He is Not Here!
Extended Easter Series: Matthew 27:32-28:20 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Matthew 28:1-8 ESV
1 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. 2 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. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 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.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
We who are of the Reformed tradition hold to the doctrine of total depravity. However, those who profess themselves to be Christians but are not of the Reformed tradition hold to something less than this, they hold to something more like a partial depravity.
Now, the reason why I say this is because while those Christians who are not Reformed will profess that man has a certain level of depravity presiding within him, they will also say that there is still a portion of man, even if it is a very small portion, that has not been affected by original sin and is thus not depraved.
That is what you would call a partial depravity, because those who hold to this believe that there is a portion of man, even if it is a miniscule portion, that they believe is naturally good.
Now, the reason why we in the Reformed tradition don’t hold to that teaching is simply because it is not biblical. What we believe is that man is totally depraved.
And when we speak of total depravity, that doesn’t mean that we believe that man is as sinful as he can possibly be, but rather, what we believe is that sin has marred every part of our being so much so that if God does not intervene on our behalf, we will always naturally pursue that which is evil.
Therefore, the good that those who are born again of the Spirit of God do, is done only because God takes good, which is not of us, and works it into us.
Thus, the biblical concept of depravity is that all of mankind is affected by sin, that it corrupts our entire being, and that if God did not restrain man’s depravity, then man would plunge himself into the worst possible depths of wickedness.
But as was said, man indulges in his depravity to the extent that God allows. This means that the depravity which God allows man to plunge to is in accordance with His own purposes, and even through man’s depravity, God’s plans come to fruition.
As we have been working through this series of sermons leading up to Easter Sunday, in the events that we have read about transpiring, what we have been witnessing is human depravity at the worst extent that it has ever reached as we have chronicled the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ, the God-man.
No worst act has ever been committed than the act of taking the God-man and suspending Him upon a crucifix to the point of death.
It would seem as though at this point the light had been fully extinguished. As was said before, all of humanity is naturally in a state of total depravity, and because that is the case, all of humanity naturally hates God and wishes that He was not. All of humanity naturally wishes that there was no God, but because there is a God, they naturally wish that God was dead, that He would somehow cease to exist.
And after crucifying Jesus and placing Him in a sealed tomb with guards securing the tomb, it seemed as though the people may have indeed “killed” God.
But this morning, as we begin to chronicle the events that took place after the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, we see that God was and is alive and well.
We look first at verse one of our reading, where it says:
Matthew 28:1 ESV
1 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.
So, the first thing that we notice here is the timing of the events, as the text reveals that what follows took place “after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week.” This means that what follows took place very early on what would be Sunday morning.
Next, we see two characters in this event: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. If the names of these women sound familiar, there is good reason why; because earlier in this series of sermons, these were two of the women who Matthew said beheld the crucifixion of Jesus, who watched the burial of Jesus, and now they come to behold the tomb of Jesus.
Now while Matthew doesn’t tell us why these women came to the tomb, Mark does, when in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verse 1, we are told that these women brought spices with them so that they may anoint the body of Jesus with the proper spices.
But as these women approached the tomb, an unusual event took place. We read of this in verse 2 of our reading, where it says:
Matthew 28:2 ESV
2 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.
As these women approached the tomb where the Lord had been laid, there was a great earthquake that had taken place, and our text says that this had happened, for, or because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled the stone back from the tomb.
But even more, after this angel had rolled the stone back from the tomb, it is written that he sat upon the stone. Now, the reason why I believe that Matthew was sure to point this out is because of what sitting upon that stone symbolized.
You see, what that stone itself symbolized was man’s attempt to do away with the Lord Jesus. It was a symbol that said, “We have thrown everything that we have at the Lord and have killed Him, and through this He will remain dead!”
But the angel not only rolling, but also sitting upon the stone shows victory. It shows that God has soundly and quite easily defeated man’s most vicious attack.
In verse 3, we see the description of this angel, where it says:
Matthew 28:3 ESV
3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
Saying that the angel appeared like lightning expresses the glory of the angel. And saying that his clothing was white as snow expresses the purity of the angel. Furthermore, the lightning and the snow express the glory and purity of the heavenly abode from which the angel had descended.
We then read in verse 4 what the guards’ reaction to this great event was, when it says:
Matthew 28:4 ESV
4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
These guards were placed before the tomb to fearlessly guard it. In fact, they were placed there to instill fear in any who may potentially think of tampering with the tomb. But when this angel appeared before them to tamper with the tomb, the guards were the ones who were fearful.
These were skilled, powerful men who instilled fear in others, but when this angel appeared before them, they themselves were instilled with fear to the point that they trembled. They knew that they were no match for this great celestial being.
In fact, the text says that the guards became “like dead men”. This obviously doesn’t mean that these men were actually dead, but what it does mean is that they had become as powerless as one who is dead. And not only were they as powerless as dead men, but they also did what dead men do… nothing.
They had become so paralyzed with fear that they trembled and helplessly watched the angel roll the stone from the tomb and sit atop that same stone in victory.
Thus, this was the reaction of the guards of the Lord’s tomb, but in the fifth verse, we begin to read of the communication between this angel and these women who visited the Lord’s tomb, where we read:
Matthew 28:5 ESV
5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
When these women arrived at the tomb and saw the guards lying prostrate and this powerful angel sitting atop the stone, they too were most certainly filled with fear.
But while the angel did indeed seek to instill great fear in the guards, he had a different message for these female visitors. To them, he said, “Do not be afraid”. You see, the guards, those who were the enemies of God most certainly had much reason to fear what had taken place, but these women, they were the friends of God.
And what had taken place does not instill fear in those who God has made His friends, instead, for them, what had taken place is good news for the friends of God.
The angel informs the women that he is knowledgeable of the fact that these women, unlike the guards, do not seek to do harm to the plan and purpose of God, but had instead come to attend to Jesus and anoint His body.
But though this was their desire, the angel tells these women that what they seek to perform is not possible to be performed because something has happened that makes anointing the body of the Lord impossible.
What the angel tells them concerning the body of the Lord we read of in the first part of verse six, where he says:
Matthew 28:6a ESV
6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.
They could not anoint the body of the Lord because the body of the Lord was not there. In fact, His body does not need to be anointed, because what He had told His disciples time and time again would happen, has happened, He has risen from the dead. He does not need to be anointed for burial because He lives!
The angel even invites these women to see this for themselves when he says in the second half of verse six:
Matthew 28:6b ESV
6b Come, see the place where he lay.
He tells them to look and see the place where the Lord had laid, knowing that they would find it to be vacant. But he tells them not to tarry in the tomb for long in the first part of verse seven, where we read the angel saying:
Matthew 28:7a ESV
7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead,
The angel tells the women that after they had entered the tomb and seen for themselves the validity of this heavenly message, that they were to go. Indeed, they were to go quickly. This was good news! And they needed to report this good news with the greatest haste.
And who they were to go to were the Lord’s disciples, those who had faithfully followed Him on earth. And when they came to these disciples, they were to announce the good news that the Lord had risen from the dead just as He said He would!
But that’s not all, as the angel continues in this verse to say:
Matthew 28:7b ESV
7b …he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and as the Good Shepherd, He goes before the women to gather His flock, to lovingly reunite them in Galilee.
And, it may only be conjecture, but many have concluded that this was the time in which the Lord simultaneously appeared before the five hundred recorded in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
And lastly, we read of these women’s reaction to this command in the last verse of our text, verse eight, where we read:
Matthew 28:8 ESV
8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
After receiving the command, the women departed from that place, with reverential fear and great joy that they may fulfill the command to tell the Lord’s disciples!
It must be noted beloved that this risen Jesus remains risen. He has not returned to the grave, but He lives forevermore. Indeed, He even tells us that He is coming back!
And because He lives, because He has promised His people that He will return, we know that He has unfinished business here. Thus, let the enemies of God fight as hard and as vigorously as they may, for the God Whom they fight is a living God! And every foe of His will be vanquished as the Scriptures have foretold.
And as for we who are of His elect people, let us confidently stand firm and be faithful like these women to proclaim that our God lives!
Amen?