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| Matthew 28:1-10 |
| 07.30.04 (8:17 am) [edit] |
[i]Lectio [/i][i]divina [/i]is a centuries-old method of reading and relating to Scripture. (The term [i]lectio[/i], in fact, means "reading.") A common approach to [i]lectio [/i]is to use a four-step plan in which, according to Abbot Marmion, "we read [step one] under the eye of God [step two, which is mediation] until the heart is touched [step three, which is prayer] and leaps into flame [step four, which is contemplation]."
Today (July 30, 2004) I have been reflecting on Matthew 28:1-10. This is Matthew's account of two women, Mary Magdalene and another Mary, coming to the tomb early on the first Easter morning and finding it empty.
My reading and meditation led me to see a progression in terms of fear. The word "afraid" is used four times in the NIV rendering of this passage, and its repetition suggests to me that it is a theme of the passage.
The first occurrence of the term "afraid" is found in verse 4, where we are told that those guarding the tomb of Jesus were "so afraid" of the angel who came to roll away the stone that they "became like dead men." This is the kind of fear that PARALYZES, and we all experience it. Reading about the fear of the guards prompts me to ask myself, "Where in my life am I experiencing such fear that I am immobilized, preventing me from doing what I need to do?"
The second level of fear that is exposed in this passage is the kind that motivates. The angel told the women not to be afraid (verse 5) but, rather, to peform a specific task, which was to go to the other disciples and to tell them that the Lord had risen. The women went, to be sure, but they did so in fear. Verse 8 says that they "hurried away from the tomb, [i]afraid [/i]yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples" (emphasis added). As I read about the women's experience of fear, I find myself asking, "Where in my life am I taking action BECAUSE of fear?"
On the surface, this may seem okay -- preferable indeed to being immobilized by fear. But the divine word, whether spoken by an angel (v. 4) or by Jesus (v. 10) is, "Do not be afraid." In fact, this passage tell us that the risen Jesus even [i]interrupts [/i]these women as they are setting about to do what the angel has told them to do. Why? Why would he stop them, even if momentarily?
Could it be that he does not want them doing even the right thing out of fear? When the women see him, they clasp his feet and worship him. Then he repeats the angel's instructions, which include not only going to tell his disciples that he will see them in Galilee but also the matter of proceeding without fear. "Do not be afraid," he says to them, repeating the angel's very words.
This is the third level in relation to fear: complete FREEDOM from it. Reading this causes me to ask, "Where in my life am I acting with positive intention and without fear? And how can I increase this kind of experience for myself?"
I may have to reflect a bit more on my own life to answer these questions helpfully, but this passage has sure started me thinking.
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