07) Easter 2026 - Witness the Gospel
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Friday evening we remembered the crucifixion of Jesus. As we walked down the events of the evening before as he was arrested, the trials throughout the evening, his time before Pilate, the peoples demands that he be crucified, his beatings, mockings. As he carried the cross to the place of his death. We looked at what Jesus said on the cross, the prophecies that were fulfilled, until he spoke his last words, “IT IS FINISHED”
All has been accomplished on the cross for men to be redeemed. As Jesus bore the sin that we deserved, that our sins are forgiven, that out debt has been cancelled, because he paid the ransom that redeemed, bought back men and women to himself.
13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
Once, the work of the cross was complete. The evening comes and Jesus is taken down, and is buried in the tomb.
The Burial
The Burial
40 They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it. 42 They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.
The great crowd has been reduced to a small unexpected group.
59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there, facing the tomb.
When it is all said and done, at his burial is Joseph the secret disciple who asks Pilate for his body and provides the tomb. Nicodemus who only approached at night who brought myrrh and aloes. And two women Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses.
Where are all of his fans. All of his followers. All of his family. Where are the 12?
Many had deserted him as the week progressed and he didn’t perform as they expected, but his disciples really started to depart when Jesus was arrested.
50 Then they all deserted him and ran away.
Other than Peter who follows at a distance and denies him three times and John who is present at the crucifixion, no other disciples are mentioned to have stayed around and neither of them are around after his death. The women return from the tomb to prepare the funeral spices and anointing after the Sabbath.
The city holds its breath on Silent Sunday as all of the Jews would be honoring the Sabbath. Jesus has passed from this life so will Jesus’ word be true.
We may look at the scriptures and see all of the evidence that Jesus would rise again. We see the old testament scriptures and can handle them any place we want without fear. Without oppression or great need and want. We look back and read of the promises in Isaiah where he will see the light again.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. 10 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. 11 After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.
10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.
Many times Jesus explained and spoke of his resurrection. Matthew records at least 5 different times that he predicts his death. It what looks to be very clear language.
21 From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.
19 They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”
These were not the only predictions but they were heard. The crowd and religious leaders remember his words because they mock him with them at the crucifixion and they leaders were worried that the the disciples would try to steal Jesus’ body to make people think he had been raised.
62 The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66 They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guards.
Those that believe that they need to end the threat of Jesus prepare while it seems that the disciples despair. Those that we would expect to be waiting in anticipation seem to have missed it all. They have gone away behind closed doors. Fearing that without Jesus the leaders would come after them for being with him. The Sabbath comes and the city is quiet.
Resurrection Confirmed
Resurrection Confirmed
The sun is about to rise on Sunday morning. The women prepare to anoint Jesus with the spices and aloes that they have and to honor Jesus with the burial traditions. So they set out as they show their devotion and love for Jesus. As they walk to the tomb they ask a reasonable question, who will open the tomb. How will we get inside but they find the unexpected.
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
They find the tomb open, the body of Jesus is missing, and then angels appear to announce that he is not her but has risen!!
6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’8 And they remembered his words. 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest.
Filled with hope and anticipation. They run back to tell the disciples what they have heard and seen but they are met with disbelief. How could this be nonsense to them as it was predicted by Jesus himself. Even with all of the miracles that they had seen, they were not able to believe in this one coming true. They all stay put except for Peter and John.
3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. 8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.
Peter and John get into a foot race to see for themselves the truth of their missing friend. They confirm the women’s accounts but they are still not able to understand that Jesus must rise from the dead. So they go back to the place that they were staying. Mary stays behind in her sorrow and grief she stands there and weeps. This must have felt like a final brake. All that has happened. Jesus is not only dead but now we cannot even care for his body.
The risen Lord has revealed himself for the first time in the flesh. She sees him and she must embrace him in some way as he says don’t to cling to me but go and tell. This is the first witness to the risen Lord, but they wouldn’t believe her testimony. He would also appear too the two men walking to Emmaus, but the disciples would not believe them either.
9 [Early on the first day of the week, after he had risen, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping. 11 Yet, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it. 12 After this, he appeared in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country. 13 And they went and reported it to the rest, who did not believe them either.
He also appears to Peter but we do not have an account of that interaction. But they all gather in locked behind closed doors fearing the Jews when Jesus appears with the greeting “Peace be with you” as they fear they are seeing a ghost.
19 When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
And now he rebukes them for their unbelief.
14 Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen.
He then helps them to see the truth that has been before their eyes the entire time.
44 He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
He would appear to the disciples specifically recorded two more times. Once a week later with Thomas in the upper room and then on the shore of the see of Tiberias as he restores Peter. For 40 days Jesus would appear to different people and groups including on group as large as 500 persons.
3 After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
But why did Jesus reveal himself at all? As the witnesses of the scripture being fulfilled, as they saw Jesus risen, ate with him, learned from him, they were now to be sent to share the good news. To share the Gospel to all of creation.
40 God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
Jesus appeared, teaching them about the kingdom, providing convincing proofs, and eating and drinking with them as he provided evidence for the truth, that Jesus lives, the scriptures are fulfilled. See our Lord has come, our King is here. He appointed them to be witnesses of the gospel.
The Gospel of the Risen Lord
The Gospel of the Risen Lord
15 Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Jesus appears to the disciples and then commands them to preach the gospel to all creation. Unashamed and with boldness, this is what they lived and died for.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
It is in the Gospel, the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. On Good Friday the sin of mankind was paid for in full as the Lord recieved the full wrath of God that each person deserves for their own sin. That he died to save sinners and to redeem them to himself. That he died and on the third day was raised by God according to the scriptures. For there is salvation in no one else.
11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
And how is one saved and receive salvation?
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Confess is to proclaim something as true. To confess sin is to state the truth of your sin out loud. To confess to a crime is to state the truth of what transpired. To confess that Jesus is Lord is to state this as true. To declare that you have one Lord and his name is Jesus and that he died for your sins so that you are justified before God.
25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
And to believe trust, to have faith that God raised him from the death. That Jesus has risen. For if he has not risen, how can a dead person be Lord. To have faith in the depth of our inner being that Jesus is alive and that he has been raised from the dead.
11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
To believe that you are raised with him
1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
When we believe we are at that moment raised with him. This is a completed one time action that is performed by God on those that believe.
For those who believe in the resurrection will be credited with God’s righteousness.
20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
that you will not experience anything but eternal life after this life is over.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him.
For we have confidence that in what God will do in his power.
14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
And that we will receive a perfect inheritance. Though his mercy and our new life.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
This new life is one we have the privilege to live out today.
4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
For we belong to the one who was raised from the dead.
4 … You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.
For if there is no resurrection then what is our faith in?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. 20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
If Jesus is not resurrected then we are still in sin as our belief is false.
Jesus revealed himself to many eye witnesses to give proofs that his is alive and has been raised from the dead. They were sent to preach the gospel as witness of the risen Lord who has accomplished all that is in the scriptures. And through the years this message has been passed from one generation of disciples to another.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus commanded the apostles to go and be witnesses to the ends of the earth. To share the gospel. To speak of the Word that came and dwelt amongst the people. Who lived and died, and lived again. Who is eternal and who reigns on his throne in the heavens.
Much of the New Testament is history of the spreading gospel and the distortion of it. Exhortations to speak of it to others, live it themselves, fight for it against attacks, and rebuke those who have added to, taken from, or changing what it the truth of the Gospel.
We have a Lord that never changes and is always faithful. We have a Lord that laid down his life for his sheep. He had the right to lay it down and the right to pick it up again as he is the Good Shepherd.
The Lord
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
The question today is “Do you know the Good Shepherd?” The one who lays down his life for his sheep. If your heart has been pierced today and you want to be saved then listen to the scriptures, listen to Jesus. Follow the examples and testimonies of those who have come before.
37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
If you are at this point of “what must I do?” then repent and be baptized. Come and see me after the service. Don’t leave here without being raised with Christ. Confess with your mouth that you desire to follow him and call him Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. Do not leave here without knowing the good shepherd.
For those that know that you are in the flock of God. That you are in his care. Remember today as you leave here that you no longer live for yourself. But for Jesus.
15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.
Belief can be slow and hard to find at times. But there is nothing in the world better than knowing that you are loved, saved, redeemed, and raised with the great I AM.
Let today be a remembrance of all that he has done for you.
Prayer
Benediction
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
