As we come to the end of Matthew 27, many could begin to wonder who really was the boss. In a matter of less than 24 hours, Jesus had been arrested, tried before both religious and civil authorities, beaten, mocked, crucified, and buried in a borrowed tomb. It certainly didn't look like Jesus was in control. For all intents and purposes, one could surmise that Satan had won the battle, if not the entire war. The promised Savior of the world was defeated, dead, and gone, and the kingdom of darkness reigned. The powers of darkness had both the first and the last word.
Those who had known Jesus must have felt the same way. The darkest Sabbath they had ever experienced had finally come to an end, and the day was beginning to dawn. Little did they know, it was more than the beginning of a new 24 hour period. Their "feelings" were about to be shown who was really the boss. Hannah Whitall Smith put it quite well when she wrote, "As usual, we put feeling first, faith second, and His promise last of all. No, God's rule is everything—His promise (His Word) first, faith second, and feeling last of all. We cannot change this order." God had promised a Messiah, and His Word comes first. It always has—even from the beginning. In Genesis, we read of an earth without form—void and filled with darkness, but God had the first Word…"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night." (1:3-5) From the very beginning of Creation, God was in control, calling it as He saw it.
Praise God, it even goes back before that! John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (1:1) Jesus Christ is that Word—God's first Word! The prophet Isaiah put it this way: "So shall my Word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (55:11) God has a problem with "void," and so out goes His Word, His living Word—"And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it." (Matthew 28: 2) What a sign of victory! The Word had been spoken, even from before the beginning, and now it is accomplished—but where does its power truly rest?
Is it in what the angel would tell the women? Wow—what words!—"Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there ye shall see Him: lo, I have told you." (vss. 4-7) Just look at all the words of action! Certainly, true power can be found in them! I think not. Oh, yes, having heard this Good News and having been given the direction they should go, they can now do just that. But is the fullness of the power of the Word of God really found here? No, in fact, notice how they do leave the empty tomb. They do go quickly and they do plan on telling the disciples, but they do all this with a mixed bag of emotions—"with fear and great joy." (vs. 8) The great joy is good, but it is tempered by fear, which they had been told not to have. Perhaps it was fear that this was just too good to be true, but in His mercy, Jesus didn't leave them there in that condition. He won't settle for mixture—He came that His followers would have joy and have it abundantly!
The answer to our question is actually found in the very next verse—"And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail." (vs. 9a) No, He wasn't giving them a weather forecast, or was He? Twenty-seven times this word is used in the Old Testament, and every time it refers to the little balls of ice that fall from the sky—hail. Ten times it appears in the New Testament, but only four of those refer to weather—and those are in the Book of Revelation. The remaining six times are used as a greeting. The angel's first word to Mary as the up-coming birth of Jesus was announced was "Hail." The first word that Judas Iscariot spoke to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he betrayed Him was "Hail,"—an obvious perversion of the word. And it was the word the soldiers used as they mocked Him before the crucifixion—"Hail, the King of the Jews." So, what does it really mean? In the Greek, it is a call to be full of cheer, rejoicing, and to be well off. Its root word is the same as that which refers to the little ice balls—"to lower as into a void, to let down, and to strike." We can see the hail in a storm doing that, but what about this word of greeting and salutation?
As Jesus and these women stand face to face, the joy and the well-being that His presence creates and fosters, strikes down upon their aching hearts and fills the void that they had been feeling. As great gladness floods into their souls and their spirits, their feelings, which they had placed in the No. 1 slot, were being displaced by His Word—His very first Word since His resurrection! His promise of resurrection life now takes over the frontrunner position, with faith being produced next, and "feelings" coming in a very distant third place—God's order, indeed! And remember—Jesus said, "All hail." In the Greek, the "all" is not a separate word—it is an intensity that is built into the "hail." In other words, His presence brings the fullness of cheerfulness and gladness—His Word is not void, but full of blessing—full of Him!
This is the true power of resurrection—not just that He was raised from the dead, or even that we will be some day, but that that day is now! Once we truly receive His Word into our hearts, the life is changed—not just inwardly, but outwardly, as well. Remember—God's strategy is one of separation—a church living according to the Scriptures, and doing so by the power of His Holy Spirit. We see it clearly in one little three-letter word. The two Greek words that form the word "met" refer to the opposite of being away from something near—in other words, as we meet Him, we are brought into a very close relationship that actually changes everything. To be close to Him will also mean to be separate from the world and the satanic strategies that shape its philosophies. You see, Satan's plan is the opposite of God's plan—it is one of infiltration—just get the church to think that they and the rest of the world worship the same God, and voila—everyone is fine; just fill the church with entertainment, unbiblical hype, and spiritual foolishness; just convince her that the ends justify the means—and down goes the Word of God. Why do you think we are seeing homosexuality being depicted as a perfectly normal lifestyle today, even to the point of recognizing it as good grounds for both marriage and ordination? God's Word had spoken very clearly that marriage was to be between a man and a woman, and that spiritual leaders were to be pure and holy, so Satan attacks it. Why do you think violence has become such a common part of real life today, even encouraged on TV, in movies, and on the internet? God had spoken reconciliation with Himself through His Prince of Peace, and Satan hates it. In fact, whatever you see in society today that conflicts with God's Word, is precisely for that purpose! Satan's agenda is to twist, pervert, and even destroy God's Word. He tried at Calvary, and he failed—so he tries even harder in these last of days. He hates the real boss, so up goes his sign—"I'm the boss!
Satan couldn't have the first word, so he is determined to have the last. But Praise God, the First Word's last Word included these words: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city…Surely I come quickly." (Revelation 22: 13,14,20b) And how does the true church respond to His Word and its promises? By insisting that they come first, and through that will come faith—"Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (vs. 20c) When these are in order, then, and only then, will you really feel it! Praise God—Jesus Christ is risen. The Word of God is risen—is He risen up in you? Let Him be!
