Resurrection Sunday 2008
Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:1-7
This morning we are going to consider the resurrection through the eyes of those who first heard the news of Jesus’ resurrection from the grave. We will follow these women to the tomb.
There were a number of women who made their way to the tomb that morning, Matthew mentions only Mary Magdalene and the other Mary because he also mentions that these women had witnessed both the crucifixion and the death of Jesus and that they were also present when Joseph of Arimathea had laid the body of Jesus in the tomb. But other women also made this journey to the tomb as recorded by Mark (16:1) who mentions Salome and Luke (24:10) who tells us that Joanna was there also.
Let’s turn to Mark Chapter 16 as we begin to examine the events surrounding the resurrection. Mark 16:1 says, “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come early and anoint Him.” The Jewish Sabbath, a day on which all Jew’s were forbidden to work, ended at sunset on Saturday and these women anxiously waited for the Sabbath to pass, so that they could go to the stores that opened for just a few hours on Saturday evening. They went to buy spices or sweet smelling substances, probably aromatic oils with which they planned to use to anoint the body of Jesus. But the completion of their task would have to wait until morning, for they would need the sun’s light to shine into the tomb so that they could anoint the body of Jesus properly.
Mark 16:2 reads, “Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” These women were very anxious to anoint Jesus’ body with oil. You see Jesus’ death and burial was on Friday and because the Sabbath followed the next day, they were prevented from anointing the body the day following His death, which would have been the normal custom. This anointing of the dead was an expression of great love and these women surely loved Jesus greatly, as they were willing to still go and anoint His body even though it had been in the tomb for 2 nights and a day. Remember the words of Martha at Lazurus’ grave (John 11:39), “Lord, by this time there will be a stench.” So these women rose early on Sunday, before the sun was up so that they might arrive at the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body at the earliest possible moment. And here we see that they arrived at the tomb just as the sun had risen.
Mark 16:3 says, “They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” In all their preparations, in all their diligence to get to the tomb at the rising of the sun, these women had forgotten one thing. Who would roll away the stone? This is not shocking considering the events that had occurred in the previous few days. They had witnessed with their own eyes the crucifixion and death of Jesus. They had watched with their own eyes as Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “It is finished!” and watched as His body slumped lifelessly on the cross. They had watched as His body as was pulled down from the cross and wrapped in a cloth and laid lifelessly in the tomb. They had lost the one who they loved so dearly and now it was over. Jesus was dead.
This was the mood of the procession of women as they moved towards the tomb. They were not approaching the tomb with the expectation of seeing a miracle. They were not approaching the tomb in expectation of seeing the resurrection. No, they were overwhelmed by grief and anxiety. They came to anoint the dead, to bid their loved one a final farewell. And then as a final insult to all the suffering that they had already endured, they had forgotten something. “Who will roll away the stone for us?”
These stones were designed to be rolled into cut at front of the entrance of the tomb. They were usually large, heavy and a lot of work was involved to dislodge one once it was set into place. In reality, they were designed as a deterrent to keep grave robbers from getting in and looting any valuables that might have been buried along with the body. Some of these women had been present when the stone was rolled against the entrance of the tomb and they realized that even with the number of women that were there, that they could not roll the stone away themselves.
Now let’s turn to the Matthew’s account to continue following these women as they approach the tomb. Matthew 28:2 says, “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.” Here is the second earthquake in the vicinity of Jerusalem in a matter of days. The other had occurred at the time that Jesus cried out from the cross and yielded up His Spirit. An earthquake certainly has a way of getting man’s attention and there are other places in scripture where God uses earthquakes before He reveals Himself to mankind.
Can you imagine the distress of these women as they approached the tomb? The ground begins to quake and tremble under their feet and then they see an angel descend from heaven and roll away the stone and watch him as he sits upon it. Truly something momentous was happening! Do you think that they were recalling their former question, “Who will roll away the stone for us?” as they watched the angel effortlessly roll the stone from the front of the tomb and sit down upon it? Matthew 28:3 says, “And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.” There is no questioning that this is a messenger of God, who has come to do the will of the Heavenly Father. Did the angel come to roll away the stone, so that Jesus might rise from the grave? No, Jesus had no need of an angel to open the tomb to set Him free! For Jesus in His power had already conquered death and was no longer bound by any limitations of His physical body. Jesus walked out of that sealed tomb as easily as He passed through the closed doors into the room where His disciples were gathered later that evening. No, the angel rolled away the stone so that these women and others might get in and so that they might know that the tomb was empty and that Jesus was not there.
Matthew 28:4-5 reads, “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.” Notice that the reaction of the Roman guards and the women that came to the tomb is the same. They were both afraid. The passage says that the guards “shook with fear”. In a sense, they experienced a personal earthquake of both mind and body as the scene of the earthquake and the angel unfolded before them. They quickly collapsed to the ground, completely traumatized by what they were witnessing. The angel’s statement, “Do not be afraid” also points out that these women were also equally terrified.
It’s interesting to consider the reaction of mankind in the presence of a Holy being. Here the guards and these women encounter a messenger of God and they are struck with overwhelming fear. They simply don’t know how to act. It is beyond their understanding and their reasoning to know how to react. This same sort of fear was displayed at the transfiguration of Christ in Matthew 17:5-7; when Peter, James & John heard the voice of God proclaim, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” You see, to be in the presence of a Holy being, whether it is God or one of His messengers and to see the power and glory of God displayed strikes fear into the hearts of mankind. This fear is the anticipation of judgment from a Holy and Righteous God.
What is the difference between the guards and these women at the tomb? The difference is in their personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back at the angel’s comments in Matthew 28:5. “I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.” The angel completely ignores the Roman guards and addresses the women in a comforting way. He knows that they have come seeking Jesus. Matthew 28:6 continues, “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.” The angel had not been sent just to roll away the stone, so that the women might be able to view the empty tomb but so that the angel might confirm what had happened. For the women to see an empty tomb without providing the explanation would have only throw them into more confusion. They would be forced to ask the questions “Where is His body? Has someone taken Him? Who has taken Him?” But God has graciously provided an angelic messenger, one who would reveal the truth to them. You can hear the tenderness in the angels voice, “He is not here” and then the glorious announcement, “for He has risen” and then as a word of reminder, “just as He said”. And yet the women did not believe, they did not fully comprehend, for it was all too much, all too fast. They were still simply overwhelmed. Praise God that He is patient with us even when we are slow to believe. The angel must have understood this about mankind for he kindly invites the women to see for themselves. “Come, see the place where He was lying.”
There are other details about this scene at the tomb, that are recorded in the other gospels but while each record presents different details, they all describe the same event and harmonize perfectly together. After the women had entered the tomb and saw that Jesus’ body was no longer there, the angel gives them further instructions. In Matthew 28:7 the angel says, “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.” So here these women were the first to be blessed with the knowledge of the resurrection of Jesus and they were instructed to go quickly and tell the disciples so that they too would receive the news that Jesus had risen. S. Lewis Johnson once asked his wife the question, “Why did the Lord have the women come to the tomb first?” She replied, “Was it because He knew they would broadcast it?!” Not everyone appreciates the dry humor of Professor Johnson, but it is an interesting question why the Lord chose to deliver the message of Jesus’ resurrection to the women first, especially when you consider that in the Jewish culture of that time, women were not allowed to be witnesses in a court of law. So their testimonies to the resurrection of Christ would hold no merit in the eyes of most Jewish men. And yet they were blessed with the news of this great event.
One commentator states that the reason behind this is that “the closer a believer stays to the Lord and to His work, the more he is going to witness and experience the Lord’s power. Those who are there when the Lord’s people gather for worship and prayer, who are there when His Word is being taught, who are there when the lost are being won to Christ, who are there when others are being served in His name, who are regular in their times of private prayer—those are the ones who will most often experience firsthand the work of God.” As it turned out, these women going to the tomb were the ones who were closest to the Lord’s work that day, and thus He used them to deliver the news of Jesus’ resurrection.
The last part of verse 6 is a reminder to the women of a promise that Jesus had made to the disciples on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal. Matthew 26:31-32 reads, “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.” So Matthew records in verse 8, “And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.” It is no coincidence that the gospel of Matthew ends with the disciples proceeding to Galilee, to the mountain that Jesus had designated and there they saw Him and they worshipped Him and received the great commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Indeed, this is good news. A message of great joy for the believer and a message of fear to the lost!
Let me paraphrase the words of Charles Spurgeon as he reflects upon this scene with the angel of God sitting on the stone that forms a boundary between those who view Jesus’ resurrection with great fear and those who view His resurrection with great joy.
Behold the stone and the angel sitting upon it. On the one hand, what do you see? The guards shaking with fear, lying on the ground like dead men. On the other hand, what do you see? The trembling women, to whom the angel speaks softly, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus.” You see then, that there is a boundary between the living and the dead, between the seekers and the haters, between the friends and the foes of Christ. To His enemies, His resurrection is “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense”, just as on Mar’s Hill where Paul preached the resurrection, how the sages scoffed at the idea. But to God’s own people, the resurrection is our cornerstone. Our Lord’s resurrection is our triumph and our delight.
So the resurrection is a doctrine full of horror to those who do not know Christ and who do not trust Him! What have they to gain by the resurrection? They would be happier if their lives would end in eternal annihilation. What have they to gain by Christ’s resurrection? Shall He come, whom they have despised? Is He living, whom they have hated and abhorred? Will He bid them rise, will they have to meet Him as Judge upon that Great White throne? The very thought of this is enough to smite fear into the most hardened of men. Oh, the horrors of that tremendous morning, when every sinner shall rise, and stand before the risen Savior to be condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire. Truly there is nothing but dismay for those who are on the evil side of that resurrection stone.
But how great is the joy, which the resurrection brings to those who are on the right side of that stone! Daily they look for His appearing with joy and expectation! How they thrill at the thought that they, with their own eyes, they will see their risen Savior! I would have you ask yourselves, on this Easter morning, on which side of that boundary stone are you on? Have you life in Christ? Do you trust in Him alone who rose from the dead? If so, “Do not be afraid,” for the angel of the Lord comforts you; but oh, if you have no life in Christ, but you are dead there where you sit, let the very thought that Jesus is risen, strike your heart with fear, and make you tremble at what lies ahead for you without Him.
