Sermon Tone Analysis

Leader Guide ESV, Easter Session

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Edited by Rev. Lex DeLong, M.A., 2022.

Trusting God’s promise will always show itself worthy of our trust.

Summary and Goal

Easter is the most important day in history, the pinnacle of God’s plan to redeem people from sin through Jesus Christ.

In this session, we will explore the resurrection of Jesus from Matthew’s account.

Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and death prompted great fear in His disciples, but we will see that when they encountered the risen Christ, that fear gave way to belief, joy, and obedience.

The resurrection of Jesus offers the same to us today.

Session Outline

++1.

Fear gives way to belief because of the empty tomb (Matt.

28:1-6).

++2.

Fear gives way to joy because of the empty tomb (Matt.

28:7-8).

++3.

Fear gives way to obedience because of the empty tomb (Matt.

28:9-10).

Session in a Sentence

The resurrection of Jesus Christ enables us to put fear behind us as we believe in and respond to Him.

or

++Trusting God’s promise will always show itself worthy of our trust.

Christ Connection

Jesus rose from the dead just as He said He would, proving that He is the Son of God and worthy of our worship.

When we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we are brought into God’s family and can joyfully serve Him.

Missional Application

Because we can see and believe in God’s fulfilled promise for Israel and the world through Jesus Christ, we can put fear to rest through faith as we see Him fulfill His promise to us.

Ask this question:

If your faith puts your fear to rest, why do we struggle with wanting to share that with others who still live in fear of their present lives, or even fear of their future?

Because we trust Jesus rose from the dead to provide salvation, we should put fear behind us and joyfully obey our calling to tell others about the resurrected Savior.

DDG (p.

75)

For many of us, the story of the resurrection of Jesus is quite familiar, perhaps even too familiar.

However, our goal is not merely to understand the details of this story; it is for this story to change us.

The resurrection of Jesus is at the heart of the gospel, a gospel that is designed to move us from death to life.

The problem, then, is not that we have heard this story too much; if anything, this is a story we need to hear and share more often.

· Jesus was betrayed and wrongly convicted as a criminal in a mockery of a trial.

He was beaten, whipped, and disrobed.

Thorns were twisted together into a crown for Jesus’ head, piercing His forehead and mocking His claims to be the King of kings.

Iron spikes were driven through His hands and feet, fixing Him to a cross, and then He was lifted up, a spectacle for all to see.

· After Jesus gave up His last breath, He dangled lifeless on the cross.

As evening approached and the Sabbath loomed, a secret disciple named Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for Jesus’ body and was given permission to place the Messiah’s corpse in his own tomb.

A large stone was rolled in front of the opening, and the next day a seal was placed upon it and Roman soldiers assigned to guard it.

This was one of the darkest moments the world had ever seen.

But the sun still rose on Sunday morning, and so did the Son.

Christ’s resurrection is one of the most important days in history, the pinnacle of God’s plan to redeem people from sin in fulfillment of His millennia-old promise to Abraham and even as far back as Adam and Eve.

From Matthew’s account, Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and death prompted great fear in His disciples, but when they encountered the risen Christ, that fear gave way to belief, joy, and obedience.

The resurrection of Jesus offers the same to us today because God wants every generation of humanity to know that trusting God’s promise will always show itself worthy of our trust.

Point 1: Fear gives way to belief because of the empty tomb (Matt.

28:1-6).

Ask DDG (p.

76).

What are things people are afraid of?

Common fears or phobias include the dark, tight spaces, heights, spiders, public speaking, and needles.

Others might be letting other people down, failing, being alone, financial issues, relationship issues and so on.

But there is one fear that is unavoidable, one that everyone must face: the fear of death, that of ourselves and of others.

This is why the gospel is good news: Jesus is removing the sting of death for all who believe in Him.

Read: Ask a volunteer to read Matthew 28:1-6 (DDG p. 76).

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.

Come, see the place where he lay.

DDG (p.

76)

Imagine yourself in an earthquake; that would be frightening enough.

But then picture an angel coming down from heaven before your very eyes.

The elite Roman soldiers did not attack, run back to Pilate, or call for backup.

Instead, they were overcome by fear—angel-phobia—and they collapsed.

The women likely would have collapsed as well but for the angel’s glorious message of victory, a message to calm their fears—Jesus is alive!

When we say, “Jesus is alive,” we aren’t being metaphorical.

The Son of God humbled Himself and took on flesh so He could die in the body to atone for the sins in our bodies, and He had to rise again in the body in order to be our justification before God (Rom.

4:25).

Therefore, “Jesus is alive” means Jesus right now is living and breathing in a physical, resurrection body, securing forever our eternal life in our future resurrection bodies.

Fill in the blanks: DDG (p.

76)

Christ’s Humiliation: God the Son came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and He experienced a humiliating death on a cross by becoming sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Essential Doctrine “Christ’s Humiliation”: Although God the Son was equal with God and worthy of all the glory God receives, He chose to humble Himself by taking on human flesh.

He left His glorious state and came in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom.

8:3), and He experienced a humiliating death on a cross (Phil.

2:6-8) by becoming sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor.

5:21).

DDG (p.

76)

The depth of Christ’s humiliation followed by the emptiness of the tomb reminds us of the fullness of God’s power and the unstoppable nature of His plan’s promises.

Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection is evidence enough to see God’s unflinching devotion to His glory and our good.

So we believe, and it’s God’s faithful character that gives our faith its power.

The object, not the caliber, of our faith casts aside our fears.

· If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we should stop this study immediately.

A still-dead Jesus doesn’t change anyone or anything.

If Jesus is a pile of bone dust somewhere in Jerusalem, then He was a sham, a crook, and His name should be scrubbed from history.

· In the Gospels, Jesus said He is God, He’s the only way to be saved, the Old Testament is about Him, and He would rise from the dead on the third day—His resurrection validates all of these claims.

So how will we respond to the resurrected Savior?

Ask the following question.

How should the resurrection of Jesus affect the way we live?

(we should look at our good deeds not as earning our salvation but as the overflow of a grateful heart for our salvation bought by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection; our actions should mirror those of Christ, who lived to please God the Father; we should cherish the Word of God more and more; our fears should diminish because even the fear of death is losing its sting for those who believe)

Diminished fear is a reason to cause great joy.

Point 2: Fear gives way to joy because of the empty tomb (Matt.

28:7-8).

Read Matthew 28:7-8 (DDG p. 77).

7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.

See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

DDG (p.

77)

Moments before this encounter with the angel, the women had been heading to the tomb expecting to anoint a dead body and continue their grieving process.

But their grief was short-circuited.

The Lord was living again and moving.

In an instant, their sorrow had turned into great joy.

Joy is and should be the only right response to Jesus’ resurrection.

· Disbelief: You don’t have to fear that God will not accept you.

The cross and the empty tomb bear witness to God’s heart for all sinners to come to repentance (2 Pet.

3:9).

The cross shows Jesus’ love for us.

The empty tomb shows the power of that love.

· Apathy and Curiosity: Everything hinges on the empty tomb.

In 1 Corinthians 15:17, the apostle Paul was clear: If Jesus is still dead, then we are still dead in our sins.