Matthew 28:1-10
The Rev. Adele K. Langworthy, preaching
April 5, 2026—Easter Courtyard Service
“Do not be afraid, Christ is risen, Alleluia!”
“Do not be afraid” – for many this is easier said than done. Have you ever been told to not be afraid? If you are anything like me, “do not be afraid’ often brings little assurance. Now, sometimes when Rob encourages me to overcome a fear, I am successful and yet at other times it is virtually impossible to convince me. Get me at the edge of a cliff or on a bridge and there is very little reasoning that will calm my fears. Once, we were on vacation in the southeast region of Utah. We were hiking when we came across a footbridge across the Animas River. Now mind you, I don’t like bridges when I am in a car, so even the thought of walking across a footbridge was terrifying. Rob was committed to getting me to not give into my fear and to cross the bridge that was narrow, moving with the wind and had slats missing every now and then. I offered to stay behind while he crossed the footbridge to explore the other side, but he would not hear of it – we were together. He so wanted to see the other side, how could I not cross the bridge? But, how could I?
So there I was, shaking in my shoes, barely able to move while he walked backwards keeping his eyes locked on me to assure me that we were going to make it, telling me I could do it and that we’d be just fine. I thought, “Easy for you to say” because I certainly didn’t think so. I was positive I was going to see an early death. He told me to face my fear and not be afraid – but all I could do was picture myself tripping and going over the side of the bridge. After all, there were only ropes for a railing! I was praying my socks off the entire way across that bridge! Finally, after what seemed like an eternity and probably the longest walk across the bridge anybody had ever taken, I made it to the other side. It took awhile to stop shaking in my shoes; but with God and Rob’s help I faced my fear. The fear hadn’t been erased, but it was transformed. It became filled with joy!
I imagine that on that first Easter, fear was swirling about as the women arrived at the tomb filled with grief and heartache. The man they admired, who touched their hearts with God’s power and love, had been killed as a criminal. What would be next for them? They felt alone without Jesus with them. Would the Roman authorities begin executing them and all of his followers? Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times out of fear! What was going to happen to him when he was found out for lying to the authorities?
And then as they approached the tomb, they experienced a huge earthquake, saw an angel of the Lord descending from heaven and guards shaking so violently that they became like dead men. I think any one of those factors would cause fear to rush through one’s body – but all three? It is no wonder that the angel began speaking to the women by saying, “Do not be afraid!” The women’s fear did not keep them from hearing the angel’s message. God had gotten the women’s attention so that the angel’s words stating that Jesus had been raised from the dead could be heard. The women’s fear changed. No longer was the earthquake unsettling or the threat of authorities of utmost concern. Now, in fear of the power of God and in awe of his wondrous works, their earthly fear was transformed into joy!
With their fear transformed, they had a message to tell – they had fearfully good news to share. Jesus was alive! Their Good Friday fear was transformed into Easter joy. Their crucifixion fear was transformed into resurrection life. Fear was no longer rooted in despair, but in faith. As James Laurence writes, “Fear, in other words, has passed through the very worst that life can throw at us, and so it is now a fear mixed with joy that nothing in life can take away from us. … The resurrection of our Lord fills us with both a holy fear and a heavenly joy.”
The fearfully good news of Easter is that the stone was rolled away from the tomb and Jesus is alive. And that, my friends, means that the stone can also be rolled away from whatever tomb you and I find ourselves in. Whatever your tomb might be – a relationship, a health condition, financial problems, loss, whatever it is that is keeping you from living the life for which God created you, and to which God calls you, the fearfully good news of Easter offers you a brand new life out of the tomb.
The Good News is that Christ is risen! Christ is with us, now and always. Christ is with us at work and school, at home and in the park, when we are with others or when we are alone, when we are celebrating the birth of a new baby or the start of a marriage, when we are grieving the loss of a loved one or needing to start a new chapter of our lives.
The Good News is that we need not let fear hold us hostage. Jesus has conquered death. He has literally gone to Hell and back for us.
The Good News is Jesus is alive, bringing new life out of death, new faith out of fear, new hope out of despair, and new light out of darkness.
In January 1956, Martin Luther Jing Jr. returned home around midnight after a long day of meetings. His wife and daughter were already in bed and King was eager to join them. But the phone rang with a call such as he had been getting at least 30 – 40 times a day, threatening his life. Needless to say, King couldn’t go back to sleep. He couldn’t shake the hateful words out of his head. So he got up, made a pot of coffee and sat at his kitchen table. With his head buried in his hands, he cried out to God. He had come to the end of his strength. He was afraid for his family, afraid for his life, afraid that all he had been doing for justice wouldn’t come to fruition. But in the darkness of the night (like inside a tomb), King saw the light. He met the living Christ and heard him say, “Fight on!” He received a promise from Jesus that Jesus would not leave him alone. The fearfully good news was that Jesus was with him. The encounter King had with the resurrected Lord gave him the courage to press through the tumultuous year of 1956 to the victorious end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He had fearfully good news from which he would not back down from sharing.
There is fearfully good news to share – “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters”.
Let us go forth and do just that!
Do not be afraid! Christ is risen! Alleluia!!
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