The Promised Seed That Rose

From Promise to Victory

Matthew 28:1–10

SLIDE- Big Idea: What God promised in the garden, Christ purchased at the cross, and God declared at the empty tomb.

Opening

Family, it is good to gather together on Resurrection Sunday.

This is a beautiful day for the church. This is a joyful day for the believer. This is a hopeful day for the sinner.

Because Easter is not just a tradition we remember. It is not just a holiday we observe. It is not just a story we revisit once a year.

Easter is the announcement that Jesus Christ is alive.

Have you ever watched a scene in a movie where everything looked finished?

The hero is down. The battle looks lost. The enemy looks like they have won. And for a moment, it feels like there is no way the story can turn around.

What looked like defeat becomes the turning point. What looked like the end becomes the beginning of victory.

Church, that is Easter.

On Good Friday, it looked like Jesus had lost. On Saturday, it looked like death had won. It looked like the promise had failed. It looked like darkness had the last word.

But Easter Sunday tells us something glorious:

What looked like defeat was actually the plan of God all along.

The cross was not the end of the story. The grave was not the end of the story. The Promised Seed had risen. And the victory God promised from the very beginning had arrived.

And that is what I want us to see this morning.

Easter is not just the celebration of a miracle. It is the proclamation of a victory. It is the declaration that what God promised in the beginning, He has now brought to completion in Jesus Christ.

Let’s read our text together.

Matthew 28:1–10

Transition into Point 1

And if we are going to feel the full weight of resurrection morning, we have to understand that resurrection morning did not begin at the tomb.

The empty tomb is the fulfillment of a promise that began long before these women ever arrived that morning.

SLIDE Point 1 — The Victory Was Promised

Before there was ever an empty tomb in Jerusalem, there was a promise spoken in Eden.

In Genesis 3, sin entered the world. Shame entered the world. Death entered the world. The curse entered the world.

Adam and Eve sinned against God, and everything broke.

The fellowship was broken — the closeness they once enjoyed with God was now replaced by separation. The order was broken — peace gave way to pain, conflict, and curse. The heart of man was broken — what was created to love God now wandered from Him.

The world itself fell under the curse of sin.

But right there, in the middle of that ruin, God spoke hope.

SLIDE Genesis 3:15 tells us that the seed of the woman would come. The serpent would strike His heel, but that coming Seed would crush the serpent’s head.

That is the first whisper of the gospel. That is God declaring that sin will not have the final word. That is God promising that the serpent will not win. That is God saying that one day a Deliverer is coming.

SLIDE And from that moment on, all of Scripture starts leaning forward.

To Abraham, God promises that through his offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

To David, God promises a King from his line whose throne will last forever.

And through Isaiah, God promises that this coming One would not only reign as the righteous King, but would also suffer in the place of His people, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.

Again and again, through different people and different seasons, God keeps saying the same thing:

A Savior is coming. A King is coming. A Deliverer is coming.

So when we come to Easter Sunday, we are not looking at a random miracle dropped into history.

We are looking at the fulfillment of a promise God made from the very beginning.

This means Easter was never plan B. The resurrection was not God trying to recover from tragedy. The cross was not an accident. The empty tomb was not an afterthought.

This was always the Lord’s plan.

And that matters for us.

Because it reminds us that God is faithful.

He is faithful when the wait feels long. He is faithful when the promise seems delayed. He is faithful when we cannot yet see how He is working.

What He promises, He fulfills.

So before the stone was ever rolled away, the promise had already been spoken.

Transition into Point 2

But if the victory was promised in the garden, it still had to be purchased at the cross.

Because before death could be defeated, sin had to be dealt with.

SLIDE Point 2 — The Victory Was Purchased

You do not get Easter rightly if you rush to the empty tomb and skip the cross.

You do not get resurrection victory without crucifixion sacrifice.

ILLUSTRATION

A few years ago, at a graduation ceremony at Morehouse College, a wealthy man stood up and announced that he was paying off the student loan debt of the graduating class. Millions of dollars of debt—gone. Just like that. No interview. No application process. No one earning it in that moment. He simply stepped in and said, in effect, “I’m covering what you could never cover on your own.”

And you can imagine what that must have felt like.

The weight. The pressure. The burden of a debt hanging over your future.

And then suddenly, someone else steps in and says, “I’ll take care of it.”

Church, as powerful as that is, Easter announces something even greater.

Because Jesus did not come to pay off a financial debt. He came to pay the debt of sin.

And unlike school debt, this was a debt we could never repay, a guilt we could never erase, and a judgment we could never survive on our own.

Jesus did not die as a victim of Roman cruelty. He did not die because things spiraled out of control. Jesus died on purpose — in our place, for our sin, under the judgment we deserved.

SLIDE Isaiah 53 says He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

That means the cross was not just painful.

It was substitutionary.

Jesus took our guilt. Jesus took our shame. Jesus took our curse. Jesus took the wrath that should have fallen on us.

And Matthew tells us that when Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

That veil had represented separation. It reminded the people that sinful humanity could not simply rush into the presence of a holy God.

But when Jesus gave His life, that veil was torn — not from bottom to top, as if man had opened the way — but from top to bottom, as a sign that God Himself had opened the way through His Son.

In other words, through the death of Jesus, the barrier was removed.

The cross did not only pay for sin. It opened the way back to God.

And this is where the Promised Seed theme becomes so powerful.

Genesis 3:15 said the serpent would strike His heel.

At the cross, that wound came.

Jesus suffered. Jesus bled. Jesus was nailed to a tree. Jesus died.

But what looked like the serpent’s victory was actually the beginning of his defeat.

The Promised Seed was wounded at the cross, but He was not destroyed there.

Church, before the grave was emptied, the debt of sin was being paid in full.

It is about redemption through sacrifice, because Jesus gave Himself so that captives could go free. It is about sinners being reconciled to a holy God, because through Christ, those who were far off have been brought near. It is about a payment being made that we could never make on our own, because Jesus satisfied in full what we could never repay.

SLIDE Romans 4:25 says He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Colossians tells us that He canceled the record of debt that stood against us and disarmed the rulers and authorities, triumphing over them in Him.

So before we get to Sunday morning, we have to stand at the cross long enough to remember what happened there.

Sin was judged. Wrath was satisfied. The price was paid.

The cross was the payment. The resurrection was the declaration that the payment had been accepted.

And that is why the empty tomb matters so much.

Because the empty tomb is not just proof that Jesus is alive.

It is proof that His sacrifice worked.

Transition into Point 3

And that brings us to the glory of Matthew 28.

Because now the women come to the tomb, and what God promised and what Christ purchased is about to be proclaimed in power.

SLIDE- Point 3 — The Victory Was Proclaimed

Matthew says, “After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb.”

That verse carries so much weight.

These women are not showing up with resurrection confidence. They are not coming with triumphant expectation.

They are coming in grief. They are coming in sorrow. They are coming after the horror of Friday and the silence of Saturday.

They are coming to a place of death.

And maybe some people walked in here today like that.

Carrying grief — over a loved one lost, a relationship broken, or a season that did not turn out the way you hoped. Carrying shame — over sin you committed, choices you regret, or parts of your story you wish no one knew. Carrying confusion — about what God is doing, why life unfolded this way, or where to go from here. Carrying the weight of things that feel final — a diagnosis, a failure, a closed door, or a pain that seems like it will never lift.

But the women arrive expecting death, and heaven is about to announce life.

Matthew says there was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached the tomb, rolled back the stone, and sat on it.

What a scene.

The earth shakes. The stone moves. The guards tremble. And the angel sits on the stone like death has lost its seat of power.

And then the angel says these words:

“Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said.”

Church, that is Easter.

He is not here. He has risen. Just as He said.

That means Jesus did exactly what He promised. That means death could not hold Him. That means the grave could not keep Him. That means the sacrifice had been accepted. That means the Promised Seed had risen.

And church, this is not just Matthew’s testimony.

The other Gospel writers echo the same victorious truth.

Mark tells us the message was clear: Jesus had risen. Luke tells us, “He is not here, but he has risen,” and reminds us that this was exactly what Jesus had said would happen. And John gives us that personal and beautiful detail that Jesus appeared to Mary Himself. The risen Christ did not remain distant — He revealed Himself personally.

And I love that, because it shows us that the resurrection is not a shaky rumor.

It is the unified testimony of Scripture.

Different witnesses. Different details. Same risen Savior.

The Gospels join together to proclaim the same glorious reality:

Jesus was crucified. Jesus was buried. Jesus is not in the tomb. Jesus is alive.

And I love what happens next.

The angel tells the women to go quickly and tell the disciples.

Then Matthew says they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.

That is such a beautiful combination.

Fear because they are standing in the presence of holy power. Joy because everything has changed.

Joy because the stone had been moved.

Joy because the tomb had been emptied.

Joy because the serpent had been defeated.

Joy because the Promised Seed had risen.

And before they even finish the assignment, Jesus Himself meets them.

Alive. Present. Victorious.

And they take hold of His feet and worship Him.

That detail matters.

These are not women holding onto a memory. These are not women comforting themselves with symbolism. They are at the feet of a risen Savior.

the same feet that walked toward Calvary,

the same feet that carried the weight of the cross,

and the same feet that crushed the serpent’s head.

And I love that they become the first witnesses and first proclaimers of the risen Christ.

The King had arrived, yes. But now they are the first to see that the Promised King has defeated the grave. They are the first to carry resurrection news.

The first to see the victory were the first to speak of it.

And that means Easter is not news to admire from a distance.

It is news to believe. News to worship over. News to proclaim.

Transition into Response

So the question this Easter is not whether Christ has won.

The question is how we will respond to the One who has.

And before we come to the table, I want to lead us in three simple responses.

Response

SLIDE 1. Believe the risen Christ

Maybe for some in this room, this needs to be your prayer today:

“Lord Jesus, I believe You really died for sin. I believe You really rose in victory. And I believe You are able to save even me.”

If you came in burdened by sin, burdened by shame, burdened by your past, let this be the cry of your heart:

“Jesus, I believe. Help my unbelief. Save me by Your grace.”

SLIDE 2. Worship the risen Christ

Maybe for others, this needs to be your prayer:

“Lord Jesus, You are alive, and You are worthy. Forgive me for casual worship. Forgive me for divided affection. Forgive me for giving You a place in my life instead of the throne of my life.”

And from your heart, tell Him:

“You are Lord. You are worthy. You deserve my life.”

SLIDE 3. Receive the finished work of Christ

And maybe this is the prayer many of us need most:

“Lord Jesus, I stop trying to save myself. I stop trying to clean myself up in my own strength. I stop trying to carry what You already carried for me.”

And by faith, say to Him:

“I rest in Your cross. I rest in Your resurrection. I rest in what You have accomplished for me. What You finished is enough.”

Communion Transition

And church, that is why communion matters so much today.

We do not come to this table to perform. We do not come pretending we have it all together. We do not come trying to earn anything.

We come to remember.

We remember His body broken for us. We remember His blood shed for us. And on Resurrection Sunday, we remember with joy that the One who died for us is now alive.

So as we come to the table, we hold both together:

the cross that purchased our redemption, and the resurrection that declared His victory.

If you are in Christ today, this table is an invitation to remember, rejoice, and rest again in what Jesus has done.

And if you are not in Christ today, let this moment press on your heart. Let it show you that salvation is not found in yourself, but in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Come to Him by faith.

Closing Landing

Church, this is the glory of Easter:

What God promised in the garden, Christ purchased at the cross, and God declared at the empty tomb.

The Promised Seed has risen.

And because He lives, sin does not have the last word. Shame does not have the last word. Death does not have the last word.

Jesus does.

The Promised Seed That Rose has brought us from promise to victory.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we praise You today because You are alive.

Thank You for keeping every promise. Thank You for bearing our sin. Thank You for satisfying the debt we could never pay. Thank You for rising in victory over sin, death, and the grave.

Open hearts to believe. Move us to worship. Prepare us to come to Your table with humility, gratitude, and joy.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you'd like, I can turn this cleaned manuscript into a one-page preaching outline next.