Easter 2024 (2)

Matthew 28:1–10 KJV (WS)

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

Introduction

Transformation takes place all around us.

As we start to look at this passage, we are faced with several situations that were in need of transformation.

The sabbath is ending, and Jesus is lying still in the grave.

Three days earlier he had been killed in the most horrific way imaginable.

The Roman masters of death had crucified Jesus at the behest of the Jews.

Now the body of Jesus lies still.

Mary’s little baby boy was dead.

The one who had healed so many was dead.

The preacher who spoke with authority was dead.

The Son of God was dead.

For all anyone knew his body was beginning the process of decay.

Bodies decay and decompose very quickly in that climate.

Remember, when Lazarus, Jesus’ friend had dead for a few days, the people had said that by that point he stank.

Of course, Jesus raised him from the dead.

There was no one to come and raise Jesus though.

So, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary set out early on Sunday morning to the tomb of Jesus for one last look at the sepulchre.

Mark states specifically that they had come to embalm the body.

Matthew says that their object was to gaze once more on the grave.

They started early in the morning because hours counted if they hoped to find Jesus’ body in a condition that it could still be managed.

Even though this was an undesirable task, their love for Jesus motivated them.

You want to talk about transformation, Mary Magdalene’s life, especially, was transformed by Jesus.

She had been possessed by multiple demons.

Jesus had set her free from that torment.

Anointing his dead body was the least she could do for him.

Of course the women’s mission was not without obstacles.

Soldiers and a stone stand between them and the contents of the tomb.

Roman soldiers were the elite military force in the world.

They had been specifically instructed to prevent Jesus’ disciples from accessing the body.

The women probably did not know that the soldiers were there.

They did know about the stone, though.

The stone weighed several hundred pounds.

What were they planning to do about the stone that sealed the tomb.

There is no way a couple of women would be able to push that heavy stone back up an incline to give them access to inside of the tomb.

Maybe if his disciples had been there with them, they could have gotten it done.

Jesus’ disciples are living in fear and defeat.

You don’t see them traveling to the tomb that Sunday morning.

They must have had all kinds of afflicting thoughts.

What had happened?

How could they have been so wrong about Jesus?

Had they not seen the miracles?

Had they not heard the messages about his kingdom?

What had happened to multitudes and the support that they had seen just the previous Sunday during his entry to the city?

Should they have done things differently?

Had they wasted the last 3 years?

Would they be hunted down and killed as well?

Things could not have been more bleak in verse 1.

Without anyone’s knowledge or assistance a silent event changed everything.

I say silent, because not one of the gospels records the actual events of Jesus’ resurrection.

Like the Oklahoma wind, we can’t see it but we see the evidences of it’s presence.

Some time during that Sunday morning Jesus’ lifeless body transformed into a living body that would no longer be capable of dying.

The heart that had stopped beating began to beat again.

Lungs that had been still and empty of air inflated and inhaled the stale oxygen of the tomb.

Silently, invisibly, wondrously, gloriously, the living body of Jesus arose and passed through the rock of the grave cave.

This unseen transformation triggers a domino of other events that are still cascading today.

The first event that transpires in our passage occurs when an angel from heaven comes down to open the tomb.

Matthew credits the coming of the angel for the earthquake that occurred.

It was no normal earthquake, it was a great earthquake.

In that moment the tomb transformed from a sealed container of death to an open display of power.

The angel rolled the stone back from the door and transformed an obstacle into a chair.

Next, we see the soldiers are removed from the equation.

The angel’s appearance channeled brilliance and purity of heaven.

A countenance like lightning.

Clothes as white as snow.

The hardened Roman soldiers could not stand before such glory.

It overwhelmed them.

They became so afraid at the sight of this angel they were literally shaking.

That is until they finally succumbed to their fear and fell down as dead men.

They became like the one they were supposed to be guarding.

They were transformed by the sight of the angel.

The resurrection is comforting for Jesus’ friends, but it is terrible for his enemies.

These soldiers were sent to keep people out of the tomb, but they were not prepared to keep Jesus in.

With the soldiers out of the way, the tomb, which has been transformed, gets a new watchman.

This angel waits as the women approach the tomb, for their last look.

Needless, to say, the women get more than one last look at the sepulchre.

I tried to imagine their reactions as they got their first look of the scene around the tomb.

It wasn’t anything like they were expecting.

The quiet serenity of a garden tomb had been replaced by a kind of chaos that comes from something unexpected.

Roman soldiers laying scattered on the ground.

The black hole of tomb gaping open.

The stone laying on its side, out of its track, and away from the door.

An angel seated on the stone.

How would you have reacted to this scene?

We would all of have had a similar reaction to these women.

We would have experienced some semblance of fear, just like they did.

The angel answer the fears of these women.

He tells them to fear not.

The way he speaks to them, he is telling stop doing what you are already doing.

“I can see you’re afraid, but you need to stop, there is no reason for you to fear.”

He then tells them he knows why they are there.

You are here looking for Jesus, the one that was crucified.

Now, if we stopped right here, the world would have no problem with Christianity.

The world believes that Jesus died.

If that was it, then he would be a good man, a good teacher, a good philanthropist.

But we don’t stop there, and neither did the angel.

You seek Jesus, but he is not here.

Why is he not here?

What do you mean he’s not here?

Where is he?

He is not here, for he is risen.

No way.

This is impossible.

Come in and see the place he lay!

There they saw the graveclothes laying where Jesus had once laid.

He had passed through them and left them undisturbed.

They saw the face covering folded and laid on the stone bed.

There was no Jesus, though.

Actual ocular proof.

I can see them looking back and forth between each other.

Then the angel speaks again.

Go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen.

Take this good news and bear it to others.

The women are commissioned inside the tomb to be the first to carry the good news of the resurrection.

A mission that only exists if Jesus is alive.

If Jesus remained dead there would have been nothing meaningful left for the disciples to do.

He was alive and there is much for his disciples to do.

First, the disciples had to be convinced of the awesome fact that Jesus was alive.

It’s one of the decisive tests of the Christian faith.

We all must answer the question of whether or not we believe that Jesus rose again.

See, the world believes Jesus died, but they do not believe that He rose again.

We can’t prove the resurrection any more than we can prove the existence of God.

We believe He rose again based on faith and the evidence that we have.

Second, the ladies are to point the disciples to the meeting in Galilee where Jesus would deliver the Great Commission.

Many of Jesus’ disciples beyond the apostles would see him.

Our sight gives us something to say.

However sweet the blessedness we find in him, it is meant to put a message in our lips which others need.

The angel concludes his directions by saying, “lo, I have told you.”

This simply means he has delivered the message he was given.

It’s like a line from a popular show recently “I have spoken.”

The ladies move quickly out of the garden.

It says that they acted in fear and in great joy.

They ran to bring word of all that happened to the disciples.

As they were running to fulfill their mission, they are interrupted.

XAIRETE!

The english is translated as “All hail!”

Since this isn’t a typical greeting for us today, we may not fully appreciate what they heard.

Xairete always conveys a wish of happiness and well-being.

Some say it means “Joy to all of you.”

Who could be hailing them with such a joyous greeting?

The ladies soon discover it’s Jesus!

They run to him and bow before him, grasping him by his feet.

This is one hand a fitting display of submission common in the east.

It is also the appropriate posture for worship which they offer to Jesus.

Jesus speaks to them and tells them not to be afraid.

The transformation of the women is complete.

They have gone from fearful to fearless.

They have gone from uncertainty to purpose.

In Jesus’ words of instruction to them we find one more transformation is in store.

Jesus’ instructions mirror the instructions of the angel.

One phrase tips us off that there is still one more transformation to come.

The status of Jesus’ disciples is about to drastically change.

The angels had told them women to go and tell Jesus’ disciples that he was risen.

Jesus tells them to go and tell “my brethren.”

Just a quick recap of what’s been going on with the disciples.

They had all shamefully fled from him in Gethsemane.

Peter had denied him.

All but John were far away when Jesus died.

And yet, Jesus now calls them by a name that is more intimate than any had used during his earthly life.

My brethren.

No higher honor can come to a man than to stand beside Jesus as his brother.

This term of endearment denotes closeness.

It denotes pardon for their lack of faith.

It denotes future usefulness in his plan.

Jesus’ words about his disciples completes the picture of transformation that Matthew paints in his account of the resurrection.

Jesus transforms graves into testimonies of life.

He transforms obstacles into non-issues.

He transforms fearful women into evangelists.

He transforms faithless disciples into his brethren.

It all stems from the transformation of his own body from death to life.

His resurrection is still transforming lives today.

The most important transformation that He wants to perform today is to bring those that are dead to life.

If you have never repented of your sins and believed in Jesus then you are a dead man in need of resurrection.

Jesus rose from the dead so that he could raise us from death to life.

If your life is in need of transformation this morning, there can be no real change until you allow Jesus to save you from your sins.

It’s why he died and it’s why He rose again.

If you are a disciple of Jesus this morning.

Think about all of the changes that He has already made to your life.

You were dead in your sins, but now you are alive forever more.

That doesn’t mean you are perfect, as the song goes, He’s still working on me.

You may be like the women in this story or the disciples.

Maybe you are facing obstacles that seem insurmountable.

Maybe you have been struggling with faithfulness to God.

Jesus can transform your obstacles into opportunities.

Just like he did for those women.

Something in your way that you can’t move?

Enemies standing between you and your mission?

These are no problem for our death-defeating savior.

Jesus can redeem you faithlessness.

The forgiveness of Jesus is infinite.

If you have trusted in him for your salvation, then you are his brother and nothing can change that.

Don’t like in defeat and despair because of your past failings.

Your position in Christ is not based on your performance, it is based on his.

The resurrection of Jesus transformed the world irrevocably.

It ushered in a new era.

Heaven and earth are now joined

The wall of separation has fallen.

God is reconciled with man.

The sacrifice of the Son has been accepted by the Father.

We have good news to share with the world.

Jesus is alive.

He is ready to transform your life.