told Jesus to go away from him because he was a sinner. Jesus responded:

Luke 5:9–11 NIV

For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

In Luke’s rendition of the Sermon on the Mount, when talking about worry, Jesus says:

Luke 12:32 NIV

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

None of these times do we see Jesus condemning for fear or for anxiety or for worry. Instead, what we see is something so much more beautiful. In the midst of the worry or anxiety and fear, Jesus is right there with you. That is some true resurrection hope.

Because Jesus is alive, you are never walking through anything in life alone. Because Jesus is alive, your difficult circumstance is not just up to you to fix. Because Jesus is alive, when you feel worried or afraid, Jesus is right there to bring you the assurance that it is going to be alright. That is who Jesus is. He doesn’t tell you that you can’t be afraid. Instead, he meets you right there and right then in that moment of fear, and with his presence makes the fear dissipate. He doesn’t turn you into a robot so that you don’t ever feel all the things that humans feel. Instead, he is always faithful to show up in the midst of all of those feelings and in the midst of that worry to bring peace.

Jesus alive today doesn’t make it possible for you to become less human and not feel all the things that humans feel. Jesus alive today enables you to be more human than ever before as you abide with the Author of Salvation in the thick of the mess. And maybe, if we can understand that this life is less about stuffing all of those things away and feeling condemned for them and more about welcoming Jesus into those places, we might just get a better glimpse of what holiness and this life abundant is all about.

On this Resurrection Sunday, know this. You are not alone. You are not on an island. Our Savior is alive and that means that He is right here with you. He is walking with you and guiding you and protecting you and transforming you. He doesn’t turn the other way when the worry creeps in. He doesn’t feel embarrassed about you when you are afraid. Jesus alive today means that He is showing up for you at exactly the right times and places. And I’ve come to learn this about Jesus. He leads with gentleness, grace, and mercy in our lives. “Do not be afraid” looks a whole lot more like a parent holding their child close when they have been woken by a nightmare than anything else. In this risen Christ, you belong. In this risen Christ, you are secure. In this risen Christ, you are held. And that is a beautiful hope provided by the resurrection for us today.

As we conclude this sermon this morning, I wonder if you would be willing to breathe those words of Jesus in one more time, hearing them in the love and grace and gentleness of Christ. With your circumstance in mind and in view, hear these words of Jesus, “Do not be afraid.”