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So, 

When you meet someone for the first time, what is your go to greeting? 

Do you say “hi”? Or is it a more formal “hello”?

Sue and I like to mess with Noah, our grandson, so we have a million goodbyes for him, like “See you later, Alligator” and “In a while, crocodile”!

And we’ve found a bunch more too, “Gotta go, Buffalo!” and “See ya soon, Raccoon!” and our new favorite, “Toodle-loo, Kangaroo!”

But for greetings, at least so far, the best we have is “What’s up, firetruck?”

Greetings are the way we introduce or reintroduce ourselves to folks we haven’t seen in a while. It may have only been a few hours or a few days. So, we throw out a “What’s happening?”

When it’s been a long time, even a few years, the greetings tend to be more involved, more like “Hey, how have you been, man? Long time no see!” 

Bob and Chris Yuengling were here in worship last Sunday from Vermont. They still have a house in Westbrookville, so occasionally they come back and often then are in worship.

They and their sons were a huge part of congregational life for a long time so when we see them it’s like a family reunion; a moment of real excitement; and effusive greetings tend to follow!

Which is why in doing my preparation for this week’s sermon I was surprised a bit at Jesus’ greeting of the women fleeing from the empty tomb with fear and joy.

I get the fear and joy. 

Fear, because being in the presence of an angel, being in the presence of one of God’s acts of power, standing in the place of death from which there is no escape - and then seeing and hearing that your loved one has in fact beyond all understanding escaped by the power and the actions of almighty God and is alive - can only can only result in a holy awe!

Fear by another name! 

Holy awe - the realization that before you is the indisputable evidence of Yahweh’s presence can result in no other reaction and emotion.

Except of course, for joy!

He is not dead! 

It was not all for loss! 

He did not teach us in vain! 

God has raised him! 

Hallelujah, our God reigns!
But then as they run into Jesus as they escape the overwhelming torrent of emotions tearing at their souls, Jesus appears, and says, “Don’t be afraid!” 

Now, that makes sense. 

They are afraid, though not necessarily in a bad way. 

Their emotions are more like those when you wait at the airport for your loved one to arrive and as people get off the plane you don’t see them and so you start to get emotional in a different way than when you first arrived at the airport.

Now afraid and yet still filled with joy, until you see them!

What make it weird is that in the Greek text from which our English versions are derived, it has Jesus saying something else first. 

For some reason they don’t record it that way, though some imply it. 

But you need to hear it, because it matters.

He says, “hail” or in some English translations, “greetings”, something like that old standard, “Yo”! 

He gets their attention. He raises up their eyes. And in an instant, he captures their emotions. 

The Amplified Bible gets it exactly right.