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April 24, 2011 Easter Sunday Colossians 3:1-4 Matthew 28:1-10

Raised from the Dead Dr. Ted H. Sandberg

Its a beautiful, wonderful story that weve heard and celebrate this morning, this story of Jesus

resurrection. Its the story that gives hope to we whove experienced loss. It gives us the courage to

move forward in our grief, because it proves that death is not the end. This resurrection story is the

heart of our Christian faith. Its good to hear the story again and again.Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb of Jesus. Suddenly, theres an earthquake,

for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. The

stone wasnt rolled back from the tomb by the earthquake. The angel of the Lord rolled the stone back

and that caused the earth to quake. Matthew clearly wants us to know that something extraordinary is

taking place here something wonderful, something out of the common place.

The appearance of the angel was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. Nothing common

place here, either. No mistaking the angels appearance for anything that could be easily understood.

The angel looked like lightning. His clothes were as white as snow. And the guards shook and

became like dead men.

The soldiers, (either police under the control of the Sanhedrin, or centurions under Pilates control

the text can be read either way), the soldiers had been assigned to guard the tomb because chief priests

and Pharisees remember that Jesus had said he will be raised on the third day and they dont want

followers of Jesus to come and steal Jesus body and therefor perpetuate what they believe to be the

false message that Jesus is the Messiah. They placed guards at the tomb to make sure that no one took

Jesus body.

Its these guards who are now so afraid that theyre like dead men. Its these guards who thought they

were in power, who thought that they were keeping the dead entombed, that are now too afraid to

move. Now death is being decisively defeated and those dealers of death, like the guards at the tomb,

are being made to be as if they were dead.1 This is way beyond what anyone would expect ofsoldiers.

While the guards shake with fear, the angel tells the women not to be afraid. The angel reassures

them, though were not certain how reassured they were. This part of the story we can relate too,

because its not out of the ordinary, is it? Life is filled with fears. As a pastor, I spend a portion of

my time in close proximity to illness and death. In such regions, shadowed by fear and loss, I so much

want to reach for words that are reassuring, [words that calm the fears of the individual and the

family.] In the end, I dont have such words to offer, at least none of my own. Im not alone in this,

of course. Neither do doctors. In the end, ultimately, doctors dont have the authority to say, Do not

be afraid. Doctors dont know the future. They dont have the antidote to uncertainty. They cant

accompany a patient down every road.2 Yet, dont we all long not to fear?

1. Willimon, William H., Easter: Obeying Is Believing, Is Seeing, Pulpit Resource, Vol 39, No. 2; Year

A; April, May, June 2011, p. 22.

2. Copenhaver, Martin B., Pastoral Perspective: Matthew 28:1-10, Feasting on the Word, Year A,

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The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was

crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go

quickly and tell his disciples, He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you

to Galilee; there you will see him. This is my message for you. So they left the tomb quickly with

fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

While theyre running to tell the disciples about seeing the empty tomb, about seeing the angel who

appeared like lightning, about the guards whod been so afraid that theyd become like dead men,while they were running to Galilee, Suddenly Jesus met them and said, Greetings! And they came

to him, took hold of 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.

This then is what Easter is all about seeing Jesus, believing that one who was dead is now alive.

Believing that like those first believers, we too have experienced the risen Jesus, alive, and therefore

we need not fear. This is the Gospel message we celebrate on this Easter and every Easter. This is the

Good News we celebrate each and every day, to be honest.

Yet this is the message that so many in the world refuse to believe. We live in a world in which

whats dead stays that way and what Caesar and his legions declares to be is the order of the day. Our problem is that weve difficulty seeing the resurrection because its so far beyond the scope of our

assumptions about the way the world works (and doesnt work) that we cant see what the angel is

trying to show us is right before our eyes. 3

Lets put this another way. We modern skeptics think we know whats true because science tells us

whats true and what isnt true. We base what we believe on what we feel can be proved or disproved.

Many dont believe the truth of the resurrection, because science tells us that once a person is dead,

that person can not live again. Yet as Hamlet recounts, There are more things in heaven and earth,

Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.4

Sometimes we believe we know more than we can

know.

Rachel Naomi Remen,5

who Ive been quoting a great deal in the past few weeks because she speaks

so well to love and loss, tells the following story that illustrates how so many today think.

One of the things that I have learned since my medical training is that it is possible to study life for

many years without knowing life at all. Often things happen that science cant explain. Many very

important things cannot be measured, but only observed, witnessed, and ultimately trusted. Life may

not be limited by the facts. Science defines life in its own way, but perhaps life is larger than science.

Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, p.

348.

3. Willimon, p. 23.

4. Shakespeare, William, Hamlet, Act 1, scene 5, 167.

5. Remen, Rachel Naomi, M.D., Knowing Life, My Grandfathers Blessing: Stories of Strength,Refuge, and Belonging, Riverhead Books, 2000, pp. 253-5.

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A friend of mine, director of research at a nonprofit institute, had become interested in spontaneous

remission of cancer. As his interest became more widely known, people would call or write him to tell

him their stories of unexplained recovery from serious illness. One of these was a young man who

claimed to have had a spontaneous healing from a dire for of bone cancer called osteogenic sarcoma.

He had been diagnosed many years ago as a college student. Noticing a hard lump in his right thigh,

he had gone to see a doctor. A biopsy had confirmed the doctors suspicion of cancer, and he and his

parents had been called to a meeting. Sadly, the doctor told them of his findings and stronglyrecommended that he have his right leg amputated at the hip. He was nineteen years old. Despite the

urging of several doctors and his parents, he had refused this surgery and had gone home to his

parents farm without any treatment to live out his life. Nothing further had been done for him except

that the pastor of his church had asked those people who were so moved to pray for him at seven

oclock every night. People prayed for two years. Over time, the mass in his thigh had simply grown

smaller and finally disappeared.

My friend was captivated by this story. Through his work he had developed a researchers healthy

skepticism, but the man seemed so genuine and matter-of-fact that he could not get the story out of his

mind. Finally he called to ask a favor. Would I mind trying to track down the doctor who had made

the original diagnosis and see if he would confirm this story or if he had kept medical records or a

biopsy report? How long has it been? I asked. Twenty years, said my friend ruefully. I started to

express my doubts, but my friend interrupted. Please try, he said. And so I did.

It turned out to be easy. The doctor, a relatively young man at the time he treated this patient, was

listed in his states medical association and still in practice. Encouraged, I called and got him on the

phone. After the usual introductions, I told him that I was calling to see if he had kept the medical

records on a former patient. It was so long ago that I doubted he would remember, and then I told him

the mans name. His response was immediate. Of course I remember him, he said with feeling.

Ive thought of him many times over the years. What a senseless tragedy. Are you calling on behalf

of the family?No, I replied, and told him that the man was still alive. Thank God, he said. Where did he have

his surgery?

He didnt have surgery, I replied. There was a pause. When he spoke again, I could detect a change

in his voice. Then what happened? he asked. So I told him the story as it had been told to me.

There was a long silence and then, without another word, he hung up the phone. I called him several

times afterward, but he never returned my calls.

Remen concludes, Most of us encounter a great deal more Mystery than we are willing to experience.

Sometimes knowing life requires us to suspend disbelief, to recognize that all our hard-won

knowledge may only be provisional and the world may be quite different than we believe it to be.This can be very stressful, even frightening. But if we are not willing to wonder, we may have to hang

up the phone on life.

Remens story isnt to suggest that we should act like the young man acted and avoid cancer

treatments, expecting that well be miraculously healed. More often than not, miracles happen through

medicine and with medicine rather than in opposition to medicine. And for all the prayers for healing

that are raised, none of us know why some few miracles occur as in the case of this young man, and

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