Rolling Away The Lies: The Truth That Changed Everything

Matthew 28:1-15

Introduction

October 31, 1936, Halloween night, was an interesting night. Men and women sat at the round table, their hands joined. They awaited the message, the message they had hoped for every Halloween night for the past decade. But again, the message did not come. Finally, one woman rose from the table and announced to the others, as well as to the listening radio audience, "Houdini did not come through," she said. "My last hope is gone. I do not believe that Houdini can come back to me, or to anyone. The Houdini Shrine has burned for ten years. I now, reverently, turn out the light. It is finished. Good night, Harry!" The woman was Bess Houdini, wife of the famed magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini. And this was the last séance she would participate in to try to contact her dead husband. Houdini was known as “The Man No Jail Could Hold.” But he couldn’t escape from death.

Today is Easter, resurrection Sunday. We come together not just to celebrate our faith, but to reflect on the very foundation upon which all Christianity stands—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is not merely a comforting story or a symbolic gesture; it is a historical claim with eternal implications. As the Apostle Paul firmly declared in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”

In a world increasingly skeptical of absolute truth, the resurrection is often dismissed as myth, metaphor, or wishful thinking. But Christianity does not rest on blind faith; it rests on verifiable truth. Our God has not asked us to believe without evidence; He has left behind a trail of witnesses, fulfilled prophecies, historical records, and transformed lives.

Today, I invite you to engage both your heart and your mind. We will examine the compelling evidence for the resurrection of Christ. This is not a fairy tale. This is a fact that demands a response. Today, we’ll examine the truth of the resurrection, and we’ll roll away the lies the world has developed to diminish the Resurrection. If the resurrection is true, then Jesus is who He claimed to be—the Son of God, the Savior of the world. And if that is true, then everything changes. Let us begin this journey of truth, that our faith may be strengthened and our witness made bold.

Matthew 28:1–15 ESV

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. 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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 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.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS

VERSE 1

Jewish days ran from sunset to sunset, so the Sabbath ended at sundown. By “dawn of the first day,” Matthew refers to early Sunday morning. Women were the primary mourners in Jewish burial customs, often tasked with preparing bodies with spices. The “other Mary” is likely Mary, the mother of James and Joseph. That these women go to the tomb highlights their devotion to Jesus.

Women are the first witnesses of the resurrection, emphasizing God’s reversal of cultural norms and elevation of the humble. In a society where women’s testimonies were not considered legally credible, this is a strong indicator that Matthew was more focused on being accurate than being widely accepted.

VERSES 2-4

Earthquakes were often viewed in Jewish and Greco-Roman culture as signs of divine activity. Tombs of the wealthy, such as Joseph of Arimathea’s, were usually cut into rock with large stones sealing the entrance. These stones could weigh over a ton and were hard to move. The stone wasn’t rolled away to let Jesus out—He had already risen. It was to let the witnesses in.

Descriptions like “lightning” and “white as snow” reflect divine glory, often used in apocalyptic Jewish literature and associated with heavenly beings. White garments symbolized purity and heavenliness. This angel appears as a divine messenger, declaring God’s power over death.

These were likely Roman guards stationed by Pilate at the request of the Jewish leaders. Roman soldiers were highly trained to face death, but this event overwhelmed even them. Ironically, the living Jesus is gone, and the trained soldiers are like dead men. God again upends expectations.

VERSES 5-8

In Scripture, angelic appearances always inspire fear. The angel’s comforting words, “Do not be afraid,” are common in divine encounters. "Jesus, who was crucified," affirms the historical reality of the crucifixion. God does not rebuke the women for fear or confusion—He meets them with comfort and clarity.

Jews in this period believed in a future resurrection at the end of time, but not a personal resurrection in the middle of history. This claim would have been shocking. The angel invites the women to be firsthand witnesses. Jesus’ resurrection confirms His divine authority and fulfills His prophecies.

Galilee was not only Jesus’ home region but also symbolically a place where His ministry to the nations (Gentiles) began. This points to the coming global mission. Again, the role of women as first heralds was radical in that era. The resurrection isn’t private—it’s meant to be proclaimed. God uses unexpected people to carry His message.

“Fear and great joy” reflects the overwhelming mix of awe and delight—emotions common in the face of divine encounters in Jewish tradition. Genuine faith holds both reverence and rejoicing. The resurrection stirs the heart as much as it shakes the earth and all human understanding.

VERSES 9-10

“Greetings” was a common salutation, but Jesus uses it in a moment of cosmic triumph. Touching His feet affirms His bodily resurrection, and their reverence—touching someone’s feet was a gesture of submission or worship. Jesus receives their worship—an implicit claim to divinity.

Calling the disciples “my brothers” shows a sense of restoration. These same men fled during His arrest, yet Jesus calls them family. Galilee is once again the setting of fresh commissioning. The risen Christ offers grace, not condemnation, even to his failed followers.

VERSES 11-15

Bribery among officials was not uncommon in Roman and Jewish politics, as demonstrated earlier by Judas. The fact that money is used again shows a pattern of corruption. Here, it is used in the conspiracy against Jesus.

Reporting to religious authorities instead of Pilate, their military superior, suggests that these Roman guards sought favor with the Sanhedrin as a means of protection. Roman governors like Pilate were known for their harsh discipline, so the soldiers feared severe punishment and needed a cover story for losing a dead body. Roman guards sleeping on duty could be executed. This shows the gravity of what occurred. The excuse that they were asleep was illogical. If they were asleep, how would they know who took the body or even what happened to the body? Yet this “stolen body” theory became a prominent anti-Christian explanation for the resurrection. It is still the primary excuse today.

By the time Matthew wrote this Gospel, probably in 60–70 AD, the “stolen body” explanation was still being circulated in Jewish communities. This shows how quickly counter-narratives formed, and why the Gospels emphasize eyewitness testimony. Even from the start, the truth of the resurrection had to contend with lies and suppression. Truth must be proclaimed even in the face of deception. The resurrection is not a fable. It was challenged and proved to be accurate from the beginning. The truth of the resurrection could not be suppressed.

TODAY’S KEY TRUTH

Jesus is alive, and that is an undeniable truth.

APPLICATION

Did Jesus rise from the dead? Is the resurrection something we should believe or just a Hollywood ending? What is truth and what are lies? There are, of course, people who believe it’s all false. They don’t think Jesus escaped the bonds of death, so they have to develop other theories. Let’s examine the original and most widely accepted historical theory against the resurrection. Let’s roll away the original lie against the resurrection.

The original false theory is that Jesus’ body was stolen. This theory was a fraud concocted up by the Jewish religious leaders and spread by the Roman guards only hours after the resurrection, as recorded in the scripture we’re studying today.

Our scripture says that some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests what had happened. The chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan. They gave the soldiers a large sum of money and told them, “You are to say, His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. If this report reaches the governor, we will ensure he is satisfied and keep you out of trouble.” The guards spread the story that the disciples had stolen the body in the night and taken it to an unknown location. This remains a popular claim, particularly among Jewish circles. It explains the story of an empty tomb and the inability of anyone to disprove the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.

If Jesus had remained dead and in the tomb, the religious leaders would have had no reason to fabricate a story about the disciples stealing His body. The very existence of this theory is evidence that the tomb was, in fact, empty. Why would they need to bribe guards to explain away an empty tomb unless it was truly empty? If the body were in the tomb, they could show it. The stolen body theory was a damage-control measure, a desperate attempt to suppress a truth too powerful to ignore. Their reaction affirms that something extraordinary happened. The resurrection was not a legend; it forced both followers and enemies to respond to a historical, empty tomb.

As we stated earlier, the first problem with this theory is that if the Roman soldiers were asleep, how would they know who stole the body or even that the body was stolen? They can’t deny a physical resurrection because they were sleeping. This theory also requires us to believe that all of a sudden, these disciples who had scattered in fear of the Roman soldiers and mob just hours before, now all of a sudden, dared to engage the Roman soldiers at the tomb. Not only would the number of guards have outnumbered the disciples, but these soldiers were members of the most violent and well-trained military force the world had ever known. This theory suggests that the disciples were prepared to engage these soldiers in battle, but they just happened to find them asleep.

Another fact is that Jesus had taught His disciples to be honest and men of integrity. Stealing Jesus’ body and then perpetuating a hoax would have gone against everything they believed. And one of them would have eventually admitted it. Watergate proved that truth will always leak out, even with a small group of men.

Another problem with the theory is the transformation of the disciples' lives. At Jesus’ trial, death, and burial, they scattered and hid in fear of being caught. The disciples were cowards. But when they saw Jesus alive, they became bold and outspoken. They became the solid men of courage. They placed belief in the resurrection at the center of their faith. If they had stolen Jesus’ body, then that means they were killed, most of them brutally, for what they knew to be a lie. People will sometimes die for what they think is true, but they won’t die for what they know is a lie. It’s unbelievable that none of them ever denied belief in the resurrection of Christ, despite suffering and persecution.

Finally, the most significant problem with this theory is that if the body was stolen, then how did Jesus keep showing up alive? First to the women, then to the disciples, and eventually to 500 eyewitnesses. Jesus just kept showing up alive.

Jesus is alive, and that is an undeniable truth.

CONCLUSION

Not only was this theory, which denies the resurrection, a false attempt to avoid the facts, but the evidence supporting the resurrection is powerful. Jesus is indeed alive, never to die again. Here is, in part, how we know.

First, Jesus predicted He would rise from the dead. Jesus’ predictions weren’t ambiguous or generalized like a horoscope. They were very clear and specific. In Matthew 16, Jesus said he would suffer under the chief priest, be killed, and be raised to life on the third day. Matthew 17 contains a similar statement by Jesus. Over and over again, Jesus not only predicted that He would be mocked, flogged, and crucified, but that He would rise from the dead three days later. And he did!

Not only did Jesus predict that He would rise from the dead, but eyewitnesses saw it. Paul, a former unbelieving persecutor, said in 1 Corinthians that Peter, the other disciples, and over 500 people saw Jesus post-resurrection. Jesus was seen alive over 40 days after His crucifixion, by men, women, skeptics, believers, individuals, and simultaneously by a group of over 500 people. Paul says, 'If you do not believe me, you can ask these 500 other people.' Such a statement is almost as strong evidence as one could hope to get for something. There has never been a trial that had five hundred witnesses. To have that many witnesses is undeniable proof.

Jesus is alive, and that is an undeniable truth.

History also supports the resurrection of Jesus. That the church ever came into existence and that you are here today at this church is evidence of Jesus' resurrection. What do you think the central message of the disciples was after Jesus rose from the dead? “Turn the other cheek.” “Give to the poor.” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” No. While all those are true, the central message of the disciples was “Jesus is alive! Tell everyone.” The resurrection of Jesus could not have been preached and believed for a single hour in Jerusalem if it were not true. There would have been too many ways to discredit the claims and disprove the evidence. History declares the resurrection as real.

Jesus is alive, and that is an undeniable truth.

At the beginning of this message, I told you about Houdini’s failed attempt to slip the shackles of death and communicate with his wife, Bess. Shortly before his death, Houdini made a pact with Bess that if he could, he would return and make contact with her from the other side. They devised a coded message that only he and Bess knew; this would prove that it was Houdini breaking through from the afterlife. But after 10 séances in 10 years, Bess had not received her beloved husband's coded message. The message was based on word combinations that corresponded to a secret spelling code. The Houdinis’ secret coded phrases spelled out one word – “Believe.”

Jesus did more than communicate from the grave; He rose from the grave. He provided substantial evidence and proof that He was alive so that you could believe it. Jesus’ resurrection spells out a one-word code for you and me. Jesus is saying, “Believe.” Believe the resurrection is true, put your trust in Jesus Christ, and you can have everlasting life.

Let me conclude by explaining how belief in the resurrection impacts your life today. If you believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead —if He really got up, walked out, and was seen by hundreds of people, talked to them, and was truly raised from the dead —then everything will be alright. Whatever you’re worried about right now, whatever burden you’re carrying, whatever ache you’ve buried deep in your heart, whatever you’re afraid of that’s keeping you up at night, it's going to be ok.

The resurrection declares this life isn’t all there is. The resurrection shouts into the silence of your suffering: “This is not the end.” There is hope and healing. There’s better to come. There is eternal life to come. Even in moments of heartbreak, pain, and loss, when the tears won’t stop, even when your heart is broken in places that feel beyond repair, you can be at peace because the resurrection of Christ, promised to His followers, assures us that it will be okay. The resurrection isn’t just a moment in history—it’s the moment that changes everything. Christ has promised that all will be made new, including you.

Jesus is alive, and that is an undeniable truth.