Jesus Conquers Death
Matthew 27:57-28:20
Jesus was dead and his lifeless body was still hanging on
the cross. At the moment Jesus died, a
violent earthquake had shaken the whole area and the soldiers guarding Jesus’
body were terrified as rocks split in half and tumbled down around them. “Surely, this was the Son of God,” one of the
Roman soldiers cried. (Matt.27:54b) The crowds who had been around the cross all
day yelling insults at the dying Jesus were leaving now that He was dead. Only a few women stayed near the body crying.
As the soldiers were taking Jesus’ body down from the cross
a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea showed up and gave the soldiers a letter
from Pilate stating that he could have Jesus’ body. Joseph was a religious leader and a secret
follower of Jesus and he wanted to give Jesus a proper burial. He had cut a tomb out of the rock near Golgotha and he wanted to bury Jesus in his new tomb.
Nicodemus was also a religious
leader and a secret follower of Jesus and he wanted to help too. He came along and helped Joseph wrap Jesus’
body in clean linen cloths and carry it to the tomb. It was common in those days to bury the dead
in caves or to dig small spaces in the side of a hill or rock and use these carved
out spaces as tombs. A large heavy stone
was then rolled into the mouth of the tomb to close it up. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary walked over
to the tomb and watched and cried as Joseph and Nicodemus buried Jesus.
The next day the religious leaders met with Pilate
again. They remembered that Jesus had
said that He would rise again after being in the grave for three days and this
worried them. They asked Pilate for
soldiers to guard the tomb to make sure that Jesus didn’t rise! Or that his
disciples didn’t steal the body. Pilate agreed and told them to make the tomb
as secure as possible.
So the priests and
elders sealed the big stone in front of the tomb (like locking the door) so
that the seal would have to be broken before the heavy stone could be
moved. And the religious leaders put
soldiers with spears and swords all around the tomb to guard it night and day. They
weren’t taking any chances! (Matthew 27:62-66)
While Jesus’ enemies remembered that He said He would rise
from death, His own disciples forgot. Jesus
had told his disciples several times that He would meet them in Galilee after He rose from death in three days but they
must not have listened!
Very early in the morning, three
days later Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came back to Jesus’ tomb. And just as they arrived there was a violent
earthquake and an angel of the Lord appeared and rolled back the stone from the
door of the tomb. Scripture describes
the angel this way: “His face was like
lightning, and his clothing was white as snow.” (Matthew 28:3)
The guards around the tomb shook in fear and “became like dead
men.” (Matthew 28:4)
The angel sat on the stone and spoke
to the women and said: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for
Jesus who was crucified. He is not here:
for He has risen as He said He would. Come; see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:5-6)
The women walked into the empty tomb and saw
that Jesus’ grave clothes were folded there but He was gone. Scripture does not say that Jesus left the tomb
when the angel rolled the stone away from the door. A large stone covering the doorway would not
keep the Son of God from getting out! It
was rolled away so that Jesus’ followers might see the evidence of an empty
tomb.
The angel continued: “Go quickly and
tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and that he is going before
you to Galilee . You will see Him there. Behold, I have told you.” (Matthew 28:7) Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ran out of
the empty tomb with fear and great joy.
And as they were running to tell the disciples, Jesus met them. The women fell down and worshipped Him and
held Him by his feet and Jesus said: “Rejoice!
Do not be afraid. Go and tell my
brothers to go to Galilee and I will be there
to meet them.” (Matthew 28:9-10) Then the women ran on to tell the disciples.
When the guards recovered from the
shock of the angel’s appearance at the tomb and of Jesus not being there, they
ran to the religious leaders and told them all that had happened. A guard could lose his life for allowing the
person he was guarding to get away, so these guards were worried that they
would be killed because they did not stop Jesus from rising and leaving the
tomb. They nervously told the religious
leaders about the angel and the earthquake and how Jesus was no longer in the
tomb!
Scripture says that the religious
leaders paid the guards a large sum of money to keep quiet and not tell anyone
that Jesus had risen but to tell people that Jesus’ disciples had come and stolen
the body even though the tomb had been heavily guarded. The soldiers agreed to keep quiet about
Jesus’ resurrection and they took the money.
When Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary told the disciples that they had seen Jesus the disciples were overjoyed
and they traveled to Galilee to meet Jesus
there. And when they finally met up with
Jesus they fell down and worshipped Him.
Before Jesus went back to heaven forty
days later He appeared not only to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and the
disciples but He appeared to several other women (Matt. 28:8-10) and to his followers on the Emmaus road (Mark
16:19,20, Luke 24:13-15) And He appeared
to many in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20, John 21:1-24) He met with James and the apostles, (1 Cor.
15:7) and to five hundred people. (1 Cor. 16:6)
And after He went back to heaven He appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road
(Acts 9:1-6) He spent many days with his
disciples, including Thomas (Mark 16:14) and He was with them just before He
went back to heaven. (Mark
16:19,20.
Just before Jesus ascended into
heaven he gave the disciples the Great Commission. This is what He said: “All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you. And lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18-29) After He gave
these marching orders to his disciples – to all of his disciples in every age -
Jesus went back to heaven.
The crucified Servant is now the
exalted Lord and has received all authority.
While his ministry had been to Israel
.
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