The Resurrection & Life

Biblical Text -

Matthew 28:1–20 NKJV

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - The Resurrection Is A Miraculous, Joyful, And Life Changing Event.

Life Point- The Resurrection Is A Miraculous Event

Exegetical -

Matthew 28:1–4 NLT

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

Homiletical -

Several things come into play here. I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time here in the story as it were. I am going to spend some time here relating a few things that jump out.

First it was after the Sabbath that Jesus rose. So from Friday night to Sunday he laid in the tomb.

Why?

Well we find that something similar happened to another man in the scriptures.

John 11:1–7 NLT

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

John 11:20–44 NLT

When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” So Mary immediately went to him. Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

You see Lazarus had been dead for four days. For three days there would be rituals that were normally done to a body in order to preserve it for the resurrection. Oils would be applied.

But there comes a time when a body has gone beyond the point of freshness and begins to stink. So in verse 39 Jesus is told “by now he stinks.”

But to prove that He has authority over death and that there would be no doubt of His power, Jesus did not come right away to Lazarus’ aid when he heard he was sick. He waited another 2 days and by the time he shows up, Lazarus has been dead 4 days buried in a cave with a stone in front of it, which was a common burial of the time.

Jesus orders the stone be moved. The mourners and friends of the family are probably sitting there thinking to themselves “This guy is nuts! Not only is there nothing Jesus can do in the face of death, but the dude stinks!” But they move the stone anyway and low and behold Jesus calls him forth and he rises from the dead.

There was no doubt Lazarus was dead. There was no doubt Jesus was dead either. He had been beaten, he had been whipped he had a crown of thorns shoved down on his head, and I don’t mean the sticker burs we have here. I am talking the really long thorns that are common to the region. He was weak already when they crucified him. As a matter of fact, because it was the Sabbath and they wanted to move things along they broke the legs of the thieves that were being crucified with Him in order for them to drown in there own bodily fluids and die faster.

This was not done to Jesus, not a bone was broken. To be sure, they shoved a spear in his side and found blood and water flowed out. The Romans knew how to make sure someone was dead.

But for 3 days he stayed in that tomb, which proved to all that not only was he dead but that he was really dead. On that day He rose from the grave on the first day of the week. Not only that but there was an angel there declaring it to the women who had come to perform the burial rituals.

Listen the appearance of the angel was so spectacular and fearsome that these battle hardened Guards of the Roman army were so afraid they coward and were like dead men before the angel.

Notice Jesus starts the New Covenant triumph on the first day of the week, not at the last day of the week. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and starts something new. This is a type and a shadow for the church age.

Jesus is not dead, but He is alive today in heaven at the right hand of the Father!

To deny the power of the literal resurrection of Christ is to deny the Gospel. To deny the Gospel makes you no Christian at all. If you cannot believe the story as it is written in the scriptures, then you are an unbeliever. You are not a Christian. You either believe it all or you are not His at all.

Life Point - The Resurrection Is A Joyous Event

Exegetical -

Matthew 28:5–10 NLT

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

Homiletical -

The women are not told to just take the angel’s word that Jesus rose, they were invited to look in the tomb and see where he had been and that he was there no more.

These women knew where Jesus’ body was because they had performed rituals since he had been dead.

They didn’t start the day joyous about Jesus. They started it in mourning. They started it in sadness.

But you see God doesn’t do the things you expect Him to do. He usually does things in a way you don’t understand. Whether it’s a trial or tribulation to get you to where He wants you or it be something supernatural to get His will done. We in our little brains, though we should see it coming and know He can do the miraculous always seem to be shocked when He does His thing.

We are so shocked and so amazed that we tend to tell people about it. We are joyful and want to proclaim to the world what God has done.

The sad part is, unlike the women who are on their way to tell the disciples, when Jesus shows up we get so focused on what He has done that we forget to Worship Him.

These women didn’t forget though, they bowed down and worshipped Him. Notice He didn’t chastise them for their worship. He just said “Don’t be afraid.”

Then he sends them on their way and tells them to tell the disciples where to meet Him.

If we as Christians would just worship Him when God has called us to something we would find that He might give us a direction to make our busy lives better, more joyful, more peaceful.

We are so busy about being busy that sometimes we forget to sit at the Master’s feet, we forget to bow down and worship Him. If we would just take the time out of our busy lives to worship Him, we might find he will change our lives. We might find that He will make our lives more fulfilling than it ever could have been if we had stayed on the trajectory that we were headed.

A fulfilling life does not mean you will get what the world says you should have to live a fulfilling life. Fulfillment in Christ is about a supernatural peace that surpasses all understanding it is beyond materialism, and worldly wealth.

Life Point - The Resurrection Is A Life Changing Event For Each True Christian

Exegetical -

Matthew 28:16–20 NLT

Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Homiletical -

We call this the great commission. The great mission of the church folk.

So what is the problem?

A true disciple of the Lord will be one who gives up their time for others. I don’t mean to make converts. I mean to make disciples. A disciple looks like their teacher.

We are to help others on their walk with Christ to look like Christ. We are also to baptize them and to teach them to obey all the commands of Jesus.

What is His main command?

To go and make disciples of all nations.

This means the religious who don’t really know Him

This means the irreligious in our midst.

This means the tattooed biker, the thief, the prostitute.

It means we are to reach the so-called undesirables of this world.

Someone is saying, “but pastor I am afraid of that person.”

Hey man, Jesus said he would be with you even to the end of the age.

You gotta just do it.

“But what if they kill me.”

Then be a martyr for Christ. I don’t see that happening in America too much but definitely in other countries and you know what those Christians do? They do it anyway. They share Jesus anyway. Why can’t you again?

Let me give you one example from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

Savonarola was an Italian monk, very well educated, who began to preach to the people against the evil living he witnessed within his own order, demanding reforms. As Savonarola’s popularity grew, Pope Alexander VI ordered his vicar to proceed with the needed reforms in an attempt to silence the monk, but Savonarola wouldn’t be silenced.

When the pope denounced Savonarola’s testimony and ordered him to be silent, the monk finally realized the danger he was in and temporarily stopped preaching. But he took it up again in Florence in 1496 at the request of the people longing for God’s Word. Cursed as a heretic, Savonarola told the people that such curses were against true doctrine and should be ignored.

Savonarola was taken from his cloister in 1498, along with two other friars who supported him, and burned as a heretic on May 24, 1499.

There are many more stories like this throughout history of those being murdered for the Gospel, yet we can’t be inconvenienced why?

Remember what Christians throughout time who have been martyred remembered. This life is no longer about you, it is about Jesus and His will. Not yours, and remember 2 cor. 5:8

2 Corinthians 5:8 NLT

Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

It is every Christians desire to be away from the body and Home with the Lord, where there is no more tears, no more pain, and no more sin to get in our way.

But God in His ultimate wisdom has decided that we are here not for our own wants and desires but that were are still here on this earth to do the mission of the believer. That is, to share Jesus with those that are dyeing and going to hell.

How about it church? Will you share Jesus with others or will you be selfish and do what you want to do, not what God has called you to do?

Life Principle– The Resurrection Is A Miraculous, Joyful, And Life Changing Event.

Call to Action – altar call….