Reading Assignment: Matthew 28:1-10

Truth: Jesus’ resurrection was revealed.

Key Verse: Matthew 28:6

Overview: Two revelations of Jesus’ resurrection

1. Angel’s announcement

2. Jesus’ personal appearance

Prayer:

1. Affirm your faith in the risen and living Christ.

2. Recognize His living presence in your life.

3. Worship Jesus as the living Lord.

Transcript

Let's pray and we'll begin.

Lord, thank You for Your holy word. It is food and nourishment for our souls. Thank You that Your word is the pure, unadulterated, crystal-clear fountain whose waters flow down from heaven. Thank You that it speaks to us the truth, the absolute truth, so that we can bank all of our hope on it. Thank You that Jesus is risen from the dead, even as we will hear it this morning. Thank You so much for the glorious word that Jesus is Your Son who accomplished redemption for sinners. He is indeed alive and He is coming again for us. Thank You for this wonderful promise. Impress Your words upon our hearts now. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The next reading assignment is Matthew 28:1-10, and you can tell we just have one more session after this. The truth from this passage I want to highlight is also its main idea, which is that Jesus' resurrection was revealed. We see this revelation in two ways: the angel’s announcement that Jesus is risen from the dead, and Jesus' own personal appearance to the very first witnesses. In this sense, Jesus' resurrection is not merely witnessed by humans; it is actually given to us by way of divine revelation, first through His angel from heaven and then also by the personal appearing of Jesus Himself. The key verse is verse 6, where the angel declares, “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.” Now, let’s dive into the first of the two revelations of Jesus’ resurrection.

First, the angel's announcement. Verse 1, “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (that would be Sunday for us), Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.” As you would recall from chapter 27, these two were the named women who witnessed Jesus' death and burial. They are named here again so that we know that it’s the same women who witnessed the first announcement of Jesus’ resurrection. Now, what exactly did they witness? Verse 2 starts to give us the details, “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.” Now, this is the second earthquake, the first one, of course, took place when Jesus died on the cross; but unlike the earthquake at Jesus' death, this earthquake came with the activity of an angel of the Lord. An angel of the Lord came down, i.e., descended from heaven, he rolled away the tombstone, and sat upon it. The stone had not previously been moved. It was there the entire time. The Roman seal, then, that was placed over the tomb was still intact when the angel finally broke it. Verse 3 tells us more details about this angel, “And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.” This angel’s appearance was spectacular, to say the least, and this evokes a certain response. Verse 4, “The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.” These are the Roman soldiers who were stationed at the tomb to guard it, and they, too, were eyewitnesses of the angel sighting. And given the spectacular supernatural sight, they became frightened and even lifeless (“they became like dead men”). Verse 5, the angel then speaks to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are 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.” Thus, the angel announces the resurrection of Jesus. You'll notice that the angel very keenly picks up on what Jesus said. This is because Jesus’ words are the very words of God, and thus he says, “He has risen JUST AS HE SAID.” Jesus did not rise by chance or by any other intention of man, but He rose according to the authority of His faithful word, “just as He said.” Even as all that God says always and absolutely comes to pass, so the words of Jesus always come to pass. The angel also directs the women to look at the place where Jesus was lying. The Gospel of John gives us the details as to what was in the tomb. There were linen wrappings there as well as Jesus' face cloth having been rolled up. And so when they looked into the tomb, the body was missing, but the wrappings were there. Jesus rose from the dead in the early hours of the morning before the women came. This angelic announcement was the first revelation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I find this to be striking, that the resurrection of Christ comes by way of divine revelation. It is striking because at the end of the day, there's only one true and reliable witness and testifier that we can trust without cross-examination and without reservation. And that is the unchanging, reliable, truthful God. Even as John says in his epistle, “the testimony of God is greater (that is, than men’s)” (1 John 5:9). Why? Because God's character is impeccable while human character is often questionable. And so, the very first declaration of the revelation of Jesus' resurrection comes by way of divine revelation through His holy angel. This assures us that Jesus' resurrection is incontrovertible; it is divinely revealed. We can absolutely trust in the testimony of God. I also observe here a very interesting pattern, which is that an angel that announces the coming of Christ. Like the town crier or the king’s herald, or the trumpeter, who blows the horn to announce the coming of the king, and calls out the introduction, “His Majesty,” so you have an angel announcing Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, you have the same here, and you once again have the voice of the archangel at Jesus’ second coming. So the angel makes this announcement. The angel also gives a directive to the women. Verse 7 reads, “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.” The angel is fully aware of Jesus' pre-crucifixion instructions to the disciples, that they were to go to Galilee ahead of Him. And so the angel simply repeats Jesus' instructions and tells the women to remind the disciples of this. Verse 8, “And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.” Thus, the women leave. They were fearful because they just saw an angel of the Lord, which is often described as an intimidating experience in the gospels. But they're also filled with joy. These are mixed emotions in the hearts of the women. But they go and do what they've been told, and on their way, they encountered the risen Jesus.

This now brings us to the second revelation, which is Jesus' personal appearance. Verse 9,
“And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them (that is, the women). And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.” The woman saw the risen Lord. These two were the first to witness the risen Lord. According to John 20, Mary Magdalene came first to the tomb, then reported the empty tomb to the disciples, and at some point the other Mary showed up. And it was as Mary Magdalene was lingering on by the tomb that she saw the risen Lord there. This means the other Mary saw the Lord independently. Given this, I think what Matthew is doing here is to describe all of that in a very short, concise, summary-like fashion. But here's the key. When they saw Jesus, they took hold of His feet and they worshiped Him. They understood who Jesus was. They heard Jesus' teaching. They heard His claim to be one with the Father. They recognized who He truly was as the risen Lord. So, just like Thomas said when he recognized Jesus as the risen Lord, “my Lord and my God,” so these women worshiped Jesus. They worship Him because Jesus is God and this is comes up again later in this chapter, that Jesus has authority over all things as the second person of the triune God. The disciples also worshiped the risen Jesus in verse 17. And here is Jesus’ response in verse 10, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Jesus once again reiterates His instruction for the disciples to meet Him in Galilee. He receives the worship and gives the directive. There is work to be done to prepare these men for the witness they were to bear.

So, what have we seen in here? We have seen two revelations of Jesus' resurrection. The angel announced it, and Jesus Himself disclosed Himself as the risen Lord. And He chooses these two women (the two Mary’s) to be His very first witnesses. How shall we respond to all this in prayer? First, we should affirm absolutely that Jesus is alive. And we should exercise that faith when we call upon the Lord in prayer. We should see the Lord as the risen Lord who is alive, who is in the presence of God, who is praying for us, who is coming again very soon, We should rehearse the reality of the living Lord in our minds over and over again until it becomes the tangible reality in which we live. Jesus lives. Jesus lives. This means we are evermore living in His living presence with us through His Spirit. He sees us and He knows us and He knows our deeds (as Jesus repeatedly said in His letters to the churches in Revelation). There’s something else that comes out of this passage which is that Jesus' words always come to pass. Jesus' words are the very words of God. Jesus Himself said it, that He does not speak of Himself, but that He does the works of the Father. His words are not His own, they are the words of His Father. Jesus' words are the very words of God. It's no wonder that the angel said, “He has risen, just as He said.” Jesus’ words are authoritative; they are divine. And we who believe Jesus to be the risen Lord, must honor and uphold His word as the divine word of God. Lastly, if Jesus is the risen Lord, then we must worship Him. And the greatest form of worship we can give to Him is to listen to Him and live before Him as worshipers to our great God.

As Matthew brings his gospel to a close, he is going to put the spotlight on this pivotal doctrine that Jesus is the Lord. The one who came to save His people from their sins and called all to repentance summons all the nations to live in obedience to Him as the Lord God Almighty, as the second person of the triune God. Those who saw the risen Lord perceived this. They worshiped Him. That is the awesome significance of Jesus’ resurrection in this scene. If He is risen, then all that He said is validated, and all that He claimed to be also. This means He is the Lord; and as the Lord of the universe with all authority in heaven and on earth, He calls all to worshipfully honor His word and live in obedience to Him as His worshipful disciples.

With that, let's pray and we'll wrap up.

Lord Jesus, You are alive. You rose from the dead and You are God. And we believe in You, and we trust in Your word. We recognize that even as You walk among the lampstands of the churches, You are here with us. You see our lives, you hear our words, You see our every deed. And we pray that You would grant us the opened eyes and wisdom to daily live in the light of Your living presence with us. You are the risen Lord and You are coming again, and You will repay everyone according to their deeds. We pray that You would by Your Spirit sanctify us, that You will imbue us with the sense of Your nearness and Your holy presence always, so that in every way we would honor You as our God and our Lord. Thank You that You bore upon Yourself all our sin that we would die to sin and live to righteousness and be restored to God. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and Your presence with us through Your Holy Spirit, so that we do not work out our own salvation by our own strength and effort, but by the great strength which You supply. We praise You, we worship You. We are so glad that You are alive and that You are coming for us again. We thank You and pray for these things in Your name. Amen.

All right, Lord bless you and see you Friday.