The Lord is Alive - Matthew 28:1-17

Have you ever wondered how you would feel if you had to admit that the God you serve is dead? If your god could not conquer death and the grave of what benefit could he be to the living? Generally speaking, there have been only three kinds or groups of gods mentioned in the bible; and it would be impossible for any of these to be resurrected from the dead.

Some men of the Old Testament as well as the North and South American Indians worshipped the moon and stars. In India the cow is considered to be sacred. These are all a part of God’s creation.

All of the twelve tribes of Jews chose many different gods. These were varied according to the needs as felt by the people. Statutes, carved poles, and molded images such as the golden calf at Mt Sinai were made to represent the sun, and moon or the god of rain or thunder; or a beautiful woman as goddess of sex. These were all man made to represent an imaginary god.

The third kind of gods that exists is the men that have lived and organized a cult religion that was espoused by small groups such as Jim Jones. Then there are Confucius and Mohammed with their millions. Confucius, Mohammed and Jim Jones are all dead, and neither of them will be resurrected from the dead until their judgment day—and surely will not return to claim their church.

As we all realize there is only one Jehovah God, who was, is, and will forever be the living God who gave his Son to die on the cross for our sins; and who was resurrected on the third day, was witnessed by many and ascended back into heaven where he sits at the right hand of His Father God as our intercessor. We proudly call this man Jesus Christ our Savior who died on the cross for our sins and is now the resurrected One.

We constantly read and study the scriptures in order to show ourselves approved and to simply have a better understanding of the bible. There are so many truths that we believe hare hidden between the lines, that it makes us want to look often and even closer than we did before. One fact not yet fully understood is that Christ chose twelve men to be his disciples that would be with him during his three years of ministry. However, he chose to allow two women to be the first to see him after his resurrection and charged them to go tell the twelve disciples. Since some of them wanted to be seated on his right and left side and even talked to him about it, I wonder how they felt when they learned that Jesus had granted the women in his life the opportunity to see him first as the resurrected Savior.

28: 1 says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw him first. The other Mary was probably not the mother of Christ. [John 19: 25] indicates she could have been the wife of Clopas, and [Matthew 27:56] indicates that she may have been the mother of James and John. Or she could have been Jesus’ aunt. When these women ran back to the disciples and told them that Christ had risen, the disciples did not believe them. Note: they did not necessarily think the women were deliberately lying, but that they must be mistaken, misinformed, or had imagined it. There is no indication that any of the disciples actually expected to see Jesus again.

We know that a stone was used to close the grave. Matthew says that Joseph of Arimathaea rolled the stone in place. However, if the stone was flat on one side with the rest rounded, it could have been possible for one man to role it in place; but impossible for one man to move it out. It was also sealed by soldiers which could have made it more difficult to move.

Mathew records that an earthquake was felt in the area early that morning, and this indicates that the quake could have caused the grave to open. More than one apostle records that there were angels present that morning, early, before it was bright daylight which would cause their brilliant shining robes to be even more observable. Matthew says that the angels rolled the stone back and sat on it. The guards that had been assigned to guard the tomb saw this happen and froze in their tracks…they were afraid to try to interfere with what was happening; and feared their life might be taken for letting it happen.

One truth is clear regarding the open tomb. Regardless of how the rock was actually removed from the opening, the purpose was definitely to allow the women and apostles to look inside the grave and was not to make it possible for Christ to get out. His burial clothing was positioned on the slab as if he simply melted out of them…they were in place…undisturbed. His napkin was folded in the position that indicated that he was still around.

The angel met the women when they arrived and explained that Christ had risen as he had said he would and that they should go and tell the disciples. They should also tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee.

Matthew says the women were afraid but joyful. They left and were running on their way when Jesus met them and greeted them. He removed their fear and left them with their joy. They fell at his feet and worshipped him. Jesus bade them go tell his brothers what had happened and that they should meet him in Galilee. He use the word brothers instead of disciples to indicate that he was not mad with them even though they had left him during the trial and crucifixion—and even though they had never fully understood.

There is nothing inferior or without meaning in the salvation story, however there are several keep points, high points, most important points, and the resurrection no doubt is a very important key to the Christian faith. You may ask why I believe this to be true. Here are several reasons.

Jesus promised his disciples and us that he would not remain in the grave, and he kept the promise—now we can look forward to him keeping all of his other promises to us.

Jesus bodily resurrection shows us that he is alive and the ruler of God’s eternal kingdom and not an imposter.

This is proof to us that death is not the end of our life; there is future life. We too will be resurrected as he was and we will live with him forever. That is one of his promises.

The same power that brought his physical life back is available to us to bring us back from our spiritual death—for we are dead in trespasses and sin, and must be born again.

His resurrection forms the bases for our message of grace. He is not dead! He is alive! He can and will save you! He died for our sins but he did not leave us alone to die in our sins.

Going back to Friday, about noon, some of the disciples gave up and got out of town (Jerusalem) as quickly as they could for fear their lives. Some returned to their home in Galilee broke; they had no income during the past three years they had to get back to their fishing jobs. They had depended on Christ to feed them on the road.

Two of the gospels indicate that some of his followers…some other than the disciples…holed up in their hideout in Jerusalem and were still in the process of deciding what to do. Christ walked through the wall and visited with them, giving them comfort and direction before they all went on to Galilee where he had instructed the women to tell everyone to meet him.

It is not as well known, and has never been discussed as much as the resurrection, but the forty-day following is another one of the important keys to the salvation story. This period is a faith builder for me. During this time he walked many miles, ate food, slept, and appeared to thousands of people who recognized him and have attested to his life after death. This is far too many for me not to believe them.

A third key that showed up in this lesson is the fact that he gave the church its commission as his last instructions. We know what he would have us do. We can know when we are about our Father’s business—we can know when we are doing our Father’s will. We are to go everywhere and preach, teach, care for his little ones.

The fourth and final key to our future came when he bid farewell and disappeared in a cloud headed back to his throne. We know that as they saw him go…he will return again. We know that we too will be caught up with him in his cloud to heaven where we will rein with him forever more. We will have a new resurrected body; we will have a new life in glory. Who are we? Only those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior will be able to enjoy heaven and a life with Him.