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[0:00] A.W. Tozer once wrote, The account of Jesus' life is the only biography known to man that does not end with a death and burial.

[0:19] ! It's hard to overstate the importance of this passage. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that the entire Christian faith rests on the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.

[0:37] If Christ isn't risen, we go home. The only reason we're here, the only reason I know you, the only reason we believe that that gravesite over there isn't the end of the story, is because we believe that 2,000 years ago, a man walked out of his tomb.

[1:04] This is the central fact of history. The biggest news story of all time. It is the vindication of Jesus Christ.

[1:16] It is the victory of the church. It is the promise of glory. And it is the foundation of our hope.

[1:29] So let's look at what the Apostle Paul called the working of God's great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

[1:40] So let's pray and then let's consider the empty tomb of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, as we tread on holy ground, we ask that you would open our eyes to see.

[2:02] Jesus, our risen Lord, our Savior, and our God. Lord, would you stoke a passion for his name in us?

[2:15] Would you quell our fears because of his victory? Would you stoke our joy so that we might be complete in him?

[2:28] We pray this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ. Amen. The first thing I expect the most obvious thing about this passage is that it's not normal, right?

[2:46] People don't just rise from the dead. But that's just what the guards at the tomb saw, what the women as they came found.

[2:57] And I think, like, friends, this isn't normal. But if you've been in church your whole life, maybe this is just like, yeah, I know.

[3:08] I've heard that story. Friends, this doesn't happen. This needs to strike us as incredible. I feel that we, and I know that I, often do not appreciate the resurrection, the empty tomb, enough.

[3:31] We're not, oh, amazed by it often enough, or deep enough, that, friends, our King rose from the grave.

[3:45] Amen? Amen. Every once in a while, I get a reminder that this is something so spectacular, so out of the ordinary.

[4:00] My wife teaches English as a second language. Right now, she teaches it to children. In the past, she's taught it to adults in various contexts. One of the ways she's done it in the past is online.

[4:13] That's before coronavirus got everybody used to being on Zoom all the time. Once, she told me a story that really excited me. She was teaching English as a second language to a student in a country that is closely closed to the gospel.

[4:32] As she was teaching English, one of the things you do is just have a conversation, just to practice what you're doing. Sometimes it's a grammar lesson, but sometimes it's just conversational English to get comfortable with the language.

[4:46] And so they were talking about their families and their lives, and the topic came to religion. Foreigners are actually often much more ready to talk about religion than Americans, is what it is.

[4:58] And so they were talking about religion, and he had never heard the story of Jesus, ever. And as she was telling him, yeah, this is what Christians believe, she told him about the death of Jesus Christ in our place, and how he was buried.

[5:15] And then she got to the resurrection. And she said, and he rose from the grave on the third day, and he was so blown away. And it took her aback.

[5:28] And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin.

[5:39] And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. And it turned out a lot of sin. death the final enemy underfoot this is a different kind of victory many that we're used to even thinking about there is no victory like his victory no one else is even taking on that enemy death right everyone else is fighting lesser battles like politics economics and getting the kids to bed on time right this is unique no one else is fighting the fight he entered because it doesn't even occur to us that this is a battle that can be won the superpower right at that moment wasn't fighting a battle against death caesar had far less impressive goals world domination that's much less impressive than what jesus accomplished right and the interesting thing is it's kind of the same with his own people right ever since chapter 16 when jesus began talking about his upcoming trial and death the disciples had trouble understanding is that's going to be a problem we've got some intrepid explorers here who are going to help us out thanks guys i'm glad i wasn't standing under that i'm going to keep going while they take care of that thank you guys right his own followers weren't ready for this they they had been kind of peter opposed christ right as he was um as he said i'm going to go and die he wanted a messiah that the most of the jews wanted at the time right rome was oppressing them they wanted to get rid of rome they wanted to re-establish the kingdom of david they expected a messiah of of might not neatness yet in his trial he never spoke a word to his own defense at his crucifixion he never lifted a finger to protect himself here was no conqueror it seemed except he did conquer didn't he the worst rome could throw at him he shrugged it off in three days the strongest attack that this world can launch ineffective but what's even more than that right he wasn't just suffering rome's attack he was suffering for three hours under the darkness of god right that's the much worse punishment he suffered not under rome's wrath against insurrectionists but divine wrath at human evil yours and mine even the great storm of divine judgment the divine son endured victorious and overcame he proves himself a far stronger messiah than israel had ever anticipated right he didn't defeat rome he defeated death rome fell on its own

[9:45] right the soldiers here the source of and symbol of rome's imperial might they're struck down not by a direct blow the angel's not even there for them they are struck down as if dead just by the arrival of the angel to herald the news of victory right he doesn't need their permission he's not even there for their attention he's there for someone else so rome the superpower greater than anything you or i know in our lifetime right here is presented as an after how does that reframe the way we think about today he won a battle that the greatest powers of the world didn't even imagine could be won in their wildest dreams caesar didn't have aspirations this high and so friends let's rejoice in the empty tomb i love how charles spurgeon put it he said leave when you see the tomb of christ rejoice because it is everything your sin killed it but his divinity raised him up your guilt murdered him but his righteousness restored he has burst the bonds of death he has shamed the tomb and has come out more than conqueror crushing death beneath his feet rejoice oh christian for he is not there he is risen so we are not gathered here as a church body as a dry duty oh no not not as a tedious ritual not as a family tradition that we just do because it's what we do no we are here because we follow someone who came back from the dead jesus is alive can you believe it he went to the grave subjected to death and he won so let's not come to worship thinking that it is our boring obligation this is a celebration of the world i can't stress it enough he is not dead and what does that mean that the angel explains verse 5 the angel said to the women do not be afraid for i know that you see jesus who was crucified he is not here for he has risen as he said come and see the place where he lay right what is this doing what is he pointing out there when he said as he said the empty tomb vindicates jesus and his whole ministry right he is true he had told mary the mom the day that he raised lazarus from the dead he said i am the resurrection and the life and now he has proved it he has shown it this is the vindication of his whole ministry you might remember from chapter nine he said to uh the pharisees when he healed the lame man he asked them he said which is easier to say to say your sins are forgiven or to say rise and walk but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins he then said to the paralytic rise pick up your bed and go home

[13:48] right he asked which is harder to say it was harder to say obviously to the paralytic rise and walk away and then he did the harder thing to validate the easier things well here's the hardest thing of all the hardest thing of all that he could have said right he takes what he did with that paralytic and he he's he's turning it up to 11 here right in john chapter 7 he said i lay down my life that i may take it up again no one takes it from me but i lay it down of my own accord i have authority to lay it down and i have authority to take it up again which is harder to heal the lame that's pretty hard or to raise the dead well he did both and which is harder still to raise the dead or to take up your own life after you've died jesus did both and then he did both and then he did both and then he did both and then he did both and then he did validated by this event his empty tomb everything he taught everything he modeled for us all of it is true and good and empowered by the same spirit which rose him up in victory and and and when he asked me what i did for a living and he found out that i was a pastor the conversation turned to spiritual things he said that he admired jesus but he didn't think he was the only way to connect with god and so i i asked him you know so you probably don't like that whole i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father but by me this right and he didn't i i said to him if the tomb is empty you have to listen to him he paused for a moment i don't really remember exactly how he replied but he he on the one hand didn't want to acknowledge it but on the other hand couldn't really say anything back against it right because if the tomb is empty you do have to listen to him and so from his first teaching repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand to the sermon on the mount to the missionary sermon of chapter 10 to his condemnation of religious hypocrisy in chapter 23 that was a fun chapter right you have to listen to him if the tomb is empty and i like how one pastor put it he said it proved him to be that is the empty tomb proved him to be a prophet a miracle worker and it threw back his authenticating light on everything he said and did during his earthly ministry and just a side note friends you know uh for me that that conversation that evangelist conversation that happens when people find out that i'm a pastor like oh immediately you know when someone says what do you do and i say i'm a pastor like that's a pretty easy entry into spiritual things it's also something that shuts people off pretty quick too but you know it's it's neither here nor there um there's a way for you to have that easy entry point too um all you have to do when someone says what do you do you can say hey i work at ev or i um you know i'm in the coast

[17:50] guard whatever whatever it is that you do i'm a stay-at-home parent um all you have to do is say i'm that and i help out with kids at church or i do that and i'm involved with faith to faith or what do you do i do this and whatever it is that you're involved it should be involved at church right and then you have that easy entry point where you can say hey i do this and here's a spiritually important thing in my life and that immediately opens doors for you to ask questions or for you to go off into that right so no excuse be involved in church and now you have an evangelistic opening go forth and do that's a great thing so the tomb is empty this is totally unique the empty tomb is a victory unlike any other in it is the source of our joy and the empty tomb means that we have to listen to him and if we pay attention because jesus shows up in this passage we'll learn something else even more when jesus greets the women in verses 9 and 10 he says almost the same exact thing the angel has said right the angel says do not be afraid jesus says do not be afraid the angel says he is not here for he is risen amen it's amazing right and jesus shows himself outside the tomb he's not there and very much alive he is risen the angel says go quickly tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold he is going before you to galilee there you will see him and jesus likewise says to the women to tell the disciples to go to galilee and there they will see you know it's thought for thought nearly word for word except there's this interesting wrinkle the angel calls the 12 his disciples jesus calls them my brothers the angel says that's no small change right the language that jesus uses for his disciples after his resurrection has changed here he calls them brothers john chapter 20 he calls them brothers he calls them children later in john chapter 20 he says i am ascending to my father and your father father and your father and your father suddenly they are not servants anymore suddenly they're family this is a change and friends the good news of the gospel is that god makes us family the cross and the empty tomb sin and death conquered have made it possible for the king to draw us near into his home into his heart the cross and the kingdom of the king to draw us into his heart which brings us every blessing in christ jesus communion with god right that is fellowship with him today that is in prayer and in his word and then among his people and on that day face to face and an inheritance with christ with which the scriptures don't really explain to us i think

[21:55] probably because we don't have the capacity to really get it and it means that we are bound to him which is so so good it has myriad applications but because this passage is about a grave let's think about what it means to be as we approach our grave and we are all approaching our grave what does it mean to be bound to christ as we approach bound to the one who has risen victorious we used to face the prospect the grave and of the judgment seat alone but no longer when we are joined to christ by faith he calls us brothers sisters and we are joined to him so when we confront our deathbed and friends it is coming sooner than we think we are no longer by ourselves we don't die alone and when we are to kneel before the great throne of judgment we will not stand alone jesus who has already won the victory says i now call you family i call you brother i call you sister share in the victory i have already won and so spurgeon i quoted him already today i'm gonna quote him again spurgeon asked death what is it it is the waiting room where we robe ourselves immortality friends that's true for everyone who is in christ jesus when pastor put it this way he said you who love him learn to view without fear your own final resting place and rejoice and rejoice in the assurance that his resurrection is the pledge of your own resurrection adore him for the love which led him to sleep in the grave that you might rise and partake of his glory forever friends if the empty tomb is totally unique and it is if the tomb empty tomb is like a victory unlike any other and it is if the empty tomb is the source of our joy and it is everlasting if the empty tomb means that we have to listen to it and it does it is and if it's how he has made us family what do we do with that first the women fall down at his feet and take hold it and they worship and they're given instructions both by the angel and by christ himself verse 7

[25:56] the angel says tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold he is going before you to galilee! there you will see him and jesus says verse 10 go and tell my brothers to go to galilee and there they will see me there is a go and tell aspect of this but it is not yet the great commission go and tell the world that's coming but this is not it what is this who are we to tell here the women and i think by extension we are told to proclaim his resurrection to the people of god to those who already know and love and trust and follow him why do they not know well actually the disciples don't know yet they ought to have been here clamoring because he's promised several times to them on the third day i will rise i will take my life back up right they ought to be there so they need to be told for the first time but i don't think this is just for the first time i think this is an enduring command for the people of god just like tyler was saying earlier we didn't plan this god is good right he was saying let us sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs to one another why as an encouragement to build one another up to stoke our joy in the risen christ we proclaim the resurrection of jesus christ to those who already belong to him for their gladness and their worship and their certainty and their assurance right friends report the resurrection to your brothers and sisters in christ not just once again and again this is the thing that binds us together every ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending

[28:40] Again and again, the news ought not grow old for us because the resurrection is the source of our joy. The empty tomb is the sign of our assurance.

[28:54] The living Christ is the anchor of our hope in heaven. It is the guarantee, that empty tomb is the guarantee of our adoption, our inheritance.

[29:06] It is the bedrock of our confidence. It is the signal of our victory. It is the reminder that we aren't living for the next promotion, for the next election, for the next season of the show we like.

[29:23] We're living for life beyond death and for the one who made that possible. One writer put it this way, no situation is hopeless while Christ lives.

[29:40] No situation is hopeless while Christ lives, and he lives forever, friends. And I'll extend that, right?

[29:52] No loss in your life or grief or wound or sorrow is final. Terrible as it may be.

[30:05] No loss is final while Jesus lives. And no person is a lost cause while Jesus lives.

[30:20] And no scar is too deep while Jesus lives. And friends, he lives forever. Here we see, as we come to Matthew 28, that Jesus has conquered the grave.

[30:42] Even life's ultimate wound, death itself, is no more for those who are found in Christ Jesus. So let us, like the Marys here, run to him and grab hold of him and worship him and find life.

[31:08] And let us serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us be happy to report, to remind, to recall the empty tomb.

[31:22] Because there our king is vindicated. And our hope is guaranteed. And our life is secure. And our joy is complete.

[31:34] Friends, so much depends on the empty tomb. And it is empty.

[31:48] If the tomb is empty, you have to listen to him. If the tomb is empty, do not be afraid. If the tomb is empty, his enemies are defeated.

[31:59] If it's empty, death is not the last word. And the kingdoms of this world bow to this king. And if the tomb is empty, friends, tell your brothers and your sisters in Christ.

[32:11] So much depends on the tomb being empty. Literally, it is the center and the sum and the substance of the Christian worldview. And so that question comes to us.

[32:24] Are we sure? Are we certain that it is empty? You might recall, if you were here with us last week, that Christ's enemies said, at the end of chapter 27, verse 64, that an empty tomb would be worse for their cause than his whole life in teaching.

[32:46] And so they're going to, next week, as we enter into verse 11, give it their best shot. And obviously, their shots have been pretty good as of late.

[32:57] They got him crucified. They're going to give it their best shot to discredit this. To discredit the empty tomb. To prove, don't bother coming here.

[33:11] Right? Are we sure it's empty? Are you sure it's empty? That is what Matthew is going to direct our attention to next week.

[33:25] So that everything we have said today about the resurrected Christ will sit firmly in our hearts. So that we will have a sure and certain hope.

[33:38] And the foundation of Jesus Christ, our resurrected King, with whom we will live forever. Let's pray. Our God and Father, thank you that you have raised Christ from the dead.

[34:01] Will that never grow old for us? Will you excite our hearts to passion for his name because of it? Will it reframe the entirety of our lives?

[34:16] Lord, may we live for his kingdom first and always. Will you remind us that because he's risen, we have to listen to him?

[34:29] Will it reframe the way we look at loss and grief and sorrow? And Lord, will you prompt us to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ?

[34:47] Lord, by reminding, pointing us to each other, to the empty tomb.

[34:59] Saying he is risen. He is risen in the faith. We pray these things in his name. For the sake of his glory. Amen.

[35:11]  Friends, let's now join together and sing.