He is Risen
Matthew 28:1-8
by Paul
George
During His ministry, the
multitudes misinterpreted the nature, works, and
teaching of Jesus. They believed the miracles He
performed were a sign He was the Messiah and He would
established the Promised kingdom. The religious leaders
rejected His teaching because they contradicted their
legalism. The disciples did not understand the nature,
miracles, and teaching of Jesus. They were concerned
with positions in the kingdom they believed Jesus would
establish than they were in the ministry of Jesus. There
were times when the people and the disciples were
confused because they caught a glimpse of the nature of
Jesus and it was contrary to their opinion of Jesus.
Jesus added to the confusion when He refused to announce
publicly His messianic role. It was at the cross the
true nature of Jesus was publicly revealed when the
centurion said, “Truly this man was the Son of God”
(Mark 15:39).
The human eye could not see what was taking place on the
cross. God’s plan of salvation was completed when Jesus
cried out, “It is finished.” The sacrificial law was
fulfilled. The Lamb of God paid the ransom for the world
on the cross. He did what the sacrifice of an animal
could not do. The saddest day in the lives of the
followers of Jesus and the greatest injustice in history
occurred when Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” The
enemy cried out, “it is finished” when Jesus was laid in
the tomb and the tomb sealed. God smiled and the angels
shouted for joy when the enemy cried out, “It is
finished.”
The suffering servant has completed His work and now
reigns as the King of kings, the Lord of lords.
The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the
gospel message. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the
doctrine of the Incarnation is a lie. If Jesus did not
rise from the dead, His death was the death of a
deceived and deceiving man. If Jesus did not rise from
the dead, we are living in a hopeless state. There is
good news He is risen.
The resurrection of Jesus is recorded in Matthew 28:1-8;
in Mark 16:1-8; in Luke 24:1-10; in John 20:1-8.
The tension had to be high in Jerusalem on the Sabbath.
It was a time spent in tears and fears by His
followers. The services in the temple were never such
an abomination in the sight of God. The hands of the
priests were stained with the blood of Jesus. The
question on the mind of the followers of Jesus and the
religious leaders had to be what will happen tomorrow.
The enemies of Jesus had done everything they could do
to prevent the impossible from happening.
From the Garden of Eden to Calvary Satan has failed
repeatedly to prevent the birth of the Promised Seed
that would bruise his head. He failed to destroy the
Promised Seed when his servant Herod ordered the killing
of the infants following the birth of Jesus. From Nimrod
to Caesar he has failed to build his kingdom. Now, he
looks with great satisfaction at the works of his
servants. The dead body of Jesus is all the proof he
needs to claim he has achieved his goal; he is free to
build the kingdom his servant Nimrod began to build in
the days following the Flood in the day s of Noah.
However, his celebration is cut short. On the first day
of the week Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,
and Salome came to the tomb of Jesus (Mark 16:2). They
came to anoint the body of Jesus. There is one obstacle
they must overcome, “They were saying to one another,
‘who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance
of the tomb?’” (Mark 16:3).
Life is filled with obstacles we must overcome in coming
to the Lord. Like the women who came to anoint the body
of Jesus, we are unable to roll the obstacles away. We
know we are not able to remove the obstacles in our
lives that are between the Lord and us. We know they
must be removed, but who will remove them? We are often
frustrated by the obstacles in life. Obstacles produce
frustration. These women were frustrated; we are
frustrated because we do not look beyond the obstacles.
The motivation for going to the tomb was wrong. Instead
of going to the tomb to anoint, a dead body they should
have went to the tomb looking for a risen Jesus. Their
greatest obstacle was the state of their mind. Our
motivation for going to the Lord is often wrong. Our
motivation for coming to the Lord should be to praise
Him and thank Him for what He has done in our lives.
When we come with that type of attitude, we will be
amazed by what the Lord can do and how quickly the
obstacles are rolled away.
There are two points of view in this incident. In the
King James, it is written the women “were affrighted.”
Put yourself in the same position these women were in.
If you were with them and saw the stone was rolled away,
would you be amazed? If you were with these women and
saw the stone rolled away, would the emotion fear take
hold of you? What would be your first action if you saw
the young man dressed in a white robe in the tomb?
The first thing that amazed the women was the stone was
rolled away, amazed and frightened. Yes. They entered
the tomb expecting to see the body of Jesus instead;
they saw a young man wearing a white robe, amazed and
frightened? Yes. Would they have questions they were
unable to ask? Yes. Notice how the young man deals with
this incident. First, he calms the women. He tells them
who they looking for. They are looking for Jesus the
Nazarene. So there will be no mistake, He is the one
that was crucified.
Second, he assures the women. He has risen. He did what
He told His disciples He would do and told the religious
leaders, in a way they did not understand He would do.
The young man showed the women the place where Jesus was
laid when He was put in the tomb.
Third, he gives the women a message to take to the
disciples (v. 7). The women left the tomb and fled from
the site of the tomb (v.8).
Like the women who came to the tomb and the disciples
who remained in hiding, we often miss the comfort and
the joy Jesus has to offer us when we do not take what
he has said to us seriously. Jesus had often told the
disciples that He would rise from the dead on the third
day. If the women would have taken Him seriously they
would have come to the tomb, expecting to find Him
risen, and would have received the news of it with a
joyful assurance, and not with all this terror and
amazement. However, being ordered to tell the disciples,
because they were to tell it to the entire world, they
would not tell it to any one else. They did not tell
anyone what they had seen and heard afraid it was too
good to be true. Our doubts and fears often hinder us
from doing what we should do for Jesus and our
fellowman. This takes a strong faith and joy in what we
do.
Two thousand years ago the predictions of the coming of
the Messiah was fulfilled. The predictions of His
rejection were fulfilled. The Lamb of God was
sacrificed. The transition from the Old Covenant to the
New Covenant began. Humanity entered the last days. We
are now in the last phase of God’s plan for the
restoration of the world He created.
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