The Grave Wasn’t the End
Matthew 27:57-28:15
November 15, 2009
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Introduction
This is the third Sunday in November, and normally we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving, with thoughts of grandma and grandpa, turkey, pumpkin pie, and football on TV.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go home and have all that right now, how about you?
Well today, we’re not going to talk about Thanksgiving, we’re going to talk about Easter.
We’re going to look at the day Jesus rose from the grave.
Why? Because that’s where we’re at in our walk through the gospel of Matthew.
It’s pretty much that simple.
And in looking at Easter today, I have a real simple goal: to help strengthen your faith in the historical truth about how Jesus overcame death in His resurrection.
And my hope is that even those of you who have believed in Jesus’ death and resurrection for many years will find even more encouragement and even more reason to rejoice in the hope that the resurrection brings.
God: We’re doing something a little different today in that the portion of Scripture we’re looking at actually covers parts of two chapters of Matthew.
They’re right next to each other, and describe related events.
The first portion describes the burial of Jesus, while the second portion describes what the people discovered three days later.
Matthew 27:57-28:15 (p. 706) –
57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
This is very important. Not only is a name given for the owner of the tomb, it also gives the names of witnesses who saw where Jesus was buried.
I’ll mention why this is important in a bit.
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ’After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."
65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Then we move onto the first portion of chapter 28:
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
Remember, these were the same women who had seen where He was buried.
2 There 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. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then 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."
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, "You are to say, ’His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
Next week I’m going to focus on what the resurrection brings us. Just like the crucifixion brought redemption, the resurrection brings us something as well.
But today I want to look at some of the ideas people have as to why they believe the resurrection is false.
We’re not going to spend a lot of time on these, but want to give you some idea of what people have said over the centuries about why they believe the resurrection never happened.
And by the way, when I talk about the resurrection, I mean a physical, bodily resurrection, not just a “spiritual” resurrection that some claim took place.
He rose physically out of the grave. The stone was rolled away so the disciples could see that.
Theories against the resurrection:
1. The disciples stole the body.
This was the very first theory about why the tomb was empty.
The idea is that the disciples came in and snuck Jesus out while the Roman guard was in place or while they were sleeping.
But there are a few problems with that:
First, the guard was put in place specifically to guard the body against just such a thing.
The guard was made up of at least 4, and probably closer to 16 highly trained and disciplined soldiers.
Second, the guard would not have fallen asleep. Falling asleep on duty was a capital offense. In other words, the punishment for falling asleep on duty was execution.
Third, even if the guards were asleep, can you imagine a bunch of guys sneaking by the guards, breaking the seal, moving a 1½ - 2 ton rock and then sneaking the body out – all without waking up the guards?
Why this theory is false: The presence of the guard would have prevented it.
Not likely. The second theory is that…
2. The religious leaders moved the body to keep the disciples from stealing it.
The main problem with that idea is that if it were true, they could have brought out the body any time to show that the resurrection was false.
But they didn’t. In fact, they bribed the guards because they couldn’t explain why the body was gone.
So the main reason this theory is false: they never produced the body they supposedly hid from the disciples.
A third theory was that…
3. The women went to the wrong tomb.
The idea is that when the women went to the tomb on Sunday, they simply went to the wrong tomb.
But remember what I said after verse 61 of chapter 27 – the tomb belonged to a specific person who was known to Pilate, the man did the burying himself and the burial was witnessed by the two women who found the tomb empty.
They went to the right tomb. Not to mention the fact that the angel had rolled away the stone just for sake of showing them that Jesus had, indeed, risen.
But the main reason this is a false theory is that the women witnessed the burial first-hand.
Here’s the fourth theory:
4. Jesus wasn’t really dead (swoon theory).
This is a very popular theory.
The idea is that Jesus just passed out, and so He wasn’t resurrected, he was resuscitated.
Two problems with that:
One, the soldiers who crucified Jesus were professional executioners. They knew death and how to tell if someone was dead.
The other gospels tell us that they had to make sure He was dead before Pilate would give the body to Joseph.
And even if He hadn’t died on the cross, being wrapped in 100 pounds of linen and spices would have finished the job by suffocating Him.
But let’s go a little farther. Even if this were true, and even if the guards were sleeping, can you imagine Jesus doing what the disciples were accused of doing – pushing the stone away and sneaking out past the sleeping guards without waking them up?
And that’s after He busted out of the grave clothes and 100+ pounds of spices.
The main reason this is a false theory: Jesus was pronounced dead by His professional executioners.
Don’t think that’s what happened…
Here’s the last theory we’ll look at today:
5. The disciples were hallucinating.
In the book, Evidence for the Resurrection, the Josh and Sean McDowell cover 6 reasons why this could not be the case, but let me just cover the gist of one of the reasons they mention by having you look at 1 Corinthians 15:4-8 –
…He was buried, …(and) was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and … he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Paul was appealing to the fact that there were hundreds of people who could back up the story of Jesus have been raised from the dead, just like the Scriptures predicted and like Jesus said He would, because they had actually laid eyes on Him after His death and resurrection.
It’s possible for individual hallucinations to occur, although the conditions for hallucinations didn’t exist in the lives of the disciples.
But over 500 people – at the same time? Not happenin’.
The main reason this is a false theory is that there is no such thing as mass hallucinations, according to psychologists and psychiatrists.
Hallucinations are individual events, not group events.
Oh – and when was the last time a hallucination was able to have people touch it’s flesh and actually ate real food, like He did on the shore with the original apostles?
I think that those who really believe that theory are experiencing a different mental phenomenon: delusions.
Folks, these are just five of the many reasons people give for denying the resurrection happened.
There are more, and they are all as false as the one’s we’ve looked at.
I’ve given you a very short list of resources you can go to for more information about the truth of the resurrection.
This list is just a start, but they’ll get you going real well.
You: Well, I’ve just given you some information about why we can believe the resurrection is true.
But now what? What should we do with that information?
Grab hold of the fact that the resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact.
And if it’s true, that means that everything Jesus said about what He came to do is true.
It also means everything He said about what it means to be a Christian and follower of His is true.
And so if you are not yet a Christian – if you are not yet someone who has put their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven, then I invite you do to that today.
Put your trust in the One who proved that He is the true God by raising from the dead to give you eternal life.
Walk out of here today knowing that your eternity is squared away and that your present is given new meaning, purpose, and significance.
And if you are already a Christian, then I would invite you to re-commit your life to the risen Savior.
Recommit your life to the One who died and rose so that you might have life and have it to the full as you live for Him.
We: Folks, we don’t believe in a myth. We believe in a historical figure who died a death that was witnessed and recorded not only by His followers, but also by those who didn’t follow Jesus.
And who not only died, but rose again, testified to by over 500 people, many of whom gave their lives for that truth.
Our faith is one that is based on historical fact.
And yet so many Christians don’t live like it’s real and true. They live like it’s just another religious idea floating around out there.
The world needs to see that you believe in something more than a religious idea.
They need to see that this is not only a fact, but a life-changing fact that effects all of eternity, including yours.
Will that see that in you, or will they see the usual hum-drum church-going semi-religious person who has no more going for them than the average person on the street who has no interest in God whatsoever?
I hope they see the risen Jesus living in you – full of power and glory as you live for Him above yourself.
Let’s pray.
