The Empty Tomb Is A Place Of Life Series

THE EMPTY TOMB IS A PLACE OF LIFE

MATTHEW 28:1—10 APRIL 20, 2003

Matthew 28:1-10

1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2There 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. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then 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."

8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:

Today we take another trip to a place of the Passion--the empty tomb. We can be just as excited as the women were, anxious to see what was going to be at the tomb. As we heard in our text for today, they found what they did not expect. What we find is that the empty tomb (and on this Easter Sunday we come to the last place of the Passion) is not really the end of the places of the Passion; it is just the very beginning of the story. The empty tomb because it is empty is a place of life…more than just life…it is eternal life. In the gospel of John (it would be a good chapter to read when you get home) we have the chapter of Jesus being the Good Shepherd of the sheep. JOHN 10:11 tells us, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd.” He refers to eternal life and that’s what you and I are going to talk about today. This empty tomb is a place of life. We’re going to learn again for ourselves what it means to have the full life, not just a life filled with earthly blessings, but also a life filled with the fact that Christ has been raised so that you and I and every believer will be raised with Him. We consider this resurrection fact as Matthew tells us

THE EMPTY TOMB IS A PLACE OF LIFE

I. Come and see

II. Go and tell

I. Come and see

These women could hardly wait. The law said, ‘No work on the Sabbath’, so when Jesus was crucified, He was quickly taken down from the cross and placed unprepared in a tomb because it was the Sabbath. They were not to work. 1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. At dawn on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. We are told in the original that at the very first hint of light they went. It was then that the Sabbath was over and they could work. They could go to the tomb and finish preparing the body of Jesus. That was not going to happen.

2There 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. Once again, we have nature testifying to the power of its Creator by a violent earthquake. The angel comes down and rolls back the stone. We heard in Mark (16:1-8, today’s Gospel Lesson) as the women were going there, they were wondering how they were going to move the stone. When they get there the stone is rolled back already. We note the reaction of those who were there. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. You can imagine they were frightened. They weren’t scared to death, but in a sense, they were scared stiff as our text says. They were scared and lying around like dead men. They were scared of this holiness of God that was before them. The angel of the Lord rolled back the stone (this stone which took several men to roll it into place).