The Resurrection (Matt 28)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Matthew 28.

If you’ve been following along as we’ve worked through our Easter series this year, you know exactly where we’re at in the chronology of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. As of Friday evening during our Good Friday service, we’ve witnessed His crucifixion (though, as I mentioned on Friday, it’s rather difficult to only highlight His crucifixion when you know what comes next).

This morning, we enter back into the narrative to a rather shocking event—it’s shocking because for the people in the narrative, what happens is completely unexpected (despite Jesus’ multiple prophecies of HIs own resurrection). And yet, we know it to be an historical event that our whole faith hinges on.

Of course, for many of us, this passage could be rather familiar—so, let me encourage you to not let your familiarity distract you from the text this morning.

With that said, let’s read the passage and we’ll start breaking it down:

Matthew 28 ESV

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. 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. 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. 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. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As we read this passage, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Jesus’ Resurrection (1-10) and (2) The Aftermath (11-20). The text that we’re looking at has a rather basic idea behind it—so much so, that it not only provides for us the substance of what happened, but by doing it, it really gives us the instructions that become our application—or, in other words, you’ll see the application for this passage so clearly that by the time we get to the application portion of the sermon you’re going to think, “why is he saying this again?”

Nevertheless, the goal for today is for you to see Jesus’ resurrection, understand its significance, and then walk away with actionable steps that are simple—to give thanks for Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and then go make disciples.

Prayer for Illumination

Jesus’ Resurrection (1-10)

Our text starts with the setting (1-4) — and there are a few details that sort of lay the stage for what’s happening.

First notice when exactly this is happening—we’re told after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week is when this event occurred.

It ties in with one of the last texts that we read on Friday night—Friday’s last Scripture Reading mentions that after Jesus’ burial, they rested on the Sabbath according to the Law.

This passage opening in with “now after the Sabbath” tells us that this event occured relatively soon—they weren’t exactly waiting around—knowing this actually gives us some insight into why they were even coming to the tomb.

Matthew doesn’t tell us, but there’s a reason why they waited the length of time that they did to return to the tomb—Mark 16:1 says that they went for the prupose of anointing him.

Remember, this is the first century—Jewish people didn’t embalm their dead during this time period and the tombs weren’t airtight. When bodies decompose, they begin the stink—and so, in love, they go to the tomb to anoint with oils and spices—they went to cover the scent of a decomposing body—they fully anticipated Him being dead.

This point makes it clear that the people closest to Him didn’t really understand what He was saying when He made statements during His life concerning His own death, burial, and resurrection.

Remember, that He had told the Pharisees that if they destroyed the temple, which he meant referring to Himself, that He would raise it back up in three days.

And that wasn’t the only time that Jesus mentioned His resurrection prior to the resurreciton—Matthew 16:21 “21 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.” —This statement from Jesus comes right after Peter makes the realization that Jesus is the Christ—the anointed one.

Matthew 17:22–23 “22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.”

Matthew 20:17–19 “17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.””

And despite Jesus’ multiple statements concerning His crucifixion, His death, and His resurrection, it’s clear that those closest to Him missed the point.

In this text, we’re aware that there are two women who go to the tomb, but Matthew doesn’t record everyone that went to the tomb.

Matthew mentions Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. John only mentions Mary Magdalene, Luke just says that the women went to the tomb. Mark clarifies—that “Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James (who would’ve been Jesus’ mother), and Salome went to the tomb.

Let me clarify that the fact that each Gospel account mentions slightly different details isn’t an error—skeptics like to claim that this is an issue, but it really isn’t.

It just means that each author was viewing things from different perspectives—that’s why they emphasized some details rather than others.

Regardless, Matthew mentions that Mary Magdalene and Mary went to the tomb.

I do want to point out that their importance wasn’t innate in themselves—meaning, they are important people, but not because of who they are, but rather, because of what they get to witness—the empty tomb.

And there’s an apologetical significance here, but we’ll talk about that a little later.

So, we have most of the people, we have the location, we have the timing of the event, let’s look at the event itself.

The women go to the tomb, and v. 2 says “there was a great earthquake.”

Let me point out that there were multiple earthquakes all around the Jesus’ crucifixion—this is not the first earthquake mentioned during the last week of His earthly ministry.

The earthquake has a specific cause, we see it at the end of v. 2, because “an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.” Note that the earthquake is caused by the angel not by the rolling stone.

The earthquake was apparently caused by the angel doing these things.

John actually mentions that there were more than one angel in this scene, but Matthew again, only points out the one who speaks.

Notice also the description that we’re given of the angel—we don’t see a lot about him, but what we do see is striking—v. 3 says that “his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.”

I’m not entirely sure how to explain what it means that by “his appearance was like lightning.” My guess is that it has to do with angels typically being near the presence of God—if you think to the moment when Moses sees God’s glory—not even God Himself, just a bit of God’s glory—Moses walks back down the mountain and the people can’t even look at him because his body radiated light.

Perhaps that’s what’s in mind when the angel is described as having an appearance like lightening.

We can tell, however, that the very sight of the angel brought about fear for the guards and the women. The guards are so afraid that they “trembled and [passed out].” The women are so fearful, that the very first thing the angel says to them is “do not be afraid” — that’s a typical response to heavenly being throughout Scripture (the medieval image of angels being like fat little babies with wings is completely contrary to how Scripture always describes angels).

In telling the women not to be afraid, the angel makes an additional pronouncement in vv. 5b-8.

He starts by simply stating that Jesus is not there—rather, Jesus is risen.

Notice that in saying this, he points out again, that Jesus said that he would do this—it’s a reminder of the overarching plan of God to redeem mankind.

Notice also that the angel doesn’t anticipate the women just taking his word for it.

He tells them at the end of v. 6 to “come, see the place where he lay.”

That’s important, because it tells us why the angel even bothered to move the stone—have you ever considered the fact that neither the angel nor Jesus needed to move the stone?

While angels occasionally assume physical bodies—they’re primarily spiritual beings—and there are a handful of places in which we can see they’re not really bound by physics—so, when Peter is in prison, an angel releases him without the guards noticing—somehow a heavenly being enters into a prison unhindered by physical barriers. The sudden appearance of angels in various parts of Scripture also implies a lack of hinderance concerning physical objects.

While Jesus has a physical body, there are occasions in which He does do things that are surprisingly incorporeal after His resurrection. After His resurrection He can be touched, He does eat, but we see an instance in Luke 24, where He physically vanishes. In the same chapter, He suddenly appears amongst the disciples without opening doors—in fact, John mentions that the room was locked. He’s not not physical, but in His glorified form, He surpasses fallen human limitations.

Neither the angel nor Jesus needed the stone to be moved—the stone was moved so that the women could enter into the tomb and see that Jesus was no longer there.

The stone was moved so that the women could see for themselves that Jesus was no longer in the grave.

After they see, they’re told to go to Galilee, to tell his disciples, and in Galilee, they will see Him

And with fear and in great joy, they “ran to tell his disciples.” They didn’t hesitate, they didn’t wait around, they ran—and you can only imagine why. Though they didn’t understand what Jesus meant when He spoke of His resurrection, they did still care for Him, they did love Him, they did follow Him. Thus, the fact that He’s risen is significant to them.

It’s in that moment, that things would’ve started clicking in their minds—that Jesus is who He said He was. So, of course there would be fear and joy.

So, they run to go and tell the disciples and that’s when Jesus meets with them in vv. 9-10.

They see Him, He greets them, and they come, bow down, and worship Him, which truthfully, after witnessing His death and burial and now seeing Him in the flesh, what else would they do? What else could they do?

They respond rightly—simply by worshiping Him.

Jesus’ response to them is to encourage them not to be afraid, but rather, to “go and tell [His] brothers to go to Galilee” where they will see Him.

So, that’s the event itself—that’s the resurrection. And much like most of the other miraculous moments throughout Scripture, we’re not told much about the miracle itself. No where do we learn how exactly Jesus was raised from the dead. No where are we really told what Jesus did while He was still in the grave. We’re not given those details because the details themselves aren’t the point of the miracle—its the person who was raised that is the point here—its all about Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection.

Now, of course, we know that the resurrection isn’t the end of redemptive history—both overall, but also just in Scripture itself. The account continues in two ways—(1) we see those who are opposed to Jesus conspiring and then we see Jesus’ disciples receive their commission. Let’s look at vv. 11-20 again.

The Aftermath (11-20)

Matthew 28:11–20 ESV

11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It really ought not surprise us that those who were utterly opposed to Jesus during His earthly ministry would turn around and try to lie about what really happened—and that’s what we see in vv. 11-15.

Some of the guards go to take a report to the chief priests

Notice that only some of them do this and the reasoning as to why only some do this is really simple—you have to consider that they’re Roman guards. Roman guards who failed, were put to death.

They were charged with watching this tomb to make sure that the body didn’t go missing—the body went missing, they failed.

So some, go to the chief priests to let them know—I would assume the others probably went into hiding.

Regardless, they alert the chief priests and the chief priests and elders of Israel develop a plan.

They offer a “sufficient sum of money to the soldiers” essentially to convince the soldiers to lie—the soldiers are to go and tell the people that Jesus’ disciples stole His body at night while they were sleeping.” Now, there are some flaws to that plan:

Again, consider the fact that Roman guards would be put to death for failing—you can’t tell me that they wouldn’t have a plan for some guards to sleep while others stay awake.

But just think about the tomb itself—sealing the tomb was a rather large stone, which took multiple soldiers to move. In the typical Roman system, there would probably be at least 4, but no more than 16 soldiers and all of Rome’s soldiers were highly trained—and I’m not talking about battle training, I’m talking about fitness—they were fit.

You can’t tell me that the eleven disciples would’ve been able to move the stone themselves—especially since they all panicked and ran. Even if you brought the multiple of Jesus’ disciples, you run into the fact that you’d think the guards would hear them.

And yet, that’s the plan—go and lie about what actually happened and we’ll keep you safe from your commanders.

That lie was spread so much that the unbelieving Jewish people still believed that lie when Matthew was actually written down.

To clarify that—Matthew’s account of the Gospel wasn’t written as the events happened, it was written later in Matthew’s life when he recognized that he was close to the end of his life and the Holy Spirit empowered him to record his memories.

The writing of Matthew was approximately done in 58-69 AD—I’m thinking probably closing to 58AD, which means that for at least 25-35 years, this lie about Jesus’ body being stolen by the disciples was still going strong amongst Jewish people even though—as we continue to see in the New Testament, several hundred people witnessed Jesus’ resurrected body.

There’s an element here, in which if someone doesn’t want to believe—they will believe lies rather than truth any day, but that’s a different discussion for another time.

In the meantime, Jesus’ disciples left Jerusalem, returned to their homeland of Galilee to a mountain that Jesus had told them to go to; and He appears to them and speaks to them.

Notice that there is an aspect here in which His disciples are confused—see that “some doubted.”

I don’t think this is intended to be a moment in which they doubting concerning faith—I’m thinking this is referring to more of a hesitation—and I think you can understand that because I you’d probably also hesitate after witnessing Jesus be crucified and then seeing Him face-to-face in the moment.

At the very least, you’ll notice that Jesus doesn’t really concern Himself about the doubt—rather, He commissions His disciples.

He gives a commission to go and make disciples of every nation—to baptize and teach them everything that Jesus has commanded them and then He gives them a promise as part of this commission.

The commission itself is actually simple—His disciples are to go and make more disciples of Jesus—implicit within that commission is evangelism (telling others about Jesus and proclaiming the Gospel) and discipleship (helping those new disciples mature in their faith).

I think you can see that there’s a clear idea of bearing witness to what Jesus has done.

The women who see the empty tomb are told to go tell others.

The disciples who see the resurrected Jesus are told to go tell others.

This idea that these people witnessed what had happened and then go to bear witness is integral to being a disciple—the idea of being an eyewitness is repeated through the New Testament. Peter will later say that the apostles were witnesses of all that Jesus did—that they were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ majesty.

All four of the Gospel accounts in the New Testament are based on eyewitness accounts:

Matthew and John are direct eyewitnesses

Mark was based on Peter’s eyewitness account

Luke was based on several different eyewitness accounts.

To be a disciple of Jesus includes the idea of proclaiming what Jesus has done—bearing witness to who He is and His accomplishment on the cross to atone for your sins.

Notice the promise that Jesus will be with them as they do this.

As they bear witness, as we bear witness, Jesus assures us that He is with us.

Now, before we talk application, I do want to go on a slight digression—those who know me know that I have a significant emphasis on apologetics-training in local churches. Apologetics meaning the defense of the Christian faith—that’s why I’ve taken so much time in my academic career to focus on applied systematic theology and apologetics.

When dealing with skeptical people, one of the primary points of disagreement is the resurrection itself—skeptics have a rather difficult time with it because it goes against their naturalistic worldview.

So, some thoughts that validate the resurrection based on this passage alone are this:

The fact that the first people to the empty tomb was women is significant—consider the first century. In the first century, women were not considered reliable sources—their culture looked down on women.

If the authors of Scripture were looking to trick people into believing in Jesus as the Messiah—they would not have written about women finding the tomb first. They would’ve written about how the disciples, probably Peter was the first to walk into the empty tomb.

If the authors of Scripture were looking to trick people into believing in Jesus’ resurrection—they would not have written about women being the first to see His resurrected body, they would’ve written about how Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples first.

The fact that women see the empty tomb first and see Jesus’ resurrected body first is significant because it’s not how it would’ve been written if people were trying to trick others into believing in the resurrection.

The fact that the guards were willing to confess that they had failed is significant—remember again, that the punishment for failure for Roman soldiers was death itself.

Losing the body that they were paid to guard is a failure—why would they make up the fact that the body had disappeared? They wouldn’t have.

Now, you might ask why did the guards go along with the plan from the chief priests? Because the chief priests promised to protect them and in their scenario, that was the best possible solution to their problems.

The fact that the guards confessed and went along with the plan is significant because no Roman guard would’ve confessed if it didn’t actually happen.

The fact that the chief priests felt the need to lie about the situation is significant—remember, if Jesus did resurrect, the people would’ve turned against the chief priests.

The chief priests, who were more interested in retaining their power, developed a scheme.

If Jesus’ body wasn’t truly resurrected—why would the chief priests have to develop a scheme? If the disciples really did steal the body, why couldn’t the chief priests empowered by the Roman guards just go get the body?

The fact that the chief priests felt the need to lie about the resurrection is significant because if they thought that the corpse of Jesus was still available, they would’ve just found a way to take it back.

In this passage, we see several witnesses to Jesus in His resurrected form. Matthew mentions at least thirteen people between the women and the disciples.

However, as Scripture continues, they’re not the only ones who witness the resurrected body of Christ—in fact, over 500 people saw the resurrected Jesus at the same time and He occasionally revealed Himself to others like those that were walking to Emmaus.

And even Paul sees the resurrected Jesus post-ascension.

Now, skeptics will argue that all these people banded together in a lie to trick people, but when was the last time you saw a conspiracy at that level, where over 500 people agreed on all the details, where certain people touched Jesus’ resurrected body, where multiple people spoke to Him?

The fact that so many people saw Jesus after the resurrection is significant because if they were all lying about it, there would be cracks in the details—and yet, there aren’t.

When considering all these details, there really isn’t reason to think that the resurrection didn’t happen. In fact, all the evidence points to the truth that the resurrection did happen; and its the fact that the resurrection did happen that our application then steps in:

Application

Today, as Christians, we celebrate the resurrection because it is through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection that we are saved—in fact, Paul makes it abundantly clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Jesus wasn’t raised, we would all still be in our sins.

Of course, that ideology only really makes sense if you do believe, so let me start with the Gospel and then we’ll work our way through the rest of our application:

The Gospel teaches us that when God created the universe, He created everything very good, but the first humans—both Adam and Eve determined that they wanted to live apart from God and caused all of creation to fall into sin.

In Genesis 3, God makes it abundantly clear that the consequences for the sin committed by Adam and Eve—the consequence for rejecting God was that all mankind would fall into a state of sin that they would need to be saved from, to be redeemed from, to be cleansed from—and in that very same passage, God promises to send a Savior just for that purpose.

Throughout the Old Testament we’re then pointed towards the coming Messiah—every part of the Old Testament pictures and foreshadows the coming Savior.

And, when the New Testaments opens up, we see the Messiah, we see His perfect, sinless life, we see His obedience to His Father’s plan as He takes on the sins of all who believe and is crucified on the cross.

And we see the atoning power of the cross to save us from sin offered to anyone who simply repents or turns away from their sins, believes, and follows Jesus.

And through the rest of the New Testament into Revelation, we see how God is providentially working to redeem creation and we see how God has prepared for us to return to the conditions that all things were originally created in—a very good, eternal state in the presence of God Himself.

Romans 10:9–13 explains how this all works out: “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” And Romans 10:17 “17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Friends, if you have yet to repent from your sin, believe, and follow Jesus Christ—don’t wait, now is the time for repentance and belief—one day, that time will end.

Now, for those who are believers, who are Christians—who do follow Jesus Christ—reflecting on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ ought to compel you to give thanks and cause you to have hope. Here’s why:

First, again, without the crucifixion, without Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, you would still be in your sins. You would still be headed to hell as the consequence for your sins.

What Jesus accomplished on the cross—your redemption, the forgiveness of your sins, your salvation was something that you could not have done on your own.

It is something that only God through Jesus could’ve done for your—and as I mentioned during Friday evening’s service, He didn’t need to do this for you—He chose to do this for you.

As you reflect on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection—start by just giving thanks.

Second, Jesus’ first coming—His earthly life, death, burial, and resurrection proves that when He says He will do something, He always does.

His earthly life, death, burial, and resurrection to atone for sins was prophesied for the first time in Genesis 3—approximately 4,000 years before Jesus actually comes to the earth, which is a potent reminder that Jesus always does things in His own time.

During His life on earth, Jesus made it abundantly clear that He would be leaving earth to prepare a place for His people in the next life—it has only been 2,000 years since that promise.

What we can deduce—based on Jesus’ record—is that while we’re still waiting, we can know for sure that He will return, that He will bring us into the home that He has prepared for us, that we will be with Him for all eternity.

As you reflect on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection—have hope for what is to come.

Give thanks and have hope.

Finally, Consider Jesus’ commission given to all disciples after His resurrection—this commission extends to all His disciples and it’s actually a rather simple commission.

Go and tell other people of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross.

Go and tell other people the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Go and tell other people the truth of Scripture.

Go and tell other people what it means to be redeemed, to be saved, to be Jesus’ people.

This is the very least you can do as someone who has been redeemed, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Do this while realizing that it is empowered by the presence of Jesus Christ

You aren’t alone while you proclaim the Gospel

You aren’t alone while you teach the truth of Scripture

You aren’t alone while you tell others what it means to be redeemed, to be saved, to be Jesus’ people

He is with you and He empowers you to do what He has commissioned you to do.

Do this because the creator has called you to do this—and as creator, He has all authority.

Friends, as we reflect on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection today and really every day—give thanks, have hope, and go tell other people.

Pastoral Prayer