Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 28:1-15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 2004

Wellington – Defeat Or Victory

 

General Wellington commanded the victorious forces at the great battle of Waterloo that effectively ended the Napoleonic Wars.

The story has been told that when the battle was over, Wellington sent the great news of his victory to England.

A series of stations, one within sight of the next, had been established to send code messages between England and the continent.

The message to be sent was */Wellington/**/ defeated Napoleon at Waterloo./*

Meanwhile a fog set in and interrupted the message sending.

As a result, people only saw news of */Wellington/**/ defeated./*

Later, the fog cleared and the full message continued, which was quite different from the outcome that the people originally thought had happened!

The same is true today.

/When many look at what happened on Good Friday, the death of Christ, they see only defeat.

Yet, on Sunday, at the Resurrection, God’s message was completed.*

The resurrection spelled victory.*/

*/Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

/*In 1 Corinthians 15: Paul states that the resurrection is essential to the Christian faith.

*And so it is.*

We serve a risen Savior.

The founders of the world’s religions are all dead and buried; only Christ has conquered death.

Amen!

There are */5 things/* we are told to */behold/* in Matthew 28: The word */behold,/* *ἰδού** *means*/ to look at, to see./** *To pay attention to something important.

#.

*/Behold The Empty Tomb/*

#. */Behold The Angel’s Word/*

#. */Behold The Risen Lord/*

#. */Behold The Liar Speaks/*

#. */Behold The Lord Is With Us/*

 

/Firstly,/ Behold The Empty Tomb

 

*Matthew 28:1: */Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

/

 

/a.

The Women/

 

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses went to the tomb as the day dawned that Sunday morning.

*Mark 16:3* records a conversation they had along the way; /Who will roll the stone away for us?/

This was a valid question.

*/The stone was very heavy.

/*The same women were present at the cross.

They watched Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take the body of Jesus down.

They saw His body being laid in the tomb.

Now they had returned to anoint Jesus’ body with spices that they had prepared.

*Matthew 28:2-4: */And *behold*, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and *rolled back the stone from the door*, and sat on it.

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

And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men./

/b.

The Angel/

 

*/Why did the angel roll the stone away?

Was it to let Christ come out?

No!/ */He was already alive.

He passed through the tomb earlier./

*/The stone was rolled away to show the world that He was alive./*

/In the same way, God tore the temple veil in two when Christ died on the cross to show mankind that we now had access to God through Christ./

*/Yes the stone was rolled away for our benefit.

/*The empty tomb was proof that Jesus Christ had indeed risen like He said He would.

*Matthew 16:21:* /From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day./

The angel’s appearance was dazzling like lightning.

His clothes were white, signifying purity.

The angel sat upon the stone which showed he was in charge.

His task was wasn’t finished yet because he had important news to share with the women.

*/By opening the tomb God was showing the world His Son was alive.

The resurrection proves that Jesus Christ is the Son of God/*.

*Romans 1:3-4:* /Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and *declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.*/

/c.

The soldiers/

 

The soldiers soon realized that they had failed in their mission.

*/Firstly,/* They couldn’t stop the resurrection of Jesus Christ now apparent to all.

*/Secondly,/* they couldn’t prevent the angel from showing this to the world.

/In fact, the soldiers shook and became like dead men./ */This probably means that they fainted from the fright./*

The power of this angel is seen in the way he easily rolled the stone away.

The small stones placed to seal a tomb required about 20 men to move.

This was a large stone*/.

God sent this angel to show the women, and in fact the whole world Christ was risen./*

God wants people to know the Good News; Christ has risen, sin has been conquered.

*/ /*

Empty Tomb’s Message

 

The Empty Tomb had a message for the disciples as it has for us.

It says to science and philosophy, */Explain this event./*

It says to history, */Repeat this event./*

It says to time, */Blot out this event./*

It says to faith, */Believe this event./*

/Secondly,/ Behold The Angel’s Word

 

*Matthew 28:5-6a:* /But the angel answered and said to the women, *Do not be afraid*, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.

/

 

/a.

Don’t Be Afraid/

 

The angel’s appearance probably caused the women to tremble.

They saw his power and beheld his glory.

It was only natural for them to be afraid.

They recognized the angel as servant of God.

/About 30 years before,/ /the angel Gabriel told Mary not to be afraid*.

*Gabriel had brought Good News concerning the Messiah*.*

In the same way, this angel assured these women that there was nothing to fear.

*He* *too had Good News to share, Jesus the Messiah wasn’t in the tomb.*/

*/He was alive, risen from the dead just like He had promised./*

I am sure that their minds raced as they remembered the crucifixion.

*/The angel assured them He had been crucified for our sins, but now He was risen./*

/b.

Come And See/

 

*Matthew 28:6b:* */Come see/*/ the place where the Lord lay./

The angel showed them the empty tomb to remove any doubts that they may have had.

The angel had been sent from God for this very purpose.

The Lord rewarded these devoted followers by allowing them to be the first to see the empty tomb.

Mark gives more details on this.