Come, See, Go, And Tell - Part II
July 2020 |
“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.” —Matthew 28:5-7
Not only were the disciples sorrowing and grieving (last month’s article), they were fearful of being arrested and killed. They were fearful, as well, of facing the unknown.
After Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, all of the disciples forsook Him and fled (Matt. 26:56) just as He had told them they would do (Matt. 26:31), and just as it was prophesied hundreds of years before (Zech. 13:7). They did this because they were afraid for their lives and possibly for the lives of their families.
Peter lied and said he did not know Jesus and was not associated with Him. He also swore a solemn oath and was willing to be cursed by God if he was not telling the truth (Matt. 26:69-74). Peter’s denial of Jesus was because he was afraid he would be arrested and killed, just as he assumed Jesus was going to be.
John 20:19 says that ten of the disciples were hiding together behind closed doors “for fear of the Jews.” This fear in the Greek is phobos, which means “terror, alarm, panic, and horror,” and the implication was that they were afraid of being killed.
In answer to this fear, Jesus came into their midst that same evening and told them three times, “Peace be unto you,” (John 20:19, 21, 26). This peace means “rest, security, and freedom from confusion, distresses, trouble, and disturbance.” This peace was the answer for their fear because His dying on the cross was the greatest expression of love (John 15:13), which was the perfect love that casts out fear (I John 4:18).
Another fear the disciples experienced was of the unknown, change, and the future, because they did not understand or recognize what was happening. There was a lot of uncertainty about their future since their whole world had been turned upside down, and they felt helpless about their circumstances.
When the ladies came to the empty tomb, saw the angel, and were told Christ was risen, they were amazed and astonished (Matt. 28:8; Mark 16:5, 6, 8) at what had happened. In Luke 24:4, they were perplexed and did not understand what was going on, but the angel and Jesus told them not to fear (Matt. 28:5, 10) and to go tell the disciples the good news. By this, He was opening up a whole new dimension and purpose for their lives, which was to preach the gospel to the whole world (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-18).
Luke 24:16 says the eyes of the two men on their way to Emmaus were “holden,” so, at first, they did not recognize Jesus. They told Jesus of all that they did not understand about His crucifixion and resurrection (Luke 24:19-24). To counteract their lack of understanding, Jesus explained the prophecies about His death and resurrection (Luke 24:25-27), and their eyes were opened so they knew who He was (Luke 24:31).
Later, Jesus appeared to the ten disciples (Luke 24:36). They were afraid because He suddenly appeared, and they thought He was a spirit, or His soul was appearing like a ghost after His death. They were afraid because they did not understand His resurrection. They had never seen anything like it before. He then showed them the scars in His hands and side, and He even ate some food with them. He did this so they would overcome their agitation, their being disturbed, and their doubtful thoughts (Luke 24:38-43). He wanted to reassure them of who He was. Then He opened their understanding to the law and prophets that foretold of His death and resurrection (Luke 24:44-48).
So, God’s answer to the fear of death is the peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:6; Luke 24:36; John 14:27; 20:19, 21, 26). His answer to fear of the future, and of the unknown, is the knowledge of His resurrection. Thus, this was the assurance of their resurrection. Instead of it being the end, it was a whole new beginning of their lives, through the very problems they feared.
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