Dead men don’t give travel advice Matthew 28 vv 1-10
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•307 views
The document summarizes the account in Matthew 28:1-10 of Jesus' resurrection. It describes: 1) How Mary Magdalene and another Mary discovered the empty tomb and encountered an angel who told them Jesus had risen; 2) The women hurried to tell the disciples the news and met the risen Jesus on the way; 3) Jesus greeted the women and told them to share the news of his resurrection with his disciples.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (19)
Similar to Dead men don’t give travel advice Matthew 28 vv 1-10
Similar to Dead men don’t give travel advice Matthew 28 vv 1-10 (13)
More from Grace (Rural Wales) Partnership - Y Grwp
More from Grace (Rural Wales) Partnership - Y Grwp (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Dead men don’t give travel advice Matthew 28 vv 1-10
- 1. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction
- 2. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 “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 …”
- 3. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 “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.”
- 4. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 – Vv. 1-4 Scary to enemies “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. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 – Vv. 1-4 Scary to enemies • Vv. 2-3, The Angel
- 6. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 – Vv. 1-4 Scary to enemies • Vv. 2-3, The Angel • V. 4, The Guards
- 7. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 – Vv. 1-4 Scary to enemies – Vv. 5-8 Reassuring with friends “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.”
- 8. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 – Vv. 1-4 Scary to enemies – Vv. 5-8 Reassuring with friends • Do not be afraid • I know you are seeking Jesus • He’s not here He is Risen • Come and see • Go and tell
- 9. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 “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 worshipped 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.”
- 10. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 – Met
- 11. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 – Met – Greeted … λέγων χαίρετε
- 12. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 – Met – Greeted – Encouraged
- 13. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 – Met – Greeted – Encouraged – Commissioned
- 14. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 • The women, vv. 1, 6, 8 & 9 v. 1 “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb
- 15. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 • The women, vv. 1, 6, 8 & 9 – STAYING loyal, v. 1
- 16. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 • The women, vv. 1, 6, 8 & 9 – STAYING loyal, v. 1 – Saw, v. 6 “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay”
- 17. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 • The women, vv. 1, 6, 8 & 9 – STAYING loyal, v. 1 – Saw, v. 6 – Went, v. 8 “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”
- 18. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 • The women, vv. 1, 6, 8 & 9 – STAYING loyal, v. 1 – Saw, v. 6 – Went, v. 8 – Met, v. 9 “Suddenly Jesus met them.”
- 19. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 • The women, vv. 1, 6, 8 & 9 – STAYING loyal, v. 1 – Saw, v. 6 – Went, v. 8 – Met, v. 9 – Worshipped, v. 9 “Greetings, he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.”
- 20. Dead men don’t … give travel directions Matthew 28:1-10 • Introduction • The Messengers, vv. 1-8 • The Risen Lord, vv. 9-10 • The women, vv. 1, 8 & 9 • Conclusion
Editor's Notes
- There’s an attitude to truth out there that says it’s impossible to deny the evidence that’s before your very eyes.We’re plagued in our society at the moment with a certain sort of atheism that is adamant that it is scientific and that it is tangible evidence that it rests on.With as much respect as I can muster … I doubt it.I doubt it, because I see compelling evidence … though not necessarily what constitutes what they call proof within the games played by modern Western science … that Jesus Christ is the real thing, God the Son, come in the flesh, crucified for the salvation of sinners, raised from the dead (the pioneer of His people), now ascended and glorified having sent the Holy Spirit to mediate His presence both in this world and in His people’s hearts.But my atheistic friends just don’t see the implications of the same observable phenomena as me, and often seek to deny those phenomena because of their implications … which I find (frankly) disappointing.But (here’s my point) it was always thus!In the passage we’re looking at this morning, two distressed, disappointed and possibly disillusioned women see exactly the same things as a full guard of Roman soldiers (in fact, by all accounts, they probably witness rather less than the soldiers) but are prepared to mix their observations of reality with the possibility of faith.It’s not seeing (observing phenomena) that marks the different responses … it’s a willingness to live with the life-changing consequences of faith.And that’s never more true than when it comes to the issue of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.What did they see?
- Now, those hardened Romans troops set as a guard over the Imperial prisoner … so that His followers would not come and steal the body as a precursor to violent, millennial insurrection … saw exactly the stuff that these women saw, and more (because they’d been there throughout whereas the women turned up after the event when the stone HAD been removed).But the women here were open to the implications of faith.Look at the differing responses to the presence of God in His messengers …
- Guards.Who were these men?Well, among the supporting cast of the Easter story are many unnamed soldiers. When Archelaus (another Herod) was removed from office in AD 6, Jerusalem and Judea fell under the control of the Roman governors and stayed that way throughout the Lord’s earthly life.These governors kept four cohorts (a cohort was usually 6 centuries of 60-80 soldiers) and some cavalry in Caesarea Maritima, the Roman provincial capital, and one cohort in the fortress Antonia in Jerusalem above the Temple courts. The cohort in Jerusalem was primarily in charge of protecting the fort and the arsenal. The governor came to Jerusalem at major feasts with additional cohorts, which were temporarily quartered in the Praetorium (the governor’s palace). Since the “Roman” soldiers in the East were primarily recruited from the Syrian Greeks, they probably spoke Greek as their primary language, not Latin. Their senior officers were probably ethnically Roman or Italian.And Palestine was viewed as a particularly tough posting … there was always trouble so these men were well used to the more brutal side of life as an occupying military force.So what sort of soldiers have we got in this passage?The high priest persuaded Pilate to seal Jesus’ tomb and post a squad of Roman soldiers (Matt 27:62-66). The crucifixion of this particular victim had been quite singular, with all sorts of portents in the Heavens and unusual events taking place … earthquake, darkness, the tearing of the Temple veil … But it was a little bit dodgier than that because (from the authorities’ perspective) the man they’d just executed was one of those millennial, rebellious preacher types that had a history of inciting the people to rebellion.And worse still, this one not only had a huge following in the troubled hill country of the North, but a significant following amongst the pilgrims thronging Jerusalem too.And to cap it all He’d promised them that three days after his crucifixion, death and burial He would rise from the dead.If YOU were the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, what sort of quality of soldier would you be looking for to join the guard on that tomb?Trouble was clearly expected … and since their failure to guard the tomb could result in their execution, the chief priests found it necessary to promise to use their influence with Pilate to protect them, if they would lie about the event … and that’s exactly what happens in the verses that follow this passage.So, when the reality of the prophecy-fulfilling power of Almighty God dawns upon them as the angel rolls the stone from the tomb and the very earth itself shakes at his shining bright glorious presence (and that was just an angel, not Jesus Himself) these hardened, battle seasoned troops come to the rational conclusion that they must have been mistaken about Jesus?They do not.Like generations of materialists before them and since they refuse the evidence of their eyes because they will not change their lives …“v. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men …” v. 11 ff“While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money,13 telling them, You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.'14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”
- Now let’s see what they saw with their own eyes but were (somehow) unable to acknowledge …There was an(other) earthquake.There’s been one at the crucifixion.Now there’s been one at the resurrection from the grave.καὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγαςThen they saw the angel.ἄγγελος γὰρ κυρίου καταβὰς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ Who was he?He was AN angel of the Lord.Just an ordinary angel … and there’s a very good description of him, which tells us a lot.After the earthquake came the angel who shone like lightning … ἡ εἰδέα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπὴ And then there was his threads … his clothing was as white as snow (something you don’t get a lot of in Palestine except on the mountain heights that you see away in the distance).It was another, spotless, radiant world up on those mountain tops and this angel was so clearly an extremely powerful (but Biblically not unprecedented) visitor from another world.So how did these guards respond to what they saw with their very own eyes?I guess they fell on their knees and worshipped the Almighty God Whose mere FLUNKIES were as glorious as this?
- v. 4 “The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.”v. 11 “… some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.”v. 15 “So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.”They saw the evidence.They were scared by it.They did NOT believe, but carried on the same as they were.Surely if ANYONE had evidence for faith it was them.But (in the words of Romans 1:18 ff) “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”(Actually – that’s all at of Paul’s response to widespread homosexual activity in the society of his time, but that discussion will have to wait for another day!)The point for the time being is that in His wisdom God has left things et up in this world so that those who wish to can suppress the evidence they have seen and the truth they should already know NOT on the basis of science, nor intellectual objection, but on the basis of their preference for continuing to live in their wickedness.And that’s evidently what we see in these soldiers.This angel of the Lord is scary to God’s enemies … who in spite of he evidence persist in unbelief, and …
- Do not be afraidOk … bit of an odd thing to say, I guess, but a necessary thing to be told.The same sensory phenomena that paralysed those hardened Roman warriors so that they “shook and became like dead men” are precisely what they saw … so the angel’s reassurrance is probably quite necessary.God and His messengers are AWESOME … but there is ONE class of people who have no need to fear His fearful, holy majesty.Who are they?How does the angel see them?He says …I know you are seeking JesusHere’s the key difference between the soldiers and these women.The soldiers are guarding Jesus in the hope of keeping Him down.The women are seeking Jesus, hoping against all their human nature that all He’d told them previously would somehow come to be.And the first piece of fresh information … the first MESSAGE that God’s messenger has got for them is therefore this:He’s not here He is RisenNow for some of the key personalities in the drama of Easter, that’s a fearful revelation.In that fact alone we’re told all we need to hear to know that the opponents of Jesus are proven wrong.Their fight is over.There’s nowhere left for them to go.Their position is discredited and all the evidence is supportive of Christ’s teaching about His origin, His mission from God, His death and its significance, His resurrection … all the big things that matter.But the angel wants these women CONVINCED of the fact …Come and seeHere’s the invitation to Jesus.It’s never ‘come and form an intellectual response to the following propositions’In 20th century Welsh Evangelicalism it sometimes sounds like we’re saying that, but that’s Not what the angel says here … Come and see … not in this case where He is, but on this occasion where He’s NOT …Significantly the man they saw killed and Whom they THEMSELVES had ‘laid out’ was DEFINITELY NOT where they’d left Him.And the facts about His death and resurrection have implications – require clear action – now from them …Go and tellThere’s the invitation of the angelic messenger to the Crucified, resurrected Jesus …Don’t be afraid, I know your intentions are right – you ARE seeking Jesus, come & see, He’s risen and not here … now go and tell the others He’s risen!Key issue next … it’s in GOING that they now meet with Jesus.
- Jesus MET them.Let’s not imagination the Lord Jesus doesn’t meet with His people.He looks for encounter, He looks for meeting, He looks to develop relationship with them.
- And as He meets these emotional women, it’s worth stopping to notice His greeting … “Greetings, he said”, v. 9λέγων χαίρετεOK – it IS the standard greeting in first century Greek, but the word out of this context means ‘rejoice’.There was plenty there for them to rejoice about.Their Saviour stood before them, raised from sin atoning death, and … here’s the crucial thing … they were ready to live with the consequences of faith for the lives they would go on to lead.So He greets them by calling on them to rejoice.We’ve just got to keep hold of the fact that the authentic Jesus gives His followers joy and not misery.
- He ENCOURAGES them.“Do NOT be afraid”Why is that?Because the opposite of faith is not doubt – but it’s FEAR.And Jesus is looking Not for the absence of doubt, but for faith … active, living, fearless trust.He’s looking for the courage born of faith … so he enCOURAGEs them, ‘Do not be afraid’.The soldiers are afraid … that’s the look of unfaith … Do. Not be. Afraid.
- Jesus wants them to go confidently, because He has something really important for them to do.“Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.“Here’s the travel advice for the 11.Jesus has met them and shared His life with them in the hill country, towns and villages of Galilee.It was the back country, it was ‘cefngwlad’ … a place they’d enjoyed some space and some peace and drawn close to Him.While He was preparing them to face His forthcoming betrayal and crucifixion, He’d promised them special time away with Him there again after His resurrection.They loved Him, enjoyed TIME with Him … just like the women on their way to the tomb that morning, their default setting was looking for Jesus!In the last week they’ve been through such a lot.Over and above the personal danger they’ve been in just for being the followers of Jesus, just emotionally it’s been such a traumatic time.Now Jesus is coming good on His promise.They’re going up to Galilee for some special time up there together, just one more time … and Jesus will there prepare them for winning the world around to be followers of Christ.But here’s the preliminary commission that comes before all that …“… 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.”They’ve been the first to the grave, the first to meet the reassurance of the resurrected Jesus, the first to be given a mission to fulfil by the risen sending Lord.And the amazing thing about that is they’re women.So let’s see from their example how faith meets the Risen Jesus.
- They knew what they’d seen.They’d seen Jesus crucified.They’d seen Joseph of Arimathea and they’d seen Nicodemus take his body from the Cross and lay him in that cold old rich man’s grave.Every rational fibre of their being told them Jesus was dead and gone.And still they went down to His tomb.Faith will keep going with Jesus, even when it seems everything’s lost.Think of Joseph in Egypt … from favourite son to sold as a slave, to head of Potiphar’s household to unjustly committed to Paraoh’s gaol, to dream-interpreter for the steward then the King … and only by ongoing faithfulness and loyalty to God, going on seeking God when everything looked lost … does he become the source of his people’s deliverance.Faith.Carries.On.So the women went down to the crucified Messiah’s tomb …And look what it was that they saw there …
- Faith moves itself.It doesn’t sit there saying ‘there’s marvellous’ or discussing … metaphysics.It moves itself.In this case the angel had given them a task to exercise their faith and they got straight to it, stuck in and did it, regardless of whether they thought the men would rubbish them as hysterical women or demean them as senseless and … (I don’t know) overwrought or highly strung?They saw, they believed, they acted as directed and will you look what happens next?
- Jesus meets with people.But He meets with people of faith … He doesn’t force faith on people who won’t show it by popping up from the bushes and pushing faith down their throats with a mallet.Once there’s faith, He meets it, greets it, encourages it and gives it a mission and a purpose to direct it which makes a difference and an impact in the world.Dead men don’t do that.And once they’d met with Jesus, these women did what people who genuinely meet with Jesus do …
- To trust Him, is to meet Him, is to … well, to worship Him.That is astonishing.No woman who’s had the chance to see me close up and personal for any length of time ever came to me, clasped my feet (v. unhygienic) and WORSHIPPED me!These people are recognising that the person they’ve shared life with for three years of travels in Palestine is none other than the incarnate GOD.BTW … mebbe this is for you … don’t tell me you can be a disciple of Jesus and not believe He is God, ‘cos there simply is no Biblical case of that.The followers of Jesus in the Bible – the genuine ones – come to worship Him as God.
- Staying loyal to Jesus … even in apparent failure and loss … in fact when all LOOKED lost … put these women in a position of enormous fruitfulness and blessing.These were the ones who WENT to the tomb … why did they go?Was it because they kinda believed most out of ALL the disciples the things He’d told them before He was crucified?Whatever it was, they hadn’t given upon Jesus … and as a result, these were the ones who amongst ALL the disciples first saw the Risen Lord.They were the ones … because they stayed loyal when all really seemed lost, who met with the Risen Jesus and then immediately followed His commission to go off and tell about Him.Dead men don’t give travel advice.They don’t make or keep rendez-vous.They stay in their graves and keep silent.Why didn’t the soldiers, seeing what they’d seen, immediately trust in the Saviour?They had the evidence of resurrection RIGHT there before them.But they weren’t prepared for the consequences of believing it.But the women were.So they went to the graveside.They met the angel.And they believed.And they heard that angel.And they went.And they met Jesus.And they worshipped.And He sent them.And they went.Evidence supports faith.But if you’re unwilling to believe, nothing is evidence.And if you’re unwilling to believe, your feet won’t follow.