Matthew 28:1-10 – Surprise! – Bible study

Matthew 28:1-10 Surprise! For the last few weeks, we have been on a journey to the tomb. Our journey started with Jesus and the disciples going to Caesarea Philippi where Jesus revealed to the disciples who He was, the Christ. While there, Jesus began to teach the disciples that He was going to go to Jerusalem to be betrayed, condemned, beaten, and dieand then He would always add, "and on the third day, I will arise." I say "He began to teach" for the Scriptures make it clear that He emphasized this truth to the disciples repeatedly. \#Matthew 16:22\ tells us that Peter did not like hearing Jesus teach this event. Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee." \#Matt 16:22\ That was the same as to say, "Lord, that is the last thing on earth that is going to happen to You." But Jesus rebuked Peter, harshly, calling Peter the devil Himself. "Get thee behind Me, Satan. For you do not savor the things of God." Savor means to appreciate, to enjoy. He was saying that God was going to appreciate what was to happen to Jesus but Peter was being used by the devil. From there, Jesus headed south into Galilee. How long He was in Galilee, we do not know but it appears that He stayed until a new determination came over Him. The Bible says of Him that He set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem; that is, Jesus was determined and would not be stayed or stopped. He began to travel toward Jerusalem with a determination that would not waver. So to Jerusalem Jesus went. First by going into Samaria, where He was rejected, then by traveling west over the Jordan River, traveling through Jericho before crossing the Jordan eastward and coming up the backside of the Mount of Olives. Then on what we believe was a Sunday, Jesus entered into Jerusalem with a spontaneous, triumphant welcome; but by Wednesday night, the tone had changed. On that night, led by Judas, the religious leaders came for Jesus. Through the night, Jesus was tried, condemned, and beaten, just like He had said. Then, they lead Jesus like a Lamb to the slaughter to the cross, where slowly, painfully, Jesus diednot for His sins but for yours and mine. That would have on Thursday maybe a few hours before dark. Jesus body was claimed by Joseph of Arimathea \#Mark 15:45\. He and Nicodemus the Rabbi \#John 19:39\ took Jesus body, cleaned it as best as they could, anointed it with spices and the wrapped it for burial. Before the sun set, they laid Jesus into Josephs own tomb \#Matt 27:59-60\, then because of a succession of holy days, they walked away. Jesus body laid in the tomb Thursday night and Friday, Friday night and Saturday, Saturday nightbut just before the sun rose on Sundayon that third daysomething strange happened. For the second time within three days the earth quaked \#Matt 27:51, 28:2\. This time it was not because creation was groaning at the Saviors death, but because it was rejoicing at Jesus new life! During that earthquake, the giant stone which blocked the entrance into Jesus tomb, rolled up hill away from the entranceno doubt fallen over and off to the side. For a few moments, one of the angels which had descended from heaven sat upon it \#Matt 28:2\ while the Roman guards trembled with fear and fainted. When they gain their composure, they flee into the city to tell their commanders what had happened. And about that time, a band of ladies came to tomb. They had not considered how they move the heavy rock that blocked their entrance into the tomb and probably did not even know of the guards that had been stationed there or the seal that forbade any from even attempting to move the rock. They knew only that this was the first day that they could properly anoint the body of Jesus due to the long string of holy days. Their love for Jesus had awoke them early and they made their way to tomb in the early twilight. When they arrived, they were surprised that the huge stone had already been rolled away. Somewhat fearful, they peered inside what should have been the dark, man-made cave which was used for a grave, but a bright light came from within. Somewhat fearful, they stooped over and looked inside. There they saw a man, which glowed with Gods glory. They probably felt like running but their feet would not move. Perhaps they wanted to turn their eyes from his countenance but their eyes seemed fastened on him. They heard as he spoke: Matt 28:5 Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And with that, the strange being was gone. When at last they could move, they sensed both a joy and a fear. Could it be? Could Jesus somehow be alive? Perhaps for a few moments, they spoke of what they had seen. It would appear that they decided to split up. Mary Magdalene ran to find Peter and John together \#John 20:1-2\ and to persuade them to come see the empty tomb. And they did come. The Bible says of John that he outran Peter \#John 20:4\ which would indicate that they both ran to the tomb, but he stopped short of entering until Peter arrived. Then they both looked inside, studied the tomb, considered it, and left, leaving Mary aloneweeping. While she wept, her eyes full of tears, a Man approached to enquire of her. She thought the Man to be caretaker of Josephs lands, perhaps the thief that had stolen Jesus body. Her thought reveals what she and Peter must have discussed before the men left, but then with a single word that foolish notion was washed from her mind for the Man spoke her name, "Mary" and she immediately knew it was her Lordthe risen Savior. She leapt to embrace Him but Jesus stopped her saying He had not yet made the journey to the Father. Instead, she must go find the disciples and tell them, convince that He was alive, and off she went. The other ladies seemed not to have moved as quickly as Mary. Perhaps as they walked out of the garden, the reality of what they were going to do set in. They were going to tell the men that Jesus had called His disciples, His apostles, His friends, that He was not dead; but they had seenmostly from afar, but with their own eyeswhat had been done to Jesus. Those men would not believe them. In fact, they began to discuss, they were not certain that they believed. Their run had slowed to a walk and then a stop as they began to wonder out loud if they had been deceived somehow. Perhaps one of them suggested they should think on this more. Time had passed and they had made little progress on their journey toward the city. Finally, one of them said, "At least we must go tell them the tomb is empty. We can let them decide what it means." And so they were walking toward the city when suddenly they came across Him, Jesus. There He stood and while they staredunable to speak. They were surprised. As the surprised women stared at Jesus, He spoke to them, "All hail"; that is to say, "Hello, everyone." And as they looked, there could be no doubt. It was He. It was Jesus. They bowed and held Jesus feet, but only for a moment as He gathered them up and commanded them, "Do not be afraid. Go find the disciples. Tell them what you have seen. Tell them to meet Me in Galilee." And as suddenly as He appeared, Jesus was gone. Himself appeared to them \#Matt 28:9-10\. As that morning some 2000 years ago progressed into the afternoon and the afternoon into the evening. Jesus, appeared to disciples for all too brief a time and then disappeared. Lets take a moment to consider the response of people to the news of Jesus resurrection and to Jesus Himself. I. The first response I want to mention was surprise. A. I am thinking of the surprise of the group of ladies but lets face it, everyone who came into contact with Jesus or heard about His resurrection, was surprised. 1. That is somewhat logical. 2. People do not rise from the dead, but then again, Jesus was not ordinary people and He, the miracle Worker, had told them repeatedly what was going to happen! B. Sadly, on that resurrection morning, no one stood outside the tomb waiting for Jesus resurrection. C. No one expected Jesus to rise from the dead and everyone was surprised. D. Why did the people not expect the resurrection? 1. Some were surprised because they were ignorant. a. Some did not know who Jesus was, what Jesus had promised, or what Jesus could do. b. Ignorance is still a problem today, but I find it hard to believe that anyone in America could be totally ignorant of Jesus. c. Why? (1) There is Christmas. I know it is commercialized, but anyone who has a mind ought to wonder why Christmas is so celebrated in our country and any amount of looking around would reveal why. (2) Easter – Palm Sunday, Good Friday) although I think it is Good Thursday), and Easter are all widely celebrated throughout our country and largely in our world. (3) The church – Surely there are still some witnessing, preaching, hosting television and radio shows, building websites, creating Youtubes and Facebook pages. 2. Some were surprised because of unbelief. a. Sadly, this was true of Jesus closest friends and followers. b. That is a personal choice and I would not want to take it away from any one any more than God would. c. But to refuse to believe that Jesus is the Christ seems to me to be a very uninformed and ill- throughout act. d. Just a few weeks ago, our church had Rabbi Ben Alpert with us who was saved studying the Bible to prove that Jesus WAS NOT the Christ! II. The second response was guilt and shame. A. Now I am thinking of Peter. 1. Peter, Jesus friend. 2. Peter, the disciples to whom Christ had given the keys to the kingdom. 3. Peter, the one who just hours before promised he would die with Jesus. 4. Peter the boaster and braggart who had been so scared that he denied Jesus THREE times. B. I think it is probably that Peters guilt would not let him believe in a resurrected Jesus. 1. You know, the Bible indicates that Mary Magdalene was a great believer in Christ. 2. She along with the other ladies, saw angels which told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. 3. The other ladies seemed to have room for doubt, but Mary ran like the wind to find Peter and John. 4. Then she followed them back to the tomb, probably arriving before they left. 5. I imagine she and Peter talked before he left. a. I wonder what Peter said to Mary. b. Her faith, whatever it had been after seeing the angel, was completely gone by the time Peter left. c. When Jesus spoke to her. John 20:15 She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. d. Why did Mary now think Jesus body had been stolen? e. She had been told by an angelic being that Jesus had risen from the deadjust like He had said; but now she believed she had been fooled and lied to. f. Who could was close enough to her to have so shattered her faith and left her with the thought that Jesus body had been stolen? g. I dont want to start any rumors but I wonder what Peter, in his guilt and shame, said to Mary before he left that empty tomb! C. Perhaps you are one who has thought, "I would like to be saved or to serve Jesus, but He would not have me. I have done too many terrible things." Let me ask you a question. 1. Do you think you have any more to be ashamed of than Peter? Coward, boaster, liar, failure? I doubt that Peter would ever think so. 2. Do you think you have any more to be ashamed of than the Apostle Paul? I do not know that Paul personally killed anyone but I sure consented to it and helped by some to be imprisoned, beaten, and perhaps killed by hunting them down. Once Paul was saved, God could have let me move to some other part of the world and never return, but God did not. Paul returned to Jerusalem repeatedly and joined himself to the church there, having to face the families if not the very people that he had persecuted. D. Guilt is a heavy load and it keeps many from Jesus, but Jesus welcomed Peter back to the fold and worked to restore his confidence and place in the kingdom of God. E. Do not let guilt keep you from coming to Christ. III. The last response was faith. A. The Bible says of one of the disciples whom I believe to be John. John 20:8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. B. John saw the empty tomb and with no more evidence than Peter and less than Mary, he walked away believing that Jesus HAD risen from the dead. 1. Did he have all the answers? 2. No. As we say, at that time, John did not even know all the questions, but he believed anyway. C. Might I encourage you that if you have any inclination toward Jesus at all, that move toward Him? 1. You say, "I am not certain I believe all of that!" 2. Then just start with what you do believe. Thats what John did. 3. In time, he came to believe it all but it probably came in baby steps to start with. 4. I pray that you will come to that end as well! Time after time, Jesus was greeted with the same responses, surprise, guilt, and every once in awhile, faith. He had taught them what would happen in great detail, but somehow the words did not find a home. Somehow, the disciples did not understand and they did not believe. I pray that will not happen to you for I tell you, Jesus is alive!