Christ Arose: Responding to the Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8)

“Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His foes” – Robert Lowry 💪

Dear cold corpse,

Do you want to warm yourself under the bright sun? Do you want a reason to get up and run? Ever since sin came to this world, all are dead people walking until they have the Life.

Through a lesson material, I was asked by my student what my favorite holidays were. I’m an English tutor, and this student chose to study a conversation lesson on holidays. Anyway, I said that Christmas was my favorite and Easter was my second favorite. If he had asked why I like Christmas the most, my answer would be "It's because of Easter." Say what now? I wouldn't tell him that because he wouldn't understand. I don't think he's Christian because at first he thought Easter was Halloween.

He did ask, though, again through the material, why I like Easter. I said it's because it celebrates life. If we were just having a conversation and not a lesson, I would have elaborated on what life I'm talking about. It's the life that puts “the life” in “This is the life!” It’s the abundant flowing stream of love and joy that satisfies. It's living water brought by the Way, the Truth, the Life Himself, Jesus Christ.

I wouldn’t say it poetically like that, though. I would say, “The life I’m talking about is one that’s eternal, one that’s meaningful, one that gives me worth. It’s the new life Jesus Christ gives to those who believe in Him.”

From being the walking dead, we who accepted Christ are now running a race vigorously, more in the sense of being competent in life rather than being competitive. There was literal running involved on the day Christ resurrected. Let’s take a look at Matthew’s account.

Matthew 28:1-8 (NASB)

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. ² And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. ³ And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ The guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵ And the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

⁸ And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report to His disciples.

This story is action-packed. The earth quakes. An angel descends and rolls a huge stone. The guards shake and faint. The women come and get frightened seeing the open tomb and men bright as lightning. The angel reports the best news ever to them. They run off to tell the disciples.

I’d like us to reflect on four verbs the angel told the women to do in response to announcing that Jesus has risen.

1. Come

In verse 6, the angel commanded the women to come and see the place where Jesus was laid. I’d like to separate those two actions, for they are in fact two different verbs. You come near first, and then you see. We have to come to the truth. The women went to the said place not just because they were told to but because they were really looking for Jesus. He wasn’t there, but they had to come to see that.

This is how we have eternal life. We come to Christ. The first thing is actually hearing about Him, but coming is the first step we take on our own. Growing up from a Christian family, I have always known about Jesus. I prayed to Him as a little girl. That’s how I started coming to Him. For others, it could be that they have happened to be invited to come to church or they have randomly come to watch a Christian video. Maybe you were brought to this page and have come this far reading. People come to things for something. My young self prayed for support, and I’ll be doing that for life. Churchgoers come to listen to preachings. Web surfers come to the Internet to consume content. Coming starts with a want, whether it’s you or someone else who wants you there.

Christ wants you to come to Him, “all you who are weary and burdened” (Matthew 11:28), you who are thirsty and who have no money (Isaiah 55:1), you who want to go to the right place to be. Come to the Way, to Jesus Christ who saves the day.

James 4:8 says, “Come close to God and He will come close to you.” Having a relationship with God is the most important thing, as Jesus told Martha, “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part” (Luke 10:42, NRSV). Martha was busy being the best hostess, which is a good thing, but Mary coming to Jesus and sitting at His feet to listen to Him is better and is actually the most essential.

2. See

Once we come to Him, we see His truth. The women saw that Jesus wasn’t where He was laid, showing He has risen. Without even seeing Him in the flesh, they hurried to tell the disciples. As they were running, they met Jesus. Here we read of faith that was granted visible proof. They believed He’s risen without seeing, and then He appeared to them. They’re already in the “go” part actually, but they continue to see even as they go.

Let’s rewind to the first “see” part when they haven’t gone yet. They just saw an empty tomb. That could imply a number of possibilities. That wasn’t what they only saw, though. They saw two angels according to two gospel accounts (Luke 24:4; John 20:12). In our passage, Matthew only talked about the one who rolled the stone and proclaimed the resurrection. He didn’t say there was only one. The angels were described as something like gleaming lightning. There are instances in the Old Testament when an angel or more appear to people, so it’s easy to trust them. With all the miracles Jesus did, including Lazarus’ resurrection, how can they not believe what the angel was telling them?

We have the Bible to tell us that these things have indeed happened, but how do we know it’s true? We have the faith that’s passed on from generation to generation. Let me be the example. My family is Christian, so I became one, too. They follow God’s law of love, and that, too, I do. I came to feel His mercy personally when from the bondage of sin, I was set free. His love is unique to every eye. Each sees it’s intimate for it’s for every single one He died.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8). See the Truth, Jesus Christ who spoke not to be smooth. His Word is sharper than a sword. It makes us see how things are supposed to be.

3. Go

“Go” might seem the same as “come” in the sense that they mean to move toward a place, but they’re different. When I tell you to come, I mean for you to walk toward me. When I tell you to go, I mean for you to walk away from me.

The angel tells the women in verse 7 to “go quickly” to tell the disciples the good news. The reflection for us here is to go out of our way to reach out to others. This is the purpose of The Rhyming Epistles. I made this blog to share Jesus to the world in a way that I’m able. It takes part of my time. It takes part of my health because last month I got dizzy a lot because of my eyes, which made me unable to work. That means it has also taken part of my income. I just want to show that some sacrifices come in sharing the gospel. It’s not love when you don’t give yourself away.

Jesus asked after telling the story of the Good Samaritan, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” The lawyer answered, “He who showed mercy on him.” Jesus replied, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)

Go and follow the Life, Jesus Christ who treats humanity as His wife. He died for all, so who are we to not give our lives back faithfully?

4. Tell

It’s the duty of Christ’s followers to spread the gospel. It’s natural for people to witness something marvelous that they just have to tell. When it comes to evangelizing, telling does come after going because you can’t just tell people to believe what you believe without going out of your way to show you care about them.

In Luke’s account, it says the apostles didn’t believe the women’s news. This could be how people will respond to us when we share about Jesus to them. We are not to force people, but to just tell them and also pray for them.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:-19-20)

Tell the world to come to the Way, see the Truth, and go follow the Life. Tell the people around you about Jesus Christ.

To you who are stuck in the cold, warm yourselves by coming to the Light. To you who are dead in transgression, rise up to new life! Come to Jesus. See how He renews you. Go reach your neighbor. Tell them in Christ you’re new.

Happy Easter!

With love,

Celina <3