SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS

Commentary by Walter Albritton

April 11

Hallelujah! The Tomb is Empty for He has Risen from the Dead!

Matthew 28:1-15

Key Verse: And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. – Matthew 28:5, 6.

            There are many inspiring songs to sing as we celebrate Easter. We all have our favorites. Robert Lowry composed mine; he wrote both the words and the music. Every year as the calendar moves us into Holy Week, I can hardly wait to sing with fellow believers:

Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior!

Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave he arose,

With a mighty triumph o’er his foes;

He arose a victor from the dark domain,

And he lives forever with his saints to reign,

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

            Easter is by far the most emotional day of the Christian year. Christmas is a distant second. The birth of Jesus is lovely and precious, a compelling story of God becoming flesh. Yet Easter stirs us to the depths. God raises a dead man to life! The impossible has happened. The tomb is empty. Christ has risen, just as he said he would. Sadness turns to joy. Fear of death and hell can no longer hold us captive. He is alive! No less a word than “hallelujah” can express the emotion evoked in the human heart by this good news! This sterling truth becomes the linchpin of a new faith – the Christian faith. Some may doubt that the dead body of Christ was raised from the dead. The disciple Thomas did, for a few days. However, the women who were close to Jesus believed he was risen. As they ran to share the good news with the disciples, the risen Christ appeared to them! No wonder they believed. Hearing the news the women brought, and seeing their “great joy,” the disciples believed. They began telling the news to others, and thus began the spreading of the gospel “into all the world.” Ever since that first glad morning, the followers of Jesus have believed they had a “story to tell to the nations,” and the sharing of that story goes on to the present hour.

            Perhaps, since Easter is such an emotional day, it would be helpful for us to imagine how we would have felt had we been present on that historic first day of the week. If you were one of the women walking to the tomb, you would have been sorrowful, your eyes reddened by crying. You are going to anoint the dead body of the Master with spices. Suddenly, the earth beneath your feet is shaking. God is at work. The massive stone is rolled back, opening the door to the tomb. Your sad countenance is overwhelmed by the radiant countenance of the angel who, having rolled the stone away, now sits triumphantly upon it. Observing what has happened, you are trembling, but not quite as much as the Roman guards. They are so frightened that they fainted and now appear “like dead men.” The angel speaks with a calm, reassuring voice and you are less afraid as the angel says, “Don’t be afraid. I know why you are here; you are looking for Jesus.” Then you hear the greatest announcement ever made. The angel says, “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

            You realize that the tomb was not opened so that Jesus could get out, but so that you could get in – to see for yourselves that the tomb is empty. You see that truly Jesus is not there. Now, still shaking, you hear the angel charge you – not the men – with the responsibility of announcing the resurrection of the Lord. As you depart, now running with excitement, the risen Jesus appears to you. You recognize him; it is the Lord. He said he would rise from the dead, and he has. And much like the soldiers at the foot of the cross, you fall on your knees and cry, “Truly, this is the Son of God!” The Christ, the Messiah of God, is standing before you. Instinctively, you want to worship him.

            Recognizing your fear, Jesus tells you not to be afraid. Even as he speaks the words, you remember how many times before you heard him say, “Fear not.” Now, he sends you on your way to tell “ the brethren” the good news that he is alive. Think of your assignment: to go and tell fearful men that they can come out of hiding now because Jesus is alive! Today there are still fearful men who need to hear this good news from women who have been “made alive” by the living Christ. Be quiet for a moment and you can still hear him say, “Go and tell others the good news.” What good news? The good news that because he arose, “up from the grave,” we too can have victory over “the dark domain.” We too can have the assurance of eternal life “because he lives.” We too can look death in the face and know that because He lives forever, we too shall live.

            Beware of those false teachers who try to convince you that it does not really matter if Jesus rose from the dead. What matters, they say, is that, like Abe Lincoln, his spirit lives on to encourage us to live by his profound teachings. That is hogwash. If there had been no resurrection, there would have been no New Testament. Had there been no resurrection, we would have never heard of the Apostle Paul. The early apostles were so convinced of the resurrection of Jesus that they were willing to die for their faith. If they had stolen the dead body of Jesus, while the guards were sleeping, and buried it in a secret place, only a fool would believe they would have been willing then to die for their faith. When the church was born, winning eager disciples across the Mediterranean world, it was because Peter and Paul were preaching the resurrection of Jesus. They believed it. They preached it. They taught it. They wrote letters about it. Because they did, the Christian faith spread to the far corners of the earth and millions began embracing the living Christ as Lord and Maser of their lives.

            The beat goes on, and you and I, men and women, are the latest people God has chosen to go and tell the world that the tomb is empty. Art and Frances Blackburn have gone to Ecuador to tell others; Darren and Holly Dean will join them soon. Alfred and Muumbe are telling others in Zambia. Keith and Dianne Byrd are telling others in Kenya. Larry Cochran goes from one continent to another to tell others that Christ is alive. We salute them for their obedience to the Great Commission. We pray for their safety and that God will use them for his glory. Most of us, of course, are not called to distant places, except perhaps now and then to serve on a short-term missions team. Make no mistake about it, however, that every believer, having embraced the living Christ, is expected to share with others the good news – that He is alive and He is making a difference in our lives! Easter will be a more glorious day if you tell someone that Christ not only rose “up from the grave,” he is also alive within your heart! Tell someone you serve a living Savior and that you know He lives because He lives within your heart!

             + + + + (Walter may be contacted at walbritton@elmore.rr.com)

HH