The Stone Rolled Away – The Trophy
April 15, 2001
Matt 28:2
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.
As the holy women went towards the sepulcher in the twilight of the morning, desirous to embalm the body of Jesus, they recollected that the huge stone at the door of the tomb would be a great impediment in their way, and they said one to another,
Mk 16:3
"Who shall roll us away the stone?"
i. In man’s path of happiness lies a hug rock, which completely blocks up the road
ii. Who among men can remove the barrier?
iii. Generation to generation…man have buried their dead…the sepulcher (grave), becoming their prison of no escape
iv. The women
1. The Three Difficulties
A. The Stone was huge, it was stamped with a seal of the law and it was guarded by the representatives of power
a. To man, there are also 3 difficulties…
b. Death itself is a huge stone that no one could move
c. That death was evidently sent of God as a penalty of offense against, His Law
d. The red seal of God’s vengeance was set upon that sepulcher’s mouth – how could that seal be broken?
i. Who could roll the stone away?
B.
2. Let The Stone Preach
A. First, the stone rolled must evidently be regarded as the door of the sepulcher
Removed
a. Death’s house was firmly secured by a huge stone…the angel removed it
b. AND THE LIVING CHRIST COME OUT OF IT
c. The massive door was taken away from the grave…it wasn’t just merely pushed open…but it was unhinged, flung aside, rolled away
i. That means from that day on…death’s prison-house is without a door
ii. You and I will may pass in, but WE SHALL NOT BE SHUT IN
Judg 16:3
(Samson)… took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
2A. The Grave Exposed
a. He left the Philistine stronghold open and exposed…and so was with
Jesus…that rose from the dead…took hold of the prison bars of death and
tore them apart
b. It is an outward picture of Jesus plucking up the gates of the grave
- Removing post, bar, and all – and exposing death and hell and leaving it as a city stormed and taken
3A. The Freed Hostage
a. Remember, Jesus was committed to the grave as a hostage
1 Cor 15:3
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
b. Like a debt they were imputed (charged) on Him
c. He discharged the debt of obligation due from us to God, on the cross
i. He suffered to the fullest – and was confined in the tomb as a hostage until His work should be fully accepted
ii. His coming forth was the evidence of acceptance…and that coming forth would become our justification
Rom 4:25
25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
4A. “It is Finished”
a. If He had not full paid the debt He would have remained in the grave
b. If Jesus had not made effectual, total, final atonement, He must have
continued captive
c. But It was done…when the words left His lips, “It is finished”…Jesus was set free…and defeated death and hell…the stone was rolled away
d. The work of salvation is perfect…the prison doors are no more
B. It was a Trophy Set Up
a. The world loves to honor men by building monuments for them
- Washington Monument, Lincoln memorial
- They love giving trophies – MVP
b. But the greatest monument…the Greatest Trophy is the stone rolled away
c. It is a monument of Christ’s victory over death and hell
i. And it becomes us to remember that His victory was achieved for us
ii. And the fruits of it is ours…We have to fight with sin, but Christ has overcome it
iii. We are tempted by Satan: Christ has given Satan a defeat
iv. As we struggle through a trial…a storm…we need to remember the stone rolled away…the trophy that displays Christ’s victory for us
C. The Third use of the Stone, observe that here is a foundation laid
a. This is our faith…this is the Gospel…this is our salvation…this is our
foundation
b. This is the key-stone of Christianity…take that away and there would be
nothing
c. If He had just died on the Cross, then…
1 Cor 15:17-18
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
2C. This Is Our Hope
a. It was documented…there were many witnesses…He is risen
b. This is our hope this morning…that if we stand on this truth…
Matt 16:18
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
c. But if you are building on something else, religion, self, worldly…it shall all crumble in the end
D. Here is Rest Provided
a. That seems to be what the angel is teaching us as he sits on the stone
b. How leisurely the resurrection took place…how noiselessly
c. There was not parade…no trumpets…no processions…just the rolling away of the stone
Luke 24:5-6
"Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 "He is not here, but is risen!
i. “It is finished” - “It is finished”
2D. Come and Rest
a. This is rest…the angel is saying…come and rest
b. We are safe in the arms of the resurrected Christ…it’s safe there, it is restful
there
Matt 11:28
28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Gen 29:1-3
1 So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.
2 And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth.
3 Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.
c. They rolled the great stone away and water would begin to flow and feed the flocks
John 4:14
14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
3. That Stone Was A Boundary Appointed
A. Between the Living and the Dead
a. Don’t you see it ? Look then, there it lies, and the angel sits upon it.
b. On that side what see you? The guards affrighted, stiffened with fear, like dead men.
c. On this side what see you? The timid trembling women, to whom the angel softly speaks,
Mt 28:5
"Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus"
d. You see, then, that stone became the boundary between the living and the
dead, between the seekers and the haters, between the friends and the foes
of Christ.
B. He Became an Offense to The Unbeliever
a. To his enemies his resurrection is "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence" <1 Pet 2:8>;
b. Some will mock…but to His people, the resurrection is the headstone of the corner
c. It is our triumph and it is our joy…it becomes our victory over sin and death
d. It acts in the same manner as the pillar which Jehovah God placed between Israel and Egypt
i. It was darkness to Egypt, but it gave light to Israel
C. We Can Do All Things
a. And because of the resurrection, you and I can “Do all things through Christ
who strengthens me.”
1 Cor 15:55-57
55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isa 53:5
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
