Sermon for Easter Sunday, 5th Apr 2026

Welcome sisters and brothers and peace be with you. MAY the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>

CHRIST IS RISEN - - - HE IS RISEN INDEED, HALLELUJAH!

Travelling through S.E. Asia and Japan this past month, I have listened to many stories. One was about a group of rescue workers responding to an earthquake. For days, they searched through collapsed buildings with little hope. The official reports had already declared many areas “beyond survival.”

But one rescuer refused to give up on a particular site - a completely flattened school. Others had moved on, but he kept listening, and then, faintly, he heard a tapping sound. Hours later, they pulled out a young girl - alive.

When asked why he kept searching when others had stopped, he said, “As long as there was even the smallest chance of life, I couldn’t walk away.”

That moment - when hope breaks through despair, when life emerges where death seemed certain - that is the heartbeat of Easter morning. <PAUSE>

In Matthew 28:1-10, we meet two women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, walking toward a tomb.

Let’s be clear: they were not going there expecting a miracle. They were not going there full of hope. They were going with grief, with heartbreak, with finality.

Jesus, the one they loved, had been crucified. The stone was sealed. The story, as far as they knew, was over. But then … everything changes.

There is a violent earthquake. An angel descends. The stone is rolled away - not to let Jesus out, but to let the women in, and the angel says words that echo across history:

“Do not be afraid… He is not here; He has risen.” <PAUSE>

That tomb represents all the places in our lives where hope feels buried.


• A prayer that seems unanswered

• A relationship that feels beyond repair

• A future that looks uncertain

• A world filled with bullying, bluster, conflict and suffering

Like the sealed tomb, these moments feel final. Closed. Unmovable.

The two women knew that feeling. The stone wasn’t just physical - it was emotional, spiritual, final. Yet, God was already at work behind that stone.

The lesson for us is : Resurrection does not wait for perfect conditions. It happens right in the middle of despair. <PAUSE>

Let us also ponder something else of great importance - the women did not roll the stone away. God did.

Before they arrived, before they understood, before they believed - God had already acted.

That’s how grace works.

We often think everything depends on us - our faith, our strength, our understanding, But Easter tells a different story. Easter tells us that:

God is already moving.

God is already working.

God is already bringing life out of death - even when we don’t yet see it.

The lesson for us is : Resurrection is not human achievement. It is divine intervention. <PAUSE>

Matthew then tells us something beautiful and honest: The women left the tomb “afraid yet filled with joy.”

This is such a real picture of faith. They were afraid because, well, resurrection is overwhelming. It disrupts everything we thought we knew.

But they were also filled with joy, because hope had returned.

In our lives, we often think we have to choose:


• Either fear or faith
• Either doubt or joy

But Easter shows us that sometimes they come together. You can be unsure and still follow Jesus. You can be afraid and still carry good news.

The lesson for us is : Faith is not the absence of fear or uncertainty - it is moving forward in spite of it. <PAUSE>

As the women run to tell the disciples, something extraordinary happens - Jesus meets them.

Not in the tomb. Not in a temple. But on the road - on their journey.

Jesus speaks, “Greetings” and “Do not be afraid” and “Go and tell my brothers”.

The women came as mourners. They left as messengers.

Christ reveals the pattern of Easter:

Encounter → Transformation → Mission

The resurrection is not just something to believe, it is something to share.

In a world that often feels like that earthquake scene, full of brokenness, loss, and despair, we are called to be the ones who keep listening for signs of life.

The lesson for us is : To say, even when others have given up:

“There is still hope.”

“There is still life.”

“Christ is risen.”

The tomb is empty.


Death is defeated.


Hope is alive.

So whatever stone stands in front of you today, whatever feels sealed, final, or hopeless, hear the angelic words spoken on that first Easter morning:

“Do not be afraid… He is risen.”

And then go.

Go with fear, if you must.

Go with questions, if you have them.

BUT go with this unshakable truth:

Christ is risen. Christ is alive.

I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>