
John wrote these words approximately sixty years after our Lord had triumphed over death in resurrection. John, unable to behold the grandeur and glory of Jesus with his finite eyes, fell at the feet of the Master as if dead. But the Master put His hand upon John and told him, “Fear not.”
Fear not. That is also the Easter message! “Fear not” is the watchword of our Christian experience. The first words of introduction to our Master that we hear are when the angel declares, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” It is repeated frequently through the ministry of Jesus, till at last the women came to the tomb where the angel appears and says, “Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen.”
How our world needs to hear this message, “Fear not”! Seldom, if ever, was the world in such a grip of fear as today. Never before were there so many people who are in need of food, and clothing, and comfort, and hope! But the word is still the same, “Fear not.” “Fear not” because we have the victory over death, over sin, and over fear itself.
Now the rest of our text tells us why we should banish fear. I like these next words, “I am the first and the last.” You put that on the lips of anyone excepting only the Eternal God, and they do not fit. He is the only one about whom it could be written. He is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
And, “I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore.” You need not doubt that! You can trust the efficiency of the Roman soldiers. There was too much at stake for them to have been inefficient in the action of execution that Good Friday. Undoubtedly, they killed Him. When they pierced His side, and blood and water poured forth, we may be sure He was dead. Then, they placed a Roman seal upon the tomb and placed a Roman guard in front of it. You may be sure they did not place it upon the grave of a living man.
But on Sunday, He was gone. The grave clothes were loosed and laid aside and the stone was rolled away. The many appearances of our Lord attest to the fact of His resurrection. In a sense, we worship at a tomb, but there is no other tomb like this one. The great pyramid took 2.3 million blocks of stone and the labor of thousands of men to build, yet it houses the remains of one Pharaoh with no message of life. The Taj Mahal is said to be the most beautiful tomb in all the world, but it has no message of hope for the teeming millions of India. Yes, we worship at a tomb because it is empty and in it we see our victory. He was dead. Today, He is alive.
We worship a risen Christ, and He holds the keys to death, but He is also the way of life. Our everlasting destiny is in the hands of the keeper of the keys. “Fear not!” and Happy Easter!
Oh Lord how I rejoice today in Your mighty victory over death and sin. Thank You for making a way for me to have relationship with You. I am so thankful that the keys to my future are firmly in Your loving hands rather than in my own shortsighted possession. I feel the lightness in my soul, knowing I have no need to fear the future. Thank you that I truly can say from the depths of my soul that I “Fear not.” Amen.
For His Glory!
Cara & Patti
Classic Christianity