[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered for our Sunrise Service on Easter morning, the 16th of April, 2017. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Hear the words of the Apostle Matthew, in the 28th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 9…
1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came 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 from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and 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 is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
--Matthew 28:1-9 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, this is that wonderful day when You resurrected our Lord Jesus, when You brought Him bodily from the grave so that He could defeat death. And You and Jesus did it all just for us! Your Son suffered, and You had to stand by and watch, just so we might enjoy everlasting life in paradise with You both… if we only believe in Him and follow His voice. We believe, Lord Jesus. We believe that You are the one true Son of God, and we believe that You rose bodily from the grave. We are here this morning to celebrate that glorious day. Bless us Lord, and help us to better serve You and to never falter in our belief and faith. In Your sweet name, Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.
I know of very few people over the age of 30 who have not experienced the passing of someone close to them, who do not understand the terrible grief of losing someone they loved so much. It’s a grief that hurts down to the very core of our being and leaves us wondering how in the world we’re going to carry on. Matthew opens his resurrection account with an expression of this grief.
Jesus of Nazareth was executed on a cross and buried on Friday. The following day was the Sabbath, the day of rest. On the third day, the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary”, the mother of James the Less and Joses, come to the tomb where their Lord was buried just two days ago. They’ve come to anoint the body of their Master with oils and spices, to show their respects to their loved One, to grieve their loss.
That last part isn’t all that unusual still today. We often visit the graves of our departed loved ones. We go, pay our respects, maybe place some flowers or a small token of our affection, perhaps share a few quiet words, probably shed a tear or two because we still miss them.
We do this knowing full well that our loved one is not really there. Even atheists know that nothing is there but the remains of the person that once lived. We Christians understand that the soul of the person we loved has gone on to heaven. The only thing left in the grave we stand before is the container that once held that soul.
The Mary’s may have understood this, but they still wanted to be with their Lord one last time, to touch His body, to give Him one last gift. So they walk up to the tomb and…
What happened here?!? There must have been an earthquake! That huge stone they sealed the grave with has been rolled off to the side. And an angel is sitting on top of it! He’s as bright as lightning, his clothing as white as snow. The guards are over there trembling in fear, afraid to even move. The tomb is open, but where is the body of their Master, Jesus?
The angel calms the Mary’s with the simple command, “Do not be afraid”. He knows why they are here, of course, but he also has a very important assignment to complete. “The One you seek is not here. He is risen. Come, look in the tomb and see for yourself.”
Then the angel sends the women on their way, instructing them to tell the others this Good News. For you see, even though Jesus has risen from the grave, He has not yet ascended back into heaven. He needs to prove that He was resurrected to more than just two women and a couple terrified guards. He still has over 500 witnesses to appear before, to attest to God’s great power and grace!
But before the women can do as the angel commands get back to the disciples with the news, Jesus appears to them and says “Rejoice!” And they immediately rush to Him and worship at His feet.
The angel said of Jesus, “He is not here”, meaning in the tomb. Our Lord conquered death. His Father, our Father, God resurrected Him from the dead and He walked out of that grave. He was no longer there, confined to a hole in the ground, bound by death, constrained by earthly ties.
But because of that, He is indeed here! He is always at our side. He is here within us. And because He is still here, we have the chance for salvation if we only believe in Him, repent of our sin, and obey Him as our Master. In our belief, we have the opportunity to build a better, closer relationship with Him, and to serve Him in ever more meaningful ways. Because He is still here, He fills the holes in our lives that nothing else can quite fill.
But what about the rest of the world? What about all those lost souls out there who don’t believe, or won’t believe, or haven’t had the chance to choose to believe because they haven’t yet heard the Good News? They try to fill their holes with all the things the TV commercials and magazine ads tell them will make them happy and content. They need Jesus, and they need our help to lead them to that empty tomb so they can look inside. They need us to witness to the greatest news mankind has ever been told. And this is what our Master Jesus commands: to love all these enough to go out into the world and spread this Good News that Jesus lives, and to make of them disciples for our Lord.
Jesus lives! Our Lord is not dead! He lives even to this day! And for that, we rejoice! For that, we worship Him! Christ the Lord is risen today! Alleluia! Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus Christ, Savior, Redeemer, Master… We stand before Your empty grave, we see the stone rolled away, we hear the angel’s words, and we are in awe, too amazed to believe what our eyes and ears tell us. And then You speak: Rejoice!” And all we can think to do is to sing Alleluias and worship you.
You sacrificed all for us, You died for us, You were buried for us. You bore no sin of Your own so You carried all the sins of the world to the grave and left them there to free us of our sinful ways. You shed every last drop of Your precious blood just so we might be washed clean when we stand before God at our last.
We praise You, Lord Jesus, and we thank You! Words alone could never convey just how thankful we are, so we give You our hearts in gratitude. We give You our lives – take and use them as You will. In Your glorious name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
I know of very few people over the age of 30 who have not experienced the passing of someone close to them, who do not understand the terrible grief of losing someone they loved so much. It’s a grief that hurts down to the very core of our being and leaves us wondering how in the world we’re going to carry on. Matthew opens his resurrection account with an expression of this grief.
Jesus of Nazareth was executed on a cross and buried on Friday. The following day was the Sabbath, the day of rest. On the third day, the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary”, the mother of James the Less and Joses, come to the tomb where their Lord was buried just two days ago. They’ve come to anoint the body of their Master with oils and spices, to show their respects to their loved One, to grieve their loss.
That last part isn’t all that unusual still today. We often visit the graves of our departed loved ones. We go, pay our respects, maybe place some flowers or a small token of our affection, perhaps share a few quiet words, probably shed a tear or two because we still miss them.
We do this knowing full well that our loved one is not really there. Even atheists know that nothing is there but the remains of the person that once lived. We Christians understand that the soul of the person we loved has gone on to heaven. The only thing left in the grave we stand before is the container that once held that soul.
The Mary’s may have understood this, but they still wanted to be with their Lord one last time, to touch His body, to give Him one last gift. So they walk up to the tomb and…
What happened here?!? There must have been an earthquake! That huge stone they sealed the grave with has been rolled off to the side. And an angel is sitting on top of it! He’s as bright as lightning, his clothing as white as snow. The guards are over there trembling in fear, afraid to even move. The tomb is open, but where is the body of their Master, Jesus?
The angel calms the Mary’s with the simple command, “Do not be afraid”. He knows why they are here, of course, but he also has a very important assignment to complete. “The One you seek is not here. He is risen. Come, look in the tomb and see for yourself.”
Then the angel sends the women on their way, instructing them to tell the others this Good News. For you see, even though Jesus has risen from the grave, He has not yet ascended back into heaven. He needs to prove that He was resurrected to more than just two women and a couple terrified guards. He still has over 500 witnesses to appear before, to attest to God’s great power and grace!
But before the women can do as the angel commands get back to the disciples with the news, Jesus appears to them and says “Rejoice!” And they immediately rush to Him and worship at His feet.
The angel said of Jesus, “He is not here”, meaning in the tomb. Our Lord conquered death. His Father, our Father, God resurrected Him from the dead and He walked out of that grave. He was no longer there, confined to a hole in the ground, bound by death, constrained by earthly ties.
But because of that, He is indeed here! He is always at our side. He is here within us. And because He is still here, we have the chance for salvation if we only believe in Him, repent of our sin, and obey Him as our Master. In our belief, we have the opportunity to build a better, closer relationship with Him, and to serve Him in ever more meaningful ways. Because He is still here, He fills the holes in our lives that nothing else can quite fill.
But what about the rest of the world? What about all those lost souls out there who don’t believe, or won’t believe, or haven’t had the chance to choose to believe because they haven’t yet heard the Good News? They try to fill their holes with all the things the TV commercials and magazine ads tell them will make them happy and content. They need Jesus, and they need our help to lead them to that empty tomb so they can look inside. They need us to witness to the greatest news mankind has ever been told. And this is what our Master Jesus commands: to love all these enough to go out into the world and spread this Good News that Jesus lives, and to make of them disciples for our Lord.
Jesus lives! Our Lord is not dead! He lives even to this day! And for that, we rejoice! For that, we worship Him! Christ the Lord is risen today! Alleluia! Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus Christ, Savior, Redeemer, Master… We stand before Your empty grave, we see the stone rolled away, we hear the angel’s words, and we are in awe, too amazed to believe what our eyes and ears tell us. And then You speak: Rejoice!” And all we can think to do is to sing Alleluias and worship you.
You sacrificed all for us, You died for us, You were buried for us. You bore no sin of Your own so You carried all the sins of the world to the grave and left them there to free us of our sinful ways. You shed every last drop of Your precious blood just so we might be washed clean when we stand before God at our last.
We praise You, Lord Jesus, and we thank You! Words alone could never convey just how thankful we are, so we give You our hearts in gratitude. We give You our lives – take and use them as You will. In Your glorious name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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