Current Sermon Series

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 The Word and the Family: Biblical Foundations for the Family Genesis 2:18-25 The War on Family: Marriage 

Marriage is the first institution of creation, the building block of the family, which in turn is the building block of all society. When marriage is corrupted, so too is the family corrupted, and eventually all of society. It's not surprising that Satan continues to wage war against the family. that our sin distorts God's good design for family is to be expected. But a society's war against the family is nothing less than suicidal, a destruction of itself. We live in an age where all three—Satan, sin, and society—have sought to undermine, uproot, and ultimately redefine the family. Even much of the church is plagued with distortions of God's good design, as much of the church tends to take its cues from the world rather than from God's Word. We are in desperate need of being reminded of God's design for family, which begins with marriage. 

OUTLINE

 I.  Made for Communion (v.18, not good to be alone)

 II.  Made to Fit (v.19-20, complementarity)

 III.  Made of the Same Substance (v.21-22, out of the man)

 IV. Made for Union (v.23-24, what marriage is)

 V.  Made for Exclusivity (v.23-24, holding fast)

 VI. Made without sin (v.25, naked and unashamed) 

 In this fallen age, we can be tempted to seek great things in the here and now that are saved up, not for this age, but the age to come. The Lord's Word to Baruch serves as a correction, a call, and a comfort for life in a fallen world and the sorrows that accompany it.  

 The Book of Jeremiah, for the most part, is a very dark book. But I assure you, that's a good thing, because it's with the backdrop of the horrors of our human condition that the gospel most vividly shines in all its glory.  Chapter 44 is the last recorded event of Jeremiah's life. It contains Jeremiah's last recorded words, preaching in Egypt to deaf ears, rebellious families, hardened hearts, steeped in idolatry. While the end of the Book closes with the slightest glint of hope in chapter 52, there is no hope whatsoever presented in chapter 44. Jeremiah spent his life pleading, warning, and delivering God's Word to the people he loved. Yet to the very end, they refused to listen; they refused to repent. We might say that their settling in Egypt served as a portrait of their settling in their sin.  So, was it all worth it? Would we consider Jeremiah's ministry a failure or a success? Was his devotion to the Lord and His Word worth such a devastating conclusion? 

Jeremiah 44 

I. Unhappy Ending (v.1)

II. Failure to Learn (v.2-6)

III. Evil Against Self (v. 7-10)

IV. Faces Set (v. 11-14)

V. Vowing Rebellion (v. 15-18)

VI. Family Affair (v. 19)

VII. Faulty Logic (v. 20-23)

VIII. Confirm Your Vows (v. 24-25)

IX. Permanently Severed (v. 26-27)

X. Whose Word Stands (v. 28-30)

While most of our daily prayer requests likely won't be remembered a decade from now, the remnant of Judah has a prayer request of their own, and it doesn't appear all that different from the average prayer meeting. Yet this prayer request made its way into the Bible. Let's find out why and what we might learn from it. 

Jeremiah 42-43  

I. God's Will for Our Lives 

II. Offer of Good News 

III. Warning against Rejecting the Good News 

IV. Discrediting the Word of Good News 

V. Nowhere to Hide Outside of God's Will 

Jeremiah 40-41 The One Whom the King Appointed (Shadows of Christ in the Person of Gedaliah)

I.  Remaining with the One Whom the King Appointed (40:5) 

II.  Rallying to the One Whom the King Appointed (40:7) 

III.  Returning to the One Whom the King Appointed (40:11) 

IV.  Striking down the One Whom the King Appointed (41:2) 

V. Seizing the Remnant of the One Whom the King Appointed (41:10) 

VI. Responding to the Death of the One Whom the King Appointed (41:18) 

Proverbs 21

The Wisdom of God

  Matthew 28 ALL TO JESUS – IMMANUEL FOREVER

       [Description]

There’s no greater assurance in all of Scripture than Jesus’ closing words in Matthew’s gospel in the giving of The Great Commission. Jesus’ promises to be with his church always, even to the consummation of the age. Jesus’ promised presence guarantees that the mission will not fail. It promises encouragement and comfort as we take up this most difficult and greatest of missions ever given to mankind. And it reminds us of the goal of the gospel, communion with God Himself, enjoying His very presence, not just in the age to come but now.

But if Jesus’ resurrected body is ascending into heaven, just how is that Jesus will be with us? Jesus is with us through his Spirit, his Word, and his body, the church. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ himself, takes up permanent residence in every believer when they are baptized in the triune Godhead. Jesus is also with us through his Word, forever communicating himself to us. And Jesus is with us through his body, the church, as the fullness of Christ’s manifested presence on the earth.

Far more than a babe born in a manger, Jesus came as Immanuel, God with us, in order to dwell with us forever. 

https://youtu.be/vYk_CqK8hXM

Keeping All I Have Commanded (Matthew 28:20)
As disciples, we're brought into the family of the Triune God. But we don't enter this family knowing all that it means to be members of this family. "Teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you," is nothing less than instructing new family members to keep what is important to this eternal family of God, which isn't limited simply to Jesus' imperatives or the words in red, but the whole counsel of God. Most importantly, being adopted members of this family means learning how to reflect the perfect image of the one true Son of God so that we might resemble Christ in every facet of our lives.

https://youtu.be/VMbqF5q7qhc

  Matthew 28:19 Plunged into the Godhead  

Is baptism necessary for salvation? If the question is about water, then the obvious answer is "No." But is that really what Jesus is referring to when he commands his disciples to baptize the nations into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Rather than a prescriptionof what the disciples are to say, baptism is plunging people into the family of triune God. So, not only is this baptism that Jesus is referring to necessary for salvation, this baptism is synonymous with salvation, for it is nothing less than immersing individuals into the eternally happy community of the Trinity. In fact, baptism is the climax of THE GREAT COMMISSION. Indeed, this baptism—placing people into an intimate relationship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit—is the very goal of discipleship. 

     https://youtu.be/wsngcIa10-s

    Matthew 28:18-20 Commissioning Worship, part 2: All to Jesus

The church's mission, if it's not centered around Jesus, is not Jesus' mission. The whole of The Great Commission is to be focused on Jesus. Hence the 4 "ALL"s that encompass Jesus' commissioning of his disciples: All Authority, All Nations, All Jesus Commands, All the Days. All four of these focus on our Lord Jesus. All four of them point to discipleship in some sense, because Jesus is the one with all authority, and that includes all the nations. They all belong to him. And we are to teach all the nations all that Jesus has commanded. And his presence is the one that is with us all the days, to empower us to do this. So it's all about him. It's all about his glory. It's all about commissioning worship. In fact: The Great Commission is nothing less than Jesus commissioning worshipers to go and gather worshipers to be enthralled with His glory. This week we look at the first to ALL's: ALL AUTHORITY and ALL NATIONS.

https://youtu.be/10pC60rXG4M

  Matthew 28:16-17 Commissioning Worship: Completing and Perfecting the Eleven

       Transcript 

READ: Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF TWELVE

Thursday, for my day job, one of my customers gifted me some eggs. They had like 30 chickens in their little backyard. And they gave me this carton. This carton, it held a a specific number of eggs. You'd never guess how many. A dozen. A dozen eggs. And I was just thinking, Why a dozen? I looked it up and as the story goes, you used to be able to buy an egg for a penny and 12 pennies, (this is not American money), 12 pennies was a shilling. So you for one shilling you’d get a dozen eggs. And so in one sense it had something to do with commerce. 

Twelve seems like a somewhat arbitrary number, but at the same time, those numbers, they don't just come out of nowhere, right? And so , in our culture, we tend to use here in America, and I don't know if they still do in Great Britain even though that's where it came from. We tend to use the standard English measuring system, right? We don't use the metric system. Carmen, you and Sharif may have grown up more with the metric system. But we kind of like 12, we have 12 inches in a foot. We’ve kind of stuck with that. Why? 

Why is 12 so significant? Well, we see it all over creation, don't we? There's always 12 moons in a year. I mean, sometimes there's 13, but we've ordered our calendar, what, 12 months in a year. Our days, we have our clock divided by 12. Two sets of 12 hours equals 24 hours, so that you have a full day. If you live on the equator, it's always going to be consistent, 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of nighttime regardless the time of year. 

Something else that I I thought about, you know, listening to Robert play the piano … between every octave, there's how many notes? There’re 12 semitones in every octave. Even your ribs, have you ever counted your ribs? How fascinating!  I would have never thought... You've got twelve ribs on both sides!  Just a little trivia. 

As you think about it, God has woven certain numbers into the created order. And twelve is one of those fascinating numbers that is woven through the entire fabric of creation by a masterful Creator. And we see that no clearer than in the people of God, the elect people of God. Starting with the twelve sons of Israel, the twelve tribes, and the church. How many disciples, apostles did Jesus call? He called twelve. So most significantly, twelve shows up in reference to the redeemed people of God, and that's not accidental. 12 tribes, 12 sons. 

So when Jesus comes to inaugurate his new covenant kingdom, he calls 12 disciples. Why? Well, in one sense, he's rejecting apostate Israel. Now I'm not saying he's rejecting Israel. God hasn't rejected his people. But he's rejecting the apostate system that had become Israel. And we saw that when we looked closer at Matthew 20 and 21. 

WHY ELEVEN

Which brings us to our text, verse 16. Now the eleven. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee. Where are the twelve? What happened to the twelve? Well, we know Judas is no more. Judas went and hung himself. He betrayed his Lord and hung himself. And in Acts, we're going to have Matthias, he's going to be added into the 12. But there's something very significant about 11 here on this mountain where Jesus is going to send the disciples out on the greatest mission ever. The mission to grow His church. 

IMPERFECT

So why eleven? Why not twelve? Well, in one sense, eleven, it represents an imperfect community, imperfect people. Remember, it was just a couple chapters ago, Jesus said, You will all fall away. These disciples weren't perfect. And most of us, look in the mirror, we'll find out we're not perfect either. We have an imperfect faith. Our faith is imperfect. Our lives are imperfect. Our walk is imperfect. I'd love to say my walk is a perfect path along the straight and narrow. That's what it's supposed to be. But it's not. Not always. Not usually. The only thing perfect is our Savior and the righteousness He supplies. 

INCOMPLETE

Something else about the number 11, it's not just imperfect, but it's incomplete. As I mentioned in Acts, they'll call someone to take Jesus's place. But I think Matthias points to something more. The covenant community, the new covenant community of God's people is not yet complete. And that's what the Great Commission seeks to fulfill. 

FULL NUMBER OF THE REDEEMED

The full number of the redeemed is represented by twelves. If you turn to Revelation chapter 7, you're going to see there's 12,000 from every tribe of Israel. Now those tribes, we got to be careful because there's a there's an imperfect listing of the names in those 12 tribes that are listed. And Revelation does this twice and they're not the same because there's something greater going on. And so the perfect number was 144,000. But that perfect number of 144,000 points to something so much more significant. Because just as in chapter 5, John, the apostle John, is told, Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. And John turns around and he looks, and what does he see? He doesn't see a lion, he sees a lamb. In the same way, John is told a number, 144,000. And he turns around and he looks, and behold, what does he see? He sees a great multitude from every tribe, every people, every language, every nation that no one is able to count. 

So 12 is representative of the redeemed. in Revelation 14, The redeemed of the earth is144,000 — a multiple of 12. Actually 12 times 12 times 1,000. They both point to the same thing. The perfect and complete people of God, but not yet. We're still 11, only 11. Right here on this mountain, eleven disciples. 

REVIVING AND HEALING DAUGHTER ZION

Something else, and I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but in all three of the synoptics, right before Jesus sends out the twelve into all of Judea, there's an episode that takes place. with Jairus' daughter who's guess how old? Twelve years old. This twelve-year-old is dying. In fact, she's dead. And there's this woman placed right beside her, right in the middle of her story, who has been bleeding, dying for twelve years. I believe there's some correlation between the people of God and these two daughter of Israel. Israel is sometime referred to by God as a daughter — Daughter of Zion to be precise. 

What takes place. The woman is healed. The little girl is revived. And immediately after, Jesus calls the twelve, their names are listed, and then he sends them out. 

What do these two daughters have to do with this? Israel, Daughter of Zion, is sick and dying. She needs to be healed. She needs to be revived. Hence the sending out the 12 to announce the kingdom. Healing has come! 

So twelve is important. It’s a portrait. It represents both the perfection and completeness of God’s people, that will only come through Christ healing and reviving. And the means he uses is this group of apostles, this group of twelve he sends out… but there’s not twelve. There’s eleven. The eleven need to be made whole. The people of God need to be made a whole twelve — or at least some form of twelve.

THE TEMPLE CITY

Now, if I’m losing you, or you think this idea of twelve is a stretch, consider the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation 21. John is told to measure the city. Its wall 144 cubits. Its length 12,000 stadia. Its foundations, its gates, its gems all twelve. But what is the city? The city is the Bride. It's the people of God. Twelve is so foundational. 

GREAT COMMISSION TO COMPLETE AND PERFECT

So to have eleven, there's something amiss, hence the Great Commission. They're being sent out to complete this number. The Great Commission is the means to complete the twelve, the fullness of Jesus' new covenant community, both to complete and to perfect, which is why when we get to the end of this passage Jesus says, teaching them all that I've commanded you. There's a perfection that's needed as well as the completion. 

MOUNTAIN IN GALILEE

Alright, moving on. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. To which Jesus had directed them. If we went back up to verse 10. Then Jesus said to them, this is to the women, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. Jesus directs the women to tell, Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee. Well, the women, first of all, notice, the women get the Great Commission first. Their commission is to go tell the brothers, right? To go tell the brothers. But there's something very significant here. 

GO TELL MY BROTHERS

Think of the numerous nouns Jesus could have said, you know, go tell those betrayers, those deniers, those cowards, those failures, go to Galilee. They want to try again. Go tell my brothers. There's family. They are family and they're his family. And we notice just the use of that term. He holds out forgiveness. He's not holding this against them. The gospel, it restores, it reconciles. And that is going to be the aim of the whole Great Commission. calling in brothers and sisters into the family. 

RESTORING THE BROTHERS

But notice, it begins first with restoring the eleven. These guys, these brothers, must be restored before they can take the gospel to the nations. 

And notice, the eleven, they went. They went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had directed. There's that faithful act of obedience. The first act of obedience before they can go into all the world. They must go. They must come. They must see the risen Christ themselves. If you don't see Jesus, how can you proclaim Jesus? Now, we don't get to see him physically on this side of glory, but we do get to see him in his word. But you gotta see Jesus first. and be restored to Jesus yourself before you can join in this mission. And when they go and see Jesus, they worship. Worship is nothing less than the fuel of the Great Commission. 

WHY A MOUNTAIN IN GALILEE?

So why a mountain in Galilee, besides Jesus directing them there? And Jesus, he does so for a theological purpose. He's not just, you know, this random mountain in Galilee. Just go there. There's always something behind everything that Jesus says. He doesn't say anything accidentally. 

Well, I would say there's three bookends. Why this mountain in Galilee? Well, one, it bookends Jesus' ministry. Two, it bookends the Exodus. Three, it bookends the canon of Scripture. 

BOOKENDS JESUS’ EARTHLY MINISTRY

Let's start with it bookending Jesus' ministry, his earthly ministry. Where does Jesus begin his ministry? Well, he begins his ministry on a mountain in Galilee. And we back up to the Sermon on the Mount. It takes place on a mountain of Galilee. This is where Jesus has first given the Law as a new Moses. He's the new lawgiver, as it were. Jesus presents himself as the new Moses, the new lawgiver. And when he is finished, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7 verse 29 The crowds are astonished because Jesus spoke as one who had authority. 

Now let's look down at our verses that we read. Verse 18 All authority is Jesus's. It all belongs to him. Verse 20 Teach all that I have commanded. Jesus is the Teacher, the Great Teacher, the Lawgiver. So that's one aspect. It bookends Jesus' ministry. 

BOOKENDS THE EXODUS

But it also bookends the Exodus. So if we were to back up in the Exodus, why a mountain in Galilee? Well, Jesus is meeting them on a mountain. It echoes the giving of the Torah from the mountain. Moses was on the mountain of God when he was first commissioned at the burning bush. And coming out of Egypt to bring a nation, a people of Israel, he brings them out to worship on that mountain at the end of the Exodus. When they come out of Egypt, they worship on that exact same mountain. This will be a sign for you. You'll come and you'll worship me on the mountain. At the end of Exodus, it ends on that mountain where they fashioned the tabernacle on Mount Sinai. 

So Jesus is here bringing about a Greater Exodus, a Greater Moses who brings the people out of bondage to sin. Not out of one nation, but out of all the nations. 

And Galilee, if we think about Galilee, Galilee was representative of the nations. In Isaiah 9 (and we see this in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 4, Matthew's going to quote Isaiah 9). When he began his ministry, the inaugural fulfillment, the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations, Galilee of the nations, They’ve seen a great light. People who walk in darkness have seen a great light. 

Why Galilee? Because it goes beyond Jerusalem, beyond Judea. It goes to all the nations. When Israel came out of Egypt, as Steve read for us, they came out with, my translation says a mixed multitude, a foreign multitude. A multitude of people. Not just from Israel, not just from native Israel. But there's a greater Exodus taking place. 

BOOKENDS THE CANON

Three, why a mountain in Galilee? Well, because it bookends not just Jesus' ministry or the Exodus, it bookends the whole of Scripture. When you think of Eden, and many theologians argue this well, Eden is presented as a mountain temple, a garden temple on a mountain, with the four rivers flowing down, watering all the land. Okay? How does Scripture end? It ends on a mountain, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, on the mountain of God, with the River of Life watering all the land, where the Tree of Life buds for what? the healing of just Israel? No. The healing of the nations. 

ARRANGED BY THE AUTHOR

To this mountain, in verse 16, Jesus has directed the eleven. That word directed can also mean, can also be translated, he arranged. or He appointed. Literally, it means to put in order. The author of history, the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ Himself, He has arranged for His disciples to meet Him here on a mountain in Galilee. Just as He has arranged all of history from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation. He's arranged it all. We shouldn't be surprised at these connections. He's arranged for worshiping God on this mountain. But this mountain points to something more significant. That the mountain has been moved. We worship God not on some physical mountain but on Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. 

So why a mountain in Galilee? Understanding God's sovereignty is crucial to getting the story right. Otherwise, we might read Israel and then the church as some kind of plan B and then maybe even a plan C. Just as the number twelve was woven into the fabric of creation, this idea of mountain in Galilee is woven into all redemption history. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF “GALILEE” – ROLL AWAY

And Galilee, we could camp out on just the word Galilee for a little while. I'm not going to do this. But Galilee is a Hebrew word and it comes from the word Galal, it means to roll or sometimes it's translated roll away. And it's not a very common word in the Old Testament. It only shows up 18 times. But it's significant because it's used of the stone rolled over the well. It's used for rolling stones over an entrance of caves as a prison or a grave. We can picture Jesus' burial and the stone being rolled in front and then rolled away. And it's used in what I think to be one of the most significant places in Joshua 5:9,  where God says, Today I've rolled away your reproach. You see, the resurrection, it rolls away the reproach of all the disciples, all their failures, where they failed their Messiah. It rolls away all of that. 

MOVING MOUNTAINS

It also takes us back a few weeks ago, to this mountain in Galilee, to Matthew 21, where Jesus, he talks about the faith to move mountains. If you have faith, just a tiny bit of faith, small as a mustard seed. You can say to this mountain, move from here to there. And we talked about it when we looked at Matthew 21, that there’s a correlation between this and John 4. Neither on this mountain nor in Samaria will you worship the Lord, but you will worship Him in spirit and in truth. 

And so the worship of God is no longer back there in Jerusalem, not physical Jerusalem. Again, it's part of the rejecting of apostate Israel. But you will worship Him in spirit and in truth. That whole system is over. Jerusalem is behind. This is why Mount in Galilee. Jerusalem is behind. Now we're looking ahead. Galilee of the nations and from here we're taking off to take the good news to the world. Yes, that good news is going to begin in Jerusalem and then Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the earth. But Jesus is commissioning them not from Jerusalem. He's commissioning them from Galilee. There's new horizons ahead. No longer on any particular earthly mountain, but they will worship in spirit and truth. 

That's what the Great Commission does. It brings people not to a physical location, but to a spiritual location, to Mount Zion where they see Jesus, and where we see the risen Lord Jesus. And when they see him with their eyes opened by the Spirit, they see him in truth, and they worship him in truth. 

FAITH TO GO

Which takes us to verse 17, And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Like the women, they had great joy, but they also had fear. Well here, the eleven they worshiped. But that doesn't mean there's no doubts whatsoever. And some doubted. But notice, in faith, they went. Have you ever thought about the faith it must have taken for them to go to Galilee as directed? You know, even though Jesus had told them no less than three times what was going to happen, I’m going to be crucified. I'm going to be handed over to the gentiles, I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to die, but I'm going to rise again. He told them at least three times. They couldn't believe their Messiah, the Son of Man who would inherit an eternal kingdom would truly have to die first. 

HURDLE ONE: BELIEVING THE WOMEN

And now the women bring the news that he's alive. I trust my wife a lot in what she says. But I want to tell you there are some things I'd be like, are you serious? I mean, think about these guys hearing this news from the women. And back then, the women weren't considered credible witnesses. No doubt it must have sounded like a wild claim. Think of your unbelieving neighbors. You can tell them you worship a once dead man who's now been raised from the dead. How they look at you. 

HURDLE TWO: FACING THEIR PEERS

Second hurdle. that they had to overcome to go to Galilee is most of them were from Galilee. They were from Galilee. And they left everything to follow Jesus. Can you imagine some of the talk from their friends and relatives in Galilee? James and John, you're leaving your fishing business behind? You're a fool!  You're leaving it all behind to follow this guy here, this Jesus? And now they’re going to go back to Galilee after the person they were following was shown to be an imposter? A charlatan? I mean, he was condemned as guilty and put to death. Took a lot of faith to go back among their peers. The mocking from their acquaintances. To follow this guy, what credentials did he even have? Some of you, likely, you've experienced some pushback from your following Jesus. I know I did, still do. I remember my dad, when he was still around, he would ask, How long is this fad in your life going to last? The faith it had to take for them to go to Galilee. 

HURDLE THREE: WHAT SORT OF RECEPTION

But perhaps the greatest hurdle may have been, what if He did rise? We all deserted Him. What kind of reception can we expect? The fear of looking into the eyes of one you failed, that you let down, you denied, even knowing. I mean, just think of your close relationships that you already have when you've let them down. It's hard to look them in the eye. Matthew doesn't record it, but Luke does. Upon Peter's third denial, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter ran off and wept bitterly. 

THE RESURRECTION ROLLS BACK ALL OUR FAILURES

Some doubted. Yet despite their doubts, they went. The resurrection, it pushes back doubt. Whatever doubt they had, they went. And the resurrection holds out hope. Perhaps the women actually did see the risen Lord. Perhaps He did rise. The resurrection, it silences the scoffers in your life. You're not a fool to leave everything and follow Jesus. As to quote Jim Elliot, He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. And that includes any reputational capital you may have before the watching world. Let it all go. It's worth nothing. And the resurrection rolls away the shame of our every failure. That's what the word Galilee points to. Galilee, here on the mountain in Galilee, the reproach has been rolled away. 

EXPECT WELCOME

Remember, Peter, he ran when he heard the news. He ran to the tomb to see that the tomb was empty. He didn't let the shame of denying his Lord hold him back. And neither should we. What sort of reception should we expect? Well, go tell my brothers, expect the eyes of mercy and forgiveness. Think about Joseph from Genesis 45, when he reveals himself to his brothers. Do not be distressed that you sold me. It was God who sent me before you. And then he lays on or falls upon his brothers’ necks. He hugs them, he kisses them. Jesus is our brother. Go tell my brothers. That's the reception we should expect. 

SOME DOUBTED

Yes, some doubted. Perhaps even upon seeing the risen Lord Jesus. We likely think of Thomas, right? Unless I see the mark of the nails and placed my finger in the nail holes and my hand in the side. But consider how fast all these events must have taken place. How fast everything took place. When you first came to know the Lord, how much was a blur? I mean, not everything settled in right there. Not everything clicked immediately. Well, the same was true with these disciples. 

LITTLE FAITH

The word doubt, it really it literally means to waver or to hesitate. And it's only used twice in the whole of the the New Testament. And the one other time that it's used is used in Matthew's Gospel, what Caleb read for us earlier. When Jesus comes walking on the water and Peter says, Lord, if it's really you, call me to come to you, command me to come to you. He does. He gets out of the boat, and he walks in water, but he sees the wind and the waves and he. And he starts to sink and he cries out, Lord, help me!  And of course, Jesus saves him from drowning in his doubt. And he says these words, You of little faith, why did you doubt? That's our word. 

But notice, Peter stepped out in faith. And when they got into the boat, they all worshiped. They're not detached, this kind of doubting. Worship is right there beside it. And we give Peter a hard time sometimes, but I mean, how many of you have walked on water? I mean, I've never gotten out of the boat thinking I was going to do it. 

GROWING IN FAITH

There's also an authenticity here. that you won't find when people are trying to sell you on something. But more than that, there's an encouragement. Because I don't know about your faith, but my faith is not always as strong as I'd like it to be. Some doubt it, it wavered. I don't think there's a believer that hasn't experienced some level of doubt along their walk. One, it's a sign that we have not yet arrived. We're still that imperfect 11. Our faith hasn't been perfected just yet. And so along the way we might need our Lord to revive us like that little girl. 

TO WORSHIP OR NOT

Matthew doesn't give us the nature of the doubt, it's possible the doubting could have been how are we supposed to respond to this man who rose from the dead? I mean, is it really is it truly right that we should be worshiping him? Maybe that's what's behind this. I don't know. But I can answer the question. Are we truly supposed to be worshiping this man? Absolutely. Which is the last thing we're going to look at. 

WORSHIP IS THE GOAL

In fact, worship is the goal of all creation. We were created to worship. It's also what went wrong in the fall. Our worship had turned inward. We want to be like God. You know, I don't want to worship God. And then we end up worshiping everything. Worship, it's also the goal of all redemptive history. It's a restoration of worship. That's what's taking place with the Great Commission is we're sent out that worship might be restored. I think I think it might be John Piper who said, you know, missions exist because worship is absent, it's lacking. So we go into the world because God is seeking worshipers. As we sing, Now to the Lamb upon the throne, we are to worship this man, to whom all blessing, honor, glory, power is to be ascribed to. Worship is the goal of the Great Commission, which we're going to look at closer next week. We are commissioned, in a sense, to disciple the nations to worship the lamb upon the throne. 

GOD IS SPIRIT AND HAS FEET

The resurrection, it gives rise to worship. Like the women, when they met Jesus on the way, they worshiped. And here, the disciples on the mountain, they worshiped. Now remember, when the women met Jesus, they took hold of his feet. and worshiped Him. But there's a problem there. God doesn't have feet. Just to go back to John 4, which I've alluded to a few times. God is Spirit, and those who worship must worship in Spirit and Truth. But here, Jesus has feet. He's concrete. Jesus is truly man. And yet he's worshiped, not just by the women, but by all the disciples. If Jesus was merely a new Moses, we wouldn't worship him. If he was merely just another prophet, another priest, another king, we wouldn't worship him. If he was merely a messenger, or the term angel, if he was just, as some cults refer to him, if he was merely an angel, we would not worship him. At the, in the apocalypse, you all were talking about apocalypse today or apocalyptic today in your class. John bows down to worship the messenger who gives them the vision. The angel who gives them the vision. You must not do that. I'm a fellow messenger. I'm a fellow servant. Worship God only. Angels know to reject any kind of worship towards them. But Jesus never rejected worship. 

THE DIVINE CHRIST

Whether the women were here on the mountain with the disciples, or any other time throughout Jesus' ministry, Jesus never once turned away worshipers. Now, this would only be problematic except for one thing, if Jesus is God. And so, just to glance at that briefly, because God alone is to be worshiped. His glory he will not share with another. We could hit so many texts. And yet, Jesus, the text, this Great Commission text, even if we just looked at this one text, it claims nothing less than the full deity of Jesus Christ. So even though we're going to revisit these next week, let's just take a snapshot real quick. 

Verse 18, All authority. All authority is mine. Well, who has all authority but God alone? But Jesus here, All authority is mine. That's a pretty high claim. Disciple the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That's verse 19. Jesus is placing himself right in the middle of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, claiming nothing less than equal authority. He's setting himself right there with the Godhead. Putting himself on par with God himself. And then, verse 20, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded, That’s a pretty bold statement in the Pentateuch. Moses isn't, you know, it's not what Moses commanded, even though that's what the Pharisees turned it into. Well, Moses commanded us this. No, Moses commanded what the Lord commanded, as the Lord commanded Moses. That's the word you're going to read a time and again. throughout the giving of the law. As the Lord commanded Moses. As the Lord commanded Moses. Here Jesus is the one. All that I have commanded. He is the authority. And then at the very end, And I am with you always until the end of the age. Now even if it's only eleven, they send it out. Even if He's only going to be with the eleven until the end of the age, which we we know better, we know He's going to be with all His people. No person is able to be in 11 places at once. And that to the end of the age. So there's at least this idea of omnipresence going on. Who's omnipresent but God alone? 

CLAIMING DIVINITY

So when critics say Jesus never claimed to be God, that's not only a ridiculous claim, it's dishonest. You see, at every turn of the Gospels, Jesus is showcasing his divinity. But why do they peddle such dishonesty? Because they don't want to worship him. They don't want to worship the one and true living God. Everybody worships, but it's a misplaced worship. We want to worship anything but the one we are to be submissive to. 

COMMISSIONED TO GATHER WORSHIPERS

Hence, the Great Commission. First the disciples had to go as Jesus directed them through the women. Why? So they could exercise faith and meet Jesus on the mountain to worship. In turn, they will be sent out to make worshipers of the nations, bringing the nations to the new mountain of worship. Not a physical mountain, but spiritual, Mount Zion. As we read in Hebrews, you've not come to a place that can be touched. You’ve come to Mount Zion. 

PLUNDERING NATIONS

You and I, we are commissioned with this group of disciples, to borrow from our Old Testament reading from Exodus, we are commissioned to plunder, not just Egypt, we're commissioned to plunder the nations. But not plunder the nations of silver and gold and precious gems, but of living stones. in which just as the people of Israel they took all those materials that they plundered from the Egyptians and made the tabernacle, we are to plunder the nations to make a house in which God will dwell with his people. The church itself is the house in which God dwells with his people. The church itself is the temple. 

And one day, like the eleven disciples, we will all see the risen Lord. The question is, whether we'll see him in worship or not. 

MISSING RIB

Let me wrap up. I was just thinking about the dozen ribs, or the twenty-four ribs, yeah, twelve on both sides. Adam was put into a deep sleep. One of his ribs were removed. In order to what? To fashion his bride. A helpmate fit for him. There's a season in which Adam was incomplete. It's not good for man to be alone. Not until his bride was prepared for him. The body of Christ is somewhat incomplete. Not that Jesus is not... is needy, not that the Son of God is lacking in any way. I'm not saying that, so don't misunderstand. And yet the body is somewhat incomplete until the fullness of the bride is complete, until the imperfect eleven is complete. Not the calling of Mathias, but the full number of elect. 

PERFECTED AND COMPLETE

What's represented by the 144,000 is nothing less than the great multitude that no one can count from every tribe, people, language, and nation. Making the incomplete bride the new covenant community, making her a complete people. And the imperfect bride is perfected in Christ. Until Christ is formed in you, Paul will say. How? Teaching all that I have commanded. This new covenant community may at this time be incomplete. 

But through the means of the Great Commission, Jesus is completing his bride day by day, adding to her number until the fullness is saved. And this new covenant community, it may be right now imperfect. All we got to do is look at ourselves, look at this room. We've still got some growing to do. Right now we're imperfect, both individually and corporately. But we are being perfected for our bridegroom. 

PERFECTING WORSHIP

And that perfection, most significantly, involves our worship. You see, what needs to be perfected more than anything else is our worship. When our worship is corrected, when our worship is perfected, everything else falls into place. You see, everything else flows, including our holiness. It flows from our worship because what we've been set apart for is nothing less than worship. Come, see Jesus. Bow down and worship Him. 

PRAYER

Let's pray. Lord, if we're honest, our worship is nowhere near perfect. We have so many idols in our lives. Like Calvin said, our hearts are idol factories. Our Our worship wavers. We're like Peter, stepping out on the boat, out of the boat. And there are times we are sinking in our doubts. Revive our faith during those times. Perfect our worship in You by revealing to these hearts of ours the fullness of Your glory. I ask all this in Jesus' name, Amen.

https://youtu.be/KsiiVL8HFvk

REVIVING FAITH (Matthew 27:62-28:15)

     (Transcript) 

INTRODUCTION:

I invite you to turn with me to the end of Matthew's Gospel. In fact, we're going to be looking at the end of chapter 27 beginning at verse 57. 

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph. He also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 

End of story. That's it. That is how the gospel ends. Or at least that's how it ended for Thomas Jefferson. “The life and morals of Jesus Christ.” That’s what Jefferson called his Bible. You see, Thomas Jefferson regarded most of the New Testament, indeed most of Scripture, to be nothing more than mythology. And so he cut out the parts of the Bible that he thought didn't fit in there. And he ended Matthew's Gospel at chapter 27 verse 60, “and he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.” 

You see, Jefferson cut and pasted his Bible together, seeking to find diamonds in a dunghill is what he called it. There were little diamonds here and there of Jesus' teaching, but the rest of it was nothing more than a dunghill. 

And if the gospel ends with Jesus's dead body in a tomb, if it ends at Matthew 27, verse 60, then Thomas Jefferson is partly right. I say partly right because not only would most of it be considered a dunghill, but all of it, all those morals he had an affinity for would be worth nothing more than dung, that is, if Jesus remained in the grave. Why? Because liars do not promote good morals. Deceivers aren't to be trusted. They are not good role models. If, in fact, Jesus remained in the grave and the resurrection was nothing than mere myth, then the chief priests and the Pharisees were absolutely right, verse 63. Jesus would have been nothing more than an imposter. 

STRUCTURE

But Matthew, he doesn't end his gospel at verse 60. And unlike Jefferson, neither do we. Before we read our passage, I'm going to lay out the structure for you. (Next slide, Haley.) So you can see the literary masterpiece that Matthew's gospel is. He does this throughout. And we talk about chiastic structures here and there, and I'm not going to bombard you with a bunch of technical detail. But I do want you to see that Matthew ends his gospel—of course, there's one section to go after today—but he ends his gospel with an A-B-A pattern. 

And you can look at your headings. Some of your headings probably say something like mine in the ESV. In verse 62, the guard at the tomb, and then starting at verse 11, the report of the guard. And so you kind of see how these mirror each other. In 62 through 66, the religious leaders, they secure the tomb. Why? To prevent the spread of false reports of the resurrection. And then, when we come back to these religious leaders, they're going to secure the soldiers' secrecy. Why? to prevent the spread of the true report of the resurrection. 

But then in the center, the climactic center, (next slide) we have verses 1 through 10. And right here in the middle lies this beautiful passage. On both ends we have the women. They come to see the tomb. But at the end, the women see the risen Lord. The angel, what does he proclaim in verses 5 and 6? You seek — now — come see. In the middle is the resurrection. He's not here. He has risen. The resurrection is the climax of it all. 

READ (Matthew 27:62-28:15)

THE BURIAL

I want us to back up to the burial just for a moment. You see, because one, the burial is essential to our passage. Indeed, it's essential to our creeds. You know, Jesus, he suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was crucified, died, and was buried. Jesus' humiliation. It descended all the way to the depths of the grave. imprisoned by heavy stone. For the disciples, including these women, all hope was lost. Jesus' death came. With Jesus' death came the death of hope and the death of faith, or so it seemed. That stone sealed all hope. Only one thing could revive faith. And that is the breath of life, the Author of life breathing again. An empty tomb. But not just any tomb. 

Let's look at this tomb. Verses 57-61. Note that it's above ground and it's in a visible location. People know where it is. It's accessible. It's new. There’re no other bodies inside this grave. Only one body was laid in here. And then a great stone sealed it. You see, unlike Moses' death at the end of Deuteronomy, where nobody even knows where Moses was laid, where God buried him, Jesus' burial was known. Joseph of Arimathea, the other Gospels we know, Nicodemus was there. Pilate, I'm sure, would have known. The soldiers knew. The chief priests and elders knew. They set a guard there. The women knew. They were watching. Who knows how many other people knew where this tomb was. But there's no doubt, no question, where Jesus' body was laid to rest. Jesus' burial. was an undeniable fact of history. 

SECURING UNBELIEF

Now, it's difficult to overstate the importance of the tomb in Matthew's gospel or in any of the gospels. They all make a big deal about this. And in our first section, the religious leaders, they seek to secure their unbelief inside that tomb. 

So verse 62, the next day, after the day of preparation. Preparation for what? Well, preparation for the Sabbath. So this would be their Sabbath day. They are, on their day of rest, and they are working out their plan. Their day of rest, they're working out their plan of deceit, deception, their plot. The chief priests and the Pharisees, these two groups, They didn't like each other. They didn't get along together. They didn't plot anything together. But here they were. They're plotting to make sure whatever happens, that body stays in the tomb. 

So 63, they gathered before Pilate the governor. “Sir, we remember.” Do you realize how amazing that statement is? We remember. What’s the problem here? They remembered. But what about the disciples? Jesus had been telling them all along, I'm going to rise!  The enemies took Jesus' words more seriously than His own disciples did. They believed Jesus' claim that He would rise might just have some validity. While the disciples, they couldn't conceive of their Messiah dying. much less dying and then rising again. 

To them, to the chief priests and elders, Jesus is nothing more than an imposter. So they say. Yet they are worried. Why are they worried? Verse 64, Therefore, Order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples go and steal him away, and tell all the people he has risen from the dead, and the last fraud be worse than the first. 

A GREATER FRAUD?

Well, what was the first fraud? The first fraud is that Jesus claimed to be God by his words, his miracles, his deeds, his forgiving of sin. Everything about Jesus proclaimed to be on par with God himself. He declared to be the Son of God. What could be worse than that? If he rises, there will be no doubt. We will not be able to shut this thing up. 

But do we truly believe that the leaders who brought about false charges against Jesus, who will later concoct a deceptive plan to fool their own people, do we really believe they're being honest with Pilate here as to what their fear is? Do you think that they're really concerned about the disciples? 

Think about it this way. The disciples all fled. Where were the twelve? The boldest of them cowered before a servant girl and denied his Lord. One of them betrayed their master, selling him for thirty pieces of silver, and then he went and hung himself. I'm not so sure that religious leaders are actually concerned with the disciples. And I believe this is what Matthew expects us to be thinking in our head. Where, where are the men? I mean, the men don't even go to the tomb. Matthew expects us to read between the lines. 

So if the Pharisees, if the chief priests, they're not concerned with the disciples, what are they so worried about? Well, I think it might just be this: that this miracle worker, who has done great feats that cannot even be explained, there might be some truth to his words. And whatever happens, we cannot let that body come out of that tomb. I mean, he raised Lazarus. We can't explain that one. What happens if this one comes out? 

So they likely think there's some merit to his claims. Caiaphas, “Not during the festival.” Remember that? Not during the festival. Jesus says, “Hey, two days the Passover is going to take place. It is definitely going to happen then.” Who's thus says it's going to take place? Jesus' thus says. And they've seen it taking place. They've seen him predict his own death and it happened exactly as he said. His rising might happen exactly as he said it would too. 

INSANITY OF SIN

I don't think they were concerned about the disciples at all. They feared Jesus. But if they feared Jesus, then notice the insanity of thinking that they could set a guard and seal a stone as if that's going to prevent God from coming out. Sin is insane when you think about it. Perhaps they had forgotten their scriptures. You know, there were some evildoers who concocted a plan and had Daniel sealed by a heavy stone. We see how that turned out. That stone did not seal Daniel in to be devoured by a den of hungry lions. No, not at all. 

Pilate says, verse 65, pretty much, Go secure your unbelief. Go ahead, seal that thing. Go make the tomb as secure as you can. For how long? Until the third day. That's it. That's all I had to do. Make sure the tomb was secure until the third day. Do this in the story of Jesus, it dies. Do this. All of his teachings, all of his miracles, all of his fame, all those morals Thomas Jefferson kept in his cut and paste Bible, they will fade away like ancient history. 

But that's not what happened. Instead, their efforts to seal the tomb. add greater validation to the greatest movement in all of history. How? Because in part, the religious leaders’ plan is a huge success. How is it a huge success? No one came and stole the body. They succeeded. They only served to validate. Their greatest fear, that the imposter did indeed rise from the dead. Oh, how amazing that God uses the enemy to give witness to his glory, only serving to further testify to the truth and the veracity of his word. 

ROLLING BACK DOUBT

While the religious leaders sought to secure their unbelief behind that great stone, the women were about to have their doubts rolled back along with that large, heavy stone. 

Verse 1. Notice. The women, they didn't go to see the risen Lord Jesus. What did they go see? They went to see the tomb. They expected to find a tomb with a big stone in the way, with a dead body lying behind it. They went to see a grave. They likely didn't go in faith of seeing something amazing. They went in grief. You know, I mean, just think, many of us, we've gone to visit cemeteries. I mean, recently even. Why? To grieve over the loss of our loved ones, and that's what they're doing. The resurrection's the answer to that. 

But all their defeated expectations, all their doubts are about to be shaken. with a great earthquake. Verse 2 And behold there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. You recall there was just recently in Matthew's passage another earthquake. You see with the final breath from the Author of life, the earth shook. And now as he takes us first inhale of resurrected life, the earth shakes once again. 

EXPOSING HOPE

How do we describe what happened to Jesus's body? You know, I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but the resurrection, Jesus's actual resurrection, it takes place outside of the Gospel narratives. All four Gospels. It takes place outside the Gospel narratives. We're not given the details of it. In fact, the most we can do to describe the resurrection is by what we’re told happens in our resurrection. It's going to be in an instant, in a twinkling of an eye. It's going to be like that. We can't explain what takes place or how it takes place, only that it does. And so, what's recorded here is that we're given the effects, the impact, the responses, and the evidence of the resurrection. That's what the gospel authors give us. 

The angel, he did not descend from heaven and roll back the stone in order to let Jesus' body out. He rolled back the stone to let the women in. To let them peer inside and see the evidence. He's not here. He's risen. Come see the place where he lay. 

The women didn't visit the wrong tomb. Not only did they witness the burial, not only did they witness the stone being rolled over and now being rolled back, not only would they have seen the guard, but here the angel announces for them. And they witness a tomb with no dead body. No body at all. The women came to see a dead body. You know the closest thing they're going to get to seeing a dead body? It's the guards, who trembled with fear and became like dead men. That's the closest they'll get to seeing a dead man today. 

And verse 5, I love these words, Do not be afraid. Now, of course, do not be afraid, that phrase accompanies many angelic visions, many angelic manifestations. When people encounter an angel, those are the words you need to hear. Because of course angels are terrifying. But I really think there's something more going on when you're told, “do not be afraid.” Because what always follows is a promise of hope, some reassurance. There's something greater going on. I don't think that “do not be afraid” is so much concerning the angel. Do not be afraid because I'm announcing to you the greatest news in all history. All of your fears have been dealt with in the resurrection. Every fear that you've ever, that's ever weighed on you, every worry that could ever come, the resurrection deals with. Why? How have all your fears been dealt with? Because you seek Jesus who was crucified.

THE CROSS ON EASTER

I want you to notice the cross stands right here in the middle of the climactic verses of the resurrection. Jesus who was crucified. I got a little bit of flack from putting the cross. on our Easter Sunday sign, but that's okay. I love you. The cross belongs here!  This is where it belongs!  Right here in the resurrection narrative. The cross stands in the center of this passage. You see, there is no Easter without the cross. The cross is central to Easter, along with the burial, along with the empty tomb. But Easter is central to the cross. You see, because without Easter, without the resurrection, the cross is meaningless. The cross accomplishes absolutely nothing. They go together. If the story ends with the tomb sealed, no Easter like in the Jefferson Bible, then we have nothing to celebrate. No reason to gather, not just on Easter Sunday, but any Sunday. Why was Jesus crucified? Well, He was crucified to deal with our sins. All of them. Every single one was laid on that cross. And now that He has risen, all your fears have been put away forever. 

Come, see. That is the invitation. Come see. You have nothing to be afraid of ever again. Observe the evidence. And then immediately following, come see, verse 7, go tell. The angel gives a promise that they will see the Lord Jesus. So verse 8, they depart quickly and they ran into tell. These women are the very first evangelist who spread the good news of the resurrection. 

THE RESURRECTION REDEEMS

How fitting it is that it's women who do this, who first take the good news to the men. Have you ever thought about that? You see, it was a woman, Eve, who carried the first lie to the man that brought about the fall of the human race. Here it is women. who take the truth of God's goodness to the men. The men weren't there. They're still in hideout, but not the women. You see, the resurrection redeems, redeems all of our failures, every single one. 

Verse 7, Jesus goes before. That’s what the angel said. Jesus goes before you. Jesus went before in suffering. He went before in bearing the cross and being crucified. He also goes before in resurrection. He has prepared the way. And his resurrection guarantees ours. He goes before us. And because he is risen, we can be certain. that all those in Christ will rise too. He now goes before to meet the disciples. 

So they depart. And they depart with fear and great joy. Notice the authenticity there. You have nothing to be afraid of anymore, but we still fear. We still tend to fear. But notice where the adjective is. On which noun the adjective is on. It's not on fear. It's on joy. They went in fear and great joy. Joy is triumphing. 

FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE

And verse 9, Jesus meets them on the way. You see, faithful obedience puts one on the road to see Jesus. To borrow our sermon series title, Faithful obedience puts you on the road to glory … the road to see Jesus's glory, actually. You want to see Jesus. You have to step out in faith. Only those who step out in faith to see the risen Jesus will actually see him in all his glory. 

Their fear was overcome with great resurrection joy. A rolled away stone now rolled away their doubts, leading them to worship. A personal meeting with Jesus himself, where Jesus met them face to face. And he welcomes them with greetings. That's the word greetings. Now, the Greek word, it's their common word for greetings. That's how we usually translate it. But it's the word to rejoice. That's the Greek word. It's rejoice. Maybe we should greet each other that that way. Anytime we meet a fellow believer, not just on Sundays, anytime. “Rejoice. Rejoice.” Because we should be rejoicing. That's what the resurrection has purchased for us. 

FEET OF JESUS

And what do the women do? They take hold of Jesus' feet. Oh, just to lay hold of those nail-pierced feet. Those feet that were pierced for our sins. Who cares about seats of prestige like James and John sought earlier? Oh, just to be Jesus' footstool! Just to be His footstool. Because if the resurrection happened, if Jesus is all He claimed to be, where else would you want to be? 

But the problem, for most, is that they despise the idea of being at Jesus' feet. You see, that takes us all the way back to Genesis 3. We don't want to be at God's feet. We want to be like God. The world wants to be exalted either above God or at least on par with God. And that is the very root of every unbelief. You see, our chief sin is idolatry and the only hope is our idolatry being crushed by resurrection love. Seeing the price the Lord paid to where we, instead of wanting to usurp His reign, we are moved to worship. No amount of evidence will suffice. You see, because the problem is never evidence. The problem is submission. Because people despise worshiping at Jesus' feet, most will refuse to believe, regardless how much evidence is given. You know, it reminds me of the parable Jesus tells of the rich man and Lazarus. Even if someone was raised from the dead, they won't believe. The problem's in here. 

SUFFICIENT SUPPRESSION

That's the case with the religious leaders and the soldiers. They have no genuine desire for the truth. They flat out refuse to reckon with the truth, so they will seek to cover it up with whatever means necessary. with whatever sum is sufficient. 

You see, verse 11, While they were going... Who was going? Well, the women were going. They were going to do what? They were going to tell the disciples. They hadn't told the disciples yet. While they were going. The women, they were the first evangelists. But they were not the first to share the news of the resurrection. Now why do I say they weren't the first to share the news, but they were the first evangelists? Well, the soldiers were the first to announce the resurrection. Why were they not evangelists? Because they didn't share it as good news. In fact, it was the worst news possible. Their greatest fears had taken place. To them, this was anything but good news. 

Imagine them relaying all the events to the the council, to the chief priest, and yet still refusing to believe what happened. What does it take to believe such unbelief? And the religious leaders are the first to hear the good news, yet they hear it is anything but good news. 

And now their little security detail, it just added validity to their worst nightmare. If they had simply left the tomb alone, they might have honestly been able to say, We’re pretty confident. The disciples came and they took the body. Now they have to make that up as a lie. They have to concoct a lie to cover up what they know to be true. The irony. They called Jesus the imposter. 

Now here they are, in the middle of their Holy Week. And they're seeking to deceive their own people. Their own people of the truth, the greatest truth. The greatest news ever. Not during the festival, remember that? Their Holy Week is different than ours. Our Holy Week began on Palm Sunday and it goes through today. Their Holy Week began on Passover and it continues seven days. Now, during Holy Week, they're still plotting evil. They're anything but holy during the week that they should be setting themselves apart to be pure, repenting, offering sacrifices for their sin. These were the ones appointed to lead the people in righteousness and worship. 

PREVENTING A LIE OR PREVENTING THE TRUTH?

They tried to prevent the lie of the disciples stealing the body. Now that's the very lie they make up. In verse 12, they assembled. They took counsel together for this in order to devise this lie. And now the religious leaders aren't putting their lives on the line by making up this lie. Not their physical lives anyway. They're willing to trade the eternal for the temporary. Temporary standing, temporary wealth, temporary authority. The disciples are going to do just the opposite. They're not about to seek to spare their lives with a lie, not once they learn of the resurrection. They will be willing to lose everything, not for a lie they concoct, but for what they know to be true. They will gladly exchange the temporary, the physical, taking up their cross, following Jesus on his road to glory for the eternal. 

Sadly, for the right sum of money, most people can be bought. That's the claim. It's true for most. It was true for Judas. 30 pieces of silver. I wonder how much it was for these soldiers? Have you ever thought about that? How much did these soldiers sell their souls for? To stand before the risen Lord Jesus on Judgment Day and to give such an account. This is what you were worth. This is what it was all worth. Now, they have joined in, not the Great Commission but the Great Cover up.

It's really that simple. We belong to one of two commissions. We can be a part of the Great Commission of spreading the Gospel. Or we can be a part of the commission of spreading a lie. And get this, indifference, or agnosticism, if you want to call it that, is to join in in promoting a lie. And why do I say that? Because of the ample evidence … to say you're indifferent … to say you don't believe there's enough evidence, is to join in with lie, to accuse God of not providing enough evidence. 

LINE UP THE EVIDENCE

So let's look at the evidence. Will you be part of the Great Commission or will you be a part of the great cover-up? Consider all the claims used to discredit.

First, the claim that body was stolen. The body was stolen, really? How could the guards know that to be the case if they were asleep? How could they know? 

 Two, are we really to believe trained soldiers … who the penalty for sleeping on their duty would be nothing less than death … hat they slept? Why do you think the council will have to satisfy the governor? Because they know that's the penalty. 

 Three, the women as eyewitnesses. Not in the first century! Not even the disciples believed them at first. If you want to promote fake news, you're not writing it this way. You're not putting the women as the first witnesses. 

 Fourth, discrediting a phony resurrection would be far too easy. Yet no one has been successful. And it would have been very easy especially during that first century. It would be as simple as producing a corpse, some bones, anything other than an empty tomb. 

 Fifth, the resurrection is not a story anyone would begin to concoct … but the exact opposite. The concoction was that Jesus didn't rise. 

You see, we think that we're so much wiser today in our 21st century. You know, we're sophisticated. We got We got the internet, you know And so we know that dead men don't rise from the dead. We just know that. Do you think that people in the first century didn't know that too? No one expected a man to rise from the dead. Dead people don't rise. Everyone in all of history knows that. 

And realize Jesus' death was not, was not some sickness like Lazarus. Jesus was beaten and scourged. He was nailed to a cross. He died of asphyxiation. And to top it all off, just to make sure, a spear pierced his side and poured out his blood on the dry ground. That kind of dead person certainly doesn't rise from the dead. This isn't getting over some cough. No one would believe this Jesus to have risen from the dead unless one thing, unless he did. 

    Sixth, the fearful disciples who fled became bold proclaimers of news that would reap for them nothing less than suffering, nothing less than scorn, nothing less than insults and persecution and beatings, and for many of them, death. Now many are willing to die for a cause they believe in. We see that all the time. No one is about to die. for something they know to be false. No one dies for a lie they themselves concocted. Why does that matter? Because the disciples were the ones who knew. 

How else does one account for the transformation of the men who feared even to visit the grave that morning? We have no explanation, no other explanation works, and for 2,000 years people have tried to discredit the resurrection and have failed. I'm going to quote Sherlock Holmes, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains how improbable it is, that is the truth.” 

CLOSING APPLICATION

But perhaps you're here this morning, and you're wrestling with doubt yourself. First, I want you to know you are not alone. On Friday, everyone doubted. All the disciples doubted. The women doubted. And they were the ones who went to the tomb. Coming to see the tomb, they doubted. But the rolled back stone rolled back their doubt. 

This morning, I am inviting you, like the angel of the Lord invited the women, I'm inviting you to peer inside, to look inside this empty tomb. Follow the women into it and look inside. Look at the evidence given. Come see the place where he lay. The invitation is is nothing less than what we'd say today. Follow the science, right? What's science? It's observation. Well, that's what Matthew's inviting you to do. He's calling you to come, look, come see. Set aside your doubts, your concerns, all of your skepticism. And come look and know the truth. 

The amazing thing about faith is that faith precedes understanding. Not all understanding, but much understanding. Mentioned often, our faith is not blind. We don't set aside our raising to come to Jesus. But when we bow before Jesus, everything starts to make sense. 

SAME EVIDENCE, DIFFERENT RESPONSES

We have two groups here in our passage. They both received the same evidence. One group, they suppressed the truth, which led to concocting a web of lies to guard them from the truth. They did all they could think of, even taking counsel with fellow skeptics in order to secure their unbelief. And that's what unbelievers do. I want to gather with unbelievers to secure my unbelief. And so long as they suppress what they know to be true, their fate, their eternal destiny is sealed by a weighty stone. That heavy stone that seals these hard hearts of ours. 

The other group, they come with their doubts. They come with the same doubts. But the rolled back stone rolls away their doubts. Notice verse 8, The women believed before they saw the risen Lord. They believed before they saw the risen Lord. Only after running to tell the disciples the good news, the glorious news, then did they meet Jesus. And the rest of the disciples, only after they believed, as we see in Acts, with all the disciples, including the Apostle Paul, only after they believed, then the rest of Scripture finally made sense to them. It all fell into place. But faith had to precede much of their understanding. 

RESPONSE

The question, will your heart remain sealed by a heavy stone? Will you refuse to come to terms with the evidence laid before you? Or in faith, will you look inside, see the stone rolled back? It was rolled back not just for the women, it was rolled back for all to see. Come see. Come see the place where He lay. He is not here. He is risen and may the revived body of our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected body of our Lord Jesus Christ. May that revive your faith. 

https://youtu.be/ErTFDAZ9z1g