Up from the grave He arose
Matthew 28:1-10
Introduction-
Matthew 28:1-10- (Have them stand for the reading of the Word)
We have all watched on TV the devastation of tornadoes in Texas. You see tractor trailers flying through the air like toys. You see it on TV, but have a hard time grasping the devastation because you are not there.
While I lived in Corpus Christie Texas, a few times I had to board windows and pick up anything loose sitting in my yard because a storm was coming in from the Gulf of Mexico.
How can it be beautiful 0ne day and next being warned that for our safety we were to head up the coast to San Antonio, Texas? Now, I never doubted people when they told me of such winds, but until I saw it, it had no credibility.
Seeing is believing right?
How many times have we heard that?
Science and technology today wants to prove everything. Show me validation!
We come to another Easter celebration and we read and consider the story of what happen with Jesus on that resurrection day.
We are told to believe the most amazing story and event ever!
Jesus was tortured, crucified, left for dead on the cross, then buried in a borrowed tomb and resurrected from the dead.
What would it take to believe that happened if you are an unbeliever this morning?
What did it take for you to believe that as a believer this morning?
If you are skeptical this morning, if you saw the resurrection with your own eyes, would that do it for you?
Would that take away any doubt?
John has something to say about that in Johns account in john chapter 20.
John’s gospel account is about seeing and believing. What does it mean to believe?
Throughout the gospel, many people saw who Jesus was. They witnessed Him doing amazing things!
Blind healed
Lame people were walking
They saw a man raised from the dead
Not to mention all the great teachings.
It would seem logical to think that all these hands-on people that were with Jesus all believed. They did not.
John makes it clear that many people seeing Jesus do these things had faith in Him as the Son of God, but he also makes it equally clear that some heard the same things and did not believe.
Don’t believe me!
Many disciples and women ran to that tomb Easter resurrection morning. They saw the empty tomb. But they had different conclusions!
Someone has stolen His body
They have moved him.
He has risen like He said
Perhaps it is possible to see yet not really see, seeing is not necessarily believing.
Different responses to seeing the same thing.
A little while later John is hiding behind closed doors with the disciples scared and none of them understand what was going on.
They all witnessed the empty tomb, but it did not change their lives.
They believed the tomb was empty, they saw it, but they did not understand the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There is a big difference between believing something happened once upon a time and believing that Jesus is alive now and present with us everyday of our lives.
Truth is the presence of Jesus will make all the difference. They saw the empty tomb, but it was not enough until they understood what the resurrection meant.
Seeing with our eyes is not what the Christian faith is all about.
It is about seeing it with our heart.
The story of Jesus life, death, burial, resurrection is good, but it does not make a difference in your life
The belief that Jesus Christ is alive, God raised Him from the dead, and the fact that Jesus Christ dwells within me every moment of every day of my life gives me hope and power that His resurrection has changed my life forever!
So the bottom line is Do you Believe?
It is more than seeing or having it proved to you.
It is moving the story of Easter, account of Jesus life from your head to your heart.
It is about Jesus taking up residency in your heart to bring forgiveness, peace, and most assuredly hope.
Faith is the substance of things not seen- as we believe, we see the risen savior for who He is.
Faith pushes out doubt and unanswered questions.
They are wrapped up in faith until God reveals that truth to us. AND WE ARE OKAY WITH THAT!
We don’t need “other signs” we hold unto the truths we are given.
Doubters think the bible is nothing but a book of empty promises because they never read it. I will agree with them that Jesus made some empty promises.
1. He promised that the tomb would be empty- AND IT WAS!
2. He promised that because He was resurrected, that we also will experience a resurrection.
3. He promised that He must go so that The Holy Spirit of God could come and dwell within us. He will if we let Him.
4. He promised that while He is not visually right in front of us, that He is preparing a place for all those that love Him and accept Him as their Lord and Savior.
5. He promised because the cross was empty and that He resurrected, we can have forgiveness of our sins.
When you look at the empty cross- you have to see that Jesus loves you!
“God demonstrated his own love toward us, that while we yet were sinners, Christ died for us.”
When you look at the empty tomb- you have to see that Jesus loves you!
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified, He is not here, and He has risen!”
The stone was moved by God to show us that this Jesus that loves you is no longer on a cross, in a tomb, in the ground, but is alive and resurrected, JUST LIKE HE SAID HE WOULD!
These are not empty promises- just an empty tomb!
That empty tomb is God’s way of showing us that He has taken the sting out of death, and we have nothing to fear as believers of God.
I thank God there is Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, without them, there would not be a resurrection Easter!
Jesus lasts words on the cross was “it is finished”
The empty cross and empty tomb tells me that we can be free from the past and a have a life in
Jesus Christ full of hope.
Closing,
In a gospel account- Jesus is walking out of town and walking down the road to Emmaus. The disciples stopped Jesus and invited Him to join them. Jesus would have kept going, but stopped when He was invited to stay.
Jesus will always stay if we invite Him to do so. He will enter any life, any home, and any circumstance if we will ask Him.
Rev. 3:20
“Here I am, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
What a wonderful thought- Jesus, the one that we long for, stops walking from us when we invite Him to do so. The very hope we need is now present and standing right in front of us.
The light has come to this dark world.
The Son of the Living God, and He stops right now to see if you will invite Him into your life.
Do you believe?
Does He make a difference in your life?
This morning you have a choice to serve God or serve self.
You have a chance to allow God to change your life forever.
The Bible tells us that a man must be born again
A person must become a new creation.
That can only happen by accepting what Jesus Christ did on the cross and what God did by resurrecting Jesus from the grave.
That is what Jesus Christ offers each one of us this morning.
I believe that Jesus is speaking to people this morning and he is inviting us to reach out to Him this morning
Father, I pray all believers are praying and your Holy Spirit is moving upon people’s hearts.
If you are able to and you want to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, I would like you to come up to these altars this morning……. He says that we are to acknowledge Him before men, I want to have a time of prayer together.
If you cannot get to this altar, I would like for you to stand right where you are and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord……..
I am going to ask all who can to stand this morning as we close in prayer.
Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Alter Call.
