Kaleo San Diego Church > Sermons > Resurrection Changes Everything

Resurrection Changes Everything

Jake Chambers
Apr 4, 2010
Series: SDSU

Matthew 27: 57 – Matthew 28:20: Death, Burial and Resurrection.

Today is Easter Sunday. If you joined us to look at the story of Easter, then you know that last Sunday Jesus both humbly and courageously entered the city of Jerusalem, claiming to be the King and worthy of the worship of all of creation. You know that he did this on a donkey. If you gathered with us Friday, you know where we are at in the story: Jesus has been brutally tortured, mocked and murdered. He is dead. Today, we continue on in this story.

Matt 27:57-61 Jesus is dead. There is a silly theory to try to disprove that Jesus rose again, and this theory is that Jesus never actually died. But this is just silly. Jesus died. He is a dead man at this point in the story. He was whipped to the point of death, crucified, stabbed in the heart and declared dead by professional executioners and then wrapped in over a hundred pounds of linens in a tomb.

The fact that Jesus is buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb is a big deal. One, it was prophesied that Jesus, a poor homeless servant, would be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9). Joseph is a member of the Sanhedrin, and is a disciple of Jesus who generously gives up his tomb to bury Jesus in it. Jesus is not buried in a poor man’s spot or in a place that no one would know about, but in a public place and an important burial place. Jesus is dead, wrapped in about a hundred pounds of linens and spices, and buried in a tomb. Two of his women disciples are there, witnessing a dead Jesus being buried, mourning his burial and trying to gain some closure on this tragedy.

Matt 27:62-66 Jesus is an important leader, and the religious powers of the time want this Jesus crushed. They do not want any story of Jesus to last. They want this Jesus guy not only physically crushed and beaten, but they want his claims crushed and beaten. They want his followers demoralized and defeated. Pilate relents to their claim and gives them the military guard. This was the best military power the world had to offer at this time. You have to understand that at this time Caesar claimed to be god. He wanted to be worshipped as god and he considered himself as powerful as a god. This literally was the god of the world’s guards in front of this tomb.

Matthew 28:1-4 The power of God sets aside the power of man with ease. The stone is rolled away, the guards are like dead men and the tomb is now empty!

Matthew 28:1 “the dawn of the first day.” This was more than a dawn of a new day on a new week. The resurrection of Jesus is the dawn of a new age for all of mankind. It is the beginning of a cosmic restoration. It is a dawning of resurrecting all things. This is not merely “back from the dead” or “revivification,” this is a reversing of death. The curse of sin and the death it leads to is now reversed. Jesus is the firstborn amongst the dead (Romans 8:29) the first to be born into the new world to come. As the firstborn Jesus opens up our future to his own. It is the opening of a new door into a new age of resurrected life on a resurrected earth in a resurrected cosmos. All that is cursed by sin, decaying and dying will have this cursed reversed and be reborn into a sinless earth, cosmos and life that last for eternity.

Christ's resurrection is the dawn of the first fruits of the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:20). You see, if Christ is really resurrected then all of the miracles he performed were truly the first fruits of a new creation. The healing of the sick and ill, the forgiveness of sins, the feeding of thousands, the calming of the storm are all signs of the first fruits of a new creation where there is no more sickness, where work does not produce thorns and famine, but plenty and abundance for all, where hurricanes and earthquakes do not ravage mankind, but weather is controlled. And of course, that we will not stay in the grave but our body will rise as a new perfect, glorified body. This truly is the dawn of the first day for the rest of eternity.

Christ's resurrection is the pioneering of the new beginning. Jesus is ushering in a new kingdom life. It is an inauguration that the King has arrived and history now has a new meaning, direction and purpose (Collosians 1:18, Matthew 28:18). We now know the meaning of life, we know our purpose and the purpose of everything. Jesus is the one over all and the resurrection stakes this claim, that he has all authority over heaven and earth, and that he might be preeminent in everything. This is a new dawn that sees the King stake his claim to his Kingdom. He is summoning the world to himself, to his Kingdom and he is calling a people to join him in his Kingdom work and kingdom call.

Matt 28:5-7 The tomb is empty and an angel explains to these disciples what occurred. “He has risen, as he said.” Jesus predicted that he would rise from the dead. Isaiah, almost a thousand years prior, prophesied that Jesus would rise from the dead. Jesus keeps his covenant word. If he keeps his word on his rising then we can trust that he keeps his word in us following him as resurrection people.

Matt 28:8 There is an insane joy that comes with knowing that Jesus is risen. On Good Friday we mourn his death, but on Easter Sunday we rejoice with great joy that he has risen. Where is our joy? Do we believe that Jesus has risen? If so we would believe that he is the firstborn, the first fruits and that he is pioneering a new beginning with us as the recipients of this new birth, abundant fruit and new kingdom life! The only response to belief in the resurrection of Jesus is great joy!

Matt 28:9-10 They see Jesus, they touch his feet and they tell others, and Jesus says they will see him too. People see a physically resurrected, healed, glorified Jesus. They see him, they touch him, they chat with him and they even eat with him. This was not a secret. This was a public unveiling of Christ rising from the dead. We must see the significance of this account. Two historical facts that are major players on the accuracy and reliability that Jesus rose from the dead are unveiled here.

The first is that eyewitnesses report this supernatural event occurring. 1 Corinthians 15 declares that he appeared to over 500 people. These things were reported in the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. Simply put, people could have gone and asked others if this really happened.

The second astonishing thing here, is that if the resurrection were going to be made up, no one in that era would have made the colossal mistake of having women report the resurrection first. In that era, a woman’s word was not taken to be official. You would not have women be the first to discover it, and if you were trying to prove that Christ really resurrected, you would only have reported that women saw Jesus first if it actually happened that way. Christianity is not a chauvinistic made up religion but is based on historical fact, that reports women seeing, touching and speaking with a risen Jesus and reports these women heroically spreading this truth!

Women, I want you to understand the courage of these women. To claim something this huge, if found to be false, would have made them the laughing stock of their friends, family, society and even the other disciples. But they are disciples of Jesus, moved by seeing a resurrected Jesus, and if you believe in the resurrection, you will take the risk of sharing the truth of the resurrection even in the midst of tremendous potential consequences.

Matt 28: 11-15 Jesus Christ is the biggest icon in world history and he has no grave. He is the only one without a grave in the history of the four major religions. Judaism looks to Abraham’s tomb which is enshrined at Hebron, thousands visit Bhudda's tomb in India, Mohammed died June 8, 632 AD and millions visit his tomb every year. These religions enshrined these tombs because the bodies of their leaders are in these tombs. Jesus does not have a tomb because he has a resurrected body, and his bones cannot be found. His tomb is empty. Nobody denies this. The argument, even back then, is not if the tomb is empty but why the tomb is empty. The enemies of Jesus have been trying to come up with theories as to why the tomb is empty from the very beginning. The reason being is that if the resurrection really happened, then Christianity would be true and people would give their lives to Jesus and worship him as God and Christianity would grow.

The resurrection changes everything. No longer is death the ultimate fear. Proof that the resurrection occurred is in the pudding of the fearlessness of his followers. They no longer feared the powers of this world. His followers will be crucified, stoned, imprisoned and beaten for their beliefs. And what will happen? The church will grow! From AD 100 to AD 310 the church is hotly persecuted and it grows from 25,000 people to 20,000,000 people. Even secular historians cannot argue: the only rationale for the radical Christian lifestyle and radical growth of the church is that these people must have really believed that Jesus rose from the dead.

Matt 28:16-20 The belief in the resurrection changes everything. Jesus has all authority on heaven and on earth. This means complete authority over us. He is the ultimate ruler. After resurrection, Jesus now commands his disciples to go and make disciples. What does this look like? It is not individual discipleship. It is not the sending of eleven individuals to eleven different areas. Jesus does not disciple his disciples this way. They are part of a people, a community and are to carry out the great commission as a community. Acts shows us that what this looks like - it is communities, churches, being planted. Communities that share with everyone that Jesus is alive. The resurrection is spoken about in twelve of the twenty-eight chapters of Acts. It is the blossom of the gospel that must be shared. 1 Corinthians 15 shares that if Jesus has not risen than we are to be pitied, because our faith is in vain.

I want you to see how Matt 28:11-15 battles Matt 28:16-20. This is the great opposition and at its center - what to do with the resurrection. Why is Easter about eggs and bunnies? Why do so many of us not care about this story? Why does lent last forty days but celebrating the risen Jesus is usually one Sunday morning affair. How many of our churches and hearts are powerfully moved by the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Without the belief in the resurrection, the great commission is a burden. But don’t you see that it is not a burden for those who have been captured by the resurrection of Jesus! It is a commission of great joy.

The world, the devil and our own sinful flesh has been pleading and fighting for a taming of the Holy Spirit, a taming of the truth of the resurrection from the very moment Christ’s tomb was empty. Are your hearts so easily tamed? I had one man tell me I needed to calm down about the cross, about sharing the gospel and about repentance. I was told that the Holy Spirit is like a fire. And a fire is much more enjoyed if we can build a nice safe little fire pit or fireplace for it. Then others can come around and enjoy it when they want and leave when they don’t. I agree that the Holy Spirit is like a fire. I disagree that we are to tame it, control it or put it in a fireplace. Know that we are to unleash and fuel this fire. Far too many Christians in America have tamed their belief in the resurrection and are lukewarm. They, we are to be pitied if this is our state! No one is attracted to lukewarm Christianity. It is hypocritical, un-miraculous, a lame set of rituals. Belief in the resurrection is a fire in our soul that cannot be tamed, controlled or watered down. A community of hearts that truly live with the truth of the resurrection in their hearts will not treasure this life and its toys, money or empty promises – they will recklessly and eagerly lose everything to gain Christ. This community will fulfill the great commission without even trying because this is attractional and uncontrollable!

Matt 28:18 There is no middle ground! You either fully belief in the resurrection and join God’s resurrection people in living this out or you don’t. Don’t be tamed into forgetting the resurrection. This is what baptism symbolized. You go all in! You join Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. Baptized into the church, into a community of believers moved by the resurrection. In baptism you die to the old world and are reborn, raised again. You are following Jesus Christ the firstborn, the first fruits and the King of all of Creation.

Matt 28:20 The resurrection changes everything. If you are hearing this (or reading this) and you are not a Christian and you do not believe in the resurrection, I ask you to hang out with God’s resurrection people and start asking questions. Christians, this is where the Easter story ends and our story begins. We are a community of joy sent to tell the world the good news that Jesus has been resurrected. We have a purpose, message and a mission. We are resurrection people, living resurrection lives, spreading the resurrection news and starting new resurrection communities in our neighborhoods and around the world. And because Jesus has resurrected, he is with us, living in these communities, always and until the end of the age! Amen.