Matthew 28:8 Meaning: Fear and Great Joy at the Empty Tomb

The Greek word for fear here is phobos. It can mean terror, but it also carries the sense of awe and reverence, the kind you feel when you are in the presence of something far bigger than yourself. These women had just seen an angel whose appearance was like lightning. The guards had fallen like dead men. Of course they were afraid.

The word for joy is chara, and Matthew calls it great (megas). This is not a small, quiet gladness. It is the joy that comes when sorrow is suddenly overturned. The angel had told them Jesus is alive. Everything they had hoped for was not lost after all.

Then there is the verb they ran (edramon, from trechō). Running is the natural motion of urgent joy. They did not walk. They did not stop to compose themselves. The mixture of fear and joy did not slow them down, it pushed them forward. Sometimes our feelings are not neat, but they can still carry us where we need to go.

Adam Clarke, a Methodist commentator, notes that at unexpected good news, fear and joy are generally intermingled. The women were almost beside themselves with both feelings. John Calvin, writing from a Reformed perspective, sees the fear as a sign that their faith was not yet fully settled. Even so, he adds, Christ met them in their trembling and doubt, a mark of his compassion. Matthew Henry, from the Presbyterian tradition, emphasises the women’s role as faithful messengers: they ran to bring word, and their mixed emotions did not stop them from obeying. Across these traditions, there is agreement that genuine faith can hold fear and joy together without contradiction. The empty tomb allows for both.

Some readers assume the women’s fear means their faith was weak or that they had not truly believed the angel’s message. In fact, the text treats their fear and great joy as a natural, truthful response. Barnes notes that the news was almost too good to be believed at once. Both emotions are honest, and they did not stop the women from running to tell the disciples.

When God breaks into your life with news that changes everything, you might not feel perfectly calm. You might feel awe that makes you tremble and joy that makes you want to move all at once. That is all right. The women did not sort out their feelings before they acted. They ran with what they had. This week, if something good and overwhelming comes your way, an answered prayer, a surprising turn, a moment of grace, do not wait until you feel composed. Let the mixture of fear and great joy carry you forward. Tell someone what God has done.