“THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESURRECTION”
TEXT: Matthew 28:1-10
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." 8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."
INTRODUCTION:
Today is one of my favorite Sundays of the year. It's the day we celebrate the Risen Savior. Aren't you glad JESUS IS ALIVE?
You see, virtually every other religion, celebrates the birth and observes the death of their leader. But Christianity is the only religion that celebrates the birth, observes the death, and proclaims the resurrection of our leader! If you were to visit the grave of Mohammed, you would find his body still in the tomb; the same is true of Buddha, Stalin, and every other religious leader. But, thank God we can celebrate the Resurrection and the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan couldn’t stop Him, death couldn’t keep Him, and the grave couldn’t hold Him. On the third day the Angel rolled the stone away and He came out triumphant over death, hell and the grave. He shook His fist at the grave and said, “… Behold I am He that lives and was dead and is alive for evermore…I hold the keys of death and hell”(Rev. 8:18)
I want to talk to you a little while today about what the Resurrection means to you and me as Believers. What impact and what significance does an event that took place nearly 2000 years ago have in our lives today? How does the resurrection affect you and me right now living in the twenty-first century?
To fully understand and appreciate the resurrection, we've got to go back 2000 years to ancient Jerusalem, to Pilate’s Hall, and trace the events leading up to this awesome occasion. Use your imagination with me and allow me to paint a picture for you. Let’s observe as He pays the price for our sin!
I. HE TOOK THE PUNISHMENT FOR SIN (“…The wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23) RECONCILIATION!
It's the day that Jesus is going to be crucified. And He's surrounded by a group of Roman soldiers. He is about to endure a Roman Scourging! According to Jewish Law, a guilty party could be laid face down and beaten with a leather strap a maximum 39 times stripes. The Romans however, observed no such law. The skilled whip master would beat a person with a “cat-of-nine-tails,” a whip with sharp pieces of metal or claws that would rip the flesh from the bone. He would beat him as close to death as possible. In fact, on occasion, the beating was so severe, that the person died from the wounds of the beating alone.
An early church historian who witnessed a Roman Scourging said, “All around were so horrified to see them so torn with the scourges that their very veins were laid bare along with their inner muscles and sinews until even their very bowls were exposed.” (Conley) Jesus endured this terrible scourging, but that is not all. Look at Matthew 26:27-30. “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.”
Knox translation says, “They took a rod and beat Him over the head with it.” Some say a “cane, or stick, or tightly bound reed.” According to the Greek they hit Him repeatedly over the head. His back is bloodied and bruised because He'd just been beaten with a lead whip and now His head is bloody and battered as well.
To make matters worse one of those soldiers comes up and proudly shows off the crown of thorns that he just made. Now these aren't little thistles like we've seen in Sunday school pictures. These are two to three inch strong thorns that are just like nails. With all of his might, the soldier forcefully thrusts that crown onto Jesus' head. You can feel the pain shoot through His body. These thorns rip into the Lord's scalp and now the sweat on His brow begins to be intermingled with the blood and begins to run down His face. It is the blood of a perfectly innocent man. A man that did no wrong, only good and yet the world hated Him.
Remember that Jesus was a man that went about doing good, healing people, comforting the oppressed and mending the brokenhearted, loving those who were cast away and discarded by the religious leaders as unworthy and even raising the dead. Yet the people chose to crucify Him. The Bible says He was the spotless, sinless Son of God. Even Pilate, after looking at the evidence against Him concludes that He is innocent and declared, “I find no fault in this man!”
Then all of a sudden one of the soldiers ripped Jesus clothes off of Him leaving Him standing there only in His loincloth. They clothe Him with a purple robe so that they could make fun, ridicule, and humiliate Him. You see, a purple robe was a robe of dignity worn by princes, the wealthiest, the highest-ranking Roman officers and kings. And they began to bow down in mockery and insult Him and say, "Long live the King.” "Good health to the King.” "How can we serve You better, your majesty?"
Their mockery then turns to violence. They take the robe off of Him and they blindfold Him and they begin to laugh and hit Him with their fists and say, "Prophesy to us now, Mr. Messiah. Who hit you that time?"
The Living Bible says that they “openly hit Him with their fists in His face.” WOW!
Then in verse 31. “And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.” They drove the nails into His hands and crucified Him; the cruelest form of Roman punishment. He was mocked and taunted while suffering on the cross.
More than 700 years before, a prophet saw by the Holy Spirit what Jesus would suffer and described it for us in graphic detail. Look at Isaiah 52:13-14 “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men…” The word “visage” means “visible or physical appearance.”
The Jerusalem Bible puts it this way: “As the crowds were appalled upon seeing Him, so disfigured did He look, that He seemed no longer human…”
The Living Translation says, “Many were amazed when they saw him – beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person…”
I firmly believe that if we're going to fully understand and appreciate the impact of the resurrection, then we've got to fully understand the suffering, the pain, the shame and the humiliation that Jesus went through on our behalf.
Knowing the agony of the death He would endure, He prayed in the Garden, "Father, if there be any way you can take this cup from me and not cause me to go through all this heartache and pain. Father, please take it away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” He willingly offered His life as a sacrifice for our sins. His flesh wanted to be spared, but His spirit yielded to the purpose of the Father and He willingly offered Himself a sacrifice for our redemption!
He said, "No man takes my life. I freely lay it down of myself." (John 10:17) And at 12 o'clock noon on that Friday! They made Him carry His own cross to Mount Calvary also know as Golgotha, “the place of the skull.” And they drove His hands and His feet with spikes into that cross. When they did that, the Bible says, "The sun refused to shine. Darkness covered the earth."
A couple of hours later, as He hung on that Cross, Jesus cried in great agony, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" But friends, He was forsaken so that you and I would never have to be forsaken. He was paying the price for your sins and your mistakes and your failures and your shortcomings. The Bible says in I Peter 3:18 that "He died for our sins once for all, the Just for the unjust, the Righteous for the unrighteous, the Innocent for the guilty, so that He could make a way that we could come safely and freely to God."
Thank God. He was bearing the sins of the world. And on that same Friday, about three in the afternoon, Jesus lifted up His head toward the Heavens and He said, "Father, into Your hands do I commit my Spirit." And the Son of God bowed down His head and He breathed His final breath. And the Bible says, immediately there was thunder and there was lightening. And the earth began to tremble. And the rocks were split open. The very earth that He created revolted when it lost the One that spoke it into existence.
When those Roman soldiers saw the events that happened, when they saw the earthquake, they were terrified. And they were filled with holy awe. And they said, "Surely, He was the Son of God."
The Bible says in Matthew 27:51, that immediately, the very moment He was crucified, the veil or the curtain that surrounded the presence of God in the temple was “ripped in two from the top to the bottom."
This is very significant because in those days, God’s presence didn't dwell in people, like He does today. He lived in manmade buildings and temples. And at this particular time, He lived in a very secluded, sacred area of the Temple called the Holy of Holies. A curtain, or veil 60 feet high, 30 feet wide and 4-6 inches thick surrounded the Holy of Holies. It kept the people away from the presence of God. Nobody could go in there. Only the High Priest. And he would only go once a year on the Day of Atonement (Explain) to ask forgiveness for the sins of the people. And this was a very critical and very serious ceremony. If anything were to go wrong, he could be instantly killed. He had to purify himself. And he had to wear special clothing. And then he would take the blood of an animal as a sacrifice for the sins of the people. And he would present that sacrifice on the altar right there before the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. And, hopefully, it was acceptable and God would forgive the sins of the people for that entire year. But see, when Jesus died, that veil that surrounded the presence of God, the Holy of Holies, it was ripped apart signifying two things:
1. That God was opening the way for mankind to come into His presence. The wrath of God toward sin had been appeased and now there was no longer a breach between Him and mankind! In the Hebrews 10:19 Paul says, “…so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus…”(NLT)
2. That God wasn't there anymore. God had moved out of buildings and He moved into the hearts and lives of each one of us. See, now we are the house of God. I Corinthians 6:19 Paul asks the question, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” We are now the dwelling place of His presence.
Also, notice that the Veil was rent FROM THE TOP. This was GOD INITIATING RECONCILIATION! It was torn so that we could come in, and so that He could come out!
II. HE BROKE THE POWER OF SIN (“… Sin shall not have dominion over you…”Romans 6:14) RIGHTEOUSNESS
But see there still had to be a blood sacrifice for our sins. There still had to be a price paid. But there was no more Holy of Holies. So how was this going to happen? How were we supposed to get forgiveness for our sins? What blood was going to be shed? And where was it going to be presented?
In John, chapter 20, there's an interesting scripture that gives us insight into this. In this chapter, John is describing his account of when Jesus arose from the dead and appeared to Mary Magdalene at the Garden Tomb. Mary was weeping because she could not find the body of Jesus. She thought somebody had stolen it. And Jesus appeared to her and said, "Woman, why are you crying?"
Mary thought He was the gardener and she said, "Sir, if you've taken away my Lord, please tell me where you put Him so I can find Him." Then Jesus said, "Mary." And at once, she immediately recognized that was the voice of the Lord. And evidently turned around and reached up to hug him or embrace him. But Jesus said something very interesting there in John 20:17. He said, "Mary, don't touch me yet, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God."
Now, why didn't Jesus want Mary to touch him? Later on, when He appeared to the disciples, believers, and to more than 500 witnesses on at least 11 occasions, He wasn't concerned about this. He sat with them and ate with them. And no doubt brushed up against them. He even openly invited doubting Thomas to feel the nail scars in His hands. What made this event any different than the rest? I'll tell you what it was. Jesus had just risen from the grave and He still had His Holy blood on Him. It was this blood He was going to use as a sacrifice for our sins. He said, “Mary, don't touch me. I've not yet gone to heaven."
The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus took His own blood and entered the Holy of Holies in Heaven. He presented His own blood in the high court of heaven as a sacrifice for all of our sins, past, present, and future. HE WAS THE PRIEST & THE SACRIFICE!
The good news of Resurrection Sunday, the reason we can celebrate today, is because God gladly, with great joy and pleasure, accepted the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. Sin no longer has the power to hold on to us and to drag us down to hell. The price has already been paid once and for all. Isn't that good news?
The Bible says that Jesus obtained an eternal redemption for our sins. (Heb. 9:12) One translation says, "An eternal release from our sins." We don't have to be redeemed once a year anymore. We have been eternally redeemed not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by the blood--the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why I can get up here today with great joy and enthusiasm. Because I've got good news to tell you, you don't have to go to hell. Your sins have already been forgiven. All you've got to do is accept this forgiveness and make Jesus the Lord of your life. You too can have the assurance that your future is secure in Him for all eternity.
“Oh,” you say, “I've lived the wrong kind of life. You don't know what I've done. I've hurt a lot of people. I've done a lot of bad things.” Listen, there is no sin that you've ever committed or that you will ever commit that hasn't already been forgiven. Don't let the enemy lie to you and try to tell you that you're too far-gone and God won't have anything to do with you. That's a lie. The Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Not part of it but all of it. And see, under that Old Covenant, before Jesus died, their sins were only covered. Atonement means to cover. Because of the lingering effects of sin, mankind was a slave to his own passions and carnal desires! He was unable to free himself! Man did not have behavior problem, he had a nature problem! But under this New Covenant, since Jesus has died, we have a better covenant built upon better promises. And thank God. Our sins aren't covered anymore; they are totally and completely washed away.
No wonder John the Baptist looked at Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." One translation says that "our sins have been eradicated and totally erased.” My favorite version says, "God has cleared our record". I don't know about you, but I've needed my record to be cleared quite a few times. But see I'm sure there are people here that have things that you've done in your past that you're not proud of. All of us do. Maybe you have some so-called skeletons in your closet. But listen, the good news is that when you come to God and you repent of your sins, He instantly, immediately, without question, unconditionally clears your record and He says "their sins and iniquities I will remember no more forever".
Sometimes in life, it's hard for us to forgive ourselves of our past mistakes and failures. It's hard to let go of the past sometimes.
Satan's specialty is to bring condemnation and try to make you feel guilty, unworthy, and undeserving of God's goodness and blessings. But, if God forgives you and if He doesn't remember your sins, then you're going to have to learn how to forgive yourself. And go on and get out of the past. See, if anybody keeps bringing up the past, I can guarantee you that does not come from God. And you've got to recognize where it comes from. It comes from Satan and he is the father of lies.
Today if your past is bothering you and these negative-condemning thoughts are coming against you. And trying to make you feel guilty. You've got to learn to just rise up and just cast that junk down. Don't listen to Satan's lies. Don't pay any attention to it. The Bible says, "there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.”
See when those thoughts come to your mind, you just got to be able to raise your hands, and say, “Father, I thank you because of what Jesus has done. I am already forgiven. You have already cleared my record. You don't have any memory of my sin because they have already been washed away in the blood of Jesus. So Father, I praise You with joy and I am free from guilt and condemnation. I know that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus paid the price and suffered the penalty of sin and I am free!”
Refuse to allow your past torment you. You remind the enemy that the sacrificial blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has already been shed. It's been presented and accepted in the High Court of Heaven. And all of your sins, past, present, and future, have already been forgiven.
Under this New Covenant, every one of us can go to God directly for ourselves. We don't need an earthly High Priest anymore. None of us need an intermediary between us and God. You don't need me to talk to God for you. You don't need a preacher, a friend, a priest, or even a Pope to talk to God for you. Because of the resurrection, you can go to God directly for yourself and talk to Him one on one.
But don't let anybody deceive you into praying to some saint or praying to somebody that you think is more holy, godly, or worthy than you are. Because of what Jesus did, He made you worthy and He gave you permission to go right into the throne room of God.
I love and respect the Virgin Mary and Peter and Paul and all those great apostles. But if they were standing right beside me today, they'd tell you the same thing I'm telling you. And that is, don't pray to anybody else. You go to God directly for yourself! The Resurrection gives us the confidence and the assurance that our sins have already been forgiven and that we can go to God directly for ourselves.
III. HE RELEASED MANKIND FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN “… for this purpose the son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil…” (I John 3:8)
RESTORATION
And the third thing, because of all of what Jesus accomplished in the Resurrection; you and I have RELATIONSHIP WITH God the father, power and authority over the devil and demon forces, and the promise of divine intervention, and supernatural provision for every need or situation of our lives!
I can imagine when Jesus bowed His head and died on the cross, that Satan and all his demons they gathered in Hell for a great victory celebration. I can imagine it looked something like the victory party in the locker room after the Super Bowl. You can see them giving high five's and jumping around. Shouting with great excitement, We did it! We did it! I told you we could defeat Him! Now we're in control. Now we can do whatever we want. And can't you hear Satan laugh sarcastically and say to his demons, Aren't you glad you followed me now? Aren't you glad you revolted out of the heavens? I told you it'd be worth it.
But in the midst of the celebration, one of the demons notices a man coming from a long distance. They can't quite figure out who it is. They begin to curiously look and try to figure out who it is because this person isn't celebrating like the rest of them. He's marching toward them with boldness and with a determination that they've never seen before. As He gets closer, one of those demons finally recognizes who it is. He screams in terror, Oh no, it's our worst nightmare. He's back. Here comes the Son of God. IT’S THE LAMB OF GOD! THE WORD!
Can't you see Jesus looking right into Satan's eyes and saying, "Satan, I hate to spoil your victory party, but I think you're celebrating a little bit too soon"? You may have knocked me down, but you sure didn't knock me out. And it's not over until I say it's over.
Satan says, “Listen, Jesus, you're on my turf now. You don't have a chance down here. You're surrounded by my demons. We're going to tear you apart.”
² Jesus just smiles and says, "Go ahead, Satan, make my day!" Jesus says, "Look, Satan, I'm down here to take care of business. I'm ready to do battle. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be because it stinks down here."
The Bible indicates that for three days Jesus lay in the grave. For many it appeared as though Satan had won and sin would forever hold man in captivity.
But on Resurrection morning we discovered that Jesus had entered hell, led the saints out of paradise, and crushed Satan's head with His foot. He bruised his head. Once and for all, forever, He defeated, dethroned, and demoralized our enemy. One translation says, "He paralyzed him and rendered him powerless.”
He arose with the keys of death and hell. He grabbed Satan by the nap of his neck and began to slowly drag him down through the mob of screaming demons bruised and battered, because He wanted to make sure that every single demon saw very clearly that Jesus was indeed the undisputed Champion of all time!
The Bible says in Colossians 2:15 that God "disarmed the principalities and powers ranged against us and he made a bold display and a public example of Satan's defeat.”
Jesus did not want there to be any question or controversy whatsoever as to who the enemy was. He didn't want there to be any doubt in anybody's mind. This was not a split decision; this was unanimous. It was Jesus everything and Satan nothing. One translation says, "Jesus brought Satan to naught". In other words, He brought Satan to zero. Satan didn't even score. This was a shut out. You can't get anymore defeated than that.
He destroyed the works of the devil-“reduced to zero the effects of the devil on the lives of all who will acknowledge His Lordship!”
The good news today is that Satan is eternally defeated. There's not ever going to be a rematch. It is forever settled. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The reason we can celebrate today is because that grave could not hold Him. Satan did his best but his best just wasn't enough. They put Jesus in that tomb bound up and wrapped up on Friday afternoon. But thank God on Sunday morning, it was a different story. He burst out of the grave clothes, shook His fist at the grave and said, "Behold! (LOOK) I am He that liveth and I was dead, but behold I am alive forevermore and I've got the keys of death and hell."
The good news about the resurrection is we don't have to be afraid of the devil and demons. You're washed in the Blood of Jesus. The forces of darkness are scared to death of you. Every time they see you, they see the Blood of Jesus that's all over you and they are terrified. They run. That reminds them of what Jesus did to their leader. They'll never forget that day when Jesus drug Satan down through the corridors of Hell, humiliating him and embarrassing him.
And now the Bible says if we will just submit ourselves to God, if we'll just give our lives to God, we can resist the devil and he will flee from us. As a Born again Believer, none of us have any business living a life of fear and defeat and misery. Some of you today are waiting on God to help you get out of your mess. But God is waiting on you to rise up and begin to exercise the authority that rightfully belongs to you. Satan is not going to get anymore defeated. He's as defeated as he can be. It’s an insult to God for us to live a life of defeat and misery and whine and complain after all Jesus has gone through on our behalf.
Every one of us needs to understand and fully recognize how to exercise our authority over the devil and demon forces. Don't allow Satan to defeat you. Some of you are learning to live with addictions and all kinds of pain and mental torment and all kinds of other heartache. Friends, it doesn't have to be that way. The price has already been paid.
He took the punishment of sin, to break the power sin to free us from the penalty of sin!
But do you know what? You've got to do your part. You’ve got to start resisting the devil and telling him to get out of your life in the name of Jesus.
What does the resurrection mean to you and me today living in the year 2007?
1. Number one. He took the punishment of our sins and gave us reconciliation with God! Our sins have already been forgiven. We can go to God directly by ourselves, for ourselves.
2. Number two. Because He broke the power of sin and gave us righteousness, we are free from the past and free to live in the future without the bondage of sin controlling our lives!
3. Number three. He paid the penalty for sin and brought the restoration of His original plan back into being! The devil and demon forces have been defeated and we have authority and power over them.
But listen to me carefully, friends, this is so important. None of this will do you any good unless you rise up and begin to act on it. Do you know you can still die and go to hell even though your sins have already been forgiven? What a tragedy. But if you don't accept this forgiveness and make Jesus the Lord of your life, it's not going to do you any good. Although the devil's already defeated. But if you don't learn how to exercise your authority over him, he'll keep you in defeat throughout your lifetime.
So my challenge to all of you today is to stir yourselves up and begin to act on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Don't let all the pain and suffering and shame that Jesus went through on your behalf go to waste because you’re too lazy or indifferent, or ignorant or just too easily deceived. Find out who you are in Christ. Find out what this Bible says about you.
We all need to learn to walk in the full revelation of what God has done for us. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus. Our past record is totally and completely cleared. Now we can go to God directly for ourselves without guilt and condemnation and talk to God one on one. Satan is under our feet and we are more than conquerors because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We’ve got a great reason to celebrate today. We're on the winning side. Jesus Christ is still the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is still the undisputed, undefeated Champion of all time. And the best news is He's alive forevermore! And He said, "Because He lives, we can live also"