From Jim McGuiggan... The Hello: Matthew 28.1-9

The Hello: Matthew 28.1-9

I'm absolutely certain that the apostles had other things in their minds when they were troubled at Jesus going away but I can't be persuaded that their affection for him had no part in it. The scriptures make it clear that between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning their dreams of national freedom and shalom had fallen dead at their feet but you can't read the resurrection narratives without sensing the personal joy they felt when they knew he really was alive again!

Here's a piece from Matthew 28. "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb…an angel of the Lord…rolled back the stone…The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay…' So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to the disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. 'Greetings," he said." (28:1-9)

The Greek word (chairete) rendered "Greetings" in the NIV, NJB, NRSV and "Hail" in some others can be variously rendered. It's the common, everyday word of greeting. A couple of versions render it "Good morning". Arndt & Gingrich (874) offer us numerous options such as, welcome, good day, how do you do and even "the colloquial hello" and then citing Matthew 28:9 they tell us (since it was just after dawn), "here perhaps specifically good morning."

"Good morning," he said!

"Hello," he said!

There's not a word in the text about the nature or glory or appearance of Jesus—not a word! As casual and as natural as you like, "Hello." No drum roll, no clashing cymbals, no talk of lightning flashing from his eyes or the glory of his person and no stained-glass language. He had said goodbye and now here was hello.

The phrases above, from Matthew 28:1-9, are packed with joy-bringing truth; every word is a gospel. Listen to them.

"Don't be afraid."

"He isn't here!"

"He has risen!"

"Just as he said!"

"Come and see where he [once] lay!"

You'll have noticed that the stone wasn't rolled away to let Jesus out—he was already gone. The stone was rolled away to let the people in to see he was gone! To keep young fans from rampaging around looking for him, the master of ceremonies at an Elvis Presley concert used to announce to the crowd, "Elvis has left the building." Here, to keep the women from moping around a sealed up grave an angel announced: "Jesus has left the tomb!"

And then Jesus met these good women and said "Good morning!" Tell me, was that appropriate or not? If that morning wasn't "good" there's never been a good morning since the dawn of creation nor will there ever be!

I can't imagine Jesus being the-life-and-soul-of-the-party type but I'll be hanged if I can imagine him as the ceaselessly grim, life's-too-serious-to-smile type; the sort of picture I had of him when I was a boy. The two women he met were joy-filled and I can't do otherwise than think that Jesus was pleased and smiling when he suddenly walked up to them and said, "Hello!"

As much as I hate goodbyes (click) I love hellos more; and the resurrection of Jesus is something of an eternal Hello for all those who've longed for his return. Even those who in their lives never met nor heard of him but who are embraced in his saving and blessing work will smile an eternal smile at his eternal Hello. I like to imagine someone like Moses' mother (presuming she hasn't already met him)—I like to imagine someone like her when he walks up and says "Hello". Are you able to imagine her saying, "Are you...?" and trembling as she tries to get the words out? However great the awe, however spellbinding the occasion and however deep the sense of unworthiness would she not simply be thrilled beyond words—hers or anyone else's? And those who have heard of him and came to love him though they never had met him, when he comes right up to them and says that warm hello, will they not blurt out how wonderful it is to finally see him face to face and won't words come tumbling out about gratitude and about his generosity and how the thought of him was the only thing that kept them alive during long troubled years? Won't there be people who'll want to thank him for the joy-filled lives they've had but who'll say that their lives were nothing in comparison to this moment of meeting him—their Lord and Saviour? And, now, having finally met him who was and is "the desire of all nations," won't their lives take on an even more wonderful depth and complexion? [One of these days, God enabling, I'll tell you about what happened when Mohammed Ali visited a woman's prison in California.]

The resurrection of Jesus (as part of the entire package of glory and exaltation) is the witness—the one definitive and all-sufficient witness—that injustice and oppression, cruelty and cynicism die!

The resurrection of Jesus—his eternal Hello—is God's proclamation to the entire human family that life is his aim and not death.

The resurrection is Jesus, personally, defeating all the anti-God, anti-holiness and anti-life forces that are seen in oppressive nations, governments, gangs and individuals and it is the promise of the final destruction of all these.

The resurrection is Jesus defeating all these powers for others so that his own experience will one day be the never-ending experience of all who are embraced in his life and work.

At the resurrection Jesus entered into a new dimension of immortal living, into life without death, life beyond death and all sickness and disease which are nothing other than the approach of death. No more death! The life he lived and the life he has now entered into is one of God-honouring righteousness and it's that kind of life his followers are to pursue even now for they have been called to and have been pleased to say yes to the call to be "the body of Christ." In him they have been raised from the dead and now sit with him in heavenly places (Colossians 2:12; 3:1-4); how could they not be committed to living resurrection life as they wait for that incredible, "Hello!"?

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.