He is not here!
Easter Sunday • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Call and Response: He is Risen!
Read Matthew 28:1-10.
Chair bible pg. 668
Are you ready for the message God has for us?
Cool, let’s dig in!
The record of Jesus comes full circle it began with angels at His birth and now angels at His resurrection.
We are reminded of the promise in His name - Immanuel God with us!
The women at the tomb are crying because they think Jesus is no longer with them, they have in a sense lost hope
Fear, grief, hopelessness, and despair intermingle at the tomb.
The women at the tomb were not expecting a resurrection, nor do they comprehend yet the way in which their world will be transformed.
It is still a message for us today. Our world still has trauma, mass shootings, other types of violence, pain, devastation of illness and death!
We come Ester Sunday with the cry for Immanuel to draw even closer.
If we are open and willing to look beyond the grave, we will find He is here with us because He is risen!
The Third Day
The Third Day
There are many third days in Scripture.
God recused Isaac on the third day - Genesis 22:4
4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.
God presence on Mount Sinai - Exodus 19:16.
Exodus 19:16 (NASB 2020)
16 So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud over the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
God healed Hezekiah - 2 Kings 20:5
5 “Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
Jonah in the fish for three days - Jonah 1:17
17 And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.
In our text Matthew points out that it was early in the morning.
These women in our text being Jewish wouldn’t go to prepare the body on the Sabbath.
Thus they come to the tomb as soon as religious law wold allow.
Then we John 20:19
19 Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
So Jesus appearance at the tomb in the morning and then later to the disciples is all on the same day, and I find it interesting:
The woman risk their lives and safety by going to the tomb
The disciples keep the doors locked out of fear for the Jewish religious leaders
Think about this the women risk life and limb to go to the tomb while the rest of the disciples stay safely behind locked doors!
Looking for Jesus in the wrong place
Looking for Jesus in the wrong place
Jesus told his disciples on several occasions he was going to rise again
4 An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign; and so a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
21 From that time Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day.
22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be handed over to men;
23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
The women at the tomb were present at the crucifixion
55 And many women were there watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while caring for Him.
56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
25 Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
I wonder how many of these were present at the raising of Lazarus?
Watching someone whom you know has the power to raise the dead, then die themselves must have been confusing
So often the disciples fail to understand what Jesus is doing
They never seem to grasp that salvation and victory are going to come in an unusual way!
Through humility, sacrifice, death, and resurrection!
So instead of seeing death on the cross as part of the plan, it becomes a symbol of their lost hope!
He was the expected Messiah, but not the Messiah they expected!
Where is He?
Where is He?
In the texts of Matthew and John we see the empty tomb.
In John’s account Mary encounters Jesus in the garden
In Matthew, the women encounter him on their way to Galilee.
Thus in these texts Jesus is found where His disciples are!
When they despair of hope, we find Jesus meeting them where they are
He is present in the midst of their grief and pain
All they need to do is look up and see Him!
Remember His name, Immanuel God with us!
The fear, doubt, and hopelessness of the disciples does not disqualify them from encountering the resurrected Christ.
In spite of all his teachings and warnings about what was going to happen, Jesus doesn’t shame any of them for looking for him in the tomb, for hiding in a locked room, or for doubting the resurrection.
He embraces all of them where they are, and their lives are transformed by his presence.
They were commissioned to go out into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, and they go.
God is still with us.
The power of resurrection is still with us!
We have hope no matter what we face. Even when we struggle, even when we doubt, even when we are afraid, we are also empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry the resurrection of Jesus into the world.
Conclusion
We are a resurrection community!
Our entire lives should be transformed by the power of the resurrection!
The power of the resurrection is Jesus conquering sin and death!
That means we no longer live without hope!
In our worst moments of grief, hopelessness, and fear we can be confident that Christ is with us, because He is Risen!
We are loved, we are not lone, there is hope!
Sin is defeated, and death is destroyed through the power of the resurrection!
He is Risen!