Resurrection Sunday Sermon Matthew 28:1-8 Relax, He is risen!
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all of our new listeners out there, to FCC, and to those that have been following us a while. Happy Easter, happy Resurrection Sunday.
Today is a special day that the church celebrates our risen Lord! Some call it Easter and some prefer Resurrection Day however the central theme is that Jesus died upon the cross on Friday, was buried and rested in the Grave on Saturday, and arose like He had promised on the Third Day, on Sunday, and this is why we call Sunday, “The Lord’s Day!”
So we will take a break from Psalm 46 today, and jump over to Matthew 28:1-8 to share in the greatest story know to all mankind. The Resurrected Messiah!
Will you please bow your heads and prayer with me?
Gracious Heavenly Father, there is nothing we can do, to cause you to love us more. However, this one thing we know is that you gave your only begotten Son to die in our place, that whosoever shall believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life with You! Lord, thank you for becoming our substitute on the Cross and for sacrificing your Son for the sins of the World. He was a spotless Lamb who died in our place, and was resurrected on the third day. And Lord as your church celebrates on this resurrection day, may the power of your resurrection manifest it self in our lives in a new and refreshing way, today Lord, may we understand the power of your resurrection and the depth of your love for us. Please comfort the faint hearted and the families that have been impacted by this virus. We turn to you Lord for the remedy asking that you Father that you would crush this pestilence. Please protect us all and help us to be wise. Please touch our loving sister Barbara as she continues to not feel well. Please help everyone know they are loved and cared for.
Matthew is the gospel of the King—the King revealed in chapters 1 through 10;
the King resisted in chapters 11 through 13;
the King retreating in chapters 14 through 20;
the King rejected in chapters 21 through 27;
and here in chapters 28—the King resurrected!
Read Matthew 28: 1-8
Review what lead up to this text???
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.
The women could not make the trip to the tomb until after the Sabbath. As dawn approached, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Both of them had been at Jesus’ cross and had followed Joseph so they would know where the tomb was located (27:56, 61).
among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
Church, the mother of Zebedee’s sons was Salome. Her sons were the sons of Thunder James and John.
All the ladies mentioned in the gospels went home and kept the Sabbath as the law required, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
In the Jewish reckoning of time, a day included any part of a day; thus, Friday was the first day, Saturday was the second day, and Sunday was the third day. Jesus was raised on the third day, just as He had promised .
There is something interesting here. Mary x2 and Salome were not coming to the tomb with the expectation that Jesus was resurrected, but they were coming to anoint the dead body of Jesus.
Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
The women did not have confidence in Jesus’ resurrection, but they had great love and great devotion for Him. What they lacked in faith they compensated for in loving compassion, and what they lacked in understanding they made up for in courageous devotion.
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.
No sooner had the women reached the tomb than they found the stone had been moved aside by a severe earthquake.
This was the second supernaturally caused earthquake in connection with Jesus’ death and burial, the first one having occurred at the moment of His death.
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
God used Earthquakes to speak to his people in both the OT and NT.
Here at the first Earth quake after Jesus gave up his Spirit the veil was torn in the temple from top to bottom.
Behind the Veil in the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of the divine presence, the Shekinah-glory shining above the Mercy Seat, and between the figures of the 2 cherubim.
"You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four sockets of silver. You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies" (Exodus 26:31-33, NASB 1995).
It was not the object of the Veil to give access to God; for it was that which prevented it. It shut the door and said, "No further."
The Jewish historian Josephus said the veil was four inches thick, and that horses tied to each side could not pull the veil apart.
The purpose of the veil was to hide and to bar everyone from entering the symbolic presence of God except the High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
The only way the High Priest could stand alive on the other side of the veil was by sprinkling on the veil the blood of his substitute.
The purpose of the veil was to keep people out of the Holy of Holies. It told sinful man that he could not approach God except by His prescribed means.
It stood in the way to God's presence. It was a closed door.
The only person who could enter the Holy of Holies and remain alive was the High Priest with the blood of the substitute sacrifice, and then only on the Day of Atonement (Exodus 26:31-35; Leviticus 16). But he could never enter without the blood. It was a constant reminder that sin separates the sinner from God.
When Jesus dies church, the veil that was just talked about, that the Bible speaks about, that the Jewish Historian Josephus wrote about was torn from the top to the bottom, for you and for me.
Josephus tells us that it was 4 inches thick, 30-45 tall, and really wide. He said it was so big and think that 2 horses could not tear it apart. But God can! Amen!
The tearing of the veil church as allowed us to enter into the presence of God without a High Priest. In fact, Jesus’ blood that atoned for our sins makes us a royal priesthood!
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
PRAISE GOD! WE CAN ENTER! Let us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord God almighty!
Let us think for a moment in a metaphorical sense about hie earthquake.
If we were all sincere and took a look at our lives, we would all agree that life is full of earthquakes. Trails come into our lives to knock us off balance, to steal our focus off Christ and make us miserable.
One pastor writes, I read about a man who was caught in a severe earthquake. “No matter where I looked,” he said, “everything was in motion. Then I looked up through the hole in my roof and saw the stars. They became my fixed points of reference.
Church, we are surrounded by an earthquake right now with this virus. What is your fixed point of reference during this storm?
The earthquake happened at Jesus death, and the Earthquake happened as Jesus was resurrected and left the tomb.
The Angel of the Lord rolled back the stone that was somewhere between 2000-4000 lbs and he sat on it.
He did not roll the stone for Jesus to get out, but rather for his disciples to see in. And when they looked inside, the tomb was empty and Jesus has arisen.
His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
John and Luke write that there was 2 angels:
And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
I believe the 2 angels represent the 2 cherubim that guarded the mercy seat in the holy of holies.
Witnesses
And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
One scholar writes:
The guards were so awestruck that at first they shook for fear of him.
Shook translates a Greek term that has the same root as “earthquake” in verse 2, indicating that the soldiers experienced personal earthquakes of both mind and body.
But after a brief moment of shaking, they then became like dead men, paralyzed with fear. The idea seems to be that they not only became rigid but unconscious, completely traumatized by what they saw.
But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
Here we are church at yet another verse that the Lord is saying to the women in the narrative and to us to not be afraid!
“Do not be afraid” was the angelic injunction to the shepherds on the hillside at His birth in Luke 2 , to the women at the tomb at His death here in this text, and to us today.
What are you fearing at this present time? Has your current circumstances have you hostage, or are you fixed and focus on the Author and Finisher of your faith?
The Lord is speaking this to us today, to not fear, because he has our backs. he will protect us and take care of us during this time and the times to come.
And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
Church, Jesus had given the disciples three predictions of both his death and of his resurrection in the book of Matthew alone. Over and over he gave them his Word, but yet they did not believe Him.
Do we trust God’s Word? Do we believe in his promises?
Jesus promised he was coming back, but yet they did not believe.
However, God who is rich in mercy and grace sent a ministering angel that said I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified!
I find this amazing that the Angel of the Lord was so connected to the Father, that he knew the minds and hearts of these women.
What are you seeking this find Easter morning? Are you seeking Jesus who was crucified?
He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
He is risen!
saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
But here is the invite, to the women, to you and to me:
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
The Greek word to see (theoresai) means to contemplate, to gaze, to observe in order to grasp.
We know the Lord wanted to turn the women’s grief into joy and this was the invitation to do just that.
Can you imagine?
We know in other gospel accounts that Jesus did his laundry as he folded the napkin that was around his head and placed it in a place by itself.
The burial clothes were just as they were when Joseph and Nicodemus laid the body to rest, except for the face-cloth, which was set to one side. Jesus did not have to be unwrapped any more than He had to have the stone removed. At one moment He was encased in the linen, and the next He was free, leaving the wrappings unchanged.
Did you notice the invitation? Come and see? Because look at what the next text says:
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.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
The Angel of the Lord said: Come and see and go and tell.
We should not keep the Resurrection to ourselves but share it with a lost and dying world. This is the Good News church:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
The Lord who is rich in mercy moved these women form grief to joy.
Church it is God desire to move us from grief to joy.
He is inviting us:
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
We should relax, because he has risen church! Since Jesus conquered the grave, let us confidently say:
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
Prayer
Thank you Lord for loving us, when we are son unlovable. Thank you Heavenly Father for sending your Son to die in our place. Today, we take this moment to acknowledge you are the resurrected One who will soon be returning for your church. You left this Earth as a suffering servant and will be coming back as a conquering King, please teach us what it means to be prepared for your soon arrival. Remove everything in our lives that prevents us from worshipping you whole heartedly. Lord , please comfort all the families that have been drastically impacted by this virus, please give wisdom and protection to all of those on the front lines warring against this virus. And Father, would your graciously help us lone to know you more and the power of your resurrection in our lives. For the same power that rose Jesus form the graves lives in us!
Lord, if there is anyone listening today that does not know you and the Holy Spirit prompted them gently to turn to you, please Father accept their cry and forgive their sin and be the Lord of their life. Thank you for the gospel, for it is the power of God unto Salvation!
IJN
Announcements
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Benediction
I close with a gentle reminder to us all:
Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
If Christ is not risen, we are the most miserable people and all of our preaching is useless.
The empty tomb and the Risen Messiah are