From Ashes to Alleluia: With Jesus at the Empty Tomb

The Resurrection of Our Lord: Easter Sunday
April 5, 2026
Matthew 28:1-10

“From Ashes to Alleluia: With Jesus at the Empty Tomb”

Do you remember what happened here in the DMV on August 23, 2011? That’s nearly fifteen years ago, so kind of light years in the past for most people. On this day, we experienced a magnitude 5.8 earthquake here in our area. This temblor was the strongest east of the Mississippi River since 1944, and it was felt across twelve states and several Canadian provinces. It caused structural damage and cracks in the Washington Monument and some $20 million in damage to the National Cathedral (when was dc earthquake - Search). It was one of those events that you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing. I was here at church and distinctly remember that weird shaking sensation. My wife and daughters were doing school shopping at Potomac Mills when it happened. One of my daughters happened to be in a changing room at the time as employees and customers just panicked and ran out of the store and the mall. On that first Easter morning, there was another earthquake as the “angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2).

We’re told that this was a great earthquake. We can only wonder what the magnitude of this was on the Richter scale. The angel came to roll away the stone sealing the tomb of Jesus, not to let him out, but to allow the women and the disciples in. They would be the first witnesses that Christ is risen; he is risen indeed! Based on today’s Gospel lesson, today we are with Jesus at the empty tomb. That is the theme for the message this day. May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Today as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord on this Easter Sunday, we rejoice that we have come from the ashes of repentance on Ash Wednesday to the joyful alleluias of Jesus’ resurrection on this Easter Sunday. Our preaching theme through the Lenten season has been “From Ashes to Alleluia,” and we have been following Jesus through all the places and with all the people on his way to the cross. We have been with Jesus out in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for forty days (Matthew 4:1-11), finding our strength from the Lord Jesus in his victory over the tempter. We have been with Jesus in his late-night conversation with Nicodemus about being born again of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:1-17). We have been with Jesus at Jacob’s well as he spoke with the Samaritan woman about his gift of living water which becomes in all who receive it a well springing up to eternal life (John 4:5-42). We have been with Jesus at the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem where he gave sight to a man blind of birth (John 9:1-41). We have been with Jesus at the grave of his friend, Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead (John 11:1-53). We have been with Jesus on the way into Jerusalem as he entered the city on a donkey amidst shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (John 12:12-19), on his way to the cross. We have been with Jesus in the upper room as he instituted the Lord’s Supper and washed the feet of his disciples (John 13: 1-17, 31b-35). We have been with Jesus as he gives his life on the cross as full payment for all our sins (Matthew 27:11-56; Mark 15:1-41; Luke 23:1-49; John 19:1-37). And now, we are with Jesus at the empty tomb and hear the angel’s message: “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:6).

On that first Easter morning, there at the tomb of Jesus, we see two very different reactions to the earthquake and the angel. First, we read: “And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4). Interesting side note here: in the original language here, the same word is used for “earthquake” and “trembled” (σεισμός). It’s where we get our own word “seismic,” so often associated with earthquakes. Second, we read this about the women who came to the tomb after the angel told them that Jesus had risen from the dead: “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples” (Matthew 28:8). Fear is present in both the guards and the women, but the response is totally different. The guards were there out of a sense of duty. They were there to do their job, which was to guard the tomb. But the women were there out of a sense of love and faith. That begs the question: why are you here today? Maybe it’s a sense of duty that brings you here, like the soldiers guarding the tomb. You’d rather be somewhere else, but you’re here because people expect you to be here. You’ve had pressure put on you to be here. You’re here to do your “job.” That’s real for a lot of people. But when all is said and done, it’s not so important how you came to Easter, but how you leave that really matters. The risen Christ meets all who come to him in a spirit of love and faith, like the women on that first Easter morning. They were overcome with fear and great joy, even if they didn’t understand how it all worked or what it all meant. And so it is with us today. The risen Christ meets us in our confusion and uncertainty. He comes to us in our fear and in our great joy, and he says to us what he said to the women: “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10).

There was another earthquake on the day we call Good Friday. There on the cross, when Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit, we read that “the earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:51). That is what we would call an earthquake as Jesus gave his life on the cross, all for us and for our salvation. Now again, there is another earthquake as Jesus is raised from the dead. There is this great, cosmic shaking at Jesus’ death and again at his resurrection. Easter shakes the whole world and changes the trajectory of life and of the world. In our own lives, when things are shaking and we feel like we’re experiencing our own personal earthquake, it’s very easy to go to a place of fear and trembling, like the guards at the tomb. It is true that sometimes in life we need to be shaken out of our complacency and lethargy. Even then, God’s purpose is to rekindle faith and draw us back to his heart of love. We worship and serve a risen Savior who has brought life and immortality to light. He is the One who stilled the storm (Matthew 8:23-27), and cast out demons (Matthew 8:28-34). He is the One who gave sight to the blind (Matthew 9:27-31) and brought healing to many (Matthew 15:29-31). He is the One who took upon himself our sin and shame, offering his very life on the tree of the cross as the once-for-all payment for sin through the shedding of his blood. And now he has triumphed over death and the grave. Nothing in all of creation can separate us from his love (Romans 8:38-39). Because we have been raised with Christ, as Paul the apostle writes in today’s Epistle lesson, we “seek the things that are above” (Colossians 3:1).

That is a good way to close today’s message. With Jesus at the empty tomb, after the Easter earthquake, rejoicing in Christ’s victory over sin and death, let us seek the things that are above. Amen.