He Is Risen!

For fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men.

But the angel said to the woman, So we have a new character, we've got the angel, he's come in, he's broke down, and I do have some just fun questions from this text, and I don't know what the answer is, but did the angel sit down because he's tired from moving the stone? How much space does an angel take on a stone as a spiritual being? These are just fun questions that we like to ask sometimes. But the significant thing is the soldier's introduced. Now, if you go back just right at the end of chapter 27, the priest and the religious leaders, they ask Pilate for soldiers, and so we, I assume these are Roman soldiers. They're soldiers sent by Pilate to guard the tomb, and this is pretty unusual in a request. But I wanna highlight that I believe they're Roman soldiers because that's quite different from the temple guard, even. This would be like the difference between a marine and a security guard. And that is not to make light of security guards, as we realize more and more how important that job is. But the Roman soldiers, these are the most terrifying men on earth. They are known for bringing fear and terror to others. And when they're in the presence of this angel, the description, for fear of the angel, The guards trembled. They became like dead men. Have you ever been so afraid you kind of hit that paralyzed feeling? You just can't say anything, you can't do anything. There's just a shock and a fear. These guards have become like dead men. The folks we would be most afraid of in humans in this story, they are terrified and can do nothing. Notice how they're contrasted with the women and the significant thing is the guards, they see the angel and they're terrified. The angel speaks to the women. The best movie director, I'd love to know how he would handle this scene. Because at some level, you have to see the bright light of the angel, the terrifying image of that angel sitting on the rock. And then you'd have to be able to see over here, the guards just terrified, trembling without movement. And somehow capture the voice of the angel going to the women, do not be afraid. Now, on some level, this is what an angel always says. That's how you know if it's an angel. Because angels are terrifying. They're greater beings than we are. There's a way in which this appears, especially like lightning. The words of the angel are what makes this contrast so significant. The scary men are terrified, but the angel speaks to the women, do not be afraid. that should be calming. He's come from heaven. I come in peace, he says. The angel continues with a message. He's telling them, I know who you are, I know what you're doing. He's trying to make a connection here.

Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

Now it's very important we understand the angel is affirming Jesus was crucified. The angel knows that the crucifixion has happened, that he's dead and he's been buried. That's what the women know so far. And then notice verse six. And if you're not a Christian, if you are a Christian, this verse is everything. You're seeking Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he is risen. That's everything. That's the hinge. Everything we believe hinges upon Christ being risen. I know you come to see the one who was crucified, but there's something more even important that's happened that verifies what that crucifixion accomplished. He's risen. Believer, understand, the only way Jesus' death is able to forgive us is if Jesus is risen. The only way Jesus' teaching guides us into any blessed life is that he is risen. The only way Jesus promises of eternal life of any merit is if he rose again. The only way Jesus can be trusted at all is if he rose from the grave. Notice that next statement.

He is not here, for he has risen As he said.

Jesus predicted to the disciples at least three times we have recorded that he will go into Jerusalem, that he would suffer, that he would die, and that he would rise again. The angel, the messenger, is not giving a new message. That's important for us to just pause for a moment Because Paul warns us that if an angel even comes and comes and presents a contrary message of Jesus Christ and the gospel you've heard, you've gotta run away as an abomination. You see, angels come and declare what God has said. This angel is coming and merely declaring the news that Jesus has done what he said he would do. There's not new information. It's that Jesus did what he said he would do. This is important because we have to understand Mormonism and Islam are two religions that are based upon an angel that have given a contrary declaration than Jesus himself. Jesus is the one Son of God, the only begotten Son of God. Jesus died on the cross. Islam denies that. Jesus is the Son of God who rose again. Islam denies that. We have to recognize the danger of hearing anything contrary to Christ. And we might hear those other religions and how they take Jesus and make him something other than who Jesus truly was and what he really did. But friend, you're just as susceptible to trying to add on something to Jesus or take something away from Jesus. We need to recognize we need to be listening clearly and attentively to all he has said. Notice, the angels come, do not be afraid. I know you see Jesus, he is not here, he is risen, as he said, and everything else is now built on a command. Come and see. Come and see. This is an invitation. go into the tomb, see where he had been laid, and see he's not here. This is important because these are trustworthy eyewitnesses. We have the declaration of what happened from those who actually were there and experienced it. And it's important, it first had to have happened this way. Now we have the eyewitness testimonies that this is What happened? Even more so, we have God's word that tells us this as the Holy Spirit has carried men along to give us these words. These are God's words. You're not invited this morning to go to the tomb and see he's not there. You're invited this morning to come to God's word, receive what he has said he has done, and why he did it and what it means. This is the come and see this morning. If you don't have a Bible, there should be one in front of you. If there's not one in front of you, there should be one behind you or in front of the person in front of you and just find one and take it and read it. Here's where you're gonna find the words of life, the words of hope, the words of invitation to confess your sin and know Jesus. It's a come and see religion. Not a mysterious try to find your own way. It's come and see what God has done. Come and see what God has said. Believer, here is your assurance. Jesus is risen. Therefore, you are forgiven. I'll let you say it. Sorry, let me do that again. Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed. Therefore, you are forgiven. You do have eternal life. You have the wisdom that will guide you into the blessed life. It's wonderfully clear who he is and what he's done. Notice verse seven, come and see, see he is not here, see he is risen as he said, then go quickly and tell. It's a come and see and go and tell religion. Come and see for yourself. Come and see as Jesus said, and now go and tell.

Go and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you to Galilee, and there you will see him.

So significant. He is risen as a declaration, an announcement, come and see. Go and tell, therefore, a promise you will see him. And then that final word, I think it's just a word of assurance.

See, I have told you.

I've given you the words of hope that you long for. I've given you the words of truth. Trust the Declaration. Now, I think it's important to pause here and just recognize that if you're making up a story about a resurrection, this is not the way you would do it. The most obvious problem here is the first witnesses, the key witnesses are women. That's important, as we don't understand this in our own culture, but in the culture of this day, women weren't allowed to give testimony in court. This isn't the way you'd make up this story, to trust the reliable eyewitness of a woman, because that wasn't even trust in the courts. This is according to their culture, and well, too many cultures. But here, God ordained the first witnesses, the lead witnesses to be women. God intentionally had these women be the first to hear this announcement. They'll be the first to see Jesus himself. Because God's not trying to appeal the way we think he should communicate to us. No, I believe God is changing things the way they're supposed to be, that women are being elevated to their proper place as image bearers. He's gonna welcome them to be his disciples. He's gonna charge them to be his witnesses. It's important here that this is the way God ordained the story. Not the way you'd make it up. Verse eight is significant. What are they gonna do?

So they departed quickly from the tomb.

I want us to see the woman's obedience. Their faith in the message is demonstrated with their doing. How much do they understand? Have no idea. But they've heard the message. They might remember Jesus did say this. Now they're ready to obey and trust that the promise will come true that they will get to see Jesus. It's an incredible turn from grief to hope. Their faith is seeking understanding. This is what we call saving faith. If you only believe what you understand, that can't be saving faith. If we believe God and what he says and pray, Lord, help my unbelief, help me understand, that is a saving kind of faith. The next thing I want to see is not just faith demonstrated in obedience, but they do so with fear and great joy. Now, the fear of the guards, it paralyzed them. This is a different kind of fear. The guards have a fear with trembling. They have a fear with great joy. They have a fear with great joy that's running to inobedience. There's a wonderful mixture of feelings here. They're terrified. What does this mean? Dead people don't come out of the grave. What does this mean? He's not there. He did say so. We saw an angel like lightning. What does this mean? I believe there's so many reasons to be afraid. but it's fear with great joy. There's a significance of the hope that's being extended and received. Our second scene, our second point, the appearance. That was the announcement. The angel has come and set things in motion on this first day of the week. Now as they are running, There's an appearance, and notice how Matthew helps us see this new stage, this new movement, verse nine. And behold, the appearance. Jesus met them while they're running, while they're going in obedience by faith to tell the disciples Jesus stops them and says, greetings. Greetings. This word struck me this week in a particular way. It appears to me that both women left because it says they departed, which means Mary Magdalene is running. She's not back in the garden yet. She's gonna go back with Peter and John. So I believe this makes this the first word the risen Savior said. Right, words have a scope of meaning, and then the importance of a word is who said it, and who it says it to, and what the setting is. So, you know, if you wanna think about the importance of words, the seven sayings of Christ on the cross, pretty important words. Here, the first word of the risen Savior, our risen Lord, is greetings. My first thought was that's pretty disappointing. That's not a theologically packed word to unpack for you. Greetings. That's pretty pedestrian. It's just the most common expression you would have when two strangers pass each other on the street. It's what you would hear from your local barista if you were to go in at the time and say, give me a coffee. He would say, greetings. Then he would say, this is an anachronistic illustration. The glory of coffee will not be discovered for 1,500 more years. This is the word Judas uses in 2649 at the betrayal. Greetings. It's just the way you said hello. It seems pretty pedestrian. But again, it carries a different weight because of who's saying it and who is he saying it to and what's the setting. Greetings. It's perfect. It's perfect. Because it was a common way to greet. It was a common way to hear a welcome. It's saying to these women, hello. It's good to see you. Welcome. Have you ever had a relationship where you didn't see the person in a while and you saw them from a distance or maybe there's some conflict and you're just kinda edgy, like, how am I gonna be received? And if they give you that big smile and a warm welcome, it changes everything. That distant relationship and that warm greeting, how that just invites you in. This is the perfect word. Because in saying it, Jesus takes away all their fear. And he warmly, kindly welcomes them to himself. He sets aside all their fear and welcomes them to have great joy. It really captures the posture and purpose of Jesus. Because Jesus' mission is what? To welcome you to himself for salvation. To invite you to come to him who died for your sin and rose again to give you new life. Greetings. It's pedestrian in that it's a common greeting, but it's perfect in that it's the risen Savior welcoming these women to himself. And notice the women get the message.

They came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

They worshiped him. We have to pause here. He is in the flesh. He is, they grab his feet. The body wasn't some mysterious illusion. There's feet to hold on to. He's a real body who's had a real resurrection because he really died. He's fully man. But whatever they understand, whatever they've gotten, they know that he is also God because you only worship God. You only worship God. Here they come. They hear that invitation. They understand enough of remembering what he has said, knowing now what he has done, seeing him in the flesh, feeling his flesh. They fall down and they worship him. He who came to save them is now to be worshiped. And it is so important. Jesus receives their worship. He knows he's God. He's never been confused about that, even though we oftentimes are. He doesn't rebuke them because he is God, who's worthy of our worship. This is the proper action. Then notice, he gives them further instruction.

Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.

Have we seen that before? Yeah, it's the same thing the angel said. Why did the angel say it? Because Jesus told the angel to say it. He's appeared, I think, to give these women this special, unique opportunity to see him, to know him, to have their fears relieved, to be bold witnesses, to worship him. Before we move on, I wanna think through this word greetings a little bit more. This is the first word of our Lord, the creator of this world, the savior of sinners who profess faith in Christ. How wonderful it is that it's captured with such a simple word. Jesus invites you to himself and it's not some complicated maze where you have to decipher riddles. No, He created us in His image. He created us knowing He would become like us in every way. He was born of a virgin, took on a full humanity. He walked in our world. He lived the righteous life we refuse to live. He died for sinners, taking on all our sin debt. He rose again. He says, greetings come to me. He's done all the work. He's given the invitation. We have to respond by faith. Jesus welcomes us. Come to me. Don't clean up first. Don't think you've gotta set your house in order before you come to me. No, you're only gonna make it more disorderly. No, come to me. I will heal. I forgive. I will help you understand what the order is. He invites us with all the mess. He invites us to heal, comfort, to straighten what we've made crooked. If you're not a Christian this morning, this is the word you need to hear. Jesus welcomes you to believe in him. There's nothing else you can do for salvation. You can only believe in Him. If you're here and you're a believer who's been distant from the church, distant from Christ, fallen away, guess what? It's the same message. He welcomes you. He welcomes you to believe. He welcomes you and receive you. She must come by faith. The only way to come is by faith and trusting Him. And children, oh dear children, children, Jesus' invitation welcomes you to Himself, to know Him, the God who created you, to know Him, the God who has offered salvation. The message is for everyone. He welcomes us to Himself. the risen Savior. The second thing I wanna think about with this greetings, we will see Jesus. So we don't get to come and see the empty tomb, we don't get to come and see the risen Savior in the flesh like these women do, or Peter and John and the disciples. He's at the right hand of the Father, so we come and see him in his word, but there will be a day we will all see Jesus. Believer, be encouraged. On that day, you will hear greetings. Come and see the place I have prepared for you. Come into the new heavens and the new earth where there is no more tears, there is no more suffering, there is no more sin. You can delight in the glory of God without sin hindering your walk with him. Come, greetings, come to me. The other thing you can hear when you see Jesus on that great day, if you are not a believer,

depart from me, for I never knew you.

The word you'll hear is either greetings or depart. When Jesus says on that day, depart from me, there is no welcome. There is no invitation. At that point, you have your sin, and you will suffer with your sin for all eternity. Jesus can say, greetings, welcome, and you can rejoice with Christ and his forgiveness and his glory for all eternity, or you can depart and suffer in hell for your sin for all eternity. The invitation this morning is to believe in Jesus. That's the only hope you have in life and death. The invitation to not hear the word depart today is believe in Jesus who says, come to me and I will give you life. The third way I want us to think about this, greetings. We just finished a Sunday school class, Romans 8, I believe we finished on the book of Romans, the grand theological book of the New Testament. We go through chapters of building up the glory of God, and the power of sin, and the wages of sin, and the many ways God saves us in adoption and justification, and then we get to God's great election and calling, and then we see the glory of God, how immeasurable is His wisdom and greatness. And you know what the great, grand, final application of all that is?

Welcome one another as God has welcomed you in Jesus Christ for the glory of God.

How fantastic is that? Go back and look at the call to worship, the verse right before that, 15.7. That's the verse. Repeat it over and over again. Welcome one another. You see, Christianity is a come and experience so that you can go and practice.

Welcome one another as God in Christ welcomed you for the glory of God.

Friends, we have to first know how to receive that welcome, and then we get to participate and practice and enjoy it as we welcome one another. If there's one thing I really want us to be challenged by, as a church, and I praise God, I hear testimony, we are this kind of church, but we're gonna keep growing, we're gonna keep seeking how to be better, but the welcome, and truly welcoming one another as Christ has welcomed us. How fantastic, the whole life of the Christian, forgive as you've been forgiven, love as I loved you, welcome as you have been welcomed. we receive in order to participate in the work of Christ. The third movement, the third scene is deception. 11 to 15. While they were going, that is the women, so we now have the director with a challenge of catching the women this way, and then we're gonna come back and see what these guards are up to.

And while they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priest all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people his disciples came by night and stole away while we were asleep. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

We have a behold again. While they were going, behold, some of the guard, they go in the city. They go a different direction. They go to the chief priest. Now, if they were to go to Pilate, they'd probably just get punished. But since the priest had asked for them, they go there first. And it's just amazing as we think about what's happening. Verse 11, the guard went And they told the chief priests, they're bearing witness of what happened. An angel came and moved the stone and was sitting on it and told these women that Jesus has risen just as he said. Now the chief priests are the religious leaders. The chief priests are the ones who should know the Old Testament. The chief priests are the ones who murdered Jesus, proactively seeking to falsely accuse and bring him to this death. At this point, you would hope there would be reason enough to say, oh no, he is who he said he was. The guard and the women, they go and share the same testimony to two different kinds of people. The disciples are gonna hear it and receive it and go back and inquire, where is our Lord? The chief priests are gonna plot. Notice the plot. The chief priests say, we're gonna give you some money if you don't spread this news to anyone else. And if you get in trouble with your overseers, the governors, we'll take care of that too. And notice that last little word, the story's been spread among the Jews to this day. Now, let's play detective. What happened to Jesus' body? Again, His resurrection is everything. We really gotta ask, what happened to His body? If you're not a believer, if you're a doubter, if you're a denier of the resurrection, you actually have a really weighty argument to have to come up with and pursue others with if you're gonna believe something happened other than the resurrection. Let's just see. What if the disciples fought the guards? How unlikely is it that the disciples would be able to take these guards? Seems unlikely that they beat the guards up and took the body. Okay, let's go with the guard story. How likely is it that the guards slapped through the disciples, moving the stone, and then taking the body? How did they know as disciples if they were asleep? Did the disciples even know? The more we want to come up with what God didn't say or what God didn't do, the more I think we actually run into irrational thoughts. We have another way of just reasoning with this. How is it that these guys and gals, how is it that these disciples all of a sudden stopped worshiping on the holy day of the Sabbath and started worshiping on the holy day of Sunday? What's the rationale? Christ being risen seems to be most likely. What would happen to make these fearful cowards, who are always not getting it, who are always misunderstanding, become these bold, amazing, courageous witnesses that are willing to die for what might be considered a lie if they took the body? It doesn't appear that these disciples are clever enough to come up with a scheme. They're not Ocean's 11. They're the 11 kind of mishaps that receive the Holy Spirit and become bold. I think the most likely answer is Christ rose from the dead. But I don't feel the need to convince you of that. I think you need to feel the need that you're a sinner in need of a Savior. Jesus is the only Savior. By faith, seek understanding. It's the most historically testified event of this era. There's plenty of reasons. There's plenty of historical evidence. That's not gonna convince you you need forgiveness. You need to be convinced you need a Savior. It's not a blind leap, but it is faith in who Jesus said He was and what He came to do. The last thing before we leave is, oh, how terrifying sin is that these chief priests are lying about the only one who can give life to try to preserve whatever life they think they have. That's twisted. That's our hearts. Finally, the commission. The only point that doesn't have a behold in the text, but oh, there's something to see. Verse 16, the 11 disciples went to Galilee. All right, remember, that was the news and the instruction from the angel and from Jesus. Now, we're skipping over a lot of appearances. But here, the whole point was you'll go to Galilee and you'll see him, and they do. And notice at 16, just as Jesus had directed them, they're following instruction. Again, verse 17, notice their response.

When they saw him, they worshiped him.

They worshiped him just like the women originally did. They know who he is now. He's God who is risen. Paul tells us that he is proven to be the son of God by the resurrection. They're getting it now. Notice those last three words of 17 though.

But some doubted.

Now it could be you've got worshipers and doubters. I think more likely we've got worshipers, and some of those worshiping we're doubting. Kind of leads us to a question. Can you worship with doubt? I hope so. We gotta think through. There's different kinds of doubt. There's emotional doubt. I don't feel like it. Emotions are an important way God has made us. We can have feelings of shame, we can have feelings of fear, we can have feelings of guilt, and it's important that we bring our emotional doubt to the truth of God and let Him comfort us. I don't think they're going through emotional doubt. Another doubt is volitional. That's where our desires are set against God. We doubt because we are set against Him of the things we love and the high call to worship God, we're conflicted because we're really loving and worshiping something else. This is the most dangerous one. If you're an entangled sin, this is a volitional way in which we cause doubt in ourselves. I don't think that's what they're suffering. The most common way in which we think about doubt is the doubt I believe they're suffering is that's rational. They're still trying to figure out how all this came to be, or maybe, how is it we've not gotten this? The doubters, what all does this mean? How can I wrap my head around it? There is a warning. If you ever think you've completely comprehended it, you don't have it. There's a way in which by faith we grow more and more confident as we draw near to Christ. But by faith, as we look to his word and seek understanding, we pray, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief, give me understanding, the more confident we come. Too often we let our doubts keep us from worship, emotional doubt, volitional doubt, rational doubt. That's the most counterproductive thing you can ever do. The way to be drawn out of doubt is to draw closer to Christ. John 20 tells us they believed the resurrection, but they did not yet understand the scriptures. There's a way in which we come closer and closer to Christ through his word with his people that it lifts us out of doubt. Let me be very clear. Doubters, we're so thankful you're here. There's more of you here than you think. We're so thankful you're here. Doubters are welcome here. We sing confidently and boldly the truths of Jesus Christ to help doubt. But we all go through different times of doubt. The more you study scripture, the better questions you've got. Doubter, don't hide away as if there's something you can't ask. No, please stick around. Please talk to someone. Doubter, you are welcome here. Finally, the Great Commission. The last and the first declaration of this Great Commission is so important.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

He has the authority to commission. He has all authority. There's a great power there. The last line,

behold, I am with you always.

Church, he who has all authority is with you. That's covenant personal union language. These bookends are important. The first, the main command here is make disciples. That's the controlling imperative, make disciples. It has three qualifiers, go, baptize, teach. But the main declaration here is make disciples. If you're following Jesus, you should want other people to follow Jesus too. Make disciples. It's interesting, everybody is a disciple maker of some sort. We're all easily gathered to groups that are helping each other make disciples of others in some way. It's really easy to make disciples of your favorite sports team, right? Think about how irrational we are in the way we do that. We get really excited irrationally, right? It's Marx Madness, this is what we do. All my hopes and dreams are in this team that I know has significant defects, but I'm going to really cling and love and hope for the best, and then my dreams are crushed again and again and again and again. But what we do is make disciples of our favorite team, our favorite activity. It's oftentimes easy to get involved in making disciples of these things that really don't make a big claim on your life or that doesn't feel that way. Of course, youth sports demands everything of you, so be aware of that one. But we're all making disciples of someone. What is it we love that we're trying to influence others about? Disciple of Jesus. Are we seeking fully to follow him so that we can help others? Are we seeking to know more of him so we can make him known? It's a simple equation. Jesus' disciples make more disciples of Jesus. There's a helpful question here. What is it you're producing with your efforts, time, and energy? There's three qualifiers for making disciples. Going. It has that same command aspect, but it's a participle. It makes disciples going, and there's an intentionality here. This is where we put evangelism. As you're going, seek to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. As you're going, meet with other Christians and build them up with the Word. As we think about welcoming one another as Christ welcomed us, we have to first learn how to talk about Jesus with one another before we can talk about him with the world. This is a training ground for evangelism and missions. but it's what we do, how we're going, what we're doing. The second is baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, Holy Spirit. This is how the church publicly identifies who is a believer, and how a believer publicly identifies with Christ and his church. The disciple-making process ends, or not ends, the disciple-making process is when someone believes, they then receive publicly, in baptism, the name of Christ. And what happens at that moment is that symbol, it's significant because it signifies you're united with Christ. It doesn't save you. But what's happening there is the church is hearing your testimony, saying, yes, you're one of us. You believed. You're saying, I no longer will be associated with the world. I'll be associated with Christ and his church. It's a public affirmation from the church and by the believer. And what happens is you're taking on that high responsibility of now representing the name of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit that's been placed upon you. The third is teaching. This is the one that's oftentimes omitted.

Observe all that I've commanded.

There's not a vague mysticism. This is the word of Christ. These are the instructions of Christ. Believer, we're all coming up underneath this word together, learning how we can understand Christ, know him, obey him. We must seek to learn them by faith, obey them by grace, and teach them with love. As we're making disciples with the commands and instructions of Christ, we must learn how to learn them by faith, obey them by grace, and teach them with love. That should feel daunting, and that's why the beginning and end are so important. He who has all authority gives us this commission, and he is with us to give us the strength to complete it. As we consider this last chapter of Matthew, on this Resurrection Sunday, the women were given the good news. He has risen, just as he said. They were invited to come and see. They were told to go and tell. Jesus greets them, welcomes them to worship him, then says, go and tell. Jesus receives the disciples who worship him and then declares to them, go and make disciples. Such good news. To receive. To come and see and receive, and to go and tell and spread. Receive the invitation. Come and believe. Hear the commission. Go and tell. Remember the promise. We will see him. Our desire is that when we see him, we will hear the greeting, come into the place I prepared for you. And we pray we will hear the reward,

well done, good and faithful servant.

Will you pray with me? Father, again, we come before you. We thank you for this day where we can know you are the Lord of all history. You are the Lord of every day. You, Father, sent your Son to die for us. And now we gather to remember so that we might go out and be true representatives of your Son who died, who rose, who gave us life. May we long for the day to see him face to face and hear his greeting. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.