The Resurrection of Christ - Matthew Series

Our church has been studying the book of Matthew and now we come to Matthew 28:1-15. I will post the text verses followed by the notes I took during the church service. Pastor Ben was our speaker.

Matthew 28:1-15 ( from biblegateway.com )

 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Now to the notes I took:

The Resurrection of Jesus - What does this mean for us today? What relevance does it have for our lives?

If there was no resurrection, the message of the cross would be meaningless. We would still be stuck in our sins.

BUT Jesus is alive, He has been raised from the dead.

We can experience His presence in our lives today!

Jesus says that He is with us always to the end of the age.

 Matthew 28:20  and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

The Christian life being in relationship with Jesus - inviting Jesus to be present in our lives, we experience Him, He loves us and we love Him.

He is always there for me.

Who in our Bible passage got to experience this relationship with Jesus?

Mary and the other Mary did.

The guards do not - they saw the empty tomb but they did not experience the presence of Jesus. The guards are not open to see what God is doing.

It is by the grace of God that we can experience this with Jesus - 

Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast.

The Lord Jesus is alive. He is present with us!

He is our LORD - we honor Him when we use the title - LORD Jesus.

Revelation 19:16  - And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.

The resurrection confirms this - there is no other Saviour or Lord, our LORD Jesus is the only One.

Romans 10:9 -  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Surrender to the LORD Jesus.

Jesus is LORD, there is no other!