The Resurrection of our Lord: Gospel, Matthew 28:1-10        

Matthew 28:1-10

He is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! It always feels good and sounds good to say and hear “Alleluia” after the Lenten season without it. In our tradition, we put away our alleluias for those sober and hopeful days. And the celebration of our Lord’s victory over death and the grave serves always as the most fitting prelude to the sound. But I digress.

The question for so many at this annual festival is this: did Jesus really rise from the dead? I love Matthew’s narrative. The dear and faithful female friends of Jesus are on the way to the tomb to further dress the body of Jesus for burial, having had their work interrupted by sundown on the Sabbath just days before. Now they could finish their devotion to their Master. But an angel sent from heaven preceded their arrival by rolling away the heavy stone and taking his seat for observation. Now, the guards. Here’s what Matthew records:

“And the guards shook for fear of him,  and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4).

A certain understanding of the stone rolled away is that it was done, not so Jesus could get out, but that people could enter and see the vacancy. Jesus was raised, stepped from his tomb and the event created “dead men” of the highly trained and lethal guards. Interestingly, it is noteworthy here and in several places in the New Testament that the greatest testimony to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus is given by those who stood to lose the most by admitting it. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Just ask the guards.