Matthew
28:1-8: (NIV)
Jesus
Has Risen
28 After
the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 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. 3 His
appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The
guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The
angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for
Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as
he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 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.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So
the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to
tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he
said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then
Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to
Galilee; there they will see me.”
Happy
Resurrection Sunday! God bless and keep you and yours-those in Christ have
eternal life! (John 3:15). Today I want to focus my teaching on the
significance of the resurrection. It is so powerful-it births us into eternal
life-which takes place when we accept Christ and are birthed into the reality
of the resurrection through the Spirit
(John 3:6). So are you born again? Have you
accepted Christ as your LORD and Savior? What happens is that when you step
into your identity as a child of God, you embrace your eternal inheritance
through the LORD.
This is why the
resurrection is so powerful! Death could not hold Him back-and hence death has no
power over us. The Spirit of the LORD gives life
(John 6:63) and hence when we step into our identity we need to be led by the Spirit (Romans
8:14) to walk in the fullness of that
life we have received that springs eternally. (John 4:14).
Notice that in
our text for today Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb-have you changed your direction towards
Jesus? Are you walking towards Him? Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went
with their feet to the tomb expecting to find His body-when you walk towards the LORD, He is never what you expect-He is
more-He gives life-if you come expecting some form of death ie through lack of
expectations met, lack of desires fulfilled-you will not find it when you walk
towards Him.
And this is
captured in the next verse-there was a
violent earthquake. This means the environment changed-there was a shift in
the circumstances surrounding that particular place-and there was an angel of
the LORD-who went to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. So they had
a divine encounter. When you walk towards the LORD, expect to have a divine
experience with Him that is personal in nature. They were witnesses-He makes us
witnesses to His grace!
But the guards
were afraid-they did not understand what was going on-and they shook with
fear-this is because they were trying to rationalize the situation-but the
Kingdom of God is not of talk but of power! (1 Corinthians 4:20).
The angel did
not address the guards-he addressed the
women. In other words, God will give you an understanding of the situation
that is revelation-that will not
apply to those in the same circumstance-this is why the angel did not address
the guards.
Guards are
security-the irony is that they were powerless in this situation-whatever is
trying to monitor your progress-whatever force is trying to block your
blessing-the stone has been rolled away
in Christ and the angel of the LORD has been assigned to secure your blessing
in Christ!
The angel of the
LORD instructed them on the next couple of steps to take-the first was an instruction to change their perspective. Through
what lens are you viewing the resurrection? This
is very important! you need to understand the significance of the
resurrection-this is why the angel first stated they should not be afraid. This is because we are given power, love
and a sound mind-not fear (2 Timothy 1:7). And what casts out fear-perfect love which we receive in Christ (1
John 4:18).
When you accept the fact that God gave His only
Son because of His love for the world, when you take that Word into your heart (John
3:16)-watch as the love of Christ works
miracles in your perspective.
The angel first
advised them from a spiritual perspective before he moved into their physical
perspective. This is because the LORD changes us from the inside out. We have
to accept Him first in faith, we have to speak that language of faith to understand the message and then this
translates into how we are ministered to see
Christ in our situation.
And then when we
see Him in our situation we are able to
serve as witnesses to others!
This is why the
angel first instructed them to not be afraid, then to come and see the tomb and
finally to go and tell the other disciples.
The women were
afraid as they left the tomb in a hurry-notice they left the tomb differently
from when they came to it-this time they
were in a hurry. When you encounter God an
urgency comes into your spirit-there is a fire that is birthed because of your
personal encounter with Him. They were still afraid but they were also
filled with joy-and this is exactly what happens when you encounter God. he
changes everything! and it is scary but it is such a beautiful testimony
because it fills you with the joy of the LORD which serves as your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
They came in grief but left in joy because the LORD turns
everything around-He brings life to a dead situation and this is made possible
because of the resurrection of our LORD who bore our sins and defeated death
and rendered it powerless because of Him.
And as they were
in a hurry to tell-to share to His disciples, because like I said, He births an
urgency in your spirit to testify, they met Him along the way suddenly. Isn’t that interesting?
When you follow
His instruction, you will always meet Him
along the journey-it might be in how He has handled your course, your class,
your work-but you will meet Him on the journey once you have accepted Him in
and you will be able to hear Him speak.
The LORD offered
them a greeting-and what did they do? They
worshipped Him. This is what you should do as well-learn to worship the LORD through your tests, your trials, your
situations, your hardships and even your joy-because notice this women were a
bit of both-they had fear, but they also had faith because of their joy-let faith win-and worship Him.
the power of
worship is-He reveals even more of
Himself to you. And once more the LORD told them not to fear-because like a
said, it is important to handle things spiritually first as this affects the physicality
of the situation-and obedience to His instruction births experience of His salvation
into your life. He told them first not to
be afraid, and then to tell His brothers to go to Galilee-because they too will
see Him there.
The LORD will send you as a witness to
certain places-what is your Galilee? is it your workplace, your college,-this is where others will be able to see Him there.
But it all starts from the cross-have you accepted the reality of the
resurrection? When you do, you open yourself to receive divine revelation because you have accepted salvation!
Happy Easter
Sunday!
God Bless!
Tolu.