Amen. Let's hear the Word of God
reading today from Matthew chapter 27, verse 57 right
through to chapter 28, verse 8. Let's hear the Word of God
reading of course from the King James Bible, Matthew chapter 27
verse 57. When the even was come there
came a rich man of Armothea named Joseph who also himself
was Jesus disciple. He went to Pilate and begged the
body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body
to be delivered, And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped
it in a clean linen cloth and LED it in his own new tomb,
which he had hewn out in the rock.
And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and
departed. And there was Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre.
Now the next day that followed, the day of the preparation, the
chief priests and Pharisees came together on the pilot, saying,
Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet
alive, after three days I will rise again.
Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the
3rd day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and
say unto the people, He has risen from the dead.
So the last error shall be worse than the first.
Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch, Go your way.
Make it as sure as you can. So they went and made the
sepulchre shore, sealing the stone and setting a watch.
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
man. And the Angel answered and said
unto the woman, Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus, which
was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen
as he 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 goeth 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 Amen.
We know God will stamp with His own approval and blessing this
reading of His own precious and infallible Word.
Amen. Now my text today, this Easter
Sunday morning, is found in Matthew chapter 28 and the verse
2. 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.
Now beloved, this is Easter Sunday and today, like in other
Lords days, millions of professing Christians around the
world are celebrating and praising God for the empty tomb
of the Lord Jesus. Together we rejoice.
On the third day after his horrible death by crucifixion,
Jesus Christ literally, bodily and tangibly rose up from the
dead. Now let me be clear.
He didn't rise merely spiritually as some teach or as
some allege, but He arose physically, bodily, and tangibly
in the very same body that He was put to death in.
And after His bodily resurrection, He appeared to
many of His dear followers, beginning with the woman.
And then forty days after, He ascended up into heaven from
Galilee. And he lives now in the power of
an endless life as the king of glory on our behalf.
Now, I want you to ponder this scene.
Think of this with me. It's very early in the morning,
just before the dawn of the first day of the week.
Darkness is just beginning to lift.
Two faithful women are making their way to the garden tomb of
Joseph of Armathea. Their hearts were heavy, their
hopes seemed buried. They had seen their Lord
crucified and put to death. They had watched that most
horrible form of execution. And as they walked, one question
filled their mind. In fact, it troubled them.
In the Gospel of Mark chapter 16 and verse 3, we read and they
said among themselves, Who shall roll us away?
The stone from the door of the sepulchre.
Notice in Mark 16, verse 4, the description of the stone for it
was very great, about two tonne in weight.
These women asked a very practical question, a very
pressing question, a deeply painful question, and they found
no answer. Now when they arrived at the
garden tomb, for they knew and observed, for the body of Jesus
Christ had been LED, they discovered that their question
had already been answered. For the Bible tells us.
For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came
and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.
So this morning I want to answer a very profound question, and
the question is this Who moved the stone?
You see today, many atheists and agnostics and even some
professing Christians asked the question, is that what really
happened on the first Easter morning?
Did the Lord Jesus physically, literally, tangibly, bodily rise
from the dead? What happened to the body of
Jesus? Are there not other possible and
possible explanations for the empty tomb?
Now to answer the gain Sayers, the Christ rejecters, and the
truth deniers. This morning I answer this.
There is no other possible or plausible explanation for the
empty tomb. Why?
The evidence for the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of the
Lord Jesus from the dead is overwhelming.
It is very persuasive. You see, the doctrine of the
bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth.
Paul emphatically stated this in First Corinthians chapter 15.
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how you
say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead.
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen? And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain? And your faith is also vain?
Yeah, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we
have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom He raised
not up. If so be that the dead rise not.
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised?
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is being ye are yet
in your sins, then also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first
fruits of them that slept. See today, this Easter someday.
I'm aware that many non Christians are sceptical.
They're asking for evidence. And the evidence I present to
them to every atheist agnostic. Is this the evidence of the
empty tomb? And this is not a question for
the university professor. This is not a question for the
scholars to split hairs over. No.
This is a doctrine that lies at the heart of the gospel.
This doctrine is the keystone of the whole Christian faith.
And the key facts are indisputable.
You see, according to the Bible, the Lord Jesus died at 3:00 PM
on the day of the Jewish Passover, exactly when the
Passover lambs would have been slain in the temple.
And because even was approaching and the next day was a high
Sabbath, Joseph of Armathea requested from Pilot the body of
Jesus. Once Pilot ascertained that
Christ was dead, he gave Joseph of Armathea and Nicodemus
permission to get the body of Jesus down from the cross.
They wrapped the body in a linen cloth and placed it in Joseph's
own new tomb, human, out of solid rock.
And they did it before 6:00 PM that evening, because that's
when the High Sabbath would have started.
And Christ rested in the tomb for three days and three nights.
And at the behest of the Jewish authorities, a Roman so guard
was placed in the tomb. The stone was sealed.
And then on the third day, miraculously, wonderfully,
powerfully, Christ arose bodily from the dead just after sunset
on the Saturday, as the first day of the week began to dawn.
And early Sunday morning, these two women, when they came to the
tomb with the question, who will move the stone for us, they
discovered the stone was already rolled away and the tomb was
empty. Something happened to those two
women as they witnessed that scene.
And we're today, just for a few minutes, going to ponder that
question. Who moved the stone?
What really happened to the body of the Lord Jesus?
Three things very quickly. Bear with me.
The problem that the woman faced.
You see, the stone was no small obstacle, it was real and
visible. Mark chapter 16 verse 4.
For it was very great, approximately about two tonne.
It stood like an immovable barrier.
It stood between the woman and the body of the Lord Jesus.
It stood between their access to Him and their devotion toward
Him, of putting more spaces on the body.
It stood between their love and their loyalty to Him.
You see, it was a pressing problem they couldn't solve
themselves. They had prepared their spaces,
but they had no strength to move the stone.
They had love, but they had no leverage.
They had a desire to see the body, but they had no means of
delivering access to the body. Now, is that not like many today
in Northern Ireland? How many today have very great
problems in their lives? Problems like a great stone,
problems that are a huge obstacle?
What about the stones of sin that are unrepented of?
What about the stubborn refusal to admit that you're a vile,
guilty, hell deserving Sinner before God?
What about the stone of guilt for some sin that concerns us?
A sin that's unparted, a sin that's not under the blood, A
sin that eats away at you, that that consumes you.
Some past deed of thought, of word or of deed.
What about the stone of fear? Many are full of fear this
morning. Fear of the present, fear of the
future. What about the stones of
challenges and circumstances and situations that we can't change
in and of ourselves? You see many this morning are
devoted to Christ. They love the Lord Jesus, but
they even though they're devoted to Christ, they are sadly
defeated in their lives. It appears that they're stuck.
They have neither late nervation.
Now think of this. These women came with spaces,
two women committed to do a task to anoint the body of Jesus, but
they're confronted with a huge stone that they could not move.
So I asked simply, is that a picture of your life right now?
You see, this stone was more than just a physical object.
I believe it was a picture spiritually.
A picture of sin sealing men and women away from a relationship
with God. A picture of death that seals a
tomb that declares the end of hope.
A picture of despair shutting out expectation.
Whenever the Lord Jesus died in the cross, he cried.
It is finished, meaning the work of securing eternal redemption
was complete when Joseph put that big stone over the tomb
that sealed the tomb that shot in the body that was then sealed
by the Romans. Whatever the seal was, it said
to everyone, Christ is over. And yet the word of God
proclaims a wonderful message. Psalm 100 and 1822.
The stone which the builders refused rejected has become the
head of the corner. Men rejected that stone, but God
exalted Christ. Man sealed that stone in, but
God sent his Angel to open it, not to let Christ out, but to
let the woman in. Now the religion of the world
cannot deal with the stone of sin in our lives, can't deal
with the stone of guilt, can't deal with the stone of fear,
can't deal with the stone of despair.
Human effort cannot shift it. Time will not erode it.
And if that stone is to be moved, then only God can move
it. So I ask again, here's the
problem that the woman faced. A stone separated them between
them and Christ. Is that true of you this
morning? Do you need God to move the
stone of sin and guilt and fear and despair in your life?
Only He can do it and of course you have to want Him to do it.
You have to ask them who'll take this away for us?
Who will move the stone for us? The problem that the woman
faced, have you faith in Him as your trust in Christ?
The second thing I want you to discover is this the proof that
the woman find we read in verse 2 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.
You see that move stone was proof that the tomb was empty,
that the Lord Jesus was written physically, bodily, literally,
tangibly from the dead. Today, again, many ask, what
really happened to the body of the Lord Jesus?
See, that's a good question, isn't it?
But the stone rollback was wonderful proof that the Lord
Jesus was truly and really dead and yet truly and readily bodily
risen again. They they think with me of the
Garden Tomb. At the behest of the Jewish
authorities, the enemies sealed the tomb.
The soldiers guarded it. The big stone was meant forever.
The big stone spoke of a finality.
Christ is finished, it is all over.
And yet God sent 2 angels. One of them we read Roll back
the stone. As I've said, not to let Christ
out, He's already risen, but to let the woman in, to let the
disciples in, to witness this tremendous event.
God used the ruled backstone as a testimony.
I believed the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of the Lord
Jesus. This is not a feeble folks.
This is not the stuff of fairies tales.
No, this is factual. It is founded on solid and
concrete evidence. You see today many atheists,
agnostics, know what they tell us.
I don't believe that. They go even further.
I won't believe it. Who knows what really happened?
I don't really care about the evidence.
Well, I care about the evidence. I know the facts.
Listen to this. A man by the name of Frank
Morrison think he lived in the early 1900s.
He was a sceptic. Exactly what I'm saying.
I don't believe it. I won't believe it.
I don't care what really happened to the body.
Well, he set out to write a book to disprove the doctrine of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. For nine months he examined the
evidence. He carefully studied the gospel
records. He weighed up all the facts of
the death, burial, empty tomb of the Lord Jesus.
He literally followed the evidence and as he followed it
and followed it honestly, the evidence didn't lead him away
from Christ. Guess what?
It led him to Christ. And the Abuki intended to write
against the resurrection became a a defence of the resurrection.
It came to see that the stone was not moved by men, but only
by God himself who sent his Angel.
And you see, here's the problem today far too many professing
sceptics, professing atheists and agnostics, you know what
they do, They refuse to examine the evidence.
So today I want to throw in a challenge to them, all the hard
boiled atheists and Carrie Duff and beyond all the philosophical
minded agnostic. You bring your best explanation.
You tell us in the Christian community what you think
happened. You present your alternative
explanation because I want to tell you if you look at the
evidence seriously, you'll find the proof that the woman find.
And what was that proof? An Angel rolled back the stone.
See. What are the atheists and
agnostic and deniers of Bible believing Christianity?
What are their best explanations?
What's their alternative to what happened to the body other than
what we read in the Bible? Let me suggest very quickly what
about the temporary tomb theory? Joseph of Armathea moved Jesus
body to a different tomb. Joseph of Armathea was a wealthy
man according to John 1938 to 42.
He was very courageous in asking Pilate for the body of Jesus.
Pilate ascertained that Christ was dead.
Joseph of Armathea Nicodemus took the body down from the
cross, wrapped it in linen, and placed it in his own new tomb.
Matthew chapter 2760 says he laid it in his own new tomb,
which he'd tune out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone to
the door of the sepulchre and departed.
We've already read that Matthew 27 and in the verse 60 now in
John 1942, because the Sabbath day approached.
Remember, it was a High Sabbath. It was the Passover time.
The Lord Jesus died at 3:00 PM that day.
The Sabbath day would begin at sunset, at 6:00 PM, according to
the Jewish time. Jewish people would not work
after the Sabbath day. And this temporary tomb theory
says that sometime Joseph of Armathea returned and removed
the body to a different tomb. The first tomb was only
temporary. That's why it's called the
temporary tomb theory. John 20 and two, remember when
the woman Mary Magdalene ran to Peter and John, she said they
have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not
where they have laid him. Now we're going to ask the
question, when did Joseph of Armathea do this?
Why did Joseph of Armathea do it?
You see, it doesn't really hold up when you think about it.
In court it would be knocked down.
In court it would be said it doesn't really hold water.
Why? Because if Joseph of Armathea
came at the end of the weekly Sabbath day, not before, the
time would be 6:00 PM be dark. It would be the Saturday night.
Are we to suppose he removed the body by lamplight between sunset
and sunrise? I really suppose that he and a
few others carried a heavy body of Jesus grown and aged 33,
carry at some distance and put it in a a different and do it
all in the dark. He certainly couldn't move the
body without pilot's permission, without pilot's knowledge.
We get asked the question, what about the guards?
What about the Roman seal that needed to be broken?
What about permission to remove the body?
As I've said, it involved Pontius Pilate.
And then of course, you would have to have time to remove the
grave clothes and leave them behind and, and we're really
suggesting them carrying a naked body in the dark.
And if he got permission of the guards, then why was the guards
still at the tomb when the woman came?
And if Joseph of Armathea took the body and would say when he
didn't come between sunset and sunrise, he came in sunrise, he
came near the dawn, then he would have met the two women and
route to the Garden Tomb. And there's no record of that
meeting. There's no sign of both groups
at the tomb. So.
So we'll ask the question then. Did he carry it out in daylight?
Surely there was no great urgency.
Joseph of Armathea was delighted to ask for the body of Jesus
from Pilate. He placed it in his own new
tomb. I'm sure he was proud of that.
Where's the body of Jesus? He's in my new tomb.
So why would he want to move it? So we asked when we asked, why
would he want to move it? You see, it doesn't really hold
water very quickly. Listen to me.
Secondly, here's another alternative explanation from the
atheist agnostics. And those are deniers of Bible
believing Christianity this morning.
And that is the legal theory. The ruling authorities moved the
body. Is that true?
Who gave the order? Was it punch it?
Pilot? Had Pilot any real interest in
the dead body of the Lord Jesus? No, it wasn't the Roman
authorities, it was the Jewish authorities.
All right, well, remember what we read in Matthew chapter 28,
verse 11. Listen to the word of God.
Now when they were going, that's the woman, the disciples.
Behold some of the watch. The watch means the guards came
into the city and showed unto the chief priests all the things
that were done, And when they were assembled with the elders
and the taken council notice this, they gave large money unto
the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night and
stole him away while we slept. So why add this if the Jewish
authorities legally removed the body of Jesus from the tomb?
They had said to the guards, when this comes to the
governor's ears, we'll persuade him.
We read here in verse 15 that was commonly reported among the
Jews that the disciples came and stole the body.
You see, it's all connected. So we ask this question about
the Jewish authorities. Why pay this money if you've
already got the body of Jesus? And why say this message if they
moved the body? And here's another thing.
Seven weeks later, when Jerusalem was an uproar, the
disciples were preaching the doctrine of the literal, bodily
resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead.
Christ has risen. Indeed was the proclamation.
If they had the body, then all they had to do was produce the
body. Wasn't that the simple answer?
Jesus has risen from the dead. Hold on, wait a wee minute.
Right, boys? More.
You bring the body out here, we'll put it in the streets of
Jerusalem just before the temple.
Let everybody see Jesus is really dead.
Ha ha. We've got the body.
Didn't happen because they never had the body.
You see this legal theory that the ruling authorities moved the
body, whether it was Romans or Jewish.
Again, it doesn't hold water. Here's the third alternative
explanation, the Swin theory. What does that mean?
It means that Jesus didn't really die on the cross.
It was first proclaimed by a German atheist, Carl Frederick
Bahat. I hope I pronounced it right.
I probably haven't. He preached and proclaimed Jesus
didn't really die. He faked his death.
He only fainted on the cross. He was wounded that badly.
He lost consciousness. He he sort of passed out.
Then he was put into the cold tomb for three days.
And the coldness of the tomb somehow revived him and he
awoke. Remember, he's wrapped in grave
clothes with these spaces. He took off the grue grave
clothes. And he did all this in a dark
tomb, no light, haven't got a torch, no electricity.
So a wounded man and then he moved the stone from the inside.
Now for those of you who know the land of Israel, and I've
been there and I've been in the garden tomb and I saw the big
stone. I saw the channel that the stone
would have rolled up and down on.
And they used a wedge, of course, to help to keep the
stone in place. And that stone wedge would had
to have been moved from the outside.
No way a man could have moved it from the inside.
Also think today the Roman soldiers knew how to put people
to death. They knew how to kill.
They were masters at it. They crucified thousands of
people and when they said Jesus was dead, he was really dead.
And if you want more proof, the centurion took a spear, thrusted
into the sight of Christ and blood, blood and water came out.
And whenever the soldiers examined the body, they didn't
break the legs of Christ. Why?
Because they said John 19 verse 33, he is already dead.
These experts when they examined his body, he he wasn't fainting.
He was certainly wasn't faking. No, he was factually dead.
Who moved the stone? They're arguing through the
swing theory that a weak, wounded man revived a few days
after faking death. It's ludicrous.
It's from the lips of an atheist.
Here's the 4th alternative, which is very popular.
The woman went to the wrong tomb.
Oh dear. Help us.
The wrong tomb theory. The woman's getting complained.
Sorry, ladies. It was dark.
It was light was dim. They they were confused.
They were hallucinating. That we bet.
But the evidence in the book is here.
They followed the Lord Jesus from Galilee.
They ministered unto Him. Look 2355 to 56.
They beheld the sepulchre. They knew exactly where Joseph
Armatheatom was. They knew where the body was
laid. They returned and prepared
spaces. Having rested on the Sabbath day
and upon the first day of the week, these devote followers of
Jesus, Mary Magdalene and and Mary of Siloam and others, they
came to the right town. I'll tell you another line of
evidence. Mary said to Peter, They've
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they've laid him, that
those male disciples, Peter and John, when they came running to
the tomb, did they also come to the wrong tomb?
The answer is no. See, it doesn't hold up.
Here's the 5th explanation very quickly.
The disciples stole the body. This is very popular among the
atheists and the Christ deniers and the agnostics.
It's called the stolen body theory.
Now, now, listen to this. The disciples had to plot to
steal the body. This is what you would have to
believe. The disciples overcome their
natural fear, risking their lives even at the point of death
to steal the body. Remember, they'd left him at the
cross. They had abandoned him.
The disciples, remember, had power.
This is the third thing we're saying to overpower the guards,
all 20 of them. They then broke the Roman seal
upon pain of death, take the body out again, removing it from
the grave clothes, leaving the grave clothes to make it look
real, moving A2 tonne stone tipping around these yards even
if they'd given them something for them to go to sleep, and
then doing it without making any noise.
Here's the fourth thing the disciples preached the
resurrection after Christ arose from the dead.
I really believe they're preaching and teaching was based
on a lie. Why would they want to mount a
mass of deception? When the Lord Jesus died, their
hopes were dashed. They were devastated.
They were defeated. We had hoped he had been the one
to save Israel. Here's another line of evidence.
Bring it into the courtroom. The fifth thing the disciples
endured great suffering and martyrdom for a lie to pretend
that he had conquered death. They were lionhearted witnesses
for the resurrection. Are we to suppose they were
willing to die for a lie? Thomas was absolutely convinced.
My Lord and my God, Peter was changed.
He preached the resurrection at Pentecost.
You see, let me bring this to a conclusion.
These five suggested alternative explanations.
These are the best of the atheist and the agnostic and the
Christ deniers can come up with. They come up with us temporary
tomb theory, this legal theory, this swing theory, this wrong
tomb theory, the stolen body theory.
But not one of them holds up in court.
Not one of them holds up to the facts of sound evidence and
analysis. There's so much evidence I'm
going to ask them not to date. I'm asking them this morning to
stop denying, to seriously examine the evidence, to take it
as seriously as they would any court case in a court of law,
and then to stand in the basis of evidence and say it's either
true or false. If I can help, please don't be
afraid to e-mail, send a text, contact Mark here on the sign
desk. Let me finish this morning not
only the problem that the woman faced and the proof that they
find the empty tomb against these 5 alternative explanations
of the atheist and the agnostic. Let's think as we close the
proclamation that the woman felt.
If you go back to our text, it says at the end, the last four
verse 4 words of verse 2 and sat upon it.
The Angel sat upon the stone. The Angel rested on the thing
that was sealed. Why did the Angel set on the
stone? I believe it was to send it a
message, make a proclamation, the work was finished and the
victory was complete. Remember, the stone wasn't moved
to let the Lord Jesus out. He was already risen.
It was moved to let the woman in, to let the disciples in, to
let the witnesses in, to see. Remember what the Angel said.
He is not here for His risen, as he said, Come see the place
where the Lord lay. What's heaven declaring a
proclamation that the woman felt?
And what was that proclamation? Listen to me as we finish.
Death is defeated, He is risen. The woman asked the question,
Who will roll the stone? And the stone is gone.
The big concern, it was already handled.
Are you here this morning and you're fearful?
Are you worried about the future?
Are you upset with things as they are, your circumstances and
your situation in life? Let me tell you, God's already
there. God is in the present.
And if you're worried about things are going to happen,
God's already at work. He's an absolute sovereign
control. And if this God who moved the
stone from the tomb to let the woman in, he can move the stones
in your life, whether it's sin, guilt, fear, despair, whatever
your circumstances are, there's the proclamation that the woman
felt death is defeated. Victory is complete.
Enter into the victory of Christ and experience resurrection
power and glory in your life. Even now.
Claim it by faith and rejoice and give thanks to God.
May the Lord take this word this morning.
You've been so patient. Thank you for coming.
Thank you for listening and may the Lord bless us and use it for
His glory.