HE IS RISEN! GO! GO! GO!

Exactly what happened on Resurrection morning? 

The raising of Jesus Christ!                                              

We could try harmonising the gospel accounts, only to get ourselves tied up in knots and miss the whole point...or we could just see what we’re meant to learn from Matthew. (ch 28)

The scene pictures utter defeat. The Lord of the Sabbath has been lying in death - on the Sabbath, His body in a sealed tomb guarded by Roman soldiers. Nothing is happening, until....
...suddenly, on the first day of the week - a 2^nd earthquake!

So who arrives to see the sepulchre? Those two despised Jewish women again. 

But where are those disciples? Not here.                

What about those soldiers? They’re like dead men!  

More to the point...But where is Jesus? An angel from heaven tells them:

     “He is risen, as He said!...
He is risen from the dead!”

"He is risen from the dead!"

Now it’s time to GO! GO! GO! and why not?? This is the best news in all of history!       

The angel: “Fear not....Go, tell His disciples...”          

On the way, Jesus says: “Fear not....Go tell my brethren...” (first reference to ‘brethren’)

What mixed emotions for these women, from terror (phobos)  but then great joy (chara), and what a greeting He gave them as they held Him by the feet: “Cheers!” (chairo)                     

In the meantime, how do the Jewish elders react to the news? ...with great joy? No, with lies and money.

Yes, there’s one more GO that we’ll keep for our next post: “Go, teach all nations...”

JESUS the MESSIAH...DEAD??

Yes, He’s dead! (in Matt 27:57-66)                            

The Messiah the Jews have been waiting hundreds of years for, now hangs from nails in a ghastly bloody mess while hardened Roman soldiers cower in fear, saying: 

“Truly this was the Son of God!”

What now? Is this how it’s all meant to end – in utter defeat?  Isn’t there any glimmer of hope?                                  

Yes, one brave man emerges – Joseph of Arimathea – to beg Pontius Pilate for Jesus’ body: a Jew has to beg a Gentile governor for the body of the Messiah!

Jesus had borrowed a manger to be born in, He has borrowed a cross to die naked on, and now He borrows a rich man’s tomb.                 

What did Isaiah say?

“He made His grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in His mouth”

God’s prophetic word wins again!

Notice...only two women attend this funeral, but those chief priests and Pharisees are desperate – telling the Roman governor to secure the tomb of their Messiah!          

He dismisses them with “...make it as sure as you can”

Let’s see if their guard will be good enough...