Matthew chapter 28 and verse
1. In the end of the Sabbath, as
it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there
was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from
heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat
upon it. His countenance was like lightning
and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers
did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and
said unto the women, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus
which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen. As he said, Come see the place
where the Lord lay. Perhaps you will agree with me
that one of the delights of the Bible is the simplicity of its
language. You don't have to study English
at college in order to understand the gospel message. You don't
have to have some theological degree from seminary or have
studied classical languages at university to understand this
plain and simple narrative of the gospel record. And that is
not to say that we despise learning by any means. Learning is important. And I'm always pleased to acknowledge
one of the most academically able people that I've ever met,
sharing with us and joining with us on these Sunday services that
we have together. But the word of God is easy to
read easy to remember, and easy to understand. And when we think
about this passage that is before us today, and listen to the verse
that I want to think about specifically today, there is not a word in
it that is hidden from a child. Verse six of Matthew 28 says
this, he is not here. For he is risen, as he said,
come, see the place where the Lord lay. Imagine an angel coming from
heaven, coming and speaking to us, and speaking in such an easy,
understandable and straightforward way. This is the Lord's word
to us today. Christ, he is not here, for he
is risen. As he said, come see the place
where the Lord lay. These are words of a mighty angel,
an angel whose coming brought an earthquake with it. He rolled away the stone from
Christ's tomb. He sat on it. He paralysed the
guards that were around the two with fright and with fear. We're
told he was brilliant as lightning, white as snow, fearsome to his
enemies, gentle and considerate with his friends. He spoke simply
and tenderly to Mary and the woman, just as the angel of the
Lord had spoken tenderly to Hagar there in the wilderness. These
women had gathered at the Lord Jesus Christ's grave in order
to honour the dead, but the angel had a message for those who came
to honour the dead. and the title of today's sermon
and its theme is these four little words. Risen, as he said. Risen, as he said. And in the manner of the angel's
announcement, I shall try to be simple for a little child
to understand as we consider the wonderful truth of the Saviour's
resurrection and the glory that attended it and some of the results
that flowed from it. And the first thing that I want
us to think about is perhaps something that we don't think
about enough. And that is this, the faith of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, bear with me here because
I think that the faith of Christ in the context of his resurrection
is very important. Let us remember that the Lord
Jesus Christ is, was a real man with real
feelings. He was a human being just like
us, with real feelings, with real emotions, with real hopes
and fears and weaknesses. He had no sin. But he knew what
it was to be hungry, and he knew what it was to be tired, and
he knew what it was to go without sleep, and he knew what it was
to be disappointed by those who let him down. He knew what it
was to have friends who supported him and encouraged him. The Lord
Jesus Christ was a real man. And as a real man, he had faith
in God. Just as we are called to believe
in God, so the Lord Jesus Christ had faith and believed in God
his Father. And the Apostle Paul speaks regularly
and admiringly of the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. For example,
in Romans and Galatians, and I think Philippians, we can find
these references made with some frequency. The Lord Jesus Christ
had been given promises, we call them covenant promises, by his
father. There was a plan that had been
established between the Godhead covenant, an agreement, a contract,
if you like, that the Lord Jesus Christ would go to earth as a
man, take upon himself the body of a man, and he would fulfil
the purposes of God, and he would die to redeem and recover the
people of God, God's chosen people, the elect of God. And so his
father prepared a body for him in order that Christ could fulfil
God's will. A hard path was set before the
Lord Jesus Christ and he had to walk that path as the representative
of his people. He was required to fulfil perfect
obedience. He would be opposed with bitter
opposition from evil men and women. Demons would attack him,
the devil himself, Satan, would attack him. And ultimately he
would bear the sins of his people on his own body and he would
suffer death. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that
all of this would happen to him. He knew before he came, he lived
his whole life in the knowledge that these things would happen
to him. I thought it was lovely in the
hymn that we read together a little earlier from Mr. Hart, how Hart
referred to the Lord Jesus Christ as a hero. And that is not untoward,
that is appropriate, because the Lord Jesus Christ carried
through his whole life, the knowledge of all of this trouble that he
had to endure and the suffering that he would bear. Listen to
what the Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples in Luke chapter
18 and verse 31. He said these things, you don't
have to turn to it, just listen to what I'm saying. Speaking
of himself, he says, I shall be delivered unto the Gentiles,
and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted upon. And they shall scourge, and shall
put me to death, and the third day I shall rise again. And we're told that the disciples
understood none of these sayings, for the saying was hidden from
them. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
carry this by himself, this knowledge of the things that he had to
endure. We know that the Lord had this
knowledge from the Old Testament prophecies. He knew because Peter
tells us that it was testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and also the glory that should follow. And so the Lord
Jesus Christ was called to trust, to believe and have faith in
what God would do to him. And he had the knowledge of help
and protection from his father. We read much about that in the
book of Psalms. And he trusted him in life and
he trusted him in death. He trusted him that if the Lord
Jesus became the sin bearer for his people and carried that sin
on the cross, that God's justice would be satisfied, that God's
judgment would be dealt with for those for whom Christ died,
that he would become surety and substitute for his people, and
the Lord Jesus Christ believed that the Father would save his
people at the price of the Lord Jesus Christ's own life and the
shedding of his blood. And so he says, bearing out this
faith and confidence, For thou shalt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. And Lord Jesus Christ in his
own lifetime spoke about going into the grave. He spoke about
Jonah and Jonah's three days and three nights in the whale's
belly. And in Matthew chapter 12, we read there in verse 40,
the Lord again speaking to his disciples and saying, for as
Jonah's was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
knew what Jonah's trial signified. And the Lord Jesus Christ believed
that God would raise him from the dead. We see that the Lord
Jesus Christ had confidence in his father. He looked forward
both to his own suffering and death but also to his own resurrection
and he told his disciples that he would rise again from the
dead. Indeed, he not only told his
disciples, he told his enemies that he would rise again from
the dead, which is why those temple guards were present at
the graveside that morning. And not the disciples' unbelief. nor the authority's precautions
by setting a guard and a seal at the tomb of Christ could deter
Christ from rising or restrain him from rising. So the angel
said to the women who gathered, he is not here, for he has risen
as he said he would. So here we can see a picture
of Christ's faith. But another thing that we are
called to observe in this little phrase is that there is a victory
for Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection
proved the victory of Christ over his enemies and our enemies. That simple statement, he is
not here for he is risen, as he said, It conceals a profound
and a powerful victory. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
resurrection defeated death. He conquered the grave. He led captivity captive. He willingly laid down his life
and he personally took it up again. Now, some people would
say, well, that's not possible. That's an impossibility. Death
is death. Dying is dying. There's no life
after death. There's nothing comes after death.
And that's a popular refrain in the world today. People say,
no, this is all you've got. This is the whole of life, and
there's nothing after this. You will hear that often. But
let us remember who we are speaking about here. Although this is
the Lord Jesus Christ, the man, it is also the Lord Jesus Christ,
the God-man. The one who said, I am the resurrection
and the life. There never was anyone else like
Jesus. So it is not possible to say
that it is impossible for him to do the things that he did.
He is all powerful as God, although he became the sin bearer as a
man. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
himself the resurrection. So when the angel says he is
not here, He is saying he's not in the place of death. He's not
in the place of defeat. He's not in the place of corruption.
And I think there is something very lovely, something very authentic
and something very sincere in the angel's words to the women
who gathered there. He says, come and see the place
where the Lord lay. Let me show you. Let me show
you that he isn't here. Come and look for yourself and
see for yourself that he is gone, that he is risen. The Lord Jesus
Christ suffered and died on the cross. We remember that on Good
Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday. That was the occasion
of the Lord's death. But on the Easter morning, on
that first morning, the first day of the week, the Lord Jesus
Christ rose again victorious, triumphant. Revelation 1, verse
18, the Lord Jesus Christ says, I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. And the Apostle Paul can say
death is swallowed up in victory because the Lord Jesus Christ
is risen. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? It has been seized by the Lord
Jesus Christ. So the Lord Jesus Christ had
the victory. But let me unpack that a little
bit and speak about not only did the angel's words speak of
victory, he has risen, but also of success. He has been raised. He's raised from the grave. The Lord Jesus Christ received
the fruit of his labour. He got the prize for his pain. Do you know what I think is lovely
about these few verses that we rose, amongst other things, is
that the angel rolled away the stone. The Lord Jesus Christ
was not even required to push the stone away from the entrance
of his own tomb. The angel did it for him. Because
the Lord Jesus Christ was now basking in the success of his
victory. His work was done on the cross
and the angel testified to his subservience and his desire to
honour his God by pushing the stone away. He had finished his
work. All that the Father required
of him was completed. The resurrection was the public
testimony of Christ's fulfilment of that which he had undertaken
as the substitute of his people. It was also the evidence of the
Father's acceptance of his blood, of that redemptive work. It had
achieved its purpose. Christ had fulfilled what was
required and that which he did fulfilled the purpose. So Hebrews
chapter 13 verse 20 says, now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, who
is this God? He is the God of peace. The God
of peace, the God who is at peace with Christ's people. The God
who has been reconciled by the death of the shepherd of the
sheep. The shepherd bore our sins in
his own body on the tree and God's wrath was propitiated and
God's peace was experienced. The God of peace brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus. So the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
his role, the Father accepted the blood of Christ as the price
of our salvation and the Lord Jesus Christ established without
question or without doubt the certainty of life after death. That is for you and me to lay
hold upon today. This resurrection that we are
remembering, this empty tomb that we think about, it speaks
to us of the fact that Jesus Christ has conquered death and
the grave. And in John chapter 14, verse
19, he says, because I live, ye shall live also. He accomplished his task of redemption,
of ransom, of reconciliation. He achieved his goal of pardon
and peace and atonement and liberty. And he delivered his people according
to that covenant agreement so that his victory over death and
the grave is our victory too. and all for whom he died, all
for whom he gave his life, all for whom he was buried in the
earth, and all for whom he rose again, share in his victory and
share in his success. He who was delivered for our
offences and raised again for our justification. So not only
did the Lord Jesus Christ have faith to believe in the promises
of his father for his resurrection, not only did he have victory
in that resurrection and success in that resurrection, but the
Lord Jesus Christ also had reward. That reward follows upon his
success and his victory over death. The Lord Jesus Christ
will have all for whom he died. He bought them with his precious
blood. They are his possession now. He earned them by the sweat of
his brow. He redeemed them himself as a
people. And he will lose not one of those
who are his own. Who shall deny the Lord his prize? What shall separate us from our
Lord Jesus Christ? We often read in Romans chapter
8, verse 31 to 39, that long list of those things upon which
we can build our confidence and found our assurance that we cannot
be separated from the love of God in Christ. Because the Lord
Jesus Christ has died for us. We are his. And this is his victory. And we are his reward. And while we often use those
verses to reassure ourselves, we can also put them into the
mouth of the saviour, as it were, and he is saying, none of these
things are going to take these people away from me. These people
whom Malachi calls Christ's jewels, his precious ones. John identifies
us as the bride of Christ. his bride, whom he loves and
whom he will take to himself. David poetically calls us the
great congregation, or the sheep of his flock, his little children,
his brethren. Psalm 110, verse three, it's
familiar to many of you, I know. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power in the beauties of holiness. From the womb of
the morning thou hast the Jew of thy youth. These are Christ's
precious people. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, says Isaiah, and shall be satisfied. We are the reward
of Christ. Lastly, let me point this to
you also. The Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection
was a first instalment of his eternal glory, the glory of Christ. We've got the faith of Christ,
we've got the victory of Christ, we've got the success of Christ,
we've got the reward of Christ, and we've got the glory of Christ.
All predicated upon his resurrection, that empty tomb on the morning
he was raised. Peter, the Apostle Peter says
in 1 Peter 1 verse 21, God raised him from the dead and gave him
glory. Isn't that lovely? God raised
him up from the dead and gave him glory. Christ's resurrection
glory is immense. He ascended bodily into heaven. He was attended by angelic praise
and triumphed over the powers of darkness. He is seated at
the right hand of God. He has all power in heaven and
earth given to him, all authority to exercise judgment on all creatures. He has a name that is above every
name. in this world and in the world
to come. There is no one like our Jesus
and his glory is because of his resurrection. He received a body
equal and appropriate for his position of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ's body,
now he has got a body in heaven, but it is a glorious one. It
is a spiritual body, a powerful body, an incorruptible body. And this glory of the body of
Christ is something that we ought to be very interested in, you
and me, brother and sister. in Christ. It is a body that
we ought to be very interested in because amazingly and wonderfully
we have a part in it. Now some of us don't have the
bodies that we once had. Don't worry about that. Don't
fret about that. Soon, soon your body will be
a glorious body. Gone will be the aging, gone
will be the soreness, gone will be the sickness, gone will be
the weakness and the weariness and the sin. Paul says in Philippians
chapter 3 verse 21 that Christ will come back and he shall change
our vile body. that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body. The Lord Jesus Christ is risen. The Lord Jesus Christ is alive
today. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again soon. And when he comes to gather his
church, when he comes to gather his jewels, when he comes to
take his people, his brethren, his flock to himself, we shall
be changed. Paul says, behold I show you
a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump. For the trump shall sound and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Today we remember our Saviour's
resurrection, but soon it will be our resurrection. What a morning
it will be when we see Jesus, when we are like Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ is not
in the grave. He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where his
body once lay. Amen. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us and may we be encouraged and comforted in the
great accomplishments of our Saviour on our behalf. Let's