Matthew 27:62 through Matthew 28:15

Today, we are gathered to celebrate one of the two greatest occurrences in history.

One occurrence was the death of Jesus, and the truth that His death was different from everyone else’s death. Not different in method, thousands have been crucified, but different in meaning. His death was to pay the price of sin, but not His own sin, since He had none, but the price of our sin. This made His a sacrificial death.

The second great occurrence and the one we will focus on today is His resurrection. Why is this important? Our entire future rests upon the fact of Jesus’ resurrection.

I listened on Friday evening to a discussion concerning the significance of Jesus’ life and teaching. One person held to the historical facts of the Bible, while the other saw them as relatively unimportant. They believed the idea was of greater significance. In fact, the statement was made by this person that if an archaeologist were to find the corpse of Jesus, it would not in any way influence his faith.

If Jesus’ corpse were found today, it would disturb my faith! For then He would have been a liar, a fraud, and the whole Bible would be untrustworthy.

There was a great deception that took place on the day of Jesus’ resurrection. It was the attempted cover-up of the truth of that morning. This gives us additional proof that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead and is alive today.

• The precautions (Matthew 27:63-65)
  • The purpose of those precautions
    • Jesus had said He would rise again
    • They didn’t want false stories
    • The steps taken to ensure that Jesus stayed in Joseph’s tomb
      • Cords and a seal to secure the tomb
      • Stone set in place and cemented
• The presentation (Matthew 28:1-4)
  • The precautions were of little value
    • The stone was loosened by a quake and rolled away by an angel
    • Guards were given a full view of Jesus
• The perjury (Matthew 28:11-15)
  • The guard reported the truth
  • The cover-up

The very guards who were employed to ensure that false stories were not spread about a resurrection are now the ones taking money to start false stories.

We can see that the very people who so much wanted to prove that there was no resurrection are the very ones who verify the truth of His resurrection. Their actions verify the words of Jesus when He told His disciples that the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.

Let us today rejoice in our great hope that was secured that Easter when the reality of our future was demonstrated by the very resurrection of Jesus, who is the Resurrection and the Life.