Resurrection Sunday

Rev Gideon Lee

Matthew 28:1-15

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.”

The Soldiers Are Bribed

11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

To this day people try to dispute the resurrection of Jesus. They even say it is actually not him. But the resurrection is the central theme of our belief. What if Jesus never rose from the dead? What will it mean to us. Let's look at what the Bible say.

1 Corinthians 15:12-15

The Risen Christ, Our Hope

12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Here is Paul trying to settle this issue of Christ being raised from he dead. He is saying the preaching and faith is in vain if not for this fact. I can see 6 possible things that can happen if Jesus did not rise from the he dead.

1. I'll say he's a liar

In all his ministry he talks about his crucifixion and how he'll rise again.

John 2:19

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Matthew 12:40

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

You may say these verses are a bit vague.

Matthew 16:21

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Matthew 20:18-19

18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”

Jesus spoke about his crucifixion and resurrection. He would be a liar if it did not happened. This is just what he said and promised and praise God that he is not a liar. What he said he brought it to pass. The grave is empty.

Back in those days, women were not really considered. So if I wanted a better witness, I'd choose a more famous man but God chose women. It's an exciting day that we serve a living God because Jesus is alive. And that Christ told the truth when he said he'll rise again. That he is the Son of God. And everything else he said about himself is truth. He's alive.

2. There would be no gospel

1 Corinthians 15:14a

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty

What is our preaching? The gospel. The gospel means the good news. If Jesus did not rise again then the gospel is bad news. There will be no salvation or hope for mankind.

There's a famous preacher call DL Moody. He trained preachers and he'd secretly go to a crusade and hide behind to hear his students preach. A student preached his heart out and at the end he said you have to come back tomorrow to tell you about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But DL Moody told the student you have just preached half the gospel. He said some of them may not come back the second night and not hear about the Resurrection. That's the good news. Its powerful. It brings life. The gospel must be preached. Jesus is alive.

3. Our faith would be in vain

1 Corinthians 15:14b

and your faith is also empty.

Faith in a dead saviour is preposterous and meaningless. Our faith must be on someone that's alive. Not on someone who's dead and gone. If not it's groundless and baseless with no foundation. But he's alive and our faith is on solid ground.

I asked before how do you know you're saved? We just know that we know. It's not wishy-washy.

4. We are all accessory to a lie

1 Corinthians 15:15

Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.

We will be spreading lies. We'd be spreading rumours. We've been telling people we serve a living God. If Jesus did not rise again we'd been telling lies. But we're not liars because he's alive. We're spreading truth. That's why we share the good news of Jesus Christ.

5. Then we have no hope for the future

1 Corinthians 15:17-18

17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

We all know that at the sound of the trumpet the dead will rise first and the rest of us will be caught up. If he is not alive, then this won't happen. But I'm comforted because I know when Jesus comes again we will see our loved ones again. Then there is no comfort.

Our bodies will stay in the grave and not like Jesus will be raised from the dead. Today we have water baptism. And the symbol is that when we go down totally in the water it's like we are buried and when we come out of the water, it's like we rise from the dead.

6. He would have suffered for nothing

1 Corinthians 15:19

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Then we Christians are pitiful. Christians suffered a lot for their faith then all that we go through are in vain. Why do you wake up early to come to church? I'm sure you all have better things to do. Wake up late for breakfast or early lunch with no queues. Why give tithes or offerings or renovation funds? You can eat Char Koay Teow with bigger prawns. Why give your money if Jesus is not alive? Why give your talent and serve him if Jesus is not alive? Why do all these things if Jesus is not alive?

But because he's alive and has risen we are not the saddest people on earth but the happiest people on earth. Because Jesus is alive and our faith is not in vain.

Jesus is alive. Death could not hold him. Even the grave could not hold him. The devil thought that was his final victory. The death of Jesus. But the countdown towards Resurrection Sunday began. There is no one higher or greater or more powerful than Jesus. Every knee and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. His name is above all other names.  If we can grasp this we will be living in victory. He's alive.