Just as He Said

Just as He Said

Matthew 28: 1 – 10.

Introduction

As a pastor, I often ask myself why people come to church.  Some people come to church for good reasons.  Some people come to church for selfish reasons.  But, one of the good things about Easter Sunday is the fact that we are here today for the same reason.  We are here because of the Resurrection of Jesus.

The Resurrection is the central belief of the Christian faith.  Easter Sunday is the day we celebrate the Resurrection and is, therefore, the holiest day on the Christian calendar.  Easter is our biggest day, because it focuses on the Resurrection—our most important belief.

There are three reasons why I say Resurrection is our most important belief.  First, in the New Testament Book of Acts, every Christian sermon preached by the Apostles focused on the Resurrection.  Second, there has never been a form of Christian faith without belief in the Resurrection.  Third, if the Resurrection never happened, the entire Christian faith would unravel…or as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 14, “our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”  Of course, this raises the question, “How do we know that Jesus rose from the dead?”  Can we know for sure that Jesus rose again?  That the Resurrection is a historical fact?

It may seem like there are a number of objections to the historicity of the Resurrection, but that is not true.  There are only five objections which have been repeated and modified over the years.

Some people say Jesus never rose from the dead, because Jesus never died.  Jesus only “swooned” on the cross.  That is, Jesus got close to death but never actually died.  Some have gone so far as to hypothesize that one of the others being crucified was a doctor, who administered first aid to Jesus in the tomb.  (This seems more difficult to believe than an actual Resurrection.)  This is not likely, because Roman soldiers were professional executioners.  They knew how to kill a man on the cross, and they knew when that man was dead.  It was widely known that Roman soldiers would be executed if they allowed a man to survive crucifixion.  This theory also has a problem explaining how Jesus was able to escape from a sealed tomb.  Both the Romans and the Jews were watching Jesus’ tomb and even sealed it with a heavy stone.  How could a man who narrowly escaped death, weakened from beating and crucifixion roll away the stone?  Also, where did Jesus eventually die?  And, where was he buried?  A man of Jesus’ public persona would have continued to make history that would have been written down for us.

A second objection is that Jesus never rose from the dead, because the disciples were simply hallucinating.  The problem here is the number of people who saw Jesus after the crucifixion and burial.  The eleven disciples saw Jesus.  Jesus’ brother James saw Jesus.  Jesus even revealed himself to a crowd of 500 people who were still alive at the time when Paul wrote the Book of 1 Corinthians.  Paul invited his readers to find any of those people and ask them what they had seen.  Hallucinations are internal experiences and would vary from person to person.  It would be impossible for 500 people to have the same hallucination at once.

A third objection is that Jesus never rose from the dead, because this is a conspiracy undertaken by the original disciples.  They beat up the Roman guards and stole the body of Jesus under the cover of darkness.  Then, they spread the lie of Resurrection around the world.  This view cannot account for the change that took place in the lives of the disciples or their willingness to die for their conspiracy.  Just take Peter and Jesus’ brother James as two examples.  Before the crucifixion, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus.  After the Resurrection, Peter stood before a crowd of 3,000 people and preached about the Resurrection.  He did this in Jerusalem, 50 days after the crucifixion, in front of people who would have known what happened to Jesus.  James the brother of Jesus never believed that Jesus was the Messiah before the crucifixion.  Then, the Resurrected Jesus appeared to James, and James became the first pastor of the church at Jerusalem.  Peter and James gave the rest of their lives to preaching the truth of the Resurrection.  Eventually, both Peter and James were killed because of their faith in Jesus.  And, neither of them ever said, “It was all a big lie.”  If the Resurrection had been a lie, at least one of the disciples would have told the truth to save his own life.

A fourth objection is that Jesus never rose from the dead, instead the disciples experienced a resurrection of faith in Jesus after the crucifixion.  This is impossible when you consider what First Century Jews believed about the coming Messiah.  The Jews believed the Messiah would defeat all Israel’s pagan enemies and rebuild the Jerusalem Temple.  Once the Temple was rebuilt, the Messiah would open up the Temple to all the nations so that all the world would acknowledge the God of Israel.  Crucifixion was not a part of the plan.  In fact, crucifixion was one common characteristic of a long line of self-proclaimed Messiahs.  They rallied support among some of the Jews.  The Romans viewed them as a threat and had them crucified.  The Jewish people would go back to their homes disappointed and looking for the next Messiah.  Crucifixion does not create faith.  It destroys faith.  It would be a sign of failure.

The fifth objection is the only objection which leaves me with nothing to say.  It is perhaps the strongest objection to the Resurrection.  It goes something like this, “No.  Things like that don’t happen.”

The reason I have nothing to say to this view is that it is illogical and refuses to look at the historical data. This is the most closed-minded point of view.  It is an arrogant view to think you know more than two thousand years of history and exploration.  If you will look at the historical data, you will discover that the Resurrection of Jesus can be proven with the same degree of certainty as other historical events—the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States or George Washington crossing the Delaware River.

If you look at the historical data, you will find that Jesus rose from the dead just as he said.

Matthew 28: 1 – 10.

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

2 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.

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

7 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."

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

9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

(NIV)

It was early Sunday morning before the women could go to the tomb to dress Jesus’ body for burial.  Good Jews did not do any work on the Sabbath day, which ran from sunset on Friday through sunset on Saturday.  Jesus died on Friday afternoon.  The women didn’t have enough time to do their work before the beginning of Sabbath.  When the Sabbath ended on Saturday night, it was too dark for them to do their work.  They had to wait until sunrise.

Remarkably, the women did not find what they were looking for on that first Easter Sunday morning.  It is remarkable that they thought Jesus was dead, and they could find his body in a cemetery.  It is remarkable that Jesus’ dead body was not there.  The women were looking for a dead body but saw an angel instead.  The angel delivered a message to the women, “Jesus is not here.  He has risen, just as he said.”

That last clause really seems important to me.  It is Good News to say that Jesus has risen.  But, there seems to be something special about the news Jesus has risen, just as he said.  In other words, this shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone who was paying attention.  If the disciples and the women had really listened to Jesus, maybe they wouldn’t be looking for a dead body in a cemetery.  Perhaps they would be out in the world looking for a living person walking around in the land of the living.

Jesus did tell his disciples that he would rise from the dead.  They had every opportunity to understand what God was doing through Jesus.  On one occasion, Jesus told them a parable about the Old Testament story of Jonah—just as Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights, the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth (Matthew 12: 40).  If that had been Jesus’ only reference to the Resurrection, we could understand why the disciples did not make the connection.  But, it wasn’t.  On three separate occasions, Jesus specifically told his disciples that he would be betrayed into the hands of the Jews, handed over to the Romans, beaten, crucified and would rise again on the third day (Matthew 16: 21, 17: 23, 20: 19).

Just as He Said: Fulfillment

The fact that Jesus rose again, just as he said, tells us some important things about Jesus.

In the first place, it tells us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the hopes of Israel.

Jesus came on the scene preaching a simple message, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”  This was the message Jewish people expected to hear from the coming Messiah.  It was their expectation that the Messiah would come and bring the Kingdom of God on earth.  The Kingdom of God would signal the end of Jewish Exile—all of God’s people would be gathered within the national borders of Israel.  Then, the Messiah would overthrow all of Israel’s pagan enemies, rebuild the Jerusalem Temple, and establish the rule of God over all the earth.  The Kingdom of God would be the exaltation of Israel as both a powerful political force and the center of religion for all the earth.  The final stage in this new Messianic age would be the Resurrection of all the righteous Jews.  Great men like Abraham and Moses would be walking around Israel once again.

This was the Jewish expectation.  But, it wasn’t exactly what happened in the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus never led a political or military revolution.  Instead, Jesus was executed by the political and military power of his day.  It seemed that Jesus had been defeated by the Romans.  That is, it seemed that way until Jesus rose from the dead.  The Resurrection shows that political and military powers cannot defeat what God is doing.  Jesus did, in fact, defeat the powers.

The Jews expected the Messiah to rebuild the Temple.  But, Jesus never rebuilt the Temple.  Instead, he pronounced the forgiveness of sins outside of the Temple and outside of the sacrificial system.  Jesus took the authority of the Temple for himself and even announced in Matthew 12: 6, “I tell you that one greater than the Temple is here.”  The Resurrection of Jesus fulfilled Israel’s hope, but not in the way they expected.  Instead of inviting all the nations to come to Israel to worship in the Temple, Jesus sent out his disciples and promised to be present with them as they carried the Gospel to all nations.

The Jews expected the Resurrection of all the righteous dead to happen when the Messiah came.  Instead, we see the Resurrection of Jesus as the only one righteous in the middle of our present age.  As the Apostle Paul likes to say, the Resurrection of Jesus is the first fruit.  Jesus rose from the dead in the middle of our present age and promises that all who believe in Jesus as the Messiah will experience Resurrection at the end of the age.

Just as He Said: Trustworthy

Since Jesus rose from the dead just as he said, it tells us that Jesus is trustworthy.  In other words, if Jesus can be trusted to rise again just as he said, then Jesus can be trusted in everything he has told us.  If Jesus is trustworthy, then we can believe his words, and we can trust him with our lives.

Of course, this applies to the ethical teachings of Jesus.  Jesus teaches us that the life God expects of us is a life of love—love your neighbor as yourself.  God expects us to seek greatness through service to others—whoever wants to be first must be the least.  God expects us to forgive others as we have been forgiven by God—the person who has been forgiven much will extend forgiveness to others and it is not enough to forgive someone seven times, we are to forgive seventy-seven times (or seventy times seven).  Jesus is trustworthy to teach us God’s way for our lives.

And, Jesus can be trusted in other things he said as well such as in his last words to his disciples before he ascended into Heaven.  Matthew 28: 18 – 20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus promised to be with us to the end of the age.  Often we feel like we cannot make it on our own.  We can’t make it on our own.  And, we don’t have to.  Jesus can be trusted with everything he says.  Jesus rose again, just as he said.  And Jesus promises to be with us always, just as he said.  The presence of Jesus is the remedy for our doubts and the comfort for us when we suffer.

Just as He Said: Obedience

Since Jesus rose from the dead just as he said, we should obey the words of Jesus.  The Resurrection story in Matthew 28 demonstrates this by telling us about both the women and the disciples.

The women received a message from Jesus through the angel at the tomb.  The angel told them to go tell the disciples that Jesus was risen just as he said.  While they were on the way, Jesus met them on the road.

The disciples received a message from Jesus through the women.  The women told them to go back to Galilee.  When the disciples went to Galilee, they met with Jesus.

In both examples, the women and the disciples experienced the presence of Jesus when they obeyed.  Perhaps this can inform our theology of what happened through the crucifixion and Resurrection.  In the crucifixion, Jesus died to save us from sin.  In the Resurrection, Jesus rose again to give us life.  The Resurrection promises that we will be saved from death.  The Resurrection promises Jesus will be present with us.  Jesus gives us life after death and life before death.  This life before death is obedience to Jesus, just as he said.

Conclusion

Jesus is risen, just as he said.  Our proper response to the Resurrection is to live, just as Jesus said.  On one hand, we live the ethical teachings of Jesus.  On the other hand, we live the missional teachings of Jesus.

The life and death of a church depends on how much its members are willing to proclaim the Gospel to the world.  If its ministers are satisfied merely with performing their functions and counseling religious people, if its members confess their faith as far as it is socially acceptable, the church will grow more and more into a sterile institution that is far from the living church of the New Testament. (Eduard Schweizer, “The Church as the Missionary Body of Christ,” NTS 8 [1961]: 1, in David E. Garland Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary [Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys, 2001]: 273)

What kind of Christian do you want to be?

What kind of church do you want to be a part of?