There’s a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On

“There’s something in the water!!! There’s something in the water!!!”

I heard the screams coming from the shore and then realized, they were yelling at me! There really was something in the water! It was long and dark and swimming so close to me I could almost touch it.

My teen daughter and her friend frantically began kicking, trying to climb out of the water and onto the black tube the three of us were hanging on.

Somehow, I remained relatively calm and told them to stop kicking and be still!

“Don’t move!”

The large, ominous figure in the water darted by us again.

Slowly, I began walking us toward the shore all the while, people on the shore watching us in terror as the creature continued to swim circles around us.

Then, about thirty feet from the shore, the sea creature’s dorsal fin appeared out of the water. The smooth, shimmering surface of the dolphin’s back arched slightly, playfully above the waves.

We all breathed a huge sigh of relief!

Finally making it to shore, I sat in the hot Florida sun, wrapped in huge beach towel, trembling for a full hour.

Trembling. Fear had over-taken me.

Fear of what I thought was a close call with a deadly shark left my entire body weak and trembling.

Have you ever been so afraid that your body literally shook? Trembled?

We’re not the only ones.

There’s a whole lotta shakin’ going on in Matthew 28.

First, there was a great earthquake because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled the stone from the door of Jesus’s tomb. The original language tells us the angel threw the stone away from the opening and then sat on it.

I’ve never experienced an earthquake, and I hope I never do. But I do know, great earthquakes create great trembling!

As we move on in Matthew 28 we read in verse 4, “And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.” It is very interesting and telling that the word translated for “shook” has the same root as the word “earthquake” in verse 2. These guards – somewhere between 4 to 16 Roman Soldiers – shook – trembled in fear at the sight of the angel. Not only did they tremble, but they also fainted. Passed out as if they were dead men.

The earth was trembling.

The guards were trembling.

Anyone else?

Verse 5 tells us, “But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.” Based on verse 1 of this same chapter we can identify these two women as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.

Do you think they were trembling, too?

Matthew tells us the women went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.

Mark, however, is a little more dramatic in his account of this event: “So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed” (Mark 16:8a).

Yep, the Marys were trembling, too.

I find it so interesting that the Roman soldiers, strong, bold and armed men, trembled and fainted from their fear.

Yet, two women who witnessed the exact same things, trembled and obeyed in their fear.

The Roman soldiers were at the tomb of Jesus, guarding a dead man and encountered the supernatural. Unbelieving, their fear was bound in their ignorance of the Savior and the judgment to come.

In contrast, the women were at the tomb of Jesus, looking for the Savior. Their encounter with the angel filled them with fear and great joy! Trembling and amazement! This led them to obedience.

God’s Word tells us “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).

Every knee will bow and some will tremble under judgment for their sin. I hope and pray this is not the category you are in today.

Every knee will bow and some will tremble with reverence and great joy because their sin has been forgiven.

Even today, as we encounter the Almighty, we tremble in reverence and great joy for the gift of salvation. For the gift of His presence. For the gift of eternity with Him.

I pray that you will sit in His presence today, and tremble. And obey.

“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11)