Responses to the Resurrection

Call to worship

Welcome everyone!

Call to worship

1 Peter 1:1-5 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord,

“Resurrection Power”

Words and Music by Chris Tomlin

“Thank You Jesus for the Blood”

Words and Music by Charity Gayle

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord,

SERMON

Introduction

We have reached the pinnacle, the highlight of Jesus’ ministry. The resurrection fulfills the Word of God. The seed of the woman in Genesis who will crush the head of the serpent, the Passover Lamb in Exodus, The King of Israel in the I & II Samuel, the Suffering Servant in Isaiah... ALL THESE POINT FORWARD TO THE RESURRECTION.

The resurrection of Jesus in the central fact of the entire Bible and upon it our faith stands or falls. If the resurrection did not happen then we are dead in our sins, BUT the Resurrection did happen and because it happened it changed everything!

Matthew writes this section both apologetically and by providing two opposite responses to the resurrection. We are going to look at both sides. Matthew 28:1-15.

(verse 1)

The Dawning of a New Age

Matthew 28:1“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.

Explanation

“Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week”

The verb “dawn” means to change from darkness to light

Notice how awkwardly Matthew describes the time here

“After the Sabbath” (Late Saturday afternoon)

“As it began to dawn” (Early Sunday Morning)

QUESTION: So which is it? Saturday or Sunday?

ANSWER: It is both

It is a transition from the old to the new

The NLT brings this out well:

(NLT): Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning

The resurrection moved the world into a different period of salvation history

This is why we live in 2023 AD (Anno Domini “In the year of our Lord”)

Everything before the first century is BC (Before Christ)

TRUTH: Isn’t it amazing that the time around the world historically has been constructed around Jesus Christ

When Matthew says “it began to dawn” he is referring to the dawning of a new age

The apostles refer to it as “the last days”

This marked the transition from the OT to the NT

And the resurrection of Jesus ushered in the New Covenant God would make with His people that He promised in the OT

Jeremiah 31:31–33 (NASB95)

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

This is the covenant Jesus spoke of during the last supper

Luke 22:20 NASB95

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

We live in a blessed time

This is not the time that we try to follow all the rules and hope we go to heaven!

This is the age of salvation, when God has come to earth and risen from the dead!

This is the age of grace (unmerited favor)

This is the age when God calls sinners to repent and believe and in exchange He will forgive their sins

This is the age when any people of any nation or race can be saved from their sins

(verse 2-3)

The angel unveils the empty tomb

Matthew 28:2-3 “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. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

Again we have supernatural events happening: An earthquake occured, an angel descended from heaven, and the stone was rolled away.

We should not see this as a way to let Jesus out! Jesus was already out! It was done to let the women in!

Look at (v 5-6) “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”

These were the same women who saw Jesus being put into the tomb on Friday evening and now they witness and angel and an empty tomb

What is the significance of this?

By seeing the body go into the tomb, and the empty tomb God has provided for the world hard evidence of a resurrection by eye witness testimony!

The resurrection is not a myth, nor is a circulated story, nor is it a manmade idea BUT A FACT!

And we have the facts recorded in Scripture.

And the call to mankind is to believe the facts, and live our lives according to what Jesus says BECAUSE IF HE INDEED ROSE FROM THE DEAD THEN HE IS INDEED GOD IN THE FLESH

Bridge

Faith is believing in what we cannot see

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB95)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

But faith has to have substance!

To believe in something that has no substance is not faith at all! It is a waste of life!

We can believe in Santa Clause or the tooth-fairy but that does not make them real

There is no substance behind the claims

But the Christian faith is not based upon make believe or myths!

Our faith is based upon the hard evidence of eye witnesses who saw Jesus die, and then witnesses Him be buried, and then witnessed the empty grave, and then saw Him alive again!

Eye witnesses who walked in the tomb and saw the clothes but no body!

Men who touched the Creator of the universe and ate a meal with Him on the beach!

And all these things have been recorded for us so that we may have substance behind what we believe!

But is God’s Word reliable?

Look what the angel tells the women: (v 6) “He has risen, just as He said”

In other words, Jesus did EXACTLY what He told them He was going to do!

(17:23) "and they will kill Him, and He will rise on the third day”

(20:19) “and they will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up”

The point is God spoke, and it happened just as he said

What is the lesson here?

We can trust what God says!

God’s Word is a reliable source to live by

It does not matter how radical, how uncommon, how impossible, how counter culture it may be

If God says it, God will not let us down!

He is guaranteed to do what He says He will do!

He will bless those who follow Him

He will transform those who give their lives to Him

He will protect those who love Him

He will love us

He will guide us

He will use us if we will believe Him

(v 4) Notice the response of those who do not follow Christ

The unbelieving are filled with fear

(v 4) “The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.”

Why were they afraid?

Because a supernatural being had entered this natural world and appeared to them!

How do we know he was supernatural?

appearance like lightening (brilliance, shimmering)

clothing white as snow

And they were terrified because they did not know what would happen next

These men were prepared for some kind of human opposition because they had been warned that the disciples may come and try to steal the body of Jesus.

But they CERTAINLY were not prepared for a heavenly visitation

And this is the state of most of the world

Most of the people in this world live unprepared for the heavenly visit that is coming

They live day to day mostly not even acknowledging God whatsoever

They have not made preparations for His coming

They have not made preparations for their souls when they die

They live in sin

And they will be just like these guards when they see Jesus, “like dead men”

Jesus said, when He comes, “He will come like a thief in the night” AND when he comes, “he will come when people least expect it”

What is it like to be unprepared for the heavenly visit that is coming upon this world?

It is to always have great fear way deep down inside that can never be shaken

Sure, people can take their minds off of it and even forget about it until something reminds them of the fear inside that will never depart from their soul

Things like death,

The Bible

And the resurrection of Jesus remind them all over again that they will encounter the living God one day

Do you know what Jesus does to that fear when we give our lives to Him?

He turns it into joy

He takes what once made us tremble and dread, and turns it into a joyful song that we love to sing

(verse 7)

The great joy that fills the heart of the believing

(v 7-8) “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.” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.”

“They left with fear and GREAT JOY”

It was the news of the resurrection, looking at the empty tomb that turned their sadness into joy

The Lord that they had followed, loved, and given their lives to was alive and had overcome death

Surely they did not understand all the theological implications of this, BUT what they did know filled their hearts with joy!

This is the essence of the gospel message

I want us to know that the gospel is a joyful message to proclaim to others!

They we’re filled with joy because it was good news!

And this same good news was announced at the birth of Christ:

Luke 2:8–11 NASB95

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

I think we do not spread this message enough because we have forgotten that it truly is good news

And everyone loves to tell others good news

Have we come to believe the gospel to be bad news?

The gospel is the only news that gives life!

A risen Savior who died for my sins so that I can have eternal life is excellent news!

And the world needs to hear it!

And God has commissioned us to tell it!

Evidence of a true belief in the resurrection of Jesus is genuine worship of Jesus

Matthew 28:9-10 “And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 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.””

Explanation

Here are the women running to tell the disciples

And behold, Jesus appears to them

And they fall down at His feet, and worship Him

Notice they “took hold of His feet”

This tells us that Jesus was not a ghost, nor a spirit, but a bodily man just like you and I

They were able to place their hands on him and grasp his feet

And this is the same resurrection that we will have

We will not be floating spirits in the sky, but there will be a bodily resurrection of those in Christ

We will have gloried bodies just like Jesus had here

“And worshiped Him”

What response did these women have to the news and the empty tomb?

Fear

Great Joy

Worship

When we have the kind of faith that saves, it ALWAYS leads to worship

These women saw Jesus

‘They immediately dropped down and worshiped Him, because they believed He and risen

So when they saw Him, that was the immediate response

What is worship?

We often think about worship as singing portion of our church service

But Worship is so much more than that

Worship is adoration, reverence, and honor to Jesus

The women demonstrated honor and reverence by bowing down and taking hold of Jesus’ feet

But worship involves more than externals such as raising our hands or singing

The Lord weighs the heart

Matt 15:8 “‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.”

Worship first and foremost is how we live for the Lord

It encompasses every area of our lives, not just our worship service on Sunday

Rom 12:1 “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

Worship is a lifestyle

Everything we do should flow from our worship of Jesus meaning our whole lives should be pleasing to Him as an act of worship

The lies that veil the minds of the unbelieving

Matthew 28:11-15 “Now while they were on their way, [behold] some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”

Explanation

Why is this fabricated testimony not credible?

If the guards were sleeping, how did they witness the disciples stealing the bodies?

If the disciples came and rolled the stone away, it would have certainly waken the guards

If the disciples did not even show up at the cross, surely they wouldn’t have showed up at the tomb to face armed soldiers prepared for their coming

What other things have been suggested to counter the resurrection?

Jesus was merely unconscious, but regained consciousness in the tomb

The disciples only saw visions of resurrected Jesus

Grave robbers took the body

The problem with all of these is, the body of Jesus never was found

If anyone wanted to stop he preaching of the resurrection, all they had to do was produce a body!

But Jesus was not there, He had risen

Bridge

It is mind blowing to me that these soldiers who saw “all that had happened” and reported it to the Chief priests and elders and they STILL REFUSED TO REPENT AND BELIEVE!

Why still not turn to Jesus after seeing all this?

Because the enemy has blinded their minds so that they cannot believe

2 Corinthians 4:4 NASB95

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Why do people refuse to believe the gospel today?

Because Satan has blinded their minds

The evidence for a Creator, for a resurrection, for the Christ far outweighs any other option, yet people still refuse to believe

How many people have been misled by false testimony of those religious leaders?

Matthew says that story was still spread to “this day” (referring to around 70 AD) some 30 years after the resurrection

Justin Martyr says that rumor was still being spread into the middle of the second century

Application

There are many today who despite overwhelming evidence choose to not believe.

To reject the resurrection for whatever reason is to commit a kind of spiritual suicide. It is to forfeit all hope of a future life. It is to damn your own soul to an eternal hell without God.

And in so doing, you not only lose the future but you lose the meaning and the value of the present.

For if the future has no meaning, then how can the present have any meaning?

Conclusion

What does Matthew expect for us to do after reading this?

Don’t ignore the evidence

Don’t close your eyes to what God has done

And come to Jesus

And if you know Him, worship Him with your life

Live for Jesus

~PRAYER~

RESPONSE

PUBLIC INVITATION

“Come to Jesus”

Words and Music by Chris Rice

OFFERING

We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.

BENEDICTION PRAYER

Rev 22:18-21 “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”