The Kingdom and the resurrection

Who to trust

It’s Easter, and we have a great story to tell. Sure the chocolate might be yummy, but this has nothing on what Easter means to us.

It is our future. It is our hope. It is our present transformation. It is everything.

This morning, let me offer it to you as the reason and proof that all that what we teach is actually trustworthy.

You see, today, there is a constant question we need to ask about what message we can trust, and which ones we can’t.

Earlier this week, for example, I got a message saying that I had won an iPhone 12 Pro from my Amazon Prime account. I thought that was really good - except of course that I don’t have an Amazon Prime account. Not surprisingly I promptly ignored that message.

Or let’s say you see an ad for some sort of investment scheme. It promises high return with low risk. Straight away question marks are raised.

Or you want to buy a particular product online. Suddenly you find one online retailer who is selling the same product for a fraction of the price. Is it legitimate? Or is it some sort of scam?

The problem is that some things can become very attractive, but we just become so uncertain that it is real because we’ve all heard too many stories where things have gone wrong.

The offer of the kingdom

Well, let’s come back to the great story we have to tell. Actually, let’s the topic of the Kingdom of Heaven that I’ve been looking at over the last month or two.

I’ve described this realm which is like a fine pearl that a man sells everything for just to get. I’ve described this kingdom which is like a small mustard seed but grows to become something very significant.

It’s a place we find hope. We find restoration. We’re we break through the absolute rubbish that this world has to offer and find truth and beauty and true freedom.

But what’s more? To become part of this Kingdom, all you need is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and he will accept you and make you part of the family.

Well, what could be better then that?

There’s a problem though isn’t there.

If you’re not a Christian and you’re listening to this, I’m sure you’ll notice it. It is too good to be true.

It’s like one of those glossy advertisements where you’re promised something great, but our alarm bells start ringing.

So how do we know that what Christianity offers is real and not some made-up fantasy.

Well, this morning, being Easter Sunday, like the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians, I’m going to make the claim that all of it will rise or fall on whether the resurrection actually occurred or not.

The resurrection

So let’s start by looking at the account, which this morning I’ll be doing by focusing on Matthew’s Gospel.

Now Matthew 28:1 tells us that we are now after the Sabbath, which in other words is Sunday morning, and he names for us two women, both of whom are named Mary that have come to look at the tomb.

For those of you who were here on Friday (or listened online), then I described a number of big cosmic events that happened when Jesus died on the cross.

Well, we get another one here. Verse 2 describes a violent earthquake, which goes on to say “for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it”.

The angels appearance was so bright that the guards shook like dead men.

As the women arrive to see this amazing sight of an angel sitting on the stone that was meant to be covering the tomb, they were obviously also afraid, because the first thing the angels say is to not be afraid.

But then makes the most remarkable statement in all of history:

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

The Proof

And the proof: “Come and see the place where he lay”.

But before I consider the proof, let me give consideration to why an empty tomb would be such a big deal.

It’s because here we realise that all of this talk of the kingdom is not some fancy talk from some good teacher, this kingdom has power.

On Friday I talked of the necessity of the cross. I talked of the fact that if you take out the cross, the Kingdom of Heaven is not even possible because justice would not have been served.

But there’s a problem. If Jesus stays dead, then the kingdom has some major problems.

Firstly, the kingdom is without a king. This is not the type of kingdom that you can just find someone else to sit in his place. This kingdom is centered around Jesus and so he is vital to it.

Secondly, if Jesus stay dead, then there is no hope. What sort of future would you have to look forward to. You live a short time, and then you die.

The kingdom sounded pretty good when Jesus was talking about it. But with him dead in the ground, it is nothing but a good idea.

But he didn’t remain dead. So let’s come back to the proof.

It’s a proof that would have been irrefutable to the women who heard the words... “come and see the place where he lay”. It is an invitation for the women to see that the talk of a new kingdom was in fact real.

And while these words are spoken to the women who were that on that first morning - I’m going to suggest that they are also an invitation for you as well.

Of course, I do recognise that we are some 2000 years later and so we can’t look in the same way that the women did, or the people in the short period following.

If you did go to Israel today, you can find a tomb that claims to be the one Jesus was buried in, but too much time has passed for this to be the conclusive proof we need.

But I still want to suggest that we have an opportunity to look to see if this is real.

As much as I’d love to go through all the proofs for why a belief in it today is the most logical conclusion, I’m actually only going to offer a few ideas - that’s because smarter people than me have documented the evidence, and so you can read it in books like Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ” - which mind you, they’ve made into a movie now.

This book explores ideas, like the fact that the gospels are reliable. That writing them was not in their interest, rather it actually ended in them being martyred. That the alternate suggestions, such as claiming that he didn’t actually die, can be easily debunked.

But there is another way we can look - and that is by listening in our hearts to hear the voice of Jesus. What does that mean? Well, it’s probably going to be slightly different for each of you. But it is the reason that countless people before us have committed their lives to Christ, and done incredible things for the Kingdom.

Telling others

But let me come back to the account in Matthew 28. You see, after being given the invitation to see the empty tomb, and to know that the only possible explanation is for Jesus to be alive, they are told to go quickly to tell the disciples.

The reason? Because there are implications of having an empty tomb which are truly astounding.

This is the biggest game changer in all of history. This is much more than a curious fact you want to tell your friends. This is - your life is about to change for good, sort of stuff.

Now how much the women actually comprehended at this very early stage, well, who can tell, but they knew enough to know this was special, so they rushed to the other disciples.

The implication

Well, giving thought to the idea that the resurrection is the proof we need, let me shift gears for a moment and consider some of the implications of the empty tomb for us, and in particular, with regards to how it relates to the kingdom of God.

Eden breaks in

Actually, let me go back all the way back to creation when we have Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

For a brief moment in history, everything was as it should be. There was justice. There was freedom. There was truth and beauty and love.

Then evil enters. Eve is tempted. Because she realises she can get more.

It’s stupid really - what more could you want from perfection - but this is the power of the temptation from the evil one.

But let’s just think for a moment what happens when it all goes wrong in Eden.

The first big implication is that death enters.

Now something else happens. They are kicked out of the garden.

Now, do you remember what God did to make sure they didn’t get back to the tree of life? Well, Genesis 3:24 tells us that “he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life”.

Now let me take you back to the Easter story.

Jesus has finally reversed the curse of the sin that took place in Eden.

On the cross, the sin that resulted in them being kicked out of the garden was finally atoned for.

And then on this Sunday morning, we find ourselves back in a garden.

This time, rather than the cherubim and their flashing swords, we get two angels sitting at the entrance.

Now this is the amazing thing about the bible. As you start to look closely, you will start to see a whole bunch of patterns. Patterns which I like to think of as God’s fingerprints.

Well if we think of the exit from the garden of Eden as a pattern, we see the resurrection morning as a reversal of that pattern.

The resurrection then, represents for us a return to Eden. But here’s the amazing thing. Not only is it a return to Eden - I believe the Bible makes it clear that what we actually get will be even better than the Garden of Eden.

That’s not to say that we are at that better point now. That’s because we are in this in-between time, when we have both the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of heaven operating together.

If you really want to know how it will turn out - just turn to the last two chapters of the Bible.

The cross was able to bring an end to the curse that started in the garden, but it is the resurrection that ushers in the new age.

It is the resurrection that is the proof that we need that this new age actually exists.

Living now

And so the resurrection tells us that Eden is breaking into this world. And this then has huge implications for now.

I’ve been going on quite a bit over the last month or so about the fact that we are living in the now and not yet phase of the kingdom.

Because the resurrection has already happened, we can have confidence in a world where evil still exists.

Let’s think about it.

Hope

Let’s start with hope.

One of the biggest problems that we face as a society is the fact that there is so little hope.

Just turn on the news and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

The pandemic is a case in point. Sure I know that we keep on clutching at various things for hope. We clutch at the vaccine. We clutch to some vain hope that humanity might actually work together to help one another. At times there might be signs of hope. But too often that hopes turns to despair.

But if it’s not the pandemic causing us panic, it’s the environment. Or it’s crime. Or racism. Or domestic violence.

Now don’t get me wrong. In each of those things I’ve just mentioned, there are actually good reason to be concerned. They are things that need our attention. And we should be doing all we can to make sure we are looking after God’s good creation and his people.

However, as bad as they all are we don’t lose hope - and I want to suggest that the reason we don’t is because of the resurrection.

Because of the resurrection we know that God’s kingdom has broken in. We know that God hasn’t forgotten us. We know that he has a plan that has power over these evil things in our world.

No matter how hopeless things might seem from a worldly perspective… when the next disaster hits, regardless of whether it is man made or natural… we will stand in hope - because God has broken into the world - and it is the resurrection that is the proof that we need.

New Community

But what else? Well, because of the resurrection, we have a new community.

You see, here’s the thing. Jesus rising to life means that the bonds of death have been broken. Now we often think of that as something that happens in the future. That is, we’ll have an earthly death, but then we get our resurrected bodies in the next age.

That is true - but...

We shouldn’t just think of new life starting in the next age - that’s because, new life starts when you accept Jesus into your heart.

The power of the resurrection is not just for the next age, it starts now.

Because of the resurrection, you have hope to be transformed into the likeness of Christ now.

Now, just to be clear, we all know very well that just because you are a Christian, doesn’t mean you won’t stuff things up… say things you shouldn’t… get angry, or start gossipping, and so on and so on...

But, as a Christian, we can start to master these things. There is hope because Jesus rose again.

Now, this is actually then what brings us together. We come from a diverse background. You might come from a rich family or a poor one. Well educated, or little education. We come from different cultures. We have different political views and different things that interest us.

But there is something that drives us together - and that is that we have been changed by Jesus, and that change is possible because Jesus has power over death.

And this is why because of the resurrection, we are given a new community in which to live.

Finding Jesus

We could look at further implications, but I want to come back to the story found in Matthew 28.

You see, after the women are spoken to by the angel to see the empty tomb before going to tell the disciples, we’re told in verse 8 that they then hurried off, “afraid yet filled with joy”.

But then we get something wonderful in verse 9. It says “suddenly Jesus met them”.

It was one thing to see the empty tomb - but now they get to see the risen Jesus for themselves.

Jesus simply says: “Greetings”. And at this, they fall at his feet, clasp his feet and worshipped him.

There is something so simple about this that I just love.

You know, I can talk all about these implications and what it means for us now. But the simple fact is, when you meet Jesus, it all makes sense.

And this is why Easter is such a special time for us as believers. Because Jesus has risen, we are able to meet him for ourselves.

What that will look like for you will almost certainly be different as to what it was for these women. But we can still meet him.

We can meet him as we pray. We can meet him as we read God’s word. We can meet him in the new community that he has provided. We can meet him in the hope that we find even during times of great uncertainty.

Conclusion

And so this Easter, I want to invite you like the angel did to the women - to come and see for yourself. The tomb that held the dead Jesus is empty. And because of this, we have hope. Both for the future and in the present.

Jesus has established a kingdom for us. A kingdom like no other. A kingdom that we can live in and experience the goodness of God now.

And we know that this kingdom is real because Jesus rose from the dead.

Let me pray...