Imago Scriptura 15 - Afraid & Joy
On the heels of the story of the death of Jesus yesterday we come to the beauty of the story of the resurrection, but there's one line that just grabs me every time I read this story in Matthew. As the women come to the tomb early that Sunday morning and they encounter the angel who tells them of the news, the women leave the tomb and verse 8 says, "So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples." Afraid yet filled with joy. What a contrast of emotions - fear and joy together at the same time. There is the cliche that people use about having "mixed emotions" about a decision, but this is different, this is not a reaction of what might be but instead a reaction the women have to what has happened right in front of them. I wonder how I would have felt being there that morning. Would I have been afraid of the power of the angel and the stone rolled away? Would that fear be tempered with joy of the amazing news shared? Would I feel something different from either of those? But I think these two emotions speak powerfully of the great news that first Easter morning - it is an incredibly hope-filled promise that is shared. Yet, it is also an act of the immense power of God at work in the resurrection of Jesus. How would you have felt?