Thank you so much for joining us this morning for our annual Resurrection Sunday Sunrise Service. Every year as we approach the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, I always enjoy going back and reading the Biblical accounts of all the activity that was going on in connection with the only historical event that we can truly claim changed the course of history forever. Like many of you, I’ve read those accounts so many times that I am absolutely convinced of the historical fact of the resurrection. In fact, my guess is that most of you probably wouldn’t be here this morning if you weren’t one of the 80% of Americans that believe that Jesus did rise from the dead early on that Sunday morning nearly 2,000 years ago.
But what has convinced me of the truth of the resurrection is not necessarily the eyewitness accounts of those who were there, it is not the other historical accounts of that era that confirm it, it is not even the abundant scientific evidence that supports the fact that Jesus did indeed die on that cross, was buried and rose from the dead. What really convinces me of the reality of the resurrection is how it completely transformed the lives of those who experienced the resurrection firsthand.
Charles Colson, was a former aide to President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. He served time in prison for his involvement in the cover-up. In March 2002, he wrote these words in his Breakpoint commentary:
Watergate involved a conspiracy to cover up, perpetuated by the closest aids to the President of the United States—the most powerful men in America, who were intensely loyal to their president. But one of them, John Dean, turned states evidence, that is, testified against Nixon, as he put it, "to save his own skin"—and he did so only two weeks after informing the president about what was really going on—two weeks! The real cover-up, the lie, could only be held together for two weeks, and then everybody else jumped ship in order to save themselves. Now, the fact is that all that those around the President were facing was embarrassment, maybe prison. Nobody’s life was at stake.
But what about the disciples? Twelve powerless men, peasants really, were facing not just embarrassment or political disgrace, but beatings, stonings, execution. Every single one of the disciples insisted, to their dying breaths, that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the dead.
Don’t you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the authorities? None did.
You see, men will give their lives for something they believe to be true—they will never give their lives for something they know to be false.
So each Easter, when I begin to develop my message, I really like to focus on the lives of those who experienced the resurrection firsthand and see how it supernaturally impacted their lives. Two years ago, I focused on Mary, and how when Jesus appeared to her in the garden and spoke her name, it required her to respond to the resurrection. Last year, I looked at how the resurrection provided the power to completely transform the life of Peter from an impetuous loudmouth to one of the pillars of the early church.
This year I’m going to take a little wider focus and contrast how several different people and groups of people responded to the resurrection. I’m convinced that these various responses provide us with a very good picture of how people still respond to the resurrection today. And as we take a brief look at each of these responses, I want to encourage you to think about where you fit among these four groups.
I’m going to begin reading this morning in Matthew 27, as we pick up with the account of the activities that took place the morning after the crucifixion.
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ’After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first." "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Matthew 27:62-66 (NIV)
The first response we’re going to look at this morning is the reaction of the religious leaders who had been instrumental in the crucifixion of Jesus. They represent my first possible response to the resurrection:
1. I can try to deny the resurrection
It’s really interesting to me that out of all the people involved with Jesus, the group that was most concerned about the resurrection was not His disciples, but rather the religious leaders who had been instrumental in the movement to have Jesus executed on the cross. And their approach to the resurrection was to try to keep it from happening. They wanted to deny the resurrection.
I don’t know if you see the humor in that or not, but I think God must have. Can’t you just see God looking down from heaven, watching the priests and Pharisees going to Pilate and seeing Pilate issuing orders, observing as the soldiers strained to roll the stone in front of the entrance of the tomb and then sealed it with the seal of the Roman Empire and then stood guard to make sure that nothing happened? Can you imagine the God who spoke the universe into existence being thwarted by a mere stone in front of a tomb, or a seal made of wax and rope or by a few Roman soldiers armed with swords & spears?
But no matter how hard those religious leaders may have tried to deny it:
• The stone couldn’t stop the resurrection
• The seal couldn’t stop the resurrection
• The soldiers couldn’t stop the resurrection.
There are still those today who try to deny the resurrection.
• Some deny that the resurrection ever happened. They come up with all kinds of theories to try to disprove the resurrection. We’ll look at one of those in just a moment. But a careful consideration of every one of those theories finds that they just don’t hold water. We can no more deny the fact of the resurrection today than the religious leaders could nearly 2,000 years ago.
• But is seems that there are many more who accept the fact of the resurrection, but deny its significance and power. They believe that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, but they deny that His death and resurrection provide the only means for their sins to be forgiven and make it possible for them to have a personal relationship with God. Recent polls indicate that around 80% of the American people believe that the Biblical account of the resurrection is literally true. And yet, at the same time, nearly 80% also believe that it is possible to attain salvation based on our own works even though the Bible is clear that only our trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus provides that salvation.
Let’s pick up our account in the following chapter of Matthew with the next appearance of the soldiers and the religious leaders:
While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, ’His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
Matthew 28:11-15 (NIV)
As I read this portion of the account, there appear to be two more possible responses to the resurrection that are described:
2. I can be distracted about the resurrection
The soldiers, in particular, were distracted from the reality and the significance of the resurrection. Even though they had been eyewitnesses of the most important event in the history of mankind they failed to recognize the significance of the resurrection.
There were probably some very good reasons for the Roman soldiers to be distracted. First, they had failed in their duties. They had been sent by these religious leaders, under the authority of Pilate, to try to prevent the resurrection, and having been eyewitnesses of the fact that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, they feared for their own welfare. From historical records, and from other Biblical accounts, we know that the penalty for falling asleep on their watch and not fulfilling their mission was death.
And then there was the money. Even though the religious leaders had been able to bribe Judas to betray Jesus with only 30 pieces of silver, it took a much more substantial amount to convince the soldiers to spread this false story that the disciples had come and stolen the body while they were asleep. There are many reasons why we can be sure the story that was spread by those soldiers was false. Roman historical records tell us that a Roman guard unit normally consisted of 16 soldiers. Typically, four men would be on guard at a time while the other twelve slept in a semi-circle around the men on duty. The men would rotate in four hour shifts. For someone to slip past the guard, he would have to get past the sleeping men and then get past the men on duty.
So even thought they had been witnesses of the resurrection, these soldiers were distracted by the fear of how that might affect them as well as the bribe they were given.
Even today there are a lot of people who have been distracted from the real significance of the resurrection. To them, Easter is all about activity. There are Easter outfits to buy, eggs to be colored and hidden, meals to be prepared, and even church services to be attended. So many people are so busy and distracted that they don’t have time to really focus on what the resurrection means. They may talk about it, even pay homage to it, but its meaning never registers. They have too many other things on their mind.
There is one other possible response to the resurrection that we find in this portion of Matthew’s account:
3. I can be deceived about the resurrection
The story which the religious leaders concocted and convinced the soldiers to spread was obviously intended to deceive others about the truth of the resurrection. In fact, by the time that Matthew wrote his gospel, probably more that 20 years after the resurrection, that story was still being circulated among the Jews.
We’ve already discussed some of the reasons that this story could not have possibly been true. Certainly all 16 soldiers in the in the Roman guard would not have fallen asleep. Even if they had, the commotion of the disciples trying to move the stone would have awakened them. Besides, the evidence suggests that there is no way they disciples would have even attempted such a maneuver. Other than John, who was with Mary at the crucifixion, the rest of the disciples had all run off and were in hiding, fearing that they would suffer the same fate as Jesus.
We’ve already seen that the religious leaders tried to deny the resurrection, but they were also deceived about the fact and the significance of the resurrection because of their own selfish interests. Not only did they despise Jesus because He had frequently pointed out their hypocrisy and selfishness, but they also realized that if Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, they were going to lose much of the power and influence that they held over the people.
I think that one of the reasons so many people are deceived about the resurrection, especially its significance, even today is because of their own selfish interests. As we’ll see in a moment, the only proper response to the resurrection requires us to give up the control of our life to Jesus. And a lot of people just aren’t willing to do that and so they allow themselves, much like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, to be deceived about the resurrection. They try to convince themselves that they will be much better off if they maintain control of their own lives and live in a way that satisfies their own selfish desires. But that’s the oldest and biggest deception of all. Remember how the evil one deceived Adam and Eve in Genesis 3?
"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God...”
Genesis 3:5 (NIV)
The most dangerous deception we face as humans is this idea that we are capable of being our own God and running our own lives and that we can do a better job of that than God Himself.
Let’s go back now and finish with Matthew’s account by reading about the other events which were sandwiched in between the two accounts that involved the religious leaders and the soldiers:
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ’He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you." So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Matthew 28:1-10 (NIV)
In this passage we find the fourth, and only proper, response to the resurrection.
4. I can delight in the resurrection
The first people, other than the Roman soldiers, to learn of the resurrection were the two Marys. From the other Biblical accounts, we know that the stone has already been rolled away by the time they arrived at the tomb early that morning. They certainly weren’t expecting a resurrection since Mark records that they had purchased burial spices which they intended on putting on Jesus’ body.
You can imagine how frightened the women must have been upon seeing the angel and realizing that the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb. But once they realized that Jesus had risen from the grave, just as He had promised, they were filled with joy and ran, not walked, to share the news with the disciples. And then when Jesus met them along the way, they fell at His feet in submission and worshipped Him.
Those two women delighted in the resurrection, not only because Jesus was alive, but because they realized the significance of that event. They remembered the words of Jesus, who had claimed that he would rise from the grave to prove His power over sin and death and they now knew for sure that what he had proclaimed was true. And so they rejoiced and they humbled themselves at the feet of Jesus in a symbolic act that demonstrated them giving up control of their lives to Him.
I believe, based on what we find in the Biblical accounts, that the two Marys made Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives at that very moment. Their delight was demonstrated by their willingness to give up control of their own lives and hand that control over to Jesus.
In a gathering this large, there are no doubt people here this morning who have responded to the resurrection of Jesus in each of the four ways we have described this morning. For some of you, you have responded with delight and have put Jesus in control of your life and made Him your Lord as well as your Savior. And if that is the case, then I invite you this morning to delight in the resurrection once again and thank God for the abundant, eternal life that He has made available to you through your faith and trust in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
But it is also likely that some of you have come here this morning and you would honestly have to say that you have not responded with delight. Perhaps you would have to admit that you are one of the people who have been denying the resurrection. Or perhaps you’ve always believed in the fact of the resurrection, but you’ve tried to deny the power of the resurrection to change your life.
There may be some of you here this morning who have been distracted when it comes to the resurrection. It’s not just the busyness of all the Easter preparations that have distracted you, but the demands of just living your live on a day-to-day basis have kept you from really thinking about the significance of the resurrection for your life.
Or for some of you, you would honestly have to say that you’ve been deceived about the resurrection. You’ve bought hook, line and sinker the lie that you are capable of directing your own life better than God can do it, so you’ve failed to give control of your life over to Him.
Or, maybe there is some combination of denial, distraction and deception that has kept you from delighting in the resurrection. I can honestly say that is exactly where I was for much of my life. I was certainly guilty of responding to the resurrection in all those ways. And if that is where you are at this morning, I want to invite you to respond to the resurrection with delight by making Jesus your Savior and the Master of your life. That journey begins with delighting in the fact that Jesus did indeed arise from the dead that first Easter morning. It requires that you admit that you’ve done a pretty poor job of trying to run your own life and giving control of your life up to Jesus. And it requires in trusting in the resurrection of Jesus Christ alone as the basis for your relationship with God.
If you would like to begin that journey this morning, there is a place on the flap of your bulletin where you can check the box that reads “I would like to learn how to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”. Just check that box, fill out the contact information and either hand it to me or place it in one of the baskets after the service this morning and we’ll be in contact with you this week to set up a time to discuss that in more detail with you.
How will you respond to the resurrection this morning? With:
• Denial
• Distraction
• Deceit
• Delight?
