The Resurrection (Matthew 28)
Early on Sunday morning,[a] as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
2 Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
I have heard it said that Christianity is for softies or goodie goodies or even nerds, but the reality is that ….
God is almighty and powerful.
God created the world with his spoken voice.
God conquered armies without lifting a hand.
And God sent his son, who died on the cross and rose again 3 days later, so that we could be redeemed.
That is so much more than soft, or good or nerdy. That is power, passion, creativity and Love!
Christianity is centered around this significant crucifixion and resurrection.
This event changed History.
This event, which has been recorded as fact by both believers and non-believers.
This event which left the early followers of Christ so committed that they were prepared to die for their faith.
And this event which has changed my life.
Yes … His Story changed My Story
God loves US and God loves to show us his power. To build our faith. To boast of His goodness.
Here is something of my story! You know how we all make New Years Resolutions. (and very seldom keep them). Well my resolution was that I wanted to read the bible in a year. Yes, the whole bible!
I have the New Living Translation study bible which includes a table of scriptures indicating what to read each day in order to complete the bible in a year. Of course, I started with great enthusiasm, but after a while, life got in the way and sometimes I didn’t even realize that I had missed my reading until a few days later. But I am grateful to say that God is a God of great mercy and grace. He absolutely knew that this was going to happen and he also knew how hard I can be on myself, so He very kindly gave me the word ‘flow’ as my banner word for the year and this word gives me a whole lot of freedom. I feel free to just go with the flow. To read as often as I can. To finish when I finish.
But in spite of my time constraints, I have found the bible to be absolutely gripping. I have been a believer for 36 years and I am reading some of the scriptures for the very first time. Sometimes it is so gripping, I just cannot put it down.
One thing is very clear.
God never hesitated to show his power.
He also showed extreme loyalty and passion towards his people. In fact every act of power, protection, provision or war was done for the good of his people. He would empower a small insipid army to overcome a vast, unconquerable enemy in battle, because the enemy chose to wage war on his people.
His people always had a victory to share. The enemy always had a chance at seeing Gods hand. (mostly they chose to ignore it, but God would always welcome those from the enemy’s camp, who acknowledged him and chose to turn to him.
Because He is an almighty, good God who is full of LOVE.
If God is for us, who can be against us.
This Easter, I was invited to a sunrise worship service. I was so excited. I would wake up early, sneak out the house and be able to enjoy a time of completely uninterrupted song and prayer. A rare occasion for a mom of 4 year old twins.
But I got way more than I bargained for. I was not expecting to hear a powerful message – especially at such an early hour. This message so inspired me that it propelled me to write this piece. It was not a new message – it was one that I have heard so many times before, but this time is was it was completely focused on the facts. The biblical facts.
The pastor posed 3 questions to us, but I am going to focus on just the one. He said ‘Why do you think that the stone was rolled away?
Jesus was raised from he dead. He was perfectly spirit and perfectly flesh. He could have just appeared outside the tomb just as he later appeared inside the locked room with all the believers.
So why was the stone rolled away?
The answer is simple! So that you and I can believe. So that you and I have proof that His body was no longer in the tomb.
And, He rolled it away with power and might. With a powerful angel and a mighty earthquake . That was not discreet. That was showing His power.
Everything is for us! Everything is for mankind. So that we will see His power. So that we will see his continuous pursuits to bring us back to a place of belief – to bring us back into the family of God.
Here is John’s recollection of this Easter story, which is written with more character and emotion that the version we read in Matthew which is more a statement of facts.
The Resurrection
20 Early on Sunday morning,[a] while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
Seeing is believing! The facts are the facts.
The disciples who reached the tomb first, saw and believed.
They boldly proclaimed the evident truth. He Has Risen! He has Risen indeed!
I am going to end off with a exurb of a statement written by Lee Strobel who is an atheist -turned-Christian. He is an editor and a best-selling author who vehemently set out to disprove Christianity but as his investigation unfolded, so his atheism began to buckle.
“Was Jesus’ tomb empty? Scholar William Lane Craig points out that its location was known to Christians and non-Christians alike. So if it hadn’t been empty, it would have been impossible for a movement founded on the resurrection to have exploded into existence in the same city where Jesus had been publicly executed just a few weeks before.
Besides, even Jesus’ opponents implicitly admitted the tomb was vacant by saying that his body had been stolen. But nobody had a motive for taking the body, especially the disciples. They wouldn’t have been willing to die brutal martyrs’ deaths if they knew this was all a lie.
Did anyone see Jesus alive again? I have identified at least eight ancient sources, both inside and outside the New Testament, that in my view confirm the apostles’ conviction that they encountered the resurrected Christ. Repeatedly, these sources stood strong when I tried to discredit them.
So let us read the words written in John 20:19 (New Living Translation) through new eyes, and let them settle in our hearts as beautiful, confirming truth.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 That Sunday evening[b] the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!