The Risen King

Good morning, Watermark.

Our scripture reading for today is from the book of Matthew, chapter 27 and 28.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

Starting in verse 62, we read,

The next day, that is after the day of preparation,

the chief priests and the parrises gathered before Pilate and said,

Sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive.

After three days I will rise.

Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day.

Lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people,

He has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first.

Pilate said to them,

You have a guard of soldiers. Go. Make it secure as you can.

So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

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, 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 woman,

Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here, for he has risen.

And 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 the 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.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Thank you, Riza.

Good morning, everybody.

Great to see if you're new to Watermark.

My name is Kevin.

And great to have you with us this morning.

Before we start, great to see so many guests and visitors.

Welcome.

Lovely to have you with us.

Also great to see Andrew and Akasha with little Ezekiel back.

Ezekiel's two months old.

And great to have you guys back, part of the family.

And also great to have Sarah.

Sarah was a Watermark many years ago,

nine, ten years ago.

Moved to Singapore and back visiting.

Great to have you with us today, Sarah.

Let's pray as we consider this scripture together.

Won't you join me as we pray together?

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit,

we celebrate in the fullest sense of the word,

the wonder of Easter.

And God, as we come to your word this morning,

I pray that you will speak to us.

Not just speak to our minds,

but you will speak to our hearts.

We pray, God, that you will take what is written in your word

and you will write it in our hearts.

And God, you will give us fresh hope

and fresh confidence and fresh conviction

about who you are

and for those of us that are in Christ,

who we are in you.

God, we pray that you will be with us in our midst

in your wonderful and gracious name.

Amen.

Many years ago, Professor Cyril Edwin Joad,

who was once the head of philosophy and psychology

at University of London,

he was also a public figure, a broadcaster.

He was asked the question,

of all the people in history,

who would you most like to interview

and what question would you like to ask them?

And at this stage in his life,

Joad had abandoned his Christian faith.

He considered himself an agnostic.

And he answered the question,

I would most like to meet Jesus Christ.

And the question I would ask him

is the most important question in all the world,

did you or did you not rise from the dead?

Well, Professor Joad is right when he says

this is the most important question in all the world.

Because upon the veracity or the truthfulness

of Christianity's claim that Jesus Christ died and rose again,

upon the truthfulness of that claim,

as Jesus said would happen,

as the Old Testament said would happen,

Christianity stands or falls.

In fact, the Apostle Paul,

one of the early leaders in the church

and a guy who wrote much of the New Testament,

said that if Jesus' resurrection is proved false,

we, our Christians, are the most pitied of all people in the world

because our faith is futile.

Our belief is delusional.

Our hope is baseless.

In fact, it is no hope at all.

And that's what Matthew wants us to see

in the passage that Reza read to us this morning.

Matthew wants those of us

that consider ourselves followers of Jesus

to live with conviction and certainty

regarding the historical reality of Christ's death and resurrection.

Some of us may be here this morning.

Maybe you've got doubts

about whether the resurrection of Jesus really happened

or whether it was something metaphorical,

something that happened in people's hearts.

Maybe some of us here consider ourselves Christians,

but just the grind of life,

the everyday difficulty of life,

kind of makes us wonder,

what's the relevance of it anyway?

I mean, why does it really matter?

Maybe you've been a follower of Jesus,

but as you've been reading and thinking,

the narrative of our culture

has put doubts in your mind.

Well, today, Matthew wants us

to have greater conviction and certainty

regarding the resurrection of Jesus.

And so he does that in this passage

by showing us two things.

Firstly, he wants to show us

the extensive effort of the religious leaders.

And secondly, he wants to show us

the matchless power of God.

So let's look at those two things in turn.

Firstly, the extensive effort of the religious leaders.

If you've got your Bible or your bulletin

open up in front of us,

we're going to be looking at the scripture

and diving into it.

But our passage today that Reza read to us

has three clear sections to it.

It's broken down there in the bulletin for you.

In the first section, verse 62 to 66,

tells us about how the religious leaders,

is their extensive efforts to avert or forestall

or even stop the resurrection of Jesus happening.

And in the last section, in chapter 28, verses 11 to 15,

we see the extensive effort of the religious leaders

to discredit the resurrection once they know about it.

And so look at verse 62 with me.

It says,

The next day, that is the day after the preparation,

the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate

and they said to him,

Sir, we remember how that imposter said

while he was still alive,

after three days I will rise.

Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure.

Now immediately we should be struck

by the urgency of the religious leaders

to crush any idea that Jesus would rise from the dead.

Matthew tells us that the day after Jesus died,

which is a Saturday,

which is a Jewish Sabbath,

the day of rest where no Jew should do any work

or gather before anyone else,

and especially on this day,

which is the Passover Sabbath,

the one day in the year

where all the religious leaders should be either at home

or gathering with God's people in the temple,

these religious leaders are hustling and bustling,

very busy with activity,

gathering before Pilate,

a non-Jew,

as they make this attempt

to cover over Jesus' resurrection.

And they gather before Pilate

and they ask that the tomb be securely sealed and guarded.

John Stott calls this

an astonishing breach of Sabbath law

that no other incident in the Gospels

show how clearly desperate the authorities were

to eliminate Jesus.

You'll no doubt remember,

if you're familiar with the Gospels,

how often Jesus gets in trouble

with these very religious leaders

for breaking the Sabbath law

because he's often healing somebody that's sick

or raising somebody back to life.

Here these same religious leaders

are breaking Sabbath law

to make sure that Jesus stays well and truly dead.

And notice what they call Pilate.

Did you notice the first word?

Sir, they say.

In Greek, the word is kiriia.

It's a word that honors somebody in authority.

It's a word of submission.

But it's a word that means Lord.

In fact, in Matthew's Gospel,

it only ever refers to Jesus

or God himself.

And yet here,

the religious leaders go to Pilate

and call him Lord.

Matthew wants us to see

that the authorities

are submitting themselves to Pilate

the way believers are submitted,

are meant to submit themselves to God alone.

Now, in this passage,

they come to Pilate and they say,

we heard that that imposter

had made some claims.

He was gonna rise after three days.

Let's secure the tomb

to make sure that it doesn't happen.

And it's a bit hard to know

what their motivation is.

Are they concerned

that the disciples

are going to steal Jesus' body away

and then make this claim?

That's what they say in verse 64.

Or are they mainly concerned

that Jesus might just do

what he said he would do?

I mean, it's hard to know.

Certainly, they've seen

and heard of Jesus' powers,

his miraculous healing of the sick,

his curing of leprosy,

his raising of Lazarus from the dead.

He claimed more than six times

in Matthew's gospel alone

that he would die and rise again.

They know about these claims.

They say so themselves.

And on the other hand,

where are the disciples?

The disciples are nowhere

to be seen at this point, right?

In fact, we haven't heard

from the disciples

since Judas betrayed Jesus.

Peter denied him.

And the disciples all flee at his arrest.

The disciples are long gone.

And the greatest concern

of the Pharisees here

is not the disciples.

I think their concern is Jesus.

That just maybe,

Jesus really would do

what he said he would do.

And so look at how many times

they used the word secure

in the first few verses.

Verse 64.

Lord, sir, they say,

order the tomb to be made secure.

Verse 65.

Pilate said,

you have a guard of soldiers.

Go and make the tomb secure as you can.

So they went away

making the tomb secure

by sealing the stone

and setting a guard.

The irony is,

Donald Hagner says,

is that Jesus' opponents

took his own words

about his rising from the death

more seriously

than Jesus' own disciples did.

Well, whatever their motivating fears are,

their fears are certainly motivating them.

Because look at their ironic behavior.

Verse 63.

They say,

they go to Pilate

and what do they call Jesus?

They call him an imposter.

A deceiver.

Somebody wants to hide the truth.

Well, look at their behavior

in verse 11.

When the guards

told the chief priests

all that had taken place,

they assembled the elders

and took counsel.

They gave them

sufficient sum of money.

That's a lovely term.

I'd love to know

what that really means.

Very ominous term, right?

They gave a sufficient sum of money

to the soldiers

and they said,

tell the people

his disciples came at night

and stole them away

while we were asleep.

And if it comes

to the governor's years,

we will satisfy him

and keep you out of trouble.

So they say,

listen,

this imposter,

this deceiver,

he doesn't,

this guy who lies to everyone,

oh, wait, wait.

Let's just lie

and keep the story

covered up

with a nice sum of money.

And amazingly,

the chief priests

and the Pharisees

are the first people

in the history of the world

to hear the good news of Easter.

Jesus is risen

from the grave.

And yet for them,

it's the worst news ever.

Their worst fears

are realized.

And yet worse than that,

actually for them,

I wonder if they realize

that they contributed

to the veracity

of the fact

that the tomb was empty.

I mean, think about it.

If they had not had

a bunch of guards

seal the tomb,

watching over the tomb,

if they'd left it as it was

and then Jesus' body disappeared,

it would have been far easier

to them say,

oh, well,

I guess his disciples

came in the middle of the night

and stole his body away.

But by putting

a bunch of armed guards there,

sealing the tomb,

doing everything

they can

to make sure

that there's no ways

anybody can steal the body,

then when the body's not there,

well, it's hard to say.

I guess his disciples

came in the night, right?

It's a little harder

to say that

with all the security measures

they put in place.

Daniel Doriani says,

it's a delicious irony

that by trying

to cover up

the resurrection,

they only helped

to strengthen

the legitimacy

of the empty tomb.

And what a great

cover up it is, right?

I mean,

it's a great cover up.

All this bribery

and corruption

worked pretty well

to get Judas

on their side.

Remember,

they lined Judas' pockets

with 30 silver coins.

Well,

here they try again.

Look at verse 15.

And so,

they took the money,

did as they were directed,

and the story

has been spread

amongst the Jews

to this day.

Now,

when Matthew says,

to this day,

he's obviously writing

about his day and age,

right?

He's not writing necessarily

for all time in history.

This was the primary story

in the first century,

that the tomb was empty

because Jesus' disciples

came in the middle

of the night

and stole his body away

and disposed of it.

And yet,

when Matthew says

that's the story

that is told

to this day,

it has an elasticity

to it,

doesn't it?

In the second

and third century,

this is the main story

that people told

why Jesus' tomb

was found empty.

We know in the second century

that many Christians

were still encountering

the story

and writing

to oppose it.

But even in our day and age,

this is one of the stories

we hear, right?

This is one of the reasons

given for the empty tomb,

that the disciples came

and stole it away.

And yet,

this story,

like so many others,

fails to answer

the key questions

of the narrative.

For example,

how could the gods

possibly know

who stole the body

if they were fast asleep?

I mean,

generally,

generally,

eyewitnesses

that are asleep

and don't see

the incident

aren't very good witnesses.

Furthermore,

don't you think

that at least

one of these

trained gods

who knew

that the penalty

for falling asleep

on duty

was death?

Don't you think

one of them

would have woken up

at the sound

of this massive stone

being rolled away

or the earthquake

shaking?

How is it that they

just had the best

night's sleep

of their entire life?

All ten of them,

right?

And furthermore,

if Jesus died

and was buried,

why hasn't anybody

in 2,000 years

produced any evidence

of where

their corpse lay,

bones lie,

his dead body?

The historian

Craig Blomberg

says,

no ancient writer,

Jew,

Greek,

or Roman

has ever identified

any tomb

in which Jesus'

body remains.

Douglas O'Donnell

asks a fascinating

question.

He says,

how realistic

is it to believe

that these

faithful Jews

Jewish men

and the women,

if they indeed

stole the body

and lay it

to rest somewhere,

would violate

half the Ten Commandments,

would violate

Jesus' own

ethical teachings,

and would violate

their own consciences

for a fraud,

for a lie,

if they knew

it was all false?

If the disciples

knew where

Jesus' body was

and simply dumped it,

what would be

the possible motive

for dedicating

their lives

to proclaim

this message?

of Jesus'

resurrection

from the dead.

The motivation

certainly wasn't

money.

Read the Acts

of the Apostle.

Money is not

something they

flourished in.

The motivation

certainly wasn't

honor and prestige

and reputation.

When you read

Paul's letters,

what you find

is that all he got

for proclaiming

this message

was shame,

ridicule,

persecution.

In fact,

the message

cost Jesus

and his disciples

everything they had

because they

believed in it.

Reputation,

friends,

community,

family,

indeed their own

lives.

N.T. Wright

says,

it was three

centuries before

anybody gained

anything except

insults,

danger,

torture,

and death

for believing

the resurrection.

Friends,

people might

sacrifice their

lives for

honor or

some great

reward.

Seldom

will people

sacrifice

their lives

if they

know that

it's a

fraud

if it's

all a

lie.

And that

begs the

question,

what turned

these fearful,

cowardly

disciples that

we read

about in

chapter 26

who run

away at

the prospect

of Jesus'

arrest,

what turned

them into

bold and

courageous

men almost

overnight?

A few

weeks later,

they stand

before the

very authorities

that crucified

Jesus and

these men

say,

you better

not proclaim

the resurrection

of Jesus

and they

say,

what are we

to do?

To listen

to God

or to

listen to

you?

And they

go and

they say,

put us in

jail if you

will,

we will not

proclaim,

stop proclaiming

the message.

What turned

these cowardly

men,

these fearful

women,

into bold,

courageous

witnesses

of Jesus?

Friends,

some people

say,

well,

that was back

then,

you know,

they were

ignorant,

they were

primitive

people,

they were

superstitious

people,

but these

days we are

enlightened,

we are

scientific,

people,

except no

Jew,

no Gentile

in the

ancient world

ever had

the idea

that someone

would rise

from the

dead.

It was not

part of any

worldview,

any culture,

any religion

of the time,

that anybody

would bodily

rise from the

dead in a

physical body.

N.T. Wright

says,

a great

historian,

everybody in

the ancient

world,

just like

everybody in

the modern

world,

knows perfectly

well that

dead people

don't get

resurrected.

Friends,

do you hear

what Matthew

is trying to

show us

here?

Matthew is

showing us

the extent

that the

people in

Jesus'

day went

to avert,

to stop,

to cover up,

to discredit,

everything they

could to make

sure that the

message of

Jesus'

resurrection

did not

get out.

Do you see

the security

measures,

the hush money

that's paid

out,

the stories,

the angst

as they take

counsel together?

Do you see

the passion

that they go

to,

to avert,

to discredit

the resurrection?

Do you

sense their

agony,

their desperation

using every

means possible

at their

disposal to

stop and

put a lid

on this

message that

Jesus died

and rose

again?

The religious

leaders,

Pilate,

the Pharisees,

the scribes,

everyone goes

to extreme

measures,

extensive

measures to

keep the

lid on,

to negate

and avert

Jesus'

resurrection.

But that's

of course not

all Matthew

wants us to

see.

He wants us

to see and

to know and

to believe that

despite all

these efforts,

the resurrection

of Jesus really

happened.

Matthew's point

is not just

that Jesus rose

from the dead,

but that it

happened despite

all the efforts

of those

involved,

who tried

everything they

could to

avoid it.

And Matthew's

point here is

that God is

Lord, not

Pilate, and

that not the

politicians, not

the religious

leaders, that

God is Lord

and God did

that which man

could not do.

And so look

at verse 1 to

10 of Matthew

28.

Here Matthew

wants us to

not only

understand it,

but to see it.

And I say

that because

four times

Matthew uses

the word

behold.

Look at

verse 2.

Behold, there

was an

earthquake.

Verse 7.

Behold, he

is going

before you.

Verse 7

again.

Behold, I

have told you

these things.

Verse 9.

Behold, Jesus

met them and

said, greetings.

The word

behold means

to see

something.

It's Matthew's

way of saying,

look here, look

at the evidence,

examine the

evidence.

He says in

verse 6, the

angels say,

come and see

the place

where Jesus

once lay.

What is it

that Matthew

wants us to

see?

Well, a couple

of things.

Firstly, he

wants us to

see what

the witnesses

saw.

He wants us

to see the

witnesses.

Who are the

first witnesses

to Jesus'

death and

resurrection?

It's the

woman, right?

It's Mary

Magdalene and

another lady

called Mary,

the two

Marys.

Many writers

have observed

that in

the first

century,

women had

low social

status.

They weren't

considered

credible witnesses

in a court

of law.

Women were

of low

social status,

which meant

that if you

want to make

up a story

and you need

some witnesses

to back up

your story,

the last

people in

the world

that you

choose to

back up

your made

up story

would be

women.

That's not

because women

are inferior,

but in

the first

century,

their witness

wasn't

considered

very credible.

And so

why does

Matthew,

of all

the people,

if he makes

up the

story,

why do

all the

gospel

writers

choose

Mary 1

and Mary

2 as

their first

witnesses?

The answer

is,

the only

explainable

answer is

because that

must be what

took place.

That must be

what happened.

Pinchas

Lapidde

wrote a book

called The

Resurrection

of Jesus

from a

Jewish

perspective.

Listen to

what he

says.

He says,

if the

narrative

were made

up,

one would

have avoided

making women

the crown

witnesses

in the

resurrection,

since they

were considered

in rabbinic

Judaism,

unable of

giving valid

testimony.

The fact

that the

same woman

wanted to

anoint the

dead Jesus

right after

his burial,

as Jewish

custom demanded,

proves that

basically none

of his

disciples,

nor the

woman

themselves,

expected the

resurrection.

You see

that?

Matthew wants

us to see

that the

resurrection of

Jesus is not

the fiction of

man,

it's not a

made up story,

it's the

work of

God.

It's the

work of

God.

Secondly,

he wants us

to see the

work of God

himself.

One of the

things I found

out this week

that I'd

never seen

before,

is that

the angels

don't open

the tomb

so that

Jesus can

get out.

I'd always

imagined Jesus

stuck behind

the tomb,

and the

angels come

and open

up the

seal,

and Jesus

then walks

out.

But actually,

look what

happens here.

Matthew

doesn't tell

us that the

angels open

the tomb

that Jesus

might get

out,

but that

the woman

might get

in,

and see

the tomb

is already

empty.

Right?

The angel

rolls back

the stone,

and the

tomb is

empty.

Stone or

no stone,

God or

no God,

seal or

no seal,

Jesus is

not in

there.

Jesus has

already

left.

And what's

the point?

The point

here is that

the angels

didn't set

Jesus free.

God raised

Jesus from

the dead.

The point

here is not

that the

earthquake set

Jesus free,

it's that

God raised

him from

the dead.

And what's

the point

of the

angel

and the

earthquake

anyway?

Well in

Matthew's

gospel,

angels and

earthquakes are

always a sign

that God

is at work,

a sign of

God's agency.

Remember how

in chapter

one,

an angel

appears to

Mary,

or actually

to Joseph,

and says,

Joseph,

your wife,

your engaged

wife,

your betrothed

wife,

Mary,

is with

child.

This is

something that

God has

done for

her.

And so

what's

Matthew's

point here?

That despite

the gods,

despite the

seal

tomb,

despite the

stone,

despite the

speculation and

the effort to

avert it,

the tomb was

made empty by

God himself,

by divine

agency,

not human

activity.

It wasn't the

work of the

disciples that

emptied the

tomb.

It wasn't the

work of the

angels that

emptied the

tomb.

It wasn't the

work of the

earthquake that

emptied the

tomb.

Friends,

this is the

work of God

himself.

The angels

played no

part in the

resurrection.

The earthquake

played no

part in the

resurrection.

The resurrection

was an

activity of

God himself.

Matthew wants

us to see the

witnesses,

to see the

work in the

hand of God.

And finally,

Matthew wants

us to see the

physical body

of Jesus.

There's two

things in this

passage that's

been bothering

me all week.

three times

or twice in

this chapter

and once in

a previous

chapter, it

says that

Jesus rises

from the

dead and

goes on to

Galilee where

he meets his

disciples.

And I thought

that's the

strangest thing.

Why does the

Bible make that

point?

It says it

here in verse

7.

The angels

say,

do not be

afraid.

Go quickly

tell his

disciples he's

risen and

behold he is

going before

you into

Galilee and

you will see

him there.

In verse

10, Jesus

meets the

women and

he says,

do not be

afraid.

Go and tell

my brothers to

go to

Galilee and

there they

will see

me.

And in

chapter 26,

just two

chapters before,

Jesus says,

after I'm

raised up,

I will go

before you

into Galilee.

And I just

thought that is

the strangest

like, I

mean that's

random.

Why do we

need to know

that?

Why does

Matthew want

to tell us

that three

times?

Well it

seems to me

that this is a

really important

incident.

When the

Bible mentions

something two

or three

times, it

wants us to

take note of

it.

What's the

significance of

this?

I think what

Matthew and

what God

wants to

tell us is

that Jesus'

resurrection

took place in

real time and

place with a

real physical

body that people

could touch and

see.

You see, these

days we often

hear people

saying, well it

doesn't matter

whether Jesus

rose or not.

What matters

is that he

rises in your

heart, right?

And Matthew

wants to say,

no, no, no.

It actually

matters that he

rose in flesh

and blood, that

the disciples saw

him and touched

him, that they

heard him with

their own ears.

Matthew's at

pains to show

us that that's

not what happened,

that Jesus

didn't meet his

disciples in some

kind of

parapsychological,

extra sensory

spiritual way.

He met them in

the flesh, in

time and space.

The angels don't

say, listen, the

stone may be

rolled away, but

it doesn't matter,

just take it on

faith.

One commentator

says, the

resurrection calls

for renewal of

our minds, not

the removing of

our brains, right?

The angels don't

say, well, just

look from inside

your heart or

look inside your

soul or just

see Jesus in the

face of your

sleeping baby.

Or, you know,

feel him in the

coolness of the

breeze on a

spring evening.

Or see Jesus, the

risen Jesus in the

rising sunset.

No, no, they want

us to feel, to sense

the reality of the

real Jesus.

Look at verse 9.

It says, behold,

Jesus met them and

said, Josan,

said, greetings,

right?

Hello, good

morning.

He came and

he, and it

says, they took

hold of his feet

and they worshipped

him.

One commentator

says, ghosts

don't normally have

feet.

They took hold of

his feet.

They felt his

hands.

They heard his

actual voice with

their actual ears.

The angel invites

them to use their

minds to make sense

of what they see.

And friends, this is

why Matthew writes

this.

This is why the

other gospel writers

write the biography

of Jesus.

They want us to see,

to know that Jesus

really died and he

really rose again.

Do you remember the

beginning of Luke's

gospel?

Luke writes this in

chapter one, the

beginning of his

gospel.

He says,

in as much as many

have undertaken to

write a narrative of

the things that were

accomplished about

Jesus, just as those

others who from the

beginning were

eyewitnesses and

ministers of the

word, spoke them to

us, it seemed good to

me also, having

followed these things

closely for some time,

to write an orderly

account for you, most

excellent Theophilus,

that you may have

certainty concerning

the things you have

been taught.

Friends, that's what

the gospel writers

want.

That's what Matthew,

Mark, and Luke, and

John want for us.

That's what they want

for Mary and for the

disciples and for

followers of Jesus.

Friends, that's what

Jesus wants for us

today.

Certainty, conviction,

assurance of faith,

that Jesus of Nazareth

really did die and he

really did rise again.

Jesus didn't just rise

in their hearts, he

didn't just rise in a

dream or rise in the

sunset, no, he

rise in physical bodily

form and he made

himself known.

Jesus died and rose

again.

And so what should we

do with this?

What does this mean for

us in our day and age?

Well, let me leave us

as we close with three

things, three thoughts.

Firstly, what should we

do with this?

Believe it.

Believe it.

I hope you see what

Matthew wants for us.

The death of

resurrection of Jesus

despite all the forces

of hell, all the schemes

of man historically took

place.

It happened in time and

place.

Believe it.

And so friends, when

Jesus comes to Thomas

later on and he says,

put your hands in my

nail scarred hands.

Feel my, the scar on my

side.

He wants Thomas to

believe it, to really

know that it happened.

James writes in his

epistle, James is the

brother of Jesus and he

says, you believe that

Jesus is God?

Well, that's good, but

that's not enough because

even the demons believe

that Jesus is God and

they are destined to

hell.

In other words,

believing in our mind

intellectually or just

academically is not

enough.

He wants us to know it

with conviction and

certainty, to bank our

lives in it, to believe

in the way that changes

our lives.

Let the truth of who I

am and what happened

on the cross and the

empty tomb shape your

life, says Jesus.

This is the heart of the

good news.

Without the empty tomb,

there are words of

simply empty words.

Friends, do you believe

it?

That Jesus died and rose

again?

That he's a seated in

heaven?

He's alive and he rules

and he reigns?

Believe it.

Secondly, live it.

Live in the light of

this resurrection.

What I mean by this is

this.

If you're a Christian, and

I know not all of us

would be Christians, but

if you are a Christian

today, live as exiles or

pilgrims in this world.

In other words, the

Bible says, and Jesus

says again and again, if

you're a Christian, this

world is not your home.

Your ultimate home is in

heaven and live as

pilgrims or exiles in

this world.

We looked at it earlier

in verse 10.

Jesus says, go and tell

my disciples that I am

going ahead of them into

Galilee.

There you will see me.

Go and meet me there.

Well, it reminds me of

John chapter 14 where

John 14 · chapter mention

Jesus says, believe in

God, believe in me.

In my Father's house are

many rooms.

I am going ahead of you

to prepare a way for

you.

I will come again and

take you to myself that

you may be where I am

also.

Jesus again and again and

again says that the life

of a Christian is one who

lives away from our home.

That this world is not our

home.

We are exiles and pilgrims

here.

We live in this world

knowing that our

resurrection glory is

ultimate reality.

And so that means that

Christians are not those

who put all their stock

or their hope or their

confidence in this world

because our real world,

our real home is coming.

In our call to worship

this morning that Karen

read for us, one of the

greatest verses in the

Bible, 1 Peter chapter 1

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

says this, blessed be the

God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ.

He says, according to his

great mercy, he has caused

us to be born again to a

living hope through the

resurrection of Jesus, to

a hope that can never

perish, spoil or fade, kept

in heaven for you.

Friends, I want to ask you

this morning, are you living

with living hope?

Is the living hope of the

resurrection of Jesus true

for your life and your

heart?

Are you living in light of

that?

Friends, do you live with a

hope, a concrete hope

through COVID, through

economic uncertainty?

When your stock portfolio

loses 30% in one year

because of everything that's

going on, do you live with

hope?

A hope that is

circumstance defying.

A hope that is, that that

goes through the ups and

downs of life.

A hope that nothing in this

world can touch or dilute or

take away from you.

Jesus says because he died and

rose again, we get to live

with living hope.

In the New Testament, the

Apostle Paul says that because

of Christ's death and

resurrection, he gets to

embrace suffering and

hardship.

He says, just as Christ died

and rose again, I will embrace

his sufferings knowing that I

will die and rise again.

Friends, are you able to

embrace hardship, suffering,

knowing that the resurrection of

Jesus means you will rise with

him again?

Moreover, friends, are we

worshippers?

In verse 9, when Mary and the

other Mary see Jesus, it says

they fell down and they

worshipped him.

In verse 17, when the disciples

see Jesus, they fall down and

they worship him.

Friends, I want to ask you, is

the quality of our worship based

on how well the musicians play on

a Sunday?

Is it based on whether we like

the songs or not?

Sometimes I don't like the

songs.

I don't know if I'm allowed to

admit that.

But friends, even if the songs

aren't great songs, even if the

musicians are having a bad day,

can we worship?

Can we worship?

Because Jesus has died and

risen again.

Because he's alive and he reigns

in heaven.

And before Jesus, at the right

hand of God the Father, all

creation will bow down and say,

worthy are you, the lamb that

was slain, to receive honor and

glory and power and authority.

Worthy are you to receive our

worship because you died for our

sins and you were raised for our

justification.

Friends, live in light of the

resurrection.

Live with living hope.

Live with certainty and

conviction.

Live with embracing suffering and

hardship and persecution and even

laying down your life.

live as a worshiper of Jesus.

Live in light of the resurrection.

And then finally, proclaim it.

Proclaim the hope of the

resurrection.

We're going to look at it next

week in our final sermon, sermon

number 58 in the book of Matthew.

Over five years, we're going to

look at it.

But look at briefly verse 6 of our

passage here.

The angels say to Mary and Mary 1 and

Mary 2, come and see the place where

Jesus lay.

Then go and tell his disciples that he

has risen from the dead.

Jesus sees them a few verses later and

he says, do not be afraid.

Go and tell my disciples to go to

Galilee and there they will see me.

Friends, this city of Hong Kong is the

greatest city in the world.

It really is.

If you're from outside of town, I know

your city is the second best city.

This is the greatest city in the

world.

But one of the things about our city, it

is starved for hope.

It is desperate for hope.

And our city of seven and a half

million people longing for hope.

Friends, can we be agents of hope for

our city?

Our city is longing for circumstance

defying hope.

A hope that will carry us through the

next storm.

The next pandemic.

The next economic downturn.

The next tragedy.

And those of us that are Christians

live with living hope.

Resurrection hope.

That come what may, we will die and we

will rise again.

And we will live in our home where

there will be no more tears.

No more suffering.

No more agony.

The world will pass away and all things

will be made new.

And friends, our city is desperate for

this hope.

Can we proclaim it?

Can we go into our universities and our

schools and our city and our apartment

blocks and tell of the hope and the

wonder of Jesus?

Friends, if you're a Christian this morning,

don't keep this message to yourself.

Don't keep this to yourself.

Do what Jesus tells you to do.

Come and see where he died and he rose

again.

But then go and tell our city the message

of hope.

Friends, in the latter part of his life,

Cyril Edwin Joad came back to the faith

that he once abandoned as an Oxford student.

He came to see, as Matthew wants him to see,

not the physical body of Jesus,

but he came to see the testimony of Matthew,

Mark, and Luke, and John.

That they record the historical facts

that Jesus died and rose again.

He came to have certainty and conviction

and confidence in the resurrection of Jesus.

That Jesus, the Son of God,

died on Calvary for our sins

and was raised for our justification.

That we might live with him forevermore.

Friends, do you believe it?

Do you live it?

Are you able to proclaim it?

Let's pray together.

Jesus, this morning we hear the words of Matthew.

We don't just want to hear it,

we want to see it.

That Jesus, you really did die

and you really did rise again.

That God is the Apostle Paul says

that if this is not true,

our faith is a farce,

our beliefs are delusional,

our hope is baseless.

But God, this morning we have confidence,

we have conviction,

we have certainty

that this is not just a message

to make us feel good,

it's not just something

to help us get through our lives,

it is true,

it is historical,

it's accurate,

it is real.

Jesus, I pray,

won't you send us out this morning

into the great city of Hong Kong

and cause us, God,

to live with hope

and certainty and conviction.

God, help us to see it,

to know it,

to believe it,

and to live in light of it.

We pray this in your good

and your gracious name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.