Seeing What You Want To See!
9:30 Easter 4/11/93 Text Matt 28:11-18 Matt. 27:57-28:11
RICK
We all have tremendous power to see what we want to see even though everyone else around else may see something differently.
We all know of someone who has fallen in love, and talk about the
person as though the he or she was more precious than silver or
gold. Yet when we meet the person face to face, "we just can’t
see what all the fuss was about." Two people can look at the
same person and one will the see the person of his or her dream,
and the other will see a good for nothing bag of headaches,
heartache and pain.
TOBY
Even when it comes to the truth of God’s word, our own stub
bornness will cause us to see only what we want to see. Out
text this morning involves a group of people who saw the truth
and power of the gospel, yet they did not see it, because they
did not want to see it. Turn to Matthew 28 verse 11. The text
is the day of the resurrection. What makes this text so powerful
is that , it’s a group that does not believe in Jesus Christ,
that testifies that Jesus had risen from the dead as our Scrip
ture reading pointed out.
RICK
Verse 11 says, "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." Now you may recall, the chief
priests had requested that the guards be posted on at the tomb,
and that a seal be put over the tomb to make sure that the disci
ples did not come to try and steal the body of Jesus in order to
fake that Jesus had risen from the dead. The chief priest had
listened to Jesus well enough to know that Jesus had predicted,
in three days I will rise again.
TOBY
It’s ironic that God uses these same guards to come and
proclaim to the chief priest the news they did not want to hear.
There was a violent earthquake, an angel came down and threw away
that huge bolder and declared that Jesus had risen from the dead
just like he said. Not only that, Jesus is going to appear in
Galilee. Do you see the first people to proclaim the message of
the resurrection in Jerusalem itself were Roman soldiers. They
had no reason to lie about what Jesus had done.
RICK
As a matter of fact, it would have been better for them if
they had of lied. If you lost a prisoner, then you would become a
prisoner in the prisoner’s place. After all, who would believe
such a story. Now God knew if the women who Jesus first ap
peared to had told the story to the chief priest, the chief
priest would have laughed and call them silly women with misguid
ed hopes and dreams. Hoping against hope. But with these Roman
soldiers declaring that Jesus had risen from the dead, this had
to be taken much more seriously.
TOBY
Look at Matthew verse 12. " When the chief priest had met
with the elders and they devised a a plan." Now you would have
thought the leaders would have been glad to hear that God had
sent his Messiah, Savior, into the world. That now God’s people
know God’s peace. If you recalled, these leaders had
offered Jesus a deal or contract when he was on the cross. They
had said, "If you are the king of Isreal, then come down of the
cross and we will believe."
RICK
Well now they have the evidence. He’s done more than come
down of the Christ. He has risen from the dead and He is alive.
No other leader before or since Christ has said "kill me in front
of the world to see, and in three days I will come back to life."
Now that they have the proof, are these people going to keep
their promise and start to believe. We can answer that from our
own experience. How many of us have made similar contracts with
God? God if you get me through this sickness, this job, this
test, this problem , I’ll do this and that for the rest of my
life.
TOBY
The story is told of a man who was way out in the middle of
a lake and his boat began to sink. He was about a mile from
shore and the water was choppy. He prayed Lord if I make it, I’ll
be in church every Sunday and at Bible study every Wednesday.
I’ll sing in the choir like you want me to. God I need your help.
Half way there he prayed again, Lord If I make it I’ll be in
Church every Sunday and I’m going to sing in that choir. Just
help me Lord. Quarter of the way to go, Lord, If I make it, I say
on my mother’s grave, I’ll be in Church every Sunday. Just a
little more help. We He got to where the water was shallow
enough to walk, he said Lord, I did a fine job of swimming, and I
promise I will be in church every Easter from now until I die
Rick
The chief priests and leaders have the truth of God’s word
staring them in the face from a trustworthy and reliable source.
They have been educated at to the truth of Jesus’s resurrection.
Their education should have led them to one course of action.
They should fall on their faces and knees, confess the hardness
of their hearts and seek the forgiveness of God. They are now
without excuse, for they know that Jesus is who He said he was.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not some story made up by
the disciples. It was historic fact reported by those who didn’t
even believe in Him.
TOBY
But people who want to continue in their own lifestyles,
will always discover reasons for not believing truths they wish
to repudiate or deny. They can always invent difficulties,
discrepancies and new explanations. Today people do not want to
admit God created the universe. They would rather believe every
thing came out of a big bang. My friends when God created the
universe out of nothing, don’t you know that would have caused a
great bang. We all know that when two cars collide, you don’t
get a bunch of litter cars running around in perfect order, you
get a mess. Yet we will believe that a gigantic star exploded,
and out of it we got the order in the universe.
RICK
We see what we want to see. Evolution would have us believe
a roach, a snake, and elephant, a person, and a whale all came
from the same great great great grandparents. It’s easier for me
believe that God created the roach a roach, the snake a snake,
the elephant a elephant, the person the person and the whale a
whale. We as Christians have nothing to be ashamed of in our
beliefs that God created this world as the Bible said. Even the
unbelievers in this text declare our greatest truth, and that’s
that Jesus rose from the dead.
TOBY
In our test, these leaders are in a position to be used by
God as never before. They know a truth that could turn the world
right side up. They could proclaim that Jesus is alive, and that
God has kept His promise to give us hope for changed lives and to
be made right with Him. There is one slight problem. They will
have to admit that they were wrong. about a lot of things. Some
times we know how hard it can be to have to admit when we were
wrong.
RICK
There’s something about us that just doesn’t want to come
right out and say, I was wrong. We’d rather say, you know, you
were right the other day when such and such happened. Most of us
will write a letter or send a gift rather than say I was wrong.
But saints there is a healing process that begins to take place
when we admit our sins and failures to one another. Our husband,
our wives, our children, our parents, our friends, and our God
need to hear us say, I was wrong.
TOBY
The chief priest and elders had thought they needed a mira
cle in order to believe in Christ. "Show us some miracle, to
prove you are from God they had said to him." But Jesus had said
before me, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they persuaded if someone rose from the dead." The
leaders never doubted the truth of the soldiers account. But not
even the plainest evidence will persuade willful disobedience and
blindness. I don’t know where the religious leaders took counsel,
because their plan of operation did not come from God. God’s
method by be harder, but it leads to healing restoration and
truth.
RICK
Instead of admitting their wrong, they choose to perpetuate
a lie, that would cause millions of peoples through the ages to
miss out on God’s greatest blessing to the world. The Scriptures
said, "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 sleep." How tragic. In order to main
tain their pride, and their control over the people’s lives, they
buried a message that could bring power into the people’s lives
that they had never known before. Easter is the realization that
because Jesus is alive, my life does not have to be what it used
to be.
TOBY
How strange it is that the lie they come up with, is the
same lie they feared the disciples would come up with three days
earlier. You can’t hide the truth of God with one lie, without
exposing it costing you something further down the road. First
the religious leaders had to pay money to Judas to betray Christ
in order to kill him. Now they have to pay the soldiers money to
keep quiet about him being alive all over again. But lies
leave as many questions as they do answers. If the soldiers were
sleep, who would they know who it was that stole the body.
RICK
Not only that, if they saw a theft taking place, why didn’t
they stop them. If they were asleep, how come the moving of the
sealed stone did not wake them up. If the disciples deserted
Jesus when he was alive, why would they turn around and risk
their lives for a dead body. You see the soldiers account was
so convincing, they could not come up with a lie to adequately
account for everything that had happened.
TOBY
Now the offer of money alone would not have been enough to
persuade the soldiers to spread this lie of sleeping on the job.
The penalty for falling asleep on duty was certain death. So the
religious leaders through in further cover up in verse 14 in
which they said, "If this report gets to the governor, we will
satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." It sounds as though
the leaders are ready to dish out some more money to ask the
governor Pilate to keep the soldiers out of trouble. This time
when the chief priest go before Pilate, they will not be able to
dismiss Jesus as easily as they had done at his trial.
RICK
That must have been some sight when they went back to admit
to Pilate that they might have been wrong about Jesus and obvi
ously Jesus was a little more than they had earlier stated. "Ahmm
, governor, it appears that Jesus might have risen from the dead,
but it’s best not to let this thing get out. After all, if Jesus
is alive he might come looking for you, because you did give the
order to crucify Him.
TOBY
Pilate kept this thing quiet but not totally. Historical
accounts by the historian Eusebius and confirmed by Tertullian,
tells us that Pilate sent an account of the matter to Tiberius
Ceasar. As a result, Tiberius got the Senate to pass a decree
enrolling Jesus in the list of the Roman gods. It appears that
Pilate wanted to be on the safe side if possible.
RICK
The Scriptures state in verse 15: " 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." Lies have a
way of spreading 10 times faster than truth, especially when they
are the lies we want to hear and want to believe. These soldiers
were witnesses of one of the greatest acts in all of human histo
ry. Yet they sold out for a few dollars, and in so doing, they
led many down the road to hell and destruction. Not only that,
they robbed many people, of the chance to experience the grace
and wonder of God in their lives.
TOBY
Have you ever though about what your price may be that will
cause you to walk away from the truth of the gospel? What is
that Satan would offer you? For many of us, the price is not
money, but for some of us it is. We should at least be aware of
what our weaknesses are so that we can actively work to avoid
falling into Satan’s trap. Otherwise when temptation is before
us, we will see only what we want to see, rather than seeing the
truth of the word of God.
RICK
It’s easy to say, well if had been there and seen it all for
myself, then I would believe it. Funny thing how the soldiers
were then and did not believe, the chief priests were there and
did not believe, and even the disciples where there and did not
believe. We have seen God work in the lives of others, and at
times in our own lives, yet find ourselves not believing. If we
think God is going to prove himself to us beyond all reasonable
doubt time and time again, we are sadly mistaken. The Bible
teaches that we are called to walk by faith, not by what we can
always see.
TOBY
Sometimes we must see things that are not as though they
were, in order to reach God’s goal for our lives. At other times
we must see thing that are, as they were not, in order to be
victorious. If God did everything we asked of Him, that’s no
guarantee that we would yield our hearts to Him and to serve Him
faithfully to the end. Jesus never placed a premium on sight.
He chastised Thomas saying, "Thomas you believe only because you
have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.
RICK
The facts are these. Jesus rose from the dead on Easter
morning. Neither Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or any other leader
has claimed to have risen from the dead. Jesus said, "I am the
way, the truth and the life. No one comes to God except through
me. When Jesus rose from the dead, he proved that He could back
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up his claim to be the Son of God. There is no other means by
which we can be saved. The power of the resurrection is here
this morning not only to cleanse you from sin, but to give you a
new start in life. God wants to open doors in our lives that we
have never gone through before. Yet He allows us to see what it
is that we want to see. I challenge you, to see the power He has
in store for your life
