I noticed how some of life's best lessons are taught by children.
We sort of observe them or hear them say funny things, cute things.
And even when it comes to spiritual things, children have a way of teaching us,
including some of the important truths about the resurrection.
A Sunday school teacher gave her class of first graders one year before Easter,
the Sunday before Easter, she gave each one an egg, a plastic egg,
and told them, now you go home and you put something in that egg
that will help us understand the Easter story
and bring it back next week and open it up and tell us about it.
Well, the children got real excited.
They each got their egg and next Sunday came and one child brought an egg and opened it up
and there was a picture of a butterfly.
This little girl said, this is a picture of the new life that we have in Jesus.
Good, the teacher said.
Well, another child brought an egg and shook it first, had a little stone in it.
She opened it up and she said, this is the stone that the angels rolled away to show that the tomb was empty.
Good.
Great job.
Well, there was one little boy who was very shy.
He didn't participate much.
He laid his egg on the table and didn't say a word, didn't do anything to it.
Well, the teacher opened it and it was empty.
Well, some of the other children complained, he's not participating.
Why didn't he do what he was supposed to do?
And then he softly said, I did too.
My egg is the tomb of Jesus.
There ain't nothing in it.
That's the point, isn't there?
That's the message of Easter.
There ain't nothing in the tomb of Jesus because he arose from the dead.
I want us to look at Matthew's account of that story.
Matthew chapter 28.
At the end of all the gospels, we read about the death and resurrection of Jesus.
I would encourage you to take time.
There's just four, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to go home today and read.
Because each one gives a little different perspective.
Things that they notice or things that happened uniquely to them.
We're going to read from Matthew's perspective.
Matthew 28, beginning in verse 1.
Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, the first day of the week being Sunday,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
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.
His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow.
And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men.
But the angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.
Come, see the place where he lay.
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.
So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them and said, greetings.
And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid.
Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me.
While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel,
they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people.
His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.
And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.
So they took the money and did as they were directed.
And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him.
But some doubted.
And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
I want us to note the way people responded to the resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter.
And understand what we see on that first Easter is the way people still respond to him today.
Let's look first, the response of denial.
That was the response of the Jewish leaders.
The Jewish leaders who had demanded that Jesus be put to death.
That was their way of shutting him up, getting him out of the way.
Because he was disrupting what they were doing as the people who led the common people.
They were, Jesus was upsetting their plans of power and authority and privilege.
They crucified him.
Well, here is what the soldiers had experienced and reported.
I want you to look at it.
Verses 2 through 4.
And behold, there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow.
And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men.
That was the experience of those seasoned Roman soldiers who didn't care a thing in the world about the Jewish religion.
Who didn't care about who was supposedly in that tomb.
And certainly wouldn't have cared about just another criminal who had been executed on the cross by crucifixion.
But I want you to look at what happened.
They're just there doing what they normally do.
And all of a sudden there's a great earthquake.
The ground moves.
Then they see an angel.
Probably didn't have a clue what in the world is this.
An angel appearing in brilliant light.
Roll back the boulder that was covering the entrance of Jesus' tomb.
Revealing that it was empty.
That Jesus' body was gone.
They were so terrified.
It says that they literally shook with fear.
And became unresponsive.
Maybe they fainted.
Maybe they were just in shock.
It's sort of like frozen steel.
That's what they experienced.
And some of them went and told the Jewish leaders.
Note the response of the Jewish leaders.
Verses 11 through 13.
Some of the guard went into the city.
And told the chief priests all that had taken place.
And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel.
They gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people.
His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were sleeping.
Now, the way Matthew records this.
Those Jewish leaders.
They didn't ask any questions.
They didn't send anyone to see what had happened at that tomb.
Try to verify.
Check out the facts.
They ignored what the soldiers had said.
Acted as if they didn't say anything.
And they devised a plan to lie and cover up what had happened.
And the fact that Jesus' body was gone.
Think about it.
They heard these soldiers who had no interest in the Christian faith.
In this Jesus who was crucified.
They heard the story of what they had felt and seen.
And all they could do was try to cover it up.
They didn't consider for one moment that a miracle of resurrection had happened.
Those Jewish leaders were only concerned about preserving the status quo.
Preserving their own place of authority and privilege.
They had no interest in knowing the truth.
Now, what about you?
Do you deny the resurrection?
I truly believe that there's very few in this room who would ever think,
I don't believe it at all.
Now, there may be.
Some of you may have come today to be in good graces with whoever brought you.
Somebody may have offered to feed you a good lunch if you came to church with them today.
But you're like these Roman soldiers.
You're like these Jewish leaders.
You really have no interest in spiritual things, the things of God.
I want you to deny the possibility even.
That what we're reading is true.
Is the response of someone who is only concerned with the here and now.
Only concerned with me and my life in this world.
As if this is all that there is.
Denying the reservation of the resurrection without ever investigating it.
Studying it.
Is an indication that you don't really have any interest in God.
Or in God's truth.
But I want to warn you.
I want to encourage you.
Don't be quick to dismiss the idea that Jesus really did come back to life.
Don't be quick to dismiss the idea that there is life after death.
Your eternal destiny.
Will be determined by the way that you respond.
To the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In fact that's true about every single one of us in this room.
Where we spend eternity will be determined by.
How we have responded.
To the resurrected living Lord Jesus Christ.
Think about it.
Let's look at the second response.
That we see in this passage to the resurrection.
The response of doubt.
It's in verse 17.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee.
To the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
And when they saw him.
They worshipped him.
But some doubted.
Who had doubts?
Think about what you're reading there.
It appears that the phrase.
They worshipped him.
Refers to the eleven disciples.
Who had gone to the mountain.
Where Jesus directed them.
D.A.
Carson says that because.
Some doubted.
Look at this on the screen.
The implications.
The implications that.
More than the eleven were present.
Carson says.
Doubt about Jesus.
Or about the reality of his resurrection.
Does not seem appropriate.
For those who truly.
Worship him.
That makes sense doesn't it?
So who would be the.
Doubters.
Well according to what we read.
In the other gospels.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
When you look at it all.
Jesus' first appearance.
To these disciples.
Was not at Galilee.
It was in Jerusalem.
In fact.
By the time they got to Galilee.
To see this.
To hear Jesus give his.
Final.
Direction to them.
They had seen Jesus.
At least two or three times.
They knew.
He'd come back to life.
They had interacted with him.
They truly were able.
To worship him.
Because they did.
Believe in him.
But the ones who doubted.
And that word doubt.
Can be translated here.
Hesitated.
Maybe they were the disciples.
That this was their first.
Encounter.
With the risen Lord.
Who was the most.
Famous doubter.
Of Jesus' resurrection.
Thomas.
That's where you get the phrase.
Doubting Thomas.
Right?
Well we read in John chapter 20.
That he was not present.
When Jesus first appeared.
To the other disciples.
And that's when he.
Doubted.
What they were saying.
Hesitant.
To believe.
Believe.
But.
Later on.
He saw Jesus.
And he did believe.
I want to ask you.
Are you a doubter?
I want to.
I want us to think about this.
A little bit differently.
You could be a doubter.
But never really deny.
The reality of the resurrection.
You might even say.
You know.
I believe what the Bible says.
About the facts.
About Jesus' life.
And death.
And resurrection.
But.
If you look at your life.
That kind of belief.
Really doesn't affect the way that you live.
The word doubt.
May not be the best word for you.
It may be that you believe the facts.
But you're.
You're hesitant.
To do anything about it.
You got the knowledge.
You got the.
You know.
The mental assent.
To the facts.
But you've never acted on.
What you say you believe.
You've hesitated.
To commit.
You know.
Doubting Thomas.
We could call him.
Hesitating Thomas.
Because he was hesitant.
To believe the resurrection.
Are you.
Are you hesitant to step on out
and not just say you believe that Jesus is alive,
but to show the world that you believe he's alive
by obeying him, following him, loving him,
seeking to please him?
You know, doubting Thomas didn't stay that way.
He went on to become devoted Thomas,
who made this statement.
When he finally saw Jesus and believed,
he looked at Jesus and declared,
my Lord and my God.
He truly embraced Jesus as his Lord, his God.
If Jesus is truly your Lord and your God,
you've got to stop hesitating
and get serious about being a devoted follower of Jesus,
which is the next response I want us to look at,
the response of devotion.
Two women were the first to see the risen Lord,
and their immediate response was to worship him.
Note in verse nine,
Jesus met them and said,
greetings,
and they came up and took hold of his feet
and worshiped him.
Now, if you think about it,
that sounds sort of odd, doesn't it?
It sounds real odd.
They took hold of his feet.
Well, here's what had to have happened
for that to take place.
When they saw Jesus,
they immediately fell down before him in worship,
or at least they got on their knees
and knelt before him in worship.
Think, these women had witnessed Jesus' death on the cross.
They had seen him be buried
and the stone rolled in front of the tomb.
When they saw that the stone was rolled away
and the tomb was empty,
that Jesus was alive,
they worshiped him,
they touched him.
It was no dream or no vision.
He was alive, literally, physically, bodily.
Now, if you look on,
the 11 disciples were spotted in a similar way
that we've already seen.
It says when they saw him,
they worshiped him.
Worship is the most natural response
of the disciples of Jesus
following his resurrection.
Jesus had taught them for three years
about who he was,
but they never really got it.
They understood some things,
but it was not until after the resurrection
and they saw him
that the light came on them.
They understood this really is the Son of God
who didn't just suffer on a cross
and die and be buried.
He arose because he is God.
He is my Lord and my God.
Now,
does your life
demonstrate
devotion to Christ?
Do you worship him?
Have you truly,
we came to this place,
we call it a worship service.
Have you worshiped him,
praised him,
thought of him,
and honored him,
your living Lord
in this service?
Do you worship him
on a regular basis
when you pray?
Do you as a Christian,
do you pray and
just worship and praise
God,
your heavenly Father,
and Jesus,
your Lord and your Savior?
Do you say things
about worshiping him,
praising him,
honoring him?
Think about this.
Does he see
by the way
you show your devotion,
does Jesus see
your love,
your honor,
your respect,
your gratitude
in action?
Now,
this is not how it would be,
but I want you to think
for a moment.
Jesus is in heaven
at the right hand of the Father.
And it's like
he's watching you,
and your life
is like a movie.
He sees how you,
you know,
you are at home,
at work,
at school.
He knows what you,
what kind of things
that you think
and you feel.
As Jesus looks at you,
observes you,
knows what's going on
in your life,
does he see
that you truly
are devoted
to him.
You know,
some of you
in this room,
in a good,
healthy way,
you are a devoted
wife,
husband,
parent,
child even,
boyfriend or girlfriend.
and your spouse
or your children
or your parents
or your boyfriend
or girlfriend,
they can tell
someone,
he or she
truly is devoted
to me
because of
what?
What do you do?
It's not enough
just to say it,
just to think it.
we should express
our devotion,
don't we?
In various ways
of actions
that are loving,
that show gratitude.
If we are devoted
to Jesus,
it will come out
because he's real
to us.
There is a relationship
there with him
and relationship
is essential
when it comes
to being rightly
connected to Jesus.
You know,
we'll never be devoted
to a stranger.
We can't be devoted
to someone
we have just a little bit
of information about
and even know
it's true.
I don't want to hurt
anybody's feelings.
But I know
some factual information
about old Nate
back there.
I ain't devoted
to you, buddy.
You're a good guy.
Lisa,
you're a good friend
of many years.
But I ain't devoted
to you.
See, I know them.
I like them.
I have a relationship
with them.
But it's not
on the level
of being devoted
to them
like I am
to my wife,
my children,
my grandchildren,
the closest
of friends.
You see,
what I'm getting at,
if Jesus is truly
our Lord
and our Savior,
we have a relationship
with Him
and we talk
to Him,
we worship Him
and praise Him
because we are
devoted to Him.
We live our lives
in a way that
we try to demonstrate
our love
by the way
that we obey Him.
And that gets us
to the next response
of dedication
or the response
of dedication.
There are two responses
of dedication
found in this chapter.
The first,
look at verses
7 and 8.
When the angel
of the Lord
told the women
that Jesus had risen
from the dead,
they believed
and immediately
obeyed.
Look at this.
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 how I've told you.
So they departed
quickly from the tomb
with fear
and great joy
and ran
to tell His disciples.
They haven't even
seen Jesus yet.
They believed
the word
of the angel
and they were not
just devoted
to the living Lord,
they were going
to be obedient.
Look at the other example.
Probably the best,
most well-known statement
of the resurrected Lord
is what we call
His great commission
is at the end
of this chapter.
It says,
And Jesus came
and said to them,
All authority
in heaven
and on earth
has been given to me.
Go therefore
and make disciples
of all nations,
baptizing them
in the name of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them
to observe all
that I have commanded you
and behold,
I am with you always
to the end
of the age.
We cannot study
the responses
to the resurrection
of Jesus
without noting.
There is a lot more
to being devoted
to Him
than just worshiping Him.
Dedication
or commitment
or obedience.
All three words
are talking
about the same things.
Dedication
or commitment
to serving the Lord
is a natural outcome
of being devoted
to Him.
Devotedly
worshiping Him.
In other words,
if we love Him,
we'll obey Him.
And Jesus said that
numerous times.
Are you dedicated
to living under
the authority
of Jesus
and truly
serving Him
in every area
of your life?
Living like
a faithful Christian
in your home
at work,
school,
and doing
what you do
is if you're
doing it
for the Lord.
If not,
will you begin
today?
You know,
this is a great day.
A great day
to get serious
about showing
your devotion
to Jesus
by dedicating
yourself
to actively
serving Him.
And this is
Easter Sunday,
Resurrection Day.
No better day
to make a commitment.
But you know,
this is our first Sunday
as a church family.
This is our first Sunday
back in what we call
our normal schedule.
We had an 8.30
service this morning.
We had Sunday school,
Bible study for everybody
at 9.15,
and now this service.
This has been a hard,
difficult,
different year,
hasn't it?
We've got out of a lot
of our normal routine,
normal good habits
of public worship,
coming together
in Bible study
with other Christians
in our church.
Let's just be honest.
It's been easy
to stay at home
a lot of times,
watch the live stream,
not have any responsibilities.
Now,
I understand
over this past year
there have been
some things
that we haven't done
and rightly so.
We have tried
to use common sense,
follow the guidelines
of experts
to keep our church
families safe.
Some of you,
with your age
and or health conditions,
it was wise
for you to stay out
of a crowd like this.
It was the right thing
to do.
But now that things
are getting a lot better
and we continue
to pray that they'll
eventually be back,
no more pandemic,
no more to worry about.
Are you going to break
your bad habits?
your lazy habits?
Are you going to
recommit
to dedicated
service to the Lord
in and through this church
and in other ways
that maybe you couldn't
or shouldn't have
for the last year?
but the time
has come
or will come
for some
that you just
got to do it.
You've got to
demonstrate
your devotion
through dedicated
service.
If you truly believe
that Jesus
is the Son of God
who died on the cross
for your sins
and is now
risen,
the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords
as He's called
in Scripture,
then the only
acceptable way
to respond to Him
is with
devotion
and dedication.
We saw
three weeks ago
in our study
of Philippians
chapter 2
verses 9 through 11
that one day
every knee
will bow
and every tongue
will confess
that Jesus Christ
is Lord
and we talked
about that Sunday.
It's so important
that we do that
on our own
now,
willingly,
voluntarily.
If you came
into this room
this morning
not a believer,
not trusting Jesus
as your Savior
and Lord,
not honoring Him,
but the Lord
has shown you
that's not
the way to live,
the way to live
forever.
He's convicting
you of your sin,
calling you
to change your mind.
I want to encourage
you to do that.
Admit to God
that you are not His,
that there's never
been true devotion
or any kind
of dedicated
commitment.
Turn from your sin.
Trust Jesus
as your Savior
and Lord,
that He paid
the penalty
for your sins
when He died
on the cross.
Call upon Him
to save you
and to become
the true
Lord,
Master of your life.
You know,
if we really
and truly believe
in the resurrection
of Jesus Christ,
I mean,
if God
has done a work
in us
to save us,
regenerate us,
and put His Spirit
in us,
we can't help
but to want
to be devoted
to Him
in worship
and love
and be dedicated
to serving Him
with the talents
and gifts
and abilities
He has given us.
I want you
to listen
to the Lord
and do whatever
He's calling you
to do
that when you
leave here today,
you can truly
celebrate
the resurrection
of your Lord
Jesus Christ
with heartfelt
devotion
and visible
hands-on
dedicated service.
Let's pray
together.
Father,
help us
to see
what You
see in us.
Father,
if there are
people in this room
who deny
the reality
of the resurrection,
we pray
that You
will show
them
that they're
wrong.
Don't let
them be
content
to continue
to live
in such
denial.
Open their
eyes of faith
to see
Jesus
is alive
and can
save them
if they
will call
upon Him,
turn from
their sins
and commit
to Him
as their
Lord.
Father,
if there are
doubters in this room,
clear up their
doubts.
Help them,
Father,
to
seriously
study
Your
Word
and then
confirm
Your
truth.
Help them
to have a
real faith.
Father,
help us all
in this room
to see
that if we
love Jesus,
if He's
truly our
Lord and
Savior,
we will be
devoted
to Him.
We'll want
to worship
and praise
and honor
and thank
our Savior
and Lord.
And then,
Father,
make it very
clear to
every Christian
in this room
that being a
devoted Christian
also involves
being a
dedicated,
committed,
obedient,
child of God,
day in and day out,
in every relationship
and realm
of life.
Help us to
make the
commitments,
to confess
the sin,
to change
the things
in our life
that needs
to be changed,
to leave
here devoted
and dedicated
men and women,
boys and girls
of God.
Let's just
in attitude
of prayer
listen to the
Lord and
respond to
Him in
these next
few minutes
so that you
can leave
here celebrating
the resurrection
this morning
as this
devoted,
dedicated
follower of
Jesus.
Amen.