He is Risen Matthew 28:1-20

The Resurrection Accounts of the Four Gospels

As I was thinking about what to preach on for Resurrection Sunday, I decided to focus on the Resurrection account in one of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Each of these accounts documents their perspective of how the events played out on that enormously important day.

When you compare the accounts, it is interesting to see what details were included in each and what was left out. So each account sheds light on the other. This morning, we are going to look at how the Apostle Matthew saw the events play out on that Sunday almost 2 ,000 years ago that changed the world forever.

If you look at the accounts of each of the four Gospels, John's is the longest, Luke's is the second longest, Mark's is the shortest, and Matthew's is right in between there. So that's what we're going to look at today.

Matthew 28 and the Three Acts of the Resurrection Narrative

So I encourage you to open a Bible with me to Matthew chapter 28. This chapter has 20 verses, and if you're using a red Bible in the pews, it's on pages 992 and 993, and in this passage, the Apostle Matthew gives his account of the most impactful event in history.

The Apostle Matthew gives his account of the most impactful event in history. And Matthew breaks this down into three different sections, verses 1 -10, verses 11 -15, and verses 16 -20, and so if you have an outline, you'll see there that I'm calling this three different.

Acts.

We're going to look at act number one first, and act number one is after his resurrection, Jesus appears first to several women. Two days ago, on Good Friday, and some of you joined us for that wonderful service that we had, we looked at and remembered the death of Jesus Christ.

The death of Christ would not have significance, of course, without a resurrection. We wouldn't be here today together to celebrate this wonderful day. If Jesus had stayed dead, it would have shown that he was an imposter, because he predicted that the Jews and the Romans were going to put him to death, and then three days later he would rise.

But Jesus did rise from the dead, and we gather here today to remember this most important of all days in human history. As I mentioned, this event changed the world forever. There's thousands and thousands and thousands of churches meeting today to ponder this.

The resurrection of Jesus is the reason we have hope. It's the reason you should get out of bed in the morning. Christians believe in a risen Savior, that even though we die physically, we live forever with Christ, now in this life, and when we die, as we will rise too.

The text we are going to be looking at today, as I already mentioned, is Matthew 28, and we're going to be looking at each verse here, verse by verse, and my prayer is that this account of Christ's resurrection comes alive to you.

Imagine yourself being there. The people who witnessed this event were ordinary people, like you and me. So picture yourself being in this moment, in this story. I'm going to start by reading verse 1.

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. So after Jesus' body was taken down from the tomb on Friday, two men took his body to the.

Tomb.

These men were Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. These two were high-class Jews. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy man who actually owned his own tomb, and Jesus was buried in his tomb, and this was a fulfillment of prophecy.

If you read Isaiah 53, verse 9 says, they made his grave with the wicked and with the rich man in his death. That rich man is Joseph of Arimathea. Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to the tomb with these two men on Friday, right after his death, so they knew the precise location where he was buried.

And in verse 1, these women go to the tomb with the purpose of anointing Jesus with oils. Of course, we know that dead bodies start to smell, and so they're going there to anoint.

Him.

They couldn't go the day before because it was Saturday. It was the Sabbath, which was the Jewish day of rest. So these women go to the tomb on Sunday, on the third day, not expecting to see anything extraordinary.

They're just going to honor their friend by anointing him. And then the incredible happened. Verse 2,. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

This earthquake and the angel from heaven moving the stone happened before the women arrived to the tomb. We know this because the accounts in Mark, Luke, and John say that these women found the stone, rolled away, and the tomb empty.

So they show up and the tomb's rolled. Nobody's there. The stone that was over the tomb was tightly secured. The Roman soldiers did this to make it so that it would be impossible for anyone to steal the body and lie and say he rose from the dead.

It is interesting that the chief priests and Pharisees, these Jewish leaders, the very ones who put Jesus to death, were concerned that Christ's disciples would take the body away and say that he had risen from the dead.

This is what these Jewish leaders said to Pilate in the previous chapter, chapter 27 in verses 63 and 64. Then Pilate said, use your own guards and secure it. So this is what they did. The tomb could not have been more tightly secured.

No mere man would have been able to overtake the guards and unseal this tomb. It would take a miracle for this to happen. And that's precisely what we see in this text. We see a miracle. An angel from heaven rolled it away.

And verse three describes the description of the angel. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. The brightest light that we experience is the sun, and we are told never to look at the sun because it is so bright and that it could blind you.

And Brianna and I learned this the hard way. Thankfully, we weren't blinded. Remember that eclipse this summer? Everybody had these glasses and we just looked at the sun with our eyes thinking, oh, that's kind of neat.

And for a few days, it was hard for us. We saw OK, but it was it was kind of hazy for a few days. And after a while, we were OK, though, thankfully. Now, the light that came from this angel was like the brightness of the sun, blinding light.

And I mentioned the guards who secured the tomb. They were there guarding the tomb when this happened. And we see their reaction in verse four. And for fear of of him, the angel, the guards trembled and became like dead men.

Throughout scripture, the first words the angels utter when they make an appearance to a human is do not be afraid. And why is that? It's because they're terrified to as humans. And they come with this brightness.

The glory of God comes with them. The guards were terrified at seeing this angel. All of this happened before the women arrived at the tomb. So the women go to the tomb and notice that it is empty. As the women see that the tomb is empty, they see an angel.

And this is what the angel said to the women in verse five. But the angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. The Gospels of Luke and John say that there were actually two angels that were present.

The Gospel of Luke says there were also several women who were with the two Marys. So it's not just Mary, Mary Magdalene and the other Marys. It's several Marys who who are here. And actually, if you look, if you put together the chronology, actually, at this point, Mary Magdalene has actually run back to tell the disciples.

And so now it's the other Mary and the other women who are here talking to these angels. And as the as the women see the angels, they say to the women, the words do not be afraid. These angels know that they have come to anoint Jesus body.

Then they deliver the incredible words in verse six. He is not here. He is for he has risen, as he said, come see the place where he lay. No one took the body away. The reason he's not here is that he has just risen as he said he would.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told his disciples five times that he would rise from the dead. Jesus said it and it happened. And these women hear this amazing news from this angel. The angel then gives them a task to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead.

In verse seven, they say the angel said, then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. See, I have told you.

So the angel tells the women to tell the disciples that they will see Jesus in Galilee. Now, the region of Galilee, if you know a little bit about Israel geography, this is where Jesus and his disciples were from and where Jesus spent most of his ministry.

Galilee was about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. So in our day, not too far in their day, a long ways. Jesus is going to meet the disciples in this place at a time in the near future. At this time, there would have been 11 disciples because, of course, Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was no longer with them.

And we will see in a bit that more than just the 11 disciples will go to Galilee to see Jesus. Now, the women obey the command of the angels as verse eight states. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.

They go to tell the disciples the incredible news that Jesus had risen from the dead. Imagine what this would have been like. They just saw an angel sent from heaven and they were told that Jesus, their dear friend who was once dead, is now alive.

And as they are running to tell the disciples, they are filled with fear and great joy. You can imagine them shaking. If you think of a moment in your life where you were so excited, you're so excited that your body actually shakes.

This is what they would have felt like. And they are shaking, realizing they just saw this heavenly being and they are filled with great joy knowing that the one they loved and believed in now has risen from the dead.

As these women are in route to tell the disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead, they are met by the man himself. As the resurrected Christ appears to them and speaks to them in verse nine. And behold, Jesus met them and said greetings, and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

The joy that they had as they saw Jesus overflowed. Imagine this.

Think about some of you.

Some of you have a loved one who knew the Lord, who has passed and gone to be with the Lord. And one of the great hopes we have is you will be reunited with your loved ones. Could you imagine what that will be like?

This person that you saw die in this life and dealt with that grief. And now you're reunited with that person. The disciples, or the women here, are experiencing that right now. As they see Jesus, they were overwhelmed with grief, and now they see him alive and they're overwhelmed with joy.

These women are not only with their Lord and Savior, they are with their friend. He is now alive and they cannot have more joy. Note here, too, that they did not see a ghost. They saw Jesus with a body.

He was physical.

It says they took hold of his feet. Spirits don't have feet. They took hold of his feet and worshiped him. They are bowing down to him. You only worship God. And these women knew that he was so much more than a man.

And so they worshiped. Throughout his ministry, Jesus claimed to be God's son. And they give him the worship that he is due. And Jesus receives this worship because he is God. Before these women met Jesus, apparently they were afraid to tell the disciples.

Remember, the angels told them, go tell the disciples. And they were afraid because they knew the hostility of the Jews who had just put Jesus to death. They're probably thinking, they put him to death.

What are they going to do if they know that we're following him? So to embolden them, this is what Jesus says in verse 10. That Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me.

Earlier, the angels told these women to tell the disciples that the 11. Or sorry, earlier that the angels told these women to tell the disciples the 11 that Jesus had risen. Now Jesus expands it here even more.

He tells them to tell his brothers. Throughout Jesus' ministry, he had many people who followed him. Lots and lots of people followed Jesus. And the word was to spread that Jesus was going to Galilee.

Many would go there to see for themselves that Jesus was really alive. And I mentioned in the introduction how each gospel sheds light on the other gospel. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 sheds light on Matthew 28 here as well.

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, 6 explains that Jesus appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. You see the same word. Paul used the word brothers and in verse 10, the word brothers is used.

Jesus says, go tell my brothers. So this isn't just 11 disciples, it's more people. Jesus made many appearances after his resurrection. The gospel account that we're looking at, the Gospel of Matthew, is focusing on this grand appearance that Jesus is going to make in Galilee in the near future, 60 miles north of Jerusalem.

So this is the first act of this account. And this act is after his resurrection, Jesus appears first to several women. The second act is the ones who killed Jesus try to cover up the reality of his resurrection.

And we'll see this in verses 11 through 15. We just saw the perspective of the women seeing the angel, seeing Jesus and going to tell the disciples and other followers of Christ. Now we are going to see the side of those who unjustly murdered Jesus.

These are wicked people and we're going to see that right now. The chief priests and the elders. Here's what verse 11 says. While they were going, behold, some of the guard, the people who guarded the tomb, went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.

So while the women were going to tell the disciples and the followers of Jesus that he had risen, word got out about what happened at the tomb. Certain guards went to tell the chief priests. The chief priests met with the other leaders known as the elders and they came up with a plan.

Before we go any further, we need to contemplate how sinful their actions were. What they should have done is said there is irrefutable evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead. He is really from God and we are the phony ones, not him.

Remember, they were accusing Jesus as being the phony one throughout his ministry and they thought they were on God's side. And now they should know, wait, he's from God and we're the ones who are enemies of God.

That's not what happens here. This is not what they do. They already murdered Jesus and now they want to cover it up that Jesus actually rose from the dead as he said he would. They show their sin in the attempt at a cover up in verses 12 through 15.

So I'm going to read these verses here together. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.

And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

So they decided to come up with a lie that the disciples stole the body. And in order to prevent the truth of what really happened from getting out, they paid the soldiers who were on guard. As the earthquake happened, the angel appeared and the stone rolled away.

They pay these men. They paid them off. And they paid them off to tell the lie that the disciples stole the body away. And if somehow the governor Pilate hears about this, the Jewish leaders are going to cover for the soldiers to keep them out of trouble so that they protect the lie.

It is interesting that the day before, they suspected that the disciples may attempt to steal the body. That's why they put guards there in the first place. They go from believing that the disciples might steal the body to telling the lie that the disciples stole the body.

This is wicked.

These are awful people. Several years ago, my dad sent a message to one of my relatives. He's a big skeptic, very hostile to the faith. And what you'll see is that this lie that the disciples stole the body, it still goes to this day.

And my dad sent this email to my relative. He says, he is risen on one resurrection Sunday morning. And my relative responded back, no, the disciples stole the body. And it made us scratch our head. But then you read this account and you say, well, the lie was told back then.

The lie is still told to this day. Now, what's interesting is that almost all scholars, Christian and secular, agree on four facts regarding the resurrection. Number one, Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus in his tomb.

Number two, several women found the tomb empty on Sunday morning. Number three, many people claim to see Jesus after the tomb was found empty. And the Christian movement started from these events as witnesses sincerely reported that they saw him alive.

The disagreement among scholars is on the explanation of all these events. OK, so this puzzle here, what's the best explanation? I'm here to tell you today that the only explanation that makes any sense is that Jesus really did rise from the dead.

So if you came here today and you said, is this really true?

It is true.

And you should believe it. Let me give an example of how ridiculous the other views are. One scholar said Jesus had a twin brother.

All right.

Think about that. How ridiculous is that? Others have said Jesus really didn't die. And this is silly. Do you think the disciples would boldly call people to believe in an almost dead man and say his resurrection will change your life?

And somehow we're here today to remember this? Not a chance. One scholar said all of these witnesses of the resurrection did not really see Jesus, but they had visions of him. OK, one person, maybe. But over 500, no way.

The other ridiculous view is what we have in our text, that the disciples stole the body. And obviously, that's very unlikely because soldiers who were trained to kill were guarding a very tightly secured tomb.

So when you realize, OK, those are your options. The options are he really rose from the dead or those.

All right.

Not very strong on this side. Very strong on this side. So the only logical way to explain the evidence is that this really happened. And the truth claims of Christianity stand above any other truth claim.

So this is the second act, verses 11 through 15. And the second act of this account focuses on the ones who killed Jesus and tried to cover up the reality of his resurrection. The third and final act that Matthew details here is the grand appearance of Jesus.

This is what he highlights. And we transition to this grand appearance that Jesus had with the disciples and many of his other followers in the northern part of Israel in Galilee. I was looking at a source recently that looked at each of the four Gospels and put them and put the appearances of Jesus in chronological order.

It's really it's a puzzle transfer. OK, what which events happened in what order? But this source was very solid, and I think I think they got it right. This this source was the 10 documented appearances that are listed in the Gospels that Jesus made after his resurrection.

During the 40 days he was on the earth. Before he ascended to heaven. Now, Matthew in his gospel highlights the eighth appearance. So if you're just reading this separate from the other accounts, you might think that was this his only appearance.

Now, he had actually 10 10 appearances, and this is the eighth appearance. And it took place on a mountain at the Sea of Galilee. And we see this in verses 16 and 17. Now, the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

And when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted. The 11 disciples and many other people took the 60 mile journey to Galilee. And as verse 10 says, the women were to tell not only the 11 disciples, but also all of these followers of Jesus that he was going to meet them there.

And they went to the mountain that Jesus told them to go to. At this point, Jesus had already appeared to the 11 on several occasions. But this meeting was an opportunity for a large number of people to see him at the same time.

I already mentioned this, but how many saw Jesus on this mountain? The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, 6, that he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. And the word brothers here, by the way, it's it doesn't just mean men.

This could be a general term that can be used for both men and women. So there's probably both who witnessed his appearance. And what verse 17 says is that they saw him and worshipped him. In verse 9, when Jesus appeared to the women, they worshipped him also.

So now we see all these people, including the 11, worshipping Jesus. This belief and doctrine that Jesus is God is clear in the pages of Scripture. And you see it right here. You only worship God. Worshipping anything else is what we call idolatry.

You only worship God. And that's what these people are doing on this mountain in Galilee. And what is incredible about this is that Jesus once again receives the worship. He doesn't tell them, oh, no, no, don't do that.

Don't do that.

Just worship God. He's receiving the worship because he deserves the worship because he's God. There are actually a few places in Scripture where people bow down to worship angels. The angels say, do not worship me, but worship God alone.

There is one instance in the book of Acts with Herod Antipas. When Herod gave a public speech, you know, he's this politician. The people shouted, the voice of a God and not of a man. And he received the worship.

Then the account says an angel of the Lord struck him dead because he did not deserve it. So receiving worship as one who is not God is very dangerous. But Jesus here gladly receives the worship and nothing happens to him.

He rightly receives worship because he is God. And the early followers of Jesus knew this. Now, the end of verse 17 says that some doubted. That might catch you by surprise as you see this. They see him alive.

Why are they doubting here? When you first look at this, you might think that this is referring to the 11 disciples. We know, of course, about Thomas. He's here in the nickname Doubting Thomas. That appearance had already happened at this point.

And so Thomas would have believed at this point. So the people who are doubting here are not the 11 disciples, but rather among the crowd of the 500 people. And it doesn't mean that they didn't believe.

It just means they were maybe skeptical. Is this really him alive? And they believe, though. What you can see in this appearance at Gali is how God planned that the news of the resurrection would get out.

He didn't have one person see it and report it. If you look at the religion of Islam, a very mysterious angel appears to Muhammad. I believe it was Satan himself appears to Muhammad. He was terrified, not terrified in a way that these people are terrified, but actually like frightful, terrified.

And Muhammad was the only one who had this appearance from this angel, the only one. And so the entire religion of Islam depends on this one man who had. And I actually I actually believe it was really Satan who appeared.

And this lie has been spread to this day. But what's interesting with the Gospels in the New Testament here is that there are lots and lots of witnesses who see Jesus alive. And a certain number of these people who were mostly apostles would write down not only that they saw Jesus after his death, but also the significance of his whole ministry and what this means for us.

And these documents are what we call the New Testament. And what is interesting is that when Paul wrote that more than 500 people witnessed the resurrection of Jesus in first Corinthians 15, six, he wrote that some of these people are still alive.

Paul wrote first Corinthians about 20 years after Christ's resurrection in 53 AD, someone who did not witness the resurrection of Christ could approach someone who did and ask him or her, did you see the resurrected Christ?

And they would say, I saw him and you should believe in him. That passage of first Corinthians 15 says some are still alive. Some are dead, but some are still alive. You could ask these people 20 years after the fact.

When I was eight years old, we took a trip to Dallas, Texas to visit my uncle. And this is when I fell in love with history because we visited the site where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. We went to Daly Plaza and went to the Texas School Book Depository, went up on the sixth floor and could see the view of Lee Harvey Oswald as he fired three shots and killed.

The president.

And what was what was fascinating about that is even then that many years ago and even today, there are still people who are alive who witnessed that event and they all have their different perspective on what happened.

But and that's how you figure out what happened. You put all the pieces together. And so this is this is kind of like that. This is a historical event. People witnessed it and you can talk to people and say, what was it like to be there when you saw him?

It's fascinating. History is fascinating. Most of all, the resurrection is fascinating more than any other event in history. And eyewitnesses of historical events can tell you what they saw and you can tell with the tone of their voice, their sincerity and the detail with which they describe what they say, what they say is what they're telling the truth.

You can tell what the sincerity they're telling the truth. You don't question it, you believe it because these are credible people who are telling I mean, we all know people who are just maybe a little strange, right?

We don't believe some things they say. These are not those people. These are credible people. And let me ask you, when you read the New Testament, do you get the impression that these eyewitnesses are trustworthy?

Read it for yourself, read it.

And I think you will see, I know you will see the authenticity of this, the eyewitness account of these women and these men that they truly saw him alive. So this is the third act of this account. The grand appearance of Jesus is highlighted.

Matthew chose to highlight this appearance where Jesus appeared to more than 500 people on a mountain in Galilee. To summarize the three acts of Matthew's account of the resurrection of Christ, we saw in Act one after his resurrection, Jesus appears first to several women.

Act number two, the ones who killed Jesus try to cover up the reality of his resurrection. In Act number three, the grand appearance of Jesus is highlighted. And if this is true, and I think we can all see that this is not a fairy tale.

This is real history. The question we have to ask is, how does this change your life? God created this world that we live in. He created you. Every one of us has sinned before him. And Jesus died on the cross to save you from the punishment that you deserve for your sins.

He bore that punishment. And before Jesus ascended to heaven, after 40 days of appearances showing that he truly was raised from the dead, Jesus gave a commission to his disciples in verses 18 through 20.

And this is what he said to them. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Think about that. We're 21st century people living in Eureka, Wisconsin. Think about how far these events happened, how far away and how long ago.

And Jesus says here, get this message out. And guess what?

It got out.

That's why we're here. The message got out. And then he says, I will be with you to the end of the age.

And you know what?

We might be close to the end. And he's with us. He is in this room right now, not physically, but he is present with us this very moment. And the disciples were given the command to make disciples. They were commanded to share the gospel and proclaim that Jesus died for sinners so that you can be reconciled to God so that you can live forever.

And if you sincerely trust in Christ when you die, you go securely to him. And one day when Christ returns, you will have a resurrected body like his resurrected.

Body.

So my question to you is, do you know Jesus in a room this size? Some of you here may not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is something you can't be indifferent toward. You have to either make the choice to receive him or reject him.

The truth of the matter is you will spend forever in eternal glory or you will spend forever separated from God in hell. And I say that because I don't want to see any of you in hell. I want every one of you to go to heaven.

The choice is yours. It's pretty popular these days for people to say life is complicated, right? Do we really know why we're here?

Do we really know?

And the devil's done a really good job to confuse people. But I'm here to tell you it's not confusing. There's two paths, Jesus or not Jesus. Those are the paths that are before you and the choice you face is what you do with him.

And so I invite you, if you haven't trusted in Christ, you can say, you know what, Lord Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. I believe that you rose a dead and I believe that by believing in you, I'm forgiven and I am secure with you and I am on my way to heaven.

I encourage you to pray a prayer like that. It doesn't need to be an exact prayer, but you can just talk to God and invite Christ to come into your life. The second question I have is for those of you who do know Jesus.

My question to you is what are you going to do to get this news out? Are you sharing this with those who have yet to believe in Christ as Lord, Savior and treasure? This is the commission that the Lord has given us and we must listen to it and get the most important news in the world out to our community here in Eureka and in the whole St. Croix Falls area.

This is the most impactful event in history and what will you do with it? To those of you who do not have a relationship with Christ, will you make the best and most important decision of your life by trusting in him?