Sermon Tone Analysis

1. Intro

Welcome to our OneChurch Easter Livestream

It is a privilege to have you join us on this exciting and celebratory day.

If you have been blessed by the livestream, please drop us a note in the comment section, private message, or email us and let us know how this ministry has blessed you.

We love to hear about the good things God is doing in each and every one of your lives.

2. Easter Sunday

This morning is a continuation of Good Friday.

Friday we looked at the story of Jesus death and crucifixion.

We walked through the experiences that Jesus would have had and the pain he would have experienced.

We saw the struggle of Pilate and the followers as they had to deal with the aggressiveness of the religious leaders and their determination that Jesus must die.

We saw the disappointment as everyone had an idea of what the Messiah was going to accomplish, and having to watch Jesus die on a cross.

If you missed it, I really encourage to go back and watch it.

We pick up the story kind of where we left off, and we are going to switch perspectives.

We are going to look at things through Matthew’s eyes today.

There’s really no good reason behind it other then I really like the way Matthew tells the story.

Like last time, I encourage you to look into the other 3 accounts later on and see all the different nuances and details that each author picks out.

3. The Setup

Jesus has died on the cross.

Last week we saw how painful the whole experience would have been.

It is actually remarkable how much pain Jesus endured and yet was able to push through and accomplish all that he did.

He was taken off the cross at the religious leaders request on account of the holy festival that the Jews were about to take part in.

Jesus body has been given a very prominent man who has him wrapped and placed in a brand new tomb.

A huge stone is rolled in front of the entrance to keep wild animals out of the tomb.

It would have been the common practice to bury someone with their personal belongings.

The body was wrapped and anointed because of the belief of the resurrection.

Let’s start reading

4. The Guards

The religious leaders are so concerned that the disciples are going to steal the body and declare that Jesus has risen from the dead.

So it’s not enough to have this large stone in front of the entrance, but a fastening would have placed on the stone, and it would’ve been sealed by either Pilate’s or the Sanhedrin’s signet, signifying that in fact the tomb is sealed by an authority figure.On top of the seal, a guard of soldiers is given to the religious leaders.

A guard of soldiers would have been 16 soldiers sent to guard the tomb.

5.

The Impossible Made Possible

The stage is now set.

The tomb was carved out of stone.

It was a new tomb, so no other bodies were placed in it.

A large rock had been placed, fastened, and sealed in place, and 9 trained soldiers stood guard.

It was overkill in order to ensure that Jesus’ body stayed in the tomb, and he was raised, it was going to take an act of God to make it happen.

Cue the act of God

6.

What a scene!

I want us to really grasp what has happened.

An angel of the Lord descends from heaven.

He arrives with such power that the earth begins to shake violently.

He single-handed grabs the fastened and sealed stone, and rolls it away from the entrance of the tomb.

The response of the soldiers should be the tell all of how impressive this sight would have been.

The wording, “They became like dead men.” has two possible interpretations

They fell on their face out respect and fear of the sight they beheld.

The Apostle John uses the same language when we describes his encounter with Jesus in the first chapter of Revelation.

This is probably the more likely case given what the angel says to the women.

They were probably face down before the angel as well.

The other explanation is that the men fainted.

Now humorous as that would be if it were the fact, it has less grounds.

It would be hard to imagine a scenario where these battled hardened warriors would pass out and the two ladies who were coming to visit the tomb didn’t pass out.

I know you ladies are just as capable of handling an intense situation as us guys, but the story says all 9 guys had the same reaction.

Not some, all.

“Do not be afraid”

Twice we see this phrase said.

First the angel tells the women to not be afraid, and then Jesus says it to them as well.

This or some version of this phrase is repeated 365 times in scripture.

I think God is trying to tell us to not be afraid.

I’m not saying don’t be wise or discerning, but you don’t have to be afraid either.

God is bigger, and God loves you.

Put your faith in the fact that God has good things planned for you.

The women didn’t have to fear because they were seeking to honor Jesus and his sacrifice.

If we are walking in alignment with God’s plan, not only for our lives but for the world, we don’t have to be afraid.

We can walk in the confidence that God is going to look out for us.

Do not be afraid.

The women still ran away with fear.

Just because the angel told them not to be afraid didn’t mean the fear just melted away.

Being afraid doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with your faith or with you.

Overcoming fear is a process, but you need to commit to the process and allow God’s love to be greater then your fear.

We have to be willing to let faith guide us into the thing we fear most and help us conquer it.

The first time may be difficult, but it gets easier each time to let faith win.

This big thing in this passage is that Jesus is alive.

He has accomplished the one thing no one else had ever done in all of human history; defeated death.

This is good news because if Jesus conquered death, it means that death isn’t the end of our story either.

There is life after death.

We can’t get caught living for the moment and pursuing earthly passions because one day they will all fade away.

Jesus taught

e. There’s more to life then the here and now.

There is eternity to consider.

Not just your eternity either, but your friends’, your family’s, your co-workers, everyone’s.

f.

Friday I said that if you surrender your life to Jesus and declare him as your Lord and Savior, that would find new purpose in life.

This is part of it; living your life with one eye on eternity, realizing that every moment could effect yours or someone else’s eternity.

I want to spend eternity with each and every one of you.

Today is the day to make that decision that seals it.

I invite to start that journey with us today.

7. Desperation move

This is how desperate the chief priests are to make sure the world knows that Jesus stayed dead.

They bribed the soldiers that were guarding Jesus’ tomb a large sum of money to say what?

The disciples came and stole Jesus away while they were sleeping.

A few problems with this story:

There was always at least 4 soldiers awake at all times, depending on which source you check.

That means at least 4 guys would’ve taken the fall for falling asleep in the chief priests’ version of what happened.

Another problem is the Roman rule for falling asleep.

If even one guy fell asleep when he wasn’t supposed to, the entire guard was executed for failing to fulfill the responsibility they were given.

That’s why the chief priests would have had to assure the soldier they would cover their butts if Pilate were to find out

The final problem would have been the disciples.

Judas was already dead, which meant a group of 11 common men, fishermen, tax collector, a Zealot, overpowered 16 well-trained soldiers!

Really?

Now maybe they could’ve argued for more disciples then that.