Thank God He Is Risen - Easter Sunday Sermon
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Introduction
Introduction
It is Easter Sunday! Happy Easter, Happy Resurrection Sunday!
There are some here who, through the various social media channels have heard things about the origin of Easter and the source of the name and some other things. Yes it was a word used to denote the festival of vernal equinox which is the day in March when the day and night are equal in length, and with the coming of Christianity was used to denote the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus.
It will interest you to know that there are many not willing to tie the celebration date to the Jewish passover, there is still discussion on how to determine the date Easter will fall on to align the Western & Eastern churches
We celebrate today the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Jesus when he came the first time did a lot of things and they are recorded for us in the gospels. One of the things he spoke about was his death and resurrection and the people did not always understand.
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men;
and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,
From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it.
For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”
But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.
As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
Matt 20:
This morning we are celebrating his rising from the dead and we thank God that he did.
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.
This morning we are celebrating his rising from the dead and we thank God that he did.
This morning we are celebrating his rising from the dead and we thank God that he did.
Let us read from
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
“Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
Look at our text we look at the following
1. Sabbath - it was a day nothing was done according to the law
2. As It Began to dawn - they must have thought about it the whole of the Sabbath and as soon as they could see with natural light, they moved quickly to the grave.
3. First Day of the Week - The Sabbath is our Saturday, the 1st day of the week is Sunday. The text in the original says on first sabbath, the Israelites did not have days of the week like we have in the Gregorian calendar so they reference their days from the sabbath so the first day of the week is the first. This is why we gather to worship on Sundays - It is always a commemoration of the resurrection.
4. Before Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (in we were told Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph were among the women looking from a distance) arrived at the grave, there was a significant event. There was a severe earthquake this was because of the Angel of the Lord that descended from Heaven to roll away the stone and after rolling it away, sat on it. There was an earthquake during the crucifixion in in both instances we see God supernaturally showing his glory in a way that cannot be denied.
5. He had appearance like lightning, his clothing as white as snow so we can induce that his appearance was lightning snow white in during the transfiguration we see similar language and when the angel brought the message to Daniel the prophet in similar language was used.
6. The guards - These folks were placed on site to stop the disciples in their tracks if they came around to open the grave and steal his body (Matt 27:63-66). The goal was to ensure that the three days claim of coming back to life was not attained at least not through human means in line with the thinking of the people. They had something else waiting for them. They saw the angelic creature and great fear came upon them and became like dead men. This is the typical biblical response to the sighting of angels.
7. Do not be afraid - He calms the women, knowing that his presence has scared them. He tells them what brought them and what they want to hear. You are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
8. He is risen - He is not here for he has risen just as he said.
9. He invited them - The angel asked them to come and see the place where the Lord had been lying and go quickly to tell his disciples.
Before he died and rose from the dead the following happened
Before he died and rose from the dead the following happened
1. Man had no way to salvation he needed redemption
1. Man had no way to salvation he needed redemption
From the time Adam and Eve sinned, man needed saving. The first innocent blood was shed when the lamb was killed so that the two of them might be clothed.
describes the law of atonement and what is required and states the expectation for its frequency. It shows God’s holiness, removes the contempt familiarity can breed and drives home the truth of God’s demand for holiness among his people.
The elaborate sacrificial system given to the nation of Israel pointed to the fact that the nation needed to be cleansed of her sin but we see in Hebrews that
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Heb 10:
So though they obliged and complied with the expectation of the system, the sin was not carried away by the goat that was sent out of the camp nor was the sin covered by the blood that was shed and dabbed on the mercy seat.
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John 19:30
The activity has come to its end -
He opened the way to salvation such that by his name those that call upon him shall be saved, the curtain/veil in the temple was torn into two in and brought about redemption to humanity and if he did not rise, our faith is in vain as Paul says in
He opened the way to salvation such that by his name those that call upon him shall be saved, the curtain in the temple was torn into two and brought about redemption to humanity
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
and in
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
2. His disciples forsook and denied him
2. His disciples forsook and denied him
After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’
“But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”
Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.
“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
Zech 13:7
“But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.
Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
Matt 26:56
You have removed my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an object of loathing to them;
I am shut up and cannot go out.
,
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.
Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
John
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”
But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”
When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”
A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.”
Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed.
And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Matt 26:69-75
There was the prophecy which became a reality when the disciples came in contact with the soldiers and the priests, they forsook their Lord and went their own way. The spiritual pain of what was about to happen was huge enough that he shed blood as sweat, then the friendly support that could have been there with him forsook him.
But because he rose from the dead, they were gathered together and were able to meet with him and take on the commission to preach the gospel.
3. His disciples were disillusioned
3. His disciples were disillusioned
3. He promised he will rise again
3. He promised he will rise again
We see him speak about this in
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men;
and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
Matt 20:17-
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
The information was so clear that when it happened the disciple remembered it as we are told in
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
In rising from the dead, we see the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit at work
The Father
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
The Son
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
The Holy Spirit
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
By his death and resurrection, Christ dealt with man’s greatest problem which is sin.
Sin is the one thing that limits the relationship between God and man.
In rising from the dead, Christ over came sin on man’s behalf and he put down a marker in time that as he was able to rise from the dead, he will raise us up when he comes back again and he his able to do everything he has promised because he is God over all things.
Hallelujah! What A Saviour
Let us sing Hymn 161 from the Redemption Hymnal