Jesus is not here: He is risen
Matthew 28:1-10
Introduction:
This morning for the Christian is a celebration. It is in the remembrance of the first resurrection Sunday. The word Easter appears only in the KJV one time(Acts 12:4), but proper remembrance would be the resurrection.
I have nothing against the Easter Bunny , but the celebration is because of Jesus Christ. The one who has conquered the grave and stood the world on end.
I do not think that it is a coincidence that at this most holy week for Christians that Newsweek came out with an article that says”Christianity down in America”.
Atheism is up.
Post Christian thinking is turning a corner. (I pray that it just keeps going)
Listening to twits like Christopher Hitshens, who wrote a book called “God is not great)
Or the disturbing writings of philosopher Neitzske.
Lets not talk about :
The atheist Christopher Hitshens.
The philosopher Neitzske.
Lets not even talk about the great evangelist Billy Graham who has spoken over the last 60 years to over 250 million people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Lets talk about Jesus Christ
Last week Jesus was celebrated as He enters Jerusalem, and honored and hailed as the leader for the Jews, then when he doesn’t do what they expected, but did what God the Father told Him, we see Him arrested, tried, crucified.
Each of the gospels records the event- each adding important parts to the plan of God.
Mark- Adds that Jesus the Nazarene
Luke- Why do you look for the living among the dead.
John- gives the account of the folded burial cloth (we will look at later).
It is a fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
That is all documented and proven by the witnesses who recorded it.
The Romans wanted to tell everyone that the disciples stole the body. Matthew 28:12.
The problem with that is that on one would be willing to die for a lie.
The Romans could of shot down the whole resurrection account simply by producing the body of Jesus.
Christ predicted His resurrection.
John 2:19- “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”.
Matthew 12:40- “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
The angel at the tomb- “He is not here, for He is risen, as he has said”
Here’s the question- what are you going to do with this Jesus?
He is the risen Lord- you accept what He has done and you have a born again experience and He becomes your risen Lord.
He is the risen Lord- you reject what He has done, and you are lost in your sins.
The gospel is good news
If you remove the resurrection from the gospel, you don’t have food news anymore.
There is no such thing as a ½ gospel.
“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:7)
Believing in a dead savior is meaningless and pathetic.
Kevin this week talked about heaven, you missed a good one. Heaven is only available to us through Jesus Christ.
Good people will miss heaven. It is about a Savior, not good people.
Those that put their trust in Jesus Christ will make heaven their home.
Illustration-(Sermon Central)
If you were being chased by a madman, and you had to choice of running either to a house full of people or a cemetery for help. Where would you run? I think I would chose the house full of people. Why? Because the house full of people could help while the cemetery is filled with dead people.
The gospel is good news. It really is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes”
The events of the resurrection of Christ , which we now call Easter cannot be reduced to a creed.
The disciples do not want you to believe in the doctrine of the resurrection. We are asked to meet the person that was raised from the dead. Ultimate truth is in the person of Jesus Christ.
“I am the way, the truth, the life, no man comes to the Father except through me”
Question 1
what are you going to do with Jesus?
Reject or accept what he has done.
One to eternal life with Him. One to eternal life condemned in your sins.
Question 2
If you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, what does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you?
The empty tomb changed everything for the disciples, and it changes everything for you and I .
The resurrection provides us an opportunity to start over.
No matter what your circumstances, as long as your breathing , you have an opportunity to change.
It gives us hope. We can put our trust into something bigger than ourselves.
It demonstrates that God is sovereign. He is the builder and architect of our future.
Easter is a reminder that the ultimate assurance of victory and hope we have for the future is the fact that Jesus Christ came up from the grave and conquered death.
We have that blessed power as believers that we have the same resurrection power over death and the grave.
O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
“By one man(Adam) sin entered into the world and death by sin”
At one time there was perfect life in the garden. Perfect fellowship with God.
Sin came into the world.
Sin destroyed that fellowship between man/ God.
God the Father sent God the Son to reconcile and redeem that relationship.
The song writer tried to capture the excitement of the resurrected Savior
Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o,er his foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with his saints to reign.
He arose, He Arose Hallelujah, Christ Arose
What does that mean to us?
God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners (Roman 5:8)
Everything that Jesus did for us- He did out of love.
He didn’t just say that He loved us, he showed us.
There is this crazy myth that we have to clean ourselves up before we come to God. I’ve got to get my act together first. No, you come to God first. He takes the good, the bad, the ugly.
Why do we do that ? Try to clean up first?
Like brushing your teeth just before you go to the dentist for a teeth cleaning.
My wife is always telling me, clean that dish before you put it in the dishwasher.
You don’t have to clean up your act first. Jesus says come as you are, only come with a pure heart.
Romans 10:9
“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”
key words- believe in your heart.
God is not asking you to make a promise you cannot keep.
God is asking you to believe a promise that only He can keep.
The empty tomb means Jesus is alive
It means that Jesus did exactly what He said He would do.
The empty tomb means to us that there is forgiveness.
That our relationship with God the Father can be restored through our relationship with God the Son. Jesus Christ .
It means that our sins can be forgiven. Washed away-erased.
It means no matter what we have done, the blood of Christ can erase it if we ask Him too.
“He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His strips we are healed”
Healed from the eternal punishment of our sins.
The last thing here:
The empty tomb means that we can have a new opportunity and a new life.
It means that God is greater than our sins.
It means that we have hope. His name is Jesus Christ.
God sees two kinds of people this morning.
Those that have already been saved (those that accepted what He did)
Those that need to be saved (those that know in their hearts that they have not accepted Jesus)
There si not big sinners and little sinners.
God says “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God)
John 3:17
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”
God is still in the redeeming business.
God still welcomes back those who have back slidden.
John chapter 20
John account of the empty tomb.
(V6)- “Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb, he saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
God had a plan.
God has brought that plan to completion in Jesus Christ.
To understand the meaning of this verse we have to understand the Hebrew meaning. The servant would set the table for his master, everything had a place. The table would be set, the servant would wait out of the way. When the master was finished eating, he would raise from the table, wipe his fingers, wipe his mouth, and clean his beard. He would then toss the napkin unto the table. The servant would then would clear the table. A wadded up napkin meant “I’m done”. If the master got up from the table and folded his napkin and lay it aside his plate. It meant that he was not finished. It meant that he was coming back.
Jesus the resurrected Lord folded his head napkin. It meant that he was coming back
Pardon me for a Nazarene shout, but praise the Lord, He is coming Back
Is that important You bet
This Easter can be the best Easter ever.
I pray that you are blessed with the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as your savior and the knowledge that He is coming back.
Altar call:
Rev 1:8-
“I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for ever more, and have the keys of hell and death.”
Death and sin does not have to hold you this morning. You can have victory through Christ.
Please rate so I will know what you thought.
