Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.14 – April 2006

 

As Secure As You Know How

 

An Easter Sermon by Rev John Haverland on Matthew 27:62-66, 28:11-15

Scripture Readings:  1 Corinthians 15:12-25; Matthew 27:57-28:15

 

Theme: Nothing man can do or say can prevent Jesus from rising from the dead.

Purpose: To demonstrate the certainty and the evidence for the resurrection.

 

Congregation.

In your reading of the Scriptures you may have noticed that there is quite a bit of comedy in some passages!

Some of the proverbs are amusing, like the ones describing the sluggard:

The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road,
a fierce lion roaming the streets’.
As a door turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns in his bed.
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. (26:13-15)

And some of the stories in the Bible are amusing, like this one we have read – there is some humour in this exchange between Pilate and the religious leaders. We’ll look at this more in a moment, but first we need to remind ourselves of what has been happening in this story. These events leading up to the resurrection of Jesus are far from amusing.

Jesus had been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane on Thursday evening. He had been brought before the Sanhedrin and had been on trial through the whole night. Then, early on Friday morning, he had been taken to Pilate and tried again. He was then led out to be crucified at nine in the morning. He died about six hours later, after the three hours of darkness. His body had been taken down from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus and it was laid it Joseph’s own tomb. By then the scene around the cross was deserted. Everyone had gone home, especially the Jews, so they could be in their own house before sundown when the Sabbath began.

However, the chief priests and Pharisees had not slept well that night. They had a thought which bothered them. You know what that’s like – you wake up in the night and your mind gets onto something and you can’t get it out of your head. During the night these men had remembered something – they remembered that while he was still alive Jesus had said, “After three days I will rise again.”

It was a disturbing thought. It kept nagging at them in the small hours. What if his disciples tried to make that prophecy come true? What if they came along and stole the body and declared he had risen? What if they tried to stage a “resurrection”?

The next day was the Sabbath – a day when every good Jew turned his attention to the worship of God and he made his way to the synagogue. But the religious leaders did not do that. They made their way to Pilate – once again. They had other things on their mind quite apart from synagogue worship. [Read vs 63-64…]

The leaders speak of a “first deception” and a “last deception”. The first deception they were thinking of was Jesus’ claim that he was the Son of God. The last deception was that he had risen. They reasoned that people would be more likely to believe in someone who claimed to be the Messiah who had died and then risen again, than they would believe in someone who was alive who made this claim. A resurrected Messiah would seem much more convincing.

It is likely that Pilate was getting a bit tired of these men. They had involved him in an execution he really didn’t want to be part of. His wife had urged him to have nothing to do with Jesus. He had already been involved far more than he wanted. Now here they were again!

Perhaps he was also amused. These people had been afraid of Jesus while he was alive; now he was dead and they were still afraid of him! He couldn’t help being a bit cynical.

But he regarded this as a trivial matter and, wanting to get rid of them, he granted them a guard of soldiers. The Greek could be translated, “you have a guard”, which would refer to the temple guard; or, “Take a guard”, which would refer to a detachment of Roman soldiers. We are not told which it was. The temple guard seems a more likely possibility because after the resurrection the soldiers went back to the chief priests rather than to Pilate. Either way they had Pilate’s permission to place a guard at the tomb.

“Go”, he said, “make the tomb as secure as you know how.” One writer suggests we try to imagine the looks on their faces as they hear Pilate say this. They must have glanced at each other bewildered and puzzled. “As secure as you know how”. How secure is that? How safe does it have to be? Will it be secure enough?!

Perhaps they had the uneasy thought that somehow, in some way, Jesus just might come to life. He had been a great miracle worker. He had even raised others from the dead. Was it possible for that scarred and marred body to breathe again? Was it possible that he might stir on that rocky ledge in the tomb and stand up, large as life!?

“Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how”. This is what they did. They sealed the stone, probably with a piece of cord and two seals, and they posted the guard of soldiers. Then they went away.

We know that their efforts were laughable, ridiculous. The writer of Psalm 2 sees the humour in heaven as well.

“The Kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together against the Lord
and against His Anointed One.” (vs 2)
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
I have installed my king on Zion,
my holy hill.” (vss 4-6).

How can mere men keep the King of all Glory in the tomb?! It’s silly! ludicrous! absurd!

With this background let’s reflect, first of all, on:

THE CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION

His resurrection was certain because Jesus had predicted he would rise. When they went to Pilate the religious leaders were thinking of the words of Jesus: “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt 12:40). They may also have thought of his words about destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days. Jesus had told them that he would rise from the dead.

His resurrection had also been predicted in the Old Testament. Matthew, writing to Jews, quotes the Scriptures all through his gospel. He didn’t do that here but he could have quoted Psalm 16:10, “You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your holy one see decay”. Or Isaiah 53:11, “After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied.”

Jesus had to rise because he had to fulfil the prophecies.

Jesus also had to rise because his task was complete. Just before he died he had cried, “It is finished!” He had borne the punishment for sin; he had paid the price, he had done his work; he had endured the curse. It was all over. His resurrection confirmed that all this had been done. It was the proof that God accepted his sacrifice. This is why Paul could write to the Romans: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification” (4:25). His resurrection was the completion of his work.

Furthermore, Jesus had to rise because he was the Son of God. He was and is divine. He was and is all powerful, almighty, our King and our God.

J C Ryle, a great Anglican writer of the 19th century, said that they “might as well have tried to stop the tides of the sea, or to prevent the sun rising, as to prevent Jesus coming forth from the tomb.”

That is the truth Paul expounds in Ephesians 1. There he cites the resurrection of Christ as the greatest evidence of the power and mighty strength of God. Jesus had to rise because he was God. Death could not hold him.

Our Easter hymns express this triumphant power of the Lord:

“Vainly they watch his bed.
Jesus, my Saviour,
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, My Lord…
Death cannot keep his prey,
Jesus my Saviour,
He tore the bars away,
Jesus my Lord.” (PsH 357)

The resurrection of Jesus was certain.

This brings us, secondly, to consider:

THE EVIDENCE FOR HIS RESURRECTION

The religious leaders would have liked a good explanation for the empty tomb other than the resurrection of Jesus! People have been searching for such explanations ever since then and have come up with various ideas to explain away the resurrection of Jesus.

One idea is that the disciples stole the body – that story concocted by the chief priests themselves and widely circulated among the Jews. Another is that the resurrection represented the wishful thinking of the disciples. Jesus, they say, did not actually rise physically from the dead, but he rose in the imagination of the disciples. They wished he was alive, they wanted him to rise, and they talked themselves into believing that he did. Others have denied the physical resurrection of Jesus but have wanted to say that it is his teaching that lives on. He lives on in the ideas he had, like Rembrandt lives on in his paintings, or Mozart in his music.

However, we must reject these theories in favour of the clear evidence for the Resurrection. The disciples could not have stolen the body because of the guard placed on the tomb. Even if the guards had been asleep it seems incredible that they could have slept while the disciples rolled away that huge stone that lay across the entrance of the tomb.

But what makes this story even more unlikely is the state of the disciples at this time: they were shattered and shocked, demoralised and scared – so scared that they had all run away. Even the bravest, Peter, had denied his Lord to save his own neck. For some time after this they all remained in hiding, behind locked doors and barred windows. Stealing Jesus’ body was the last thing on their minds.

That also works against the idea that the resurrection was merely the wishful thinking of the disciples. They were not expecting Jesus to rise from the dead. They were thrilled when he did, but it was the last thing they expected!

The guards themselves provided evidence for what happened. This is ironic because they were placed outside the tomb to prevent a resurrection story. That backfired badly because they actually became witnesses of the resurrection. They were there when it happened! The guard meant that no one could go from the outside, in. But they could not prevent someone coming from the inside, out! The guards prevented others from entering the tomb, but they did not count on Jesus emerging from it!

So on that Easter Sunday morning there was an earthquake, and an angel of the Lord came down, rolled back the stone and Jesus rose from the dead and strode out of the tomb! Nothing explains the empty tomb, or the conviction of the disciples, or the transformation of their lives except the real, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus.

We have considered the certainty of his resurrection and the evidence for it. That brings us to consider, thirdly:

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESURRECTION

Let’s consider three brief implications.

First, we have a Living Lord!

Jesus is alive and well. He is the Lord of heaven and earth and the King all glorious; He is seated in heaven, is ruling the world, and is with us through His Spirit. This is the foundation stone of our faith. If “Christ has not been raised our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Cor 15:14). Our entire faith is staked on this event in history. Without a risen and living Lord there would be no point or purpose or reason to believe, or even to live. But Jesus has been raised!

Second, we have a hope to hold on to.

The Easter story is first about death and then about life. Jesus died and then came to life. That’s how it will be with us, and with all those who have living faith in Jesus. Each one of us will die – we can be sure of that. But if you believe in the Lord Jesus and believe that he died on the cross to pay for your sins, you can have the certain and sure hope of eternal life. We know that just as Jesus was raised, so one day we, too, will be raised. We, too, will be given new bodies, like his glorious resurrection body. This is our comfort and hope for those who have died with a living hope in Christ, and it is our comfort in death.

And finally, we have a Truth to Tell.

Matthew goes immediately from the resurrection story to the words of the great commission and the command to make disciples of all nations. If you believe that Jesus has been raised as Lord, and if you have a certain hope to hold on to, then you have a message for the world. You have a message of hope for the hopeless; you can bring light to those in darkness; you can offer encouragement to the discouraged, direction to the searching, clarity of mind to those who are confused.

Our society is in a sad and sorry state. Only a small percentage of the population believes in the risen Lord Jesus and wants to follow him and is committed to a church. Without a genuine faith in Jesus there is only eternal death; but if you believe in Him and follow him, there is the promise of eternal life.

Nothing and no one could hold Jesus in the tomb. They could make it as secure as they knew how, but it couldn’t keep the Lord Jesus in. Their feeble efforts were amusing, laughable. He rose from the dead – this is certain. There is clear evidence for this in those who saw him. So, we who believe, have a living Lord, a firm hope and a clear message.

Easter Sunday morning is a testimony to the power of God displayed in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“He closed the yawning gates of hell,
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell;
Let hymns of praise His triumph tell. Alleluia!”

Amen!