Our reading of God's Word tonight comes from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27. We're going to take up the reading, Matthew 27, verse 59, and then read down through chapter 28, verse 17. Matthew 27 at verse 59, let us listen to God's own Word. And Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that imposter said when he was still alive, after three days I will rise. Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first. Pilate said to him, You have a guard of soldiers. Go make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb, and behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee. there you will see Him. See, I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings. And they came and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell the people His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Now, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. But some doubted. So far the reading of God's Word. I'm always amazed when I come to that 17th verse of Matthew 28 that the disciples who had heard that Jesus was raised from the dead, that the disciples who now saw Jesus raised from the dead, some of them doubted. Some of them doubted. One of the interesting things to do—Pastor Gordon spoke of that this morning—is to compare the perspectives on the resurrection that the different Gospels have, the different angles, the different stories they highlight. And one of the things that Matthew does in his Gospel is to record subtly the relative absence of the disciples through this whole great episode in the life of Jesus. For Matthew, when Jesus is arrested, the disciples are scattered and are hardly mentioned until we read about them again in Galilee. So, the disciples are hardly mentioned when it comes to the trial, to the crucifixion, to the burial, to the resurrection. The disciples are largely absent. And that's reinforced by Matthew then when we come to the 17th verse and says, even when the eleven saw Him, some doubted. Why does Matthew do that? Why does Matthew record that for us? Well, it's because I think Matthew is saying to all of us, Disciples aren't always strong. Disciples aren't always as assured as they ought to be. Disciples are sometimes weak and sometimes faltering and sometimes doubting. Now, I'm sure that's not true of anyone here. Do any of us ever have struggles? Maybe somebody here has doubts once in a while. Can it be true that Jesus rose from the dead? Can it be true? Sometimes we say it's too good to be true. But that can lead us to maybe doubts and wondering. And Matthew's writing here to help us overcome those doubts, to help us face those doubts, to help us be freed as much as possible from those doubts. And He's really saying to us, I want to tell this story to encourage you disciples who tend to be weak, who tend to be faltering, who have struggles. I want to tell this story through the perspective of witnesses who saw it so that those witnesses can encourage you to be confident. And it's curious that in this telling of the story by Matthew, the witnesses that he focuses on are, first of all, the women who followed Jesus, and secondly, the guards who were placed at the tomb to ensure that He would not rise from the dead. About 80% of what Matthew writes in this latter part of chapter 27 and on through chapter 28 are about the women and the guards. He's really focused on them and the meaning of their activity, and I want you to follow what he's saying about these witnesses. Before the resurrection, at the resurrection, and after the resurrection. First of all, the soldiers. The soldiers are put at the tomb because the chief priests and Pharisees were told, after Jesus is dead, panic. Isn't it interesting that the chief priests remember that Jesus said after three days He would rise from the dead? The disciples don't seem to remember that at all. But the chief priests remember, and they are saying to one another, what if the disciples came and stole the body and then went around saying He was risen from the dead? then all that we've endured with this imposter would be made all the worse by a new fraud. We have to make sure that doesn't happen. And so they go to Pilate and they say, we want a guard of soldiers to guard the tomb. And we've heard about Pilate's enthusiasm of cooperating with the Jewish leaders. And we can just kind of imagine Pilate thinking to himself, when will these people leave me alone? Okay, fine, go take some soldiers and secure the tomb. The translation isn't great here. It's really not Pilate saying to the chief priest, take your guards and guard the tomb. He's really saying, take guards and guard the tomb. They're taking Roman soldiers, tough, battle-hardened soldiers, to guard the tomb. And they're going to make it as secure as they can. They're taking a significant number. They're going to seal the tomb. There's a great stone there. It's not easy to move, but they're going to make it even more difficult to move. And they're going to guard it so that no hoax can be perpetrated. So, we're seeing this scene of preparation, this scene of preparation to guard the tomb before the resurrection. And it's fascinating to look at all the details that Matthew gives us. When did the chief priests and Pharisees go to Pilate? They went on the Sabbath day. they went on the Sabbath day. They violated the most holy day of their religion because of their hatred for Jesus. This is the worst violation of the Sabbath in the history of mankind, that God's holy Sabbath would be desecrated by the rulers of this world taking counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed. That's what's happening here. I think Psalm 2 is very much on Matthew's mind as he tells this whole story of the powers of earth taking counsel against the Lord and against His anointed, the day of God's rest so that they could seek to frustrate God's purpose. And the full horror of this should really grip us. You notice Matthew can't even really bring himself to say they did this on the Sabbath. He's so shocked, he says they did it on the day after the day of preparation implicitly for the Sabbath. And He wants us to gasp with Him that such a thing could be done. And so, they take guards. They've hired guards on the Sabbath day. They've given them a job on the Sabbath day, all to try to frustrate the saving purposes of God. In contrast, we're reminded that there are also women at the tomb, women who have followed Him for years, women who stood at the foot of the cross, women who followed the body to the tomb and observed the burial, women who, you notice how we're told, rested on the Sabbath day according to the law of God. They didn't go to the tomb on the Sabbath day. But as soon as the Sabbath was over, they headed to the tomb. It doesn't appear that they headed to the tomb with any expectation of resurrection. They didn't go expecting to find an empty tomb. Rather, they went simply out of love and out of devotion to the master that they had followed for years, whom they had loved and served, and they went sort of wondering what's going to happen now, what's going to happen with the great stone in front of the tomb. It's interesting, and I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. Preachers are not always sure of everything, no matter what they sound like. I'm not sure exactly what to make of it, but do you notice these women who have been disciples for years are never called disciples? I think maybe it's because Matthew is painting the disciples so negatively, and he doesn't want these women to be portrayed negatively. These are the ones who followed. These are the ones who've trusted. These are the ones who've loved Jesus, and they are clearly being put before us as examples of how we should follow Jesus, how we should relate to Jesus, how we should understand Jesus. So, here's the scene set before the resurrection. Two groups who will be witnesses at the resurrection, the soldiers and the women. In verse 2 then of Matthew 28, and behold, there was a great earthquake. Matthew is emphasizing the magnitude of what's happening. Something dramatic, something important is taking place. There's a great stone sealing the tomb, and now there's a great earthquake to accompany the appearance of what is clearly a great angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it. From the perspective of heaven, the things we think of as great don't amount to much. Who will roll back the stone? Well, the picture is almost of the angel just kind of giving it a little nudge, and off it rolls. And then he sits upon it as if it's nothing. Something great is happening. And his appearance was like lightning. His appearance was like lightning. It must have been dazzling, almost impossible to look at in its brightness, testifying to heaven come down to earth at this moment, His clothing white as snow. Here's a dramatic moment. The tomb opened. And what happens to the guards? Verse 4, and for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. They collapse. They're helpless. They're on the ground, as if stricken with a rod of iron. The Lord has overwhelmed them. All the vain pretensions of the chief priests and the Pharisees and Pilate and the Roman army amounting to nothing in the presence of one angel of the Lord. And then the angel says to the women, do not be afraid. Almost everywhere in the Bible where an angel shows up, the first words the angel has to speak are, fear not. Angels are scary because of their power, because of their glory, because of the reflection of divine magnitude that is in them. Do not be afraid, for I know you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. You know, sometimes I think we as Christians get tongue-tied when we have an opportunity to say something for the Lord. Sometimes we feel inadequate when people say to us, well, what does it mean to be a Christian? What do you believe? And maybe your mind goes to the back of the Psalter hymnal, if you're pious, and you think of the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort. You think, how am I supposed to summarize that for people in a few sentences? Well, here is a wonderful summary to keep in mind. What is, what is the essence of Christianity? Jesus was crucified. He died for our sins. Jesus is raised. He's the Lord of life. And it's just as He always said. What's Christianity all about? It's about Jesus who bore our sins. It's about Jesus who lives forever. It's about Jesus who always keeps His Word. Now, see, we can all remember that. My kindergarten grandson has to memorize a longer memory verse for kindergarten than that. We can all manage that. Jesus, crucified, risen, always telling the truth. That's who we are as Christians. That's the essence of what our faith is for us. And here is this moment of resurrection. Do you notice in the moment of resurrection, Jesus is not there. Only the empty tomb is there. Only the witness of the angel is there. Jesus is not there. He's already raised. And so the women are commissioned by the angel to go and tell the disciples. Here at last the disciples enter the scene. Enter the scene as those who have to be told about the resurrection. Why aren't they at the tomb? because they're weak, they're doubting. It's the women who are there to listen to the angel. It's the women who are there to see the empty tomb. It's the women who are there to go and tell the disciples the truth. And then as the Lord would honor them for their faith, As they leave quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy to tell the disciples, verse 9, and behold, Jesus met them. Here's where they see the risen Savior. We read that they worshiped him and fell at his feet. I think, again, Matthew has Psalm 2 in mind. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way. They've fallen at His feet, to kiss His feet, to worship Him, to honor Him, to recognize Him. They don't doubt. They don't doubt. They just worship Him. And what an encouragement that should be to us, the example of these women. In every way, they are believing. They are devoted. they are loving, they are obedient, they are filled with joy. This is what should characterize every believer in Jesus Christ. Precisely these attributes, these virtues, we could say. And isn't it often true that our virtues speak louder than our words? Our virtues must be more foundational than our words. People are going to see whether it is true that we love the Lord, that we believe in the Lord, that we trust in the Lord, that we're joy-filled because of the Lord. And if our lives don't support it, our words won't carry much weight. And that's what Matthew is showing us here in These Amazing Women. But Matthew is also showing us how the soldiers witnessed the resurrection. How the soldiers responded to the resurrection. I've often thought, until I took time to really think about it, that if I were editing Matthew's gospel, I would leave out verses 11 through 15 of chapter 28. Don't they sort of interrupt the thought? Don't they turn to something rather minor? What is the real point? Wouldn't it be much better if we went right from verse 10, then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. And then go to verse 16, now the 11 disciples went to Galilee. That reads better. Now, I know you're all too pious to even consider cutting any verses out of the Bible. But we have to let the Bible surprise us. It's a little bit surprising that Matthew pauses and gives some five verses to these guards. It even occurred to me once reading this, I'm much older and wiser now, well, why would you tell this lie about stealing the body? Isn't that just going to give people bad ideas? Why does he include this? Well, I think Matthew is saying to us, these soldiers saw and probably heard everything that the women heard at the tomb. They probably, they definitely saw the angel, and even though they were flattened out on the ground, they probably also heard what the angel had to say. You seek Jesus, the crucified. He is not here. He is risen, just as He said. They are witnesses to the resurrection, whether they like it or not. And precisely because they are witnesses to the resurrection, some of them decide they have to go to Jerusalem to get instructions as to what they should do about this. And so they go, and they tell. They told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when the chief priests had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, you hear Psalm 2 again? They're still having to take counsel. Isn't it ironic that those who take counsel against the Lord and His anointed never succeed? Through the centuries, there have been people who have gathered to take counsel against the Lord and His anointed, and they have never succeeded. But they also, tragically, have never learned. And so what do they do? They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It's not that they didn't know the truth. It's that they refused to acknowledge the truth. They refused to listen to the truth. They refused to accept the truth. They knew that Jesus had promised He would rise from the dead, and now they're told that Jesus has arisen from the dead, and they will not believe. Why is that? Because they want their life, they want their wealth, they want their influence in this world, and they don't care about the life of the world to come. And so they bribe the guards, and the guards who only care about this life are willing to take the money, and they go and tell a lie. It's an utterly absurd lie. This should be a comfort to us as Christians. The lies of the world are absurd. Now, they may not always strike us as absurd when we first hear of them. But the longer you hear the lies of the world, the longer you have to analyze them and think about them, the more absurd they become. And that's exactly what's the case here. The disciples came and stole the body. Is that credible? Is that imaginable? Is that possible? Here are a bunch of Roman guards guarding the tomb. Did the women steal the body? Did they roll back the great stone? Of course not. Did the disciples who've all been scattered and faithless, did they come to plot? Not very likely. Could the soldiers have fallen asleep on duty? Well, yeah, that is possible. That has been known in history, that soldiers have fallen asleep on duty. But even soldiers who've fallen asleep on duty usually wake up when a great stone is being rolled away by a large group of people. This lie is incredible in the real sense of that word. It is not believable. But the Lord, sitting in heaven, has laughed and made the guards bear witness to the truth. And even if no one believed their witness to what they had seen and heard at the tomb, it stands in history recorded for us. And although we may be surrounded by lies, and although we may have doubts that rise up in our heart from time to time, We have the witness of these dear pious women who loved Jesus, who saw his empty tomb, who heard the words of the angel and bore witness to what the angel had said. Jesus, the crucified, is not here. He is risen, as he said. And so it is that we, as His people, remember what the resurrection of Jesus means. In Jesus, life has conquered death, truth has conquered the lie, mercy has conquered sin, love has conquered hate, and our King has conquered the world's kingdom. kingdoms. This is what we celebrate today. This is what is true. It's not true that love conquers hate or that life conquers death. It's that Jesus' love conquers hate and Jesus' life conquers death. That's what we celebrate. And so we are called to praise God and to say with the concluding words of Psalm 2, blessed are all who take refuge in Him. May that be true for every one of us. Amen. Let us pray. How thankful we are that our Savior is risen. How thankful we are that our sin is nailed to His cross, and our life is hid in His life. And so, we pray, O Lord, that He might always be our refuge and our strength, that He might always be our protector, and that as the psalm promised that You would give Him the nations of the world. So, we pray, O Lord, that we would see the nations coming, even if it's only one here and one there. We know You will fulfill Your promise and that Jesus is Your King, reigning on Zion, Your holy hill, and He has risen as You promised. Hear us and bless us in His service, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.