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It's one thing to hope for a new reality; it's quite another to stand before it, no matter how wonderful.
"Your mothers warned you about my coming! Fear the moment. But do you think you could have a chance? But you're afraid. What if I could be the One? This could be the moment you've prayed for all your life."
Thus declared Paul Atreides to the Fremen people in the fantastic climax of the recent film adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel, Dune.
What a strange juxtaposition of fear and hope. The Fremen had been enslaved for a long time. Many believed a messiah was coming to free them and introduce a new age. Yet the realization that the moment was here produced great fear. It's one thing to hope for a new reality; it's quite another to stand before it, no matter how wonderful.
This is the proper interpretation of the women's fear at the end of Mark. The angels announced Christ's resurrection to the women and commanded them to tell the disciples. Yet "they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid" (Mark 16:8). Many have argued that Mark surely didn't mean to end his story with this line. Others have tried to explain away the fear. But fear is a normal response for anyone standing at the precipice of a new reality, even one so beautiful and life-changing as the resurrection.
It's one thing to talk about the resurrection and hope for the Messiah; it's another thing to experience it. The resurrection overwhelmed the women's existence and sense of being. We are so used to the dead staying dead, sin remaining devastating, and God being far and away. We don't have the capacity or experience even to imagine standing in the presence of the Messiah or living in a universe where the dead are raised!
Mark tells us the women were terrified to demonstrate the otherworldliness of what they experienced. While we know they eventually did tell someone, they were initially so awestruck and, probably, for a moment, did not have the capacity or vocabulary to speak in this new cosmic era.
The women were transformed by the words of the angels, not even by the experience of the risen Christ! Such is the power of words. So preachers should not only be confident in their own words about Jesus's death and resurrection but also speak about the resurrection in such a clear way that they, too, cause similar terror! Such terror is the first step in leading people to turn away from themselves and towards Jesus.
Even the manner of our worship services should reflect the magnitude of the new world we live in and continue looking toward. This is why we bow at the name of God, and kneel before the body and blood of Christ. Music should reflect shocking grace and not just sentimental or casual love. The gathering of God's people is a foretaste of the feast to come. It is the Word made flesh, God's presence on earth, a picture of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, and, yes, the hands and feet of the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth, firstborn of the dead.
Of course, our daily humdrum lives are the real testimony of a living God and a new reality. We have no need to run frantically into the streets, panicking over the stock market, culture war, or any other crisis. Is Jesus risen or not? We are terrified by the Kingdom's coming, so we should certainly not be terrified by anything else.
Christ is risen. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the Good News.
