Date: Sunday 20th April 2025
At: Wrexham Gospel Hall
Text: Matthew 28:1-10
Hymn GHB: 218 Man of sorrows (Philip Bliss 1875) 713 Christ, the Lord is risen today (Charles Wesley 1739, based on our text).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a central tenet of Christianity which refers to the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ physically and bodily rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion. The resurrection of Christ is proof of his divinity, his victory over sin and death and undeniable evidence of eternal life for those who believe in him. The resurrection is foundational to the Christian faith without it the belief in Christ’s sacrifice for mankind would be undermined. You can visit the graves of many influential figures of human history, but you cannot visit the grave of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has no grave, no headstone, no final resting place. He rose from the dead and He is alive today.
Our Scripture reading tells us that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph went to the place where the body of Christ laid. Jesus was buried in a tomb which originally belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man, who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. When the women arrived at the tomb a severe earthquake occurred. An angel appeared and rolled away the stone that covered the entrance to the tomb. We are not told in Scripture the name of this angel; we are just told that an angel of the Lord rolled away the stone. The appearance of the angel was like lightening and the clothing was as white as snow.
The guards that were keeping watch over the tomb were shook with fear. The Romans placed guards at the tomb because they knew that Christ spoke about being resurrected from the dead and they did not want the followers of Christ to steal his body and later claim that Christ rose from the dead. This event must have been a great shock and a fearful time. It caused tough Roman guards to become like dead men; stilled in fear.
The angel who sat upon the rolled away stone said to the women, “Do not be afraid for I know whom you are looking for, He is not here, He has risen just like He said.” The angel then invited the women to look inside the tomb so they could see the empty tomb for themselves. The angel then told the women to spread the news that Christ has risen indeed and that He would meet them in Galilee.
The women with fear and rejoicing ran quickly to report the news to the disciples of the Lord Jesus. On the way they did indeed meet with the risen Jesus and all they could do was to bow down in worship. I would like us to pause for a moment and consider what has just happened and how we might feel and think if we were in the same position as these two women. Three days ago they saw Jesus being crucified on a Roman cross and treated in a most horrific way and now here he is standing before them.
There are many painful and horrible ways to die, but crucifixion is one of the most painful. It is believed by Roman historians that it is not the wounds or the nails that causes death; but being unable to breathe. Prior to the actual crucifixion the person would be whipped and beaten. The whip used would have stones or a sharpen object on the end so when the whip was pulled back it would cause deep wounds. When this ordeal was over the person was then made to carry their cross to the place of execution. The person was then placed on the cross and the body was nailed to the cross. This was done by hammering nails through the bottom of the legs and through both hands or arms so that the person was fastened in a cross shape. When this was completed the cross was then raised upwards and the person was then left there to die. Now when a human body is in this position breathing is very difficult and painful because you would have to push down on your legs to inhale and exhale. Most people who were crucified in Roman times died to due exhaustion and being unable to breathe.
I am telling you this so we can appreciate the physical pain and torture of crucifixion. The crucifixion of Christ was much more than just physical pain. He suffered in body, mind and spirit, as he was made sin and for the first time he experienced separation from His Father. I don’t think we can fully understand just what Christ went through on that day of death. The love of Christ is so vast and deep that he should die in our place, in the place of sinful mankind. What a great Saviour we have today.
The resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus stated in John 10:17-18 that he had the authority to lay down his life and to take it up again.
Three lessons from the resurrection.
- The resurrection assures us of the truth of Scripture. The resurrection of Christ is prophesied and taught in the Old Testament. Psa. 16:10, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Also Isa. 53:10-11 and Dan. 12:2.
- The resurrection of Christ gives us assurance of our resurrection. Because our Lord and Saviour died and rose again, we will one day be raised to be like him. 1 Thess. 4:14-16 says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
- The resurrection is proof of a future judgment. Acts 17:31 says, “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
Our Lord spent much of his public ministry talking about his death on the cross and the fact that he would rise again. He told his followers that he would be falsely accused and suffer at the hands of wicked men. Despite this even his closest followers doubted the Lord. It did not fit their ideas and expectations for the Messiah. Peter tried to rebuke him and said that surely you will not die in such a manner. After the resurrection Thomas doubted the news and declared until he could personally see and touch Jesus’ wounds he would not believe.
The Apostle Paul addressed the issue of denying the resurrection of the dead and what it means when he wrote his first epistle to the assembly at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 15:12-18
12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
There were some among the assembly at Corinth that doubted the resurrection of the dead, despite claiming to believe in Christ’s resurrection. Denying the resurrection involves denying Christ’s redemptive work for mankind. The core teaching of the early church presented Christ’s death and resurrection as the solution to sin. If the resurrection of Christ is denied, then a person not only has an empty faith but remains under condemnation for their sins. There is a false belief out there that teaches Christ’s resurrection was merely spiritual or symbolic. The Bible makes it very clear that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was actual, physical and a bodily resurrection.
One of the main themes of Peter’s sermon at Pentecost was the resurrection of Christ. Peter’s sermon is recorded for us in Acts 2:14-36. I am not going to read the whole sermon this evening. However, in verses 22-24 Peter says,
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
This is not the only place in Scripture where Peter speaks about the triumphal and glorious resurrection of Christ.
1 Peter 1:3-5 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
The Apostle Paul wrote the following words to the assembly at Philippi.
Philippians 3:10-11 says, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
It is a fact that the rich will die, the poor will die, but only those who trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ will have eternal life.
Our Lord and Saviour said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
I am sure you can think of a great friend that would do anything for you. They would help you in any situation you find yourself in. However, the greatest friend that you could ever have can never do what Christ did for you. Christ shed his own blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Only Christ can step in the place that you deserve. Christ took your place on the cross and bled and died for your sins and rose from the grave. What a great Saviour Christ truly is.
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