Because He Lives, 16 April 2017

Because He Lives
Series: A Love That Never Dies
Matthew 28:1-10

Series Big Idea:
Throughout Lent, we prepare for Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return

Big Idea: Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Welcome to Resurrection Sunday! This is the greatest day of the year, the day we celebrate our living Savior, LORD, and King, Jesus Christ! Today we conclude our series, “A Love That Never Dies.” Even though Jesus died, his love for us never dies.

Fear. We all experience it.

We are afraid of failure.
We are afraid of success.

The most common command in the Bible is not love, but rather, “Fear not.”

We are afraid of the betrayal of friends.
We are afraid of the attack of zombies!

What’s your greatest fear?

We are afraid of death.
We are afraid of life.

Fear has been a part of the human condition from the beginning. I can’t imagine the fear on Good Friday. The gospel—or good news—of Matthew says,

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land (Matthew 27:45)

For three hours in the middle of the day as Jesus is suffering on the cross, the whole land turned dark. That would freak me out! I know we have a lot of cloudy days in Toledo, but it doesn’t get dark at noon! A few verses later we read…

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:50-53, NLT)

The moment Jesus dies, this huge curtain separating people from the most sacred place on the planet, the holy of holies, is torn from top to bottom. That’s weird! It was wonderful, by the way, because that meant Jesus’ death provided reconciliation between us and our Creator God.

But that’s not all. The earth shook. Have you ever experienced an earthquake? Freaky!

Rocks split apart. What? Have you ever seen that?

And then maybe my favorite part…tombs opened. The dead were raised. It says bodies left the cemetery after the resurrection, went into the city, and appeared to many people. Grandma?!?!

The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

Do you get the picture? The crucifixion scene was awful. It was scary. Jesus dies. Nature freaks out. People are weeping. The smell of death is in the air. Roman soldiers are everywhere. Is it any wonder people were afraid?

But that was Friday. People are afraid of death, but today is a day of life, right? Let’s look at our text for today, a verse verses ahead.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. (Matthew 28:1)

These women go to the tomb. They probably had two sleepless nights. They were tired. They were overcome with grief and stress, watching an execution right before their eyes. Mary saw her son’s life drained in front of her. If she did sleep, I’m sure it was filled with nightmares.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was such a good boy! He was darn-near perfect. Actually, he was perfect. Why would anyone want to kill him? A week ago a parade welcomed him in to the city of Jerusalem, and now he’s dead!

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.  (Matthew 28:2-4)

It’s Sunday. Another earthquake? A violent one. An angel rolls back the stone. Talk about freaking out, the guards shake and become like dead men.

These are the powerful warriors the women expect to be guarding the tomb. Instead, the women are terrified by someone else.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5-7)

First, the angel terrifies the guards. Now he terrifies the women. Can you blame them for being afraid?

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. (Matthew 28:8)

Fear. Hope. Joy. Fear. Hope. Joy. They were surely an emotional mess! Jesus is alive?

Suddenly Jesus met them.
“Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” (Matthew 28:9-10)

Why does Jesus say, “Do not be afraid?” Because they’re afraid! They’re overcome with emotion. Is this really happening? Have we finally fallen asleep and we’re dreaming? Dead people do not say, “Greetings!”

Yet this is the account. There were hundreds of eyewitnesses. He ate with them. He talked with them. He showed them his pierced hands and feet. And for about 2000 years men, women and children have been experiencing a relationship with Jesus, a relationship possible only because Jesus is alive!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Followers of Jesus base everything on the resurrection. Everything!

Paul, once an enemy of Jesus and his followers, remarked

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1 Corinthians 15:14)

Friends, either the resurrection happened or it didn’t. If it didn’t—if Jesus is dead or never died—our faith is useless. Paul says “we are of all people most to be pitied.” We are hopeless. We have every reason to fear death, to fear life.

But if Jesus is alive, we have hope. We have forgiveness. We can have the promise of eternity with God…and the assurance of salvation. We can experience peace, love, joy, and purpose.

What are you afraid of? Death? Many people are afraid of death. You’re not ready to live until you’re ready to die. If you were to die tonight and stand before God and he asked you why you deserved to spend eternity in heaven, what would you say?

I would say, “I don’t deserve to spend eternity in heaven. I deserve to go to hell because of my sins, my evil, my rebellion, my failures. But Jesus died for me. He confronted evil in all its forms and went into the darkness to take its full weight upon himself. And Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered sin and death.”

As I said recently at the International Student Easter Dinner, the difference between our faith and that of religion is how they’re spelled.

Religion is spelled
D-O, what we do to try to make God like us.

The message of Jesus is spelled
D-O-N-E, it’s what he has done for us, dying and rising from the dead.

What are you afraid of? Life? Many people are afraid of life. Tragedy, loneliness, sickness, terrorism. This world is messed up because of sin. But we need not fear because Jesus is alive. He experienced loneliness, temptation, pain, betrayal, and even death. He understands what you and I face every day. He sent the Holy Spirit to be present with us, to guide us, to comfort us, to encourage us, to empower us. He also gave us one another, a family to belong to, brothers and sisters to journey with.

We are all afraid of being vulnerable, of trusting someone only to have them abandon us. It has happened to me and probably to you.

Let me just state I’m sorry…sorry for the pain and disappointment you’ve experienced in life. I’m especially sorry for the behavior of so-called Christians who acted nothing like Jesus. I’m ashamed to say my life does not always look like Jesus—but that’s my desire. I want nothing to do with organized religion…and everything to do with Jesus.

Because of Jesus—and because he lives—I have experienced peace, joy, satisfaction, hope, love, and purpose…and confidence about this life and the next.

We’re going to close with a song that talks about the result of the resurrection. Because he lives, all fear is gone. The Bible says perfect love casts out fear. Jesus loves you. He died for you. He rose for you. He’s alive today and wants to calm your fears. He wants to be your Savior. He wants to be your LORD and King.

Because He lives
I can face tomorrow
Because He lives
Every fear is gone
I know He holds my life, my future in His hands

Because He Lives (Amen)

Fear not!

Credits: Some ideas from Rev. Steven H. Albers, CTA.

  • You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
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