The King is Risen! - Matthew 28:1-7

The Messiah-King in Matthew’s Gospel

Amen. Let's turn again to Matthew in Matthew chapter 28 beginning the last chapter of Matthew's gospel today. It's hard to believe that we are we are here now at the end of the gospel. We started this series if you're keeping score at home started this series back on January 7th of 2023 and so well over two and a half years now that we've been going through Matthew's gospel.

The thought occurred to me that the series is older than quite a few of the people who are here on a typical Sunday morning. It's been that long. We've considered throughout our study of the book of Matthew the central theme that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and because he is the Messiah he is also Israel's true king that this role of messiahship and of kingship the throne of David were inseparable in the Old Testament.

And so this this point that Matthew makes throughout his gospel again the as we talked about back two and a half years ago over that now that the focus of this gospel was to primarily to Jewish hearers that Matthew showed over and over again how Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah.

And so it's for that reason that we we think of this this the series the theme of Jesus Christ as King that Jesus Christ is King and because he is King he rules and he reigns. Now we've talked before about the the rebellion of the Israelites we saw back in the Old Testament where the Israelites say give us a king like the other nations around us they wanted a king like the godless nations a king that would sit and would ride above them and would come through the streets of the city with pomp and circumstance ultimately someone that they they could venerate that they could adore and worship and God gave them what they asked for.

We've talked about this before. Samuel is upset when the people asked for a king and God says they have not rejected you. They've rejected me and I will give them a king. And here's what will happen. And God tells them the things that will happen the taxes that will be raised and the men that will be conscripted and sent into battle.

We see throughout all of the Old Testament history that that God gives them a series of kings they would experience the folly of asking for an earthly ruler. Even the good kings would err they would be imperfect.

And in any case even the good kings the best kings their reigns would be all too short. But all along what the people needed was not some earthly ruler. They needed the one who was both the prophet and the fulfillment.

The one who was both the priest and the perfect sacrifice. The one who was both the suffering servant and the eternal King. And so now we come to this time of rejoicing in Matthew's gospel rejoicing over the king who died and who rose again.

The Resurrection Narrative and the Women at the Tomb

So starting in verse 1 of chapter 28 we're going to be looking at verses 1 through 7 today Lord willing we'll be looking at verses 8 through 10 next week. We read now after the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave and behold a severe earthquake had occurred for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it and his appearance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow.

The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women do not be afraid for I know that you were looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here for he has risen just as he said come see the place where he was lying.

Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And behold he is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold I have told you father we thank you for the blessing of being able to gather together as those who have been called out of darkness into your glorious marvelous light.

We thank you as we think back on our study of the book of Matthew and Jesus's declaration that he came not to save the righteous not to save those who are unaware and unwilling to recognize their own sin and their need for him.

But he came to save those who call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. That if we have come to you and we placed our faith and trust in you it is because we recognize that we have no hope except for you.

Father as we as we draw close to the end we draw near to the end of this study of the gospel of Matthew we thank you father that we have a sovereign and a gracious and loving King who calls us to the throne of grace.

Father as we read your word today would you would you pierce our hearts again. These would not be words that we've read so many times and we've heard so many times. Father would you cause our hearts to rejoice at the reality of the resurrection at the truth of your gospel of an empty tomb and a Savior who now intercedes for your children.

We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Well just as it's it's hard to believe that we've been in the the book of Matthew since January of 2023 it's it's also hard to believe that we we started this this portion of Matthew's gospel where Jesus enters into the city of Jerusalem what many times we refer to as Holy Week the last week of Jesus's earthly ministry.

We started chapter 21 in November November 17th of last year and so we talked about this when we first came into this this section of Matthew's gospel in chapter 21 that Matthew up until now has has covered very broadly Jesus's ministry.

This period of somewhere around three years that Jesus has been ministering he's been walking the earth performing miracles and teaching. And so then the last year of Jesus's life Matthew slows the timeline down way way slower.

And so the last those last chapters from 21 through now the 20 chapter 28 cover the last week of Jesus's life as earthly ministry. So we've been privy to this growing animosity of the religious leaders these men who were supposed to instruct and lead the people they were supposed to be the the intermediaries between God and man this whole teaching in the Old Testament for what the what the priests were supposed to do for the things that they were supposed to do to mediate between God and man the teachings that they were supposed to impart upon the people they were supposed to be blessings to the people.

Instead these religious leaders have been a curse to the people. Jesus calls them blind guides. It would be bad enough if they were blind themselves. But they're also guiding other people. We talk many times sometimes some of us may talk in business settings at work about the blind leading the blind someone who who's not qualified in the role they're in and they're leading a group of people down a wrong path.

How much more tragic how much more troubling is it that these people were leading people eternally down the wrong path. These men who were supposed to be mediators between God and man were not mediating.

They were not teaching. They were. They were teaching instead the superstitions these these little ideas that had been distorted from God's Word over the centuries. They were advocating more to the Roman authorities than they were to God.

This place that was supposed to have been a house of prayer in Jesus's words has become a robber's den the place where the religious leaders met and the inner chambers to plot the death of the Messiah.

Over the last number of weeks we we've covered we've come to those parts of Matthew's gospel where we saw the the Last Supper and Jesus's arrest and then his crucifixion. Last week we saw the burial of Jesus.

The Sabbath Rest Fulfilled in Christ

And today in our passage we can we can make three observations about this scene where we see the women coming to the tomb as these women arrive and their encounter with this angel of the Lord. First thing we see here is as the Sabbath rest that Jesus has fulfilled.

Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came and Matthew says that they came to look at the grave. It's a very very generic purpose that Matthew gives here in terms of who was here. Mark also adds that another woman Salome was with the two Marys there.

There could have even been another Mary. There could have been Mary Jesus's mother. Here at the grave some people point to this group of four women who were there at the cross when Jesus died and saying that maybe those women were together and they they huddled together in the hours following Jesus's death.

And so maybe not every woman was mentioned. And that's okay. Because the point that the gospel writers are making here is that the first hearers of really the fulfilled gospel were these women. This is sometimes referred to when we're writing about the Gospels and about these gospel accounts there's there's a term that's called the criterion of embarrassment doesn't sound great.

But the point of it is that when we're talking about the validity of the gospel account the argument goes that that it would have been so preposterous if the point of the the gospel writers was to make up this account and make it believable that that the idea that the first eyewitnesses to Jesus's resurrection would have been won't women would have been preposterous in the first century and long before and after the testimony of women was was not even admissible in court.

It was not trustworthy it was seen as unreliable. And so the argument goes if a group of people were trying to create a new religion trying to split off of Judaism trying to create this group of fables as it were it would make no sense whatsoever that the eyewitnesses would be would be a group of women.

It should have been men who who would have been trustworthy who would have been respected in the community and instead in God's sovereignty and his graciousness it is these women who come to the grave and who are the first ones to then take the gospel message.

Second we also say that Matthew mentions again that the women came to look at the grave now this could have been like a not unlike that the traditions that we have sometimes where we after a funeral service you come back later on you look at the grave you look at the flowers that are there sometimes can be a way of closure after a funeral service.

And a burial service has taken place at the same time Mark and Luke say and they mentioned that the women came to the grave to anoint Jesus's body. Of course for Matthew that the purpose the exact purpose seems to be irrelevant because the women would soon find that their services in that regard were no longer needed.

Jesus is not there in the grave. But I would argue that a far greater significance is the timing of when the women come to the tomb that all of this is taking place. Matthew tells us after the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week two weeks ago we saw Jesus on the cross.

And as he's giving up his spirit he utters those words that John records for us it is finished. But this this work of atonement of salvation that Jesus accomplished was completed that there was nothing more that needed to be done to defeat the power of sin.

That in being victorious over sin Jesus was also victorious over death which is the the fruit of sin while the empty tomb would not come until later on that with the defeat of sin was also the inevitable defeat of death.

We've considered previously that Jesus's death at Passover was was no accident. It was no coincidence. It was the fulfillment of the Passover promise that was given to the Egyptians or given to the Israelites as they left Egypt.

It was also given to the Egyptians as well. But it was just a different lesson that they learned that God is sovereign that he is victorious in the same way. It's no coincidence that Jesus's resurrection occurs immediately after the Sabbath.

We're told that the the timing of the crucifixion was so close. John gives these details to us in his gospel. The crucifixion is so close to sundown and thus to the beginning of the Sabbath that that the Jews go to Pilate and they ask that the legs of the three condemned men be broken so that their death would happen more quickly asking for this whole process to just get over with.

And of course they find that Jesus had already died and so the scripture was fulfilled. That not one of his bones would be broken that instead his side would be pierced. That they would look on him who they have pierced.

And so all of this would would serve towards fulfilling prophetic scripture. So while the religious leaders were wringing their hands and worrying that things weren't happening fast enough that things weren't going according to plan the process had been planned out by a sovereign God with a precision that would make the old guard at Arlington feel jealous and it would seem like amateur hour in comparison.

In fact John seems to imply in chapter 19 that that this death is so close to the beginning of the Sabbath that that the reason that Joseph of Arimathea's tomb was chosen was because of its proximity to where the crucifixion took place that it was nearby so they used his tomb.

So in other words there wasn't a lot of time to get Jesus down his body off the cross and then take him over to the tomb before sundown and before Sabbath began. But of course again even this was a fulfillment of prophecy that Jesus would be assigned a grave with the rich Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 53.

So Jesus is laid in the tomb and he rests having completed his work of redemption. This is the pinnacle of salvation history. Everything that leads up from creation until now culminates in the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus.

It's the life the ministry his atoning work and his resurrection that gives meaning to everything that had been written and said and done since the creation of the world. We see this promise of Jesus's rest from his atoning work throughout the Old Testament.

The Sabbath rest after creation is a shadow and a type that points forward towards Jesus's completed work of redemption and reconciliation. This is the triune God rested after creation was completed. And an infinitely greater sense Jesus rested after the work of atonement was finished.

This creation that Jesus that God spoke into being everything that we see around us one day will pass away. It is temporal. But we those of us who have placed our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation will be the beneficiaries of that salvation throughout eternity.

And so just as the the finished work of God resulted in that Sabbath rest so to an infinitely greater degree that Jesus rest from his work of atonement. Second we see that the Sabbath rest was was given as a command to remind the Israelites of God's ability to provide for his people.

Not only was it a reminder of the rest that God had taken after creation but it was also given to the Israelites to remind them that it was God who provided for their needs. We see this back in Exodus.

Exodus 16 the Israelites are journeying journeying through the wilderness. Of course they they ask for food. God gives them God gives them quail. They grumble about the quail. And then they God gives them the manna to gather.

And the command to the Israelites is interesting. God tells them just gather what you need for each day. And some of the Israelites gathered what they needed for each day and some of them tried to gather extra food.

And we read in Exodus that it went bad the next day they opened the jars to find that it's gone. It's spoiled it's become foul. At the same time on the day before the Sabbath they're commanded gather twice as much as you need for the next day.

So they're gathering for day by day. And then the day before the Sabbath they're commanded to gather twice as much again some of them disobey God's command and they only gather for one day and they end up going hungry on the Sabbath.

But again God's teaching to the Israelites was that the Sabbath was about recognizing God's perfect timely all-sufficient provision for his people. Paul would later talk about these these gatherings of what was needed for each day.

A Sabbath rest also extended to the land not just for the people individually but it extended to the land. In Leviticus 25 we we read that God commanded that the Israelites give the land a rest every seventh year.

There was to be a Sabbath year as well. In the next chapter Leviticus 26 God says if you don't do this if you don't obey the command to give the land a rest every seventh year that I'll take you out of the land and the land will have its rest.

The land will be desolate and will enjoy its Sabbath years that you did not give it. When we read 2nd Chronicles that's exactly what happened. We see that the invading armies come in they burn the house of God.

They broke down the wall of Jerusalem they destroyed all the fortified buildings. Those who escaped from from the sword were carried away into Babylon. They were servants of the kingdom of Persia to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths again the the Old Testament Sabbath was a sign in a shadow of a promise that would be fulfilled in Christ just as the sacrificial system which God commanded was to be an eternal observance and was fulfilled in Christ just as the Passover observance was commanded to be an eternal observance and was fulfilled in Christ.

So now the Sabbath finds its fulfillment in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And this points forward to an eternal rest. That is our hope. So don't miss this. The fact that Jesus's body lay in the tomb on the Sabbath was no accident.

This was not a coincidence. This was fulfilled in the promises that were foreshadowed in the Old Testament. That the truths conveyed in the Old Testament would be perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That God would give his children a full and complete atonement that they would experience God's perfect and complete and eternal spiritual nourishment spiritual provision a spiritual daily bread.

Exactly what we need each day. Nothing more or less. We see secondly the power of God on display. This angel of the Lord descends from heaven. His arrival is accompanied by an earthquake. We saw an earthquake happen just shortly before this our previous weeks.

This earthquake occurred as Jesus experienced physical death on the cross and the tombs were opened. We saw previously in our study of the book of Acts. Acts is a book that we went through previously as a church.

I was reminded of Paul and Silas when they're in the city of Philippi and they're waiting to to to be basically what. What is their punishment going to be for having proclaimed the gospel. And they're they're sitting in the jail and there's a violent earthquake that shakes the foundations of the jail and the doors are opened.

The jailer was about to take his own life because he realizes the gravity of what's going to happen when it's found out that he allowed prisoners to escape. And Paul and Silas say don't wait hold on. We're still here so overcome by the kindness the graciousness and really the move of the Holy Spirit on his heart the jailer is moved to ask sirs what must I do to be saved.

These earthquakes are indications. They're signs means by which the the gospel shakes the foundations of sin. This earthquake shakes the tomb and rolls the stone away. The symbol of death. This earthquake that shakes a jail and releases the captives.

This symbol of spiritual bondage. They're all defeated by Jesus Christ. They're all in submission to him. We see not only an earthquake but we see the appearance of the angel of the Lord. It's like lightning.

Our family had the opportunity to experience a little bit of lightning this week. While we were on vacation we were in Florida and of course we were reacquainted with that wonderful aspect of Florida living which is thunderstorms every afternoon and then followed by humidity that you can basically swim through if you've ever experienced that.

It's a great fun. We were sitting in a parking lot and there was a storm and we were waiting to get out of the car and run into a store. And there's lightning going on all around us. There's a palm tree probably as far as from here to the road and lightning comes down and struck the tree.

It was blinding. It was it was it got your attention. It was the cause of not a small amount of consternation and excitement in the green card. Our experience was just a wee little taste of what those women would have experienced at the tomb.

In fact we see that these Roman guards who were under pilots orders they were there at the Pharisees request. These men who were the pinnacle of Roman ingenuity and Roman strength. They shook in fear and they became immobilized.

They became like dead men. This is amazing when we think about this tomb that no longer holds this king that the rulers conspired to kill these Roman soldiers who are who are to protect this tomb and who are completely incapable of doing so regardless of their physical strength and their equipment their training.

It's all for nothing. The stone in front of the tomb is all for nothing. These armed forces of Rome are nothing as religious leaders are nothing before the King of Kings. They sent symbols of the enemy's work are made impotent.

They're made irrelevant. Immediately we see this power of God displayed at the same time we see the truth of the gospel is also displayed. These armed soldiers these very visible signs of Rome's rule and authority and dominion over the Jewish people.

They're laying like dead men. And as they're laying there in fear paralyzed Jesus says to the women do not be afraid again. Another contrast. These well-trained well-equipped men well-protected men have every reason to be afraid.

And we know that they are profoundly afraid all the while. These women who are armed only with oils and spices they came to anoint Jesus with are given comfort. They're given assurance. They are able to stand in the presence of the angel of the Lord and hear his words and see the empty tomb.

The women who thought they were coming to anoint Jesus's body are instead coming to be witnesses to the resurrection. This is the power of the gospel. The angel acknowledges that they're looking for Jesus.

I know you're looking for Jesus whom was crucified. He didn't just pass out. He wasn't just beaten and flogged. He was crucified. He experienced physical death. But the angel proclaims the truth of the gospel.

He is not here he has risen just as he said reminding them of the words of Jesus. The angel then calls the women to do two things. First he says come and see come and see where Jesus laid. They're called to see the empty tomb the evidence that Jesus was raised that he was victorious over sin and death again.

This is why Jesus could cry. It is finished when he was on the cross. His defeat of sin also inseparably meant the defeat of death. And now the empty tomb is the fulfillment the evidence of that defeat.

Second the angel tells them to go quickly and tell the disciples that Jesus has risen. They're also told specifically to tell the disciples that Jesus would go ahead of them and meet them in Galilee. We've seen mention of this before we think back to Matthew chapter 26.

Jesus says to the disciples as they were celebrating the Lord's Supper the last supper Jesus says after I'm raised from the dead I will go ahead of you into Galilee. So in the midst of this scene these Roman soldiers they're laying seamlessly lifeless on the ground.

These women receive this gospel message and they're told to share the good news to go tell the good news to the disciples. Lord willing next week we will see the obedience of the women as they go and tell.

The Power of God and the Weakness of the World

So we we see two types of people at this grave at this empty grave one represents the powers of this world and the enemies of God. We see that their power their strength their will or of no use. When faced with the truth and the power of God they're completely immobilized.

They are seemingly lifeless. Their weapons lay sheathed and useless of no benefit to them. The weapons the equipment that the Roman soldier would have placed his trust in his reliance upon are completely useless to him.

On the other hand they're the women who represent the weak of the world as Paul would later put this in his letter to the Corinthians God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise he's chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.

These women in and of themselves had no reason whatsoever to feel comforted to feel capable of standing before the angel of the Lord. If you are not in Christ this morning let me assure you that you are you are like that helpless soldier.

That the fighting and the struggling against God and his commands are ineffective. That whatever it is that you're putting your trust in your reliance upon is going to be completely of no use to you. That ultimately this struggle will lead to death.

If you are in Christ this morning the question is are you are you filled with joyful all we're gonna see this next week that the women were filled with joy that they were overwhelmed by what they had witnessed.

As we come to the Lord's table we have the opportunity to remember again with thankfulness with awe and humility the body of Jesus that was broken the blood that was shed for us. We're also reminded this morning that Jesus has completed his work of salvation.

Our passage today reminds us that the Sabbath rest that Jesus experienced that it is the fulfillment of of the Old Testament Sabbath ordinance. Yet it finds its fulfillment in Jesus's perfect provision of salvation.

If you struggle with the desire to do things in order to earn God's love and salvation remember that it was Jesus who rested from his work of salvation not you or me. That when we come to Christ we are free then to serve him as a thanksgiving and not as a payment.

It's not a monthly or a daily or a weekly payment that we make. We don't pull the coupon book out and write a check and see our debt go down a little bit by a little bit each month against God that debt has been paid completely and totally and all together profoundly through Jesus Christ.

At the same time if you find yourself struggling with the what-ifs of the future if you find yourself consumed with worry and fear for the future and what lies ahead this is a reminder to us to look.

Look to the Israelites who were who were called to trust in God's provision for each day. To trust that God would provide for that day's nourishment that he would provide what we need when the manna does not fall.

A reminder from our earlier study in Matthew when Jesus said. For this reason I say to you do not work. Be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body as to what you will put on it's life not more than food and the body not more than clothing.

Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow nor reap. Do they nor do they gather into barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they. And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life.

And why are you worried about clothing. Observe how the lilies of the field grow and they do not toil nor do they spin. And yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all of his glory was clothed like one of these.

But if God clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace will he not much more clothe you. You have little faith. Do not worry then saying what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing for the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things the first his kingdom and his righteousness.

And all of these things will be added to you also remember back in our study of Romans Paul's words. What then shall we say to these things. If God is for us then who is against us. He who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all.

How will he not also with him freely give us all things God takes such intricate care for the flowers of the field that grow they wither they die. How much more does he care for the spiritual nourishment and eternal soul of the one who places their faith and their trust in Christ for salvation.

What strikes me about this encounter is that the women women were already told they were aware that Jesus was going to be crucified that he was going to be buried and he was going to rise again on the third day.

They were likely aware of Jesus's words to the disciples at the Last Supper that he would die and he would rise from the dead and then he would go ahead into Galilee. In other words what the angel told the women was nothing that they hadn't heard before.

And yet there's no condemnation from the angel as they come to the grave to anoint Jesus's dead body. Luke records the words of the angel. These words are recorded as a gentle reminder a mild rebuke. Why do you seek the living one among the dead.

He's not here but he has risen. Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee saying the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. And the third day rise again.

If you are struggling with the ability of Jesus to provide for your needs there is grace for you today just as there was grace for these women just as there was grace for the disciples who were cowering in fear even though they had the gospel already proclaimed to them.

Are you seeing and telling. Are we hearing the words the commands that the angel gave to these women. Are you intentionally witnessing the reality of Jesus's resurrection. Because the first thing the angel said was come and see.

Come and see and experience and realize that Jesus is risen. Are you intentionally witnessing the reality of Jesus's resurrection. How do we do that. Well are you allowing the priorities of this world to take precedence over the reading of God's word over corporate worship where the good news is is in God's grace that is sung and it's read and it's proclaimed.

Imagine if these women had turned from the empty tomb and instead of looking at the empty tomb they instead started poking and prodding at the soldiers and examining them and making sure they still breathing.

Are they alive. Are they gonna get up at any moment if they were consumed with fear that these soldiers were all of a sudden gonna jump up and and apprehend them or even worse kill them. How ludicrous.

How sad would that have been. Instead these these soldiers who would have been intimidating and fear-inspiring in any other setting simply vanished from the women's attention it was as if they weren't even there in light of this empty tomb and light of the truth of the gospel nothing compared to the reality that Jesus Christ was risen indeed.

So if we're more worried this morning about the powers of this world or enamored with the things and the opportunities of this world then this is a gracious reminder to us to focus our eyes on the resurrection in the kingdom of God.

This is a gracious reminder to resubmit our priorities to the Lordship of Christ. And are you proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. Of course a primary application of this is sharing the gospel for those who are not believers of going and telling.

But there's also a more immediate need that we have that the women these women were commanded to go and tell the disciples that we're called to remind one another to remind our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ of this resurrection of speaking the gospel to ourselves and proclaiming the gospel to one another.

Are you seeing. And then are you telling. Father we thank you. You tell us in your word you are a loving and a gracious God. That you are slow to anger and you are abounding in steadfast love. And we thank you that in Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ coming in the fullness of time and being born of a virgin and born under the law so that he could free us from the law.

That you demonstrated that love and that slowness to anger and that abundant steadfast love in the life of Jesus Christ. That our Savior Jesus was tempted in all things as we are yet he is without sin.

That he was the perfect prophet and teacher and lawgiver. He was the perfect high priest and sacrifice and that he is the perfect King. Father. Would you forgive us for our times of idolatry our our sins of being focused on the things of this world and the things around us more than we focused on on the truth of the empty tomb.

Lord we thank you for your graciousness this morning that we are able to come to the Lord's table and be reminded again of that body that was broken for us the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for us.

Lord. Would we. Would we remember this reality. Would we rejoice today. Lord. Would you fill our hearts and our minds the sense of all joyful all for what you have done and what even now our Savior Jesus does for us as he intercedes for your children.

We ask this in Jesus name.