Matthew 28:1-10b

The New International Version Chapter 28

Now I have told you.”

Now I’ve told you. What you do with the message is up to you.

We can doubt it.

We can keep it quiet.

We can tell.

We can doubt. If the tomb is empty, we can say, well, it’s a mystery. The fog of time has blurred the facts. It’s likely a made up story by people who wanted to keep this movement going. We’re modern people who know that dead people don’t rise.

The British Broadcasting Company sponsored a survey recently asking people about their beliefs about Easter. The polling company called over two thousand households and found that one out of four people who identified as Christians in their poll doubted the physical resurrection of Jesus.

We can doubt.

We can keep it quiet. We can gather in church and sing Easter songs. Yet what happens in church, stays in church. Let’s not let the doubters be aware that we really do believe in the physical Resurrection.

By keeping quiet, I don’t mean that we’re afraid to say anything. I am guessing that if someone asked you directly, “Do you believe that Jesus physically rose from the grave?” Almost all of you would say, “Yes,” without hesitation.

What do I mean about keeping quiet? It means that the connection between what say we believe today and how that affects our life when we leave here. If asked at work or school, do you believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, we would probably say yes, but then, in practice, do our lives show that we believe?

Maybe we even keep the resurrection quiet from ourselves. We don’t think about it much unless it’s church, or Easter, or some other event. Other than that, it’s simply information we have tucked away in our minds.

Show me the difference. If Christ is risen, what changes. What words do you choose? What do you stop doing? What do you start? If you make a mistake, how do you respond?

We can doubt. We can keep it quiet, or we can tell.

If we believe that the tomb is empty and if we believe that this makes a difference not only for our eternity, but for today, this is amazing news.

Good news is contagious. Good news is something that we are willing to send out a text, make a phone call, grab a friend, “Christ is risen!”

Tell.

As we enter the text, we read of the women who go to the tomb. It’s not a complete list, but we hear of the two Mary’s. As we look at the other accounts, there were others with them and together, they were on the way to anoint Jesus’ body.

There, they met a messenger, a heavenly messenger.

A tombstone messenger.

In Scripture, when God interacts with his people two things often happen. The earth shakes. Secondly, people fall to their faces in fear.

As we read today, an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance like lightning and clothes as white as snow. The guards were terrified that they shook and became like dead men.

They shook—they shook at the earthquake and at the appearance of the angel.

On the beginning of this Resurrection Day, we talk about the sadness of the women turned to wonder and joy, the terror of the soldiers, and eventually the surprise and excitement of the disciples—all these are the responses of people.

I wondered to myself, how did God feel? The Bible talks about God’s love and compassion. We know about his anger against sin.

We wouldn’t say that God boasts or brags, but I just have the sense that this angel of the Lord who represents God sitting on this stone with a heavenly confidence and self-assurance. Looking back into the tomb and what it represented and saying, “Is that all you got?”

Psalm 2:1–4 NIV

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

If you or I go to a cemetery, it is a place of reflection and respect. We don’t use the tombstones as a place to sit.

For the angel, the stone was not a marker for grief or failure. It was simply a stone.

The message that the angel said to the women holds true for us too.

Matthew 28:5–6 NIV

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Matthew 28:

Don’t be afraid. He’s not here, just as he said over and over again.

Do not fear. Jesus has overcome death.

And not jus

Do not fear. Jesus has overcome death.

The angel rolled the stone away. He didn’t need to do this to let Jesus out. He did it so that the women, the disciples, and anyone else who wanted to see could know with out a doubt the tomb was empty.

One commentator made it clear that the angel said, “Don’t you be afraid.” The guards can scatter, the religious leaders can tremble, but you don’t have to be afraid.

“Come and see the place where he lay!”

Empty. He’s gone.

I love this quote :

Baker New Testament Commentary: Matthew 28:1–10 The Lord Risen; The Guard Frightened; The Women Surprised

For the church to believe that Jesus rose from the dead is fine, but it is not enough. It should also consider what kind of Savior it was who rose from the dead. Is he still the same loving Redeemer who before he died healed the sick, cleansed the leper, raised the dead, comforted the mourning, pardoned and died for the sinner who accepts him by a living faith?

He is!

So good to be true.

The message is so good to be true.

You can doubt the message. You can keep it quiet.

If you doubt it, it can’t be good news. It is maybe a lie, or maybe something to be afraid or suspicious of.

We can keep it quiet. Is the message dangerous? Of course. This message changes everything! It changes my life for eternity, starting right now!

Matthew 28:7 NIV

Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Now, I have told you. You’ve heard the message. It’s your responsibility now.

Go tell. The angel has told us. Scripture tells us. The church has told us. Our parents have told us. We know. Now, go and tell.

Go and tell, but you don’t have to be alone.

It would probably be enough for us to see and be sent by an angel.

We would probably take the angel’s word for it that Jesus was risen.

We might be nervous and even afraid of what the future holds, but the women still were filled with joy.

And on their way, there he was. Jesus.

“Greetings!” he said. Be glad!

It is our custom to greet each other with hello! Spanish speakers will often answer the telephone by saying, “Bueno”—good!

Jesus gives them a common greeting. Be glad!

They fall at his feet to worship.

Matthew 28:10 NIV

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Don’t be afraid.

Don’t doubt. It’s true. He is risen!

Don’t keep it quiet. There’s no better news.

You can tell. This news is too good to keep quiet. The grave is empty. Jesus is risen!

Go and tell. Live in faith. This news is too good to keep quiet. The grave is empty. Jesus is risen!

Thanks be to God.