Easter Sunday

Text

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.

Introduction

How many of you are here because someone else made you come?

Story of Roy Crouch

Easter is one of the big 2

We just want to say that even if you are here today because you were forced to be here, or you’re just here to make your mother or your spouse happy, you are welcome here.

We are glad you are here with us today

We are celebrating something really special today

has nothing to do with a bunny (we haven’t been able to work out yet what rabbits have to do with eggs)

we are not celebrating just another holiday, though we know that even unbelievers appreciate the day off work that Easter allows them.

What we are celebrating today is much more than just another holiday among many

We are celebrating an empty tomb.

We are celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are here today because we believe that there really was a man, Jesus Christ, who was hung on a wooden cross and murdered.

We are here because we really believe that his dead body was put in a tomb and yet 3 days later he rose from the dead and walked out

We believe that really happened.

This is not some fairy tale or myth.

It wasn’t just a parable or analogy, or a story with a moral or motivational lesson, like “Jesus rose up, so when life knocks you down you can get back up again”

This is not that kind of church

We believe this really happened. Every single detail of it.

Not only do we embrace the reality that it happened - we also embrace the implications of it - what it means

....declared Himself to be the Son of God and the promised Messiah who was to come and take away the sins of the world...

I want you all to know and understand today that the resurrection Jesus Christ is not just one aspect of Christianity

… was arrested and beaten almost to death...

It is not just one of many holidays

It is not just one of many things we believe

It is not just another ceremony

… whipped, spat on, mocked, crucified. murdered.

The death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is THE message of Christianity.

And for that matter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the truth on which Christianity is based.

Without the resurrection of Jesus, there is no Christianity.

If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, we have nothing but another set of aimless religious beliefs with nothing to offer the world except another set of moral guidelines to follow.

So Christianity stands and falls on whether Jesus Christ was in fact raised from the dead...

Because if He didn’t - then every claim of Christianity can be discounted.

But if He did… then every claim of Christianity needs to be carefully considered and you have to decide what you are going to do with it.

You have to deal with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1. The Reality of the Resurrection

Now the secular world - the unbelieving world - I’m talking about secular historians and scholars and the Discovery Channel and National Geographic...

those people actually care very much about whether or not Jesus was resurrected from the dead...

I don’t know if you realised that, but it’s true.

It is so obvious that something strange happened at this time in history, that scholars have dedicated research to it, and have written dissertations on it, and Discovery runs documentary after documentary on it

and they’re all trying to explain what happened.

Now they have come up with a number of theories - some better than others - but these are the 2 most popular or widely accepted explanations that have been given:

A) They went to the wrong tomb

Brilliant.

I wonder how much tax money was spent on coming to that conclusion.

Mary was so distraught and emotionally wrecked, that she just went to the wrong tomb

And then apparently after she went and told Peter about it, he went to the wrong tomb too

Now look, I don’t want to be disrespectful or mock people, so let’s carefully think through these theories...

Could Mary and Peter have just simply gone to the wrong tomb?

I mean, they were just people - they had just been through massive trauma of witnessing the brutal and gruesome death of Jesus in the most vicious way imaginable just days before...

I mean I know that when I have a lot on my mind I get lost all the time - I take the wrong turns, I miss the turns, I forget where I was going, I forget where I put things...

I’m not thinking clearly.

So at first thought it does sound like a plausible possible explanation - maybe in the middle of their trauma, they just went to the wrong tomb.

But hang on…

Do you know what happened after the resurrection of Jesus? The number of disciples of Jesus didn’t shrink - as you might expect after such a brutal murder of their leader...

Christianity mushroomed. It exploded.

It spread and grew - Peter preached one sermon and 3000 were added to their number.

Christianity became a massive problem - not just for Rome - but for the Jews who handed Jesus over to be crucified.

If it is true that Mary and Peter just had a mental breakdown and went to the wrong tomb, then when Christianity was becoming a massive problem...

...why didn’t the powers that be simply roll away the stone to the right tomb and go “There it is there, you chops!”

But they didn’t. Because they couldn’t.

Because there wasn’t a body.

The tomb was empty.

B) The body was stolen

So then comes the second theory and this one was the most popular for a long time: the body wasn’t there, because the body was stolen.

They say that the disciples stole the body at night and then made up the resurrection story, so that they could keep growing their following and keep teaching what Jesus taught.

Interestingly, that’s exactly what the Chief Priests paid the guards to say - and it seems that rumour has endured.

So does this theory hold water? Could the disciples have pulled off such a daring and difficult heist?

Not if you know the disciples.

Because I think that in any attempt at such a mission, the disciples would have been more Johnny English than James Bond.

You see the Bible is very honest and true in everything that it says, and in the Bible we see that the disciples were nothing like the A-Team or Chuck Norris, they were actually quite an incompetent bunch of average Joe’s.

In fact that is one of many reasons I hold the Bible to be the true Word of God.

You see many people say the Bible is just made up. But if it were made up by the Jews, for example, don’t you think they would have left out all those stories about their unfaithfulness to God and their idolatry and punishment?

If the Bible was made up by these first century Christians or even medieval Christians, don’t you think they would have left out all the parts that show their weaknesses and cowardice?

Don’t

Jesus called Peter Satan - don’t you think Peter would have made sure that part was left out?

But you see I know the Bible is true because of its integrity in showing that God’s followers - God’s people - were incompetent and cowardly. They were no heroes.

They were messed up. And they messed up.

And that gives hope to messed up people like me.

I mean Jesus is telling them parables using metaphors from their own context, and they’re nodding in agreement, but when Jesus is done they’re going “so what do you mean Jesus?”

Jesus is teaching them about humility and meekness, and the disciples nod in agreement and go “Yeah great teaching Jesus. Now do I get to sit at your right hand in the kingdom, or who is going to sit at your right hand?”

We are talking about the same group of guys who scattered and ran away when Jesus was being taken to be crucified. The same Peter who cowardly denied 3 times that he knew Jesus.

Now could this same group of guys have pulled off a high stakes burglary of a heavily guarded tomb?

I don’t know. It’s unlikely.

But even if they did… which I think is pretty far fetched… then I think the disciples would have had to to have been complete morons not to have just told the truth before they themselves were murdered

Every one of the disciples died horrible deaths. They were willing to endure horrific torture without breaking… but they would not deny Jesus.

Why? If they knew that Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, if they knew that Jesus wasn’t really who he said he was and that they had just stolen his body...

Why would they endure that torture and death? Why would hundreds of other Christians in that same period be prepared to lose everything and be murdered? For a lie that they were party to?

Doesn’t make sense.

Doesn’t make sense.

So some historians who see that this just doesn’t make sense then say “No, what actually happened was that the authorities stole the body”

But then again, when Christianity was growing, why not just show the body?

They could have stopped the whole thing by just putting Jesus’ body on display and proving that he didn’t rise from the dead, and it all would have gone away.

Christianity would have died and been out of Rome’s hair...

The Jews would have stopped harrassing them about the Christians...

everybody would have continued paying homage to Caesar...

Everybody could have just got on with their lives.

And there would be no Christianity today.

But the disciples couldn’t stop the hostility against them, and the authorities couldn’t stop Christianity from turning the empire and the world upside down...

because there was no body.

Jesus had risen.

2. The Implications of the Resurrection

The reality is that the historical evidence...

The circumstantial evidence...

The historical records of non-Christian historians of the day...

and the growth of Christianity in spite of 2000 years not out of fierce persecution...

The growth of Christianity in spite of 2000 years not out of fierce persecution...

as well as the historically correct and true account of the Bible...

all point to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So then for all of us, the real question is not a matter of proving the resurrection, but a question of what does the resurrection prove?

What are the implications of the resurrection of Jesus, and what are we going to do with it?

We all have to decide today what you are going to do with the resurrection.

I don’t want you to leave here this morning with a nice butterfly feeling and say “well that was nice”

There’s far too much at stake.

or… I you should be leaving with some serious conviction

Let’s think carefully through some of the implications of the resurrection and reflect on how it affects us.

A) It Proves that the Bible is True

Already mentioned the integrity of the Bible

The Resurrection also proves that the Bible is true and reliable

Acts 2:24–28 ESV

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Acts 2:24

()

Acts 2:29 ESV

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Peter is saying that although David wrote this Psalm, it could not have been speaking about David, because David’s tomb is with us to this day.

If you go into David’s tomb, you will find David’s body

Acts 2:30–32 ESV

Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.

Acts 2:30

So Peter, preaching to the crowd after Jesus ascension, is showing that David was in fact referring to the resurrection of Christ

Showing that the Old Testament predicted Christ’s resurrection long before it happened.

And that’s not the only place - , , .

Every time the OT refers to the Messiah, it speaks about a dying Messiah. But it also speaks about a Messiah that is making intercession - so the Messiah dies but he obviously is raised to life again

Isaiah 53:12 ESV

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

In the gospels too, we see Jesus saying time and time again that he is going to die, and that he is going to rise again - see , , , , and

If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, then the Bible isn’t telling the truth

If the Bible didn’t get it right concerning the Resurrection, then we wouldn’t be able to trust anything that Scripture says

But Jesus WAS raised - just as the Bible promised

Luke 24:46 ESV

and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

The Resurrection proves that the Bible is true, trustworthy and reliable. It is the Word of God

There is no other explanation for how men could so accurately predict the death and resurrection thousands of years before it happened

If the Bible was right about the Resurrection, it was right about everything else

B) It proves that Jesus is Lord

It proves that Jesus is who he said he is

Romans

Romans 1:4 ESV

and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

By bring raised from the dead, Jesus proved that He is indeed the Son of God and He is Lord

He has absolute authority over all things - including over life and death

John 10:18 ESV

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Who of you decided that you would like to be born one day, and then persuaded your parents to make that happen?

Who of you has the authority to determine that once you die, you will come back a few days later?

Jesus has that authority. He has authority over life and death.

John 11:25–26 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

It also means that Jesus has authority over you and me

Jesus is the soveriegn Lord over all creation, over life and death, over every creature, and over every person

Whether you believe in Jesus or not, Jesus is the Lord of your life

One of the most silly things I could ask you to do is to make Jesus Lord of your life

because you don’t have the authority or ability to make Jesus anything

He already IS Lord of your life

The question is not will you make Jesus your Lord, the question is will you submit to His Lordship?

Will you submit to His authority?

C) It assures us of our justification

Romans 4:25 ESV

who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

We reflected on the death of Jesus on Friday

The intense suffering

The shame

The separation - had only known perfect unity with the Father

The curse - had only known perfect righteousness and holiness

it was our sin he carried - our curse - our guilt

Isaiah 53:5 ESV

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Jesus was delivered up to death on a cross for our transgressions

He died as our substitute, bearing our guilt

When He died, He took away our guilt - our guilt died with Him

We are now forgiven, clean, counted as righteous in God’s sight

But it did not end there!

He didn’t stay dead - He was raised for our justification

And praise God that he was!

Because if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, then his death was in vain.

His death would have been no different from any other death.

Our sins would not have been taken away

And we would not be justified - our sin would remain on us

1 Corinthians 15:17 ESV

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

But Jesus resurrection from the dead is our assurance that Jesus’ death accomplished exactly what it was meant to accomplish - and our sins HAVE been taken away, we ARE justified

Now when Jesus was on the cross, just before He breathed his last, He said “It is finished” - and He was right.

Now when Jesus was on the cross, just before He breathed his last, He said “It is finished” - and He was right.

Our forgiveness and justification before God was secured completely in Jesus’ death and His work was complete on the cross

But Paul says that he was raised for our justification because Jesus’ resurrection was the proof that His sacrifice was accepted by God!

By raising Jesus from the dead, God declared to the world that the sacrifice of Jesus blood had been accepted and that atonement had been made

So in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have confident assurance that our sins have been taken away and we have been justified by His blood

And we now have peace with God through the blood of the cross!

D) It Guarantees our Resurrection

Since Jesus was raised from the dead, we have assurance that we will also be raised from the dead

Colossians 1:18 ESV

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

1 Cor

1 Corinthians 15:20–23 ESV

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Romans 5:12 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

When Adam sinned, the curse of death fell upon all men

Every descendant of Adam is affected by the Fall

Every descendant of Adam is born in sin and carries the curse of sin and death

But now...

The same way that through one man, all were cursed to die,,

So also through one man, Jesus Christ, all can be made alive

So Jesus’ resurrection is the firstfruits

Because

He is the first one to be raised from the dead to eternal life

and through him, all who believe will also be raised to life.

If Jesus was not raised, then we would have no assurance of being raised to life,

but because He lives, we know with absolute certainty that we will be raised too

Who is this for?

Does this meant that because all received the curse of death through Adam’s sin, that now that Christ has been raised ALL are now also saved?

Romans 4:25 ESV

who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 4

Romans 4:20–25 ESV

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 4:18–25 ESV

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

John 11:25–26 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

In the case of Abraham

E) It assures us of His Intercession for us

We are talking about an event that as been recorded in history - that even unbelieving Roman historians from the day wrote about

Isaiah 53:12 ESV

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

And we have

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Heb

Romans 8:34 ESV

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8

Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we know that He is alive forever

But now that He has been raised and even though His work of redeeming us is complete, he still doesn’t leave us to our own devices

He knows that while we are here, we will face fierce temptations

He knows that we are weak

He knows that we will face trials, tragedy, trauma, heart ache

And contrary to popular belief, He does allow us to have more than we can handle

The reason for that is so that we will learn that we cannot go through life on our own steam

That we need Him - need to lean on him - trust him for all things

No matter what it is that you are going through right now -

no matter how badly you have messed up -

you have this assurance - that the Son of God was not only delivered up to die for all of your sins and mine

He was also raised for our justification -

and he is right now interceding for you

And what a comfort that is - to know that the one who is standing as your representative before God, interceding on your behalf, is none other than the risen Saviour himself

Closing

So as you reflect for the rest of today on the Resurrection , let us praise God for Jesus

Let’s praise God that He has provided in every way for our salvation

That He has given us His Word that is true and reliable, so that not only can we know His will, but so that we can know what He has done and believe it

That Jesus is Lord and has authority even over life and death.

and that just as He had authority to lay down his life and take it up again, he also has the authority to give us life if we believe

Let’s praise God that in Jesus’ death on the cross, God’s justice against sin was carried out and our salvation purchased in full,

and that in his resurrection we have perfect confidence that his payment on our behalf was accepted and we have been justified

Praise God that in Jesus’ resurrection we have the certain hope that we also who believe in him will be resurrected to eternal life,

and that even now as we wait for His return and still live in the presence of sin and all the corruption that it brings, Jesus is right now and always interceding on our behalf with the Father

And because of our assurance that all these things are promised to us and guaranteed for us, we look forward to a certain hope

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 ESV

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.