How Beautiful Is The Light

Matthew 28:1-10

Memory Verse: “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1 NIV).

Well friends, We are about to read the most incredible story ever told—the story that changed the world, changed history, and changes us.

This story is what we hang our hats on as Christians. This is it.. This story is beautiful. It is powerful.

Let’s turn to Matthew 28 1-10. I will be reading from the NIV this morning.

READ PASSAGE

Transition: The Word of God for the People of God, thanks be to God

Prayer:

Anyone who has watched the sunrise knows that it is well worth the effort of waking up at an early hour to witness a new dawn. How beautiful is the Light! 

I love to get up early in the morning, and my thinking chair, my prayer chair is positioned just right to see the sun rise over the mountains. It is beautiful. It’s worth getting up early for!

It is especially worth it to watch the sun rise over a body of water as the unknown and dark depths are slowly exposed.

I’ve done that many times at the beach. The sun illuminates everything that was hidden by the darkness.

What was once scary and unknown becomes majestic and beautiful. The sun’s colors are vibrant, and they become even more striking when they reflect off the water and spread.

But the reality is that the night is long and dark. If you have ever pulled an all-nighter, you know what I mean. I’ve never worked a third shift job, Eric has—he’s about to go on third shift for two weeks.

The night is long—Especially if you’re waiting on the sun to rise— you know how slowly time can crawl. 

You can begin to wonder if the darkness will never be broken, if the night is too much and too terrifying to be outlasted.

The night can be really dark. It is unknown and terrifying. Sometimes we may have wondered if the night will outlast us.

We may have even wondered as we’ve been doing the work of journeying through Lent- all this soul searching, confession and forgiveness and renewal—We’ve been doing this for weeks— just to end up at a cross and a grave. 

After all- the world still seems dark. I know we re-lit the candles to remind us of HOPE, PEACE, LOVE, JOY… and at the same time..

We’re still dealing with wars. We’re still dealing with division. There is cancer, starvation, poverty. There is natural disaster after natural disaster. No one seems safe. There is death, there is fear everywhere. 

We may even ask—“Who knows what the future holds? It is too dark to see the pathway out! Maybe the night is too long and too strong, and we are just journeying to a grave.”

This is exactly what the women in our text were doing. They are journeying to a grave.

They are broken. Their hearts are heavy. Their eye-sockets are sore. Their eyes are red. Their eyelids are swollen. Their voices are hoarse.

And They know what the future holds for them… It holds the dead body of their Lord—the one they loved. 

The One in whom they had placed their hope to save them.

The One they thought would break through the darkness. Instead. They saw Him suffer. They saw Him bleed out. They witnessed Him struggle to breathe until He breathe his last—They were there.

They watched Joseph of Arimathea  un-nail, un fasten His body from the cross and gently carry Him down.

They trailed behind him and Nicodemous and watched so closely as they laid Him in the tomb.

The women were there. 

Their Hope was dead in the grave. The fight was over, the night had won.

They know what this means for them. More Roman oppression, more death.

They’re pretty sure that the Roman guards will keep them from mourning and caring for Jesus’ body, but they go. They go anyway. 

The women—They stayed at the cross, last to leave, the first to show up. The other gospels say they started making their trip while it was still dark. 

No street lights, just lanterns, here they go because they are faithful. 

Wow… and did God ever reward their faithfulness! 

Verse 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.”

So the earthquake didn’t dislodge the stone. The earth rumbling didn’t jiggle that big stone out of place.

No. The Angel did it. The angel did what no one human being could do.

And don’t you love it—He hops on top of it and sits on it. 

It’s almost an act of defiance. Remember, the guards had sealed the tomb—that meant a sure death to anyone who disturbed the scene. 

The Angel was majestic—brilliant white. Sometimes we get the idea in our heads that angels are delicate and dainty little beings that fly around strumming harps. 

No, this Angel from Heaven was massive. Strong and His countenance and His clothing were brilliant. Reminds me of the Transfiguration. 

Those big bad soldiers were so scared. They shook. They fell out.

They froze, they were so scared they couldn’t move a muscle or do anything but basically pass out. 

The Roman soldiers were helpless to stop God’s divine will!

Do you see that?

Remember- they didn’t “take Jesus’ life. He gave it—it was the Father’s will. But now—Wow!

Notice the angel didn’t even address those guys.

The women were afraid too, but at least they aren’t on the ground curled up in a ball, right. Ha

So the angel says, Hey- it’s alright. Don’t be afraid. I know you’re here looking for Jesus who was crucified.

I can just picture them nodding their heads.

“He is not here. He is risen, JUST as He said.” The angel is jarring their memory—He said He was going to rise, remember? 

They must have looked confused. Maybe dazed. Maybe they wondering if this was too good to be true. 

And then the angel says, Hey- come on, and I’ll show you where He was.

Here’s the thing—the Angel didn’t appear to move the stone to let Jesus out. He came to let people in. Jesus had already risen and left.

“Nothing could hold Him in—not even a sealed tomb. The stone wasn’t an obstacle for Jesus; it was a sign for us.”

The angel wants to make sure they understand that this was a PHYSICAL resurrection, not a spiritual one. 

No wonder those guards shook with fear. It was not possible for anyone to get out—but wah, lah, the stone is rolled away, and Jesus is GONE!

The tomb is EMPTY!

Can you imagine how those women felt? Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Wow! What glory! What power! It must have been overwhelming.

The Roman crucifixion failed. The Roman Empire that seemed all encompassing is NOTHING compared to the power of God. 

Don’t miss the significance of this! This is the NEW DAWN breaking in. How beautiful is the Light! 

The women came expecting to find a lifeless, sill, mortally- wounded-dead body in a grave, but instead, they found life, not death. 

They found that the night did not last and the dawn had arrived. 

Pause…

But did you notice, they didn’t just stick around at the grave, but the angel told them to go spread the good news.

I could camp out here for a long time this morning. I won’t—but I will say this.

During that day and time, women were not considered credible witnesses in a court. That was a thing in both Jewish and Roman law.

Both normally regarded a woman’s testimony as of limited value, treating women as unstable.

Do you see it? God entrusted the most important story of all time to the least likely. 

Again- this is what marks our faith. If there isn’t a resurrection—we’ve got nothing at all!

God entrusted the most important story of all time to the least likely.

He makes a habit of that doesn’t He? 

We talked about during Advent. The angels appeard first to SHEPHERDS—considered by society as shady—unworthy.

If you feel too unworthy to be used of God—think again!

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

I imagine- adrenaline rush..shaky legs…excited voices, shaking hands, smiles and tears.

And then Suddenly….

Don’t you love that word? Suddenly. Out of nowhere. When they least expected it. Just like that— Suddenly Jesus Himself—the Risen Christ met them. 

He didn’t have to do that, did He? They got the Good News. They got the instructions. They were on the way to doing what the angel told them to do, and Suddenly, Jesus met them.

There they stood—face to face, eye to eye. Again—this is the Resurrected Jesus…

To really understand this, we have to understand that Jesus was all the way dead—this was not a revived, recovering from His injuries kind of Jesus. 

The last time that had seen Him, He was unrecognizable. Beaten to a pulp- bloody, bruised, swollen, dirty, sweaty, skin torn, flesh exposed…

But now— Air had rushed back into His lungs, His heart beating again. He was Glorified, sporting this resurrected body. 

Here they are face to face. Jesus says, “Greetings.” 

That’s kind of like saying, “Good Morning.” And they just collapse at His feet. It’s like they grab Him by the ankles and won’t let go. They’re worshiping.

Jesus says, Hey- it’s alright! Everything’s okay… “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  Galilee… Jesus is going to exit the city of Jerusalem.

Remember last week I mentioned how He entered the city empty handed and armed only with a heart full of love?

Of course, that had been the plan all along, but it seems fear and grief wiped that right out of their minds. 

So Jesus tells them to go and tell.

They can’t stay there because the story isn’t over. (Pause)

I’m going to say that again—they can’t stay there because the story isn’t over!

They are told to go because the Resurrection is just the beginning.

And this is what I mean by that:

It is dawn on the first day of the week, and God is just starting God’s work.

Just as in Genesis where God’s work of creation was just beginning with the light breaking into the waters of chaos, so now it’s with the NEW CREATION.

God’s work of renewal is just beginning.

NT Wright refers to the resurrection as “New Creation on the loose!”

The LIGHT is still spreading! It is shining on the depths of the unknown and bringing redemption and healing to the darkest places of our world.

The fight is over, and the sun has won!

It can’t be stopped now, because the Dawn has broken in. The Light is spreading.

How beautiful is the Light?

The question is, Will we join in?

Will we be witnesses to the New Dawn?

Will we proclaim hope where others only see death?

Will we live as those with hope?

Or will we too be ruled by our fear of the dark?

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Christ is victorious. Jesus conquered the enemy— the real enemies of sin and death. Love won and love still wins the day every single time!

The New Dawn is here… and you know— there is going to be another “Suddenly.”

There will be a “Suddenly” when Jesus returns and we meet Him face to face. He will bring to completion this work that was started at the Resurrection.

Jesus is Risen, the Morning Light of New Creation has broken.

How Beautiful is the Light!

In fact, everything about Jesus is beautiful. This story is beautiful.

His becoming flesh when He entered the world is beautiful. His life, and death—beautiful. His resurrection beautiful. Even His name is beautiful.

As we let this story sink in this morning—what is our response?

I don’t know about you, but my heart aligns with the hearts of those women. I just want to worship.

Worship with me.

I have the lyrics on the back of the prayer list in the bulletin.

Sing with me, worship with me. If you want to come kneel and worship at the altar- come on.

If you want to stand, that’s fine. Worship however, but can we worship the Risen Christ today. Is He not worthy?

Worship is the only proper response on this beautiful Easter Sunday morning.

Church—the night is over. The dawn has come. How Beautiful is the Light. Christ is risen.”

Bendiction- May the light of the risen Christ shine upon you— the light that overcame the darkness and brings life to the world.

Go now as people of the light, filled with His hope, peace, and joy, reflecting His love wherever you go.

And may the blessing of the risen Savior— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— be with you now and always.

Amen.