The King Rises (Easter Sermon 2026)

Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Matthew 28 is where we'll be for part of our time this morning.

It is found on page 835 if you're using one of our Bibles

there in front of you in an attempt to get us out by noon.

I cut out like a third of my sermon last night, like

literally cut out a third of my sermon because it was going to

be pushing 75 minutes just for my sermon.

So yeah, hopefully what the Lord has laid on my heart this

morning, this week, will resonate and make sense as we go

through this this morning. the Enlightenment began in the 17th

century and it it focused on knowledge and understanding.

It was driven by thinkers like Voltaire, Isaac Newton, Thomas

Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant,

Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson.

The thoughts and ideas of these men contributed to an era of

revolutions the world over of course, the American Revolution,

the French, Spanish, German, Italian, Greek Revolutions to

name a few. It's generally understood that

the Enlightenment began in the year 1637 with the publication

of Rene Descartes Discourse on the Method.

This writing yielded 2 concepts that would significantly shape

the movement. First, the Latin phrase cogito

ergo sum, I think therefore I am, and secondly, a philosophy

of skepticism in regards to new ideas.

Descartes called for systematically disbelieving

everything unless there was a well founded reason for

accepting that thing as truth. A prevailing quality of the

Enlightenment was that everything could be explained

through natural means. So when you take Descartes

critical perspective and the movement's tendency to explain

everything through rationality and reason, then it would be

preposterous to consider something like the resurrection

as historical fact. It goes against the laws of

nature. the Enlightenment couldn't address issues related

to the supernatural. This morning we'll look at our

passage briefly, and then we'll dive deeper into the miracle of

the resurrection. If you're able, would you stand

as we read from Matthew chapter 28 verses one through 10?

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the

week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

And behold, there was a great earthquake.

For an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came

and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning in his clothing, white

as snow. And for fear of him the guards

trembled and became like dead men.

But the Angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know

that you seek Jesus, who is crucified.

He is not here, for he has risen as he said, Come see the place

where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his

disciples that he has risen from the dead.

And behold, he's going before you to Galilee.

There you will see him. See, I have told you.

So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great

joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

And behold, Jesus met them and said greetings, and they came up

and took hold of his feet and worshipped him.

Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid.

Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see

me. You may be seated.

So first as we begin, let's consider this occasion.

It was the first day of the week, and this was Sunday that

it was the first day of the week.

And I know you think, well, obviously the first day of the

week is Sunday, right? There's been long discussion

about what day of the week Jesus was actually crucified on.

Was he really crucified on Friday as church history is

held, or, or was he crucified on a different day?

There is an argument out there that that Jesus was actually

crucified on Wednesday. It maintains that he entered

Jerusalem on Sunday, then was in the temple on Monday and

Tuesday, and then he was arrested and then crucified on

Wednesday. And those who hold to this

position do so out of a need for Jesus to have been in the tomb

for a full three days, a full 72 hours.

In Matthew 12 we read about one of Jesus many interactions with

the scribes and Pharisees. They asked for a sign and Jesus

scolded them looking for a sign to prove who he was.

He said no sign would be given to them except the sign of the

prophet Jonah. Then the rest of his response in

verse 40 reads for justice. Jonah was 3 days and three

nights in the belly of the great fish.

So will the Son of Man be 3 days and three nights in the heart of

the earth? The argument is that in order

for Jesus to rise on Sunday and he must be in the grave

Wednesday evening. I would say it's very difficult

to arrive at this position because of a number of reasons,

but Scripture clearly tells us that Jesus died on the day of

preparation. The day of preparation is

Friday. Friday was a day to prepare for

the Sabbath. So it tells us Jesus died on the

day of preparation. Also, we need to understand

that, you see, the Jewish reckoning of a day didn't mean a

full 24 hours. For Jews, any part of the day

counted as a day. Thus, when Jesus said he'd be in

the grave for three days, being in the grave part of three days

was entirely plausible. Friday was the first day,

Saturday was the 2nd, and Sunday, of course, the third

day. Now that the Sabbath was over,

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who's probably Jesus aunt,

I might add, there's like by some accounts, there's something

like 4-5 or or 6 Marys in in the New Testament that you have that

you have to track in the Gospels.

Some will say 6, some will say 4 with some of those repeated.

So 4 to 6 Marys. Mary was obviously a very common

name. So Mary Magdalene and the other

Mary, who's probably Jesus's aunt went along with some other

women to anoint Jesus body. Now it's important that we not

gloss over this verse. Jesus ministry was constantly

subverting the societal norms and especially in relation to

women. He had women followers and they

like the men. Men would sit in the temple at

at the feet of their rabbi and listen, but Jesus, his followers

were able to sit at his feet. And this meant not only men but

also women, something that was not normally done in the 1st

century. Jewish women weren't even

allowed to testify in court. The historian Josephus tells us

that even the witness of multiple women was not

permissible in court because of the levity and boldness of their

sex. In the 2nd century, Kelsis, a

critic of Christianity, mocked the notion that Mary Magdalene

was a witness to the resurrection because he claimed

she was a hysterical female deluded by sorcery.

Jesus resurrection was first revealed to women when they

arrived at Jesus tomb. There was another earthquake.

There had been an earthquake on Friday when Jesus died in the in

the temple curtain was torn and now here was another one

signaling this profound moment in history.

An Angel arrived with the earthquake.

Or perhaps the earthquake happened because the Angel

arrived and it The Angel rolls back the stone and he he it

takes a seat. I imagine the appearance of this

Angel to be otherworldly, like you're looking at this ball of

light or or something like that, the type of thing that would be

so bright to outshine the sun. The tomb had been made secure

because the Pharisees wanting to make sure that that's this group

of Jesus followers didn't gain any more traction.

They they went to pilots and asked him to make the tomb

secure. So Pilate made the tomb secure

not by having a lock or or chains on it, but by putting his

own seal on it, something that could easily be physically

broken. But breaking his seal was

something you did not do because if you broke it, you would

probably meet your death. But the Angel, the Angel has

more authority than pilots. So the Angel broke the seal.

Now the guards were terrified at seeing the Angel.

These guards were terrified to seeing the Angel.

I love this scene because these guards, these aren't just the

wimpy type people just hey, don't do that.

No, these are the baddest, toughest men around.

So they're the ones who've been placed there to guard the tomb.

But when the Angel appears, they are terrified.

They are completely terrified. They're they're traumatized by

by what they saw. They trembles.

So then we have the proclamation of the Angel.

What is it that the Angel says? Verses 5 through 8?

The Angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that

you see Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen

as he said. Come, see the place where he

lay. Then go quickly and tell his

disciples that He has risen from the dead.

And behold, He is going before you to Galilee.

There you will see him. See, I have told you so they

departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran

to tell his disciples. The Angel had an announcement,

which is often what angels did. That was their role, to

primarily to make announcements. The Angel said the same thing

that we've heard at the beginning of the Jesus

narrative. The Angel says don't be afraid.

These were the same words that were spoken to Zechariah, to

Mary, to Joseph and to the shepherds when an Angel appeared

to them. Apparently seeing an Angel is

such an awesome as in awe and fear inducing sight that when

they reveal themselves in their natural angelic form, the

response is fear. So the Angel has an announcement

for them and he says he came to bring them good news.

He's not here. He's risen just as he said.

He's risen just as he said just before Jesus and the disciples

headed towards Jerusalem for the triumphal entry.

He told them point blank, he says, see, we're going up to

Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the

chief priest. He's literally telling them this

is what's going to happen. I, I think they were like tuning

him out, like they were just not hearing this is what's going to

happen. See, the Son of Man will be

turned over to the chief priests and scribes and they'll condemn

him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be

crucified. And he will be raised on the

third day is what Jesus said. He literally says he would be

crucified and raised on the third day.

Now put yourself in these women's sandals.

Date arrived hoping to be able to anoint Jesus body before it

got to the 4th day and it started to smell really bad.

That was that was their intent right?

And, and it was lost on them that Jesus would actually be

resurrected. He literally said he'd be raised

on the third day. And, and they didn't really have

a means for understanding that, though.

I mean, technically they had a category for this kind of

statement. After all, Jesus had literally

raised Lazarus back to life just six weeks earlier.

But still, Jesus followers just didn't quite get it when he told

them that on the third day he would be raised from the dead.

See, it's hard to move our minds out of the realm of the natural,

the natural world and into the realm of the supernatural.

Especially when the beloved leader of your movement dies,

it's entirely and completely natural and normal to believe

that the person is dead and not coming back.

So the Angel called these women to come see the place where

where Jesus was laid and and after a brief exchange with

them, gave them a command. The command was to go tell the

disciples and then head to Galilee.

Go tell the disciples and then head to Galilee.

Tell, tell the disciples that he's risen from the dead, and

then and then go to Galilee to meet him there.

These women. It was these women who were

given the task of conveying the news to the disciples.

God used women to bring a message of hope to the rest of

the disciples. And now we look at the King's

personal appearance to these women and behold, Jesus met them

and he said greetings, and they came up and took hold of his

feet and worshipped him. That Jesus said to them, do not

be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to

Galilee and there they will see me as the women.

They they'd left the tomb. They're on their way.

On their way Jesus met them. And the Greek word used here is

very informal. It's along the lines of hello.

And it was just the, an ordinary, completely ordinary

greeting that they would use in the marketplace and among

travelers on the road. There's nothing personal about

it. This, this was a momentous

occasion. And Jesus is just like, hey,

how's it going? Like he's just like, this is

normal for him. This, this is how he works.

This informal greeting elicits worship of the king.

This informal greeting elicits worship of the King.

The women dropped to their knees.

They grabbed his feet and worshipped him.

They now had absolute certainty that he was risen.

They weren't just taking the angels word for it.

They actually saw and touched Jesus glorified body.

The only proper response at that moment was adoration and praise

of the one who had just conquered death.

They did what every single person will one day do, just in

that as as Austin read that passage from Philippians 2,

every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is

Lord. That is what these women did

upon immediately seeing him. Jesus then gave them the same

directive, basically, that the Angel had given them.

He said He reiterates the command to go.

He reiterated the command to go. The the Angel had had said tell

the disciples. The Angel specifically calls out

the disciples. But here Jesus slightly augments

the command and he says, tell my brothers to go to Galilee and

there they will see me. The women were supposed to tell

more than just the disciples. They were to tell a larger group

of brethren who were who were also followers of Jesus, just

not part of the original 12 who would now become eleven.

Most of Jesus followers had dispersed and we're now

dejected, but nonetheless, Jesus still claimed them as his

brothers, his followers. The women went on their way with

great joy and having witnessed the risen Christ and now tasked

with telling others about it. However, there was hesitancy and

endowed at the women's words. Peter and John immediately ran

to the tomb to verify the accuracy of what they've been

told in the first cross country race in history.

The text tells us Peter starts out first.

Oh, but was he the first one to get there?

No, John outran him. Thomas refused even to believe

he he needed evidence that Jesus had been resurrected in John

2025. We read of his response.

Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my

finger into the marks of the nails, place my hand into his

side, I will never believe to call him doubting.

Thomas seems to be putting it mildly.

He needed proof that Jesus had been resurrected.

In our next few moments, I want to look at some of the proofs or

evidences of the resurrection first of all.

This may go without saying, but resurrection requires

crucifixion. To be resurrected he first had

to die. Jesus crucifixion is attested to

in numerous independent sources both from Christian and non

Christian 1st century authors. A couple of those are Josephus

and and Tacitus. They both speak to Jesus, him

being crucified, and then to the notion that that he had been

resurrected. Now, I have to say, if you

wanted to start a religious movement, you don't start with

crucifixion. Crucifixion was a stumbling

block to the Jews that they were absolutely repulsed by

crucifixion. This Roman means of torture.

They believe those hung on a tree were cursed by God.

Second, for the Gentiles, who was absolutely repulsive to

worship someone who died such a dishonorable death.

And this type of death was normally reserved for the worst

of criminals. But Jesus actually died on a

cross. He didn't merely seem to die or

appear to die as our Muslim friends would would tell us.

No, Jesus actually died on the cross.

Another proof is the disciples had eyewitness experiences.

The disciples had eyewitness experiences.

There are numerous independent texts attesting to the disciples

eyewitness accounts and experiences, scholar Reginald

Fuller writes. It is clear that the disciples

had real experiences characterized as appearances or

visions of the risen Jesus. Whether these are explained

naturally or supernaturally, this experience is a fact upon

which both believer and unbeliever may agree.

Some 20 years after Jesus death, Paul wrote in First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15:3

15 verses 3 and 4. Fry delivered to you as the

first importance what I also received, that Christ died for

our sins in accordance with the scriptures.

That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in

accordance with the scriptures. Now it's widely believed that

here Paul was reciting a very early Christian creed that was

already in circulation within just a few years of Jesus death.

This creed is what was delivered to Paul that Christ died for our

sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the

scriptures. Paul then proceeded to say how

Jesus appeared to Peter, then he appeared to the 12500 people,

some of whom had already died, and James the apostles, and then

to Paul himself. So there were these

eyewitnesses, these eyewitness experiences.

Another proof of the resurrection is Jesus accepted

by his brothers James and Jude, who became leaders in the early

church. Jesus was accepted by his

brothers James and Jude, and they eventually became leaders

in the early church. Jesus family had initially been

quite skeptical of Jesus. They thought Jesus was crazy.

I was like, what do you do when your brother tells you that he's

the Messiah? Like it's hard, hard to hard to

swallow that right? But Mark 321 reads, when his

family heard it, they went out to seize him for they were

saying he is out of his mind. James and the rest of his family

were quite contrary to what Jesus was saying.

They didn't look. This of course didn't look good

for Jesus family. His family didn't like having

this guy that some people thought was crazy.

He claims to be the Messiah, but Mark records this embarrassing

fact because it was accurate because it was the truth.

Again, this isn't how you start a new movement and and gain

respect, but this was the reality of the situation.

After Jesus death, resurrection and personal appearances.

Though his family changed. They personally witnessed the

resurrected Jesus and placed their faith in him, and they

began to follow his teachings. And both James and Jude

ultimately become leaders, significant leaders in the early

church. And we have books from each of

them in our Bible now. Next, Paul, a persecutor of the

early church, was converted when Jesus appeared to him.

Paul, who had persecuted the early church, was converted when

Jesus personally appeared to him.

Jesus had appeared to Paul a major persecutor of the church

while he was traveling on the road to Damascus.

He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. That that means that he kept the

law so perfectly and he was so zealous for the law that he

persecuted Christians because he felt they were perverting the

law and and they were teaching that Jesus was the Messiah who'd

been foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Paul's demeanor was described by Luke as breathing threats and

murder against the Christians. But that's not the end of the

story. Paul was transformed from

terrorizing the church to being a committed follower of Jesus

and martyr for his faith. Can you imagine having been the

first person that Paul comes to and Paul says, hey, I follow

Jesus now. No, no, no, no, no.

Closing that door, slamming it in his face.

But Paul had been changed so so Luke writes 3 times in the book

of Acts. Luke recounts Paul's conversion

and Paul's conversion was verified by that means.

Paul's conversion was verified by an early and independent

eyewitness who was also a doctor and whose word could be trusted.

The Paul was transformed by the power of Jesus.

Resurrection is without doubt, as he went from being a

celebrated leader among the Jewish elite to running for his

life because he was wanted dead by his former colleagues.

Paul had been radically transformed.

These facts all help us to see how much the followers of Jesus

changed. On Friday they were dejected and

and had lost all hope, but on Sunday everything changed.

It's important that when we're confronted with facts about

something that we consider the implications of those facts on

our life. In regards to the resurrection.

We ask why does this information matter?

How does the resurrection impact me?

Well first of all, without the resurrection, forgiveness of sin

would not be a reality. Without resurrection we would

not have forgiveness. If Jesus had died, then you

would have turned out to be just like all the other

self-proclaimed messiahs who had preceded him if he just stayed

in that grave. He wasn't the first to claim the

title Messiah, and he was not the last, but he was the only

one who got up out of that grave.

First Corinthians 15, verses 16 through 17, Paul writes if the

1 Corinthians 15:16–17

dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

That is, if there's no resurrection.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and

you are still in your sins. Paul saying that if Jesus wasn't

raised from the dead, then we are still in our sin.

Our freedom from sin hasn't been purchased and our faith would be

worthless if Paul if Jesus wasn't raised.

Therefore, resurrection is the guarantee that Christ payment

for our sin was sufficient and it was accepted by the Father

and that means our faith in Christ is of infinite value.

Resurrection is, let me repeat that resurrection is the

guarantee Christ's payment for our sin was sufficient and

accepted by the Father and our faith is of infinite value.

The second way Jesus resurrection impacts us is that

it gives us hope. It gives us hope, but not just

in this life but also in the future.

The message of the Scripture has always been a message of

resurrection hope. Death isn't the end for those

who belong to God. Rather, it's a doorway that

leads to eternity with God. Going back to First Corinthians

15, Paul, perhaps a bit tongue in cheek or sarcastic maybe

wrote in in First Corinthians 1519.

Paul was never one to shy away from just speaking the truth.

He says if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are

of all people most to be pitied. That is, if our faith ends at

the grave, then what's what's the point in in that?

What's the point in faith? Faith is valuable.

The point being that faith is valuable both for this life and

for the next. The faith lifts up the

downtrodden. In the midst of Job's troubles,

having lost all his possessions, being left with a horrible wife

and friends who just basically gas lit him, Job wrote of his

hope. Job 1925 and 26 For I know that

my Redeemer lives. This is so early on in

scripture. This is very, very early.

Job doesn't actually fall where it falls in our Bibles.

Job actually is like ancient, ancient falls after somewhere

around after a Genesis 9. So he he he has this

understanding. He says I know my Redeemer lives

and and at the last he will stand upon the earth and after

my skin has been destroyed, that is after I have died yet in my

flesh, I shall see God. He's saying I will be

resurrected after I have died. I will be resurrected and I will

see God. Job's hope in the next life

enabled him to endure this life, the horrible life that that he

had lived for a season. So what have you done with the

resurrection? Have you pinned your life on the

truth of it, or have you simply ignored the resurrection

thinking, oh, that's good for them, but I don't believe in the

resurrection or I don't. I don't need that in my life.

You can have that. Jesus isn't like any other

person in all of history. He was there at the beginning of

creation. Indeed, He created it all The

sin broke into the world and humanity's relationship with God

was forever changed. But.

But God desires for our relationship with Him to be

restored back to fullness. Each of us is a Sinner, and the

fact we're sinners means we're deserving of eternal separation

from God. We violated His standards, and

try as we might, we'll never be good enough to earn our way into

His good graces. Fortunately, God provided the

free gift of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are three simple keys to receiving God's grace.

It's as simple as ABCA is for admits.

Admit that you are a Sinner and that you fall short of God's

standard. That is each and every one of

us. We are not perfect.

We can't completely live up to God's standards.

B is for believe. Place your faith in Jesus

Christ. Believe that He is God's Son,

that he died for your sins, and that God raised him from the

dead. Now it's important to say that

this isn't simply intellectual belief.

It's not just information to put away in in our minds, but this

belief is something that comes from our hearts.

It's an expression of sincerity and trust in who Jesus is and C

So A is admit, B is believe and C is confessed, confessed Jesus

as your Lord and Savior. That means that he has the

authority over your life and and that everything you do is

submitted to him as Savior. He's the only one who who can

rescue you from an eternity separated from God.

Romans 10/13 tells us everyone who calls on the name of the

Lord will be saved. If you call out to him, He'll

hear you and restore your relationship with him.

Descartes called for systematically disbelieving

everything unless there was a well founded reason for

accepting that thing as truth. This morning we've looked at a

number of reasons for accepting the resurrection as truth.

Jesus interrupted the natural processes of this world with his

miraculous resurrection, working outside of natural law and

understanding the light. the Enlightenment couldn't explain

how Jesus rose again back to life, never to die again.

But that's how our God works in miraculous, supernatural ways.

The resurrection is the central event of God's redemptive

history. It's the cornerstone of our

faith. And everything we are and have

and ever hope to be is predicated on the miraculous

reality of Christ's resurrection.

Let's bow our heads and close our eyes and the quietness of

this moment as we prepare to close.

If there is anyone in this place who is not yet placed your faith

in Jesus Christ, you've not yet stepped over that line of faith

and said and admitted that you are a Sinner, believed that

Jesus came into this world and died for us, then was

resurrected and ascended. You haven't yet confessed Him as

Lord and Savior. If you haven't yet done that, I

would love to talk with you. Set up an appointment to talk

about that to answer your questions.

See what it is that might be holding you back from stepping

over that line and saying, yes, Jesus is my Savior and I submit

everything I am to him. So if that's you this morning,

I'd love to talk with you after the service.

God, we thank you for the resurrection.

This this undeniable reality that Jesus came into this world,

He lived a perfect life, went to the cross to pay the penalty for

our sins, was resurrected and ascended, conquering death and

purchasing our freedom from sin. Thank you so much.

May we always walk in the reality of the truth that Jesus

was resurrected, that we now have fullness in you.

Thank you. It's in Jesus name we pray,

Amen.