ON CENTER STAGE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. 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.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” He said. They came to Him, clasped his feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me.”

Matthew 28:1-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

My wife and I have been to quite a few concerts over the last nearly 25 years together. They all typically have the same format. There is one stage and a series of performers will play and sing on it, each one a little more prominent than the one before until you get to the main event, the performer who has the top billing and the one everyone has usually come to see the most.

Well, as we look at the scene unfold at the tomb on the morning of Resurrection Sunday, we find a series of people take center stage with the best coming last. Look at the opening ten verses from Chapter 28 of the Gospel of Matthew:

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. 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.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” He said. They came to Him, clasped his feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me.”  Matthew 28:1-10

As the curtain goes up at sunrise after the Sabbath, the dawning of the first day of the week, we find a group of women taking center stage. Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (Mary, the mother of Joses and James) were counted in the number. Mark adds Salome and if you look at Luke, you’ll see him add a woman by the name of Joanna. All and all, we don’t know the exact number of women but here’s what we do know and this is an important reason why they were opened up the resurrection event on center stage:

First, the women had been with Jesus during His ministry in Galilee. The twelve disciples usually were the ones who got all the attention in the scriptures as we look at the travels and ministry work of Jesus but we can’t lose sight that there was a group of women in their company as well, women who tended to Jesus’ needs and were present during much of His teachings. In fact, as we will soon see, they were with Jesus when He prophesied about His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. More on that in a moment.

Second, the women were present at Jesus’ crucifixion, watching Him suffer and die at a distance. Jesus’ remaining eleven chosen disciples weren’t there with the exception of John, the disciple who the scriptures tell us Jesus loved, the disciple Jesus’ entrusted with the care of His mother Mary. It was fitting that the women would be the first to go to the tomb and experience the resurrection first hand before anyone else did.

Back to our passage for today where we find the women going to the tomb, concerned about how they would get the large stone rolled away as we learn from the Gospel of Mark.  

It was time for the next event participants to take center stage.

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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The women were worried about the stone but as we see, God had a plan in mind to move it and it would have been the last thing the women would have expected. For as they got to the tomb, a “violent earthquake” struck and an “angel of the Lord” descended from heaven before “going to the tomb” and rolling back the stone where he sat. Luke’s account tell us this angel had a counterpart and both were dressed in clothing so brilliantly white that it would look like lightning or snow to the onlookers who included the women and the Roman guards, allotted by Pontius Pilate the day before to ensure no one came and took Jesus’ body, a concern carried by the Jewish chief priests and the Pharisees.

Well, as the angels took center stage, we found nothing but fear strike the eyewitnesses. The guards passed out (were like dead men) but the women were very much alert and aware of what was happening so one of the angels sought to put them at ease saying, “Do not be afraid”. He then added:

“I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. 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.”

When you look at Luke’s account, we find that the angels ask them why they were looking for living among the dead, reminding them that Jesus had predicted His death by crucifixion and subsequent resurrection when they were with Him in Galilee. And with that, the women remembered (Luke 24:5-8) what Jesus had said and set off quickly to do what the angels had told them to do, to go and tell the disciples what they had seen. The scriptures tell us that they were still frightened from what they had seen but also feeling joy as they had learned their Master was alive.

It was time for the top person to assume their place on center stage.  

For the women had no sooner started off to report to the disciples that Jesus Himself appeared before them! Indeed, He WAS alive! They could see so themselves.

Imagine how you would have felt if you were one of the women who had watched Jesus suffer and die while nailed to a cross just a few days earlier. His body was broken and lifeless then but now He was very much alive as He greeted them. His welcome as well as the mere sight of Him opened the floodgates of joy and reverence within the women who clasped His feet and brought Him their worship. If Jesus hadn’t known before how much He was beloved by these faithful ladies, He definitely knew now. For there was no doubt that He was the main person they wanted to see, the only One who would have brought such elation to them on center stage.

We get a sense Jesus didn’t want the homecoming to last too long because He had much for the women to do. We read where He dispatched them to do what the angels had asked, to do and tell the eleven disciples (referred to by Jesus as His “brothers”) to go onto Galilee where they would get to see Him themselves. And the women did just as Jesus commanded.

Today, over 2,000 years after the events of that Resurrection Day, we still come to worship our risen Savior and are left with the same overwhelming joy and devotion that the women at the tomb felt. The only difference is that we don’t go to the tomb looking for the dead when Jesus was very much alive. We know He lives and is intimately involved with every aspect of our lives as Christians as we wait for that day when He returns again to take center stage, coming from heaven to earth to claim all who placed their faith and hope in Him as Savior, and usher them into eternal life with Him and God the Father forever.

Amen.

PS: Tomorrow I will resume our study of the Old Testament book of Zechariah.

In Christ,

Mark
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