Easter Sunday
Dakota Community Church
March 31, 2013
Meet Me at the Tomb
Everything about the life of Christ is filled with fascination and wonder to the Christian mind.
As we read the gospels we cannot help but be filled with a sense of awe, ordinary things like a grain of wheat, a mustard seed, or a fishing vessel; take on special meaning. They become for us reminders of our redeemer - the LORD.
The pilgrimage of Christ, from Bethlehem's manger to Calvary's cross, for us - is paved with glory!
Every year people from around the globe descend upon the city of Jerusalem and the surrounding region to see the places where he lived. to perhaps walk on a street where Jesus might have walked, to dip in the same river where he was baptized, perhaps to stand beside the waters that were one night calm at his command.
(I was fascinated watching one documentary as a man touched street cobble stones weeping and believing that he could feel Christ’s presence in the rocks.)
He lived as one of us. He knows fully what it is to be a man.
He knew hunger and thirst, he enjoyed good food and fine wine and fellowship with close friends.
He experienced loss, standing beside the grave of a dear friend - he grieved with us.
He felt the rejection of family and home town and he knew the pain of the betrayal of a trusted partner in ministry.
As I read last week:
Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Everything in his life was/is heading toward a crescendo - the events we have been celebrating for the last few weeks. The triumphal entry, the last supper, Gethsemane, the betrayal, the mock trial, and finally - the cross - Good Friday, this years observance still fresh in our minds.
When Jesus comes to Calvary, our interest is more than peaked; our thoughts are riveted upon him.
The agony of crucifixion.
The LORD, our LORD, the one who made the world, the one who is without sin takes on himself, your sin and mine; is actually made to be sin for us... think about it for a moment.
How can I keep from singing {His} Your praise, How can I ever say enough, How amazing is Your love...
Then - at the moment He has decided - no man takes his life from him - he lays it down for us. Jesus takes one last breath and then gives up the ghost - He dies, for real.
John 19:30
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
His dead body is taken down from the cross, lifeless he lies on the dirt he created, broken and bloodied, barely recognizable as a man; and yet from our perspective - beyond beautiful!
The enemy of our souls is foolishly rejoicing considering himself to have won this war that has raged since before the first Adam.
John 19:38-42
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
All of which brings us to the main event in the redemption story and text of today’s sermon:
Matthew 28:1-8
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.
I want us to try, if possible with the help the Holy Spirit, to go as Mary did to stand at the tomb.
I want you to try this morning, as my title implies to:
Meet me at the tomb.
The empty tomb on resurrection Sunday morning is a sacred place, a holy place, a place where deepest sorrow is turned to joy, where mourning is replaced with dancing.
The tomb of Christ is a place for true believers, if you are here this morning you must at least have some desire for the spiritual realm, some longing for more than you are finding in this world. If you are asking these questions it is the Holy Spirit who is bidding you to come to repentance.
Why a graveside visit?
Do you need me to drag you there this morning?
Do you hate graveyards, reminders of death and mortality?
a.) This is the grave of the greatest man who ever lived.
People visit the tombs of the famous and infamous, Napoleon, Lincoln, Jim Morrison, Shakespeare, Marilyn Monroe, Mark Twain, and Princess Di are among the top ten.
Not sure why Jesus did not make this list.
I myself visited Graceland and the tomb of Elvis while in Memphis for IPHC board meetings.
b.) This is the grave of your closest friend.
John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
c.) The invitation to this grave comes from an angel.
- 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
d.) This is a grave that differs from every other grave in the history of mankind.
There is no linger smell of decaying flesh
There is no dark eerie feeling of death, nothing to remind us of the uncertainty that accompanies the unknown aspects of the afterlife - this graves occupier is not here - He is risen as He said!
e.) This grave is a site of eternal peace and quiet.
Many of our grave markers contain the words “Rest in Peace” but this tomb offers ultimate peace to those who visit. Charles Spurgeon said it like this:
Quote:
[The tomb of Christ] is a quiet spot. Oh! I have longed for rest, for I have heard this world's rumours in my ears so long, that I have begged for
"A lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of shade," where I might hide myself forever. I am sick of this tiring and trying life; my frame is weary, my soul is mad to repose herself awhile. I would I could lay myself down a little by the edge of some pebbly brook, with no companion save the fair flowers or the nodding willows. I would I could recline in stillness, where the air brings balm to the tormented brain, where there is no murmur save the hum of the summer bee, no whisper save that of the zephyrs, and no song except the carolling of the lark. I wish I could be at ease for a moment. I have become a man of the world; my brain is racked, my soul is tired. Oh! wouldst thou be quiet, Christian? Merchant, wouldst thou rest from thy toils? wouldst thou be calm for once? Then come hither. It is in a pleasant garden, far from the hum of Jerusalem; the noise and din of business will not reach thee there; "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." It is a sweet resting spot, a withdrawing room for thy soul, where thou mayest brush from thy garments the dust of earth and muse awhile in peace. - C.H. Spurgeon
Now step inside:
See the place where he lay.
"Come, see the place where he lay." - Matthew 28:6
a.) SEE - It is the tomb of a wealthy man. - He is after all the King and his humbling is over now!
b.) SEE - It is a borrowed tomb.
Jesus likely had no home of his own in this world, sons lived at home until marriage and especially if Joseph had died it would be customary for the eldest son to be looking after his mother, living in the family home; during his time of earthly ministry Jesus said that “foxes have holes and birds have nests but that the Son of Man had no place to lay his head.”
He preached a sermon and travelled in borrowed boats,
he rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey,
He ate the last supper with His disciples in a borrowed upper room;
and now at last, He is buried in a borrowed tomb.
How fitting is that - since he died for borrowed sins?
c.) SEE - It has never been used until now.
From the un-used virgin womb until this final resting place - Jesus walked/lived like no other man.
He is the only way of salvation for good reason.
d.) SEE - The grave clothes are lying there.
If thieves broke in and stole the body - did they unwrap it first and fold the head covering?
Soak it all in.
a.) This took place because of me.
I slew Him
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us
Behold the man upon the cross, My sin upon His shoulder
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice, Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there, Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything, No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection - Stuart Townend
b.) I know this idea comes up often here, but - think about how serious the sin condition is that this is God’s solution for it.
Mark 8:31-32
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
c.) We are all going to die.
We do not know how it is going to happen or when.
How would you choose to go?
We make light of it because we do not want to face the reality.
We have no choice in the matter.
Job 2:3-5
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
Men cling to life and the wealthy are famous for sparing no expense in the attempt to lengthen it. All our medical research has this in mind - find the cure, hold off death.
YET THE DAY COMES FOR ALL.
d.) Weeping and fear are transformed to joy and peace here.
He is not here
see the place where He lay
- He is risen!
Understand what it is teaching us.
a.) The empty tomb is teaches the reality of Christ’s divinity.
b.) The empty tomb is teaching us that our acquittal is sure.
c.) The empty tombs teaches us that we too shall rise.
Ezekiel 37:1-10
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;[a] it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath[b] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[c] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
"Come, see the place where the Lord lay."
He is Risen!
