Easter Sunday at Portland Gospel - City Church

All right, if you want to turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

28, Matthew chapter 28, we're going to read 1 through 16.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

So follow along with you. Matthew 28, one through 16.

The Bible says in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn

toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and

the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

And behold, there was a great earthquake.

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

and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white

as snow. And for fear of Him the keepers

did shake, and became as dead men.

And the Angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for

I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified.

He is not here, for He has risen as he has said.

Come see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and

tell his disciples that He has risen from the dead.

And behold, he go with before you into Galilee.

There shall you see him. Lo, I have told you.

And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and

great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word.

And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met

them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by

the feed, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be

not afraid, Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and

there shall they see me. Now when they were going,

behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed under

the chief priests all the things that were done.

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

counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say,

His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

And if this come to the governor's ear, we will persuade

him and secure you. So they took the money and did

as they were taught. And this saying is commonly

reported among the Jews unto this day.

Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain

where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they

worshipped him. But some doubted.

We begin our story with the inquiry at the sepulchre.

If you're taking notes, we're starting with point #1 the

inquiry at the sepulchre. It says in verse one in the end

of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the

week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

We know that these ladies were bringing spices, that they were

coming to anoint Jesus body for his burial.

They were expecting to find a tomb with a rock in front of it

and a body inside of it. And that is not what they're

going to experience. They're going to experience

something totally different. One commentator says it this

way. Oh, this is, I guess I have a

couple pictures of, you know, maybe help you imagine in your

mind what these moments might have looked like.

They were coming early on Sunday morning with spices.

And one commentator said it this way.

They were the first people to come to the empty tomb, the

first to learn Jesus was alive, the 1st to see Him alive, and

the 1st to tell the good news of His resurrection.

These ladies are the first witnesses, the first mouthpieces

of something so great that God had done.

So I put it to you this way, finding Jesus starts with what

you already know. They didn't know that he had

risen from the dead. They just said, what's the next

right thing to do? I guess we'll go anoint his

body. We'll take the spices.

Let's go prepare him. Let's be respectful.

He was a great rabbi. I don't understand how he's

dead. But we're just going to do the

next right thing. So if you don't know what to do,

if you don't fully understand your faith, you can do what you

already know to do is right. That usually is enough for us,

our conscience and what we know of of the word of God.

We simply just need to do what we know and that's how we find

Jesus is they're going to be able to be blessed by this

experience. Secondly, we find the revealing

of the empty tomb, revealing the empty tomb.

As you could imagine, to their surprise they came expecting,

they asked, how are we even going to open the tomb when we

get there and they show up and they're like, what's going on?

Verses 2 to 4 And behold, there was a great earthquake.

For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came

and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.

His countenance was like lightning in his raiment, white

as snow. And for fear of him the keepers

did shake and became as dead men.

So there's a bit of a back story here.

We saw this on Friday night. If you go backwards into Matthew

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

chapter 27 and read in starting in verse 62, we see these

keepers appear in verse 62. Now the next day that that

followed, the day of the preparation, the chief priests

and Pharisees came on together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we

remember that this deceiver said, while he was yet alive,

after three days I will rise again.

Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the

third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him

away, and say unto the people, he is risen from the dead.

So the last error shall be worse than the first.

Then in verse 65 it says, Pilate said unto them, You have a

watch, go make your way, Make it as sure as you can.

So the, the Pharisees, the, the religious elite that had Jesus

crucified, wanted to ensure that nobody was going to mess with

the body and, and, and fabricate some story because they all knew

he said he was going to die and rise again.

And now we find in verses 2 to 4 of Matthew 28, these people,

they're called keepers. They were protecting this tomb.

We find them freaking out. It says as dead men.

In verse 4, it says there was an earthquake, that there was an

Angel they were able to see in verse 3.

His countenance was like lightning, his raim and his

white as snow. So if you could just imagine the

brightest, most terrifying thing that you could ever see in your

life and the natural response, most of the time when people in

the Bible see angels and understand that it's an Angel is

that they fall flat on the ground.

They understand I'm in the presence of the supernatural.

This is I don't belong here. This is beyond me, and I find it

interesting. It says at the end of verse 2

that this Angel sat upon the rock.

This tombstone was open and he's just like, chilling, you know,

kicking back on the top of the rock.

Like, OK, I dare you to try to come and move it.

I'm here. And they became as dead men.

That's pretty scary stuff to see the supernatural.

This is the normal response to the natural man experiencing the

supernatural. But there's a message here we

see in verses 5 to 7. This Angel has something to say.

He says. Then the angels answered and

said unto the the woman, The women, fear not ye, for I know

that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

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

where he lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has

risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you

into Galilee. There, shall you see him?

LO, I have told you so. The angels really are the first

ones to proclaim the resurrection.

He's not here. This is good news, they said.

This news, this message in verse 5.

Fear not. You don't have to be afraid.

There isn't a great contrast. We'll come back to these

soldiers at the end of our story.

There's a great contrast between the people basically dead on the

ground and the believing women who were told not to fear.

This is the difference in the lost world and the saved world.

Christian people don't have to fear.

The resurrection is for us. It says he was crucified.

He's not here, for he has risen. That is the gospel, the death,

burial and resurrection. That is good news that causes

us, as read out of Romans 5, not to fear.

What was it 55 it said hope maketh not ashamed.

Is that right? If you have hope in the

resurrection, I, I no longer have shame.

Jesus's blood has covered my sin.

I am right before God. I'm ransomed by my Father.

We sang in the Charity Gale song.

This is good news. The gospel is good news.

And check this out, this good news.

You're allowed to do the math. Verse 6.

Come see the place where the Lord lay.

See. Christianity is unlike any other

cult or religion. You can do the math.

Hey, look, where's Jesus? Is he in the tomb?

No. We our faith rests upon an empty

tomb with no body in it. There is no burial place.

There are no bones. There is no there's no material

of Jesus's body on this planet. If there was, we would have

nothing. We would not have a

resurrection. So you can do the math.

I think I put it to you that way in your notes.

You can do the math on Christianity.

If you have questions, if you're skeptical, if you don't

understand, it's OK man. If you seek the truth, you will

find the truth in Jesus Christ. He says this message to share it

with others in verse 7. Go quickly and tell His

disciples that He has risen from the dead.

This is the first command really to go and spread this to the

rest of the world. And that's what we're told as

Christians. And Mark 16.

Jesus says after his resurrection, his final marching

orders go into all the world and preach the gospel.

That is the duty of Christians. And we see that here even in

that first resurrection Sunday in verse 7.

It also says he goeth before you, there shall you see him.

And Christians have this hope that we will see Jesus.

He's not dead, He is risen, He is alive.

We expect to meet with him when we open the Word and commune

with him. We expect to meet with him when

we come to church and we're ministered to by his body.

But we also have a day when we'll see Him face to face.

There is no sting in death. First John chapter 3, the Bible

1 John 3 · chapter mention

says when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall

see him as he is. We're actually going to get to

see him just like was told by this Angel to this people on

this Easter Sunday. Next we see that they meet Jesus

in the way in verses 8 through 10 the Bible says.

And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and

great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word.

And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met

them saying, all hail. And they came and held him by

the feet and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be

not afraid. Go, tell my brethren that you go

into Galilee, and there shall you see me.

This is the the drastic change that's made these ladies

approached the tomb ready for burial and they leave as it says

here, they departed with great joy.

And that is the the change in the gospel.

What happens when we believe the gospel is that we now have great

joy and we're going to be able to see Jesus.

It says in verse 9, they held him by the feet and worshipped

him. So Can you imagine seeing

somebody that was dead for three days be alive again?

That'd be the freakiest, spookiest thing ever.

You'd be like, am I tripping? It must have been something in

the air. I'm walking around Portland, and

I inhaled something. I walk around the city all the

time, and I have a lost man's past.

And sometimes I catch a whiff and I'm like, whoa, man.

All right, that's all right. I got to shake that one off.

Wow. OK, But this is the right

response. I think I put it to you this way

in your notes. The right response to seeing

Jesus is to worship at his feet. By the way, Jesus does receive

worship here. The cults and false religions

that say Jesus is not a part of the triune God, that he's a

separate being like Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses, do not

worship Jesus. They worship the Father and they

say it's wrong to worship Jesus. But here we clearly see Jesus

and we'll see it again receiving worship.

He is the Lord. We see in Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

verse starting in verse 9. Wherefore God also hath highly

exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that

at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven,

things in earth, things under the earth, that every tongue

should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the

Father. That is the right response when

we see Jesus and understand who He is.

Another example of that, we won't go there, but Revelation

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 and starting in verse 12, you can see John the the guy

that wrote the Book of Revelation, see Jesus and he

falls on the ground and just says I'm not worthy.

He falls like a dead man. That's the right response, but

that's not everybody's response. The majority of Portland

especially is lost. The majority of the world is

lost straight as the gate and arrow as the way and there's

another group of people that cover up this story.

We don't want to hear that. We don't like this.

Remember we tried to get rid of this guy.

We said crucify him. His blood be upon us and our

children. That's what they said.

And in verses 11 to 15 we see this, this shady deal.

Verse 11. Now when they were they were

going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed

under the chief priests all the things that were done.

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

counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say

ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we

slept. And if this come to the

governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you.

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

And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until

this day. What we have is a bribe.

OK? You experienced a supernatural

act. There's no way to deny what

happened. And if we understand, based on

the Philippian jailer, what would happen to a Roman guard

who failed in his duty is that this would mean the end of their

life. So the chief priests say, let's

just develop a conspiracy. We'll pay off the governor.

We'll persuade him. We'll pay you.

And we're just going to act like none of this ever happened.

That's literally what happened. It's reported unto this day.

It says they're still, the Jews still reject the crucifixion,

the resurrection. The Muslims also reject the

crucifixion and the resurrection.

And we see here a group of men experience the supernatural and

reject it. They were on the ground as dead

men. There was no denying the

earthquake and the bright light, the empty tomb.

But instead they were paid off. In Matthew 16, Jesus says for

what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and

lose his own soul? What shall a man give in

exchange for his soul? And I would say however much

money that they were given that was in exchange, they chose to

deny the truth and receive payment for it.

Now I've been thinking about an example in our world today.

Can you think of 1? Somebody that's been paid off to

propagate a lie? I didn't want to be political or

anything. Come up with a modern 1.

So I've got 1 from 1919. How about that?

In 1919, at the 1919 World Series, 8 Chicago White Sox

baseball players intentionally lost the to the Cincinnati Reds

in exchange for a gambling bribe of $100,000.

Says it's nearly $1.5 million today.

People grew suspicious when the White Sox athletes started to

play uncharacteristically bad in the Best of 9 championship

series. A grand jury investigated the

scandalous allegations when the crooked players, dubbed the

Black Sox for their shady sports conduct, were indicted on 9

accounts of conspiracy. They said, I don't know why I

did it, Pitcher Eddie Something told the grand jury.

I needed the money. I had a wife and kids.

No Black. Not for you, Sir.

What? No, no.

We're just going to be poor. We'll be fine.

But that's how it works, he says.

I'm not. I don't even know why I did it.

My family needed the money. And we all get into these

difficult, awkward social settings and we discover, am I

going to compromise? Am I going to believe the truth?

Am I going to wholeheartedly follow Jesus?

So I put it to you this way in your notes, what is your number?

Is there enough to get you to deny Jesus?

What would it take? How much money, fame, pleasure,

joy, protection, safety. These Roman soldiers were

protected. Now if you.

Reject the truth. There is no hope for you.

There's no hope of a good life, and there's no hope of an

afterlife. That's that's really a bummer.

So let's move on to the next one.

All right, Verses 16 and 17, there's a picture of what maybe

that looked like. I don't know.

I'd love to do some better storytelling with visuals and

stuff. I'm working on it.

But in verses 16 and 17, we see that Jesus meets these two

disciples. There's a bit of a pause in the

story from verse 15 to verse 16 and verse 16.

Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain

where Jesus had appointed them, and when they saw him, they

worshipped him, but some doubted.

Now there are other events. If you have to put all four of

the Gospels together to get a complete picture of the

chronology of the resurrection and all of that, Matthew's

version is a bit shortened right here.

Nevertheless, we see Jesus meet his disciples in Galilee where

he told them that he would be with them, and then we see this

response. There's two responses.

So what will your response to the resurrection be?

The first one is in verse 17. When they saw him, they

worshipped him. But in verse 17, it goes on to

say but some doubted. So even then among the disciples

there was doubt. I'm not sure.

I don't know. And certainly what's happening

in this moment is a a brief statement to describe Thomas the

disciple. Are you familiar with that

story? They call him doubting Thomas.

I can relate to that. Obviously.

That's my name. But also, I have a skeptical,

analytical personality. It takes me a while to believe

things I don't trust. Well, I've really got to figure

things out to be able to hang my hat on them.

And if you go over to John's gospel in John chapter 20 in

John 20 · chapter mention

verse 29, let me see if I can flip over there and read a

couple more verses from that John chapter 20.

John 20 · chapter mention

Let's look at this doubt. John chapter 20, verse 24.

John 20:24

But Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus, was not with them when

Jesus came. The other disciples therefore

said unto him, We have seen the Lord.

But he said unto them, Except I see in his hands the print of

nails, and put my finger into the print of nails, and thrust

my hand into his side, I will not believe.

And after 8 days again his disciples were within, and

Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being

shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Then saith he to Jesus, Check this out, Jesus has Thomas's

number. Reach, hit her thy finger.

And behold, my hands reach, hit her thy hand, and thrust it into

my side. And be not faithless, but

believing. And Thomas answered and said

unto him, My Lord and my God, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,

because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.

Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.

So this doubt from Thomas, he should have believed the other

disciples. He had every reason.

He saw Jesus, he saw the miracles.

There was a report of an empty tomb.

He still couldn't believe it for himself.

And what Jesus says in John 20 and 29 is blessed are they that

have not seen and yet believed. That's us.

You have not seen the resurrected Christ.

If you have, you might have been doing those psychedelics or

something you you did not believe because you saw Jesus in

the flesh. You have faith.

That's what we are all required. If you're looking to see the

resurrected Christ, you're going to be waiting a long time.

You'll be waiting too long because the Bible says today

that you're by grace. Are you saved through faith?

It is impossible to walk with Jesus without faith because he

is currently ascended in heaven. We are currently here on the

earth. He's not physically manifesting

himself to every person. If you hear of stories about

that, there's probably some weird stuff going on.

So today, what is your response? Is it worship, singing, Rejoice,

man, thank you, Jesus, for the blood.

Or is it still doubt? I still have some questions.

And if you still have questions, it's OK.

Let's do the math. Let's study, let's pray, let's

seek the truth, let's open our hearts.

We'll work with you on that. That's totally all right.

But I want to give us a moment now to pray.

And maybe there's one of these things that you can relate to

the inquiry at the tomb. There's some people that came

sad but left rejoicing. Maybe you need to be encouraged.

The message of the Angel is good news.

Maybe we need to be bold to be able to share that with other

people. Maybe that response of worship

is I just need to surrender some stuff at his feet and say you're

the Lord. Maybe there's compromise to say

I I do have a number. I would rather have something

else, or maybe you would just have an honest doubt to say.

I want to believe, but I don't know how.

I want to give us about 30 seconds for you to pray.

Then I'll lead us in a prayer and we'll have another song.

So let's pray.