Don’t Be Afraid (Easter)

Message Aim: (Easter) Jesus is alive! Jesus won victory over sin and death! Don’t be afraid!

 Sermon Title:  “Don’t Be Afraid”

Scripture:  Matthew 28:1-10

¹After 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.”

Synopsis:

 “Don’t be afraid! We hear those words repeated a number of times that first Easter Day.  The disciples are afraid and this is heightened when later in the day Jesus suddenly appears right there in front of them.  “Peace be with you!”  In today’s language, Jesus might put is like this, “There’s nothing to worry about!”  When was the last time someone said to you “Shh.  It’s all right”?  Maybe that was a long time ago for most of us.  We have grown up since then and as adults, things have become a lot more complex and words of reassurance are harder to come by and harder to trust.

Life constantly gives us plenty of reasons to be afraid. We know how the world works so we become suspicious even when we are told not to be afraid. There are so many times when fear takes a grip on our lives and when it does, it often catches us unprepared.  It might be when someone is suddenly diagnosed with an illness. We say, “That could be me – what would I do if I was faced with something like that?”

As a pastor, I’ve spent a lot of time with those who are ill and dying and with their families.  As much as I would like to say by my own authority words of reassurance and comfort, “Don’t be afraid, don’t worry – all this will go away”, I can’t.  On my own, I can’t say, “I promise everything will be okay”. I’m not alone in this. Some doctors can’t say, “Don’t be afraid.”  There is always an element of uncertainty.

When angels speak with the authority of God and when Jesus himself says, “Don’t be afraid” that’s another thing.  When these words are spoken, they don’t mean that everything will turn out perfect for us – that nothing can go wrong.  We know that even though Jesus calmed his disciples with those words, “Don’t be afraid” they still faced terrible suffering and persecution and even death.  However, Jesus words of comfort did make a difference. It changed the way the disciples faced these things.

There is only one person who can offer strength, comfort, security, hope and confidence in all the uncertainties and troubles that we have in this world, even in the face of the greatest fear of all – death, and that person is the one who has risen from the dead and walks with us on our journey through life. If we, as Christians, offer words of strength, of comfort, of assurance, to another person, we must offer them as messengers from a source greater than ourselves.  If I, as a pastor, offer words of comfort and reassurance, they cannot be my words.  I can only speak the words of the one who has the authority and power over evil and death.

We say to those who are fearful, “Don’t be afraid” because Jesus has them in his embrace and will hold them close during their time of trouble. It is the risen Christ who says, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). It is Jesus who said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1). “Don’t be afraid! I am the first and the last. I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead” (Revelation 1:18)

“Don’t be afraid.  Don’t worry.  Trust me”, Jesus is saying. “I know you and I know everything that is happening to you and I will walk beside you always and with my help and strength you will be able to endure it all.”  When it comes to our sin and the guilt that goes with it, Jesus also says to us, “Don’t be afraid”. He has conquered the power of sin to put us down and overwhelm us.  All this is saying that Easter has a flow on effect into our daily lives.

If Christ had not risen from the dead and if he were not living today as our Lord and Savior, Easter would be a frightening time. But Jesus is alive – risen from the dead and glorified.  Since his resurrection and ascension, he is now powerfully present with us whenever and wherever we might be and whatever might be happening in our lives.

Easter tells us that Jesus is alive and his presence affects us profoundly; it changes the way we view the highs and lows of life; it affects the way we view sin and sickness and death; it transforms our thinking about how we are able to cope with the things life throws our way because we no longer we think of ourselves as standing alone against all kinds of trouble; the living Christ is with me, before me, behind me, beneath me, above me.

There may be times in our lives when we don’t feel Christ’s closeness, but there is absolutely no time when he is not right there with us and in us.  There is nothing that can happen in a day when Christ will not be there to help us through the day.  The living Christ changes our world. Jesus says to you and me, “Don’t be afraid”.  The same living Lord who gave his fearful disciples strength and assurance through his presence, does the same thing for us today.

This is the joy of Easter.  This is the real celebration today.  Jesus Christ is risen today and he is really present in everything that happens in our lives.  We pray that this might become an ever-greater reality in our lives and that we might have an ever-greater trust in him when he says to us, “Don’t be afraid”.