Four friends were talking about death. One asked the other three, "When you are in your casket and people are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you?" The first man said, "I’d like to hear them say that I was a fine physician in my time and a great family man." The second fellow said, "I’d like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and a school teacher who made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow." The third man replied, "I’d like to hear them say, ’Look, he’s moving!’ "
Seriously, I think I’d like to hear the words that Jesus spoke to Martha after her brother Lazarus had died. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.” - John 11:25-26 (NLT).
As Christians, we believe that Easter is the Focal Point of History.
Picture a time-line with a cross in the center. The Bible tells us that every moment from Creation on has been leading up to the cross (as part of God’s eternal plan), and that every moment since is lived in light of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s very clear.
"The cross rests on the time line of history like a compelling diamond. Its tragedy summons all sufferers. Its absurdity attracts all cynics. It’s hope lures all searchers. History has idolized it and despised it, gold-plated it and burned it, worn and trashed it. History has done everything to it but ignore it. That’s the one option that the cross does not offer. No one can ignore it! You can’t ignore a piece of lumber that suspends the greatest claim in history. It’s bottom line is sobering: if the account is true, it is history’s hinge. Period. If not, it is history’s hoax. That’s why the cross is what matters." - Max Lucado -"No Wonder They Call Him Savior"
Through-out the centuries men have been divided over the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Believers have declared that our Lord’s death is the means whereby we might have deliverance from the penalty of sin and that our Lord’s resurrection is the ultimate proof of Christ’s victory over sin’s penalty - that His victory over physical death demonstrates His victory over spiritual death. Unbelievers, however, have sought to reject the fact of Christ’ death and resurrection by means of repudiation and ridicule.
Some, in their attempt to discredit the story of the cross and resurrection have suggested that Jesus didn’t really die, but that He simply "swooned." He fainted on the cross and faked out the Romans soldiers (who were experts in executing criminals through crucifixion and recognizing when people were dead).
They obviously didn’t recognize that He was still alive, or else they would have broken His legs (John 19:33). He was taken from the cross, laid in a tomb, then in the dampness of the tomb, was awakened from His fainted state, and snuck away.
Folks, it takes more faith to believe in this ridiculous theory than to accept the truth of the Biblical account.
One lady wrote in to a question and answer forum: "Dear Sir, Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered."
She received the following reply, "Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear thru his side; put him hi an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens."
Others have suggested that the disciples conjured up the tale about the resurrection in order to keep their movement going. The story of the resurrection, then, is nothing other than the product of a conspiracy.
Charles Colson, the former counsel of President Nixon, convicted conspirator in the Watergate scandal, writes that the Watergate cover up convinced him that Jesus was raised from the dead. He said, "There were only 8 or 10 of us in the inner circle around the president who really knew what was going on." He said, "All we had to do was stonewall for a couple of months and the Watergate scandal would be over. We had all the power and prestige of the presidency at our fingertips. And if the truth broke there would be embarrassment and perhaps a prison sentence. There was no grave danger.
Our lives were not threatened, but we could not hold the conspiracy together for more than 2 weeks. We could not contain the lie. Once prosecution was possible the natural instincts of self preservation was so overwhelming that the conspirators one by one deserted their leaders. They caved in and they stood in line at the prosecutor’s office to escape jail."
Colson concludes," I know that the disciples could not perpetuate a lie like the resurrection, because it was not just their reputations that were at stake, their lives were in danger. They had no clout, they had nothing to gain by the lie and yet everyone of them stood fast in the conviction that Jesus is alive.
Take it from one who saw first hand how vulnerable a cover up is: nothing less than a witness as awesome as the resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive, and He is Lord!"
I submit to you that the burden of proof does not lie with believers who must prove the resurrection of Christ to be true, but with unbelievers who must proves it to be false. We could offer proof after proof concerning the truth of the Biblical account of our Lord’s resurrection, but as our passage illustrates, if people are determined not to believe, the facts will not make a difference.
Ever since that Sunday when Jesus was raised from the dead, there have been two responses to the resurrection. There is the response of the soldiers who were there at the instant the stone was rolled away and then there is the response of the women who discovered the empty tomb. They typify for us the responses that people give to the fact of the resurrection even today.
In what we are told about the guards at the tomb, we see ...
1. The response of defiant denial - vs. 2-4; 11-15
Matthew tells us that the guards accepted a bribe to spread the rumor that Jesus’ disciples came during the night and stole his body.
Frankly, the whole thing strikes me as rather peculiar - not just that they’d put their careers in jeopardy by lying and saying that they allowed a bunch of wimpy Jewish fishermen to steal a body - but that despite having been there when the stone was rolled away, for the sake of a few dollars, they chose to deny it. They were there when the earth shook. They saw the stone roll. They saw the angel descend.
They were witnesses of the empty tomb, and yet they chose to NOT believe - to NOT let it alter their lives in any way. They could have become the chief spokesmen for the gospel! Instead they took a bribe to deny the very thing they’d seen - as awesome as the whole event was. That doesn’t make good sense.
Some people say, "Seeing is believing. Give me some undeniable proof that all this God stuff is real and relevant." Or "How come all of these stories happen way back when and none of this ever happens to me? Let me see with my own eyes and I’ll believe." But the soldiers make me wonder if there is not more to it than simply seeing and believing.
Cartoonist Johnny Hart who draws BC illustrated this point well through one of his cartoons.
The caveman is on his knees praying and expressing how difficult it is to have faith. He says "Faith is knowing you’re not just talking to a rock.” He is obviously struggling with proof of God’s existence.
Then in the next frame God gives him evidence to His existence as a volcano blows up in the background, a daisy sprouts from the ground and topples a rock, a wave washes over him, and two meteors converge in the sky to form the image of a cross.
Finally the drenched caveman stands up and as he walks by a burning bush and an empty tomb, he mutters, "Every time I bring up this subject all we get is interruptions."
How is it that some people see and others do not? How is it that some people with little personal evidence are quick to turn their lives over to Christ and others with a tremendous first hand experience of God’s power turn on him? I don’t pretend to fully understand or be able to explain it, but I know that ever since that first resurrection morn, there have been those who have defiantly denied the truth to their own destruction.
On the other hand, as exemplified by Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, there are those who give . . .
2. The response of joyful acceptance - vs. 5-8
These two women came to grieve and pay their respects to Jesus. They saw the angel, too. And they were afraid. The angel takes a look at the them and saw how white they’d become. The first thing he said to them is “Don’t be afraid.”
And you know the rest of the story. The angel says, "Hey, I know you’re looking for Jesus who was crucified, right? Well, He’s not here. Have a look-see in the tomb. His body was over there. But He’s gone because He’s been raised from the dead just like He said He’d be. Go tell the other disciples and He’ll meet you all in Galilee."
Verse 8 says the women ran quickly from the tomb. They were filled with joy and ran to give witness of the resurrection to the disciples.
Both parties went and told, but only one party believed. They had both experienced the results of the resurrection. Both had fear. But only the women responded with faith and trust. Consequently, while fear still controlled the soldiers, the women overcame their fears and knew joy and fulfillment!
A letter was sent from the Greenville County, South Carolina, Department of Social Services. The letter was written to a dead person. It said: "To whom it may concern: Your food stamps will be stopped effective immediately, because we have received notice that you passed away. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."
I don’t know about you, but there’s only one person I know of who has had that kind of "change of circumstances," and that is Jesus Christ! And the Good News is that because of the conquest of sin, Satan, death, and hell through His crucifixion and resurrection, we, through faith in Him, can have a change in our circumstances, too.
“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” - Hebrews 2:14-15 (NLT)
Another Easter morning B.C. comic shows a tomb. It’s night and the stone covers the opening of the tomb. In the second frame you see light shining around the edges of the stone. In the next frame you’re in Peter’s cave. There’s a rumble as the stone comes rolling through the door of Peter’s cave only to crash with a loud "bang" which wakes up Peter. Peter steps out of his cave and sees the tomb. A cross shaped star is shining overhead. You can see the trail that the rolling stone left. Peter heads up to the tomb. When he gets there he sees footprints in the dirt and begins to follow them. The sun is starting to rise.
Peter follows the footprints down the hill right up to a small lake. The sun is fully risen and the footprints go right across the water. When Peter looks across the lake he sees a snake obviously mad and recovering from some sort of trauma. The snake says, "Well, that was rude! Some guy just stepped on my head."
Obviously, Johnny Hart is making a reference of Genesis 3:15, where it is foretold that Satan would bruise the heal of the Messiah, but that the Messiah would crush Satan’s head.
Had the stone not been rolled away; had Jesus been left in the tomb to rot; had Jesus not risen from the dead; then sin would have won. I’m here to tell you that the stone has been rolled away. Jesus did step on the head of the snake. He not only stepped on it but he crushed the life out of it. Satan & sin need no longer rule our lives. Satan & sin have been defeated. He is risen.
A three-year-old girl, Nicole, was as anxious for Easter to come as she had been for Christmas to arrive. One day, she and her father stopped at a store to buy her a new pair of shoes, and she once again said, "I can’t wait for Easter Daddy!" Her dad asked, "Do you know what Easter means?" She replied, "Yes." "Well, what does Easter mean?" With arms raised, a smile on her face, and at the top of her voice she said, "Surprise!"
What better word could sum up the meaning of Easter! Surprise, death! Surprise, sin! Surprise, Satan! Surprise, powers of evil! Surprise, all who live in fear and despair! Christ is risen! He’s alive! Our lives can truly be different through faith in Him! Surprise!
What will your response be to the fact of Christ’s resurrection? Why not joyfully accept Him as your living Lord and Savior today and discover the wonderful surprise of different your life can be?
