Re: Verse reading–Matthew 28:1-10, 16-20 (day three)
“Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.'” Before Jesus walked among us, the command not to fear invited us to trust God in the middle of the reality that the grave was never far away: The Lord would protect us from death. Now, after Jesus’s resurrection, the command not to fear invites us to trust God who has altered reality: The Lord has defeated death. The death of a perfect man was necessary to pay sin’s terrible price. And so, Jesus tells us, don’t fear. Don’t fear, because his death was the last death–the last necessary death. We could still die, but it would be the result of rejecting Christ. “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Don’t be afraid, because you don’t have to die.
