“JESUS AROSE!” MATTHEW 28:1-10
CWBC – 4/21/19
Jon Daniels
INTRO – This is it, Christ-follower! This is the day!
- The day of victory!
- The day of rejoicing!
- The day of celebration!
- The day of conquest!
- There’s no other day like it on the calendar!
- There’s no other event like it in history!
- There’s no other religion like this in the world!
- There’s no other reason for joy like this in our lives!
WHY? B/C HE. IS. ALIVE!!! Love what Hank Hanegraaff said about Jesus’ resurrection: “The resurrection is not merely important to the Christian faith; w/out it there would be no Christianity. It is the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions. Through the resurrection, Christ demonstrated that He does not stand in a line of peers w/ Abraham, Buddha, or Confucius. He is utterly unique. He has the power not only to lay His life down, but to take it up again.” (https://gracequotes.org/topic/jesus_christ-resurrection/)
Open your Bible or your Bible app to Matthew 28:1-10 (page 835 in pew Bible).
But before this glorious day happened, there were some other experiences that Jesus had that we need to be reminded of.
VIDEO ON CRUCIFIXION
HIS CRUCIFIXION: AN AGONIZING DISPLAY OF CRUELTY
Luke 23:33 – “And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, & the criminals, one on His right & one on His left.”
Frederic Farrar: “One thing is clear: The 1st century executions were not like the modern ones, for they did not seek a quick, painless death or the preservation of any measure of dignity for the criminal. On the contrary, they sought an agonizing torture which completely humiliated him. And it is important that we understand this, for it helps us realize the agony of Christ’s death.”
HIS SUFFERING: AN AMAZING DISPLAY OF COMPASSION
Long before Jesus was scourged, beaten, abused, humiliated, & crucified, the prophet Isaiah wrote these words – Read Isa. 53:1-12.
Listen to these words that describe the suffering that Jesus endured for us:
- despised
- rejected
- man of sorrows
- acquainted w/ grief
- He has borne our griefs & carried our sorrows
- Smitten by God
- Pierced
- Crushed
- Chastisement
- Wounds
- Oppressed
- Slaughter
- Cut off
- Stricken
- Anguish
- Poured out His soul to death
All of this to display the compassion of God, to deliver us from eternal suffering & death, & to deal with God’s requirement for a perfect sacrifice to pay the price for our sins.
But, that’s not the end of the story!
HIS RESURRECTION: AN AWESOME DISPLAY OF CONQUERING
Yes, He paid the price for our sins. Yes, He drank the entire cup of God’s wrath so we would not have to. Yes, the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Yes, He was & is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yes, He suffered, & suffered greatly. Yes, He died, & He died cruelly. Yes, He was laid in a borrowed tomb.
But, that’s not the end of the story. The angel’s declaration says it all in v. 5: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE HAS RISEN, AS HE SAID!”
This moment, this declaration, this earth-shaking, death-shattering, demon-destroying truth is the crowning fulfillment of God’s promise all the way back to the Garden of Eden when He told Satan, “I will put enmity [open hostility] between you & the woman, & between your offspring & her offspring. He will crush your head, & you will strike His heel” (Gen. 3:15 NIV). That wasn’t some empty threat; it was the first pronouncement of the Gospel plan that has always been in God’s heart – the protoevangelium – the first Gospel. Because of His great love for us, God’s plan for all eternity has been to provide His Son for our salvation. 1 John 3:8 – “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Charles Wesley’s great hymn has this line in it: “Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou, by God, should’st die for me.”
Jesus is alive & has conquered death! Jesus is alive & has conquered sin! Jesus is alive & has conquered Satan! John Piper: “When Christ died for our sins, Satan was disarmed and defeated. The one eternally destructive weapon that he had was stripped from his hand, namely, his accusation before God that we are guilty and should perish with him. When Christ died that accusation was nullified. All those who entrust themselves to Christ will never perish. Satan cannot separate them from the love of God in Christ.” (https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-fall-of-satan-and-the-victory-of-christ)
“He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!” But that’s not the end of the story yet…
HIS RETURN: AN ASTONISHING DELIVERANCE FOR CHRIST-FOLLOWERS
There is coming a day when Jesus will return for His children. He promised that it would happen. Matthew 24:40-44 - 40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” (NLT)
- He’s not coming back to take good people to be with Him.
- He’s not coming back to take religious people to be with Him.
- He’s not coming back to take all those who have their names on a church membership roll to be with Him.
- He’s not coming back to take people who only have a head knowledge of Him.
He’s coming back to take His children & only His children to be with Him forever. He will deliver us forever from this sinful world to live w/ Him for all eternity. And, oh, how we long for that day!
So, question is: Are YOU ready for that day? Will you be one of those who will go w/ Him when He returns? If you say “Yes”, what are you basing your answer on?
- Your church attendance today on Easter Sunday?
- Your good works?
- Your efforts to keep the 10 commandments?
- Your baptism? Your membership card you filled out when you walked down an aisle in a church service?
- Your participation in church activities, even mission work, mission trips, & ministry activities?
All of these are good things, honorable things, things that I encourage you to do. But none of them will prepare you for the day that Jesus returns for His followers. Only faith in Christ alone will make you ready for that day.
So, I implore you: Come to this Jesus today! Come to the One who suffered for you, who died for you, who rose again & is coming again. Come to Him & be saved.
And if you know w/out a doubt that you are already saved, then come & recommit your life to Him today, afresh & anew.
