Rev Gideon Lee
Matthew 28:1-10
He Is Risen
1 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.
The Women Worship the Risen Lord
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.”
Luke 2:8-15
Glory in the Highest
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you:You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
As we read in the book of Matthew, it tells us a little bit about resurrection Sunday. To get an accurate and complete picture, read the account in all four gospels.
Mary came to the tomb and saw the stone being rolled away and she was afraid when she could not find the body of Jesus. She didn't know that Jesus had risen.
Many who did not find the body of Jesus they naturally thought otherwise and it did not dawn on them that Jesus had risen as according to scripture.
When we look at Good Friday, we must see it through to Sunday. If it's only on Good Friday, it is tragic and sad. But when you see Sunday, we are on the winning side. It is already written in the book of revelation that we are on the winning side.
When I mention the word Easter, what comes to mind. Rabbits, eggs, why? Because it is so commercialized. Eggs represents new birth. They use this to represent resurrection Sunday. Why rabbits? How many of you have kept rabbits before? Or have eaten them? I have and when they reproduce, it's prolific. Because rabbits are very fertile and they can have many babies. So it is used to represent fertility. But this morning we are not talking about all these things.
Yes, we can call today Easter, but I would prefer to call it Resurrection Sunday. I call it Marvelous Sunday.
Why?
Today is marvelous because we no longer need to be paralyzed by fear.
As we read in the bible, they were terrified but the angels told them do not be afraid. The greatest fear that any of us has is about dying. Some people don't want to talk about dying. Because they do not know where they are going.
Jesus has risen and have conquered death itself. We are free from this fear. We have no problem talking about death. It's not that we like to talk about it, because that will make us sound weird. We understand and know that if we are absent here we will be present with the Lord. Jesus conquered death.
There was this fight for our lives. For the lives of all mankind. And death was the last defeat. Jesus is risen today. You need not be paralyzed by this fear. How many of you are constantly having nightmares. Not sleeping because of fear not worry. Friends you need not be fearful.
Second reason?
Today is marvelous because it teaches us that we are a faith community.
God alone transforms awful realities into an opportunity. We see the reality of Easter morning how Christ was lashed 39 times on Friday and how all was lost. Yet we saw how God has the final say and we can look at all these things and know how God can turn it all around.
There was once a magnificent painting displayed in the Louvre Museum. The painter was Faust (I don't remember his full name) painting himself in a competitive game of chess with the devil being his opponent. And in the painting, it looked like he was losing and the devil was winning because of his expression, he was grinning. It looked like the devil was indeed winning. But if you look carefully and you know chess, you'll know Faust had one more move to checkmate the devil. That is what I want to say this morning. It is not the end. The enemy does not have the final say. He does not have the final say in your life, your marriage and your career.
Whatever we are going through, remember as it is written, God will work out for good to all that love Him and is called according to His purpose. Are you a person who knows this or someone who has no hope because on the outside it looks bad.
God can turn the bad around for our good. That's why we are a faith community.
Today is marvelous because God's truth will always prevail.
Church, when Jesus was preparing them He was going to rise up on the third day, they were not prepared. It never clicked on their mind that Jesus has risen. His truth will always prevail over satan's lies. Satan says He is finished. Defeated. But we need to know God's truth, as it will prevail. He will not fail us.
Remember the resurrection and remember all the truth that He has written for us. That He loves us, will provide for us and cares for us.
Today is marvelous because of what He did on the cross you can live life to the fullest.
You can have the abundant life that Jesus promised. A life that is lived in the manner God has called you to.
Remember the gold rush where everyone was going there to seek wealth? One day there was this man who picked up a rock to use as a door stopper. A few months later a geologist passed by that area and asked to stop at his house to rest. The man welcomed him and when the geologist saw the stone, he asked him if he knew what it was. It was a lump of gold. History went on to say that it was one of the biggest gold nugget ever found.
Sometimes we live our life not knowing what God can do for us. So you know what you need to do? Pick up this book. If it's your iPhone, pick it up and show me. We need to know His truth.
I have a video that I want to show you.
http://www.sermonspice.com/product/53951/the-ultimate-act-of-grace-easter-opener
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