Matthew 28:1-15 Death Could Not Hold Him

Intro: Building Update

Last week I asked you to pray for our meeting the the SBC

On Thursday the Elders met with the Missions director, who oversees properties, and the regional guy

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of using the old Mission Hills baptist facility

Mission Hills

It was a good discussion and there is a path to it happening

We would enter into a long term lease where we would be the Primary tenant

There is a possibility for us to purchase the property If we were to be an SBC church in good standing after 5 years

In the meantime we would make necessary improvements which would reduce our monthly lease

11,400 sq ft of ministry space

5 acres of land

A Hispanic church would also meet there and we would partner with them

I’m not gonna lie to you, its rough

We would need to put a chunk of money into it

Over the next couple of weeks we are going to gather our numbers and see if it is practical

It would be a resurrection of a dormant property

Read Matthew 28:1-6

Transition:

The crucifixion has happened

Passover has come and gone

Its the dawn of a new day in Jerusalem

Four ladies are making preparations to go to the tomb and give Jesus a proper burial

They are not expecting to find an empty tomb or a resurrected Christ

Yet, Four times in Matthew Jesus told his disciples that he would be raised on the third day

Matthew 16:21 ESV

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single greatest event in the history of the world.

It is the central event of God’s redemptive history.

It is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, and everything that we are and have and hope to be is predicated on its reality.

There would be no Christianity if there were no resurrection.

The message of Scripture has always been a message of resurrection hope, a message that death is not the end for those who belong to God.

For the believer, death has never been an end but rather a doorway that leads to eternity with God.

It is His resurrection that guarantees ours.

Without resurrection there is no Christian faith, no salvation, and no hope

A person who believes in a Christ who was not raised believes in a powerless Christ, a dead Christ.

This morning we are going to see a savior whom death could not hold

Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of the resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed.

John Stott

The Man who died on the cross died in weakness. The Bible is plain in telling us this. But He arose in power. If we forget or deny the truth and glory of His resurrection and the fact that He is seated at the right hand of God, we lose all the significance of the meaning of Christianity!2

A. W. Tozer

Resurrected vs. 1-8

No cross, tomb, or guards were going to hold Jesus in the grave

God plan all along was to resurrect His Son

Now it was time to reveal it to everyone else

vs. 1 Moved by Deep Compassion

These ladies went to the tomb expecting to anoint his body with spices

They went out of deep compassion and love

The first day of the week literally means, “day one with reference to the Sabbath.

The Jews did not have names for days of the week, such as Monday, Tuesday, and so on, but simply numbered them in relation to the Sabbath.

Sabbath means “seventh,”

Did you know?

It is because of the resurrection that Christians worship on Sunday rather than on the Sabbath.

At that predawn hour on Sunday morning Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

The other Mary was the mother of James and Joseph and the wife of Clopas

Salome and Joanna were also there but Matthew doesn’t mention them

The women obviously thought Jesus would still be in the grave and would remain there, or else they would not have brought the anointing spices.

They had not come to see Jesus risen but to look at the grave where they expected His body to still be lying.

They had been among the women who ministered to Jesus in Galilee and who had stood with Him at the cross

Now they came to the garden hoping that somehow the great stone could be removed so they could minister to Him one last time

They came to the tomb out of deep affection for their Lord.

What they lacked in faith they compensated for in loving compassion, and what they lacked in understanding they made up for in courageous devotion.

vs. 2-4 The Earth shook and the Stone was rolled Away

These women went in faith to the tomb because there was a large stone in front of it

Mark 16:3 ESV

And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”

God takes care of this detail

There was a great earthquake

They found the stone had been moved aside by an angel

This was the second supernatural earthquake connected to Jesus

The earth shook with revelation that Christ had risen

When the ladies get to the tomb an Angel is sitting on the stone which he had just rolled away

The angel moved the stone not to let Jesus out but to let the women and the apostles in

It was quite the scene

He descended from heaven, rolled the stone away, sat there shining in his brilliance all while the Romans soldiers acted like they were dead

The angel’s glistening garment that was as white as snow suggests God’s purity and holiness.

The guards were so awestruck that at first they shook for fear of him.

Shook translates a Greek term that has the same root as “earthquake” in verse 2, indicating that the soldiers experienced personal earthquakes of both mind and body

The soldiers had reason to fear

They saw the angel, but they also had to answer for not protecting the grave

The women were also frightened but they received comfort from God’s messenger

vs. 5-6 He’s Not Here

Aware of their fright, the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid.

Acknowledging their great love, God responded with great love.

“I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified,”

The angel said to them; “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.”

Luke 24:5 ESV

And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

Has risen also translates , “has been raised.”

Jesus Himself had power to give up His life and to take it up again

Scripture makes clear that He also was raised by the power of the Father

The angel gently reminded the women that Jesus’ resurrection should not surprise them, because it happened just as He said.

Next the angel invited the women to come, see the place where He was lying.

At this point the women went into the tomb and observed that it was indeed empty.

If you piece the Gospels together you realize that the Angel told the ladies 3X’s that Jesus was resurrected

This shouldn’t be surprising

The same would’ve happened to us

vs. 7-8 Go Tell the Good News

The angel commanded them to be the first messengers of the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.

Since these women were some of the few people courageous enough to publicly identify themselves with Jesus, it was an appropriate honor.

The women – filled with fear and great joy – did exactly what the angel told them to do.

He told them to go quickly and they did.

Reunited vs. 9-10

The women were reunited with Jesus on their way to the disciples

vs. 9 Jesus Meets Them

The women met Jesus as they obeyed the command to tell the news of the resurrection.

Jesus met them, saying “Rejoice!”

What else could Jesus say to these women? What else could they do other than rejoice?

The same power that brought Christ back from the dead is operative within those who are Christ’s. The resurrection is an ongoing thing.

Leon Morris

So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him:

When the women met Jesus, they felt compelled to worship Him.

An hour before, they thought everything was lost because they thought Jesus was dead.

Now they knew everything was gained because Jesus was alive.

Notably, Jesus received the worship of these ladies.

If Jesus were not God, it would have been terribly sinful for Him to receive this worship.

But being God, it was good and appropriate for Him to receive it.

Military Moms reuniting with their children

vs. 10 Go tell My Brothers

Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me:

Jesus told the women to do the same thing that the angel told them to do.

My brethren: “This is the first time our Lord called his disciples by this endearing name: they no doubt thought that their Lord would reproach them with their past cowardice and infidelity; but, in speaking thus, he gives them a full assurance, in the most tender terms

Hebrews 2:11 ESV

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

Spreading a False Report vs. 11-15

The guards went and told the religious leaders what happened

They covered their tracks

Tell them, “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept”:

This cover-up attempt shows the darkness of these priests. They knew the truth of the resurrection, yet they rejected that truth.

A large sum of money: “The Greek is literally ‘sufficient money’ – it would need to be large!”

While we slept: The cover-up also shows their foolishness.

If it was true that the guards were asleep, they could not know that it was His disciples that stole the body of Jesus.

To believe this, we have to believe:

All the soldiers were asleep – all of them!

All the soldiers violated the strict law of the Roman military against sleeping on watch, punishable by death.

All the soldiers slept so deeply that none of them were awakened by the work and exertion and noise necessary to roll away the stone and carry out the body.

All the soldiers were so soundly asleep – yet they knew who it was who did this.