Matthew 28, we have spent a long time going through the passion narrative, and we last saw that Jesus died and was buried, but the text does not end there. So tonight we'll look at the empty tomb and the risen Lord. Matthew chapter 28, verses one to 10, but I'll read the entirety of the chapter. So beginning in verse one.

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. 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. But 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. 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 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshiped 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. Our Father, we thank you for the written word of the living and true God. As the apostle says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And we pray that you would thoroughly furnish each of us unto every good work.

And tonight, God, as we consider this empty tomb and risen Lord, may we stand in awe at what Jesus did on our behalf. He lived a life of perfect obedience to the law of God. He died as a sacrifice and a substitute on Calvary. And he was raised again that third day and now ascended on high.

He has led captivity captive. He gives gifts to men. and we look forward to His second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead. And may it be the case, Most High God, that all of us would be prepared for that day, that we would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would receive that forgiveness of sins that You promise in the Gospel, that we would receive that righteousness that You give in terms of an ability to stand before you clothed in the righteousness of another. God, be glorified now and cause us to worship and praise you, and we pray through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Introduction

Well, as I said, we look at this particular account, we have looked in detail at the passion narrative concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. It begins in chapter 26, and here it ends or culminates at the resurrection of our Lord in chapter 28. It's probably a very familiar passage. In some sense, Easter has come a bit early this year as we survey this particular scene.

So

Discovery of the Empty Tomb

I want to look first at the discovery of the empty tomb in verses 1 to 8, and then secondly, the appearance of the risen Lord. in verses 9 to 10. In the first place, with reference to the discovery of the empty tomb, there's three things to note here. First, the arrival at the tomb in verse 1. Second, the descent of the angel in verses 2 to 4.

And then thirdly, the commission given to the women. Intriguing that women are the first witnesses of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Jewish historian Josephus made this statement. Let not the testimony of women be admitted on account of the levity and boldness of their sex.

That was quite common in the first century, that it was not the case that you would receive testimony from a woman. And so what does this indicate to us? The gospel writers are not hiding anything. The gospel writers aren't trying to make it look a little bit more believable.

The gospel writers indicate, for instance, what we see, in Matthew 28 at verse 17. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. They're not reticent to indicate the reality that there were doubters. They're not hesitant to indicate that it was women that first served as witnesses to the resurrection of our Lord.

Truth has nothing to hide. Truth doesn't need to shave off any edges with the thought that it will be more palatable to the audience. Truth is truth, and it is what God uses and what God blesses for the advancement of His church on earth. So

Arrival at the Tomb

notice the arrival at the tomb. The time is indicated in 28.1. It says, now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn. We are studying this Sabbath commandment on our Wednesday night Bible study.

We're in Exodus chapter 20, and of course the Sabbath is addressed there, given by God to Sinai. But at Sinai, God says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This wasn't the first giving of the commandment. The giving of the commandment or the precedent established was in Genesis chapter 2 verses 1 to 3.

God's Sabbath after he created the world and everything in it in the space of six days and all very good. We see Cain and Abel bring sacrifice to God at the end of days, the end of the days of the week. We see Sabbath observance in Exodus 16. Again, all of this prior to the giving of the law at Sinai.

So Sinai comes and then it's rehearsed at Moab or the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter five, that Sabbath is celebrated in the prophets. It is promised as a blessed element or feature in new covenant religion. And when we turn to the new covenant, we do not see the Sabbath abolished. We see the day changed to reflect the new creation wrought out by the son of God.

So the father creates in Genesis chapter one, the father Sabbaths in Genesis chapter two, one to three. According to the book of Hebrews in chapter 4, it tells us that Jesus as well rested after having completed salvation. And he sets apart this day, this first day of the week, that will be for the church to meet, to gather, and to worship the living and true God. Davies and Allison comment, the literal dawning of a new day signals a new period of history.

And then notice what they go there for. It doesn't say it here, but in the parallel accounts, they went to anoint the body of Jesus according to Mark 16 at verse 1 and Luke 23, 56 and 24, 1. So these women went to anoint the body of our Lord Jesus. Notice that the women are identified.

Verse 1b, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. The two Marys identified at the crucifixion in chapter 26, 56, they're identified at the burial in chapter 26 at verse 61, and here at the empty tomb. The parallel accounts indicate that Salome was also present and possibly other women. So the women express a fidelity to the Lord in this particular time of grief.

If you go back to chapter 26, I'm not picking on the men, I'm not being an anti-chauvinist here, but I'm just trying to indicate something that Matthew wants us to take notice of. In Matthew chapter 26, at verse 56, after Jesus says, all this was done, the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, We have then all the disciples forsook him and fled. Now, John is at the foot of the cross later, such that Jesus can say, behold your mother and behold your son. Perhaps he went away for a time and then came back, but the rest of the disciples fled.

But as I said, at the crucifixion, at the burial, and at the resurrection, you have these faithful women. And so God tells us this to encourage us in terms of faithfulness and perseverance, even in the midst of great calamity. At the crucifixion of our Lord, they were there. At the burial, those times that would be a particularly grievous situation, they stood by and they watched, they witnessed, and the same thing is true here with reference to the resurrection.

Descent of the Angel

Now notice the descent of the angel in verses two to four. And again, when we compare the parallels in Luke's gospel and in Mark's gospel, we see all of it together. But notice in the first place this earthquake. There was an earthquake that accompanied the crucifixion.

Look at chapter 27 at verse 51. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earthquake 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 go back over to chapter 28 in verse 2, and behold, there was a great earthquake.

So earthquakes attend both the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. John Dill 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. C. H.

Spurgeon puts it in his particularly pithy way. He 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. The heavenly hero arose from his couch and this earthquake was the attendant, sign and wonder.

Now notice the descent of the angel. The descent of the angel in 2B underscores for us, this wasn't just a seismic shift. It wasn't just sort of a haphazard event wherein there was an earthquake. If you live in Southern California, you get used to earthquakes.

If you live especially in Palmdale, California, right there near the the San Andreas fault line. So there's lots of earthquakes, and it's pretty common and pretty typical. I mean, even here near the Vancouver greater lower mainland area, we feel earthquakes from time to time. To be indicates this wasn't just some sort of natural phenomena.

It underscores that it was a supernatural phenomena because we see the attendance of the angelic being. So in 2A, behold, there was a great earthquake. And then there's this explanatory 4. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven.

Now this angel from the Lord that descends from heaven and sits on the rock is the same as the young man identified in Mark 16 5. There he's clothed in a long white robe. This is likely the same instance as we see in Luke's gospel. There were two men in shining garments, and I would suggest those were angelic beings.

Now, persons show their ignorance when they say things like, well, Luke has two and Matthew and Mark has one. Well, let me just tell you, if there were two, there was certainly one. There's not a contradiction. If you said there were two and it was not the case that there were two, that's a contradiction.

But to have two apples certainly means that you have one apple. No doubt, the one that is here, the one that is described by Matthew and Mark is the vocal one of the two. He is the one that speaks to the particular women. Now notice as well that there are rather the presence of angels in the incarnation.

In the early chapters of Matthew, chapter 1 at verse 20, chapter 1 at verse 24, And then again in chapter two at verses 13 and 19, you see that the incarnation is attended by the angels. And the same is true here. The resurrection is attended by and heralded by the angels. Those glorious works of God in terms of the life and the death and the resurrection of our Savior are heralded by the angels themselves.

Now notice as we continue in verse 2, the removal of the stone. If you look at the passage, technically it doesn't describe the rising of Jesus. It rather describes the discovery of the empty tomb. Jesus had already risen.

Jesus was already not there. Jesus was already vacant from the tomb at this particular point. So notice at 2C. So the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.

So the angel doesn't roll back the stone in order to let Jesus out. The angel rolls back the stone in order to let the women in. The angel is about following the science. The angel doesn't just say, take my word for it.

Trust me, the tomb is empty. You don't need to go in there. You don't need to verify it. I speak the voice of authority.

No, the angel rolls back the tomb. When the women happen along, he invites them in to investigate the tomb. In the parallel, we see Peter and John investigate the tomb. While they investigate the tomb, they see the handkerchief that was wrapped around the face of our Lord folded and on the bench in the tomb.

Why these details? To indicate or underscore that this wasn't the work of grave robbers. Grave robbers wouldn't go in and steal everything of value and then fold up things and lay them on the bench. If you've ever had your house burglarized, you know they don't operate that way.

They pull drawers out. They dump things on the floor. They pull things out of the closet. They don't typically tidy up when they're done.

They're grave robbers. And that's what we see in terms of the various details given or furnished to us by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is history, this is reality, this isn't myth, this isn't fable, this is fact. And then the fact that the angel is sitting on the stone is an indicator of triumph.

Matthew Henry said, there he sat, defying all the powers of hell to roll the stone to the grave again. I love these old commentators and the way that they wax in terms of the significance of the various details and events that we have. And then notice the description of the angel given in chapter 28.3. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow.

Remember that instance back in Matthew chapter 17, when Jesus goes up onto the mountain with his disciples and there he is transfigured before them. and his garments are shining whiter than any launderer could ever make. And we have the same sort of thing here. These angels are radiant beings. They are shining beings.

They are clothed as white as snow. This has tap roots back into the Old Testament, specifically in the prophet Daniel. And then notice finally, before we leave this particular point, the fear of the guards. Look at verse four, which by the way, shows the lie of verse 13.

Look over at verse 13 first of all. Well, verse 11. 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.

That's a problematic statement for a whole lot of reasons. If I was questioning these soldiers and they said to me that we were sleeping, I'd say, how in the world did you know that his disciples came, rolled back the stone, and stole his body? You expect me to believe that? The wicked aren't particularly bright, and when we look at this particular passage, it is parallel to what you find with reference to the Great Commission.

It's the diabolical. It's the anti-Great Commission. In the Great Commission, Jesus tells his church, his disciples, to go make disciples of all the nations, to baptize them, to teach them all things that he had commanded. Parallel to that is this lie, this deceit, this subterfuge by the Jews to try to cover up one of the greatest acts that ever occurred, namely the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So at verse 13, tell them, his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept. The guards didn't sleep. The guards were terrified. The guards that were now guarding a dead man, the guards who no doubt had seen military action in their lives, now see this angel sitting atop this particular stone and the guards are fearful.

They're terrified. This is not something they have seen. It's not something that they desire to see. Verse four, the guards shook for fear of him and they became like dead men.

Calvin said 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. The angel deals differently with these fearful guards than he does with the fearful women. And that's to who we look now in verses five to eight.

Commission Given to the Women

Notice the commission given to the women. There is first a word of encouragement and then a word of instruction. Notice in verses five and six, 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.

Do not fear. So they, like the angels, fear. They, like the angels, are scared. They, like the angels, have witnessed something they've never seen before.

That's pretty common, brethren. When we meet up with a new event that we've never experienced before, it's not outside the realm of possibility that fear might flood our hearts. But notice the angelic exhortation to the women. The angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid.

He doesn't say that to the guards. The implication, go ahead and be afraid. You should, because you're a wretch. But in this instance, do not be afraid.

C.H. Spurgeon again 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, those who seek Jesus need not fear.

Those Who Seek Jesus Need Not Fear

Those who seek Jesus need not fear. In light of that, turn to a passage we looked at this morning, Revelation chapter 1. Those who seek Jesus need not fear. John is on the island of Patmos on the Lord's Day for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And he gets a vision of the glorified Christ. And if you look at 1.12, then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment, down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. Now that's a composite picture. That's not like a photograph.

That's not a Polaroid. We're not supposed to try to, you know, get a profile here of Jesus in terms of dimension. It pulls from the Old Testament to put together this picture of the divine King. And then in verse 16 it says, he had in his right hand seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.

That's how Christ wages and makes war against his enemies. It is the sword, according to this passage and Revelation 19, that proceeds from his mouth. It's the word of God by which he strikes the nations. He had in his right hand seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.

And his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, notice the response, I fell at his feet as dead. Again, any one of us would have done that. Any one of us would have said, wow, this is an amazing scene.

I'm gonna fall at his feet like a dead man. When the prophet Ezekiel is confronted with the glory of God, guess what he does? He falls like a dead man. When Isaiah the prophet sees the Lord exalted, lifted up in the train of his robe, filling the temple, The prophet cries out, woe is me for I am undone.

I am a man of unclean lips and I live or dwell amongst a people of unclean lips. Why? My eyes have seen the glory of the Lord of hosts. That's what happens when we are confronted by the divinity, by deity.

So verse 17, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. Now notice this response. But he laid his right hand on me saying to me, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last.

In other words, do not fear. Those who seek Jesus are not supposed to fear. If you're a God-hating wretch and you guard a tomb, then go ahead and fear and quake and be still as a dead man. But for those women coming to seek out their Lord, The angel calms them by saying, do not fear.

And notice how Jesus encourages John. Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. Don't be afraid.

I'm God. I am Alpha and Omega. I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.

Amen. I have the keys of Hades and of death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands.

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. Just to encourage you to read the book of Revelation, this happens a lot in Revelation, where whatever things are given in symbolic form, they're explained for you. They're given theological emphasis for you. The book of Revelation is a revealing of Jesus Christ.

And so often people treat it as a book filled with gloom, and doom, and woe, and horror, and they don't read it. It's about the glory of King Jesus. The church not only needs to read it, they need to internalize it, and they need to rejoice in the reality of what John says in his greeting to the seven churches in Asia Minor with reference to our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in 1.4, John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come.

That's a reference to the father. and from the seven spirits who are before his throne." That's a reference to the spirit. That doesn't mean there are seven of them. That is the number of completion. And then in verse 5, he refers to Jesus, the prophet, priest, and king.

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. If ever the church needed that emphasis today, it is today. And then notice what we find at verse 9. I, John, both your brother and companion, in the tribulation, and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.

You see, the kingdom of Christ is established. The kingdom of Christ is growing. But that doesn't mean there isn't tribulation. Jesus teaches that.

It is promised to build the church in Matthew 16. I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. He's going to build it. The gates of Hades will not prevail against it, but the gates of Hades will try to prevail against it.

And so John is a companion with the brothers and sisters that he's writing to in tribulation, in kingdom, and in patience. And all through the book, he is exhorting them to patience, or to perseverance, or to endurance and faithfulness to the very end. So back to Matthew chapter 28. I think that reference in Revelation 1 does substantiate Spurgeon's words, those who seek Jesus need not fear.

The Angel's Explanation and Instruction

So the angel exhorts, and now the angel explains. The reason for his exhortation. So in verse 5, do not be afraid. And then he says to them, I know that you seek Jesus.

I know why you are here. I know what you are looking for. In the parallel, in Luke 24 5, it comes this way. Why do you seek the living among the dead?

In other words, Christ had promised that he would be raised from the dead. And so in Luke's gospel, and again, they're not different. Theology drives the perspective. But here specifically, the angel comforts the women by saying, I know that you seek Jesus.

And then notice he confirms that Christ was crucified. who was crucified. And again, it's a small detail, one among many in the passion narrative, but one among many that is needful. Muslims teach the swoon theory. Muslims teach that Jesus really didn't die on the cross.

He was mostly dead. So they dragged him off of the cross, put him into the tomb. His disciples came along, nursed him back to health. Once he left the tomb, that's when they said, he's been risen from the dead.

So each and every time the gospel writers indicate that he was dead, from the mouth of Pontius Pilate, to the guards who were supposed to break his legs, to the angelic being who announces this at the empty tomb, those are details needful for the people of God to launch a faithful apologetic with reference to an unbelieving world. Peter in his epistle says, we did not follow cunningly devised fables. This isn't something that happened in a galaxy far, far away. This didn't happen in some fairytale land of make-believe.

This is historical reality. This is truth. And this is why the details are important for the people of God. So the angel as well announces the resurrection.

I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for he is risen. Some of the most blessed words in the entirety of the Bible, for he is risen. Those are encouraging words.

I have seen the case on, we call it Easter Sunday. I call it the Lord's day. Did you know we actually have 52 Easter's? There are actually 52 Easters.

Each and every Sunday that the church gathers together on the Lord's Day, it is to celebrate the blessedness of our Savior. Every Sunday we could greet one another with a, He is risen. The Lord's Day marks that grand event wherein the tomb is empty and the Savior is risen. But notice, he not only announces he is not here, for he is risen, the angel reminds them of Jesus' oft-stated prophecy or promise that he would rise again.

Notice what the angel said. He is not here for he is risen as he said. He said it in Matthew chapter 16. He says it in Matthew chapter 17.

He says it in Matthew chapter 20. He says it to his disciples over and over and over again. And so what the angel is saying is that this is one more proof of the veracity of the son of God. He promised that he would be raised again.

He's raised again. In other words, everything that we call upon sinners to believe in the Bible is true. Or we wouldn't call upon sinners to believe it. We're not leftists.

We're not the media. We're not the government. We don't want you to take a blind leap of faith. We want you to hear the data of Holy Scripture and by God's grace believe on Him.

And when you do, the most blessed thing occurs. Your sins are forgiven. And not only are your sins forgiven, but you receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ, such that on that day of judgment, you will pass into glory. You will hear, well done, good and faithful servant.

You will hear, come, enter into your rest. Why? Because the doing and the dying and the rising of the Savior. as he said, and with reference to the resurrection of our Lord. Notice in verse 7, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.

And then here in verse 6, he is not here, he is risen. This is what we call a passive verb. That means that the subject is acted upon. And in this particular instance, theologians, commentators call it a theological passive or a divine passive.

That means he is risen by the power of God Most High. I won't rehearse the doctrine of inseparable operations and appropriations here, but it might not be bad for you to remember that. But with reference to the appropriation here, it's the father in view as having raised his son from the dead. And the significance, I think, is well explained by Francis Turretin.

He says, there is a peculiar reason why it, resurrection, is ascribed to the Father on account of the obligation which Christ took upon Himself, from which He ought to be released by the Father as judge, who, as He had delivered up Christ to death for our sins, so He ought to raise Him up again for our justification, in order to testify that a full satisfaction had been made by Him. There are times or instances where the Lord Jesus promises to raise Himself from the dead. Again, the doctrine of appropriations. But here specifically, it's the Father in view that has raised His Son from the dead.

I think it's well captured by Paul in Romans 4.25. Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses, and He was raised for our justification. And I think what Turretin says here speaks well concerning this transaction. And then as I said, the angel invites them to engage in the scientific method.

The end of verse six. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Investigate it for yourself. Confirm it by two or three witnesses.

Engage in what Deuteronomy 17 and 19 specified with reference to the rules of witnesses and evidence. This is a wonderful thing. The gospel writers aren't trying to cover anything. They're not trying to articulate a story in such a way that they're gonna bring the wool over everybody's eyes.

The differences that are there between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John can be harmonized. It can be reconciled. It takes a little bit of effort and work, but a surface reading might indicate these guys are operating on four different planes. No, they're not.

Again, they're four different theologians looking at the same event from four vantage points. And their theology drives the inclusion of their material. But it has led some to speculate, well, they couldn't even get their story right. That's what deceivers do.

Deceivers go away, they hide themselves in a room, they compare notes, and then they construct their story. That's not what happens in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are not deceivers. They are speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit, or writing by the power of the Holy Spirit, and they are not afraid to tell us all things.

Now, notice the word of instruction. So there is a word of exhortation, verses 5 and 6, and now a word of instruction in verse 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." The women functionally become apostles to go tell the apostles about the resurrection. Now, please don't take that statement and say we ought to have women preachers. That's not what I mean. 1 Timothy 2 prohibits that. It denies that reality in the context of the church.

I'm being a little bit Cheeky here the women become angel apostles in order to witness to the apostles the truth of the resurrection But notice they're supposed to go tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee look back at chapter 26 Chapter 26 at verse 31. Then Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.

After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee." So he is telling them this is the place eventually that we will meet. And it's in Galilee at that meeting place that he gives the Great Commission. Intriguingly, he starts his ministry in Matthew chapter 4 in Galilee. Now what's unique about Galilee?

Certainly it was within the confines of Israel. It was part of the Northern Kingdom back when, but at that particular time it wasn't a divided kingdom. But Galilee had a lot of Gentiles in its confines. And that's what it's referred to as in Matthew chapter 4, Galilee of the Gentiles.

So when we get to the Great Commission, and Christ asserts that He has all authority, and then He tells His church to go and make disciples of all nations, it makes perfect sense. Galilee of the Gentiles, the Jews of Judea, the Africans in Africa, the Canadians in Canada, the Americans in America, wherever there are sinners, Jesus dispatches His church to go and preach the gospel to them. to make disciples of them, to baptize them, and then teach them. And then notice, the angel underscores his message with his authority. Behold, I have told you.

France says, now the corollary of his going ahead is spelled out. When they get to Galilee, they will see him, not just an empty tomb, but a living Jesus. Now notice that the women comply. They don't say, well, no, we're not going to do, they do what they're told.

Notice in verse 8, so they went out quickly from the tomb, look it, with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. Fear and joy are not inconsistent in the Christian faith. Fear and joy go hand in hand. If we actually understand who our God is, our hearts should be flooded with fear.

There ought to be reverence, there ought to be respect, there ought to be esteem. God, through Malachi, the prophet, upbraids the children of Israel in his day by saying, if I am a king, where is my honor? If you honor your earthly fathers and you pay taxes to your earthly governor, where is the honor due to the great gain? Fear is consistent in biblical religion, but that fear is mingled with joy.

And notice in the text, it's not great fear and a little bit of joy, it's fear and great joy. Those are consistent. Those are bedfellows in the Christian heart. And then notice as well, they are to bring his disciples word.

So that's the discovery of the tomb.

Appearance of the Risen Lord

Let's look at the appearance of the risen Lord, verses nine and 10.

The Appearance and Message of Jesus

Notice the appearance of Jesus, verse nine, and then the message of Jesus in verse 10. The appearance. This is an extraordinary thing, and it's pretty sublime in the passage. It's just a couple of verses here, but when you stop and think about it, wow, this is an amazing thing that is happening.

Verse nine, and as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice. Now, they had been at the crucifixion. They had seen the mistreatment of the Savior. They had seen the mockery.

They had obviously seen as well that the disciples were not attending. They had seen that he actually died. He yielded up his spirit. They heard the guards say, truly, this was the Son of God.

They had witnessed the earthquake. They had then gone to the burial site and watched Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus attend to the body of Jesus. They had witnessed these things. When they come back to the tomb in Matthew 28, as we read it, it's not to discover it empty.

They're going there to anoint the body of Jesus. The last they knew, Jesus died on the cross. The last they knew that Jesus was buried. And so they're coming to attend to his body in a very expression of way of courtesy to his body.

And when they come or they go to tell the disciples, Jesus meets them and he says, rejoice. So it's an extraordinary sight. They've now laid eyes on a resurrected man with a very ordinary greeting. Rejoice, in that context, was similar.

It was not only the word rejoice, but it was a word for greeting. Kind of like, you know, in Hawaii, I think you can say aloha for everything. Here it might be akin to hello. Kind of interesting, right?

You see a resurrected man and he says, hello. I just can't even imagine the scene. Hello? I've got about a billion questions here, but first I just want to bow and worship and glorify your great name.

France again says, to say simply that Jesus met them, when the last we saw of his was as a corpse sealed in a tomb, is a masterly understatement. And his greeting hello is almost banal in its everyday familiarity. And so this is a glorious scene. Now notice the response of the women.

After Jesus meets them, and Jesus says, rejoice, it says, they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. This is the correct response. John on the island of Patmos, when he sees the glorified Christ, He falls as a dead man. He responds to the vision.

These women respond to the resurrected Lord in the only way conceivable. You worship Him. That a man that fit what the Old Testament said, that a man who claimed, and not only claimed, but demonstrated that he was equal with God, was crucified, was buried, and was raised again, elicits the response from people of worship and praise and adoration. And it's intriguing.

Notice. So they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Now, I don't want to confuse anybody, but this is a great illustration of or an analogy of what we call the hypostatic union. Now, it is not the case to be a human that you have feet.

You could have your feet cut off and still be a human. So, this is an analogy. We don't want to press it all the way. But that they hold him by the feet and worship him.

They do so by virtue of the union of the two natures in the one person. That they can hold him by the feet and worship him argues for the truth of the hypostatic union. One person, two natures, humanity and divinity, the unity of the natures in the person of the Savior. It is demonstrated here.

Again, it's an analogy. If we press it too hard, it'll probably crumble. But it illustrates the point that Christ is both man and both God in the one person. And so these women grab him by the feet and they worship him.

The Message of the Risen Lord

And then finally notice the message of Jesus. The repeated encouragement, what the angel said at the discovery of the empty tomb, do not fear. Jesus rehearses that. He says the same thing.

Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Those who seek Jesus need not fear. Those who seek Jesus are in the best place possible. And brethren, we ought to extrapolate that into our current situation. into the current situation facing Christianity in the world today.

There is oppression, there is persecution. Come to our Sunday morning prayer meeting sometime when we read Voice of the Martyrs. As our brother says, it's like we're going around the world praying for various people. The people of God suffer for the cause of God all over the earth.

But even in that disposition, or rather in that condition, even when there is affliction and hardship and woe, the admonition stands firm. We're not to fear. Now, brethren, there is a reason that that particular admonition is repeated so many times in the Bible, because it does seem to be our default response. But when we understand who Jesus is, when we understand where Jesus is, and when we know that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, hopefully that'll banish the fear from our hearts.

Hopefully we'll have that Psalm 46.10 call, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations and in the earth. is great counsel, do not fear. And then notice the word of instruction that he gives. Again, it's similar to the angel's instruction in verse 10.

Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me. So it's similar as Jesus says, like the angel, go to Galilee. It's dissimilar because Jesus refers to the disciples as my brethren. The angel doesn't do that.

Go tell his disciples. Go tell the disciples. But Jesus says, go tell my brethren. This reiterates an emphasis in Matthew's gospel.

In chapter 12, verses 45 to 50, Jesus says, those who do the will of my Father in heaven are my mothers, they're my brothers, they're my sisters. as well in chapter 25. We looked at that last Sunday night. Because you did this to the least of these, my brethren, you did it unto me. The same thing is rehearsed in Hebrews chapter two.

He's not ashamed to call us brethren. And in this particular context, brethren, there is something remarkable. I've already reminded you, the women didn't abandon him. The disciples abandoned him.

The disciples fled and forsook him. And one of those disciples actually denied him. Remember Peter? Oh Lord, I'm willing to die for you.

Jesus says, before the cock crows twice, you're gonna deny me. And Peter rather does that very thing. So if you look at the text, do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me. Then notice in verse 16, then the 11 disciples, Peter's amongst them.

The lesson isn't go out and deny the Savior because he'll forgive you. The lesson is, is that if you have a lapse, if you have remaining corruption, if you sin against God Most High, remember the Psalter. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.

He forgave Peter for denying him. Look at the parallel in Mark 16. Now most Bible commentators, scholars, guys who know a lot will tell us that Mark wrote his gospel as a result of Peter's preaching. So Peter preaches the gospel and Mark is his scribe.

So Mark writes down these notes and then Mark composes the gospel of Mark. Actually, that's not most, I'm sorry. It used to be most. Most is different now.

Most people think Mark wrote first and everybody else copied him. I don't believe that. I think Matthew wrote first, I think Luke then wrote, and then I think Mark wrote. Actually, Matthew, Mark, and then Luke, in that order.

But if you look specifically here, so Mark is listening to Peter, Mark is the scribe. So when Peter rehearses this same thing, remember the story is, is that Peter's preaching, Mark's writing down. Or if that wasn't the case, Peter's preaching and Mark's writing down, Peter is the go-to source for Mark. So when Mark composes his gospel, he's got access to Peter.

Now, when he rehearses this, look at 16.6, but he said to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who is crucified. He is risen, he is not here. See the place where they laid him, but go, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going before you into Galilee.

There you will see him as he said to you." Peter wants to make sure that we know that he was forgiven by his Savior. What he did was horrible, what he did was wretched, what he did was wrong, but what he did was forgiven by the powerful blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. So back to Matthew chapter 28, do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me. Calvin says, it is proper to remark the astonishing kindness of Christ in designing, ordaining rather, to bestow the name of brethren on deserters who had basely forsaken Him.

And this clause, and there they will see me, underscores the chief boon of our religion. the reality that we have communion with the living and true God. When you trace covenant in scripture, one of the elements that comes in each and every one is God says, I will be their God and they shall be my people. We are heading, we have it now, in our Lord's Day worship. Revelation 1, Christ is in the midst of the lampstand.

We have communion with Him here and now. We have the blessed reality, the presence of our Savior by His Spirit. But we are heading to glory. We are heading to that place where we will see Him, that place where we will dwell with Him, that place where we will reign with Him, that place where we will commune with Him.

And I think that last statement captures that well. There they will see me.

Conclusion: Glory of the Resurrection

Well, in conclusion, we see the glory of the resurrection. J.C. Ryle says, it 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. That's a beautiful expression of what the resurrection signifies.

Davies and Allison say, Matthew 28, 1 and following 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. It is the note of triumph, it is the note of victory, it is the blessedness of the empty tomb and the risen Lord that is the crowning proof that all that he undertook on our behalf is completed.

Secondly, the theology of the resurrection, there's a whole lot that could be said here. First, it is the fulfillment of all the promises of God that are yea and amen in Him. I read Psalm 16 tonight. Psalm 16 is what Peter appeals to when he's preaching the resurrection of Jesus in Acts chapter 2.

He says, David died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. David was not writing about David in Psalm 16. David was writing about his greater son, Jesus. He will not allow his soul to undergo decay in Hades.

He will raise him from the dead. It is secondly the means by which, or a means by which, glory is given to the Father and to the Son. He is declared to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness at the resurrection of the dead, according to Paul in Romans 1.4. Not declared to be the Son of God for the first time.

The emphasis falls on vindication. He is what he said he was. And then the crowning proof that he has accomplished the mission that the father gave him. And of course, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

If you take the resurrection out of gospel preaching, there's no gospel preaching. We celebrate the life of the savior. We need his obedience. We celebrate the death of the savior.

By this particular means tonight, we need atonement. We need the blood of Jesus to wash us from our sins, but we need that resurrection as well. We need all of those components involved in the gospel of our salvation, or as the Apostle says, we are of all men most to be pitied. So praise God Almighty that He has blessed us richly with an empty tomb and a risen Lord.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity of this account We thank you for the veracity of it, that that tomb is in fact empty and that our Lord is now ascended to the right hand of the Father on high. And we know that he rules and reigns over all things for the good of his church.

May this encourage us and may you vanquish fear from our hearts as the blood-bought children of our living God. We thank you for this time to remember his death as we eat this bread and drink this cup. And in this, we pray that you would be glorified and honored. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 2:1-3
• Exodus 16; 20
• Deuteronomy 5; 17; 19
• Psalm 16; 46:10; 130:3-4
• Matthew 1:20; 1:24; 2:13; 2:19; 4; 4:15; 12:46-50; 25; 26:31; 26:56; 26:61; 27:51; 27:54; 28:1-17
• Mark 16; 16:1; 16:6
• Luke 23:56; 24:1; 24:5
• Acts 2
• Romans 1:4; 4:25
• 1 Corinthians 15
• 1 Timothy 2
• Hebrews 2; 4
• Revelation 1; 1:4; 1:5; 1:9; 1:12; 1:16; 19