It's The Same...But It's Different

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!

Scripture Reference: Matthew 28:11-15

Context

We are in a new series now that is focused on the resurrected life of Christ. We are looking at the events that took place between Jesus’s resurrection and the Day of Pentecost.

Last week, we saw that Jesus appeared to a couple of men on the road to Emmaus. He forever changed their lives. They thought that all hope was gone, but once they saw Jesus, hope returned. Not only did hope return for them, they traveled back to Jerusalem, which was a seven mile journey, and shared the Good News with the rest of the disciples as well.

See, certain things had to happen before the Holy Spirit could come, namely that these men and women had to truly believe in their hearts that Jesus was indeed in the Son of God. That’s why Jesus appeared to those men on the road to Emmaus. That’s why Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room, which we will look at more next week, Lord willing.

But not everyone was happy about this news. Not everyone leaped with joy upon hearing that Jesus’s body was no longer in the tomb.

Today, we are going to see the actions of a group who wished that Jesus would have just stayed dead. We are going to see how they went to such great lengths to convince people that the resurrection was a hoax. We are going to see how that none of those plans and theories stand up against truth. We are also going to see how this mentality has been passed down to many within our generation today.

Matthew 28:1–15 NKJV

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” 8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” 11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Let’s Pray!

Content

Early Sunday morning, Mary the mother of Jesus, along with some other women, go the tomb to anoint Jesus’s body. But as they drew near to the place where Jesus’s body was buried, a great earthquake took place. The reason for the earthquake, was because an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven. In the process, three things took place.

The stone was rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. Now notice that the stone was not rolled away so that Jesus could get out, but so that others could look in. Jesus didn’t need that stone to be rolled away to get out of that tomb, no more than He needed the door to the upper room to be opened to appear inside with His disciples. But so that everyone else could see that His body was truly not there, the stone was rolled away so that our faith could be made whole. Before the Holy Spirit could fall… Before the Holy Spirit could fill… these disciples of Christ had to believe in fullness of heart that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the resurrected Savior of the world. That stone being rolled away was for us, and thank God for it.

Jesus was resurrected. His body was not there. The graveclothes that was used to wrap His dead body in three days earlier was there, nicely folded and laying in the tomb, but His body was not. Now I do not believe that the timing of these events were coincidence. If these women did not feel the earthquake and see the angel roll the stone away, there might have been reason for doubt. They might have suspected that someone stole His body. They might have suspected that evil was at play. But seeing this all happen in real time, there is no room for doubt. Jesus is not there because He is indeed risen. They obey the command of this angel and they head out to tell the others.

But also notice what verse 11 says:

Matthew 28:11 NKJV

11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.

So while the women are headed to the disciples to share the good news, the guards are headed into the city to tell the chief priests the bad news. The weird thing is, they both have the same news to share. The news that each party is itching to share is that an angel of God has come from Heaven, rolled away the stone, and that Jesus is alive. For those who believe He is the Messiah, this is good news. For those who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, this is bad news.

It’s The Same… But It’s Different!

It’s the same news, but different hearts. It was the same report, but different reactions. Those who believed were filled with faith, while those who did not believe were filled with fear.

The Fearful

Matthew 28:12–14 NKJV

12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.”

When the Good News came to those who did not believe, they were instantly filled with fear. And out of that fear, they began planning and scheming on what they could do to try and keep this truth of Jesus’s resurrection from taking root in the hearts of the people. There was no keeping this news from getting out… that was impossible. People would find out that Jesus’s body was not in the tomb come Sunday morning. They knew that.

So their plan was to lie. “Tell them, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.”

They paid these soldiers a “large sum of money” to tell this lie, and even reassured them that if the governor heard about what had happened and became angry, that they would appease the governor for their sakes and keep them from danger.

So that is exactly what they did. They went out and lied about what had happened. They told people that the resurrection of Jesus was a hoax. It was nothing more than a last ditch effort by His disciples to make it appear that He came back from the grave.

Matthew 28:15 NKJV

15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Unfortunately, many people bought into the lie. Many of the Jews in fact believed that Jesus never came back to life, and still today, many believe that the whole account of Jesus is absolute nonsense.

This mentality has been passed down from one generation to the next since the time of Jesus. Over the years, several different theories have been proposed by non-believers to offer an explanation for why Jesus’s resurrection could not have been real.

Mythic Theory - Argues that Jesus of Nazareth never really existed. It says that the whole account of Jesus is completely fabricated and that there is no merit to it at all.

First, let’s point out that the Biblical evidence of Jesus is insurmountable. The entire Bible, from cover to cover, is all about Jesus. Everything in the OT points forward to a coming Messiah, everything in the Gospels tell us of Jesus’s life, and everything after the Gospels either point back to what Jesus accomplished in His first coming or point forward to when He will return again. Seeing that so much of the Bible has been proven through various means, why would we all of a sudden take out the heart of the Divine Word of God by removing Jesus?

Next, let us not forget that according to the Scriptures, Jesus was seen by thousands, if not millions of people during His life on earth. The evidence of Jesus’s existence is so plain and clear that even other religions such as Islam, speak of Jesus existing in their own literature. They denounce Him as the Christ, but they do acknowledge that He was a real person and performed many amazing miracles. And after Jesus was resurrected, He was seen by over 500 people.

Last, let’s not forget about all of those who gave their own eye-witness accounts of Jesus who were not His followers. The Jewish genealogical records show that Jesus was born. Jewish religious leaders during the time of Jesus write of Him. Non-believers such as Josephus write many things about what they saw themselves in Jesus during His life.

This theory is by far the most far-fetched of them all. Jesus was indeed a real person who was born a little over 2,000 years ago. He was born unto Mary, fathered by Joseph, had several brothers and sisters, and left behind a legacy that has lasted through the ages. The Mystic Theory can not stand against the evidence of Scripture, of science, and of historical records and therefore has no merit at all.

Swoon Theory - Proposes Jesus did not die on the cross but fainted (swooned) from exhaustion and pain, later reviving in the cool tomb.

All thorough studies have shown that this is absolutely impossible. People have studied the resurrection of Jesus for years, and let me add that these studies are not just from the Bible, but also from what is called extra-biblical sources. There were other people who wrote about the crucifixion of Jesus who were not disciples. Their writings are not included in the Bible, and some of them were not Christians, which is actually a good thing. Not being a Christian means they had no reason to lie. They had no reason to corroborate the accounts of history. If anything, being non-Christian compelled them to discredit, if possible, the events shared with us through Scripture. Amazingly though, all of these writings line up with what we are told in the Scriptures. They tell the same story.

Jesus was beaten, almost to the point of death. He was so weakened from the scourging, that He was too weak to carry His own cross. After being nailed to the cross, with spikes in His hands and feet, there is no way He would have had the strength to fight through the pain and anguish of holding Himself up and keeping Himself from smothering.

This perfectly explains why He died so much faster than the two thieves who were hanging on either side of Him. If you remember, they broke the legs of these other two men so that they could no longer hold themselves up, but when they came to Jesus, they did not break His legs, because He was already dead. To make sure He was dead, they took a spear and pierced His side. The fact that blood and water came out when this happened, medically proves that Jesus was indeed dead.

The Journal of the American Medical Association stated, “that the severity of the Roman crucifixion, particularly the spear wound to the side, makes the “swoon” theory scientifically implausible.

This theory, like the Mystic Theory, does not stand up to the evidence and therefore has no merit.

Stolen Body Theory - Argues that the disciples, or perhaps Roman/Jewish authorities, removed Jesus’ body from the tomb to fake a resurrection.

If Jesus’s body was stolen rather than resurrected, there would not have been so many eye-witness accounts of Him after His resurrection.

It also makes no sense why all of the disciples continued to press on, even to the point of death, for a lie. People do not normally give their lives for a lie. Though some might, it is highly, highly unlikely that ALL of the disciples would have done so. Statistically speaking, at least a few of them would have bowed out once things got so rough, but all of them continued in the faith, even to death. Not only the original 12, but even Saul, who was originally a persecutor of the church, would not have had such a drastic life-changing experience if Jesus did not really rise from the dead.

Once again, this theory does not stand up against the evidence provided against it.

Hallucination Theory - Suggests that the witnesses, such as the apostles, were experiencing hallucinations due to grief or emotional stress rather than seeing a physically resurrected person.

Hallucinations are purely individualistic. This means that someone cannot will a hallucination. Each person’s body experiences hallucinations under extreme stress. It is medically impossible for them all to be experiencing hallucinations at the exact same time. Furthermore, when people have hallucinations, they don’t experience the same hallucination. Each person sees different things.

Wrong Tomb Theory - Proposes that the women and disciples went to the wrong tomb, finding it empty, and mistakenly assumed Jesus had risen.

This theory is a far stretch. We are told in the Scriptures exactly which tomb Jesus was laid in. Furthermore, those who buried Him were believers. We are also told that several of the women watched them bury Him. They knew exactly where He was.

Also, why would angels speak to these women in a vision if they were simply in the wrong place? Why would His grave clothes have been nicely folded and still laying in the tomb, if it was the wrong tomb? And why would the Roman soldiers, who were knocked out by the angel still be laying on the ground when they arrived, if they had arrived at the wrong tomb?

Once again, this theory fails to provide adequate evidence to disprove the resurrection of Jesus.

Spiritual Resurrection Theory - Contends that Jesus rose spiritually, but not in a physical, bodily sense.

This theory is also disproven by the overwhelming evidence of Jesus being seen in a physical body after the resurrection.

Twin Theory - Suggests an unknown twin or look-alike was mistaken for the risen Jesus.

This theory is simply a last-ditch effort to offer some kind of doubt to the resurrection of Jesus.

Many of the accounts we read about concerning those who saw Jesus after the resurrection, plainly state that they witnessed His nail scars. It was when they saw His nail scars that they two men on the road to Emmaus realized it was Jesus. When Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room, He showed them the scars in His hands and His feet. This can not be faked by some look alike.

Furthermore, His voice would have been different. His mannerisms would have been different. So much of what a person is can not be faked. And most importantly, His ascension to the Father could not have happened if it was not Him indeed.

Regardless of all the theories that have been offered throughout the generations to discredit the resurrection of Christ, the evidence still remains: Jesus is alive!

He is the Son of God! He is the prophesied Messiah! He is the Savior of the world!

Hundreds of prophecies were fulfilled out of the Bible through Jesus. This in and of itself is statistically impossible. All of this was totally and completely a work of God, because He is God.

All of the evidence is there! All of the proof you need to believe that Jesus was indeed the Christ is there! Do you believe it?

We have seen the fearful. Now let’s look at the Faithful!

The Faithful

Throughout the ages, there has been one message that has remained consistent amongst believers...even before Jesus came… long before Jesus came.

In the beginning we read this:

Genesis 3:14–15 NKJV

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Right there in that verse, God gave a promise to mankind. One day, a deliverer will come. One day, I will send unto you the anointed One from on high and He will crush the head of Satan. He will deliver My people from their sins.

Since that moment, every person who has ever believed in God has been saying the same thing: Come, Jesus Come!

Isaiah prophesied of His virgin birth and called Him the “Prince of Peace”.

Jeremiah predicted that He would establish a new covenant.

Micah prophesied that He would be born in the town of Bethlehem.

Daniel saw a vision of “One like the Son of Man with everlasting dominion.

Moses spoke of a the Prophet to come.

David foretold exactly how Jesus would die, even down to the details of being hung on a tree by nails, beaten to the point of having his bones appear, and crown upon his head.

Even in the New Testament before Jesus begins His ministry, we see that Simeon served in the temple longing for the Consolation of Israel, meaning that he desperately wanted to see the Messiah come.

And when He does, all of those who have longed for Him for so long are now filled with joy. These 12 apostles were so impacted by Jesus that they literally turned the world upside down with message of the Gospel.

All of this time, they have been begging… “Come, Jesus Come!”

He heard their prayers, and when the timing was right, Jesus did come. But when He came, He also came with the same message:

Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

See… it’s the same… but it’s different.

They begged for Jesus to come and deliver them from their oppression. Jesus begs us to come so that we can be delivered from our sin.

“Come to Me”, He says. “All who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It is an open invitation. It is an invitation to all. No one is excluded. Anyone willing to come will be received. Anyone willing to take His yoke upon you and learn from Him… will find rest for your souls.

“Come”, Jesus says… “Come!!”

To the disciples, Jesus said, “Come, follow Me!”

Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.”

Concerning the marriage supper of the Lamb, Jesus said, “Come to the wedding.”

Luke 19:10 NKJV

10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Mankind started by asking for the Messiah to come. The Messiah has come and now invites all of mankind to come. This is an invitation to all of you today. Come

All the way to the end, this invitation to come unto Christ is made known to all:

Revelation 22:17 NKJV

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

God wants you to be saved. This is the heart of God. So He invites you to come. He begs you to come.

Now watch this. Before, those who were fearful didn’t want Jesus. They denied Him. They ridiculed Him. They scorned Him.

But along the way, some came to know the truth of God’s love. After weighing out the evidence, they realized that Jesus was indeed the Christ. He was the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Once that happened, their perspective changed. What was once bad news, now became good news. Same message, different mindset.

Now, they too long for the coming of Christ.

See, Jesus promised that one day He was coming back, and when He did, He would receive all of those who had believed unto Him forever. No more sin. No more suffering. Only the experience of the full love of God for the rest of eternity.

Revelation 22:20 NKJV

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Is that in your heart today? “Come, Lord Jesus!” “Come, Jesus Come!” Is that what your heart is screaming today? If not, maybe you are with the fearful instead of the faithful.

Titus 2:11–14 NKJV

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Titus speaks of the second coming of Christ as a glorious thing. Can you do the same? Do you long for the moment when Jesus bursts through that Eastern sky on the clouds of glory?

If not, the invitation still stands. “Come!” Jesus says.

But brother Thomas, I have already made a profession of faith. I have been a professing Christian for 20 years.

Listen to what James says:

James 2:14–20 NKJV

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

A lot of people say that they know the Lord. A lot of people say that they are saved… that they are Christians.

But James says: “It’s the same… But It’s Different!”

Two men say that they are saved. One’s faith has produced works for Christ, while the other has not.”

They are saying the same thing, but it has two completely different outcomes. One is going to heaven while the other is headed for hell.

It’s the same… but it’s different.

If you are with the crowd of the fearful, Jesus says Come!!!

If you are with the crowd of the faithful, your heart says “Come, Jesus Come!”

Commitment