He Is Risen
Notes
Transcript
I have a few questions to start out this morning.
Where is Dalai Lama?
Where is Muhammed?
Where is Mother Teresa, John the Baptist, and any other religious leader or teacher?
COULD we say, for arguments sake, that they are resurrected?
But, more importantly, can we make others believe it? Of course not, we can confidently say, they are in their grave, in the tomb, or in the catacomb where they were placed.
But let me ask this question - where is Jesus? He is Risen!
Dr. Henry Morris made this statement “The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Chrsitianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.”
Today, I say to you we have faith in an absolute truth, we serve a risen and LIVING Savior!
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
Keep in mind the timing here Hebrew time was used in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and the Book of Acts. Sunrise (6 a.m.) was the beginning of the day the Sabbath would have been over at 6:00 P.M. on Saturday. But it states toward the dawn of the first day - Jesus arose. This was so significant to the early Christians that they broke away from worshipping on the Sabbath (Saturday) and began worship on Sunday, the day of the resurrection of Jesus.
Being in the grave on the Sabbath, Jesus was unable to observe the laws governing the great season of the Passover and the Sabbath. He was dead; therefore, the law and its observances had no authority over Him. This is symbolic of the identification believers gain in Christ. When a man believes in Jesus Christ, God identifies the man with Christ, in particular with the death of Christ. God counts the man as having died with Christ. Therefore, in Christ’s death believers become dead to the law.
Jesus arose on the first day of the week, on Sunday morning meaning that He arose on the third day just as He had said. His arising from the dead is a triumph, a conquest over death. Death reigns no more. Its rule has been broken, death no longer has victory over the believer!
As the morning sun breaks, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb to continue the embalming of the body.
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
This leads me to believe they thought Jesus would still be in the tomb.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
Now, if we think back, had Mary Magdalene not seen her brother raised from the dead and emerge from the tomb? If she had witnessed her brothers resurrection, could this be why she was so easily convinced of Jesus resurrection? As they drew closer to the tomb, something happened.
There was the “great earthquake.” Nothing more is said, only that it was great. The earthquake symbolized that a historical convulsion was taking place, an event that never before had happened: a man was rising from the dead, the man Christ Jesus, the Son of God Himself. Tragically, He had been put to death by the hands of men, but gloriously He was being raised from the dead by the power of God. The historical event was a picture of the unbelievable convulsion that God was planning for the end time: the resurrection of all the dead. The resurrection of God’s dear Son paved the way and prefigured the resurrection of all men. History was witnessing the most convulsive event of all time; the quaking of the earth was bound to happen.
Going back into Chapter 27, we see where a great stone had been rolled over the opening of the tomb, sealed, and Roman guards placed there as a precaution to keep Jesus’ followers from stealing His body. But notice what has happened - the great stone had been rolled away. This stone would have been nearly impossible to remove by one or a few people as they typically weighed several tons and were rolled into a groove at the base of the entrance. It had been sealed to make sure no unauthorized person attempted to break in as people were poor and breaking into tombs was not uncommon. Then, the Roman guards had been placed there as an intimidation to keep unwanted people from staying around the tomb. But when the stone was rolled away by the angel, it was not rolled back for the benefit of Christ, but for the witnesses to the resurrection. When Christ arose, He was in His resurrection body, the body of the spiritual dimension of being which has no physical bounds. But the witnesses needed to enter the tomb to see the truth. Not only was the tomb open for them to see, but an angel of the Lord was present. Notice an angel proclaimed the birth of Christ, now an angel proclaims the resurrection!
The angel of the Lord could not have been mistaken - His appearance is described as being so bright it was like looking at a lightning flash, and just like snow - white, pure, and glistening. Anyone who has looked out on snow on a sunny day knows you can become snow blind it is so bright! This is what the women and the guards were witnessing! Now, we see two completely different responses from the guards and the women.
Matthew seems to indicate that the guards witnessed the flashing appearance of the angel and the rolling back of the stone. The suddenness of the event, the brilliant appearance and the enormous strength of the angel were like a volcanic eruption to them. They quaked, shook, and fell as dead men to the ground. They were either stricken unconscious or were so terrified they pretended to be unconscious. The power of God is awesome and terrifying. The guards had been told they were to guard a dead body against thieving men. They were totally unprepared and unable to stand against the power of God and His messenger (angel).
But the women… something completely different.
5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
When the women arrived at the tomb, they saw the dazzling angel sitting on the stone. Mark says they saw “a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment”.
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
Luke says “two men stood by them in shining garments”.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
Apparently, many angels were all about the tomb and the surrounding area attending Christ, joying and rejoicing over what God had done. At the right time, one angel appeared to the women, then two. Note that they appeared as men, that is, as messengers of God.
The came to present a glorious message!
Fear not. There was no reason to fear the stone, the seal, the guards, or even death - Jesus was risen from the dead and is ALIVE!
It wasn’t good enough just to hear it, but they were to experience it for themselves. Come, see: believe and live. Note that the angel reminded the women of the Lord’s words: “He is risen, as He said”. They had been told of His resurrection, and now they were eyewitnesses of His resurrection.
But the most important thing then happened - they were told of His resurrection, they were to see an empty tomb, but in the next few verses they were told to go and tell everyone else.
7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
It’s not enough for us to be confident of the resurrection, without telling others of the glorious news! This is the greatest news of all time, Jesus is RISEN!
Now, notice one important thing, they got to experience Jesus in the resurrected form also. “He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him”.
They were told, they saw, they went, they told, and then they experienced His resurrection! One of the greatest promises we have today is knowing we believe in and serve a risen Savior!
Today, we celebrate the Risen Savior through Communion.
Jesus, before all these events happened, met with His disciples in the upper room to prepare them for what was to come. As He ate the meal with them, He spoke of His body that would be broken, and His blood that would be spilled.
26 Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you tell about the Lord’s death until he comes.
