Do not be afraid.

Matthew 28:1-10 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. ² 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. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. ⁵ The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ 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." ⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Are you afraid?

Most people seem to have their bouts with fear. Maybe that’s why this story has always amused me. The imaginary tale begins in the days of the Roman Empire. In the Coliseum, a fresh criminal was thrown to the lions. Instead of screaming at the approach of the lion, the criminal merely whispered into the lion’s ear. The crowd gasped as the animal backed off. Three more times this happened, until, out of curiosity, the criminal was pardoned. The emperor called the delivered desperado before him and asked what he had said to the lion. The criminal confessed he had whispered, “After dinner you’ll be required to say a few words.”

What are you afraid of? Those who measure such things say that 40% of our country’s people have topophobia, which is the fear of speaking in public. Or perhaps you have arachnophobia, which is the fear of spiders? Or maybe acrophobia, which is the fear of heights? Or maybe nyctophobia, which is the fear of the dark. These are very real phobias.

Or perhaps I haven’t mentioned your fear. Don’t breathe too large a sigh of relief, though. All of us are afraid of something – losing our memory to Alzheimer’s; losing the big game to an opponent; losing our home to debt; losing a good friend to a disagreement; losing our health to disease; losing our spouse or child to death.

And how do you cope with this fear? Sadly, many will allow their fear to cripple them, cause them to curl up in the fetal position, afraid to move forward with life. Others deal with their fear by masking their insecurities with outrage toward insignificant situations or lashing out at those closest to them. Still others deal with their fear by not dealing with their fear – they avoid it by not thinking about it. Fear is a very real and powerful thing, and it can be overwhelming. Fear sucks the life out of the soul! And when fear shapes our lives, safety becomes our god.

Fear may fill the world, but it doesn’t have to fill your heart! Hysteria is not from God. And Jesus doesn’t want you to live there! That’s why Jesus gives you a better way, a permanent way of confronting and coping with your fears. And that is what we are celebrating today. For Jesus has come and conquered everything that could possibly make us afraid. In the darkness of Good Friday, Jesus’ enemies tried to extinguish the Light of the world, but He is the Light no darkness can overcome! It was our sins and the sins of humanity that put Jesus on that cross, yet Jesus conquered those sins with His substitutionary death! Death had claimed its most prestigious victim with Jesus hanging dead on the Roman timbers. Yet it was by dying and then rising from the dead that allowed Jesus to defeat death once and for all – for all humanity! The devil and his demons were rejoicing around 3:00 pm in the afternoon on Good Friday because they had killed the Son of God. But all hell broke loose when Jesus walked out of the tomb on Easter dawn! The women gathered at the tomb, the disciples behind locked doors, the two disciples on the way to Emmaus – all of them were downcast, disheartened and despairing. But then Jesus appeared to them to give them joy and life eternal!

Jesus has come and faced our enemies – and defeated them! He is triumphant over the grave. Triumphant over despair. Triumphant over sins. Triumphant over darkness. Triumphant over death. Triumphant over the devil. Because He is triumphant, He has a very simple message for us – first spoken by the angel, and then repeated by Jesus Himself. It is what the message of Easter is all about: “Do not be afraid.”

Quite literally Jesus says in the Greek: “Have no phobias.” If Jesus has already defeated your greatest enemies of sin, death and the devil, then what can darkness or spiders or debt or heights or speaking in public do to you?!

You’ve probably heard people tell you plenty of times before, “Don’t be afraid.” And you’re probably thinking, “That’s easy for you to say! You’re not the one facing this!” Especially as your sweaty palms grip the safety bar as you sit beside your teenager slowly making your way to the top of the roller coaster. Especially as you pack the boxes with your children because you’ve lost your home. Especially as you hold hands with your family in the waiting room of the E.R. Especially as your clutch the tissues to dab your eyes at the funeral home.

“Don’t be afraid.” “That’s easy for you to say! You’re not the one facing this!” Except … the One saying those words to you this morning has faced all of those things. He knows our fears. He faced them, too. That’s why He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knows what it’s like to be abandoned. That’s why He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He knows our troubles. That’s why He wept at the grave of His friend, Lazarus. He knows our temptations. He wrestled with them in the desert. He knows our pain. He endured the fists, the scourge and the nails. And He knows much more than we will ever know. The full, all-out assault of Satan against Him. The weight of the world’s sins upon His shoulders. Being completely forsaken by His heavenly Father. Being utterly alone to face our enemies – with no one to help. And then, like us, facing and entering death, relying solely on faith: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” He faced it all!

Our fears enter our lives when we forget this all important fact. We become afraid when our relationships with others become more important than our relationship with Jesus Christ. We become afraid of crawling critters, bad break-ups or debilitating disease, when God is not the number one priority in our lives. We become afraid of losing everything in this world when we forget that Jesus has already won everything for us in the world to come. We become afraid of dying when we forget that Jesus has given us life eternal in His heaven. Then sin takes over our actions. The devil has control. The demons poke and taunt.

But Jesus tells you today, “Do not be afraid.” Don’t let those things plague you any longer. They are already defeated. When others say to you, “Don’t be afraid,” you might be able to brush them off. But when Jesus Christ, the Son of God and your Resurrected Redeemer, says to you, “Do not be afraid” those are not mere words. Those words are a Gospel command that carry a promise. Words filled with the power of His resurrection. Words filled with forgiveness. Words filled with victory. Words filled with authority. Words that promise us hope – and not just for the life to come, but for our lives already in the here and now. Knowing that we have a Savior who is in control. A Savior who loves us and laid down His life for us. A Savior who is risen for us and who is ruling all things for our benefit. The King who once entered Jerusalem humbly on a donkey is right now reigning at God the Father’s right hand, glorious and victorious, not just with palm branches and cloaks under His feet, but with all our enemies under His feet!  

But our greatest enemy, the devil, doesn’t like that truth very much, so he is going to try to convince you that it isn’t so. He’ll whisper in your ear, “If God is in such great control, then why are all these horrible things happening in your life?” “If Jesus loves you so much, then why is your family falling apart?” “If you’re such a great Christian, then how can you also be such a great sinner?” “Look around you,” he says. “Neither you nor Jesus look victorious. It’s all talk. It’s all make-believe. It’s all church-speak. Listen to me. Follow me. I can give you everything you desire. I’m the powerful one, after all.”

And sometimes it looks that way, doesn’t it? As if God is not in control. As if the devil has more power in this world than our Triune God. And so we get confused. Doubts are raised and faith weakens. And we get afraid. It happens to all of us. Just ask the ladies who went to the tomb that Easter morning.

That’s why the words of St. Paul from our Epistle lesson are so important for us to hear, as well. They help us understand and see things – not as the devil wants us to see them! – but as they really are. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your enemy wants you to rely on what you can see – the sin and evil in the world, the sin and evil in your heart, the troubles and fears, the confusion and doubts. He wants fear to reign large in your life! And so he shouts, “SEE! I TOLD YOU SO!”

But no! Today we point to the empty tomb, to our risen Lord, and say to Satan: NO, HE TOLD YOU SO! He told you He would crush your head, and He did. He told you He would rise and conquer death, and He did. He told you He would destroy your stronghold of hell, and He did. He told you He would give you the sign of Jonah and rise after 3 days in the belly of the earth, and He did. He told you He would forgive my sin, and He did. You can do nothing. Nothing. You have no power. And although my life, my victory, my citizenship, my inheritance is hidden now, it is real. I know that my Redeemer lives! And I have nothing to fear.

“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.’” And that, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is the confidence that we have because of this day, Easter Day. And so no matter what you are facing in your life – whatever challenges, whatever fears, whatever phobias, whatever doubts, uncertainties or enemies – “Do not be afraid!” He is not here. He is risen, just as He said. Your Savior has triumphed. And He is here for you, triumphing still. Here hidden – His body and blood hidden in, with, and under the bread and the wine of Holy Communion; hidden under the words of His Word and Absolution; hidden under the water of His Baptism – but here. Really here. And in control. Forgiving our sin, giving you faith, treading your enemy underfoot, and providing you all that you need. And saying to you, “Do not be afraid.”

Easter means we have a Savior who is risen from the dead, who is victorious, who is in control, who has won! Do not be afraid. Have no phobias. For Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!