Easter Preparations - Part 4 Series

4/17/22 Christ Fellowship

Easter Prep -- Part 4 -- Matthew 28

Somebody define the word "miracle" for me. How would you describe what a miracle is? I googled it and it came up with this that I found interesting: "a miracle is a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency". Then it gave this example: "the miracle of rising from the grave." I thought that was pretty appropriate for today.

Now somebody tell me of a biblical miracle that you would love to have seen. The parting of the Red Sea, Daniel in the lion's den, Sampson doing all his strongman stuff, the walls of Jericho falling down, the plagues of Egypt, and the big fish swallowing Jonah are all great examples of miracles. They are all surprising events that can't be explained and have to be attributed to God.

Do you believe those miracles really happened? Now, I know that you would, of course, say "yes" this morning as we sit here with our church family. But do you really believe that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3) were real people that really got thrown into a real fire and walked around in it and never got burned? I hope you do. God is the God of miracles.

Now, this question is maybe a little more difficult. What is the definition of "providence"? I looked that up and it said that providence was "God's power sustaining and guiding human destiny". Give me an example of providence. My favorite example of providence in scripture is Joseph who was sold by his brothers, charged with a crime he didn't commit, put in jail, interpreted some dreams and became second in command of all Egypt and was therefore able to protect and provide for his family -- even those brothers that sold him. Only God could have ordained all those events.

Now, let me ask you if you truly believe in God's providence? Do you truly believe that God is able to accomplish what He wants done even when people sin? I mean, sin is never God's will. Doesn't that throw a wrench into God's sovereign plan of providence? No. It doesn't. That's why it is obvious that God is at work and it's not just fate or destiny or some other man-made term. God is the God of providence.

God is the God of miracles and God is the God of providence and so when God says in Isaiah 55:9, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" He is talking about using miracles and providence like only He can. Miracles and providence are things only God can do.

We have been preparing ourselves for this Easter Sunday for the last three weeks by looking at the circumstances and attitudes that led up to the death and resurrection of Jesus. And all through here we see the providence of God. You can literally trace it all the way back to Adam and Eve but it really starts to be obvious in the little book of Ruth that we just got through studying before this.

Do you remember at the very end of Ruth, the last paragraph that is just another one of those "begat" passages that has a bunch of hard-to-pronounce names? If you just read that, you wonder why on earth that is there for. But there we see that Ruth -- in God's providence -- marries Boaz and they have a kid. No big deal, right? And that kid has a kid and on it goes until it says that their great, great grandkid was...David, as in, King David, which is cool in and of itself but who else then comes from the line of David? Bingo. There's Jesus. God's providence.

But I hear ya. "Todd, that's almost interesting but what does that have to do with Easter? What does God's providence and God's miracles have to do with the resurrection of Jesus?" Well, I hope the answer to that question is obvious or, at least, will be obvious as we read our passage this morning. Turn to Matthew 27.

And as you turn to Matthew 27, you may be asking why you hear the same story every Easter. Well, I'm pretty sure that the last guy to preach anything really new was maybe the Apostle Paul or maybe Peter or one of those guys. And like the Apostle Paul, I too will say, "I preach Christ and Him crucified." (1 Cor. 1:23)

So, turn please to Matthew 27 and I want to read verses 45-50 first and then we will read some more and maybe some more after that. Matthew 27:45-50 says, "From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah." 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him." 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit."