He is Risen!

The Resurrection

The Stories that Define Us

Our current series is titled “The Stories that Define Us.” It is a collection of scriptures that people from my church or who read this blog have lifted up as scriptures that define our faith in some way. Be it our identity, our foundational beliefs, our values, or some combination of these and more, these scriptures get at the core of what it means to be Christian – and they lead us to some interesting points of wrestling in our faith.

Today, we follow John’s text about God sending his only begotten son out of love for us with Matthew’s account of the Resurrection.

Matthew 28 – There is Nothing to Fear; He is Risen!

After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move.

The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.

“Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ That’s the message.”

The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. “Good morning!” he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, “You’re holding on to me for dear life! Don’t be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I’ll meet them there.”

Meanwhile, the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened. They called a meeting of the religious leaders and came up with a plan: They took a large sum of money and gave it to the soldiers, bribing them to say, “His disciples came in the night and stole the body while we were sleeping.” They assured them, “If the governor hears about your sleeping on duty, we will make sure you don’t get blamed.” The soldiers took the bribe and did as they were told. That story, cooked up in the Jewish High Council, is still going around.

Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.

Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28, MSG)

Commentary

This final chapter of Matthew’s gospel is almost cinematic in its storytelling. We can picture it in our heads: a dramatic scene where the women arrive and encounter the angel, then hurrying away when they see (and even touch!) the Risen Jesus – interrupted by this scene of the Jewish High Council plotting a rumor to keep the news of Jesus’ resurrection from spreading. All this, followed by a panoramic view of the disciples as they walk to the mountain in Galilee and then see and worship Jesus, where he gives them the Great Commission, before rising up to heaven in some way.

It’s a theatrical addition to the Resurrection Story, but this particular plot point of what the Jewish leaders may have been doing is unique to the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew wrote his gospel with a Jewish audience in mind about 40 years after Jesus’ crucifixion. Scholars sometimes say that Matthew is the ‘most Jewish Gospel’. Matthew focused so much on how Jesus fulfilled the prophetic scriptures and the Jewish law. He uses language which was holy for Jewish people at the time such as “Kingdom of Heaven.” He writes – specifically – for Jewish Christians living in and around Israel. His gospel is designed to give them answers to all the common questions they may have or receive. This addition of the rumors from the High Council is undoubtedly also included in order to give them an answer as to why they are hearing this rumor and pronounce it a lie.

Because Matthew’s goal is to communicate all the necessary theological and doctrinal connections between Jesus and the Jewish faith to his Jewish audience, he tells a condensed version of this resurrection story (aside from the vignette of the Jewish High Council). It only takes one chapter to communicate everything important.

Matthew tells us about the women who went, about the visit from this Divine Herald, then about an encounter with the risen Lord, where he makes sure to emphasize that these women, when they fell to worship Jesus, clung to him. They physically touched him, and this is really important. Matthew wants us to understand that this resurrected Jesus is tangible in the world. It’s not a ghost, a vision, a hologram, or some trick of the light. It is Jesus in a substantial body – one that can be touched, held, clung to.

This reveals something to us about the resurrection promised to us in the love, death, and resurrection of Christ. Our bodies will be made new, and these made-new bodies will be tangible – capable of touching, holding, eating, drinking, but made whole.

After this worship scene where Jesus is touched, the women are sent once more to tell the disciples to meet Jesus at Galilee. They believe and go immediately. This, too, is a deviation from what other gospels have to say. Both Luke and John include some moment of doubt from one disciple or another, but it communicates another important fact: eventually, all the disciples did believe and act on that belief.

These two things – the tangible resurrected-ness and the belief of those who originally followed Jesus are important for Matthew to communicate to his Jewish audience. These two pieces of the story give them confidence in its truth. They know Jesus wasn’t a ghost because it is written that the women touched him. They know Jesus came back, because all the disciples believed. It lended confidence to new Jewish Christians, helping them to invest in their faith.

Interestingly, Matthew makes a point of revealing how the disciples were varied in how much they had given themselves to this Jesus ministry and worship. Some fall down and worship; others do not, and this doesn’t seem to be a problem for Jesus or for Matthew.

Jesus gives the Great Commission anyway to all of them – those who fell on their knees in worship and those who stood. And of course, we know this passage best as:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus tells them to make disciples – to find and train people to wrestle with the big theological questions alongside them and who will choose to live the way they live. He tells them to baptize them in the name of the Triune God, letting the Holy Spirit come upon them. And lastly, he reminds them that though his body will ascend, he is with us always, to the end of the age.

Today’s Questions

Matthew included the passage about the Jewish High Council in order to provide confidence to his Jewish listeners, but throughout history, this passage has been used to fuel antisemitism and add hatred and disdain for Jewish communities, as though they are choosing to believe and spread something they know is a lie. We know that this is an unhealthy way to read, interpret and use this text. It spreads hate and division rather than furthering the cause of love in the world. How else might we interpret this portion of the text? What could we say if we hear someone using it for antisemitism?

Matthew makes sure to give some details of the angel’s appearance and the appearance of the resurrected Jesus. This resurrection is not supposed to resemble a zombie or Frankenstein moment, but to be a holy recreation of a body that was once alive, birthed into new life. How do you imagine resurrected bodies to look, to feel, to be? How important is this made-new ness to your faith? Is it somewhere you find hope?

Some of the disciples fall down in worship; some do not. Yet both sets receive the Great Commission. What does this mean about what it means to follow Jesus? Is Worship an important piece of belonging to Jesus? Can someone follow Jesus faithfully without worshipping him?

A Blessing for Your Week

Child of God,

On this day, may Joy and Wonder overwhelm you

May death and darkness never phase you,

May you feel no fear.

May God grant you faith to trust in God’s making new promises

Faith to – on the advice of the lowest among you – walk miles for a glimpse of Jesus

May you make disciples of yourself and those around you

As you live and wrestle with this faith some call Christianity.

Amen