Responding to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

I noticed how some of life's best lessons are taught by children.

We sort of observe them or hear them say funny things, cute things.

And even when it comes to spiritual things, children have a way of teaching us,

including some of the important truths about the resurrection.

A Sunday school teacher gave her class of first graders one year before Easter,

the Sunday before Easter, she gave each one an egg, a plastic egg,

and told them, now you go home and you put something in that egg

that will help us understand the Easter story

and bring it back next week and open it up and tell us about it.

Well, the children got real excited.

They each got their egg and next Sunday came and one child brought an egg and opened it up

and there was a picture of a butterfly.

This little girl said, this is a picture of the new life that we have in Jesus.

Good, the teacher said.

Well, another child brought an egg and shook it first, had a little stone in it.

She opened it up and she said, this is the stone that the angels rolled away to show that the tomb was empty.

Good.

Great job.

Well, there was one little boy who was very shy.

He didn't participate much.

He laid his egg on the table and didn't say a word, didn't do anything to it.

Well, the teacher opened it and it was empty.

Well, some of the other children complained, he's not participating.

Why didn't he do what he was supposed to do?

And then he softly said, I did too.

My egg is the tomb of Jesus.

There ain't nothing in it.

That's the point, isn't there?

That's the message of Easter.

There ain't nothing in the tomb of Jesus because he arose from the dead.

I want us to look at Matthew's account of that story.

Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

At the end of all the gospels, we read about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

I would encourage you to take time.

There's just four, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to go home today and read.

Because each one gives a little different perspective.

Things that they notice or things that happened uniquely to them.

We're going to read from Matthew's perspective.

Matthew 28, beginning in verse 1.

Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, the first day of the week being Sunday,

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 and 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 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.

And behold, Jesus met them and said, greetings.

And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped 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.

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.

And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel,

they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people.

His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.

And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.

So they took the money and did as they were directed.

And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

And when they saw him, they worshipped him.

But some doubted.

And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

I want us to note the way people responded to the resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter.

And understand what we see on that first Easter is the way people still respond to him today.

Let's look first, the response of denial.

That was the response of the Jewish leaders.

The Jewish leaders who had demanded that Jesus be put to death.

That was their way of shutting him up, getting him out of the way.

Because he was disrupting what they were doing as the people who led the common people.

They were, Jesus was upsetting their plans of power and authority and privilege.

They crucified him.

Well, here is what the soldiers had experienced and reported.

I want you to look at it.

Verses 2 through 4.

And behold, there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow.

And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men.

That was the experience of those seasoned Roman soldiers who didn't care a thing in the world about the Jewish religion.

Who didn't care about who was supposedly in that tomb.

And certainly wouldn't have cared about just another criminal who had been executed on the cross by crucifixion.

But I want you to look at what happened.

They're just there doing what they normally do.

And all of a sudden there's a great earthquake.

The ground moves.

Then they see an angel.

Probably didn't have a clue what in the world is this.

An angel appearing in brilliant light.

Roll back the boulder that was covering the entrance of Jesus' tomb.

Revealing that it was empty.

That Jesus' body was gone.

They were so terrified.

It says that they literally shook with fear.

And became unresponsive.

Maybe they fainted.

Maybe they were just in shock.

It's sort of like frozen steel.

That's what they experienced.

And some of them went and told the Jewish leaders.

Note the response of the Jewish leaders.

Verses 11 through 13.

Some of the guard went into the city.

And told the chief priests all that had taken place.

And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel.

They gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people.

His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were sleeping.

Now, the way Matthew records this.

Those Jewish leaders.

They didn't ask any questions.

They didn't send anyone to see what had happened at that tomb.

Try to verify.

Check out the facts.

They ignored what the soldiers had said.

Acted as if they didn't say anything.

And they devised a plan to lie and cover up what had happened.

And the fact that Jesus' body was gone.

Think about it.

They heard these soldiers who had no interest in the Christian faith.

In this Jesus who was crucified.

They heard the story of what they had felt and seen.

And all they could do was try to cover it up.

They didn't consider for one moment that a miracle of resurrection had happened.

Those Jewish leaders were only concerned about preserving the status quo.

Preserving their own place of authority and privilege.

They had no interest in knowing the truth.

Now, what about you?

Do you deny the resurrection?

I truly believe that there's very few in this room who would ever think,

I don't believe it at all.

Now, there may be.

Some of you may have come today to be in good graces with whoever brought you.

Somebody may have offered to feed you a good lunch if you came to church with them today.

But you're like these Roman soldiers.

You're like these Jewish leaders.

You really have no interest in spiritual things, the things of God.

I want you to deny the possibility even.

That what we're reading is true.

Is the response of someone who is only concerned with the here and now.

Only concerned with me and my life in this world.

As if this is all that there is.

Denying the reservation of the resurrection without ever investigating it.

Studying it.

Is an indication that you don't really have any interest in God.

Or in God's truth.

But I want to warn you.

I want to encourage you.

Don't be quick to dismiss the idea that Jesus really did come back to life.

Don't be quick to dismiss the idea that there is life after death.

Your eternal destiny.

Will be determined by the way that you respond.

To the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In fact that's true about every single one of us in this room.

Where we spend eternity will be determined by.

How we have responded.

To the resurrected living Lord Jesus Christ.

Think about it.

Let's look at the second response.

That we see in this passage to the resurrection.

The response of doubt.

It's in verse 17.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee.

To the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

And when they saw him.

They worshipped him.

But some doubted.

Who had doubts?

Think about what you're reading there.

It appears that the phrase.

They worshipped him.

Refers to the eleven disciples.

Who had gone to the mountain.

Where Jesus directed them.

D.A.

Carson says that because.

Some doubted.

Look at this on the screen.

The implications.

The implications that.

More than the eleven were present.

Carson says.

Doubt about Jesus.

Or about the reality of his resurrection.

Does not seem appropriate.

For those who truly.

Worship him.

That makes sense doesn't it?

So who would be the.

Doubters.

Well according to what we read.

In the other gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

When you look at it all.

Jesus' first appearance.

To these disciples.

Was not at Galilee.

It was in Jerusalem.

In fact.

By the time they got to Galilee.

To see this.

To hear Jesus give his.

Final.

Direction to them.

They had seen Jesus.

At least two or three times.

They knew.

He'd come back to life.

They had interacted with him.

They truly were able.

To worship him.

Because they did.

Believe in him.

But the ones who doubted.

And that word doubt.

Can be translated here.

Hesitated.

Maybe they were the disciples.

That this was their first.

Encounter.

With the risen Lord.

Who was the most.

Famous doubter.

Of Jesus' resurrection.

Thomas.

That's where you get the phrase.

Doubting Thomas.

Right?

Well we read in John chapter 20.

John 20 · chapter mention

That he was not present.

When Jesus first appeared.

To the other disciples.

And that's when he.

Doubted.

What they were saying.

Hesitant.

To believe.

Believe.

But.

Later on.

He saw Jesus.

And he did believe.

I want to ask you.

Are you a doubter?

I want to.

I want us to think about this.

A little bit differently.

You could be a doubter.

But never really deny.

The reality of the resurrection.

You might even say.

You know.

I believe what the Bible says.

I believe what the Bible says.

About the facts.

About Jesus' life.

And death.

And resurrection.

But.

If you look at your life.

That kind of belief.

Really doesn't affect the way that you live.

The word doubt.

May not be the best word for you.

It may be that you believe the facts.

But you're.

You're hesitant.

To do anything about it.

You got the knowledge.

You got the.

You know.

The mental assent.

To the facts.

But you've never acted on.

What you say you believe.

You've hesitated.

To commit.

You know.

Doubting Thomas.

We could call him.

Hesitating Thomas.

Because he was hesitant.

To believe the resurrection.

Are you.

Are you hesitant to step on out

and not just say you believe that Jesus is alive,

but to show the world that you believe he's alive

by obeying him, following him, loving him,

seeking to please him?

You know, doubting Thomas didn't stay that way.

He went on to become devoted Thomas,

who made this statement.

When he finally saw Jesus and believed,

he looked at Jesus and declared,

my Lord and my God.

He truly embraced Jesus as his Lord, his God.

If Jesus is truly your Lord and your God,

you've got to stop hesitating

and get serious about being a devoted follower of Jesus,

which is the next response I want us to look at,

the response of devotion.

Two women were the first to see the risen Lord,

and their immediate response was to worship him.

Note in verse nine,

Jesus met them and said,

greetings,

and they came up and took hold of his feet

and worshiped him.

Now, if you think about it,

that sounds sort of odd, doesn't it?

It sounds real odd.

They took hold of his feet.

Well, here's what had to have happened

for that to take place.

When they saw Jesus,

they immediately fell down before him in worship,

or at least they got on their knees

and knelt before him in worship.

Think, these women had witnessed Jesus' death on the cross.

They had seen him be buried

and the stone rolled in front of the tomb.

When they saw that the stone was rolled away

and the tomb was empty,

that Jesus was alive,

they worshiped him,

they touched him.

It was no dream or no vision.

He was alive, literally, physically, bodily.

Now, if you look on,

the 11 disciples were spotted in a similar way

that we've already seen.

It says when they saw him,

they worshiped him.

Worship is the most natural response

of the disciples of Jesus

following his resurrection.

Jesus had taught them for three years

about who he was,

but they never really got it.

They understood some things,

but it was not until after the resurrection

and they saw him

that the light came on them.

They understood this really is the Son of God

who didn't just suffer on a cross

and die and be buried.

He arose because he is God.

He is my Lord and my God.

Now,

does your life

demonstrate

devotion to Christ?

Do you worship him?

Have you truly,

we came to this place,

we call it a worship service.

Have you worshiped him,

praised him,

thought of him,

and honored him,

your living Lord

in this service?

Do you worship him

on a regular basis

when you pray?

Do you as a Christian,

do you pray and

just worship and praise

God,

your heavenly Father,

and Jesus,

your Lord and your Savior?

Do you say things

about worshiping him,

praising him,

honoring him?

Think about this.

Does he see

by the way

you show your devotion,

does Jesus see

your love,

your honor,

your respect,

your gratitude

in action?

Now,

this is not how it would be,

but I want you to think

for a moment.

Jesus is in heaven

at the right hand of the Father.

And it's like

he's watching you,

and your life

is like a movie.

He sees how you,

you know,

you are at home,

at work,

at school.

He knows what you,

what kind of things

that you think

and you feel.

As Jesus looks at you,

observes you,

knows what's going on

in your life,

does he see

that you truly

are devoted

to him.

You know,

some of you

in this room,

in a good,

healthy way,

you are a devoted

wife,

husband,

parent,

child even,

boyfriend or girlfriend.

and your spouse

or your children

or your parents

or your boyfriend

or girlfriend,

they can tell

someone,

he or she

truly is devoted

to me

because of

what?

What do you do?

It's not enough

just to say it,

just to think it.

we should express

our devotion,

don't we?

In various ways

of actions

that are loving,

that show gratitude.

If we are devoted

to Jesus,

it will come out

because he's real

to us.

There is a relationship

there with him

and relationship

is essential

when it comes

to being rightly

connected to Jesus.

You know,

we'll never be devoted

to a stranger.

We can't be devoted

to someone

we have just a little bit

of information about

and even know

it's true.

I don't want to hurt

anybody's feelings.

But I know

some factual information

about old Nate

back there.

I ain't devoted

to you, buddy.

You're a good guy.

Lisa,

you're a good friend

of many years.

But I ain't devoted

to you.

See, I know them.

I like them.

I have a relationship

with them.

But it's not

on the level

of being devoted

to them

like I am

to my wife,

my children,

my grandchildren,

the closest

of friends.

You see,

what I'm getting at,

if Jesus is truly

our Lord

and our Savior,

we have a relationship

with Him

and we talk

to Him,

we worship Him

and praise Him

because we are

devoted to Him.

We live our lives

in a way that

we try to demonstrate

our love

by the way

that we obey Him.

And that gets us

to the next response

of dedication

or the response

of dedication.

There are two responses

of dedication

found in this chapter.

The first,

look at verses

7 and 8.

When the angel

of the Lord

told the women

that Jesus had risen

from the dead,

they believed

and immediately

obeyed.

Look at this.

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 how I've told you.

So they departed

quickly from the tomb

with fear

and great joy

and ran

to tell His disciples.

They haven't even

seen Jesus yet.

They believed

the word

of the angel

and they were not

just devoted

to the living Lord,

they were going

to be obedient.

Look at the other example.

Probably the best,

most well-known statement

of the resurrected Lord

is what we call

His great commission

is at the end

of this chapter.

It says,

And Jesus came

and said to them,

All authority

in heaven

and on earth

has been given to me.

Go therefore

and make disciples

of all nations,

baptizing them

in the name of the Father

and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them

to observe all

that I have commanded you

and behold,

I am with you always

to the end

of the age.

We cannot study

the responses

to the resurrection

of Jesus

without noting.

There is a lot more

to being devoted

to Him

than just worshiping Him.

Dedication

or commitment

or obedience.

All three words

are talking

about the same things.

Dedication

or commitment

to serving the Lord

is a natural outcome

of being devoted

to Him.

Devotedly

worshiping Him.

In other words,

if we love Him,

we'll obey Him.

And Jesus said that

numerous times.

Are you dedicated

to living under

the authority

of Jesus

and truly

serving Him

in every area

of your life?

Living like

a faithful Christian

in your home

at work,

school,

and doing

what you do

is if you're

doing it

for the Lord.

If not,

will you begin

today?

You know,

this is a great day.

A great day

to get serious

about showing

your devotion

to Jesus

by dedicating

yourself

to actively

serving Him.

And this is

Easter Sunday,

Resurrection Day.

No better day

to make a commitment.

But you know,

this is our first Sunday

as a church family.

This is our first Sunday

back in what we call

our normal schedule.

We had an 8.30

service this morning.

We had Sunday school,

Bible study for everybody

at 9.15,

and now this service.

This has been a hard,

difficult,

different year,

hasn't it?

We've got out of a lot

of our normal routine,

normal good habits

of public worship,

coming together

in Bible study

with other Christians

in our church.

Let's just be honest.

It's been easy

to stay at home

a lot of times,

watch the live stream,

not have any responsibilities.

Now,

I understand

over this past year

there have been

some things

that we haven't done

and rightly so.

We have tried

to use common sense,

follow the guidelines

of experts

to keep our church

families safe.

Some of you,

with your age

and or health conditions,

it was wise

for you to stay out

of a crowd like this.

It was the right thing

to do.

But now that things

are getting a lot better

and we continue

to pray that they'll

eventually be back,

no more pandemic,

no more to worry about.

Are you going to break

your bad habits?

your lazy habits?

Are you going to

recommit

to dedicated

service to the Lord

in and through this church

and in other ways

that maybe you couldn't

or shouldn't have

for the last year?

but the time

has come

or will come

for some

that you just

got to do it.

You've got to

demonstrate

your devotion

through dedicated

service.

If you truly believe

that Jesus

is the Son of God

who died on the cross

for your sins

and is now

risen,

the King of Kings

and the Lord of Lords

as He's called

in Scripture,

then the only

acceptable way

to respond to Him

is with

devotion

and dedication.

We saw

three weeks ago

in our study

of Philippians

Philippians 2:9–11

chapter 2

verses 9 through 11

that one day

every knee

will bow

and every tongue

will confess

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

and we talked

about that Sunday.

It's so important

that we do that

on our own

now,

willingly,

voluntarily.

If you came

into this room

this morning

not a believer,

not trusting Jesus

as your Savior

and Lord,

not honoring Him,

but the Lord

has shown you

that's not

the way to live,

the way to live

forever.

He's convicting

you of your sin,

calling you

to change your mind.

I want to encourage

you to do that.

Admit to God

that you are not His,

that there's never

been true devotion

or any kind

of dedicated

commitment.

Turn from your sin.

Trust Jesus

as your Savior

and Lord,

that He paid

the penalty

for your sins

when He died

on the cross.

Call upon Him

to save you

and to become

the true

Lord,

Master of your life.

You know,

if we really

and truly believe

in the resurrection

of Jesus Christ,

I mean,

if God

has done a work

in us

to save us,

regenerate us,

and put His Spirit

in us,

we can't help

but to want

to be devoted

to Him

in worship

and love

and be dedicated

to serving Him

with the talents

and gifts

and abilities

He has given us.

I want you

to listen

to the Lord

and do whatever

He's calling you

to do

that when you

leave here today,

you can truly

celebrate

the resurrection

of your Lord

Jesus Christ

with heartfelt

devotion

and visible

hands-on

dedicated service.

Let's pray

together.

Father,

help us

to see

what You

see in us.

Father,

if there are

people in this room

who deny

the reality

of the resurrection,

we pray

that You

will show

them

that they're

wrong.

Don't let

them be

content

to continue

to live

in such

denial.

Open their

eyes of faith

to see

Jesus

is alive

and can

save them

if they

will call

upon Him,

turn from

their sins

and commit

to Him

as their

Lord.

Father,

if there are

doubters in this room,

clear up their

doubts.

Help them,

Father,

to

seriously

study

Your

Word

and then

confirm

Your

truth.

Help them

to have a

real faith.

Father,

help us all

in this room

to see

that if we

love Jesus,

if He's

truly our

Lord and

Savior,

we will be

devoted

to Him.

We'll want

to worship

and praise

and honor

and thank

our Savior

and Lord.

And then,

Father,

make it very

clear to

every Christian

in this room

that being a

devoted Christian

also involves

being a

dedicated,

committed,

obedient,

child of God,

day in and day out,

in every relationship

and realm

of life.

Help us to

make the

commitments,

to confess

the sin,

to change

the things

in our life

that needs

to be changed,

to leave

here devoted

and dedicated

men and women,

boys and girls

of God.

Let's just

in attitude

of prayer

listen to the

Lord and

respond to

Him in

these next

few minutes

so that you

can leave

here celebrating

the resurrection

this morning

as this

devoted,

dedicated

follower of

Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.