With Fear and Great Joy

AM Psalm 97, 99 • PM Psalm 115
Exod. 12:40-51 • 1 Cor. 15:(29)30-41 • Matt. 28:1-16

In the Easter season, we talk a lot about joy, we shout our alleluias, and we proclaim the resurrection. In Matthew’s 28th chapter, he invites us into the minds of the women who first went to the tomb and learned that Jesus had been raised from the dead. We learn that they ran from the tomb to the disciples with fear and great joy. How often do we talk about the fear a resurrection like this could inspire? Consider that moment—going to the tomb expecting to find the dead body of Jesus and instead finding an empty tomb. Then an angel appears (angels are scary!) to share that Jesus is actually alive. And Jesus is already on the way to Galilee.

Fear is the emotion we feel when something seems dangerous, threatening, or likely to cause pain. After watching Jesus die once, his resurrection would likely have caused a mixed flurry of emotions. The questions and confusion, the fear of more pain and loss, the uncertainty of what comes next would all mix with the certain joy of the return of friend, teacher, and child.

Let us rest in the complexity of Easter and of resurrection. Hold the joy of Jesus’ victory over death and the many gifts we receive through that resurrection. But also let yourself wonder. Allow confusion and perhaps even fear of something so mysterious and beyond comprehension. The complexity of human emotion, a gift from God, is a beautiful thing. I give thanks for those women who went with fear and great joy to share the news of Jesus’ resurrection. The shared the life-giving Good News and they remind us that our human life and our Christian experience is not a one note, single emotion sort of journey.

Written by Adelyn Tyler

Adelyn loves talking about feelings! She is a big advocate of the feelings wheel and expansion of our emotional vocabulary. Adelyn rejoices with the women who followed Jesus during his earthly life and thanks them for the many lessons they teach.