Messiah - Gospel of Matthew - Week 34

0:00 That was just great, great to be part of the service of the choir, singing and celebrating the resurrection. Today we come to the climax of our long walk through the Gospel of Matthew. And it's fitting that Easter Sunday sees us coming to this great climactic chapter, chapter 28. We left it last time in chapter 27. We have a few little things to finish off there before we move in. And we left it at perhaps the darkest and the most confusing point of the story. Matthew tells us that it actually was physically dark. There was a strange darkness that covered the land when Jesus was on the cross.

0:51 He doesn't try to explain it. He just tells us that that was But it wasn't just a physical darkness. If you remember, we were looking at the moral darkness represented there, the injustice of it, the evil, and this crowd of passers-by that were hurling their insults at Jesus as he hung in weakness and shame on the cross. Human beings at our finest. And let me just remind you of the insults that they were hurling at him. You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. Come down from the cross if you are the son of God. They'd got that little bit wrong, but who cares?

1:41 Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. Let's spread this rumor around because it's just so ludicrous. The idea that a carpenter's son from Nazareth could in some way destroy the temple and then raise up something new in its place. He's an imposter. It's just ridiculous. But they said, there's still time. Come down from the cross. Let's see you destroy the temple, build something else, and then we'll believe in you.

2:10 If he wasn't an imposter, why didn't he come down? That's the question hanging in the air. He saved others, they shouted. but he can't save himself. He's the king of Israel. Well, let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him. Sure, he managed to heal a few people during his life. Well, if you're charismatic enough and the diseases are all psychosomatic, all kinds of things are possible.

2:38 But when it matters most, he can't save himself. Yet there's still time, Jesus. Come down from the cross. We'll believe you're the king of Israel. But what use is a king who can't even save himself? If he wasn't an imposter, why didn't he come down? He trusts in God, they shouted. Let God rescue him now if he wants him.

3:05 For he said, I am the son of God. Special relationship with the Almighty? Son of God? Really? Guess what? God hasn't lifted a finger to rescue him. Some special relationship. But there's still time.

3:22 Let God intervene now and rescue him if he wants him. But there was no intervention. God obviously didn't want him. Jesus' claims of some special relationship with God to be his son were obviously bogus. For what father would abandon his son like this in his supreme hour of need? And then worse darkness was to come. there was a spiritual darkness that we can't fathom. It's impossible for us to understand.

3:53 Out of which Jesus eventually was heard to cry, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Didn't words like that just confirm that either he was genuinely mistaken or else he was an imposter? and Matthew leaves that hanging for the moment. He now notes, this is towards the end of chapter 27, he now notes for us in verse 55 that there were a group of women there. These were women who went around with Jesus and the disciples to make the meals, to look after them. they'd come from Galilee, and they included Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John. And Matthew doesn't tell us anything of what they thought or what they said. He simply notes for the moment that they were there.

5:05 But his focus now comes to the unusual burial of Jesus. Let's read it. This is verse 57 of Matthew 27. As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

5:51 The next day, the one after the preparation for the Passover, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. And sir, they said, we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver, referring to Jesus, said, after three days, I will rise again. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and then tell the people that he has risen from the dead, been raised from the dead, and this last deception will be worse than the first. Take a guard, Pilate answered, go make the tomb as secure as you know how. So they went, made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone, a kind of official seal, thou shalt not break this seal, and posting the guard. Now it's a little bit unusual to make such preparations for a burial, but it tells us all kinds of fascinating details. The body of Jesus wasn't thrown into a common grave along with the other criminals, as was the general habit, anonymous, never to be found again.

7:06 Instead, Joseph, a wealthy man from Arimathea, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body and led this body in his own private new tomb. Nobody had ever lain there before. Joseph was a high-profile figure, a member of the Sanhedrin that had demanded Jesus' crucifixion. But Joseph hadn't agreed with their decision. He was, in fact, secretly a disciple of Christ. But now, of course, he had to make a decision. Is he going to stay secret or not? And he couldn't.

7:47 That's the impact of the cross of Christ very often, that people look at that and begin to realize it, and they come public about what they believe. And that's what Joseph did. The crucifixion of Christ changed everything for him. And now he wanted publicly to demonstrate his disagreement with the Sanhedrin and his loyalty to Jesus. And I suspect that Pilate was only too pleased to find at least one member of the Sanhedrin who agreed with him that Jesus was innocent, for he had no time for the Sanhedrin and was still smarting from their blackmailing of him. So he gave permission to Joseph. So there was no possibility that Jesus hadn't actually died of some in history have claimed. And that he kind of revived in the coolness of the tomb and so on.

8:49 Matthew's been very clear given the torture, the extent of the injuries. And then the fact, as John records in his account, that after he was examined and declared to be dead, a spear was thrust into his side just to make sure. And blood and water came out, indicating that massive blood clotting had taken place. And Mark adds the detail that Pilate only released the body when he had made sure that Jesus was dead. So having made sure of that, Joseph then took the body with the help, John tells us, of another member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, and they wrapped it in grave clothes interlaced with a large amount of spices and led the body to rest in this new unused tomb. Not a grave, please notice, It wasn't a grave dug in the ground. It was a tomb carved out of solid rock with a little groove in front of it where you'd lever down a big stone to cover the entrance. And that's exactly what Joseph did under the watchful gaze of a group of women who were there.

10:07 And of course, he did that so that the grave would not be disturbed by animals and that no grave thieves could get into it. So, now there is no possibility of any mistake regarding where Jesus was buried. As others have claimed, oh, they just went to the wrong tomb and found it empty and thought Jesus was alive. This was a clearly identifiable, protected place. Joseph knew where it was, Pilate knew, those who carried the body knew, the woman knew. And the chief priests also knew. But they were still anxious. they thought the precautions weren't enough

10:47 so they weren't satisfied having had Jesus killed they remembered Jesus' prediction which they thought was ludicrous that he would rise again on the third day they didn't believe it but they were deeply concerned that the disciples might take the hint and come at night perhaps sneak in remove the body and then go and talk about resurrection so Pilate then allowed them to take a guard the tomb was secured with the seal, the official seal, and a team of soldiers on 24-hour watch, ruling out any possibility of the body being stolen. So what happened next? Well, let's read chapter 28. We've heard Luke's version already. Let's see Matthew's account. Verse 1, after the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb rolled back the stone and sat on it.

11:50 His appearance was like lightning, his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. And the angel said to the woman, do not be afraid for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He's not here. He has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.

12:23 Now I have told you. So the woman hurried away from the tomb, afraid, yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And suddenly Jesus met them. Greetings, he said. They came to him and clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. So early then on the Sunday morning, the two Marys who had witnessed the burial went back to the tomb.

12:57 And from what the other writers tell us, They went back in order to continue the embalming process that Joseph and Nicodemus had started. Their aim was to preserve the body as long as they could, which tells us that they clearly weren't expecting a resurrection. The issue that was filling their minds was how are they going to get into the tomb? They also didn't know that the soldiers were there because they had been missing the previous day on the Sabbath when the soldiers were posted. So Matthew, in his very matter-of-fact way, and remember, he's relating this not primarily for us. He's writing to a contemporary Jewish audience, people who knew of these events, knew the different stories and so on that surrounded it. And he tells them that there was a sudden violent shaking of the ground. An angel appeared, went to the tomb, rolled away the stone, so frightening the soldiers and guard that they became like dead men.

14:08 Really interesting detail. Matthew's focus on the soldiers is unique, as we will see in a moment. And again, these are people, of course, who could be questioned and asked about it. We are told not what the angel looked like, but that the angel spoke. There was a message. In other words, this was not some apparition, a trick of the light. You know, in the early morning, you go out, and maybe some of you discovered it. You got up early for Easter Sunday and went out, and a little trick of the light, and you're all emotional and so on, and you could almost convince yourself, you saw something.

14:50 But this is not that. There was a specific message which was testable and later in the chapter found to be absolutely true. The angel gave them a message. First of all, to tell them that, well, I know you're looking for Jesus, but he's not here. He's raised from the dead as he said, look, check out the tomb, it's empty. So that was the first part of it. A second part was you have to go and tell the disciples that he will go ahead of them to Galilee, right back up north from Jerusalem. Go there and there they will see him.

15:34 So the woman then went off full of fear and joy. That's just a very brief, but it's so real. isn't it? This is an unusual experience. Please don't think that there are angels behind every bush when it comes to the Bible, and they're dancing on pinheads and so on. This is a very unusual occurrence. Of course, there's a lot of people who just want to laugh at the idea, but that's because they don't believe in the supernatural. They've ruled that out for whatever reason.

16:06 And it's interesting that we have all kinds of people who are fascinated by the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe and convinced it's there, but when the Bible tells us it's there, they won't believe it. There's a kind of a double standard, it seems to me, that is going on. They don't major on that, but it frightened them, as it would me, and you, no doubt. At the same time, the message, the realization, the tomb was empty, filled them with joy, so there was this fear and joy going on in them, as they went off to find the disciples. And on the way, they met with Jesus. And again, just another facet, two little details that strike me out of the story. The first is that they grasped his feet. And that tells me that this was a physical resurrection.

17:03 There have been a group of theologians down through the years who have said, oh, no, no, no, no. I mean, what they mean by resurrection is just the spirit of Jesus lives on. The body is dead somewhere, but the Easter faith, Jesus of the resurrection, he's alive in his spirit. That's not what the New Testament says anywhere. This is very clear. This is physical. Physical resurrection. Christ, and we get more details of this in Luke and in John, in his resurrection body, raised from the dead, as Luke records him, saying to the disciples, a spirit does not have flesh and bone as you see that I have.

17:47 And he ate fish before them, and they had meals together with him. I mean, this is blow your mind. Of course it does. It's outside our normal categories. Getting them used to that. They saw him. They grabbed his feet. He's real.

18:01 And he said and repeated the same message they'd heard from the angels, so they knew that they weren't hearing things, or if they were, they'd heard the same message twice from two different sources, that you're to go to Galilee, guys, and Jesus will meet you there. One of the most interesting things about Matthew's account, and that's unique to his account, is that the woman went off to tell the disciples what they'd seen and heard, but neither the woman nor the disciples were the first to tell the world that Jesus' tomb was empty. That prize, ironically, goes to the Jewish authorities. As we read down in verse 11, the guards went back to the city. The soldiers who had been on duty, after being frightened stiff, went back and told what had happened. They met with the chief priests and the elders and so on, and they came up with a scheme to tell everybody they should say to folks, listen, we fell asleep, and obviously while we were asleep, the disciples came and stole the body, which is a really interesting story. I mean, it's a very modern thing.

19:18 Bad news is coming out, so let's make sure we're in control of the narrative. It's a preemptive strike here, but it wasn't particularly imaginative. But what else could they say? The options were extremely limited. No one denies that the tomb was empty. It was explaining that the tomb was empty. It was difficult. But imagine bringing a case like that into a court of law these days.

19:40 Your honor, while I was sleeping my neighbor came into my house and stole my television. Well presumably Mr. Lennox you sleep with your eyes shut. So how do you know that it was your neighbor? is there any evidence that your neighbor has your television? No, your honor. I just think it was him. It wouldn't get very far in court. It just shows how hard pushed they were to come up with a more convincing story.

20:09 According to Matthew, and remember he's writing to his contemporaries as well as to us, the chief priests bribed the soldiers both with money and with the promise that since they were basically almost committing suicide by telling people they fell asleep in duty because that was a serious crime for a soldier to admit to, don't worry, we'll sort it out with a command and you'll not get into any trouble. So that was the explanation that Matthew gives us. And it is important to remember that he has very much his contemporary audience in mind. All these stories were being spread around. This was years after the events. People were still spreading these stories. So he decides that I'm going to put it down in writing, inspired, as I believe, by God through the Spirit. But he puts it down in writing so that there's a written record of what is going on.

21:11 But it's interesting, isn't it, that Matthew gives us these two views. The honesty with which he presents, the evidence to his contemporaries. Here's what the priests are saying. This is what actually happened. Now you make up your mind. The other thing that is really interesting to me is that the key witnesses in Matthew's account are the women. Now, this isn't about women's lib and feminists and all that. This is actually because in first century Jewish culture, women were not regarded as reliable witnesses.

21:47 So if you were making this up, you would never dream of citing women as the key witnesses. But Matthew does. He's not making it up. It's one of those little details that makes this ring true for me. And then it's almost as if he ends just very quickly. In John and Luke, we've got all sorts of stories of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ and details there. And please do read them. It's so important to read them all and get their different perspectives on this great event.

22:26 There's four different accounts that you can look at. But as far as Matthew is concerned, he has honed it down to say precisely what he felt was necessary for his contemporaries to know. And he says, he says nothing about Jesus appearing to him in the upper room, not because it didn't happen, but because that's not his focus. His focus is in Jesus' comment, go to Galilee, I will go ahead of you and you will meet me there. So without, in that sense, Jesus walking with them to Galilee, they were given an exercise of going where Jesus had asked them, trusting that he would be with them. Which is interesting because he ends the gospel by saying, go into all the world, make disciples, and I will be with you to the end of the age. This is Matthew's focus. And so he tells us, the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

23:34 And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted or were hesitant. And then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and at earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. To me, it is as if Matthew is finally addressing his contemporaries and says, Guys, and that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. I've given you this whole presentation of Jesus as Messiah. It changed my life. I was a tax collector, collaborating with Rome, getting very rich.

24:23 Jesus walked into my life, broke my love of money. There was a point in which I thought I'd got the whole thing wrong. I ran away. But the evidence was so overwhelming that it completely changed my life. and now I am giving my life simply to carrying out what Jesus asked me to do. Why would you do that, Matthew? Well, simply this, all authority is given to him. In the end, ultimately, it is a matter of authority.

24:57 Whose voice do we listen to? I've been listening to Jesus. Raised from the dead, declared to be the Son of God, King Messiah. Who else's voice would I listen to? He has got all authority. And what he's asked me to do is to make disciples. Now that has become a real favorite topic in Christian circles and missions, conferences, and all the rest of it. I just think I've come to the conclusion that it's an awful lot simpler than that.

25:32 Because it means a learner. What has Jesus asked me to do? He's asked me to make learners. I can do that. So can you. This isn't some huge task. Well, if he does call you to go to the ends of the earth, please go if he calls you because he will be with you to the ends of the earth. That's not a problem.

25:56 But making learners. God gifted Heather and me with four-week kids. We're doing our best to make learners. In the church, as a church, that's what we're trying to do, make learners. It's not complicated. It is about showing the greatness and authority of Christ and then trusting and hoping that eventually they will respond to that and follow him as we have done and we pass the faith on to the next generation to the next generation. I find that an exciting thing. I'm part of something that started back here.

26:36 This is one of the big evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. How otherwise would you explain the existence of the Christian church? Think about it. How could it possibly have emerged, suddenly exploded in the world, out of Judaism, changing the day of worship from Sabbath to the first day of the week, week or Sunday. How could it possibly, other than the resurrection? I haven't found another satisfactory explanation for that. And I am part of that. Just a small little part of that.

27:13 But that's fine. Because resurrection proves that this isn't the end of the story. There's a whole big story waiting for us out there. But until then, we're called to make learners. Do you remember Jesus said at the heart of Matthew's gospel, the most famous, the central verse that Matthew puts there, come unto me, all you're weary and heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Do you remember that? This is the king presenting his manifesto. What a manifesto to give people rest.

27:41 And then he said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. That is the yoke of his authority, his teaching, his rule. his lordship. Take that on and learn. And here we have it again. And if you do that, he said, you will find rest for your soul. So many restless people for all kinds of reasons, and I haven't time to go into that. But this contemporary society, I think beyond all others, is designed to make people discontent, restless, anxious.

28:20 And Jesus is saying, listen, the way to find rest, I will give you rest, but there's a way to find it practically every day. And that is to make me the voice, the supreme authority in your life and to learn to do what I ask you to do. And you notice that he didn't ask them to go into Galilee, but refused to go himself. He said, I'm going ahead of you. I'll follow you. This king never asks us to do things that he's not prepared to do. Want to follow a king like that? Put that at the center of life?

29:03 What a wonderful way to end. The chance. My favorite part of first service in Glen Abbey, as I've said several times. And you may find this really strange, but I'm old, you see, so I'm allowed to get away with stuff like this. My favorite part of first service is when the kids go out. And it's not because I don't like kids, it's because I love them. And to see all these kids, and they come out, it's a bit like the Exodus, only I'm pointing the wrong way, I'm trying to get in, and they're flooding out past me. And you just think, this is what it's about.

29:36 When you boil it down, making learners, this is so thrilling, it's so exciting. I see so many people are involved in that in so many different ways, so many people out there in their workplaces living for Christ, setting their example. Yes, the society may be increasingly turning, and so you can't preach in your workforce if you ever should have been preaching in your workplace. That's another matter. But to live is an example so people ask questions for the hope that's in you, and you share, and you're making learners all the time. You don't have to go to exotic places. You can go to Bucknaw and make learners in Bucknaw or anywhere else for that matter. Such a thrill.

30:18 Matthew says, this is what I'm doing. Please join me in this. Join me in this. Finally, the three insults that were hurled at Jesus on the cross. Matthew in a subtle way has answered all of them. Why did Jesus not come down from the cross? He saved others. He cannot save himself.

30:43 Why didn't he come down? Not because he's an imposter. He stayed on the cross to save us. That's why he didn't come down. Is he the son of God? How can he be? Because God hasn't intervened. He obviously doesn't want him.

30:58 And God didn't intervene on the cross, but he did intervene at the tomb and raised him from the dead and declared him to be the son of God in history for all to see. And finally, that business about the temple, you're going to destroy the temple, they said, well, he hadn't actually said that. But something did happen that destroyed really what the temple stood for. Because when Jesus was on the cross in chapter 27, we read that the veil in the temple, That huge curtain that separated the core of the temple into two bits, that was torn from top to bottom. That curtain was at the center of Judaism. That curtain said to people, thus far and no further. That curtain said it doesn't matter how many sacrifices you make, how holy you are, etc., you can't get into the immediate presence of God. Only the high priest once a year, and then he had to go out again.

31:58 And when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain was torn from top to the bottom. The way in, open. No more need for that old system. This is not theory merely. It's not theology merely. This is practical. People sometimes would ask, I mean, how do you know you're going to heaven? Well, I have one simple, maybe cryptic way of answering the question.

32:31 That is this. I was there this morning. I'm no stranger to the place. Why not? Because through what Christ has done, I have access to God's throne any time of the day. A lot of us have gone through public education. And even some of us have or are doing degrees. and most people, most religious people think that life is like that.

33:03 It's going through a process with finals at the end. Let me tell you about finals. I did mine way back in the 70s, you know, before the ark. And I can remember, I mean, they were very kind to me at university. Give me all kinds of educational gurus and high priests. You know, they called them lectures in those days, but indulge me. And they came along, and they did their best to teach me, and they gave me books. Well, I had to buy most of them, but they gave me books, and they gave me help, and they could go and talk to them.

33:35 They had tutorials, and so on. All designed to prepare me for finals. The one thing they couldn't do was sit the exam for me. Which is very disappointing. But anyway, so the great day came after five years of study, and sitting finals, Ten big days of exams in two weeks. It was crazy as I think back. And then the wait. And the long walk.

34:04 No winter death in those days. You had to walk into the cloisters in Queens, you know, and see the notice board and on a sheet of paper to see if your name was there. And that's what a lot of people think Christianity is. Well, it's religion, but it isn't Christianity. In Christianity, acceptance comes at the start of the journey, not the end. Because of what Jesus has done. We know if we stop trusting in ourselves, our goodness, our performance, and just entrust ourselves to Christ and all that he has done on our behalf, we know from the beginning that we are accepted. And that we walk through the rest of our life in preparation, not for finals, but in preparation for running the universe to come with the risen Jesus.

35:05 Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for such a fantastic end of the story, an end which is, in fact, a new beginning of the story that we now are part of. We're right in there in Matthew 28. So we just bow in admiration of Jesus, the King who came to give us rest and who promises then that we can practically find it by accepting his authority and doing what he asks us to do and walking through life with him. May you use your word to bring us peace today in the midst of whatever trauma and drama that we are facing. To bring us peace, to bring us a deep joy that even tears and fear cannot take away. A peace that transcends even how we sometimes feel wretched about ourselves. A peace that is so deep that nothing ultimately will shake us.

36:19 Because it's based on the fact that that curtain was torn. The stone was rolled away to reveal that Jesus was alive. And he is with us to the end of the age when he will return into this history. Thank you in his name. Amen.