The Resurrection of Jesus and its Life-Changing Impact (Matthew 27:57-66; 28:1-15)
Sermon Notes
Pastor David Yan
12 April 2020
Jesus died. Evidence:
Pilate surrendered his body. Not to his advantage if Jesus was still alive. Pilate was satisfied Jesus was actually dead.
Joseph of Arimathea carried out burial rites on Jesus. Would not have done this on a living person.
Onlookers (the women, the guards) observed proceedings. Highly improbable they would have remained silent if Jesus was still alive.
Chief priests and Pharisees asked Pilate to command that the tomb be made secure. They would not have given such directives if Jesus was still alive.
Supremely, the Bible teaches the death of Jesus. It is the ultimate authority. By the ministry of the Holy Spirit we understand and believe Jesus died according to the Scriptures.
Jesus rose again.
An angel rolled away the stone—not the guards. Why should they? Not in their interests to do so.
An angel rolled away the stone—not the disciples. If the disciples, then a physical confrontation with the guards would have taken place. The disciples would not have prevailed in such a conflict.
The guards trembled at the angelic intervention. Professional soldiers trembling! They saw what happened. They had no explanation.
The angel announced the resurrection of Jesus. Human logic could not explain things. It takes a heavenly proclamation to explain what had happened. The gospel is also, a proclamation.
The chief priests and elders had no answers. They had the means to undertake a search for the body of Jesus. They did not do so because they knew Jesus was not in the tomb. There was no body. Jesus had truly risen.
The Bible declares the resurrection of Jesus. We believe the Bible.
Consider now the life-changing impact of Jesus' resurrection.
The women at the tomb were transformed. These tender-hearted women were overcome with fear and great joy as they ran from the tomb. Jesus met them. They worshiped him. Ordinarily an idolatrous act. Not here. Note Jesus received their worship!
The disciples saw Jesus and were never the same again. They worshiped Jesus (though some doubted). The disciples became the first evangelists of the Christian gospel. Their lives had been transformed.
Note subsequent occasions of Jesus changing lives.
The denier. Peter. Confronted by Jesus. Convinced. Became leading preacher of the gospel on Day of Pentecost.
The doubter. Thomas. Confronted. Could only say "my Lord and my God." According to tradition he travelled as far as India to proclaim the gospel. If true, he who doubted the most travelled the furthest.
The foolish and slow of heart to believe. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Perplexed. They turned around and went back to Jerusalem. Why? The risen Jesus met them and convinced them he was alive.
The persecutor. Saul of Tarsus. Saul, (later Paul), highly intelligent and strong-willed. Hater of Jesus. Hater of Christians. Jesus stopped him. Broke him. Used him. Only a living Jesus could do this.
Consider Jesus changing lives in the history of the church.
The slave trader. John Newton. Engaged in cruel trade. Converted. Became minister. Wrote hymn Amazing Grace.
The drug taker and drug dealer. Hsi of China. An addict. Converted. Became one of China's early Christian evangelists.
The profligate young man. George Muller. He described himself as profligate and vicious. Converted. In his life he looked after 10000 orphans in Bristol, England.
The scholar. John Sung of China. He graduated PhD in America. Converted. Returned to China. Preached gospel. At his death in 1944 around 200000 people had been converted under his preaching.
All these examples indicate that Jesus is alive.
The Holy Spirit bears testimony to this. Jesus' resurrection is life-changing to those who believe in him.
Come this Easter season and receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. He lives. He will make you a new creation and cause you to live a new life.