He is Really Risen
Notes
Transcript
Pastoral Prayer
Good morning, Gateway Chapel!
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2023 is almost over, ladies and gentlemen!
And that means we have almost come to the close of Matthew’s gospel.
We’ve studied so many great words from Matthew like, “The kingdom is near!” or “Blessed are the poor in Spirit” or “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden.”
But there are no more beautiful words than, “He is not here, he is risen.”
There are many important words we hear in our lives.
Words like, “Will you marry me?” or “I do.” or “It’s a girl!”
And yet none of these compare to...
“He is not here. He is risen.”
Without these words, none of the other words in Matthew matter. None of the other words we hear in the course of our lives matter.
Why is that?
How is the Jesus’ resurrection two-thousand years ago good news for today?
How do we know it happened and it’s not just some ancient myth?
What would it mean to us if we lived fully in the reality of those words: He is not here. He is risen?
In Matthew 28:1-15, Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is REALLY risen.
He is really risen. Why does this matter? How is this good news? How are we to respond?
He is really risen. This morning in Matthew 28:1-15 we’ll see
The Resurrection
The Reunion
The Report
First, the resurrection...
1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
Here we have Matthew’s account of the resurrection.
He is really risen. And the ultimate symbol of this is the empty tomb.
We’ve read all the way through Matthew in 2023.
We’ve listened as Matthew has worked to convince us that Jesus is the King who brings the Kingdom of God.
And the Kingdom is not a place or a government that you can vote for in the ballot, but it’s the way of life we all long for. It’s life as it’s meant to be. And Matthew says Jesus is the one who’s made it available to everyone.
We all want the kingdom but not everyone wants to serve the King.
Jesus had enemies. And his enemies had him killed.
And as we read last week, Jesus of Nazareth, the God-man, the Savior of the World, was unjustly executed by his own countrymen and the Roman government.
Yet as Dave preached this was no ordinary death. His death was a sacrifice for our sins so that anyone who gives their allegiance to Him can enter into a new relationship with God on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross. And that’s the freedom meal we celebrate every week in Communion.
He was innocent, yet condemned and killed on the cross.
And to add some context to our passage, just previously in Matthew 27...
62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate,
63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’
64 “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
So on the Sabbath, instead of resting to honor God, the Jewish leaders plot against God.
And yet as we see in verse 1 of Matthew 28…the sun rises…it’s a clear image of a new beginning and of hope.
What follows is not the how of Jesus’ resurrection - we don’t know HOW God made Jesus alive - but Matthew gives us the WHO of the resurrection.
So who were the witnesses?
The women. Mary and Mary
Why is that significant?
The women add to Matthew’s argument that He is really risen.
In Jesus’ day, it was - to a much greater extent than today - a man’s world. Women were treated as second class citizens.
Josephus, a Jewish historian viewed women as inferior in all matters, responsible for nearly all sin.
Philo - an ancient philosopher - said women should desire a life of seclusion and that women were good wives or problems.
It was said, “Better the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good; it is woman who brings shame and disgrace.”
Celsus, a second century Greek philosopher said Christianity was founded on the basis of hysterical females.
So how does Matthew saying the women witnessed the empty tomb and the angel add to his argument that Jesus is really risen?
No one would fabricate a story like this.
It’s not meant to be rude, but a sad statement of fact that you would not pin your argument on the testimony of women unless that’s exactly what happened.
And you certainly wouldn’t go to your death proclaiming that lie, as Matthew did.
Who else is there?
The guards. How do they respond?
It says “They became like dead men.”
I imagine Roman guards are the kinds of people who aren’t easily afraid, but this gets them.
They become like dead men.
Are they actually dead? No. As we’ll see they will get up and in verses 11-15 conspire against the true story.
But, I think Matthew wants us to see even though they’re alive in a sense, because Jesus is risen they are totally defeated.
I think this instructive for us. What things in our lives - sin, enemies, spiritual forces, imaginary worst case scenarios - SEEM to be powerful and threatening, but in the reality of Jesus’ resurrection are actually defeated and gone?
Who else? The angel. What does he do?
First he sits on the stone.
If someone sits on you, it’s pretty defeating.
The angel sits on the stone to show God has defeated death.
The angel then gives the message.
He is REALLY risen!
But not just that, GO and tell the others.
Something truly new has happened as God empowers those whom society discounts to spread the news of Jesus’ resurrection.
So how will the women respond?
We’ve heard the resurrection, now we’ll see the reunion.
8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
Good start!
9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Jesus reunites with his friends.
He is really risen because they held his feet. They saw him!
They leave with a mixture of fear and awe and fright and great joy.
This is very difficult to picture. It’s hard to get in their shoes and imagine these emotions because we all came this morning fully prepared for Jesus to be alive.
Can we try something interesting for a minute?
I want you to picture the last funeral you went to.
Where were you? Who were you with? Do you remember what you were wearing? Where you were sitting? How were you feeling?
Okay now I want you to imagine you get a tap on the shoulder. Just a soft tap. You turn and look around and there next to you is the person for whom the funeral is being held.
What would that be like? Disbelief? Joy? Fear?
You can open your eyes.
Based on that experience, what makes the words, “He is risen” so beautiful? Jesus is back. He’s alive! The man we love is here!
Jesus encourages them that there’s nothing to fear here. And to go give a message to his disciples but he calls them HIS BROTHERS.
Why is that important?
In the last 3 days his disciples utterly failed him. He asked them to pray with him at the Garden when he’s in deep emotional distress and they fall asleep. Peter tells complete strangers he doesn’t even know Jesus. All the disciples flee as Jesus gets arrested.
These are bad friends, disappointing disciples, and Jesus calls them brothers.
Jesus’ resurrection means there’s a reunion between God and man.
Jesus’ resurrection means our relationship with God can be restored.
Through faith God is our Father. Jesus our brother. The Holy Spirit our Helper.
Sin is now powerless because he is really risen.
But wait…Matthew’s audience may say, if he is really risen then why are there so many stories that this was a fake put on by those same disciples?
We’ve seen the resurrection, the reunion, and now the report.
11 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.
12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
13 and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’
14 “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.”
15 And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.
First the resurrection, then the reunion, and now the report by the guards.
He is really risen despite reports to the contrary.
The elders who oppose Jesus bribe the guards and say, “Tell people you were asleep on the job” - which is punishable by death - and asleep, but if that word gets to your superiors, we’ll take care of you.
Very shady.
And Matthew says you want to know why the report has spread to this day that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead? Here’s your answer. Corruption of power. The Jewish religious leaders are blind to who Jesus is and they’ll do anything to cover up the fact that they murdered not only an innocent man but the Son of God.
And what’s interesting is how that has flipped in the 2,000 years since Jesus’ resurrection.
Now, because of Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code, the false narrative that’s gone around is that it was people in power in the Church who made up the story of Jesus’ resurrection to keep their money and power.
I think people believe the Bible can be untrustworthy because it was put together by people in power.
And Matthew says actually, it’s the exact opposite. He is REALLY risen and the true story was spread by people with no power, influence, or societal respect, but were the very ones who God chose.
The resurrection. The reunion. The report.
Matthew wants us to see that He is really risen.
Why is it so important that Jesus rose from the dead?
Why is this Matthew’s climax of the story and all four gospel writers - do the same?
He is really risen…and so he really is the Messiah.
He is really risen…and so he really is the Messiah.
The resurrection is Matthew’s final piece of evidence that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is the King. He’s the God-man. He’s the way back to God. The one Sent from God to save us from death.
And none of that can be true if Jesus did not rise from the dead.
Let’s just imagine for a minute - what if Jesus did not really rise from the dead? What would that mean?
He’s a liar.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we can’t trust his words.
40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
21 From that time Jesus began to show 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 up on the third day.
63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then he’s a liar. He’s a false prophet.
And so when he says “LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU” we should say, “Yeah no thanks.” Or when he says, “Go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them” we can say, “I’d rather not.”
But if he is really risen from the dead, then he really is King and we really must listen his words and give our allegiance to Him.
We should still be offering sacrifices for sin.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then we should go to the temple.
If he didn’t rise from the dead, then our sins were not forgiven on the cross and we need to be finding ways to pay God back for our sins.
But if he really is risen, then our sin is paid for.
Jesus’ death paid for our sins and his resurrection was God’s stamp of approval and the beginning of our new life with God. It is finished. We can live in freedom.
We should be terrified of dying.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then death wins.
Do whatever you can to avoid death because if Jesus couldn’t even beat death then we don’t stand a chance.
But if he is really risen, then death has been defeated.
Jesus reigns as King and he reigns as a Human with a body which gives us hope for our bodies.
Jesus has a resurrected body and for those who have faith in Jesus we too will get resurrected bodies with no cancer, no disease, no mental illness, no aging, no destructive emotions or sin…and we don’t have to be afraid of death because Jesus is Life.
We’re still waiting for the Messiah and in the meantime we should just go to brunch.
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
If he is not really risen, then we shouldn’t be here.
But if he is, then being here, with each other, worshiping Jesus as Messiah as the God-man as the Savior of the world is exactly where we need to be.
He is really risen…and so are we.
He is really risen…and so are we.
Why are the words “He is risen” so beautiful?
Because if Jesus is alive then we can be too.
At the beginning of Matthew’s gospel it says that Jesus came to save his people from sin.
And in Scripture we read that sin is breaking relationship with God and that broken relationship leads to death.
And rather than leaving us alone to die, God came as Jesus to die in our place and forgive our sins and bring us into a new relationship with Him. And as Jesus rose from the dead he proved his power over death and now through faith in Him we are given his same resurrection life in the Holy Spirit.
A couple weeks ago we talked about how Communion is the Freedom meal which largely reflects on Jesus’ work on the cross.
But baptism is the practice which symbolizes the cross AND especially the resurrection.
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
And so baptism is a picture of our union with Christ.
When we trust Him, he forgives our sins, and our entire old life dies away. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, you’re completely forgiven.
And just as Jesus was raised from the dead so we are raised from our old life and that’s the picture of coming out of the water.
Esther Ferreria is going to be baptized in a little bit but I want to say this is open for anyone else today who wants to be baptized.
If you have never made the public declaration that you trust Jesus as the true King and want to love him and serve Him your whole life, then today is the day. Come grab me.
We have so many beautiful words in Matthew but the greatest are “He is not here. He is risen.”
I’ll end with this quote...
People have not gathered for the past 2,000 years to say, "The stock market has risen. It has risen indeed." They have not gathered to say, "The dollar has risen. It has risen indeed." Or, "the employment rate has risen." Or, "the gross domestic product has risen." Or, "General Motors has risen." Or, "The value of your 401(k) has risen." Here's the one hope that has held up human beings across every continent and culture for two millennia of difficult times of poverty, disease, pain, hardship, [and] death itself: "Christ is risen. He is risen indeed." - John Ortberg
Esther come on up...
Many of you know Esther. She’s been a part of our community for quite some time now.
And recently Esther decided that she would like to be baptized and we’re excited to celebrate that with her today.
Who is Jesus to you?
Do you believe Jesus died for your sins and rose and now reigns as King of the earth?
Do you love him and want to follow him the rest of your days?
Then based on your profession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
May your life reflect the good news that He is risen this week.