But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and 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, and there they will see me.”
It’s interesting that Jesus appears to these women and repeats exactly what the angel just said to them. The passages tells us that they left right away and ran to tell the disciples. They hadn’t forgotten, gotten distracted, or delayed the mission at all. Yet, Jesus stops them along the way to tell them the same exact mission that they had received and were carrying out. Why?
It’s hard to say exactly why, but it’s important to note that the women don’t seem to be walking out the mission in complete obedience. Sure, outwardly they were doing what the angel instructed, but inwardly, there was more work to be done. The angel told them not to be afraid, yet they departed with fear and great joy inside. This combination of emotions is a testament to the complexities of our souls. How many times does God ask us if we believe, and belief and unbelief coexist in the same space? How many times do anger and sadness sit as friends inside of us?
Fear and joy ran with the women that day. The question I have is, “fear of what?” The angel appeared, and they were afraid. Jesus appeared, and they were afraid. The same word was used in the Greek in both instances, so there was a similar posture to each. Scripture is clear that we are to fear God and nothing else, so arguably, the fear of Jesus that leads to worship is good, but certainly that same posture applied to the angel would not be good.
We can only speculate, but it may be that the women were afraid of being destroyed. There is something overwhelming about seeing a spiritual being.* We see many instances in Scripture where angels and even Jesus appear, and people fall to the ground as if they were dead. In fact, we see in Matthew 28:4 that the guards had this very response to the angel that appeared (it’s fun to note that the angel didn’t tell them to not be afraid haha).*
While we will not know for sure this side of eternity, Jesus seems to stop the women to clear their hearts of any fear of Him that would look like a fear of destruction. This kind of care tells us a lot about our Savior, but it also shows us this: while on a mission for Jesus, it’s important to have an encounter with Him.
So often we get caught up doing things for God. We get so busy doing these things that we forget how much He wants to do things with us. Jesus jumped into their mission to address their hearts and to see their faces.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to pause long enough to see His face. Perhaps Jesus wants to chat with you a while. Maybe He wants you to allow Him to address a fear in your heart that God will come down on you for failure. Perhaps Jesus wants to speak to you today to ensure that there is only joy in your heart.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 733–740), and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt Mt 28:1–10).) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).