He is Risen (Matthew 28:1-20)

He is Risen
Matthew 28

INTRODUCTION:
As most of you know, my dad was a preacher. But he never worked for a church that was larger than about 45-50, so he never worked under an eldership. Most of the time, he had to work some other job, in order to support his work as a minister. When we lived in south Alabama, which was the only time we lived within about 30 minutes of my grandparents, my grandpa and dad started a business doing construction work. Grandpa was a carpenter and he and dad worked a lot together. One time dad came home having a black and blue thumb because he hit it a few times with the hammer and he told us that Grandpa told him that when when he got his thumb knocked around where he wanted it, he would quit hitting it!

A carpenter might nail a hundred nails a day, and that’s a lot of practice! The most important thing in hammering nails, as my dad learned the hard way, is to keep your eye on the nail. One time when I was helping my dad, I hit my thumb and dad said, “Son you are hitting the wrong nail!” If you keep your eyes on your thumb, you will hit your thumb; if you keep your eyes on the nail, you’ll hit it.

If Christ is at the center of our lives, then why do we keep hitting our thumbs? In fact, if Christ is the center of our lives, the circumference will take care of itself.

The account of the resurrection of Christ in Matthew’s gospel is found in chapter 28. The resurrection of Christ is the event that impresses on our hearts the reason we need to have Jesus at the center of our lives. Let’s study these twenty verses together.

Many people are celebrating the resurrection of Christ today in what is called “Easter.” In the NT and for the first 100 years or so of Christian history, Christians celebrated the resurrection of Christ every Sunday - which is why we do so in the churches of Christ. But when Christianity came into contact with paganism, the new Christians weren’t quite as grounded in the word of God that they should have been. When mature Christians were killed for their faith under the Roman Empire, it really impressed these new Christians and they started celebrating the “heavenly birthday” of these martyrs, the day they were killed for their faith. Well, it wasn’t long before these new, uneducated Christians, started “celebrating” a special day for Jesus, the day He was resurrected (which was an even better day than the day the martyrs were killed) - and this came to be called “Easter.” But, as I said, Jesus taught Christians in the NT to observe the Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day and that’s the reason we do it.

Now, this chapter sums up the gospel of Matthew and the life of Christ. Matthew began by stating that Jesus was the “son of Abraham, the Son of David” (1:1). Matthew records throughout his gospel how Jesus revealed the meaning and significance of those designations. He is the promised Redeemer of Genesis 3:15, the “seed of woman” (Gal. 4:4), and the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 to bless the world through his seed (Gal. 3:29), and the fulfillment of God’s promise to King David in 2 Samuel 7 to have One sitting on his throne, forever. The resurrection of Jesus, recorded here in chapter 28, culminates that story. And it shows us why we need to be focused on Jesus.

THE EMPTY TOMB - 28:1-7:
“Behold” (ver. 2) is used in the NT, Matthew uses it 62 times (in 28 chapters!). It is used six times in this very chapter: 28:2, 7, 9, 11, 20.

Matthew, as well as the other gospel writers, is emphatic that the Sabbath (as it pointed to the Old Law) was past. A new covenant dawns on this new day of the week! The women who had been last at the tomb are first to the grave to finish what they started Friday evening. But, someone had already beaten them to it! Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to the tomb (they had earlier been witnesses of the death: 27:56, 61), but in route, an earthquake happened (see 27:51-53 for the earthquake which occurred on Friday; it is possible but not probable that the two earthquakes are the same and 27:51-53 is not in chronological order). This was apparently simultaneous with the angel of the Lord descending and removing the stone from the door. Then he sat on the stone. As many have observed, the stone was not moved so that Jesus could get out; it was moved so that witnesses could see the tomb was empty.

The angel’s appearance, as bright as lightning and white as snow (indicating purity), had the marks of a divine messenger from God. The soldiers were so afraid, they became catatonic. The angel then spoke to the women. He said: 1) Do not be fearful. 2) He acknowledges they were seeking the Jesus who had been crucified. 3) The Jesus who had been crucified (dead), is not in the grave. 4) He has risen to life again. 5) He had so predicted this resurrection. 6) They are invited to see the evidence with their own eyes. 7) They are then to go tell the disciples that He was risen. 8) He will meet them in Galilee (as He had said, Matt. 26:32; cf. “Galilee of the Gentiles” from 4:15-16). 9) They will see Him alive there. 10) He has now shared the information that God told them to share.

THE FIRST MESSAGE FROM THE RESURRECTED LORD - 28:8-10:
The women immediately left and ran to announce to the disciples what they had seen and heard. They were full of fear and joy. Jesus met them on the road and greeted them (the word “greeting” comes from the same verb as “to rejoice;” cf. the women’s response in verse 8), and out of joy they fell and worshipped Him, before the men do (28:17). This is the only post-resurrection appearance of Jesus recorded by Matthew. Then Jesus repeated a few of the items of the angel: 1) Do not be afraid. 2) Go. 3) Announce to “My brothers” (see 12:49-50; 25:40; John 20:17; Heb. 2:11) that He is going into Galilee (John 21:1-14). 4) There they will see Him. Galilee had been the location of most of His ministry, in Matthew’s account.

APPLICATION:
If the gospel story was fabricated, or if the gospel story was written by misogynists, the testimony of the women would have been excluded or changed to men. Women were not considered reliable witnesses in the court of law. But they were eyewitnesses and they were the first to proclaim His resurrection and the account was recorded for posterity by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The “first day of the week” becomes significant for Christians as the celebration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ - through the Lord’s Supper - which happened on the first day, which came to be known as the “Lord’s Day” (see Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:20; 16:1; Rev. 1:10).

Jesus’ resurrection is the first fruit (1 Cor. 15:20, 23) of a coming harvest of souls’ resurrections one day (1 Cor. 15:57-58). For more on the theology of the resurrection, see Acts 2:22-38; 26:6-8; Romans 4:24-25; 6:3-4; 8:34; 10:9; 1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 5:1-10, 15; Eph. 1:15-2:10; Phil. 3:10-11; Col. 2:12-13; 3:1-4; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Heb. 1:1-4; 1 Peter 3:18-21; Rev. 5.

If the resurrection did not happen, then we (Christians) of all people deserve pity (see 1 Cor. 15:9) and nothing really is important. If the resurrection did happen, then we will experience a bodily (but changed) resurrection, Christ means everything, and nothing else is really important! See also 1 John 3:1-3.

Jesus ought to be worshipped; men and angels cannot be worshipped: Acts 10:25-26; 14:11-15; Rev. 22:8-9.

We also note that even though the disciples had forsaken Jesus and fled (26:56), and Peter had denied Him (26:69-75), Jesus still considered them “brothers” (verse 10). He would forgive them (singling out Peter himself in Mark 16:7) and restore them into His grace.

THE JEWS DETERMINE TO LIE - 25:11-15:
While the women were running to tell the disciples, the Roman guards are running to tell the chief priests: the tomb is empty! The chief priests assemble the Sanhedrin together and they decide among themselves to offer a massive amount of money to the guards to lie. They were to tell others that the reason the tomb was empty was because they were “sleeping on the job!” It must have been a massive amount of money, which probably came from the temple treasury, because the penalty for Roman soldiers failing in their job was severe, perhaps even death. They were to say that the disciples came by night and stole the body while the soldiers were sleeping. Perhaps they were asked: “Did you not hear the stone being rolled away from the door?” Or, “all of you were sleeping at the same time?” The story is hollow.

The soldiers took the bribe and left, doing as “they were taught.” That same verb is used in verse 20. Here (ver. 15), the soldiers lie as “they were taught.” In verse 20, the disciples are to teach the truth as they were taught. The chief priests promise that if Pilate hears about the affair, they will “persuade” him; perhaps offering him a sufficient bribe as well. Then Matthew makes the comment that the Jews were continuing to spread that same lie even to the day he wrote his gospel account, as much as 20-30 years later.

APPLICATION:
The lie about the disciples stealing the body of Jesus was still being told by Jews 100 years after the close of the NT, according to the Christian named Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho 108.2). But when the disciples completely did not expect the resurrection, how would they have found the courage to sneak through a contingent of Roman soldiers to steal the body of Jesus? Also, when they started preaching the resurrection of Jesus, beginning in Acts 2, why did not the Jewish authorities, with the aid of Roman soldiers whose law the disciples would have thus violated, prosecute the Christians with evidence that they had stolen the body? The accusation is preposterous and unhistorical. When as many as sixteen soldiers allowed Peter to escape their custody in Acts 12:19, all of them were put to death!

SO WHAT? - 28:16-20:
The eleven apostles still following Jesus (Judas, 27:5, had hanged himself) met Him on some unidentified mountain or hill in Galilee. Matthew skips the 40-days that Jesus kept proving Himself alive to His apostles, recorded by Luke (Acts 1:3-9). Just as the women did in verse 9, here the apostles worship Jesus. However, some hesitated, one of whom John will identify in his account as “Doubting Thomas” (see Luke 24:10-11; John 20:24-29). Who else it was who hesitated, how long they hesitated, how their hesitation was alleviated we are not told anywhere.

We see indicated here in this paragraph Jesus’ understanding that He fulfilled the prediction found in Daniel 7:13-14. The authority of Jehovah God will be picked up here by Jesus Christ. He has “all authority.” Only Jesus has authority to define who a Christian is and what it takes to become a Christian. As Jesus was preparing to ascend into heaven, to the Father, He told His disciples that as they were going about their daily lives, they should make more disciples.

The way disciples are made, Jesus says is to immerse people into Him (see Rom. 6:1-7) for the forgiveness of sins (see Acts 2:38), by the authority (“in the name”) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The grammar of verse 19 is important. “After going” is a participle in the past tense. It carries the force of the main verb (“make disciples”) which is an imperative. In order to “make disciples,” Jesus uses two verbs in the form of a participle: “immersing” and “teaching” (ver. 20). It is clear from Jesus’ words, here, that one is made a disciple by immersing. If one is not immersed (for the “forgiveness of sins,” see Acts 2:38), that person is not a disciple. If one does not continue learning, he or she is not a disciple.

Secondly, disciples are made by teaching those immersed all that Jesus had commanded them to know, feel, and do. Discipleship, then, is a life-long process of growth. Then, Jesus promised that His presence would be with them until the end of the age. The next age to come will be the age consummated in heaven, in the eternal realm, in the “eternal kingdom” (see 2 Peter 1:11).

APPLICATION:
To be immersed “in the name of the Lord” means to be immersed by His authority and into a relationship with Him (Rom. 6:3-4); it does not necessarily mean that the words “in the name of Jesus Christ” must be spoken at the time of immersion.

A Christian must continue learning all that Jesus commanded and continue to be reminded of all that Jesus commanded so that the Christian can continue living a life of obedience to Jesus’ commands.

The story of God’s relationship with mankind began with Him walking with Adam and Eve in the “cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). That relationship was interrupted by sin (see Isaiah 59:1-2), but the promise of God’s future presence runs throughout the OT: Gen. 28:15; Exo. 3:12; Joshua 1:5, 9; Isa. 41:10. The angel Gabriel promised that Jesus’ nature would be “God with us” (Immanuel; Matt. 1:23). Jesus now promises that He will be with His disciples until the age of physical existence comes to an end (28:20).

We also see, as a culmination point, that Jesus had always intended to take His gospel beyond the Jewish nation and Matthew regularly hinted at that universal mission: 2:1-12; 3:9; 4:15-16; 8:11-12; 10:18; 12:21; 13:38; 21:28-32, 41-43; 22:8-10; 24:14, 31; 26:13. This is in fulfillment of the allusion in 1:1 to the promise God made to Abraham to bless all the nations through Abraham’s seed (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18), whom we now know to be Jesus of Nazareth.

Take home message: Christ is the center of our lives because He is risen from the dead! That means: We worship Him! We submit to Him! We make disciples of Him by baptizing and teaching. We live in Him until the end of life!

Start an evangelism conversation: “We’ve been friends for a long time and I’ve never talked to you about the thing most important to me. Can I do that?