Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. This morning we're gonna focus on verses one to 10, the empty tomb and the risen Lord. But I do wanna read the entirety of chapter 28 in Matthew's gospel.
So beginning in verse one,
Scripture Reading: Matthew 28
now after the Sabbath at the first day of the week, or as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 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. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, 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. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! So they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him.
Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me. Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, Tell them, his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept.
And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure. So they took the money and did as they were instructed, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Lord God, thank you for this wonderful capstone to the Gospel of Matthew. We know that our Lord didn't continue in that state of death. We know the grave couldn't contain him. And God, how we praise you for that resurrection.
How we praise you for what Paul says, that he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification. We find great joy and great comfort in the written word. And even now we pray that your Holy Spirit would guide and lead and direct us as we consider this word. We pray that you would forgive us for all of our sins and anything that would darken our understanding and help us all to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ, that King of kings, that Lord of lords, that one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000.
And we pray in his most blessed name. Amen. Well,
Introduction
this is a wonderful passage of scripture, and again, it is the capstone to Matthew's gospel. The Lord didn't remain in the tomb. The Lord was raised the third day by the Father, and He is now sitting enthroned at the right hand of God. in heaven. It's a blessed and a wonderful truth.
I want to
Discovery of the Empty Tomb
look first at the discovery of the empty tomb in verses 1 to 8, and then secondly at the appearance of the risen Lord in verses 9 to 10. Now I'm sure we're all very familiar with the historicity of the resurrection. Our focus will be more on that This morning, tonight, we'll do a bit more theology of the resurrection, taking as the text Romans 4, 25, God delivered him up, or Christ was delivered up because of our offenses and raised for our justification. Though there'll probably be a bit of history tonight and a bit of theology this morning.
But let's look first at the discovery of the empty tomb, and there's three things we ought to consider here. First,
Arrival at the Tomb
the arrival at the tomb. Verse 1, the descent of the angel in verses 2 to 4. And then finally, the commission given to the women in verses 5 to 8. Notice in verse 1, now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn.
Davies and Allison say the literal dawning of a new day signals a new period of history. And that is certainly the case as we come to this particular passage. On my drive here this morning, I went by the Seventh-day Adventist church building there on Riverside, and I thought, what an attachment to Old Covenant worship. A Saturday Sabbath is no longer binding.
Sunday is the Sabbath. Sunday is the Christian Lord's Day. It is the first day of the week marked out by our Lord with reference to His resurrection from the dead. The apostles meet on the first day of the week.
In fact, John the Apostle gives it the title the Lord's Day in Revelation chapter 1. at verse 10. So I think what these commentators say is right. The literal dawning of a new day signals a new period of history. So we see that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Parallel passages tell us that they went there to anoint the body of Jesus. In Luke and Mark, it tells us that was the purpose for which they went. But the two Marys are identified here, are also present at the crucifixion. They're also present at the burial. which is a wonderful statement concerning their stick-to-itiveness.
Remember that the apostles deserted the Lord Jesus Christ. He had prophesied, he had told them that they would depart from him, they would leave him, and they do do that. But these women, these two Marys, probably Salome is present with them as well, and perhaps other women. They were present not only at the crucifixion, but at the burial and as well with reference to the resurrection.
And then
Descent of the Angel
notice the descent of the angel in verses 2 to 4. We have this earthquake indicated in verse 2a. And behold, there was a great earthquake. That's interesting because if you look back for just a moment to Matthew chapter 27, there was an earthquake that happened at the time of the death of Christ.
Notice in 27.51. 27, I'm sorry, 2751, we read, Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened. And then again in verse 54, So when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. So we have this sort of attendant supernatural power of God Almighty at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know it's supernatural because there's an angel present as we will see momentarily.
But in terms of the significance of the earthquake, John Gill makes this observation. He says, and it was a symbol and token of the presence and majesty of Christ at whose rising as at his death, the earth shook and trembled. In other words, it's the Lord Christ, the second person of the Trinity. Certainly when he dies and when he's raised from the dead, something like an earthquake is consistent with that phenomena.
And then C.H. Spurgeon says, when the king awoke from the sleep of death, he shook the world. The bedchamber in which he rested for a little while trembled as the heavenly hero arose from his couch. What a glorious way to describe this earthquake and the presence of it at the resurrection of Jesus.
Now notice the descent of this angel in verse 2b. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. Now, as we compare the narratives in Mark and Luke, we see that this is an angelic being.
In Mark, it describes him as a young man, but we know from the description given here that it's an angel. Luke mentions two angels, and just to sort of demonstrate the folly of people, they see two angels in Luke, and they see one angel in Matthew, and they say the Bible is filled with contradictions. Brethren, if there were two, there were most certainly one. A contradiction is two and not the case that it was two.
This is not a contradiction. It is the theological reflection of the gospel writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, highlighting that information that is necessary for the readers and the hearers. So the angel here comes associated with this particular earthquake. And then notice the presence of the angel is not only here, but at the incarnation of our Lord as well.
It was angelic beings that announced the coming of Jesus, and it's an angelic being that announces the resurrection of Jesus. Again, we're not dealing with a regular, normal, ordinary sort of fellow. We're dealing with the second person of the Trinity. who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation. He assumed our humanity with all the essential properties thereof and the common infirmities except sin.
And so when it comes to the incarnation, when it comes to the death of Christ, when it comes to the resurrection, angelic testimony is absolutely fitting for such a great and glorious king that we have in the person of the Lord Jesus. And then notice that the stone is removed. He came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. Now the passage technically does not describe or tell us of the resurrection of Jesus.
That's not what's in view here. What the angel does is he rolls back the stone so that the women can investigate the empty tomb. Christ is already risen at this point. Christ is already absent at this point.
And so the angel is conducting them to consider the tomb itself. The angel didn't roll back the stone to let Jesus out, but rather he rolled back the stone to let the women investigate. Christ isn't dependent upon an angelic being to roll back the stone in order for him to leave that particular tomb. But then it's also interesting that the angel sits upon the stone.
Notice what it says. It says, and he came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. What's the significance of him sitting on the stone? Well, you say he's a tired angel.
He needs a place to sit. Well, he could have sat on the ground, but he sat on the stone. I think Matthew Henry is right on when he makes this observation concerning the angels sitting on the stone. There he sat, defying all the powers of hell to roll the stone to the grave again.
In other words, there is no way you can contain the Savior. There is no way you can keep him in that tomb. There is no way that hell will roll that stone back. The angel is sitting there as one who is preaching the triumph of the Lord Christ over the grave, over the tomb, over sin, over hell itself.
And then the angel is described for us there, consistent with what we see in terms of angelic description and other portions of the scripture. But then notice what the guards do. According to verse 4, the guard shook for fear of him and became like dead man. Now, the angel didn't speak to them.
The angel didn't show them a particular sign. But when the guard saw the situation, They were afraid. There was great fear in their hearts. And brethren, this is completely explains the lie of verse 13.
Remember at the end, there's this concoction of a story to try and suggest that his disciples came and stole him. Notice in verse 13, it says, tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept. Now there's all kinds of problems with that. If you were asleep, how do you know that person stole him away?
If you were asleep, you should be put to death for dereliction of duty. If you were asleep, how do you know the disciples did this? So you see, that is absolutely contrary to fact. When the guards saw this phenomena, they were greatly afraid.
John Calvin says, the soldiers who were accustomed to tumults, They were accustomed to battle. They were accustomed to war. They were accustomed to blood and guts. They were accustomed to dead bodies.
All these things were part and parcel of being a Roman soldier in this particular context, and yet the empty tomb in the presence of this angel causes them great fear. Back to Calvin. The soldiers who were accustomed to tumults were terrified and were so completely overwhelmed by alarm that they fell down like men who were almost dead. But no power was exerted to raise them from that condition.
So these men saw this phenomena and they fall down dead. Now,
Commission Given to the Women
notice the angel's commission to the women in verses 5 to 8. First, he encourages them and then he instructs them. Notice the encouragement, do not be afraid. Verse 5, the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid.
It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? Many, many times in scripture, we are told by God, do not fear. And yet what seems to be the native inclination of our hearts, but to fear. When the Lord God says, do not fear, we need to take him seriously.
We need to understand something of his sovereignty. We need to understand something of his government and his power and his providence. There is nothing that transpires in this world that is outside of the decree of God. What does Jesus say in Matthew's gospel back in chapter 12?
He says, the very hairs of your head are numbered. Now kids, that doesn't mean God's in heaven and his full-time job is counting the hairs of the people that he has made. He knows this, just like he knows all things. So when that God who knows all things, that God who has comprehensive sovereignty and power and authority tells us not to fear, Brethren, we need to listen to Him first, not Him last, not say things yet like, yeah, we know God is sovereign, God is over all things, but we're going to be riddled with panic and fear in this lower world.
No, we're not supposed to do that. We're not supposed to be injudicious. We're not supposed to be non-cautious. We're supposed to be compliant with the things that are good or calculated for safety and whatnot.
But brethren, when all is said and done, we live like Cromwell. Trust God and keep your powder dry. But so often we keep the powder dry and we don't trust God. That is absolutely incomprehensible for people who know their God, who've been conquered by their God, who have been saved by their blessed Savior.
Brethren, the angel tells them, do not fear. It's a wonderful exhortation. They, like the soldiers, were terrified at the scene. Again, Spurgeon says, let the soldiers tremble.
Let them lie as if dead through fright. But fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. And then he says this, those who seek Jesus, Need not fear. Again, I'm not trying to pick on anybody here.
Not trying to pick on the current situation or culture. I'm not saying don't be, you know, wise or judicious or cautious. I'm not saying don't wash your hands. I mean, that would be heresy and blasphemy in this current generation, wouldn't it?
If anybody ever stood up and said, go thou and don't wash your hands, I mean, that's probably a capital offense number one. So I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting we comply insofar as we are able. We do those things that hopefully under God and the normal course of affairs and lives, you know, prolong life and safety and health and all that sort of thing.
But we're not to be stricken with panic. We're not to be so riddled with fear we never leave our houses. Brethren, fresh air and sunshine are good things. They help the immune system tremendously.
And if we're all cowering in our living rooms, that is not an expression of our faith in the God who made the world and all things in it by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very good. or the God of sovereign providence who governs all his creatures and all their actions. The God of redemption who has saved us from the worst enemy itself. Sin, death, hell, judgment, Satan, all that bondage. God has spared us from the very worst.
And now shall we lose it when it comes to something that isn't the very worst? Brethren, do not fear, is what the angel counsels the women here. And then notice the explanation that he gives. Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, come see the place where the Lord lay. The angel acknowledges the reason for their presence. He knows why they're there. He is there seeking to attend to the body of the Lord Jesus.
But as well, notice that the angel confirms that Jesus had died. Around the resurrection, the historical account of the resurrection, you see from the very earliest stages, persons working to try to make it seem like it never occurred. I mean that whole a scene hatched in the later part of this particular chapter. We'll pay you off.
Tell them that the disciples came and stole the body. The Islam doctrine, Islamic doctrine, that Christ really didn't die on the cross was more of a swoon theory as far as Islam is concerned, that he only appeared to be dead, that when he went into the tomb, it wasn't as if he was raised from the dead. He just regained his strength and his energy and was able to leave at that particular point. There's always been these competing narratives with the historical record of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
He actually did die. That's what's confirmed in Matthew's Gospel. The angel announces the resurrection. Notice what he says.
He is not here, for he is risen. Notice this part, as he has said. In other words, Christ didn't only prophesy his death, Christ also prophesied his resurrection on the third day. We know those places in Matthew's gospel, Matthew 16, Matthew 17, Matthew 20, Matthew chapter 26.
Christ tells the disciples precisely what he is going to do when he gets to Jerusalem. And so according to his word, the angel underscores that what he has said has come to pass. He is not here, He is risen. And may I just say, that's a great bit of news, isn't it?
Our Savior is not in the tomb. This is something very problematic with Roman Catholicism. When you go into one of their so-called houses of worship, you see Christ on the cross still. Christ was on the cross, He went into the tomb, but He was raised the third day.
Our blessed Savior is enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Our blessed Savior always lives to make intercession for us. And our blessed Savior is able to save to the uttermost anyone who draws nigh unto God through Him. It's a blessed and wonderful thing.
He is risen. Our hope, our lives, our souls are built on this reality. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 15, when the apostles are arguing for the historical reality of the resurrection, it says, if Christ isn't raised, then we're of all men the most to be pitied. We're believing a fable, we're believing a folly, we're believing in the existence of unicorns when they're not really there.
But that's not the case. The Bible affirms the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. One man says, this event does more than certify the truth of Jesus' prophecies. For this idea of He is risen, it's a passive.
God the Father raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, thereby honoring His beloved Son, lauding His obedience unto death, and ratifying the new covenant established by His atoning sacrifice. And then before we leave this point, look at what the angel does with the women. He tells them to come and see for themselves. This kind of bugs me when Christians are portrayed as these, you know, flat-earth rubes that have no mind whatsoever.
I mean, you know, like a church service. We can't effectively social distance. We're all going to just fall and drip on each other. No, we're not rubes.
We're not fools. We're not anti-science. We're not against that sort of a process. In fact, the best scientists have been Christians.
Science is simply knowledge. It's the discovery of what is out there. But here's where science is mistakenly applied today is when it becomes a philosophical commitment. We take the raw data that science furnishes, and then we philosophize with it in a way that the actual information never suggests.
But if you look at this particular account, the angel doesn't say to the women, oh no, just trust me. Just take my word for it. Don't look in there. Don't peer behind this.
Don't walk in there. No, he doesn't do that. Look at what he says specifically in verse six. He says, come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Brethren, this is a beautiful thing, just like the resurrection of our Lord Jesus in John 20. Remember doubting Thomas? Unless I see, unless I touch, I will certainly not believe. What does Jesus do?
Jesus shows up and says, take your hand and touch. See with your own eyes. He is not saying that this is the only way to prove the reality, but he is highlighting to this particular doubter that the fact is, is that he was risen from the dead. It's a beautiful thing.
Now notice the instruction that he gives to the women in verse 7. It says, now 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.
Intriguingly, the apostles, or rather the women, become the apostles to the apostles. Now sometimes people go hog-wild with that and they say, well, the women were consistent. In fact, I've already said that. They were at death, they were at burial, they're at resurrection.
The other disciples had departed. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. And that is precisely what occurs. So some people try to take this and develop a place for women in the ministry.
Brethren, there is no place for the women in the ministry according to the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and 3. But women are significant. Women were a part of this whole situation and women were present and they were commanded by the angel to go and tell the disciples that he is risen. It's a wonderful account.
The women are to tell the apostles to go to Galilee in order to see Jesus. He had already announced to them in 2632 that he would meet them in Galilee. And as well, the angel underscores the message with authority. At the end of verse 7, he says, Behold, I have told you.
Now, what's the significance of the Gentiles? What's the significance of Galilee? The significance is that it's referred to as Galilee of the Gentiles. And that's where they meet together at the end of Matthew chapter 28, and that sets the stage for Christ's commission. when he says, go therefore and make disciples of who?
Of all the nations, not just Jews, but Gentiles as well. So there is a theological purpose and a rationale for this meeting in Galilee of the Gentiles. Now notice what the women do according to verse eight. This is beautiful.
So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word. They obeyed the angel. That's a good thing. When you are given divine direction, the best part of wisdom is to do what divine direction tells you.
But as well, look at that they had fear and great joy. They didn't have great fear and a little joy. They had fear and great joy. And I think at times people see that and they say, well, how can fear and joy be mingled?
Like I shared with you when I was growing up, there was a show on TV that talked about God-fearing Christians. And as a young papist, I wondered, how could that be a good way to live, being a God-fearing Christian? saved and understanding something of Scripture, especially Old Testament usage of the fear of the Lord, it simply means those who are rightly related to God through faith in Jesus Christ. The fear of the Lord is consistent, it is appropriate, it is wonderful. When we're in the presence of a thrice holy God, fear, reverence, and trembling is appropriate.
Remember that scene in the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter six. In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah the prophet says, I saw the Lord lofty, high and exalted. And the angels, they had six wings. And with two of those wings, they covered their face.
With two of those wings, they flew. And with two of those wings, they covered their feet. And all they did day and night was cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
Brethren, I think at times the church has lost something of that reverence and that trembling and that fear that is consistent with being in the presence of God. In other words, it's not all fun and games. It's not all levity and jokes. It's not all chattiness and hands and pockets, but rather the God with whom we have to do is a holy God.
He is most high. He is the true and living God and he is glorious. And yet when we read this particular passage, we see that not only do they have this fear, but it is mingled with great joy. In Psalm 2, verse 11, David tells the nations, the kings and the authorities around him, to serve Yahweh with fear. and rejoice with trembling.
These things are not inconsistent in the Christian life. They are most consistent. A reverence for God promotes joy in the presence of the Lord. It's a beautiful and a wonderful thing.
Appearance of the Risen Lord
So that's the empty tomb. Let's look secondly at the appearance of the risen Lord.
Jesus Meets the Women
Notice in verse nine, 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. Now, this is an extraordinary sight, isn't it? Jesus met them.
When had they last seen Jesus? They had last seen Jesus on the cross. They had last seen Jesus crucified. They had last seen Jesus dead.
Then they had last seen Jesus taken from the cross and buried into the tomb. And now they meet Jesus. Imagine that fear and great joy now quadrupling. growing exponentially as they lay their eyes upon the Son of Man. This is most glorious and most excellent.
They had seen him crucified. They had seen him bloodied and beaten and battered and bruised and all those sorts of things. And now they meet Jesus on the way. So it's an extraordinary sight, but then notice the ordinary greeting.
Jesus met them saying, rejoice. In this particular context, it could have just been a hi or a hello. The particular Greek word that is used here is like our hello or even our hi. R.T.
Frantz says, to say simply that Jesus met them when the last we saw of him was as a corpse sealed in a tomb is a masterly understatement. And his greeting, hello, is almost banal in its everyday familiarity. sees them and he says hello to them or hi to them. It's absolutely glorious, an extraordinary sight. And then a very normal or ordinary greeting on the part of the Savior.
And then the response of the women. Look at what they do when they see the risen Christ. The women held him by the feet. What's the significance of that?
Well, in Luke's gospel, Jesus tells them not to be afraid because he's not a phantom. He doesn't just appear to be something. There was an early Christological heresy called docetism, which taught that Jesus wasn't real. He only appeared to be a man.
That is absolutely heretical and that is not consistent with what the narrative says. In fact, it's almost as if Matthew and then Luke later in Luke 24 are heading off at the pass this idea of docetism, this idea that he only appeared. They held him by the feet and they worshiped him. Now, throughout Matthew's gospel, we see persons respond to Jesus in a manner of worship.
And that is highly significant, especially in light of Jesus' statement in Matthew chapter 4. You can turn there. Matthew chapter 4. The devil tempting Jesus, according to verse eight, again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
And he said to him, all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, away with you, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. An amazing statement by our Savior in light of the fact that whenever persons in Matthew's gospel worship him, he doesn't refute them. He doesn't reject them.
He doesn't rebuff them. We have seen this in the book of Acts. Cornelius wanted to bow down to Peter, and Peter said, don't do that. Remember those men of Lystra when they saw Paul and Barnabas heal that crippled man.
They wanted to bow down and worship. They said that the gods, Zeus and Hermes, had come down from heaven. They wanted to offer up sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, and Paul and Barnabas said, don't do that. You see that in the book of Revelation as well.
John wants to bow before the angel, and the angel says, don't do that. I'm a fellow servant with you of our Lord Jesus Christ. But Christ receives worship. Why is that?
Because he is the second person of the Trinity. There is but one only, the true and living God. In how many persons does this God exist? There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
These three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power, and in glory. Christ receives worship because Christ is worthy of worship. In the language of the Song of Solomon, he is altogether lovely. He is chief among 10,000.
He is the champion of Israel. He is the savior of his people. He is the redeemer and the Lord. In the language of John in Revelation 19, he is the king of kings.
He is the Lord of lords. He is the word of the living and true God. Of course, he receives the worship. And then notice the beauty of the text when it says, they held him by the feet and they worshiped him.
Now, feet aren't essential to humanity. If you get your feet cut off, you're still a human. I'm just here to tell you that. Not that you need more issues and more problems to think about.
Not only do we have the Wuhan, but our feet might get cut off. No, I'm not suggesting that. But this is a great illustration of what theology calls the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union underscores the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
And essentially, the hypostatic union teaches us that there is one person, the Lord Jesus Christ, two natures, human and divine. They hold him by the feet while they worship him. That's the hypostatic union, brethren. They hold him by the feet while they worship him.
He is like no other. He is the second person of the triune God who took on our humanity. And as a result, he is worthy of worship and adoration. Now
Christ's Word to His Brethren
notice the message of Jesus to these women. The message of Jesus to these women He encourages them in verse 10. Verse 10a, he says, Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. There's that recurring theme again.
Now the two types of fear that we have in the Bible, there's a hide under the piano fear because God's gonna get you. And then there's the reverential awe in the presence of God. Jesus is discounting and saying that one, the running and hiding. Don't be afraid.
Christ is risen. Christ is with them. Christ is in their present. presence, his word is true. And then notice the instruction that he gives to them, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me.
The instruction to the women is similar to the instruction given by the angel in verse seven. The angel says the same thing, go to Galilee and tell the disciples that he is risen. But as well, the instruction to the women is dissimilar to the angel in Christ's reference. Notice what Jesus says, go and tell, My brethren.
Now, for those who are believers in Jesus Christ, that's an encouraging statement, isn't it? My brethren. My brethren. Jesus is not ashamed, according to the book of Hebrews, to call them brethren.
And this particular statement of our Lord underscores several things that the gospel of Matthew points out. This reiterates an emphasis in Matthew's gospel that Christ is brother to his people. Matthew chapter 12. Remember when the people came and said, your mother, your brother, your sisters are all outside.
He says, my mother and brother and sisters are right here. They're the ones who do the will of my father in heaven. As well, this reflects the glory of the relationship between Christ and His people. Again, Psalm 22, Hebrews chapter 2, tells us that He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
That's good news, brethren, because there's days when I suspect that you, like me, are probably thinking, He is ashamed of me. He is ashamed of my waywardness. He is ashamed of my proneness to wander. He is ashamed of my proneness to leave the God that I love.
There was a story I once heard about C.H. Spurgeon. Somebody came to Spurgeon, there was a drunk in the town, and somebody came to Spurgeon and said, look, Mr. Spurgeon, there's one of your converts.
And Spurgeon's retort was something to this effect. He said, he must be one of my converts because he's not Christ's. On the one hand, that makes a degree of sense, but on the other hand, it doesn't. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren.
When he bought us, when he paid for us, when he secured our privilege to everlasting life, he knew what he was getting. He knew exactly and precisely what he was getting. Now I'm not advocating getting hammered and fumbling around in the middle of the city streets, but brethren, the people of God can do some pretty nasty things. Look at what the text goes on to say.
Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me. This rehearses the great grace and mercy to be found in the Lord Jesus. These disciples that he is telling the women to go and see had deserted him, didn't they? Don't say, well, no, you know, they didn't really know what was, they deserted him.
They didn't relish the do not fear. They were fearful. They were panicked. They were stricken.
They ran from the Savior when the Savior needed them. Does the Savior disown them? Does the Savior say no more? No, he still refers to them as my brethren.
My point is not go out and do horrible things because Jesus will always call you my brethren. My point is that if you do happen to do a horrible thing, it is not necessarily the case that you're not saved. Jesus Christ is a real Savior for real sinners. What do we find in 1 John chapter 1, or 1 John chapter 2, verse 1?
My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. That's John's point and goal for the people of God in 1 John. But then he goes on and says, and if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. That's what I'm trying to bring up.
I'm not trying to get you to go out and sin. I will never have to do that. That is one job I will never have to assume, to try to get people to go out and sin. Everybody's got that one down.
We are well taught in that particular reality. But the point is, is that if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus tells them, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. These men had abandoned him, according to 26.56, and Peter had even denied him.
And if you look specifically at verse 16, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee. You know what that means? Judas is gone, we know that, but the rest are still there. Even Simon Peter.
Look at Mark for just a moment. Mark's gospel in Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. Verse six, but he said to them, do not be alarmed.
You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him, but go tell his disciples and Peter.
Not excluding Peter from the body of disciples, but underscoring Peter's still inclusion with the disciples. In other words, when Simon Peter denied the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ didn't deny him. It was not apostasy, it was not a wholesale defection from God, but rather it was one of those sins, one of those sorts of things that overtakes the people of God at times, But in Matthew's Gospel, at the end of Mark here, we see that Peter is present even after having denied his Savior. Calvin says it is proper to remark the astonishing kindness of Christ in deigning to bestow the name of brethren on deserters who had basely forsaken Him.
That's who he's talking about when he tells these women, go tell my disciples. You're not supposed to shut down and forget everything that's preceded. These men abandoned. These men departed.
These men had said that they were not with the Savior. Peter denied knowing Christ to a slave girl, and yet Christ doesn't deny Peter, and Christ refers to him as brethren. It's a beautiful and a wonderful thing, and then the final statement underscores the chief benefit of our religion, and there They will see me. Isn't that everything in Christianity?
We hear about those descriptions of heaven in the book of Revelation, you know, streets of gold and the pearly gates and all that sort of thing. Brethren, that's just backdrop. That's just, you know, filler, if I may be so bold. What's the glory of heaven?
It's God. It's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There's no temple there. The Father and the Son are the temple.
There's no Son there. The Son of God illumines the place. The glory of heaven is God himself, and that's the emphasis here in this statement. There they will see me.
Yes, physically. Yes, historically. Yes, temporally, with reference to whatever is happening at the end of chapter 28. But the idea of communing with Christ, seeing Christ, knowing Christ, believing on Christ, having Christ.
What's Paul say? That I may know him and the power of his resurrection in Philippians chapter three. That's everything. It's the knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Lord.
Well,
Application
in conclusion, I would suggest first the glory of the resurrection. J.C. Ryle says, the resurrection is the crowning proof that he has paid the debt which he undertook to pay on our behalf, won the battle which he fought to deliver us from hell, and is accepted as our surety and substitute by our Father in heaven. Davies and Allison say chapter 28 is the necessary ending to Matthew's story.
Without the resurrection, Jesus' words are vacant and his opponents exonerated. With it, Jesus is vindicated, his cause and authority confirmed, and his opponents disgraced. They're right. That's exactly what that empty tomb furnishes with reference to the people of God and the enemies of God.
Secondly, with reference to the resurrection, I just want to run through what scripture says concerning this. Consider the confirmation of his death. Again, no swoon theory, not really badly hurt, went over to the tomb, got recuperated, and then went out vis-a-vis Islam and some within professing Christendom that subscribe to the swoon theory. Pilate confirms his death, soldiers confirm his death, the Jewish leaders confirm his death, and the angel confirms the death.
The confirmation of his resurrection, we have the angel himself, we have Jesus himself, and then subsequently, listen to what the New Testament tells us concerning the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is more evidence for the life of Jesus than there is for the philosopher Socrates. But no one questions whether Socrates was actually a human being. Why is that?
Because they don't have an axe to grind against Socrates. They do against the true and living God. But consider what the New Testament teaches us. He appears first to the women who had left the tomb, here in Matthew 28, and then to Mary Magdalene, according to John 20.
He appears to Cleopas and the unnamed disciple on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. He then appeared to Peter sometime that same afternoon, Luke 24, 1 Corinthians 15. He appeared to the eleven, minus Thomas, on the day of resurrection in the upper room. And then he invited his disciples to touch him, and he ate broiled fish and honeycomb among them.
He appeared a week later to his disciples, this time Thomas was present. He appeared to seven of his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias and prepared and ate breakfast with them. He appeared to the eleven on a mountain of Galilee. This occasion could have possibly been the one he also appeared to more than 500 people to in 1 Corinthians 15.
He appears to James, his half-brother, 1 Corinthians 15. He appears again to the 11 on the occasion of his ascension into heaven, Luke 24, Acts chapter one. And then he appears to Saul of Tarsus sometime later in Acts chapter nine. Now listen to this.
He appears to individuals, to a pair of disciples, to small groups, to large assemblies, to women and to men, in public and private at different times of the day, and both in Jerusalem and Galilee. This is not the testimony of a mass hallucination. This is the testimony of men under inspiration of the Spirit who are writing history, theological history to be sure, but history that is efficient and sufficient to instruct us of this reality. Now, there are those who say, well, that's not enough.
Some have these problems. They say, first of all, that Women were not witnesses to such things. And they typically invoke the historian Josephus. Josephus says, but let not the testimony of women be admitted on account of the levity and boldness of their sex.
I'm always hesitant to read things like that, because I don't want my sisters to rise up and throw tomatoes at me, but that's what Josephus said, okay? That's just the way it was. See, here's what I suspect. When it comes to the validity, the historicity, the truthfulness of the resurrection, you see that the gospel writers report the facts.
They're like Joe Friday, just the facts, just the facts. If the facts mean that women were some of the first to witness it, they're going to tell us that. I think it would have been more suspect if they excluded the witness testimony of women. Because then it seems like they're trying to navigate in a way to protect themselves from any possible charge of collusion.
Look at what it says in Matthew 28 at verse 16. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. I suggest that a fake would never put some doubted.
A fake wouldn't include that because it wouldn't jive with what they were proposing. But the fact that the gospel writers include the testimony of women, they include the doubting of the disciples, indicates that they didn't conspire together in some room to write their gospel narratives in such a way as to fool the multitudes. In fact, there are differences in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Not contradictions, they can be harmonized to be sure, but it shows us the independent testimony of these particular brothers.
If they had gone into a room, if they had cloistered together, if they had spent several days, they would have smoothed out the narrative, they would have taken out any unsavory details that would have possibly caused their story not to be believed. It's the very existence and presence of these kinds of things that underscores the historicity of the narrative. It is most excellent. It is most beautiful.
It is the reality that the gospel is not smoothed out. It wasn't orchestrated. It's not cunningly devised fables. It wasn't put together once upon a time.
And then in terms of the theology of the resurrection, again, we'll investigate this a bit more tonight, but we see the fulfillment of the promises made concerning Jesus. Not simply the promises Jesus himself made concerning his death and his resurrection, but Psalm 16. We see Daniel 9, we see the prophet Isaiah, the servant songs of Yahweh. All of this assumes a living Savior, a living Redeemer.
We have the Psalm of the Cross in Psalm 22, the first half taken up with the humiliation of our Lord and His death and suffering, and the latter half is His exaltation. Brethren, this fulfilled a mound of biblical testimony in terms of what Messiah would accomplish. As well, it is the means by which glory is given to the Father and to the Son. It's a beautiful thing.
The resurrection testifies that He is, in fact, the Son of God with It brings honor and glory to the Father, the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. It is the crowning proof, according to Ryle, and I think he's right, that he has accomplished the mission which the Father had given him, and this truth is without which we would have no hope.
Hope Grounded in the Resurrection
Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, we'll end here, on a message of hope in these hopeless days, or seemingly hopeless days. Definitely, seemingly, there's a lot of hope. A lot of hope to be had. Notice in 1 Corinthians 15, 12.
Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how does some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise.
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
And Paul will not have that. Paul is assuming the contrary in order to belittle it. He is assuming the proposition that Christ did not rise and drawing from that implications. If it is the case that Christ didn't rise, then we're of all men the most to be pitied.
If it is true that Christ did not rise from the dead, then we are still in our sins. When Paul says he was raised for our justification, He means it. We need His life, we need His death, and we need the resurrection from the dead because Christ Almighty is the Savior of His people and this affirms it. It is the crowning proof.
It is that blessed jewel in that particular crown that Christ is who the Bible says He is. And instead of being hopeless, we ought to be hopeful and tell sinners the good news concerning Jesus and the way of salvation. It's not by your works, it's not by adding Jesus to your already good life, but rather by faith in Christ, belief on Him, looking to Him alone to save you from your sins. It is a most blessed and a most hopeful statement that Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save, and hopefully all over the earth today this gospel goes out, conquering in to conquer, and that multitudes would leave that darkness, come into that marvelous light, and know the joy of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your word, and thank you for your grace, and thank you for the testimony of the scriptural authors when ultimately they write according to the power of the Holy Spirit upon them. And we give praise to you that you've not left us as orphans in the world, you've given us the Spirit, you've given us your word, that sure word that brings encouragement, that brings comfort, that brings hope. God, I pray this word would go forth throughout the earth today, and that many would come to the Savior. They would believe on Him, and that in distress, and in panic, and in fear, sinners would turn unto God most high.
And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, let's close by singing the doxology. It's found on page 568 in your book, and we'll stand as we sing together. you