Matthew's telling of what happened on Easter morning is awesome. He is the only gospel writer who tells us of the earthquake and soldiers fallen to the ground. But to fully appreciate the story we need to back up a little bit. We need to spend a few moments with Good Friday.

Jesus had been taken into custody.....and then tried - tried by Priests, Herod, Pilate, Israel, Rome, for that matter. All humankind was represented. And at the least he had been found wanting - a wimpy Messiah and at the worst a blasphemous, subversive criminal, worthy of the worst death.

The crowd shouted for his death. We hate this man, get rid of him, put him to death, kill him, crucify him, get him out of our sight - and mind.

They crucified him....nailed him to a cross and lifted him up in front of all to see - to be humiliated - to die slowly. How satisfying for Jesus' enemies.

Then.....just to be sure that his disciples wouldn't mess with the body, they posted guards at the tomb - Roman guards with swords, armor, spears.... and pride.

The women came to the tomb at first light. Quietly.....timidly.....they had a great deal to fear after the terror they had witnessed on Friday. There was an earthquake with an angel, whose appearance is like lightning, who rolled the stone from the door of the tomb and then sat on it...as if to say....so much for that. The strong-armed soldiers were strewn at his feet like trophies....or quaking dolls. So much for swords....spears and pride.

Note what has happened here: The best that humankind could do to stifle God, to keep God out of our lives, didn't work. Humankind raised Jesus on a cross to kill him...and succeeded. He died.

But, God raised Jesus from the dead....

He is not here! He is Risen!

YOU TELL ME WHICH IS MORE POWERFUL.

In this story....the power of God is greater than any human power. Human power, too often, is destructive....the sword, the bomb, the missile or whatever we will invent next as an effective way of taking life away from God's creation.

But God's power is always the unstoppable power of life.

We have to stop here for a moment and ask if this is true now. Is there still a difference between what we will do to each other and what God intends for us? That is an Easter question.

When we still recount the Holocaust....or the evidence of atrocities in ethnic cleansing...what a word....isn't this just murder? When we observe anniversaries such as 9/11 or celebrate the capture of a pathological bomber. When even the closest of families are ravaged by pain and brokenness, and our streets are playgrounds for crime, and we fear for the next terrorist or sick minded serial killer.

There is a vast gap between what we will do to each other and what God intends for us and ultimately that means whatever evil, whatever power sought to kill Jesus and take God's presence--God's gift--away from us is still there.

Walter Brueggemann, one of the top ten Old Testament scholars in the world, was attending an Inter-faith prayer breakfast. The participants included Christians, Muslims, Buddists, Jews and many more religions of the world. The Chaplain for the breakfast was asked to pray but not to mention the word Jesus so as not to offend anyone. His prayer went like this, "Universal Force for Life, we pray that you will immerse all of us more deeply into the human condition." William Willimon was sitting next to Brueggemann and he heard Walt pray, "Lord, Jesus, this is Walt, please don't immerse me any deeper into the human condition than I already am but rather bring on the resurrection as the reality of life for all of us. Amen."

There is still an attempt to stifle God, to take hope from us, to capture our very lives. The Cross is still present.

If so...then we do need to hear this Easter Gospel again and again so that we can stand in the garden....by the tomb....as the earthquake begins and the stone is rolled back for us.

Then resurrection happens again....this time for us. It happens each time the story is told and we say....yes. The living God has overcome this power......for me.

Author Annie Dillard has said about Easter: If Easter is really true and Jesus is the living Christ that death cannot hold, then all the world is changed. All of life is drastically changed. Nothing is the same. Then she says: If it is true we ought to wear crash helmets to church instead of Easter bonnets because of the power that is let loose with that belief.

If the resurrection is true....crash helmets and not Easter bonnets. For resurrection people it isn't business as usual. Our world is being turned upside down by God's Gospel of Christ. Christ is loose in the world. In a world where power is often terrifying, Matthew declares God's greater might. Even a grave can't stand in God's way of giving life.

We need to go back to Matthew one more time. We can't forget the women standing by the tomb, watching the scene unfold. There is the angel sitting on the rock that had tried to contain Jesus. They had experienced an earthquake, seen an angel whose appearance is like lightning and who now addresses them.

Don't be afraid!!......sure....

The soldiers are spilled out on the ground and the women are still standing.

WHAT YOU SEE IS EASTER. The powerless, the defeated, the grieving are raised up. Death......it is conquered. The oppression of sin has lost its power. He is not here. He is risen.

The women were invited to see an empty tomb and then become messengers of God's power for life. To put on their crash helmets.....because all of life has changed as the world is turned upside down by Easter.

They brought the same message that still invites our faith because there is still plenty that needs embracing in our lives.

It begins with an earthquake...the power of God set loose in life. And it will either throw you to the ground or with a crash helmet send you off to live and tell a story.

HE IS RISEN......HE IS NOT HERE......NOT IN DEATH.

GOD IS LOOSE IN THE WORLD.....WATCH OUT!