Jesus and JENGA

He Is Risen  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  36:40
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Good morning!

It’s always good to see you and be with you and sing with you, but especially on Easter.
If we haven’t met before my name is Chris, I’m the pastor of Gateway Chapel, we’re a church on mission to plant churches and make disciples who hear, love, and obey Jesus.
And a little something about me as we get to know each other more...
The game JENGA stresses me out. You know the one with the blocks. Either the inside version or the big one you play outside…they stress me out.
Anybody else with me?
It’s a distressing game for me.
As I’ve become a parent, I’m learning I don’t like messes.
I don’t like it when Isabelle gets dirt on her hands, when she gets wet outside, I just don’t like messes.
And the whole point of JENGA is to make a mess and everybody yells.
Isabelle will play JENGA on our smooth wooden dining room table and when that thing falls some of the pieces end up upstairs.
Why am I talking about JENGA...
We all get the point of JENGA, you’re trying to figure out what pieces matter. The loser is the one you removes the key piece that holds the tower together.
The resurrection of Jesus, what we celebrate on Easter is that key piece.
Everything hinges on this: Jesus is really alive. Not just spiritually, but physically.
In his book, “Surprised by Hope”, NT Wright says
“Easter...should be the center. Take that away and there is, almost literally, nothing left.”
Each of our lives are like little JENGA towers.
Sometimes we lose little pieces that don’t matter, and we’re okay. But all of us have one or maybe multiple key pieces in our lives that if those are removed, we literally crumble.
For many of us it’s family, it’s your kids, your friends, your performance at your job, your personality, your looks, your significant other…we put so much on these things that if those pieces get dislodged, we have a breakdown. How could we even put the pieces together if that was taken away.
This morning I want us to consider that Easter - the resurrection of Jesus - is the only true building block of life which can hold us together.
This morning we’re going to read our Bibles, and specifically Matthew’s account of Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 28:1-10. And in these verses I want to point out three reasons Jesus’ resurrection is so key.
Victory
Promise
Family
(Say again)
Prayer
Matthew 28:1 NASB95
1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
We’re jumping into the middle of the story here.
On Friday night at our Good Friday service we stopped at the end of chapter 27 which is like hitting pause right before the season finale. But we’re picking it up again.
The book of Matthew is Matthew’s eye-witness account of Jesus.
Matthew says all the way back at the beginning of his book that Jesus is the Christ - it’s like saying Chris is the Pastor - Christ is not his last name it’s a title. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah - which means Anointed or Chosen One. Jesus is God’s chosen King come to save the world from their sins.
And throughout his book, he shows us why.
Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, he is the Good and Wise King, and he’s not what we expected. Instead of killing his enemies, he was killed by them and through his death he brings us life.
And as we read Friday night,
Jesus’ enemies, the religious leaders of the Jewish community, conspire together with one of Jesus’ followers - Judas - to arrest Jesus, convict him on false charges, and ultimately hand him over to the Roman government to be hung on a cross. Jesus died a long and painful death and his dead body was placed was placed in the stone tomb of Joseph, a rich disciple of Jesus.
Notice Matthew says, “After the Sabbath...”
Sabbath is the Jewish day of rest where they refrain from work to honor God who rested when he made the world. What happened on this Sabbath?
Matthew 27:62–66 NASB95
62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64 “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
So on the Sabbath, instead of resting to honor God, the Jewish leaders plot against God.
And yet as we see in verse 1…the sun rises…dawn is coming.
Back in Matthew 1…Matthew began by saying, “The Genesis of Jesus...” And now here at the end of Matthew he says, “Let there be light!” A new creation has begun. Just like God brought light from darkness, now he will bring life from the grave.
And while the dew is still on the grass and in that blueish hue of early morning light, who is there?
Two women.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. How would you like to be called the “other” Mary?
Well we read about these two back in Matthew 27, the other Mary is the mother of James and Joseph. Mary Magdalene is the most famous Mary in the Bible other than Jesus’ mother. She’s a very prominent follower of Jesus.
You all came here expecting Jesus would be alive, they didn’t.
Let’s try and put ourselves in their shoes. A man they loved is dead.
Have you ever lost someone tragically? How were you feeling less than 48 hours after it happened?
How did you feel? Confused? Weepy? Tired? Sleep deprived? Angry? Shocked?
On October 26, 2017, my best friend Josiah had a heart attack and died the day before his first born daughter was born.
What I remember experiencing in those early days was immense fear. Anxiety. A world where that can happen did not feel like a safe place. Maybe Mary and the other Mary could relate.
But despite their grief, it’s not Easter without these gals.
Every resurrection story - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John includes the women.
Why does that matter?
Maybe you’re here and you understand the moral value of Easter, but you don’t think this actually happened.
Maybe you’re here and you believe this story, if someone asked you, “How do you know this is true?” What might you say? Obviously we have personal experience tasting and seeing the Lord is good but is there some basis for this story REALLY happening.
The women of Easter show this really happened.
In Jesus’ day, it was - to a much greater extent than today - a man’s world. Women were treated as second class citizens.
Josephus, a Jewish historian viewed women as inferior in all matters, responsible for nearly all sin.
Philo - an ancient philosopher - said women should desire a life of seclusion and that women were good wives or problems. It was said, “Better the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good; it is woman who brings shame and disgrace.”
Ancient Jews would pray 3x a day and one of those prayers would be thanking God he did not make them to be a woman.
Celsus, a second century Greek philosopher said Christianity was founded on the basis of hysterical females.
No one in the entire ancient world would found a religion on the testimony of women.
I obviously don’t mean that in a derogatory sense, I just mean that’s not what people did.
And no one would make up a religion on the falsified accounts of women and then gladly die rather than renounce their story.
But this is exactly how God planned it out.
Verse 2...
Matthew 28:2–4 NASB95
2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
This isn’t some earthquake where tectonic plates shift underground, but because heaven breaks into earth the very make up of reality starts shaking.
This spiritual being comes, moves the heavy stone, and sits on it like I’m going to sit on a couch and watch the Masters later today.
It says the angels appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. This is almost certainly a reference to Daniel 7 when Daniel sees God and describes him that way. Daniel 7 is right after Daniel 6 where Daniel is buried in a tomb of lions but comes out alive.
Here we see the victory of Easter.
No obstacle stops Jesus. No tomb, no stone, no guards, not even death itself can stop him.
Fletcher pointed something out this week that I’d never noticed before.
In verse 4 the guards - the soldiers put there to make sure the disciples don’t steal the body - shook for fear and became like dead men.
Jesus wins - he is alive - but the guards are still alive. They’re LIKE dead men, but they’re still alive.
Not only that, but shortly after out text, the guards will go back to the city and be bribed by the religious leaders to spread rumors that Jesus is not alive but his disciples came to steal him. And the religious leaders say - “Hey if that gets you into trouble we will make sure you don’t lose your jobs.”
So Jesus’ enemies lose - it’s like they’re dead - but they are still present.
And what a great picture of life today.
Jesus has won! And yet as followers of Jesus we still have an enemy. But he is like a dead man. Shaking for fear of Jesus. But he is still working to thwart the good news.
We have all joy and peace and hope because of Easter Sunday, yet we still have many Good Fridays and silent Saturdays.
Some of you may know of Rick Warren the pastor in California. In 2015, his 27-year old son Matthew committed suicide.
About a year after this tragedy, Rick said, "I've often been asked, 'How have you made it? How have you kept going in your pain?' And I've often replied, 'The answer is Easter.'
"You see, the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus happened over three days. Friday was the day of suffering and pain and agony. Saturday was the day of doubt and confusion and misery. But Easter—that Sunday—was the day of hope and joy and victory.
Easter is victory.
In verse 5, the angel speaks...
Matthew 28:5–7 NASB95
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
I think there needs to be about 7 more exclamation points here.
Hear the joy of the angel!
There’s nothing to fear here!
Imagine the gals frantically searching, still in the shock of grief, trying to find Jesus.
The stone is moved not so Jesus can escape, but so the women can see Jesus isn’t in the grave.
Angels are God’s messengers, and he says:
Do not be afraid - there’s nothing to fear here.
I know you’re searching for Jesus who has been crucified.
He’s not in this tomb. He’s gotten up! JUST AS HE SAID.
When did Jesus say that? Matthew 12:40, Matthew 16:21, and he said it so much other people quoted him like we just read in Matthew 27...
Matthew 27:63 NASB95
63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’
Without resurrection we cannot take Jesus seriously. We can’t take Christians seriously.
Paul says in 1 Cor 15:17
1 Corinthians 15:17 NASB95
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
Here we see the promise of Easter.
Jesus said he would beat death.
And way back in the beginning of the Bible, God promised the same.
The whole story of Scripture is how God promises to save us from death.
And if he kept that promise, we can trust him with the rest.
“Let God’s promises shine on your problems.” - Corrie Ten Boom
Today, bring your biggest problems to the empty tomb.
Whether it’s stuff with family, work, your thought life, your relationships, your worried about finances, you’re concerned about your health, you think you’re not good enough...
God keeps his promise. He said he would always be with us. He promises to return one day to make all things new and he promises that right now he is preparing a place for those who love him.
How would the biggest issue in your life change in the light of Easter?
The victory of Easter, the promise of Easter
How do the Mary’s respond?
Matthew 28:8–10 NASB95
8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
These gals leave the tomb with all the feels - as the kids say.
Fear of seeing a spiritual being with their eyes and joy because Jesus might really be alive!
They hike up their ancient Jewish dresses and book it.
And Matthew says - Behold or Look! Jesus met them and greeted them - literally “says hello!”
And they just collapse at his feet.
Now, you and I expected Jesus to be alive today.
No one here is shocked. This is common knowledge that this is how the story goes. But again, put yourself in their shoes.
I mentioned the story of my friend Josiah earlier.
After he died we flew out to OKC where he and his wife lived for the funeral. We went to their church out in the suburbs.
And I thought this week what would happen if I walked through the doors and I saw Josiah.
Saw his red hair and goofy feoux hawk and gave me his trademark huge strong hug.
And in the same way I want to picture Jesus’ warmth.
And like the angel he says “Do not be afraid.”
But notice then his words change because he says ‘go and take word to my brethren’
What did the angels call them? Disciples. That’s what they are. The followers and apprentices of Jesus.
Jesus calls them brothers.
Why is that important?
In the last 3 days what have these disciples done? Utterly failed Jesus. He asked them to pray with him at the Garden when he’s in deep emotional distress and they fall asleep. Peter tells complete strangers he doesn’t even know Jesus. All the disciples flee as Jesus gets arrested.
These are bad friends, disappointing disciples, and Jesus calls them brothers.
We’ve seen the victory of Easter, the promise of Easter, now we see the Family of Easter.
Easter means that flawed women and men are called brothers and sisters because the God of all grace and forgiveness is alive.
It does not matter how bad you’ve fallen. Or how much you’ve failed. Jesus’ death and resurrection means he’s making a new family of people who, like him, will never truly die.
Paul says in Romans:
Romans 8:28–30 NASB95
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Easter means the death defying family of God is open to all who trust Jesus.
The story in the Bible continues as word spreads and people respond to the good news that a new day has dawned.
And Peter, one of Jesus’ new brothers, after healing a man with the power of Jesus says this in Acts 4:8-12
Acts 4:8–12 NASB95
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, 9 if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. 12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Jesus is the cornerstone, the key piece, the one who holds it all together because of the victory, promise, and family made possible by his resurrection.
What’s that key piece in your life?
When life is shaky, what holds you up?
People have not gathered for the past 2,000 years to say, "The stock market has risen. It has risen indeed." They have not gathered to say, "The dollar has risen. It has risen indeed." Or, "the employment rate has risen." Or, "the gross domestic product has risen." Or, "General Motors has risen." Or, "The value of your 401(k) has risen." Here's the one hope that has held up human beings across every continent and culture for two millennia of difficult times of poverty, disease, pain, hardship, [and] death itself: "Christ is risen. He is risen indeed." - John Ortberg
Receive his love today. Be baptized. If you’ve never been baptized, we’d love to help you obey Jesus in that way. Let Christ alone hold you together. He will never let you fall.
Communion
Right now we’re going to respond in worship with a family meal we call communion.
Where we joyfully eat the bread which represents Christ’s body broken for us, and the juice which represents Christ’s blood poured out for you.
We’re going to sing a couple songs to celebrate, come and take when you’re ready.
Benediction
2 things before you go...
We’d love to get to know you…maybe if you have questions about the sermon, you want to get baptized, you want to join a community group, you’re curious about serving, feel free to use the connect cards in front of you to fill out and put in the black box we’d love to talk more.
If you’re curious about being a part of Gateway Chapel, the membership class on April 23rd is your next step. Come let us serve you lunch and we’d love to get to know you and tell you more about what it means to follow Jesus with us.
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the source of every mercy, the God of all consolation. Do not rely on yourselves alone, but put your trust in him. For the God who can raise the dead to life again will also deliver you!
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