EMOTIONS OF THE RESURRECTION
MATTHEW 28:1-10
#Easter2023
INTRODUCTION
Human beings are emotional. Emotions involve our minds and our hearts and sometimes our bodies as well. We feel anger and our blood pressure goes up or our face gets red. We feel anticipation and our mind races and it is hard to concentrate and our palms are sweaty, knees weak and arms are heavy. We can feel awe when in a place or admiring a piece of art or just looking up at the sky. Curiosity can lead to discovery, but it also killed the cat. Panic means we sweat buckets and talk fast and at times cannot think. Emotions are so complex. We can feel happy and sad at the same time which doesn’t make any sense. We can feel lonely in a crowded place which is more common than anyone would admit. Self-confidence is powerful, but one comment can shatter it. We feel fear that the preacher started his sermon the exact same way last week, but then have great joy to discover it is a different sermon.
It is Easter Sunday and today we will be looking at the beginning of Matthew 28 (verses 1-10) and we are going to continue to think about emotions, as we did last week, but the emotions we are going to think about today are not before the cross or on the cross, but after the cross and center on the resurrection of Jesus. I want us to keep in mind 2 questions:
What emotions were present after Jesus was resurrected?
What do these emotions share with us about our atonement in the blood of Christ?
DEFINITION OF ATONEMENT
This week is Easter Sunday where we center on the death of Jesus, but more importantly we think and reflect on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection is all about atonement. I would like us to think about atonement. Atonement is what Easter is about. Yet, I don’t want to get too far before we define that word. “Atonement” is a word we do not use often and is quite possibly just a word we use in Church. Keeping God, the Bible, and the Christian faith in mind, “atonement” is the act by which God Almighty Himself restores a relationship of harmony and peace and forgiveness between Himself and human beings. The word itself gives us a clue…
‘at-one-ment’… it is the act of restoring a relationship whole or to the state of one and unity.
We must understand some basic truths about our spiritual selves for what Jesus said and did to make sense and for the at-one-ment based on His death and resurrection to make sense. These truths are not meant to be hard or complicated, but it might be difficult to accept.
These truths begin at the beginning of time when we believe God created the heavens and the earth and He created everything perfect. Morally perfect. Physically perfect. Nothing out of place. Right away something went wrong. God Almighty gave His created human beings a precious gift… free will. Adam and Eve (the first people) used that free will to do what they wanted against what God had said was right. They did wrong. They erred. That wrong and error is called sin. Sin separated human beings from God because God remained perfect and holy and we became imperfect and unholy.
Unknown to Adam and Eve, serious consequences flooded into their lives and creation. Sin ruined everything. Sinful people could no longer interact with the Holy God because a sin debt was created between people and God. Sickness happened. Thorns and storms and disasters happened. Death was introduced into creation. God, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge, knew this would happen, but He made us anyway because He already had a plan.
Salvation was needed.
Payment for sin was needed.
Forgiveness was needed.
Atonement was needed.
The sin that had happened… and continued to happen… needed to be made right, paid for, and satisfied. Again, keep in mind that sin creates a debt between people and God. God, in His wisdom and knowledge, also knew that we could not earn salvation or buy it or argue for it or luck into it.
God revealed His plan for us. The plan of God centers on Him sending One just like Him to Earth to fix what was broken to pay the debt and to make atonement. God sent Himself as a human being and His Name is Jesus. He sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to live perfectly and to die on purpose and to raise from death to life. The whole purpose of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is to offer us redemption, grace, forgiveness, and freedom from guilt which we can put under an umbrella term of at-one-ment.
The spiritual truth is that you and I are made from the bottom of our cells to the top of our emotions to have a relationship with God but that relationship breaks because of our sin and we need it fixed. Jesus is that fix. Jesus is that atonement.
TRANSITION
Let’s read from Matthew 28 about our ‘at-one-ment’ purchased by Christ for us:
READ MATTHEW 28:1-10 (ESV)
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went 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 and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel 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 has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
THE RESURRECTION EVENT
Let us take a few moments and look at some of the basics of the resurrection event itself.
By the way people in Jesus’ time counted days, it was the third day that Jesus was in the tomb and the day of the week was Sunday. Pull up any calendar and the default has Sunday as the first day of the week and on this first day, very very early, women were headed to Jesus’ tomb to finish preparing Jesus’ body for burial. I sorta wished they had went at noon and then we could sleep in on Easter, but these eager ladies wanted to take care of the dead body of Jesus. Basically, because of their beliefs, they did a rush job with the body on Friday when He died and were coming back to finish preparing the body.
Matthew 28:2 tells us that when an angel broke into the physical plane of existence the earth quaked and the angel rolled back the stone from the entrance to the tomb. A stone was put in front of entrances to tombs to keep out grave robbers and scavenging animals. The angel rolled away the stone so that people could look in and see that Jesus was not there, but that He had risen from the dead.
Matthew 28:5-7 describes what the angel says to the ladies when they arrive at the tomb. They are significant statements:
* Do not be afraid (verse 5)
* Jesus was crucified which ended in His death (verse 5)
* Jesus is no longer dead, but rose from the dead (verse 6)
* Go tell the disciples Jesus is no longer dead (verse 7)
* Jesus will meet them in Galilee, which was in the north (verse 7)
The resurrection of Jesus is simple in the events described, but also vastly important as to its implications for all human beings. I will now make a very bold statement:
The death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the single most important event in human history. The death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the single most important event in human history.
TRANSITION
I would like to remind you of the two questions we are keeping in mind as we are making our way through Matthew 28:
What emotions were present after Jesus was resurrected?
What do these emotions share with us about our atonement in the blood of Christ?
To answer the first question, we find fear and joy.
EMOTIONS OF THE SOLDIERS: FEAR [verse 4]
RE-READ MATTHEW 28:4 (ESV)
“And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.”
There were guards at the tomb, which was not normal, but there were guards present at the tomb of Jesus because Jesus’ trial and death had been emotionally charged and politically sticky. Matthew 27:65-66 (just the chapter before) explains to us that the Jews asked for the guards to be there so that the disciples could not steal Jesus’ body away or that nothing else would happen that would compromise Jesus’ dead body from staying in the tomb. It was done and not only was there a guard posted, but the tomb was sealed by the Romans in a particular way so anyone would know if the tomb had been opened and then closed again.
The emotion attached to these soldiers at the tomb is: fear. The word used in this verse in the original language is the word that gives us our English word “phobia.” This word means fear laced with reverence, dread, and most accurately terror.
These seasoned warriors of Rome passed out cold when the angelic being arrived on the scene, the earth shook, and the angel rolled back the stone. This was nothing any of them had ever experienced before. These men lost consciousness and I can imagine that in the midst of this angel appearing the men felt cold and clammy, felt lightheaded, then perhaps in a flash they were hot and sweaty, their stomach turned over in knots, their legs felt weak… and BAM!... they were out and looked dead. Then, to be accurate, they would have lost all bladder control.
ILLUSTRATION… my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21699-fainting
Do you know what that is called in layman’s terms? Being scared to death.
Do you know what that is called in medical terms? Vasovagal syncope (vaz-oh-vay-gall sin-koh-pee]
Do you know what that is called in middle school terms? You pass out and then you pee.
Vasovagal syncope can occur when a person experiences a severely stressful event and there is a physical reaction. Examples include the sight of blood, emotional stress, physical trauma, emotional trauma, or an angel appearing from heaven and rockin’ your world literally and figuratively. The stressful event stimulates a bodily reflex called the vasovagal reaction. Your heart slows down and pumps less blood, so your blood pressure drops. Then, your brain doesn’t get enough oxygenated blood, and you faint.
The emotion attached to these soldiers at the tomb is: fear.
TRANSITION
So, when the women arrive at the tomb on that Sunday morning, they found soldiers passed out cold, an angel (or two… see the other Gospels) hanging out giving messages, and a tomb empty of a dead body. What were they feeling?
EMOTIONS OF THE WOMEN: FEAR AND JOY MIXED [verse 8]
RE-READ MATTHEW 28:8 (ESV)
“So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.”
As I mentioned when we began this morning, emotions are complex and when emotions are at play we do not have to deal with just one emotion. There may be more than one. Emotions can be mixed. We can feel happy and sad about an event; hate and love for the same person; anger and fear can go together at work; we can laugh with tears at death; we can feel accomplished and relieved about a project; and the list goes on and on. In verse 8, we see a mix of emotions with the women who arrive at the tomb.
I find it very interesting that one of the emotions at the tomb was shared by the soldiers and the women. The word used in verse 4 is the same word used in verse 8. Both felt fear. I have often wondered why the women did not pass out and add their bodies to the pile of shocked human beings at the tomb. I think the answer comes in two parts.
First, the angel of God tells them in verse 5 to not be afraid. We do not know if the angel said anything to the soldiers in verse 4… but I imagine the word was… “boo!” The messenger from God tells them not to be afraid and this calms their fears and reactions and allows them to gather their scattered wits. The reason these women feel fear is because they do not understand what is happening. It is human nature and a common reaction to be afraid of what we do not understand. It is human nature to be afraid of the unknown. This is true in all areas of our lives: fear of the dark, fear of parenthood or later in life children becoming adults, fear of green vegetables, and fear of death.
These women do not understand what was happening because no one has ever risen themselves from the dead before. No one had done it before and, by the way, no one has done it since. Just Jesus. Just Jesus of Nazareth. Just Jesus Christ. Just Jesus the Son of God. Jesus told them this is what He would do, but they didn’t understand.
READ JOHN 10:17b-18a (ESV)
“I lay down My life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”
Second, the fear of these women did not lead them to vasovagal syncope because fear was not the only emotion these women felt. Their fear was mixed with joy… and not just joy… but great joy. Joy is an emotion that encompasses happiness and excitement and thrill and contentment all rolled into one. Great joy or exceeding joy is often associated with Jesus:
* John the Baptist felt joy in Elizabeth’s womb when he heard pregnant Mary’s voice (Luke 1:44)
* The angels told the shepherds when Jesus was born that the news was great joy (Luke 2:10)
* Exceeding joy was present after Jesus’ birth when the wise men saw the star (Matthew 2:10)
* Great joy was present later when the disciples saw Jesus taken to Heaven (Luke 24:52)
Overall, the reason these women felt great joy was because Jesus was dead and was alive again. The death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the single most important event in human history and these women were happy and excited and thrilled that the most important Person in their life was alive and well.
TRANSITION
I would like to remind you of the two questions we are keeping in mind as we are making our way through Matthew 28 because these questions are helping us think through the passage and are going to focus us on our emphasis: atonement.
What emotions were present after Jesus was resurrected? Fear and joy.
Now, to the second question which directly relates to us: What do these emotions share with us about our atonement in the blood of Christ?
APPLICATION
The death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the single most important event in human history and the resurrection of Jesus Christ brings human beings fear and joy because this event speaks to our atonement by the blood of Jesus Christ.
* Fear for the unbeliever
* Joy for the believer
Fear. If a person is not a believer in Jesus and has no atonement for sin in His blood, fear exists because eternity is a long time to be wrong. I would also say that if a person gives this Christian thing minimal effort or does church just because there is pressure, there is also fear because eternity is a long time to have faked it. Jesus is not a thing where we “fake it until we make it.” It just doesn’t work like that. We either decide to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God or we don’t. We either accept the gift of grace from Jesus Christ or we don’t. We either have our sins atoned for… or we don’t. There is no middle ground. The Bible teaches us that when we do not have Jesus Christ as our savior, then fear… real deep soul fear… remains.
READ 1 JOHN 4:16-18 (ESV)
“So, we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
Joy. If a person is a believer in Jesus and has atonement for sin in His blood, joy exists because eternity is a long time to be in the promised presence of God. I would also say that if a person gives this Christian thing maximum effort and does church because we seek to deepen our faith and to have a relationship with God, there is so much joy in the “now” for the trials and turns of life. Jesus is a thing where we “obey because we love Him.” That is just how it works. We decide to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and we then seek to abide in Him and always be connected with Him (John 15:4). or we don’t. We either accept the gift of grace from Jesus Christ or we don’t. We either have our sins atoned for… or we don’t. There is no middle ground. The Bible teaches us that when we have Jesus Christ as our savior, then joy… real deep soul joy… exists.
READ COLOSSIANS 1:9-12 (ESV)
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
SUMMARY
As we close this morning, I want to simply remind you that the resurrection of Jesus is the proof that our sins have been atoned for and that fear has been driven out and replaced with joy.
PRAYER
INVITATION
As we sing this closing song, it occurs to me that I do not know what emotions are going on inside of you when you think about Jesus Christ or God or spiritual matters. If the feelings are joy and assurance and peace and faith, then I praise God with you! What a blessing! If the feelings are unease or hostility or fear or disbelief, then I would love to talk with you for a few minutes and pray with you. We don’t even have to do it now, but if you are not sure about this ‘Jesus stuff,’ please come see me or contact an elder or even ask a friend you know is a believer and they would love to pray and talk with you.
