He Is Risen Indeed!
Introduction
For centuries the Nation of Israel had awaited her Deliverer! Now that He had come, Israel was faced with two monumental decisions: she must conform to Him as the Messiah, or she must contend with Him. Unfortunately, Israel chose the wrong alternative! Jesus was crucified at the hands of Gentiles, and through the promotion of the Jewish religious leaders....
I. HEAR THE ANGELIC ANNUNCIATION: “He is not here...” (28:5-6).
1. There Is Implication of His Past Presence.
They knew He had been there (Mat 27:57-61, “And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given over to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave”).
2. There Is Affirmation of His Present Absence From That Place (Pre/Act/Ind).
(1) This is a place of the dead!
The angels asked the women, “‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead?’” (Lk 24:5).
(2) Christ is God of the living!
Jesus said, “‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.’” (Jn 11:25-26).
II. HEAR THE PRACTICAL EXPLANATION: “...for He has risen...” (28:6).
1. Jesus’ Resurrection Was Unique.
(1) It is unique to the world’s religions.
(2) It is unique in that it will never occur again (aor/pas/ind).
Heb 9:25-28, “...nor was it that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
2. Jesus’ Resurrection Was Universal.
Rom 10:13, “...for "Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved.”
“Whoever” = all races...all cultures...all languages all levels of sin!
Rev 22:17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”
3. Jesus’ Resurrection Is Unquestionable!
Human skepticism arises from a dark, decadent and stubbornly unrepentant heart!
Proof-Sheet on the Resurrection...
III. HEAR THE SPIRITUAL CONFIRMATION: “...just as He said...” (28:6).
1. Christ Had Previously Attested To The Reality Of
His Resurrection.
(1) He possessed authority over His Life and Death.
Jn 10:18, “‘No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.’”
(2) He taught His disciples that He would rise again.
Mat 16:21, “From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”
Jesus said, “‘The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day’” (Lk 9:22).
Again Jesus said, “‘...after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee’” (Mat 26:32).
(3) He assumed His Resurrection in His conversation.
Mat 20:18-19, “‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.’”
(4) He cited His Resurrection as a sign to the Jews.
Jn 2:18-22, “The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, ‘What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews therefore said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken.”
2. Christ’s Enemies Subsequently Attested To His Own
Affirmation.
Mat 27:63, “‘Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I am to rise again.’”
IV. HEAR THE GLORIOUS INVITATION: “Come...see...
Go...and tell....” (28:6-7).
1. The Invitation Commences As A Mild Persuasion:
“Come.”
Isa 1:18, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.’”
2. The Invitation Concerns A Mandatory Perception: “...see...”
(1) Focus on the Christian nucleus is absolutely imperative!
Rom 10:9-10, “...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
(2) One clear view is sufficient (aorist).
Jn 3:18, “‘He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’”
3. The Invitation Becomes A Melodious Pronouncement: “Go...and tell...!” (imperative)
The angel said, “...I know that you are looking for Jesus...”
Conclusion
“Why are you a Christian?”