WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.000
 It must have been. It must have been a slow, mournful walk for the women that first Easter morning.

00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:26.000
! Jesus, the one they had loved and followed, had died. They saw Him on the cross bearing the agony of crucifixion.

00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:38.000
 They heard Him cry out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? They heard Him cry, It is finished, as He breathed His last breath.

00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:47.000
 They watched the Roman guard pierce Him with a spear to make sure that He was dead.

00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:56.000
 And they watched Joseph of Arimathea as He took the body down from the cross, wrapped it in claws, and laid it in His own tomb.

00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:08.000
 You could only imagine their thoughts as they walked. How could He be dead? Where do we go now?

00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:20.000
 We had set all our hope on Him, and now He is gone, and we're alone. They had left all to follow Him.

00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:30.000
 And they had gone one last time to honor Him. It was early morning, the day after the Sabbath, when they set out for the tomb, they carried spices.

00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:42.000
 They had selected to embalm the body for burial. But what they found, what they found was not what they had expected.

00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:54.000
 It was, in fact, beyond their greatest hopes and dreams. As Stephanie read earlier, they found a stone rolled away. They found an empty tomb.

00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:06.000
 And they heard the angel's words, I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen.

00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:12.000
 Just as He said, come and see the place where He lay.

00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:18.000
 And friends, this is the wonder and the awe and the amazing message of Easter.

00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:25.000
 And so, we turn to God's Word this morning to see what we can learn concerning Jesus' resurrection.

00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:33.000
 We're going to look at Matthew 28, the whole chapter. That's page 784 in your pew Bibles, if you want to read along.

00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:40.000
 Stephanie's read the first half already. I'm going to read the second half, and then we'll look at it as a whole chapter together.

00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:48.000
 So, if you want to follow along with me, I will start in verse 11 of Matthew 28. Let's read God's Word.

00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:58.000
 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.

00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:06.000
 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said,

00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.000
 Tell people, His disciples came by night and stole them away while we were asleep.

00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:17.000
 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.

00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:24.000
 So, they took the money and did as they were directed. And the story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:31.000
 Now, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:37.000
 And when they saw him, they worshipped him. But some doubted.

00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.000
 And Jesus came and said to them,

00:03:40.000 --> 00:04:09.000
 Let's pray and ask for God's help as we understand His Word this morning.

00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:14.000
 Lord Jesus, we do ask for your help this morning.

00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:23.000
 We praise you that we celebrate this morning, Lord, the wonderful truth of you, a risen Savior.

00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:30.000
 Lord, we ask that by your Holy Spirit, we might understand your Word this morning more clearly.

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:39.000
 Lord, that in our heads we would know it, that in our hearts we would receive it and treasure it.

00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:45.000
 And Lord, that it would move our wills. Lord, to worship you as the disciples did this morning.

00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:55.000
 Lord, we pray for your help to understand your Word. I pray for your help that I might speak as I ought,

00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:03.000
 and that we together might sit under your Word. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:07.000
 Friends, we're going to look this morning at three things about the resurrection of Jesus.

00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:11.000
 First, we're going to look at the reality of Jesus' resurrection.

00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:15.000
 Secondly, we're going to look at the responses to Jesus' resurrection.

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:21.000
 And thirdly, we're going to look at the reign of the resurrected Jesus.

00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:27.000
 So, the reality, the responses, and the reign of Jesus. Let's look at these in order.

00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:36.000
 First of all, part of what Matthew is telling us here is that Jesus' resurrection really, truly happened.

00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:44.000
 First of all, Jesus' resurrection was a physical resurrection. Look at the accounts with me. Look at verse 6.

00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:50.000
 The angel says, come and look inside the tomb. See where He lay.

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.000
 Luke in chapter 24 of his gospel says that the women looked but did not find the body of Jesus.

00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:01.000
 It was not there anymore. His body was gone.

00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:08.000
 And when you think about what the verses I read in verses 11 and following about the guards, they knew as well.

00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:14.000
 The body was not there. They went to report something because they knew something had happened.

00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.000
 The body was no longer there.

00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:25.000
 And maybe most strikingly, in verse 9, you see that when Jesus Himself appears to the women,

00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:38.000
 they bowed down and they seized His feet. They touched Him. This is no zombie. This is no spirit. This is no vision.

00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:50.000
 They physically touched Him. Jesus was fully resurrected. His body was alive again.

00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.000
 Not only was His resurrection physical, but it was testified to by multiple witnesses.

00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:07.000
 You see this in there. Verse 9, the women bear witness. They run to the disciples to tell others what they had seen.

00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:15.000
 Now, today, we might not be struck by this, but by the first-century standards, this was a striking reality.

00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:22.000
 Because a woman would not be allowed to testify legally in a courtroom in that culture.

00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:34.000
 They did not have that standing. And yet, the very earliest accounts all include the fact that women were the ones who bear testimony to this.

00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:42.000
 Here's just a thought experiment. If you were writing a story to try to convince people in the first century that Jesus had risen from the dead,

00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:49.000
 would you choose that women would be their witnesses if those witnesses would be discredited by the culture?

00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:59.000
 That means that there's a ring of authenticity. No one would make this up. It had to have actually happened that women bore witness.

00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:06.000
 If it were a fabricated story, it would have been a pretty poor one for its purpose.

00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:15.000
 But not only that, the disciples witnessed Him. This is what we see in verses 16 and following, that Jesus called the disciples to meet Him.

00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:25.000
 And as they came, and probably not just the eleven, although the eleven are clearly mentioned, but probably others in their group of those who follow Jesus,

00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:37.000
 they saw Him and they heard His voice. And we know from other parts of Scripture, like 1 Corinthians 15, that He appeared not only to the apostles or to the disciples,

00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:48.000
 but then also to many people in crowds, to 500 and more. And then thirdly, again, verse 11, the story of the guards.

00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:57.000
 If the guards had a problem. If the guards had a problem. What do we say?

00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:01.000
 But if the body was actually still there, the guards would have said,

00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:08.000
 no, no, He didn't die, or He didn't rise from the dead. Look, here's His body. It'd be very simple.

00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:16.000
 They too, even in their deceptive witness, they bear witness to the fact that the body was no longer there.

00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:24.000
 That Jesus had somehow left the tomb while they were there. Remember this sequence.

00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:30.000
 The stone rolling away and the guards being struck dumb happens after Jesus is gone.

00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:37.000
 The stone wasn't moved so that Jesus could get out. The stone was moved so that the women could go in.

00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:49.000
 So not only is Jesus' resurrection real because it was physical, not only do we think it's real because it was testified to by multiple witnesses,

00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:56.000
 Jesus' resurrection is also real because He said He would do this five times in the Gospel of Matthew.

00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:04.000
 In verse… chapter 16, in chapter 17, twice, and then in chapter 20, you see Jesus Himself saying,

00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:15.000
 after I die, when I rise, Jesus said, this is going to happen. And in fact, His own enemies remembered this.

00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:23.000
 In verse… in chapter 27, right before this chapter 28. Chapter 27, verse 63.

00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:27.000
 Jesus' opponents went to the Roman authorities and said this,

00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:34.000
 Sir, we remember how that imposter said while He was still alive, after three days I will rise.

00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:42.000
 Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples go and steal Him away and tell the people,

00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:50.000
 He is risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first.

00:10:50.000 --> 00:11:00.000
 So, His prediction that He would do this was a well-known fact. It didn't mean people believed it would actually happen.

00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:05.000
 But these… these opponents of Jesus were so concerned that they said,

00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:11.000
 we want to make doubly sure that there's no shenanigans in this.

00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:17.000
 They had every reason to guard the tomb well.

00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:23.000
 They had every reason to prevent the very story that is told in Matthew 28.

00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:32.000
 And in the end, only a lie and a cover-up could deny what had actually happened.

00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:38.000
 Now, some of you may be sitting here this morning and thinking, really?

00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:42.000
 Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.000
 It's difficult to accept, isn't it?

00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.000
 We live in a world where we have underlying assumptions of naturalism.

00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:54.000
 The world is a closed system, and what happens in this world has cause and effect, and we know what happens.

00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.000
 Resurrection is impossible because of that.

00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:03.000
 When the body dies, it can't be resurrected back to life.

00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:09.000
 It violates all of those assumptions.

00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:19.000
 But we have to recognize this objection has been true for centuries, long before naturalism was a philosophy.

00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.000
 It's often been questioned, did Jesus really die from the dead?

00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.000
 People have come up with all sorts of creative responses.

00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.000
 Maybe something else happened.

00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:33.000
 They posit, maybe He wasn't really dead.

00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.000
 That Jesus did not die, but He just passed out.

00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:44.000
 And then He woke up again and left a tomb that was sealed.

00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:54.000
 Or, some people think maybe all of these witnesses experienced mass hallucination.

00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:02.000
 That every account of Jesus appearing to people was a true account of what people thought they saw,

00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.000
 but they just imagined this over and over and over again.

00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.000
 There's one that I didn't even know existed until I was studying it for this week,

00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:16.000
 and that is that Jesus had a twin, and that nobody knew anything about Him,

00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:25.000
 but He suddenly shows up when Jesus is dead in the grave and continues His ministry.

00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:36.000
 But, friends, we need to recognize that each of these assume that the biblical narrative has no historical value,

00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:43.000
 and that there's no truth in it, that the whole thing is just a myth, right?

00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:50.000
 And interestingly, when you look through scholars, and not just scholars who believe that Jesus rose from the dead,

00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.000
 but many scholars who don't believe, but who study the Scriptures,

00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:01.000
 they say it is very clear that the tomb was empty and that this was a credible report.

00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:12.000
 Most easily seen because if the tomb wasn't empty, it just could have been disproved.

00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:17.000
 The disciples were proclaiming this in Jerusalem within a month and a half of Jesus' death.

00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:21.000
 It wouldn't have been hard for someone to go back to the tomb and say,

00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:26.000
 actually, here's His body.

00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:30.000
 But it wasn't true.

00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:37.000
 Now, of course, the final objection is the one that Matthew himself takes up in 11 through 15,

00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:42.000
 that the disciples came in and somehow stole the body.

00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:47.000
 Lots of people assume that Matthew wrote this because even in the first century,

00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:51.000
 this story was being circulated among the Jews as he reported.

00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:59.000
 We know in the second century that Justin Martyr wrote about this as being one of the claims against Christianity,

00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.000
 Christianity and Jesus.

00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:06.000
 So, we know that this was a very early objection to Jesus' resurrection.

00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:12.000
 And interestingly, Matthew decides to include it in his story of Jesus rising from the dead.

00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.000
 He said, you know where that story came from?

00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.000
 I'll tell you where it came from.

00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.000
 These soldiers saw that the body was not there.

00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.000
 They had no explanation for it.

00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:25.000
 So, they went and they told their superior officers,

00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:28.000
 uh, we've got a problem.

00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.000
 The body is not there.

00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.000
 And we don't know how it got out because we were there.

00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.000
 They didn't fall asleep, by the way.

00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:43.000
 They wouldn't have because of the importance of their role and the fact that the stone was sealed.

00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:47.000
 So, they were just reporting, this is what we know.

00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:54.000
 And their leader said, we cannot allow that report to go out.

00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:59.000
 So, we're going to create a different story, an alternate narrative for you.

00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.000
 We're going to say, the disciples came and stole it.

00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.000
 And we were terrible guards and we were asleep.

00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:10.000
 But we're going to pay you enough money that you're not going to feel bad about looking like a schmo for being a bad guard.

00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:15.000
 And if the governor finds out and he comes after you because you didn't guard it well,

00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:20.000
 we'll pay him off too to make sure that everyone knows.

00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.000
 Everyone's okay with this lie.

00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:27.000
 So, Matthew gives this report.

00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:38.000
 But friends, we have to just stop and think about how believable is this lie unless you were already predisposed and wanting to believe it already.

00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.000
 Because again, how…

00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:44.000
 If the disciples stole the body…

00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.000
 Well, here's…

00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:47.000
 Let's think about…

00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:50.000
 If this body was gone, what would…

00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:51.000
 Who would have stolen it?

00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.000
 The authorities didn't want to steal it.

00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:55.000
 They wanted it to stay there.

00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:58.000
 His opponents wanted it to stay there so they could see it.

00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:04.000
 The only people that would have stolen his body would have been the disciples, right?

00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.000
 And this is where Chuck Colson comes in.

00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:09.000
 You guys may not know who this is anymore.

00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:13.000
 Some of the older folks in this will know this name.

00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:20.000
 Chuck Colson was one of the men who worked for Richard Nixon in the 1970s during the Watergate scandal.

00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:29.000
 When the White House covered up illegal activity that the White House directed in order to manipulate an election.

00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:30.000
 I think that's what it's about.

00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:44.000
 Anyway, so Chuck Colson was one of the guys who was enforcing the cover-up and the lies that were coming out from the White House in order to prevent the truth from coming out.

00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:52.000
 He says there were twelve of us, twelve men who knew that it was a lie, the story that was being told.

00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:01.000
 Twelve men who had all the political power in the world to enforce it and every reason in the world to maintain this lie.

00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:07.000
 But when the pressure came, they couldn't do it.

00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:20.000
 Within weeks, one of those twelve men, John Dean, first told the president, then told the world that it was a lie.

00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.000
 And he concludes his story with this.

00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:34.000
 The fact is that people will give their lives for what they believe is true, but they will never give their lives for what they know is a lie.

00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:40.000
 The Watergate cover-up proves that twelve powerful men in modern America couldn't keep a lie.

00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:51.000
 And that twelve powerless men, two thousand years ago, couldn't have been telling anything but the truth.

00:18:51.000 --> 00:19:03.000
 For the disciples lived for ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years after this event.

00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:11.000
 And if they knew it was a lie, would they really have suffered the way they did?

00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:18.000
 Would they really have gone to their deaths for this untruth?

00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:29.000
 The likely, the most plausible answer from the evidence is actually that Jesus really did rise from the dead.

00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:38.000
 Now, Matthew's account is not merely about the fact and the reality of his resurrection.

00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:45.000
 For he wants us to also see the responses to Jesus' resurrection.

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.000
 So let's look at those for a minute.

00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:53.000
 When the women arrived, they see the open tomb, they hear the angel's words, and you see in verse 8,

00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:59.000
 so they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.

00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:02.000
 Why fear and great joy?

00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:08.000
 It was not fear that the angel would hurt them.

00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.000
 It was not fear of being wrong.

00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:23.000
 No, I think it was a fear that maybe, and this is true of the biblical word of fear, it often has a sense of awe in it.

00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:32.000
 They knew that they had been a witness to something amazing, something greater than they could wrap their heads around,

00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:33.000
 and they knew that they could wrap their heads around the world.

00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:44.000
 They knew that God was powerfully at work.

00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:51.000
 And so they had this fearful awe that they were a part of this grander story.

00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:55.000
 But more so than that, it was joy.

00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:00.000
 Because, friends, this is the wonderful thing about Easter.

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.000
 These women experienced it, and we experience it today.

00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:09.000
 Jesus is not a dead savior, but he is a living savior.

00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:18.000
 And those first followers who had put all their hopes, all their dreams, they had given their lives to follow him.

00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:30.000
 He was renewed in his resurrection, and he gave them then the fulfillment of those hopes and dreams.

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.000
 For a moment, when he died, they thought they had lost it.

00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:39.000
 But with the resurrection, they knew that they had it forever.

00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:49.000
 And this is the significance of Jesus' resurrection, is that Jesus ever lives to be the savior of his people.

00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:55.000
 That all that he did during his earthly ministry during those three years,

00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:00.000
 then becomes a part of the plan for an eternal kingdom that he's building.

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:05.000
 And it was really true.

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:14.000
 You know how, when something really unexpected and wonderful happens in your life?

00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:20.000
 Like when your team pulls off an unexpected, the steal,

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.000
 Havlicek steals the ball and scores the…

00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.000
 You guys are way too young for most of that.

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:30.000
 Anyway, your team steals the ball and wins the game in the last second.

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:36.000
 Or when you see this, I mean it's throughout all the great stories of our modern cinema, right?

00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:49.000
 When all of the Avengers show up to help Captain America fight the final battle against Thanos and win, right?

00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:57.000
 Or when in the return of the king, the riders of Rohan appear at dawn and save Minas Tirith.

00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:11.000
 Or when the photon torpedoes go down the exhaust shaft and blow up the Death Star and victory is achieved and evil is defeated and the good guys have won.

00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:18.000
 You want to jump for joy, cheer out loud, stand up and clap in the middle of a movie theater.

00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:28.000
 Friends, this is what the women, as they went, experienced with fear, awe and joy.

00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.000
 Because their Savior was risen.

00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:35.000
 This is a better news than any of those stories.

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.000
 This is the best eternal story ever.

00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:47.000
 The great victory of a greater Savior for us.

00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.000
 And this is why we see in verse…

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.000
 Both verse 9 and in verse 17.

00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:54.000
 First the women and then the disciples.

00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:00.000
 Do you see how they responded to the resurrected Jesus when they saw Him?

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:03.000
 They worshiped Him.

00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:05.000
 They bowed down.

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:06.000
 They recognized…

00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:11.000
 Now look, these people had been with Jesus day after day after day.

00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:16.000
 They didn't spend all of those days on their knees before Him, worshiping Him.

00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:27.000
 But when they see Him as the resurrected Savior, their first response is to bow down and to worship Him.

00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:31.000
 We worship kings.

00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:33.000
 We worship deity.

00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:34.000
 And that's the point.

00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:43.000
 Because when Jesus rose from the dead, He showed Himself to be who He really is.

00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:46.000
 If Jesus had just stayed dead, He would have been what?

00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.000
 A great teacher, maybe?

00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:56.000
 A religious leader of a movement that made a difference for a little while?

00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.000
 The resurrected Jesus is unique in history.

00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:03.000
 He vindicated His claim to be God's Son.

00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:12.000
 And He established His claim to be the beginning of a new kingdom that God was making in the world.

00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:21.000
 A kingdom where victory over sin and death was accomplished by His death and resurrection.

00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:34.000
 Now, Matthew is also helpful here because though there is this call for us to have this joy and worship in response to the resurrected King,

00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:39.000
 we see, Matthew points out, that not everybody does that, do they?

00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:40.000
 Right?

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.000
 It says that some of the followers of Jesus doubted.

00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:53.000
 Now, we might think of that doubt as like deep intellectual wondering about whether this is, you know, physically possible that Jesus would be raised from the dead.

00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:59.000
 I think that's probably not the best understanding of the doubt here that we see in verse 17.

00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:02.000
 It's more likely to be, but some hesitated.

00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:05.000
 It's almost as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:14.000
 They saw it and, you know, I remember a long time ago when we were, when I was in college,

00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:20.000
 my brothers and I conspired to get back to see my parents for their 25th anniversary.

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:26.000
 And we were not, we were not any of us living at home at the time.

00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:31.000
 We had one brother in DC, two of us were at college, and one had graduated and was working.

00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:35.000
 And he flew home just to be the plant man.

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:47.000
 But the rest of us, we gathered ourselves together and arrived on my parents' doorstep to take them out to dinner for their 25th anniversary.

00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:51.000
 And my mom was like, I can't believe my eyes.

00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:53.000
 What are you doing here?

00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:55.000
 Right?

00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:00.000
 And I think that this is the kind of hesitation.

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.000
 Like, are you really here?

00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.000
 Are you really here?

00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:04.000
 Are you really here?

00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:09.000
 This is the kind of hesitation that describes some of Jesus' followers.

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.000
 It wasn't that they didn't believe.

00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:15.000
 It was that they were not sure they could believe what they were seeing.

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:18.000
 But then, of course, there were others who did reject him.

00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:25.000
 Those who had rejected him during his life rejected him in their resurrection as well.

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:32.000
 The chief priests and the scribes, they made up a lie to try to discount.

00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.000
 Discount what they had seen.

00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:40.000
 Friends, of course, this brings a question to us as well.

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.000
 What about us?

00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.000
 What will we do with this Jesus?

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:50.000
 Maybe you're here today and you've believed in Jesus for a long time.

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:58.000
 My hope is that as we see this account again, that you will be renewed in awe and joy and worship that Jesus really is here.

00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:04.000
 Maybe you're here and you're wondering, could this really be true?

00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:08.000
 You're wondering if this actually happened.

00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:13.000
 You're wondering, what are you to think of Jesus?

00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:22.000
 I'm going to read some words from C.S. Lewis, who was a professor at Cambridge in the 20th century who came to faith in the middle of his life.

00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:28.000
 This is a slightly long quote, but I think it's worth capturing his thought here.

00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:35.000
 He says this, I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him.

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:41.000
 That is, I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.

00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:44.000
 That is the one thing we must not say.

00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:52.000
 A man who is merely a man and said the things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:59.000
 He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell.

00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:02.000
 You must make a choice.

00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:09.000
 Either the man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman, or something worse.

00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:17.000
 You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.

00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:23.000
 But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.

00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:26.000
 He has not left that open to us.

00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:35.000
 And he concludes by saying, now, it seems to me obvious that he was neither a lunatic nor a fiend,

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:41.000
 and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem,

00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:48.000
 I have to accept the view that he was and is God.

00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:56.000
 So, what will you do with this Jesus?

00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:00.000
 It's interesting because of the way Matthew constructs his account.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:09.000
 He then transitions from the reality of Jesus and the response to Jesus to Jesus' final words,

00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:15.000
 where Jesus himself has that one final thing to say to all of us about who he is.

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:20.000
 These final words, I could spend a whole sermon preaching lots of different things about this,

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:26.000
 but what I want to focus on is Jesus' own self-understanding as he proclaims these things.

00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:32.000
 Because what he says is a capstone to this whole chapter and what it's trying to say to us.

00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:40.000
 What he's trying to say is that the resurrected Jesus came to reign as the king.

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.000
 He understands himself this way.

00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:47.000
 He begins in verse 19, or in verse 18, his words by saying,

00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:53.000
 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:59.000
 This is why C.S. Lewis says you can't just call him a good moral teacher.

00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:01.000
 That's an incredible claim.

00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:08.000
 Because he's claiming to be God himself, the ruler over all things in heaven and on earth.

00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:12.000
 It picks up a theme that if you read the whole Gospel of Matthew,

00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:16.000
 and if you haven't done that, I encourage you to do that after this service today.

00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:22.000
 The whole, where Matthew is saying, Jesus really is a king.

00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:27.000
 Do you remember the story at Christmas we tell about the Magi and how they come and bow down before Jesus?

00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:30.000
 This is the king, right?

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.000
 Do you remember that his ministry began with the words,

00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:35.000
 the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:36.000
 Repent and believe.

00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:42.000
 Do you remember that on Palm Sunday when he entered into Jerusalem,

00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:45.000
 the crowds worshipped him.

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:52.000
 And his opponents questioned, Jesus, how can you receive this worship?

00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.000
 And he says, I tell you, if the people were silent,

00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:01.000
 the stones would cry out, because I am worth this worship.

00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:04.000
 Jesus claimed to be king all through the whole Gospel.

00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.000
 But we see this now at the end.

00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:09.000
 He says, all authority in heaven and earth.

00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:13.000
 In my resurrection, I now have all authority as the king.

00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:17.000
 By my death, I have conquered the last enemies of sin and death.

00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:24.000
 By my resurrection, I bring a new kingdom of righteousness and love and life.

00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:29.000
 And this kingdom that I bring is universal.

00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:33.000
 Did you see in verses 18 through 20, the alls?

00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:35.000
 All authority is given to him.

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.000
 Therefore, go to all peoples, all nations.

00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:42.000
 I am the king of the whole world.

00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.000
 And I want you to teach them all that I have commanded you,

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:48.000
 because I alone have the words of life.

00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:50.000
 I alone have this authority.

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:53.000
 And I will be with you at all times.

00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:56.000
 That's literally the translation of always.

00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:59.000
 At all times until the end of the age.

00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:04.000
 Jesus is claiming a global and eternal kingship

00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:08.000
 and establishing a global and eternal kingdom.

00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:18.000
 And do you see how his kingdom reflects the character of this resurrected king?

00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:22.000
 Because, friends, we might think, I don't want to be a part of his kingdom.

00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.000
 I don't know if I want to do this.

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:28.000
 But look at Jesus and how he did this.

00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:35.000
 Has there ever been a king like him who left heaven to come to earth to rescue us from our sin?

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.000
 Who identified with his people by living among us?

00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:44.000
 Who was hungry, tired, foot sore, just as we are?

00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:55.000
 And he laid down his life for us, dying on the cross for us, in our place, for our sin.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:00.000
 So that by bearing God's judgment that should have been ours,

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:08.000
 we might be forgiven of sin and brought into the family of God and the kingdom of Jesus.

00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:14.000
 This is his kingdom established not by power, but by sacrifice.

00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:21.000
 He comes to win the hearts, not to beat down his foes.

00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:27.000
 He comes not to enslave, but to bring a joyful obedience.

00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:34.000
 He comes not to destroy, but to invite those to share in his resurrection life.

00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:45.000
 His kingdom comes finally through people.

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:48.000
 He told his disciples, go.

00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:51.000
 Go and tell others about me.

00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:56.000
 Go and let others know who I am and what I have done.

00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:01.000
 And this, of course, is what the church is and what the church is for,

00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:06.000
 to proclaim Jesus Christ and to worship him until he returns.

00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:10.000
 If you wondered why Christians are always talking about Jesus,

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:15.000
 it's because he's the best thing we've ever found and because he's risen from the dead.

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:25.000
 He alone can be our Savior and the King who's establishing a kingdom that our hearts long for.

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:39.000
 And so we talk about him because we want others to know what a great thing we have found.

00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:43.000
 The resurrection of Jesus Christ establishes all these things

00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:48.000
 and secures for us a hope that can never be shaken.

00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:52.000
 Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.

00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:54.000
 Let's pray.

00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:56.000
 Thank you, Lord.

00:35:56.000 --> 00:36:00.000
 Thank you, Lord, for this word.

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.000
 Jesus, we worship you as a risen Savior.

00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:09.000
 Your bones are not in the grave, but you are seated at God's right hand.

00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:13.000
 And you are with us, your people, until the end of the age when you return

00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:18.000
 and establish your kingdom fully by making all things new.

00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:25.000
 Jesus, what a great Savior, what a great King, what a life-giving Savior you are.

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:32.000
 Today, Lord, may we turn our hearts to you in worship.

00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:36.000
 We pray these things in your name, amen.

00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:41.000
 We pray these things in your name, amen.

00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:43.000
 We pray these things in your name, amen.

00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:45.000
 We pray these things in your name, amen.

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.000
 We pray these things in your name, amen.

00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:53.039
 We pray these things in your name, amen.

00:36:53.039 --> 00:36:55.039
 We pray these things in your name, amen.

00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039


00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:55.039