Matthew 28:6-10

April 15, 2012FIRST BAPTIST CHURCHJACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

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The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Copyright © Moody Press and John MacArthur, Jr., 1983-2007.

More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell

Wait on the Lord by Steven P. Wickstrom

Matthew 28:6

6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”

When Peter and John entered the tomb, they "beheld the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the

linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself" (John 20:6-7).

The burial clothes were just as they were when Joseph and Nicodemus laid the body to rest, except for the face-cloth, which was set to one side.

Jesus did not have to be unwrapped any more than He had to have the stone removed.

At one moment He was encased in the linen, and the next He was free, leaving the wrappings unchanged in their placement except for the face-cloth.

The Shroud of Turin (in northern Italy) is one of the most studied artifacts in human history, and one of the most controversial.

In 1978 a detailed examination was carried out by a team of American scientists who found no reliable evidence of forgery, and called the question of

how the image was formed "a mystery”.

One wrist bears a large, round wound, claimed to be from piercing (the second wrist is hidden by the folding of the hands).

An upward gouge in the side penetrated into the thoracic cavity.

Proponents claim this was a post-mortem event and there are separate components of red blood cells and serum draining from the lesion.

There are small punctures around the forehead and scalp.There are also scores of linear wounds on the torso and legs.

Proponents claim that the wounds are consistent with the distinctive dumbbell wounds of a Roman flagrum. ‘Scorpion' is Latin for a Roman flagrum

11 Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions. 1 Kings 12:11

There is evidence of swelling of the face from severe beatings.There are streams of blood down both arms.

Proponents claim that the blood drippings from the main blood flow occurred in response to gravity at an angle that would occur during crucifixion.

There is no evidence of either leg being fractured.

There are large puncture wounds in the feet as if pierced by a single spike.

Following is a modern photo of the face: positive image on the left, negative image on the right. The negative image has been contrast enhanced.

In 1989 physicist Thomas Phillips, theorized that the Shroud image was formed by neutron radiation due to a miraculous bodily resurrection.

Results of some new experiments propose that a corona discharge (plasma) mechanism could have been involved in the Turin Shroud body image formation, but

it is impossible to reproduce all the characteristics of the image in a laboratory because the energy source required is too high.

While the women were in the tomb, another angel joined the first, "one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying" (John 20:12).

The positions of the angels are reminiscent of the two golden cherubim who were on either side of the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:18).

The two angels in the garden were posted at either end of the tomb of Jesus, Who, by the sacrifice He had just made of His own life, became the true and

eternal Mercy Seat for sinful mankind.

Matthew 28:7 7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will

see Him; behold, I have told you.”

The women's fascination must quickly turn to proclamation. They did not have time to revel in the marvelous reality of the Good News

but were to go immediately and announce it to the cowering disciples, who were still hiding in Jerusalem.

It would seem more than justified for the Lord to have allowed the disciples to suffer in fear, despair, and agony for a week or so before telling them the

Good News. They had stubbornly refused to believe that Jesus would die and be raised, although He had told them of His death and

resurrection many times. *God is not interested in beating you up (Jesus took your beating for you) so don’t beat yourself up either.

But in His gracious mercy God sent the women to tell the disciples as soon as possible, so they would not have to experience another moment of misery and grief.

He did not rebuke them for their lack of faith and for their cowardice but rather sent them messengers with gracious words of hope and comfort.

Why did God chose to reveal the truth of the resurrection first to those women rather than to the disciples?

One commentator suggests that it was because God chooses the weak to confound the strong. Another suggests the women were rewarded for

their faithful service to the Lord in Galilee. Another holds that, because death came by a woman in a Garden, so new life was first announced to a woman in a

Garden. Others propose that it was because the deepest sorrow deserves the deepest joy or that supreme love deserves supreme privilege.

But Scripture offers no such explanations. It seems obvious that the women were the first to hear the angelic announcement of the

resurrection simply because they were there. Had the disciples been there, they, too, would have heard the Good News directly from the angel

rather than indirectly through the women. This is analogous to the reality that the closer a believer stays to the Lord and to His work, the more

he is going to witness and experience the Lord's power. Those who are there when the Lord's people gather for worship and prayer, who are

there when His Word is being taught, who are there when the lost are being won to Christ, who are there when others are being served in His name, who are

regular in their times of private prayer— those are the ones who will most often experience firsthand the work of God.

Matthew 28:7b

7b “He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” Matthew 28:7b

Earlier in the week Jesus had told the eleven remaining disciples, "After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee" (Matt 26:32).

Having both Jewish and Gentile residents, Galilee represented the world at large.

It was there that Jesus began His ministry, in "Galilee of the Gentiles, " where "the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light" (Matt 4:15-16).

It would also be in Galilee that the disciples would receive the Great Commission from the Lord to "go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”.

It was not that Jesus would first appear to the disciples in Galilee, because He manifested Himself to them several times before that.

He appeared to Peter, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to ten of the disciples as they were assembled on resurrection evening, to all eleven

disciples eight days later, and to seven of the disciples as they were fishing in the Sea of Galilee.

But Jesus' supreme appearance to the disciples was to be in Galilee, where He "appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time" (1 Cor 15:6) and

where He would commission the eleven to apostolic ministry.

Matthew 28:8-9

“And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. (Matt 28:8)

9  And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.” Matthew 28:8-9 

As the women were on their way to report the angel's message to the disciples, Jesus met them and greeted them.

Greeted translates chairete, a common greeting that loosely rendered means something like “Hello" or “Good morning."

It was the ordinary salutation of the marketplace and of travelers who passed each other on the road.

In other words the greeting was casual and ordinary, seemingly too mundane to be appropriate for such a momentous occasion.

Yet the glorified Christ, Who had just finished conquering sin and death, greeted those faithful women with warm, informal tenderness.

As the writer of Hebrews assures us, "We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses" (Heb 4:15).

They now knew with certainty that He was the risen Messiah, the divine Son of God, and that adoration and praise were the only proper responses to

His presence. They did what every person, unbeliever as well as believer, will do one day when He comes again, "every knee will bow

and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:10-11).

Matthew 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me." (28:10)

Despite the disciples' lack of faith, their cowardice, and their defection, the Lord graciously spoke of them as His brethren.

When they arrived in Galilee, they would see Him again, and there they would experience a great convocation and commissioning by the Lord.

The basic truth of the resurrection under-girds a number of other truths.

First, it gives evidence that the Word of God is totally true and reliable. Jesus rose from the dead precisely when and in the way He had predicted.

There are 60 messianic prophecies in the OT with 270 ramifications that were all fulfilled in one Person – Jesus Christ!

All 60 of those prophecies were made at least 400 years before Jesus fulfilled them.

*The Weather Channel

What are the chances that one person’s life could fulfill only 8 out of 60 predictions that were made hundreds of years before it happened?1 in 10 to the 17th power!

If you covered the state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollars and you marked one silver dollar and asked a blindfolded person to walk as long as they desired to

walk but they could only stoop down and pick up one silver dollar, the chances they would pick up the one you marked are:1 in 10 to the 17th power!

That is for if only 8 of the 60 prophecies came true.If 48 of the predictions came true, the odds of a man’s life fulfilling those by chance are1 in 10 to the 157th power!!

The first messianic prophecy in the Bible is in Genesis 3:15

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, 

And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15

None other but Jesus could be referred to as the “seed” of a woman Who came into the world to destroy the works of the Devil (bruise his head).

In Micah 5:2 God predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, a town with a population of less than 1,000 people.

Five OT verses require that the Messiah come while the Temple of Jerusalem was still standing. The Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 & has not been rebuilt yet.

The Messiah was to be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver that would later be cast onto the Temple floor.

Psalm 22 predicted in 1,012 B.C. that the Messiah would be crucified by the piercing of His hands and feet and that was 500 years before crucifixion was invented!

Second, the resurrection means that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as He claimed to be, and that He has power over life and death.

Who would die for a lie? Of the 11 disciples:Bartholomew, Peter, Andrew, Philip, James and Simon the Zealot were all crucified.

James, the son of Zebedee, and Matthew were killed by the sword.Thaddaeus was killed by arrows.Thomas – killed by a spear.

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the only disciple who did not abandon Jesus during the crucifixion – died of natural causes.

Third, the resurrection proves that salvation is complete, that on the cross Christ conquered sin, death, and Hell and rose victorious.

Fourth, the resurrection proves that the church has been established. Jesus had declared, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not

overpower it" (Matt 16:18)."The gates of Hades" was a Jewish colloquialism that represented death. Jesus’ resurrection proved that death itself could not

prevent Him from establishing His church.

Fifth, the resurrection proves that judgment is coming. Jesus declared that the heavenly Father "has given all judgment to the Son"

(John 5:22), and since the Son is now risen and alive, His judgment is certain.

Sixth, the resurrection of Christ proves that Heaven is waiting. Jesus promised, "In My house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I

Would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). Because Christ is alive by the resurrection, we have the assurance that He is

now preparing a heavenly dwelling for us.

Jesus knows what it feels like to be told that there is no room for you in the inn so He is not going to let that happen to those who trust in Him for eternal life.