Rev. Tatiana Cantarella

Isaiah 25:6-9; Romans 6:3–11; Colossians 3:1-4

Matthew 28:1-20

"Entering the tomb casts away the fear"

In "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" war comes to Gondor. The city is surrounded by an evil army of Mordor. All seems to be lost; all is leading to the death of all its residents. Peppin comes to Gandalf in despair. He is scared of the coming battle and tells Gandalf that he is afraid to die. Gandalf, leaning back in his chair, encourages Peppin: "It’s not the end of our path. Death is just one of the ways by which we all must pass", " the gray world in which we live will part, revealing to us the silver clouds and then you will see." Peppin was anxious: "see what, Gandalf, what will I see?" Gandalf gazing into the distance continues: "The white sandy beaches, green meadows and magnificent sunrise. Peppin thoughtfully: "Yes, it's not so bad ..." "Not bad at all " - agrees Gandalf.

This week we read the scriptures about the last days of Christ that led him to a horrible death. But where this Gospel story ends the life of a Christian faith begins – it begins with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ which declares that death is not the end but the way in which we all must pass in order to live. The story of the resurrection of Christ is very familiar to us all, which can be both good and bad. Bad, because we tend to ignore the all too familiar words to us - we "hear" their sounds, but they do not go beyond our eardrums. And sometimes the words "Christ is risen", (as joyful they make us fill when we say them) do not bring us lasting joy because in the face of the rampant death and pain we find ourselves unable to trust God with our whole heart, day after day. It is very difficult to remember that there is light, when there seems to be nothing but darkness around.

The women who had come to the tomb that first morning knew that sense of disappointment. Like all of Christ's disciples they could have said: "I thought that Christ was the one whom we have been waiting for!" They thought that he really came from God but how could God let him get killed? He almost convinced us to look at the world and life through His eyes. But now what? We have left everything to follow Him and how should we live now? Can we just return home and admit that we were wrong about that failed Messiah named Jesus? Women came to the tomb with the ointments expecting to find the already decaying body and to give him last respects but instead they found no dead body and the presence of the living Jesus whom they knew and loved, the presence of the One who would once again give them the most frequent commandment: "Do not be afraid!"

And the first thing that Matthew tells us was how the stone was rolled away from the tomb. Not so Jesus could come out but so that we are could enter in! Remember how many times after his resurrection Jesus came to his disciples when they were hiding behind closed doors? None of the closed doors were an obstacle for Jesus, he went right through. But when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb, it was then that  "a great earthquake happened: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it" (28:2). The stone was rolled away from the already empty tomb.

Curious human minds have always sought to pick into the dark depths of death but the afterlife has always remained a mystery. How many times have people tried to understand what is there beyond the threshold of death, how many stories went around about people’s experiences at the moment of death. But death has always kept its secret, mocked us, leaving us in ignorance. The grave has always been the "dead end" of all our efforts to get a glimpse into what awaits us beyond this life, and this has always bread fear. But the angel said to these women who were the first ones to come to the tomb that morning, "Do not be afraid, for I know that ye seek Jesus who was crucified, He is not here - he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay "(28:5-6).

Easter rolls away the stone for us so that we can enter into the mystery of death, and it changes the tomb from a "dead end” into a "tunnel” - allowing us to get a glimpse into the heart of eternity and see the holy heart of God, His love and life that He desires to give us now, and not just then, on the other side of the tomb. God rolled the stone away to let us come and see that all the promises of Christ are true!

And, secondly, the tomb was not completely empty. Yes, the body of Christ was not there, but there was an angel - God's messenger who replaced the shock of the women into words of hope that we have heard today: "Look, He is not here, He is risen. " And then, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell His disciples that He was resurrected from the dead and precedes you in Galilee: there shall ye see him." If women looked in the tomb that Sunday morning and saw it completely empty and silent, then our belief in the resurrection would be based only on human reasoning, guesses or assumptions. But, no! Our faith is based on God's holy promise given by Christ before His death, and the message of God given through an angel on that Easter morning. The same word that sounded at the empty tomb of Christ that morning continues to echo in the midst of the emptiness of this world today. "He is risen!" The tomb became a fanfare that proclaims the victory of life over death, and the presence of Christ and His doing in the world today.

And one more very important thing - because of the resurrection of Christ we can turn our backs on death already in this life. Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary heard the voice of an angel saying: "He is risen!" and turned around and left the tomb behind "with great joy, " as they ran to tell all the disciples. Christ was buried but death did not defeat him. Death could not hold him back and thanks to him - death cannot keep us in the bondage of fear as well.

But someone might way: "but how is that then – if Christ has conquered death that death brings people down all around us? He conquered the hell but at times it seems that new and ever more terrible darkness rises from the depths of hell... How can we turn our backs on death?" We have to remember though that there are different types of "deaths”. Sometimes it is physical death but there is an even more terrible death: one’s separation that is final, eternal and unstoppable. It is this death was the experience of all of mankind before the coming of Christ. Having lost God as the source of one’s life, humanity was dying not only physically but departed decisively and eternally from the fellowship with God. Dying without God, people were remaining dead without Him forever. This has been taken care of forever by the death of Christ, although we continue to see physical death all around us. That is why Christians have called physical death – "falling asleep”. Therefore, those who die in Christ do not go into the abyss of despair and God-forsakenness but go to be with God who loves us so much that He gave His only beloved Son so that we would believe in His love.

Physical death will still come to us all sooner or later. And for those who believe that life is just about what we see here and now, the finality of death has always been and will be a source of fear. But for those who believe in the victory of God the answer to fear is God's peace that nothing and nobody can take away. Pagan rulers were always amazed by the courage of Christian martyrs who were not afraid of what could happen to them because they knew: death is not the end of life but only a door to eternity. When Pastor Robinson was to become a bishop in one region of the United States (Episcopalian Church), he began to receive threatening notes. The church has made all the necessary security measures, his blood type was identified in case of wounding, and his family was very worried about his safety. But he told them: "You know, there are things far more terrible than death. Some people never lived - and this is the most horrible death. And even if something will happen to me, remember that God who loved me all my life would continue to love me and I'll die doing something I believe with all of my heart. " Then he wrote: "wearing a bulletproof vest and preparing for ordination to the ministry I sensed an amazing peace whatever might happen. Not because I was brave but because God is good and He has overcome death so that I should not have to live in fear any more!"

That's the power of the resurrection - not just a hope for some sort of afterlife that awaits us in the future but the strength to live and serve God here and now. One who understands that heaven is their home live fearlessly on earth knowing that whatever happens to them here, when earthly life comes to an end, they will abide in eternal home of the loving and forgiving God who is waiting for them. But the main question Easter answers is not so much that there is something after death but that Christ gives life even before death. Christ is risen and it means that we are no longer hostages of fear of death. We know the end of the story - God reigns, death is defeated and we have been given a new life, an eternal life in the presence of a merciful and loving God already hear and now.

But it is sad that more than half the people that fill churches and cathedrals today will not show up there next Easter. For the most part because they have not looked into the empty tomb to see and hear what the women saw and heard and thus they continue to live in fear. As we have seen, the fear was the first reaction to the resurrection of Christ. Soldiers guarding the tomb were paralyzed with fear when the earthquake rolled back the stone and they fell down as dead as that body, which they had to guard. But their fear did not turn into faith and joy. They continued to lie about what they saw. Even now fear paralyzes many people, blinding them to the light of truth. Therefore, many, repeat the words of Easter: "Christ is risen, but going out of the church doors they continue to exist as if the resurrection never happened and as if there can be no new life.

Women also were afraid of what they saw but the words of the angel brings us back to the beginning of the gospel, when the angel told Joseph not to fear, but to take Mary as his wife because out of her womb will be born the one who will save his people. And then the crucified Jesus came out alive from the tomb. And the fear of these women turned into joy because they sensed that God had touched their lives in special and mysterious way. The fear was gone, and only joy remained.

The resurrection of Christ destroys fear that enslaves people and keeps them in sin. It is fear that drives people to sin, which then destroys them. Out of fear of loneliness men enter into inappropriate intimate relationships, and then end up with a broken heart. Out of fear of being rejected by others people lie, and lie must cover another lie - and people choke themselves with their own lie nets. Out of fear of not earning enough money to be on top in the eyes of others, people worship the gods and values of this world, and never find one day in a week to worship the Lord God who gives them everything they have. Fear, sin and death always go together. But now that Christ has risen from the dead and conquered and sin and death and fear, he is freeing us so that we can live differently, even in this world, which is still full of death. After all, Easter is not just a happy ending of a tragic history but the power of the Good News about an event that happened once in a history of the world and because of which the world can no longer be the same.

In "Salome" by Oscar Wilde there is a scene where King Herod gets a report that Jesus raised the dead. "I do not wish him to do that” - says Herod. " You must find this man and tell him that I forbid him to resurrect the dead." This is a reaction of a tyrant who felt that his authority was shaken. But a similar tone is heard not only in the words of politicians who want to ravage the world for their own purposes but also in the words of any person who denies the resurrection. Yet later in the Wilde’s play come very significant words that could pose a great crisis for both Herod and for each of us: "Where is this man?" - asks Herod. "He's everywhere, our king, - you meet him everywhere - but it’s hard to find him." Resurrection changes everything it does not allow to live just like before.

But as Ludwig Wittgenstein said: "Only love can believe in the resurrection."  After all, those who love and believe in the risen Christ and live accordingly, can never (thank God!) be the same as before! We all know fear but will it continue to throw us off as it did the soldiers who were guarding the tomb, or will we look into the empty tomb today and hear: "Be not afraid", "Live", "God has raised you with Christ so strive for heavenly things and not for earthly things. Because you died and your life is now hidden in God with Christ. He is - your life!" (Col 3:1-4a)