Do Not Be Afraid

“Do Not Be Afraid”

April 5, 2026  Cobleskill United Methodist Church, Pastor Anna Blinn Cole

Matthew 28:1-10

Easter Sunday

Matthew 28:1-10

The Resurrection of Jesus

28 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he^[a] lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead,^[b] and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” ⁸ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

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This is my 10^th Easter in Cobleskill and not a single one has ever been rainy…. Until today.  I can’t tell you how many times I looked at my weather app this week, praying for a miracle.  I have to hand it to the weather people.  They called this storm early and they weren’t wrong.  

Is it still Easter if it’s rainy?  In all the checking of weather apps I got lost a couple of times in this question.  It was wonderful to still be able to have our sunrise service outside this morning, as we watched the storm come in.  But the clouds obscured the sun from our eyes.   And later today there will be little feet running across fresh green grass looking for eggs.  We’ll be moving our egg hunt inside.  It’s magical when the perfect day comes along for Easter, but does a nice day define Easter?  

Obviously, the answer is no.  A nice day of sunlight doesn’t define Easter.  But let me offer an alternative to that question.  Could a rainy day define Easter?  Hmmm….  Let’s circle back to that in a moment.  

During Lent this year we have heard several pieces of music again and again.  There is something about the repetitiveness of music that lodges its words and tunes into your head for days after you hear it.  I’ve heard several of you say how much you’ve enjoyed the theme song “Improbable” this Lent.  And I have particularly enjoyed the opening song the choir has sung called “All Will Be Well.”  You notice they didn’t sing that song today.  That’s because I’ve asked them to sing it for you during communion in just a moment.  

The main phrase of this song is “All Will Be Well and all will be well.  All manner of things will be well.” It’s a well-known saying.  But if we stop and think about it, it’s rather… presumptive.  All will be well?  All will be well?  Since when?  How?  Have you seen the news lately?   

So, I wanted to dig in a little more into who could have possibly written these presumptive words.  And this is what I’ve learned.  In the year 1342 a woman was born in Norwich, England.  She became known as Julian.  Julian of Norwich.  And she wrote many things.  In fact, she was the first woman to ever write a book in English.  Much of what she wrote were her descriptions of visions and dreams she had had of God.  In a chapter on Julian of Norwich in John Phillip Newell book’s The Great Search he says, “One of the main themes to emerge repeatedly in Julian’s dream-like series of visions is the interrelatedness of all things and all people.”  In our one-ness to each other and to God, Julian heard God affirming that God’s care for us, all of us, would not end.  Could not end.  Could not be ended.  All will be will and all will be well.  And all manner of things will be well.

It's tempting to wonder if some problems today are too big for God to care for.  If some people are too far beyond God’s care.  If the brokenness is too much.  When I think about these things, I remember something else about Julian’s life and her world.  Julian’s visions of God saying “all would be well” came to her not at a time when everything was well at all.  God’s words to her came during the single worst pandemic in human history.  The Plague or Black Death, as it was called, killed one half of the entire population of England within two years.  And that was just the beginning.  It returned decade after decade.  It started the year Julian was four years old and the deadly virus would outlive her by decades more.  Julian herself survived multiple waves of the deadly illness, but many who she loved did not.  

Can you imagine living through the deadliest pandemic of human history and believing still in a God who said “all will be well?”  

In Matthew’s telling of the Easter story, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary are coming to visit the body of their friend, Jesus, who died on Friday.  They are sad and maybe also angry.  When they get to the tomb, another emotion comes over them.  Fear.  The earth shakes and an angel appears.  Guards who are standing nearby are so afraid that they faint!  The angel rolls back the stone that sat in front of the tomb.  The women are speechless, visibly shaken and afraid.  “Do not be afraid,” the angel says to the women.  A phrase that echoes the words the angels said to a young mother named Mary nearly 33 years earlier. “Do not be afraid” this angel says to these women.  A phrase that God’s messengers say more than any other phrase across the entire Bible.  “Do not be afraid.”  All will be well.  The angel then goes on to tell them that Jesus’ body is not there.  Death has been swallowed up and rules no more.  They are invited in to see where Jesus had laid.  With their own eyes they could see that death had been undone.  The scripture then says “they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples (Matt 28:8).” With fear and great joy.  With fear and great joy, they ran. 

Is it possible to live through terrifying times, to carry fear in your bones and to also experience great joy?  It is possible to hear God’s messenger say, “Do not be afraid” and to experience the freedom to layer your fear with joy and peace and anticipation.  Is it possible to be alive during a plague and also trust God to say “all will be well.”  Is it possible to know that somewhere above the clouds it is a sunny day?  

The truth is, Easter doesn’t come into perfect conditions.  Not today and not the first time.  When the woman realized Jesus had risen from his grace, they also knew the very people who killed Jesus in the first place were still in power.  

The challenges did not vanish.  The love was just stronger.  

Julian of Norwich and the Marys at Jesus tomb stood in the face of tremendous hardship and worry and sorrow and they picked up their fear and tucked it inside the love that was stronger.  They trusted in something bigger than themselves and their present circumstances.  A perseverance to see beyond. 

We’ve been talking this Lent about the core, foundational pieces of good news that Jesus brings to us.  The stories and lessons that Jesus teaches are at the root of our faith.  

Today, the last day of this series, we arrive at the very best news of all.  Love is stronger than death.  Love is stronger than fear.  Love is stronger than those in power whose reign continues.  Love is stronger than the worst thing that will ever happen to us.  Nothing can separate us from this love because this love is God’s love.

And here’s where the rain comes back in.  The good news of Easter won’t always come into perfect conditions and that’s what defines it.  It’s good news anyway.  It’s good news in spite of Herods that still rule and plagues that won’t relent.  All will be well.  Because our fear gets carried alongside joy, and anticipation and an abiding love that won’t let go.

On Easter Sunday we remember that the world did its worst to God.

The world battered and bruised,

betrayed and abandoned,

crucified and buried our living God.

And despite it all, Jesus still chose to return.

Jesus rose again and immediately went to work spreading God’s love to the very people who had hurt him. 

So hear me when I say, there is nothing you can do that could keep God’s love at bay.

With that good news in mind, let us go to God in prayer, trusting that Jesus Christ loves, claims, and seeks us.

Gracious God,

we want to be Easter people.

We want to shout your good news from the rooftop.

We want to follow the disciples, who ran to look for you.

We want to follow the angels, who said, “Be not afraid,”

but we are afraid.

And we don’t know where to look.

And we are worried we’ll say the wrong thing.

So forgive us, for we are imperfect Easter people living in an imperfect and fearful world.

In the midst of our best intentions and best laid plans.

We are often an out-of-tune chorus of “alleluias.”

We are on our way, but we are not there yet.

Show us how to embody your good news in this world, anyway.

Show us how to be your Easter people, anyway.

Show us how your love carries our fear and your Easter comes into this world, anyway.

With hope for tomorrow, we pray, amen.