Matthew 28:6 – He Is Not Here – Bible study

Matthew 28:6 He Is Not Here Notice the statement of the angels in \#6\, "He Is Not Here." That is a statement given to one suffering from unfulfilled expectations. The lades did not come to the tomb expecting it to be empty that morning. They came expecting it to contain Jesus body. That is supported by Scriptural evidence. 1. \#Mark 15:1\ says the ladies brought spices to anoint Jesus body. 2. Even after being told by an angel that Jesus had risen, at least one of the ladies doubted. a. Mary Magdalene, obeyed the angel in telling the disciples; but afterward she stayed at the tomb, weeping. b. When Jesus appeared to her, she thought He was the gardener and told Him, John 20:15 Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 3. The angels words were not affirming their expectation, it was correcting it. 4. They and every other human being on the planet expected Jesus dead body to be in the tomb that Sunday morning. This morning, lets note that Jesus was not in the tomb despite some of the best efforts of some. I. Jesus was not in the tomb despite mans best efforts. A. The Jews crucified Jesus. 1. I spoke on the death of Jesus last week \See 2017Sermons on "Matt 27:33"\. 2. Suffice me to say that it was not just the brutality done to Jesus body that killed Him, but also the punishment heaped upon His soul! B. The Roman soldier drove a spear into Jesus side. John 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 1. Because Jesus had died rather quickly (due to the punishment from God more than the abuse of man), the Roman guards wanted to make certain Jesus was dead. 2. So they ran a spear under his rips into the sack that surrounded the heart, causing both water and blood to run out. 3. Doctors today have a term for this heart condition. It is called Pericardial Effusion. a. Pericardial Effusion occurs when the heart has been overworking, causing fluids collect around it. https://www.compellingtruth.org/blood-water-Jesus.html b. That is part of the bigger medical picture called Hypovolemic Shock which occurs when the body has lost 20% of its blood and the body is having to work harder to keep itself alive. https://www.gotquestions.org/blood-water-Jesus.html 4. These three (the spear, Hypovolemic Shock, and Pericardial Effusion) could and would have killed a healthy man who did not receive medical attention even if he had NOT be scourged and crucified, let alone one that had. a. Yet, the spear did not kill Jesus for had Jesus been alive, the open wound to His heart would have continued to pump fluids and blood out of His body. b. No, the spear provided a pathway directly to Jesus heart to prove that His heart was NOT beating. c. It certainly convinced John. John 19:35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. C. Jesus friends mummified His body. 1. This was the normal procedure for burying a body in Jesus day in that part of the world. a. It started by anointing the body with spices. (1) Typically, the spices used, the more wealth and resources the dead had. (2) Nicodemus brought 100 pounds of spices to anoint Jesus body. John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. b. Then they would wrap the body, like a mummy, in linen. John 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 2. That would certainly help a dead body to stay put. D. Israels custom had Him buried in a solid rock tomb. Luke 23:53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. 1. There were no back or side doors to be broken into, no thin walls to be kicked out. 2. One cant get much more secured than a solid rock cave to keep someone or something where you put it. 3. Especially if you roll a stone door ever the entrance. a. This was an entrance large enough to carry a mans body into a cave. b. Estimates are that it would have weight a rock of that composition and size would weight approximately 2 tons! c. Moving that would not be a task for a small group or people or even a large group of weak people. 4. Being placed in such a place meant that even Jesus friends expected Him to stay in the grave. E. Lastly, Rome sealed the tomb and stationed Roman guards outside the entrance to ensure the dead stayed in the tomb and the living stayed outside of it. Matt 27:66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. 1. The seal was really nothing physical to keep the entrance stone in its place but it was pretty significant as far as mans authority goes. a. It was probably nothing more than a ribbon or a rope but on it, there was the emperors seal. b. It warned all who might consider breaking it that if they did, Rome would use all of its authority and powerwhich was muchto track them down and to punish them. 2. The Bible does not tell us how many soldiers were placed outside of Jesus tomb. a. It only calls it a "sufficient guard." b. Some say as many as 16, taking turns on watch. c. Whatever the number, they were trained soldiers and would not have been easily turned from their task or defeated. F. Yet, for all of this, "He Is Not Here." 1. Question – What more could man have done? 2. Answer – Nothing except perhaps to have posted more men, but even if they had, it would not have changed the outcome that morning! 3. Jesus had not come to buy a tomb but to borrow one. He was NOT going to stay in it for long! II. Jesus was not in the grave despite death and the devils best efforts. A. Death has always been mans greatest fear and enemy. 1. Death is the one adversary that we could see but not elude or defeat. a. Man has always fought against deathno matter what form he might appear as: sickness, old age, violence, malnourishment, war, accident. b. We have fought death at every turn, but we have never overcome him. 2. In fact, death has a nearly perfect record. 3. He has only been defeated once and we are reading that account in Matthew. B. Death seized Jesus with all of the fury it could muster. 1. Jesus was killed by the cruelest of deaths. 2. Jesus death was caused because He born the sins of the entire human raceevery single sin was placed upon His shoulders. 3. In so doing, even God turned His back on Jesus for a time. 4. By God turning His back on Jesus. He died as the most forsaken Person to ever live! 5. Satan joined forces with death to ensure deaths grip was strong. a. We cannot see what the devil and death did to bind Jesus, butI believewe can safely assume that like mankind, they did everything they could. b. I see the demons of hell standing guard around Jesus tomb, every one of them claiming whatever territory they had power to dominate. III. Yet for all of this, the angel said, "He is not here!" A. Jesus kicked deaths front door down! B. I will tell you a secret. 1. Dead people really arent dead. 2. They are still very much alive. 3. Death has always had a back door in that the people who have died have always gone to one of two places: Abrahams Bosom or hell. 4. I know death looks like an end, but it never is. C. The difference with Jesus is He did not use the back door! 1. He went out the same way He came in! 2. Jesus wanted people to see Him leave because He was broadcasting a message. 3. Death cant hold Him and death cant hold those that love and follow Him! The fact that Jesus was not in the grave means you do not have to go to hell. Jesus died to save you from that awful place and He wanted you to know about it. Thats way He came back out the front door. Please, would you trust Jesus Christ today?