WEEK 14: The Reality of the Empty Tomb April 10, 2014 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:14-17 NLT He is not here! Those words still echo across the centuries and provide hope for the faithful. Our entire existence is based on those four little words. Jesus is not in the tomb. Why? Because He is no longer dead. He is alive and well. He sits at the right hand of the Father where He intercedes on our behalf. The empty tomb is a statement of God s power. Paul writes in Romans 8:11, The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. The resurrection is proof that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be. His miraculous restoration to life provides hope that God can give new life to those who are dead in their trespasses and sins. The empty tomb is a constant reminder that death has lost its power over mankind. As Paul so succinctly put it, Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NLT). Take Notes (Teaching): As you listen to today s lesson, write down anything significant that you hear. Be ready to share them with the men at your table during the discussion time. 2014 Ken Miller 59 Mighty Men a ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church
Take Part (Discussion): Sometimes God has a way of speaking through others as they provide insights or different applications from the lessons. As you discuss around your table, write down anything you hear that makes an impact on you. Or if you hear another man share a struggle or concern, write it down so that you can pray for him during the week. Take Time (Prayer): Be sure and leave a few minutes for the sharing of prayer requests. Remember, keep your requests short and sweet. Don t let the details bog you down. We don t have to understand all that is going on to pray effectively. 2014 Ken Miller 60 Mighty Men a ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church
Long Live the King The cross is not the end; death does not have the last word in Matthew s Gospel. That honour belongs to resurrection and to the story of the empty tomb. At the beginning, Jesus emerged out of the darkness of the world s sin; at the end, he emerges out of the darkness of the grave. The resurrection marks the triumph of the King. None of the Gospel narratives concludes with the burial of Jesus; they all testify to the reality of his resurrection. At one end of his life, his virginal conception attests supernatural beginnings; at the other, the resurrection attests a supernatural ending to his life in this world. Resurrection (vv. 1 15) Matthew concludes his story in three ways: with the narrative of initial events at the grave, responses on the part of the Jewish leaders and Jesus final commissioning of his disciples. The resurrection represents the greatest revelation of God s plan of salvation in history. We believe in the resurrection as a doctrine of faith because we accept it as a fact of history. We believe in the eyewitness testimonies of those who saw the living Christ after he had been crucified, dead and buried. Yet it remains true that no one actually saw the body of Jesus Christ coming to life in the silence of the tomb. The nineteenth- century American pastor T. V. Moore recognized the significance of this when he asked, Why did not Christ rise in the presence of a crowd? After all, Christ s death and ascension were public spectacles, which many people were present to witness. Yet the moment of resurrection was essentially private and hidden. There was no public display of life entering into the dead body of Jesus. Why did he not rise in the presence of a crowd? The answer Moore himself supplies is that a secret resurrection places us all on the same level. No one is put at any advantage. All must take this doctrine on the basis of faith. The women must trust the angels; the disciples must trust the women; we must trust the disciples. We operate every day with the principle that truth may be established on the testimony of eyewitnesses. We punish criminals even when we did not see the crime being committed, precisely because the evidence gives away the truth of the matter. So how does Matthew establish the fact of the resurrection for us? First, the women come early to the grave of Jesus (v. 1). They, too, rested on the Sabbath day, and now they come to the grave early in the morning of the first day of the week. Their devotion to Jesus is explicitly highlighted by Matthew. They had lingered at both the cross and the grave; now they come early to see the tomb. Second, the women encounter an angel (v. 2). The miraculous opening of the tomb is unexpected for the women, but not for the readers of Matthew s Gospel. After all, as early as Matthew 1:20 angels appear to announce the birth of Jesus. According to Matthew, it was the angel who rolled the stone from the entrance to the tomb, caused the Roman soldiers to panic and assured the women that Jesus had risen. This announcement from heaven contains a commission to the women to report the facts of Jesus resurrection to the disciples. The angel also corroborates Jesus statement that he will precede them into Galilee (26:32). Third, the women s joy at this news turns to worship as they encounter the living Jesus on the way and are greeted by him (v. 9). They respond to his greeting by prostrating themselves before him in worship. Jesus commissions them to continue on their journey and tell the disciples. These three events together confirm the faith of the women, and subsequently that of the disciples, in the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. Matthew s Jesus is a living Jesus. Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders, on their part, are at a loss (vv. 11 15). All they can do is concoct a story to cover the reality of the situation. Jesus has risen, but they spread the rumour that the 2014 Ken Miller 61 Mighty Men a ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church
disciples have stolen the body. That is a dangerous gamble, because the theft of the body would implicate them in not having guarded the tomb. False witnesses secured Jesus death; false witnesses now try to conceal his resurrection. The risen Jesus has triumphed! He now comes before us as the true King, with all authority in the universe, the sovereign of his kingdom and head of his church, which he sends into the world to continue the mission he began. 5 5 Campbell, I. D. (2008). Opening up Matthew (pp. 172 175). Leominster: Day One Publications. 2014 Ken Miller 62 Mighty Men a ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church
1 WEEK 14: The Reality of the Empty Tomb April 10, 2014 The resurrection of Jesus is the heart and soul of the Christian faith The Gospels do not explain the resurrection; the resurrection explains the Gospels. Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith. John S. Whale The truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation. John MacArthur And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:14 ESV And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:17 ESV He is risen! He is not here, for he has risen. Matthew 28:6 ESV You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. Mark 16:6 ESV Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Luke 24:5 ESV The Old Testament predicted it Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord s good plan will prosper in his hands. Isaiah 53:10 NLT For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:10-11 NLT Jesus warned His disciples about it From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. Matthew 16:21 ESV See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day. Matthew 20:18-19 ESV
2 Jesus death provided us with Justification Pardon from the penalty of sin and peace with God Redemption He paid the penalty for our sin with His death Propitiation His death satisfied God s wrath against us Reconciliation Our relationship with God has been restored Sanctification We are set apart and reserved for God and His glory But His death was just as vital Without the resurrection, Christianity would have been stillborn. You can t have a living faith if all you have is a dead savior. Without the resurrection, the Christian faith might be a commendable way of life, but Jesus would be just another great teacher who lived His life and returned to dust. Christianity would not be the truth from God if Jesus did not rise from the dead. Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On It is this singular event that sets Christianity apart from all other religions He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 4:25 NLT We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:9-11 ESV According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Romans 6:4-5 ESV The resurrection has real and lasting benefits Victory over sin s power We have been raised to a new way of life Victory over sin s penalty We stand as uncondemned Victory over limitations We will one day have resurrected bodies like His Victory over death Those who have died are with Him And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Acts 1:9-11 ESV 2014 Ken Miller Mighty Men a ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church