“Fear and Joy”
April 5, 2026
Rev. Rebecca Migliore
Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed! That is how we experience Easter Sunday. The flowers. The bright colors. The shouts of joy. But it was different on that first Easter. In Matthew, Mary Magdelene and the other Mary have last been seen, sitting opposite the tomb. They have witnessed it all. The crucifixion, the taking down of the body (and it passing into Pilate’s hands), and then Joseph of Arimathea getting the body from Pilate and bringing it to his new tomb, wrapping it in a clean cloth, and sealing the tomb with a great stone.
We don’t know how long these women stayed at that sealed tomb entrance. But at some time, probably exhausted from grief, they had trudged to wherever they were staying, and fell into a troubled sleep. What a long day the next day had been. It was the sabbath. But probably they had done everything by rote—just putting one foot in front of the other. Prayers, Food, the “what if” conversations, more sleep. And then, as the day was dawning, they returned, “to see the tomb.”
Maybe it was one of those things that you have to do to prove that it is really true. That Jesus was really gone. I can’t imagine what they thought they were going to accomplish. Sit there opposite the sealed entrance? Did they bring spices hoping someone would roll away the stone and let them perfume the body? There certainly wasn’t any joy in that walk. I’m sure there was a deep ache, a sadness that you can’t shake, a hopelessness about all that has been lost.
And then, the whole world erupted. There was a great earthquake. The actual ground shook, tilted, maybe even cracked open. Talk about fear. What was happening? Were they going to be swallowed up by the yawing earth? Were they going to survive? Maybe they even had a moment’s thought—well, finally, God is making God’s anger felt about the horrible events of the past few days!
And then, they realized that the earthquake was because an angel, an angel of the Lord was descending from heaven! Holy terror!
And this dazzlingly bright angel got near, and rolled away the stone and sat on it! Did thoughts of the stories they had heard of the day Jesus was transfigured come to mind? Or were they paralyzed with fear (as Peter and James and John had been)? We think of angels as these sweet little cherubs—but in scripture angels always elicit fear. They are forever saying, “Do not be afraid.” The guards who were there, stationed so that no one could try and steal the body away and then claim Jesus was raised from the dead, were so fearful that they shook and became like dead men.
But the angel turned to the women, and said, “Do not be afraid.” I doubt that quelled their fear. But then the incredible news. This angel knew they were looking for Jesus, the one who was crucified. This angel said that Jesus was not there—that he had been raised, as he had told them. Come, look for yourselves. See the place where he lay—where you last saw him. Come see that he isn’t there anymore. But don’t stay too long. Don’t go looking for him. You have to go to the other disciples. Tell them what you have seen and heard. Tell them that he is risen! Tell them that Jesus is going ahead to Galilee. Tell them that they will see him there. And the final words: “This is my message to you.”
Can you imagine? Fear and great joy intermingled. How could this be happening? But he said that it would! How could we have believed it was actually true? But didn’t we witness the power of God working through him? Didn’t we believe he was the Messiah, the Son of David, the One who comes in the name of the Lord? Quick, let’s look. He’s not here! Quick, let’s run and tell the others. Will they believe us? They have to! I don’t know what to think, I don’t know what to feel? My body is still shaking from being face to face with an angel! Did you ever expect to see one of those? And what he said. Risen from the dead! Going to Galilee. That we will see him there. C’mon, let’s run!
And then—then, they couldn’t believe their eyes—their hearts took a studder step—Jesus. Right there before them. Jesus meeting them on the path, Jesus holding out his hands, Jesus, looking so real, looking like he always did, Jesus saying “Greetings!” as he always did, as if he had never been dead, never been gone from their lives.
Fear mingled with joy. Was this really happening? Was this real? And they went to him—partly shy, partly rushing, and they fell down before him, and took hold of his feet—they could feel his feet—he wasn’t a ghost!, and they worshipped him, with fear and joy.
I had a rush of feelings, of questions, as I mused on this passage. And one of them was, “Who got it wrong? The angel or Jesus?” The angel definitely says, Go tell the disciples that Jesus has gone ahead of you to Galilee—you will see him there. But, Jesus shows up on the way to tell the disciples! It’s as if the grand plan was “tell the women, to go tell the disciples, and they can all meet up in Galilee—the home base, a good place to gather them all and a good way away from the dangerous Jerusalem.” It sounds like a good plan. But Jesus couldn’t wait.
Jesus couldn’t wait for the heavenly plan. Jesus knew, in his human bones, how much those women would be longing to see him, to touch him, to really know that he was risen, he was alive again. And maybe Jesus too couldn’t wait. Maybe he also had that ache to be reunited with those he had spent a lifetime with. And here in Matthew (unlike in John), here we are told that the women take hold of his feet as if they will never let him go. We aren’t told what state Jesus was in—were there wounds in those feet? Were they now whole? It doesn’t seem to matter to the writer of the gospel of Matthew. Or maybe in fear and great joy, the women couldn’t remember details like that—they were so overwhelmed. What was important was that Jesus was alive. Jesus was risen! As he had told them. It hadn’t been a dream—the earthquake and the angel and the message from the angel! It was true. It was real. They had seen him with their own eyes. They had held him with their own hands. Did their tears wet his feet? Did they try to tell him all they were feeling? Did they say, “You have to come with us. Everyone will want to see you, touch you. They won’t believe us otherwise!” Did they try to pull him the way they were going?
But Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.” For fear was still mixed with joy. Do not be afraid that they will laugh at you. Do not be afraid that they will not believe you. Do not be afraid of the authorities. Do not be afraid.
“Go tell the others, my brothers and sisters, my family in the faith, to go to Galilee. There they will see me too.” The heavenly plan was back on track.
What are we to make of this version of the Easter story? What are we to hear from its rush of emotion, its expansive reach?—there was an earthquake that happened when Jesus died, and an earthquake that happened when the angel landed and announcing his resurrection! What are we to feel—fear or joy or both mixed together? Here are two of my thoughts.
Easter is not a simple tale. It is not a bunny showing up with chocolate eggs to make everyone happy. Easter is a complicated, mysterious, awesome tale. It should engender all kinds of emotions. Fear, doubt, wonder, joy, hesitancy, motion, excitement, I could go on and on. Matthew has caught some of the rush, some of the power, some of the scariness, some of what must have been an unbelievable time in these women’s lives. And when I think of it, that is what we hear about whenever people come in close contact with God. Maybe that has happened to you. Maybe someone has told you about their own experience. Maybe it was quieter or more serene or more of a feeling than a sensation. Maybe it lasted for a moment, a glimmer, so quick you wonder if it happened at all. Easter is like that, all of that. Easter is a moment when we celebrate that God wants to be in relationship with us. Easter is a time to celebrate that God is more in control of this world than we can even imagine, and in ways that we cannot understand. Easter is the foretaste of God’s plan for all of us.
The other thought I had was that of course Jesus wouldn’t wait until they got to Galilee. Of course he would meet them on the way—as he does in other gospels. And of course, that wasn’t Jesus going rogue, that was Jesus understanding God’s plan more than even the angels did. For God’s plan was that we see and hear and touch and be with God, in the flesh—and Jesus was God Incarnate. God’s message of love, God’s message of how we are to enact the love we were created to be, had been preached ever since humans could speak. But somehow, it wasn’t enough. Somehow, we got it wrong, we forgot, we mangled it into laws and rules and petty hierarchies.
Jesus was the message face to face. And so, when it came time for resurrection, Jesus couldn’t wait for Galilee. Jesus met them where they were, in their fear and joy. Because that is what love does. And that is what Matthew’s gospel is saying to us now. See how God works in this world? Don’t be constrained by whatever plan has been devised. Love meets us before we expect it. Love meets us wherever we are. Love meets us despite our fear and even in our joy. That is the game plan. Follow me.
You too can love like that. You too, even in your fear and your joy, can move towards others. You too can find them on the road. You too can greet them. You too can be part of the resurrection. What an awesome thing—with fear and great joy, let us answer the call. May it be so, Alleluia, Amen.
|