Jesus' Resurrection Series

Scripture

Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem took place on Palm Sunday. He went to the temple and chased away the money changers. He returned that evening to Bethany, where he stayed throughout the week. Each of next few days, Jesus returned to Jerusalem. He was confronted by religious leaders. And he taught his disciples. On Thursday evening, he celebrated the final Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper. Later that evening he was betrayed by Judas. On Friday, Jesus was crucified and died. He was buried in the tomb of a disciple named Joseph of Arimathea. And there he lay.

That set the stage for the most important event in history.

Let’s read about Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 28:1-10:

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” 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 tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” (Matthew 28:1-10)

Introduction

Ken Davis writes about a woman who looked out of her window and saw her German shepherd shaking the life out of her neighbor’s rabbit. Her family did not get along well with these neighbors, so this was shaping up to be a disaster.

She grabbed a broom and swatted her dog until it dropped the now extremely dead rabbit out of its mouth. She panicked. She did not know what else to do. She took the rabbit inside, gave it a bath, blow dried it to its original fluffiness, combed it until that rabbit was looking good, snuck into her neighbor’s yard, and propped the rabbit back up in its cage.

An hour later she heard screams coming from next door. She went out and asked her neighbor, “What’s going on?”

“Our rabbit! Our rabbit!” her neighbor cried. “He died two weeks ago. We buried him, and now he’s back!”

People in the ancient world knew that dead rabbits don’t come back again. They stay dead.

In the decades prior to Jesus, there were many claiming to be God’s Messiah. In every case, the would-be Messiah got crucified by Rome, just as Jesus eventually did. Nowhere do we ever read of the slightest mention by his disappointed followers claiming that their hero had been raised from the dead. They knew better. They knew that dead people stay dead.

However, that changed with Jesus. Three days after Jesus’ death by crucifixion, he was raised back to life again.

The resurrection of Jesus is the most staggering, life-changing event in all world history.

Lesson

Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 28:1-10 teaches us what his resurrection accomplished for sinners.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. What Happened at Jesus’ Resurrection? (28:1-10)

2. What Does Jesus’ Resurrection Mean for Us?

I. What Happened at Jesus’ Resurrection? (27:32-56)

First, what happened at Jesus’ resurrection?

Jesus was crucified on what we call Good Friday. He hung on the cross from 9 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., when he died. When it was clear that Jesus was dead, Joseph of Arimathea, who had become a disciple of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. Then he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb, watching what Joseph was doing.

The next day, the religious leaders went to Pilate and asked that a guard be placed at the tomb because they recalled that Jesus had said that he would be raised back to life after three days. Pilate ordered a guard of soldiers to protect the tomb. So the religious leaders went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard (Matthew 27:57-66).