Go and Tell
Christ's Sufferings through the Eyes of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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I remember well being in kindergarten and the first grade, and the teachers would have a set time for SHOW AND TELL. Though I don’t recall my classmates name, he came to school with two dimes and showed the class that he had 20 cents (10 +10 =20). And one of my classmates said: “Boy, you’re rich!” Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, I added: “No, you have to have at least $100 to be rich.”
Please take your Bible and turn with me to Matthew 28:1-10 as we consider the twice repeated command to GO AND TELL, rather than show and tell. Being that today is Father’s Day you may have thought that we would be having a message about fathers. But since we were not able to be together for Easter Sunday, we have determined to celebrate Easter today (That, and the fact that we have finally arrived at the portion of our text that deals with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead).
Last weeks text referred to a group of devout ladies who watched over Jesus’ death and burial. This weeks text begins with that same group of ladies. As these devout ladies returned to the tomb where Jesus had been laid, they were encountered with the empty tomb, heavenly messengers, and a commission to share the message of the gospel.
Let’s read our text together. Matt 28.1-10
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.
And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Let’s look first at:
The Return to the Tomb
The Return to the Tomb
As we consider the return to the tomb we will look at the chronology, the characters and the compassion. Look again at verse 1.
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.
The Chronology
The Chronology
After the Sabbath
The beginning of dawn
The first day of the week
The Characters
The Characters
Mary Magdalene
The other Mary
Salome (Mark)
Joanna and other women (Luke)
The Compassion
The Compassion
It was devout compassion and love for Jesus that brought these women to the tomb where Jesus had been buried. They didn’t come with any expectation of finding an empty tomb. Rather they came to pay tribute to a man they had known and loved. One of the other Gospel writers informs us that as these women were heading to the tomb they discussed how they were going to have the stone moved so they could enter the tomb and put the prepared spices on Jesus’ body.
We’ve been looking at the return to the tomb. Let’s look next at
The Reprise of the Earthquake
The Reprise of the Earthquake
Look at verse 2.
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.
The text does not make clear the cause of the earthquake mentioned in verse 2. We know that there was a supernatural earthquake at the time of Jesus’ death. That earthquake led to various tombs being opened.
This earthquake could be a reference to the same earthquake in Matthew 27:50
This would add some explanation to the reason the resurrected saints did not leave their tombs until after Jesus left
But then we are left to ask why did Matthew mention it in chapter 27
This earthquake could be an aftershock from the previous one
This earthquake may have been intended to shock the men who were guarding the tomb
It seems unlikely that the moving of the stone caused the earthquake since Matthew referred to it as being severe
We’ve been looking at the return to the tomb and the reprise of the earthquake. Let’s look next at
The Reaction to the Heavenly Messenger
The Reaction to the Heavenly Messenger
Look again at verses 2-3.
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.
As we consider this messenger we will look at his actions, description, and effect.
Angelic Action
Angelic Action
He rolled away the stone
As a side note, as a kid, when I first heard of the rock band named Rolling Stones, I thought it was a Christian group who had taken their name from the Easter story — first impressions are not very accurate!
He sat on the stone
He did not open the tomb so that Jesus could leave — Jesus had already left the tomb
He opened the tomb so that the witnesses could verify that it was empty
Angelic Description
Angelic Description
Appearance was like lightning
He reflected the shekinah glory of God
Clothing as white as snow
This is reminiscent of the description of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration
Angelic Effect
Angelic Effect
The angelic effect can be described with one word — fear! Sometimes fear refers to being afraid. Other times it refers to being awed by something. We find both in our text. Look at verse 4.
The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
For those tasked with guarding the tomb it was a paralyzing fear
The angel did not seek to assuage their fear
They became like dead men
Perhaps they fainted
Perhaps they were so paralyzed with fear that they couldn’t function
For the guards, their fear was a paralyzing fear. They became like dead men. They probably had several different levels of fear. They were afraid because of this spectacular sight they had seen. (Between the earthquake and the probable ease with which the angels moved the heavy stone they may have developed a great deal of fear). Depending on if they actually fainted or not, they may have seen the empty tomb and assumed that they would be held accountable for it. So they would have had a fear of reprisal or retribution.
Whatever the case, they became like dead men (vs. 4). Of course, spiritually speaking we are all dead men until the Holy Spirit makes us alive in Christ.
For the faithful women the effect of fear was accompanied with a twofold command: Look at verses 5-6.
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.
The first command was:
Do not be afraid
Stop being afraid
Jesus is not here — He has been raised
The Greek term is in the aorist passive voice which means that something had happened to Jesus — He has been raised is a preferable translation to He is risen (Though most English Bibles use He is risen)
See for yourself
The second command is found in verse 7.
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.”
Go and Tell
The message of the cross and the empty tomb is not something to be kept private. It is to be shared with others.
You and I have as much an obligation to spread the news as did these women on this first Easter Sunday.
The final effect of this angelic visitor is that these devout women obeyed his command. Look at verse 8.
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
The guards had been immobilized by fear; they were unable to function as they had been trained to do. But for these ladies, their fear served to mobilize them into action. And they left the tomb quickly in obedience to the command of the angel. Their fear was mingled with great joy.
They were probably in awe of the angelic appearance — who wouldn’t be!
They were definitely in awe of the angelic announcement that Jesus has been raised from the dead as He had said
The reminder that Jesus had said that He would rise again probably made them wonder why they had forgotten that statement
The knowledge of His resurrection produced great joy
This joy is unspeakable and full of great glory — but the message of the risen Christ is very communicable
We’ve looked so far at the return to the tomb, the reprisal of the earthquake, and the reaction to the heavenly messenger. Let’s turn our attention now to
The Reward for Obedience
The Reward for Obedience
Look with me at verses 9-10.
And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
As these faithful women were obeying the directive from the angel they had an encounter with Jesus — the Risen Lord! And the outcome of that encounter was that they fell at His feet and worshiped Him.
As I was thinking about these ladies I was reminded about the Parable of the Talents. You remember that parable. A master who was going on a journey entrusted some of his wealth to three of his slaves. To one he gave five talent, to another he gave two talents, and to the third he gave one talent. When he returned from his journey he called his servants to give an accounting. To the two who were faithful, he said: “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”
After receiving the worship of these faithful women Jesus reiterated the commands given by the angel.
Do not be afraid
Go and Tell
I find it interesting that the command to not be afraid is in the context of sharing the message of the Risen Christ. So often we mimic the immobilizing fear of the guards, rather than embracing the mobilizing awe of the empty tomb.
You and I, who are believers in Jesus Christ have been commissioned to share the life-saving message of the gospel with others. Paul said
For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died.
And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.
Paul went on to say
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
That means that we are ambassadors for Christ, and we are tasked with sharing the message of reconciliation with others. Just as these women were commanded to stop being afraid, and to go and tell, so are we who belong to Jesus.
This morning we have looked at the return to the tomb, the reprise of the earthquake, the reaction to the heavenly messenger, and the reward for obedience.
The first step in obedience is to embrace the message of the cross and the empty tomb. And the second step in obedience is to be identified with Christ through the waters of baptism, which symbolize our burial and resurrection with Christ. The remaining steps can be summarized by this statement from Peter:
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Have you embraced the message of the cross and the empty tomb? If not, will you do so today? Have you been identified with Christ through believer’s baptism? If not, won’t you prayerfully consider doing so. Are you growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior?
Let’s pray.