The Word that makes us glorious. Easter day 2026

Matthew 28:1-10

This was a sermon preached at a family service when we created a living model of this image.

An icon of the myrrh bearing women. Prosopon school. Painted/written by Alison Rogers

The icon above shows the women who came to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body

Or maybe you have been given an artist’s impression of a potential crime scene!

And here on the ground we have a coffin marked out by our forensic experts.

I would like us to visualise this scene and see how it helps us understand what we read in Matthew 28

Our witnesses are three women
Mary Magdalene, another Mary (Mark and Luke tell us that she is Mary the mother of James – in other words, they are saying, you may not know her, but you know James and she is his mum). And there is a third woman mentioned by the other writers.

They come to the tomb of Jesus.
They know it is his tomb.
They had seen where his body was laid.
They had seen the stone rolled across the entrance.

But when they get there, they find that the body of Jesus is not there. The tomb is empty.

Is this a case of grave robbery?

The first thing the women notice is that the coffin is not empty. 

The grave clothes are still there.

And we see them here in our image. Collapsed like a chrysalis. I think that is telling
The cloths that wrapped around his body were in one place, and the cloths wrapped around his head were in another place. John tells us that those were neatly folded.
That is not what grave robbers would do. If they had taken the body they would have taken it wrapped in the grave clothes.
And if the disciples had stolen the body, it is hard to explain why they then went on to suffer and die for the unshakeable conviction that Jesus really was alive.

The second thing the women notice are the soldiers

Matthew tells us that when the angel came and rolled the stone away, they shook and became like dead men. And, no doubt, as they come to their senses, they leg it.

And the third thing the women notice – it was hard not to notice – was an angel, sitting on the stone. 

He is “like lightening and his clothing was as white as snow”

And in this image there are two things especially worth noting

a) The angel holds on to the cross.

At first the staff is not easy to see, but once you have seen it you cannot unsee it.
It is dead straight, pointing up – it is like a vertical spirit level, a plumbline

And the angel holds the staff – or does he hold onto it?
It is the only thing in the image that, while everything else is on angles or is shifting, is absolutely straight.

And it is the cross – which may at first be hard to see – which, in a shifting, changing, unpredictable and at times quite scary world, anchors everything.

And when we hold on to the cross – to the death and resurrection of Jesus, we hold on to the single most important event in history.

b) The angel is glorious

What a contrast with the soldiers.

They are dark, diminished, almost swallowed by the shadows.

They – it is interesting to note - were not holding on to the cross but were holding on to the sword.

The angel is glorious because he has a glorious message.

Do not be afraid. Jesus is risen. You will see him.

What is deep within us, shapes what we become

If what fills us is fear, we shrink.
If it is violence, we become hard.
If it is cynicism, we become closed in on ourselves.
If it is greed, we become cold and isolated

We will know the story of King Midas. He wanted gold and was given the gift that everything he touched would turn to gold. He had so much gold. But then his food turned to gold, his drink turned to gold and when he embraced his daughter, she became a statue of gold.

What is deepest in us will form us and will form what is round us.
And sooner or later it becomes the message of our life.

But what is deep in the angel is the word of the cross - of God’s love, God’s forgiveness, God’s victory and God’s life.

And that word is not merely an idea. It is a person, the risen Jesus Christ, the presence of the Spirit of God.

And because the word that was in the angel was glorious, the message of the angel was glorious, and angel was glorious.

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I don’t think this is a crime scene.

It is instead the scene of the most remarkable event in history.
This is the place where death has been broken.
This is the place where new life has begun. Notice the tree behind the empty tomb. 

And if we are prepared to trust Jesus, to hold on to the one who was crucified and risen, he will come and live deep within us. He will become the deepest word in us.

And then, like the angel, and like the women, we too will have a glorious message.

Do not be afraid. 

Jesus is risen.
And if we trust him we will see him – maybe in glimpses here and now, but certainly then and there.

And we shall be made glorious.