All right, if you want to turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter
28, Matthew chapter 28, we're going to read 1 through 16.
So follow along with you. Matthew 28, one through 16.
The Bible says in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn
toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And behold, there was a great earthquake.
For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came
and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white
as snow. And for fear of Him the keepers
did shake, and became as dead men.
And the Angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for
I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here, for He has risen as he has said.
Come see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and
tell his disciples that He has risen from the dead.
And behold, he go with before you into Galilee.
There shall you see him. Lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and
great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word.
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met
them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by
the feed, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be
not afraid, Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and
there shall they see me. Now when they were going,
behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed under
the chief priests all the things that were done.
And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken
counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say,
His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
And if this come to the governor's ear, we will persuade
him and secure you. So they took the money and did
as they were taught. And this saying is commonly
reported among the Jews unto this day.
Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain
where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they
worshipped him. But some doubted.
We begin our story with the inquiry at the sepulchre.
If you're taking notes, we're starting with point #1 the
inquiry at the sepulchre. It says in verse one in the end
of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the
week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
We know that these ladies were bringing spices, that they were
coming to anoint Jesus body for his burial.
They were expecting to find a tomb with a rock in front of it
and a body inside of it. And that is not what they're
going to experience. They're going to experience
something totally different. One commentator says it this
way. Oh, this is, I guess I have a
couple pictures of, you know, maybe help you imagine in your
mind what these moments might have looked like.
They were coming early on Sunday morning with spices.
And one commentator said it this way.
They were the first people to come to the empty tomb, the
first to learn Jesus was alive, the 1st to see Him alive, and
the 1st to tell the good news of His resurrection.
These ladies are the first witnesses, the first mouthpieces
of something so great that God had done.
So I put it to you this way, finding Jesus starts with what
you already know. They didn't know that he had
risen from the dead. They just said, what's the next
right thing to do? I guess we'll go anoint his
body. We'll take the spices.
Let's go prepare him. Let's be respectful.
He was a great rabbi. I don't understand how he's
dead. But we're just going to do the
next right thing. So if you don't know what to do,
if you don't fully understand your faith, you can do what you
already know to do is right. That usually is enough for us,
our conscience and what we know of of the word of God.
We simply just need to do what we know and that's how we find
Jesus is they're going to be able to be blessed by this
experience. Secondly, we find the revealing
of the empty tomb, revealing the empty tomb.
As you could imagine, to their surprise they came expecting,
they asked, how are we even going to open the tomb when we
get there and they show up and they're like, what's going on?
Verses 2 to 4 And behold, there was a great earthquake.
For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came
and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning in his raiment, white
as snow. And for fear of him the keepers
did shake and became as dead men.
So there's a bit of a back story here.
We saw this on Friday night. If you go backwards into Matthew
chapter 27 and read in starting in verse 62, we see these
keepers appear in verse 62. Now the next day that that
followed, the day of the preparation, the chief priests
and Pharisees came on together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we
remember that this deceiver said, while he was yet alive,
after three days I will rise again.
Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the
third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him
away, and say unto the people, he is risen from the dead.
So the last error shall be worse than the first.
Then in verse 65 it says, Pilate said unto them, You have a
watch, go make your way, Make it as sure as you can.
So the, the Pharisees, the, the religious elite that had Jesus
crucified, wanted to ensure that nobody was going to mess with
the body and, and, and fabricate some story because they all knew
he said he was going to die and rise again.
And now we find in verses 2 to 4 of Matthew 28, these people,
they're called keepers. They were protecting this tomb.
We find them freaking out. It says as dead men.
In verse 4, it says there was an earthquake, that there was an
Angel they were able to see in verse 3.
His countenance was like lightning, his raim and his
white as snow. So if you could just imagine the
brightest, most terrifying thing that you could ever see in your
life and the natural response, most of the time when people in
the Bible see angels and understand that it's an Angel is
that they fall flat on the ground.
They understand I'm in the presence of the supernatural.
This is I don't belong here. This is beyond me, and I find it
interesting. It says at the end of verse 2
that this Angel sat upon the rock.
This tombstone was open and he's just like, chilling, you know,
kicking back on the top of the rock.
Like, OK, I dare you to try to come and move it.
I'm here. And they became as dead men.
That's pretty scary stuff to see the supernatural.
This is the normal response to the natural man experiencing the
supernatural. But there's a message here we
see in verses 5 to 7. This Angel has something to say.
He says. Then the angels answered and
said unto the the woman, The women, fear not ye, for I know
that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here, for He is risen as he said, Come see the place
where he lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has
risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you
into Galilee. There, shall you see him?
LO, I have told you so. The angels really are the first
ones to proclaim the resurrection.
He's not here. This is good news, they said.
This news, this message in verse 5.
Fear not. You don't have to be afraid.
There isn't a great contrast. We'll come back to these
soldiers at the end of our story.
There's a great contrast between the people basically dead on the
ground and the believing women who were told not to fear.
This is the difference in the lost world and the saved world.
Christian people don't have to fear.
The resurrection is for us. It says he was crucified.
He's not here, for he has risen. That is the gospel, the death,
burial and resurrection. That is good news that causes
us, as read out of Romans 5, not to fear.
What was it 55 it said hope maketh not ashamed.
Is that right? If you have hope in the
resurrection, I, I no longer have shame.
Jesus's blood has covered my sin.
I am right before God. I'm ransomed by my Father.
We sang in the Charity Gale song.
This is good news. The gospel is good news.
And check this out, this good news.
You're allowed to do the math. Verse 6.
Come see the place where the Lord lay.
See. Christianity is unlike any other
cult or religion. You can do the math.
Hey, look, where's Jesus? Is he in the tomb?
No. We our faith rests upon an empty
tomb with no body in it. There is no burial place.
There are no bones. There is no there's no material
of Jesus's body on this planet. If there was, we would have
nothing. We would not have a
resurrection. So you can do the math.
I think I put it to you that way in your notes.
You can do the math on Christianity.
If you have questions, if you're skeptical, if you don't
understand, it's OK man. If you seek the truth, you will
find the truth in Jesus Christ. He says this message to share it
with others in verse 7. Go quickly and tell His
disciples that He has risen from the dead.
This is the first command really to go and spread this to the
rest of the world. And that's what we're told as
Christians. And Mark 16.
Jesus says after his resurrection, his final marching
orders go into all the world and preach the gospel.
That is the duty of Christians. And we see that here even in
that first resurrection Sunday in verse 7.
It also says he goeth before you, there shall you see him.
And Christians have this hope that we will see Jesus.
He's not dead, He is risen, He is alive.
We expect to meet with him when we open the Word and commune
with him. We expect to meet with him when
we come to church and we're ministered to by his body.
But we also have a day when we'll see Him face to face.
There is no sting in death. First John chapter 3, the Bible
says when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. We're actually going to get to
see him just like was told by this Angel to this people on
this Easter Sunday. Next we see that they meet Jesus
in the way in verses 8 through 10 the Bible says.
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and
great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word.
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met
them saying, all hail. And they came and held him by
the feet and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be
not afraid. Go, tell my brethren that you go
into Galilee, and there shall you see me.
This is the the drastic change that's made these ladies
approached the tomb ready for burial and they leave as it says
here, they departed with great joy.
And that is the the change in the gospel.
What happens when we believe the gospel is that we now have great
joy and we're going to be able to see Jesus.
It says in verse 9, they held him by the feet and worshipped
him. So Can you imagine seeing
somebody that was dead for three days be alive again?
That'd be the freakiest, spookiest thing ever.
You'd be like, am I tripping? It must have been something in
the air. I'm walking around Portland, and
I inhaled something. I walk around the city all the
time, and I have a lost man's past.
And sometimes I catch a whiff and I'm like, whoa, man.
All right, that's all right. I got to shake that one off.
Wow. OK, But this is the right
response. I think I put it to you this way
in your notes. The right response to seeing
Jesus is to worship at his feet. By the way, Jesus does receive
worship here. The cults and false religions
that say Jesus is not a part of the triune God, that he's a
separate being like Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses, do not
worship Jesus. They worship the Father and they
say it's wrong to worship Jesus. But here we clearly see Jesus
and we'll see it again receiving worship.
He is the Lord. We see in Philippians chapter 2
verse starting in verse 9. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven,
things in earth, things under the earth, that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the
Father. That is the right response when
we see Jesus and understand who He is.
Another example of that, we won't go there, but Revelation
chapter 1 and starting in verse 12, you can see John the the guy
that wrote the Book of Revelation, see Jesus and he
falls on the ground and just says I'm not worthy.
He falls like a dead man. That's the right response, but
that's not everybody's response. The majority of Portland
especially is lost. The majority of the world is
lost straight as the gate and arrow as the way and there's
another group of people that cover up this story.
We don't want to hear that. We don't like this.
Remember we tried to get rid of this guy.
We said crucify him. His blood be upon us and our
children. That's what they said.
And in verses 11 to 15 we see this, this shady deal.
Verse 11. Now when they were they were
going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed
under the chief priests all the things that were done.
And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken
counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say
ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we
slept. And if this come to the
governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you.
So they took the money and did as they were taught.
And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until
this day. What we have is a bribe.
OK? You experienced a supernatural
act. There's no way to deny what
happened. And if we understand, based on
the Philippian jailer, what would happen to a Roman guard
who failed in his duty is that this would mean the end of their
life. So the chief priests say, let's
just develop a conspiracy. We'll pay off the governor.
We'll persuade him. We'll pay you.
And we're just going to act like none of this ever happened.
That's literally what happened. It's reported unto this day.
It says they're still, the Jews still reject the crucifixion,
the resurrection. The Muslims also reject the
crucifixion and the resurrection.
And we see here a group of men experience the supernatural and
reject it. They were on the ground as dead
men. There was no denying the
earthquake and the bright light, the empty tomb.
But instead they were paid off. In Matthew 16, Jesus says for
what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and
lose his own soul? What shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? And I would say however much
money that they were given that was in exchange, they chose to
deny the truth and receive payment for it.
Now I've been thinking about an example in our world today.
Can you think of 1? Somebody that's been paid off to
propagate a lie? I didn't want to be political or
anything. Come up with a modern 1.
So I've got 1 from 1919. How about that?
In 1919, at the 1919 World Series, 8 Chicago White Sox
baseball players intentionally lost the to the Cincinnati Reds
in exchange for a gambling bribe of $100,000.
Says it's nearly $1.5 million today.
People grew suspicious when the White Sox athletes started to
play uncharacteristically bad in the Best of 9 championship
series. A grand jury investigated the
scandalous allegations when the crooked players, dubbed the
Black Sox for their shady sports conduct, were indicted on 9
accounts of conspiracy. They said, I don't know why I
did it, Pitcher Eddie Something told the grand jury.
I needed the money. I had a wife and kids.
No Black. Not for you, Sir.
What? No, no.
We're just going to be poor. We'll be fine.
But that's how it works, he says.
I'm not. I don't even know why I did it.
My family needed the money. And we all get into these
difficult, awkward social settings and we discover, am I
going to compromise? Am I going to believe the truth?
Am I going to wholeheartedly follow Jesus?
So I put it to you this way in your notes, what is your number?
Is there enough to get you to deny Jesus?
What would it take? How much money, fame, pleasure,
joy, protection, safety. These Roman soldiers were
protected. Now if you.
Reject the truth. There is no hope for you.
There's no hope of a good life, and there's no hope of an
afterlife. That's that's really a bummer.
So let's move on to the next one.
All right, Verses 16 and 17, there's a picture of what maybe
that looked like. I don't know.
I'd love to do some better storytelling with visuals and
stuff. I'm working on it.
But in verses 16 and 17, we see that Jesus meets these two
disciples. There's a bit of a pause in the
story from verse 15 to verse 16 and verse 16.
Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain
where Jesus had appointed them, and when they saw him, they
worshipped him, but some doubted.
Now there are other events. If you have to put all four of
the Gospels together to get a complete picture of the
chronology of the resurrection and all of that, Matthew's
version is a bit shortened right here.
Nevertheless, we see Jesus meet his disciples in Galilee where
he told them that he would be with them, and then we see this
response. There's two responses.
So what will your response to the resurrection be?
The first one is in verse 17. When they saw him, they
worshipped him. But in verse 17, it goes on to
say but some doubted. So even then among the disciples
there was doubt. I'm not sure.
I don't know. And certainly what's happening
in this moment is a a brief statement to describe Thomas the
disciple. Are you familiar with that
story? They call him doubting Thomas.
I can relate to that. Obviously.
That's my name. But also, I have a skeptical,
analytical personality. It takes me a while to believe
things I don't trust. Well, I've really got to figure
things out to be able to hang my hat on them.
And if you go over to John's gospel in John chapter 20 in
verse 29, let me see if I can flip over there and read a
couple more verses from that John chapter 20.
Let's look at this doubt. John chapter 20, verse 24.
But Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus, was not with them when
Jesus came. The other disciples therefore
said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, Except I see in his hands the print of
nails, and put my finger into the print of nails, and thrust
my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after 8 days again his disciples were within, and
Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Then saith he to Jesus, Check this out, Jesus has Thomas's
number. Reach, hit her thy finger.
And behold, my hands reach, hit her thy hand, and thrust it into
my side. And be not faithless, but
believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.
Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.
So this doubt from Thomas, he should have believed the other
disciples. He had every reason.
He saw Jesus, he saw the miracles.
There was a report of an empty tomb.
He still couldn't believe it for himself.
And what Jesus says in John 20 and 29 is blessed are they that
have not seen and yet believed. That's us.
You have not seen the resurrected Christ.
If you have, you might have been doing those psychedelics or
something you you did not believe because you saw Jesus in
the flesh. You have faith.
That's what we are all required. If you're looking to see the
resurrected Christ, you're going to be waiting a long time.
You'll be waiting too long because the Bible says today
that you're by grace. Are you saved through faith?
It is impossible to walk with Jesus without faith because he
is currently ascended in heaven. We are currently here on the
earth. He's not physically manifesting
himself to every person. If you hear of stories about
that, there's probably some weird stuff going on.
So today, what is your response? Is it worship, singing, Rejoice,
man, thank you, Jesus, for the blood.
Or is it still doubt? I still have some questions.
And if you still have questions, it's OK.
Let's do the math. Let's study, let's pray, let's
seek the truth, let's open our hearts.
We'll work with you on that. That's totally all right.
But I want to give us a moment now to pray.
And maybe there's one of these things that you can relate to
the inquiry at the tomb. There's some people that came
sad but left rejoicing. Maybe you need to be encouraged.
The message of the Angel is good news.
Maybe we need to be bold to be able to share that with other
people. Maybe that response of worship
is I just need to surrender some stuff at his feet and say you're
the Lord. Maybe there's compromise to say
I I do have a number. I would rather have something
else, or maybe you would just have an honest doubt to say.
I want to believe, but I don't know how.
I want to give us about 30 seconds for you to pray.
Then I'll lead us in a prayer and we'll have another song.
So let's pray.