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He has risen
I don’t know about you, but a lot of times I find myself praying without a lot of hope. It seems like a lot of times my prayers go unanswered…I even become afraid to pray for big things, secretly worried that God won’t fulfill my requests. What a faithless attitude!
I imagine the women who went to visit Jesus’ tomb had a similar lack of faith. They had just seen Him crucified. They fully expected to show up at the tomb and find Him still dead.
What a surprise it must have been to find an angel who said, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:5-6). This must have caught them totally off guard. Despite the fact that Jesus had said He would rise again (as the angel pointed out), the women hadn’t understood or believed a word of it.
I’m afraid to admit that sometimes, my prayers are raised to a dead God. I don’t see Jesus as alive—as He really is! I forget that He is risen and that He is at the right hand of the Father, victorious over sin and death, the firstborn from among the dead, and the righteous Judge over all the earth. The angel challenges me, “Come, see the place where he lay” (v. 6). Jesus is no longer dead. He is alive!
I thank God that He has mercy on us despite our lack of faith. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus.” The Lord said, “Seek, and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). God honors a heart that earnestly seeks Him even in weakness. Jesus says to us, “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10). He knows and understands our weakness, and His mercy comes new and fresh every morning.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).
Good news and bad news
After going through the four gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, I’m now going back and reading the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. I began in Matthew yesterday. Matthew draws a contrast between the response of the women and the response of the guards to the resurrection (this is the only gospel where the guards are mentioned):
Matthew 28:1-5
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
To the guards, the angel was someone to be terrified of — he stood in opposition to them. They were so afraid that they fainted. But to the women, the angel said, “Do not be afraid.” He was there to bring them good news.
In vv. 11-15, the guards got up and went to the chief priests and elders, who proceeded to cover up the resurrection. To Jesus’ enemies, the resurrection was bad news. It confirmed His claim to be the Son of God, the Messiah, and the King of Israel. But to the women, this message brought “fear and great joy” (v. 8).
Jesus’ resurrection isn’t good news for everyone. For those who oppose Him, it is the worst of news. It means that He has risen and conquered death. But to us, it is the best news there could be. Because our Savior overcame the grave, we too have the hope of eternal life spent in His presence.
From top to bottom
Here is an interesting parallel between a couple of gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion:
“But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be’” (John 19:23-24).
“And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 15:38).
I doubt there’s much significance in this since neither author tries to draw this parallel. But I thought it was interesting anyway.
Forsaken by God
When we’re going through hard times, it’s easy to question God’s love for us. I can’t imagine what it felt like for Jesus when the people around His cross began to taunt him, insisting that God didn’t care about Him:
Mathew 27:41-44
41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
When even the robbers crucified next to you are mocking you, how can you escape from the conclusion that God doesn’t love you? The hurt and shame must have been unbearable for Jesus. I think that if I saw Him on the cross like the mockers did, I might agree with them that God didn’t want to deliver Jesus and God didn’t desire Him. “Where is your God?” I might ask Him (Psalm 42:10).
So it’s no wonder Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). When God turned His back on Jesus Christ, our Savior experienced shame, anguish, and suffering that we will never face.
