Last Sunday we walked together through Matthew's account of what happened leading up to the cross.
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We followed the unfolding plot against Jesus as the chief priests and the chief priests and the chief priests.
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We saw Judas quietly slip away to strike a deal, agreeing to betray his friend.
We sat at the table with Jesus and his disciples where he broke bread and spoke of what his death would accomplish.
We entered the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed in deep anguish, surrendering to his Father's will.
There we witnessed the disciples' bold promises of loyalty, promises that would soon falter.
And under the cover of darkness, Judas returned with an armed crowd and Jesus was taken captive.
We heard last Sunday about how through the night Jesus was dragged from place to place as religious leaders sought false testimony to condemn him.
And when asked directly, Jesus made the good confession that he was the Messiah.
Words they called blasphemy.
At daybreak, they led him before Pilate.
And even though Pilate declared Jesus innocent, he bowed to the pressure of the crowd and handed Jesus over to be executed.
We read of the flogging and the mocking, the procession out to Golgotha, the crucifixion, the taunts and the jeers of the bystanders.
And we heard Jesus' loud cry, my God, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
And with another loud cry, Jesus breathed his last and gave up his spirit.
We heard about Joseph of Arimathea and how he got permission to bury Jesus' body in his own tomb.
And a large stone was rolled into place over the entrance and a guard set by the rulers to keep watch.
It was a horrible and tragic day.
But as we just heard sung, all was not lost.
There was a great and mighty purpose of God in the death of Jesus.
Forgiveness for humanity was bought with Jesus' blood.
And this forgiveness was offered freely to all, to you and to me.
And it's all because of the great mercy and love of God toward us.
Just as it says in Ephesians chapter 1,
In him, in Jesus Christ, we have redemption.
Through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace,
which he lavished on us.
And I hope we don't miss that word grace.
It means that this forgiveness is a gift that's given by God because of his kindness and goodness, his generosity.
It's not something that we need to earn from God.
But each of us can have a restored relationship with him,
despite what we have done,
because of what Jesus did at the cross.
And all we need to do to receive this gift is to repent,
to turn to God, to acknowledge the wrongs we've done and believe.
It was a horrible and tragic day,
but all was not lost.
It was a day of costly sacrifice that became for us the day of our deliverance and salvation.
And what I love about this true story is that it didn't end with death and tragedy.
Reading from Matthew chapter 28 verse 1.
So Matthew tells us that some time passed while Jesus' body lay lifeless in the tomb.
There was the Sabbath day, which was the seventh day of the week on which no one worked.
And then following that was the first day of the week.
Matthew tells us that two of the Marys who had been close followers of Jesus went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb,
rolled back the stone and sat on it.
Can you imagine this?
You're on your way to the tomb and the ground begins to tremble violently.
Matthew tells us that the cause of the quake was the angel.
He says there was a violent earthquake for or because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven.
Imagine him streaking down like a bolt of lightning.
By how it's described, it would seem that almost the impact of his arrival just sent a shockwave through the ground.
And what did this angel look like?
Matthew says that his appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow.
Think back to the last time you saw a flash of lightning.
It's amazing just how bright it is.
And so we imagine this angelic being so bright that you can barely stand to look at him.
Matthew says he went to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
The whole point of the large stone was to seal the opening to the tomb and to keep people out.
And so there's little doubt that this would have been a very large and heavy stone.
We don't know exactly what it looked like or how big it was or how heavy.
But likely it couldn't be budged by just one person or a few people.
And so the strength of this angel of God is seen in his ability to single-handedly push it back from the entrance to the tomb.
The appearance of this angel and the demonstration of his power was enough to make grown men shrivel in the fetal position on the ground.
Verse 4.
These are soldiers.
These are men picked for the job because of their ability to intimidate.
Their ability to subdue others.
And yet their knees were knocking in terror till they fell limp on the ground.
The angel said to the women,
Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here.
He has risen, just as he said.
Come, see the place where he lay.
So the angel speaks to the women and he knows why they are there.
He knows they're looking for the body of Jesus.
Another gospel account tells us that they had come to put spices on his body.
And they had been even wondering,
How are we going to get the stone rolled away?
The angel says,
You won't find him here.
He's risen.
Just as he said.
I imagine the thoughts of the women were racing in these moments as their hearts pounded within them.
What do you mean he's risen?
What do you mean just as he said?
When did Jesus said that he would rise?
Well, the chief priests and the Pharisees hadn't forgotten about what Jesus had said.
That's the whole reason that they asked Pilate for the detachment of guards.
To watch over the entrance to the tomb.
Look back to chapter 27, verse 62 for a moment.
This was them talking to Pilate.
They went to Pilate and said,
Sir, we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said,
After three days, I will rise again.
So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.
Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he's been raised from the dead.
This last deception will be worse than the first.
So the Pharisees and the religious leaders, the chief priests,
they remembered what Jesus had said about rising from the dead.
When had Jesus said that?
That he would rise from the dead?
Well, if we flip back a little longer, a little further,
Matthew chapter 16, verse 21, already back then, it says,
From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law,
and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
The sense we get from this is that Jesus has already been saying it,
and not just once, but many times to his disciples, preparing them for this moment.
He is not here.
He has risen, just as he said.
The angel points them to the place where Jesus' body had been laid inside the tomb.
Like, see for yourself.
He's not here.
Go quickly and tell his disciples,
He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.
There you will see him.
Now, I have told you.
I love this.
The angel tells the women to go tell Jesus' disciples
and gives them the exact words to say to them.
Go and tell them that Jesus has risen from the dead
and is going ahead of you into Galilee.
So if there's any doubt in their minds as to what he has risen meant,
this should clear it up for sure.
Yes, he has risen from the dead.
As in resurrection.
As in alive again.
And he's going ahead of you into Galilee.
This is the language of travel
that describes a living person intentionally going from one place to another.
Like, yes, he's alive.
And there's a promise to go with it.
There you will see him.
You will lay your own eyes on him alive when you get there.
Well, how did the women respond?
Verse 8.
So the women hurried away from the tomb,
afraid, yet filled with joy,
and ran to tell his disciples.
Have you ever felt so deeply excited about something
that it's like you almost have the jitters?
And that adrenaline's just coursing through your veins
and you can't sit down.
And everything that you do,
you kind of do it with a bit of a hip,
a hip, a hop, a skip, and a jump.
Maybe it's the news that a loved one's baby has just been born.
Or of a long-awaited appointment.
Or a job offer.
Or news of a dear friend who's going to stop in and see you.
That you weren't expecting.
And we get totally pumped.
I imagine that that's just a little of what these women felt.
Scared silly by this angelic encounter.
The adrenaline coursing through their veins.
And yet utterly ecstatic at the words of the angel
that Jesus, the one they saw killed,
was alive again.
They hurried away from the tomb and ran
to tell his disciples.
Afraid, yet filled with joy.
And then all of a sudden, something stopped them in their tracks.
Or rather, someone.
Verse 9.
Suddenly, Jesus met them.
Greetings, he said.
They came to him.
Clasped his feet.
And worshipped him.
This is wonderful.
It doesn't say exactly where this was
or how this happened.
Just that suddenly, Jesus met them.
I don't know.
Did he see and hear them running up behind him
on the path and then just turn around?
Or did he miraculously appear right in front of them?
Causing them to just kind of screech to a halt?
It doesn't say, but there he was,
somewhere between the tomb and Jerusalem
where they were headed.
And the women recognized him.
They knew it was him.
Matthew says they clasped his feet.
It's a very forceful word.
Meaning they grabbed a hold of his feet tightly.
And they worshipped him.
Says Matthew.
They were bowed down on the ground before him.
As before a great king.
Can you imagine what they would have been feeling
in that moment at the feet of Jesus?
They'd watched this man suffer unimaginably.
They watched him die horrifically.
And now three days later,
here he is in front of them, alive.
It's true.
You are the Messiah.
You are the son of the living God.
Jesus then tells them to go into the city
and tell the men, Jesus' disciples,
the plan is to have them all head back
to the northern region of Galilee
where Jesus will meet with them again.
This is Matthew's account of what happened
that morning when God brought Jesus back to life.
And it's a precious story.
One of the things that caught my attention this week
as I was meditating on this
is how different Matthew's account is from Luke's.
Luke tells us about a whole bunch more
that happened that day.
Luke tells us about how Jesus appeared to Peter after this
and then to two men walking on the road to Emmaus
and then about how Jesus later that evening
appeared to the disciples themselves
in Jerusalem behind closed doors.
And then only after that
would they all make their way out to Galilee.
But I got thinking about this.
Why did Matthew leave all that out?
What's Matthew's focus here?
What does Matthew want to emphasize
in the way that he tells it?
Well, Matthew has more to say
about what happened that day.
But it's not about the other appearances of Jesus to people.
Rather, it's about the soldiers
who were at the tomb.
Let's read in verse 11.
While the women were on their way,
some of the guards went into the city
and reported to the chief priests
everything that had happened.
When the chief priests had met with the elders
and devised a plan,
they gave the soldiers a large sum of money,
telling them,
you are to say,
his disciples came during the night
and stole him away
while we were asleep.
If this report gets to the governor,
we will satisfy him
and keep you out of trouble.
So the soldiers took the money
and did as they were instructed.
And this story has been widely circulated
among the Jews
to this very day.
So what's Matthew's emphasis?
Matthew seems eager to highlight
this side thing
that proves the credibility
of this whole account.
And it makes sense.
I mean, after all,
what has Matthew just told us?
He just finished telling us
about an angelic encounter.
He just finished telling us
about the resurrection
of a person from the dead,
somebody that everybody had seen
publicly killed.
He just told us
about how these women
had an encounter
with this resurrected man.
And ordinarily,
this is the stuff
of fantasy and fairy tales.
This is the sort of nonsense
that maybe we might expect
from those who are rocked
with grief
or who are emotionally shattered.
It's almost like Matthew
anticipates the criticism
of the skeptic
who asks,
can we really trust
the word of the women?
Like an angel?
Risen from the dead?
And so what does Matthew tell us?
If you can't take
the women's word for it,
take the soldiers' word for it.
They went into the city
and reported to the chief priests
everything that had happened.
The sense we get
is that they didn't leave out
the surprising details.
The stuff about the angel
and what the angel had said
about how Jesus
had risen from the dead.
That report
triggered a meeting
of the elders
with the chief priests.
And notice
Matthew's description
of what they did
at that meeting.
They devised a plan.
They consulted together.
And the result
of that meeting
was a large sum
of money
being given
to the soldiers.
They agreed
to pay the soldiers
not to tell anyone
what had really happened
at the tomb.
Instead,
to tell people
that his disciples
came during the night
and stole him away
while we were asleep.
not only that,
but the leaders
of the Jews
realized that
at some point
Pilate's going to hear
about this.
And in these days,
what happened
to soldiers
who had been posted guard
but failed
their assignment?
They were routinely
executed.
And so what
did the leaders
of the Jews
promise to do?
They promised
to persuade
Pilate
to turn a blind eye
and refrain
from punishing them.
What we may not realize
is that this is
amazing evidence
that Jesus' resurrection
did in fact
take place
just as the women
described.
First,
there's the obvious
ongoing problem
of the empty tomb
and the missing body
of Jesus.
The easiest way
for the Jewish leaders
to disprove it all
would have been
to simply produce
Jesus' body
and show it
to the people.
Obviously,
they couldn't do that.
In fact,
they'd taken
extra precautions.
They'd even
anticipated,
at least according
to what they thought,
that some of
Jesus' disciples
might try to steal
Jesus' body
in order to proclaim
him risen from the dead.
That's why they'd
ask Pilate
for the soldiers.
So where is
the body of Jesus?
How can it be missing
if it was so well-guarded
by Roman soldiers?
We fell asleep.
You fell asleep?
While you were
on duty?
All of you?
At the same time?
And then there was
the problem
of the large stone.
Would have been
too big
for just one or two guys
to move it
by themselves.
Not to mention
the noise
that it would have made.
So you're telling me
that a group
of four to six
guys managed
to sneak past
a small company
of Roman soldiers
while they were sleeping
and roll this large stone
away from the door
in silence,
grabbed Jesus' body
and then tiptoe
out the door
past all of you
and you didn't
even hear a sound?
We could even add
to this the other
strange evidence
given by one
of the other
gospel accounts
that the cloth
that Jesus' body
was wrapped in
was left behind
and the face cloth,
the head cloth
that covered his head
was folded.
Like,
if you were
stealing the body
and the Roman guards
were sleeping outside,
why would you
take the time?
Why would you
take the risk
to unwrap
the body
and leave the cloth
there?
To fold up
the head cloth
in the middle
of this supposed
heist?
And then if you
did fall asleep
on the job
as a guarding soldier,
how come you're
still alive?
Was there no
consequence
for you failing
to do your job?
Pilate should have
had your head
in the morning?
You weren't
disciplined
in any way?
There's some
major things
that simply
don't add up
and it's evidence
that the women
were telling
the truth.
The soldiers
were witnesses
too.
They knew
that there had
been no theft
of the body.
They knew
that something
spectacular
had taken place.
They saw
the angel
and they
cowered
before him
and then
they reported
everything
that had
happened
to the
chief
priests.
We might
wonder
how did
Matthew
come to
have this
seemingly
inside
information?
He doesn't
cite a source
here.
How did he
know about
this report
of the soldiers
to the high
priest
and the
bribe money
that was
given to them?
How did
he discover
the plan
to smooth
things over
with Pilate
for the
soldiers
who had
seemingly
failed to
do their
job?
Well,
there was
at least
one member
of the
Jewish
ruling
council
if not
two
to whom
Matthew
could go
for that
inside
information
like this.
In fact,
it was
the very
man who
had buried
Jesus
in his
own
tomb,
Joseph
of
Arimathea.
Who was
Joseph?
Luke tells
us some
very helpful
information.
He was
a member
of the
council,
a good
and upright
man who
had not
consented to
their decision
and action.
He came
from the
town of
Judea
and he
himself was
waiting for
the kingdom
of God,
the Judean
town of
Arimathea.
Then we
compare that
to John's
account,
the apostle
John's
account,
and we
read something
interesting there
as well.
John 19,
verse 38.
Now Joseph
was a
disciple of
Jesus,
but secretly
because he
feared the
Jewish leaders.
With Pilate's
permission,
he came and
took the
body away.
He was
accompanied by
Nicodemus,
the man who
earlier had
visited Jesus
at night.
We read in
John 3 that
Nicodemus was
also a member
of the
council.
So very
likely,
Joseph or
Nicodemus,
or both,
would have
been at
this meeting
since they
were members
of the
council.
Maybe the
council didn't
fully know
whether they
were followers
of Jesus
or not
at this
point.
When we
compare
Matthew's
account with
Luke's
and John's,
there's even
more credibility
to be found
in the
testimony of
these women.
It clearly
wasn't a
plot of
the disciples
because the
disciples were
surprised.
They were as
skeptical as
anyone at
first.
They didn't
even believe
the women.
That's why
they ran to
the tomb.
We've got to
see this.
It says in
Luke, I
believe, that
they didn't
believe the
women because
their words
seemed to
them like
nonsense.
It wasn't
until later
that afternoon
and evening
when Jesus
began to
appear first
to Peter
and then
the rest
of them
that they
believed Jesus
had come
back to
life from
the dead.
So the
truth is that
even though it
sounds too
good to be
true, it's
true.
It is what
happened.
Jesus really
did rise from
the dead just
as he said.
Everything was
pointing to
this.
Consider the
many miracles
of Jesus,
the healings,
the casting
out of demons,
the walking
on water,
the feeding
of the
5,000,
the supernatural
knowledge that
Jesus had of
people, and the
list could go
on.
Is it any
surprise that
God decided to
do the ultimate
sign, the
ultimate miracle
at the end of
it all, to
prove once and
for all that
Jesus is the
one by raising
him from the
dead?
God is the
one by
God.
That's exactly
what happened
almost 2,000
years ago on
the first day
of the week.
And as we
look back on
that, it's
hard even to
capture the
full significance
of this
reality.
It factors
into so much.
We could
celebrate just
the ultimate
power of
God, which
he displayed by
raising Jesus
from the dead.
We could
reflect on what
it means that
God is the
author of
life itself
and even
the restorer
of life to
those who
have died.
We could
think about how
this resurrection
is like the
ultimate vindication
of Jesus, the
ultimate triumph
over all his
enemies, and
not just the
human ones, but
even the devil
who tempted
him in the
wilderness.
happiness.
We could
celebrate that
Jesus'
resurrection is
the ultimate
proof that
he is the
king, he is
the Messiah that
God has chosen
for us.
All of these
things are true,
all of these
things are
wonderful.
They're all good
things to meditate
on and rejoice
in today,
reasons to
worship Jesus.
But one thing
that I'm drawn to
again and again,
year after year,
is this very
simple connection.
What did
Jesus promise
to those who
believe in
him?
Eternal
life.
He promised
to raise
them from
the dead.
He promised
them life
forever in
the coming
kingdom of
God.
The gospel
accounts of
Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and
John are
full of
these many
promises.
Can Jesus
make good on
these promises?
Can he give
us eternal
life?
Can he really
raise us from
the dead
after we die?
Will he
really be the
king of
that great
kingdom of
God of
which he
spoke?
Will he
be on
the throne?
Well, the
resurrection of
Jesus from
the dead is
proof that
God can
give these
things to
us.
He does
indeed have
the power
to give
life,
to restore
life where
it was lost.
The
resurrection of
Jesus is the
guarantee that
all the good
promises of
God to
us will
be kept
for those
who believe
in his
name.
And that
is something
that makes
me rejoice
year after
year.
Listen to
these precious
words of
Jesus to
Martha just
four days
after the
death of
her brother
and not
long before
Jesus himself
died on the
cross.
from John
chapter 11.
Lord,
Martha said
to Jesus,
if you
had been
here,
my brother
would not
have died.
But I
know that
even now
God will
give you
whatever you
ask.
Jesus said
to her,
your brother
will rise
again.
Martha
answered,
I know
he will
rise again
in the
resurrection
at the
last day.
Jesus said
to her,
I am
the
resurrection
and the
life.
The one
who believes
in me
will live
even though
they die.
And whoever
lives believing
in me
will never
die.
do you
believe
that?
After
what we
heard from
Matthew
this
morning
about
what
happened
at the
tomb,
do you
believe
this?
Do you
believe
that Jesus
is the
resurrection
and the
life?
Do you
believe that
he can
and will
raise you
from the
dead
someday?
when he
returns?
This is
the good
news that
Christ's
resurrection
declares.
Along with
the redemption
that we
talked about
earlier,
the forgiveness
of sins,
it declares
the gracious
gift of
eternal life
for all of
us who
believe in
him.
Life
forever
with God,
with Jesus,
in his
kingdom.
And there's
nothing better
than that.
I want to
invite you
to stand.
We're going
to continue
to celebrate
and rejoice
together with
a couple more
songs here.
voy voy
voy
!
voy
!
voy
!