Eyewitnesses to the Resurrection
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2014 · 20 April 2014
It's always a challenge to decide which Scripture to select because Scripture is filled with resurrection truth. Because the resurrection is the foundation stone upon which the church is built. Without the resurrection of Christ there would be no service this evening; there would be no church here or anywhere else; there would be no Christian faith.
The first sermon ever preached after Jesus rose from the dead was preached on the resurrection in Acts 2. And the resurrection was the theme for all apostolic preaching and for all gospel preaching through all the years of history since. In the book of Acts, Peter not only preached on the resurrection in chapter two, but also in chapter four, and then, again in chapter ten.
Galatians talks about God the Father who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Ephesians talks about Christ who was raised from the dead. The book of Philippians speaks of the heart of Paul, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." To the Colossians Paul wrote, "God who has raised Him from the dead." To the Thessalonians he wrote "His Son whom He raised from the dead," speaking of Christ.
The resurrection is not just the theme of the New Testament, but it is a theme in the Old Testament as well, as noted by the sermon from Peter quoting from the Psalmist, "The foundation of our faith, the foundation of the church, the foundation of our eternal hope is the resurrection of Christ." We come then to the greatest single truth in Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But for this evening let us go back to just the simple truth of the narrative. Back to the history, back to the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who record for us the eyewitness account of the resurrection. To do that, let's go to Matthew 28:1-10. We are going to view the resurrection through the first eyewitnesses who were a group of women. Women who had come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Messiah while he was ministering in Galilee.
They traveled through Galilee following Him, ministering to Him personally, caring for Him whenever and however they could. They made the trek with Him south to celebrate the Passover at which He was crucified. They were there surrounding the foot of the cross at His death. These same women were there at His burial anointing His body with spices, helping to see that He was placed in the tomb in a dignified and respectful way.
It is those very women who were there in the morning of the dawn of the resurrection. Matthew 28:1 begins by recording this, "Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” Here we meet not just these women, there were some others as well.
Mark adds that Salome was there, the mother of James and John, the wife of Zebedee. Luke adds that a woman by the name of Johanna was there, the wife of one of Herod's stewards. John mentions only Mary Magdalene but uses the pronoun "we" indicating there were others. It was a group of women who were there at the burial and who were back that Sunday at the dawn having left their place of rest in the dark.
Why did God choose women to be the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection? Well, some say because God often chooses the weak, those who are not the noble, those who are behind the scenes. But the real reason why they were the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection is because they were the first to show up. It's amazing how you will find yourself in the center of God's purposes if you are there where He is working.
Matthew tells us, "It was after the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week." Mark adds, "It was very early at the rising of the sun." Luke adds, "It was at early dawn." And John says, "While still dark." Right at that time when darkness is slowly fading and light is coming, that was the hour of the greatest event of all events, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
And now we're going to see that event through the eyes of these women. But not just through their eyes. We're going to see it through their emotion, through their attitudes. Yes, their eyes will behold many things, but beyond that we will see how they react to it. And the real story of the resurrection here is to go through the emotional transformation that takes place in the hearts of these women.
The first attitude to note is sympathy. It says in Matthew 28:1 that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and the rest of the women came to look at the grave. They came to see, there was no thought of resurrection in their minds. Mark 16:1 says, "Because they had bought spices that they might come and anoint Him." Now we know that the Jews did not embalm their bodies.
Remember in John 11 when Lazarus was dead after four days, his body smelled. And here we are on the morning of the third day, decay should already begin. And the women having a hard time handling that emotionally, come for one last effort to put spices on a body that will send out a fragrance that will overpower the stench of decaying flesh. It's purely an act of sympathy. They had no idea that Jesus was alive.
When they got there they had a problem because there had been a stone rolled across the face of the grave. They ask in Mark 16:3, "Who will roll the stone away for us?" It was very large and massive. They couldn't do it. Maybe the women never realized that it was sealed with a Roman seal that couldn't be broken. And there they are, spices in hand, ready to demonstrate their compassion for Jesus whom they loved so deeply.
But they also felt great fear. Matthew 28:2-5, "And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.”
Notice in verse five the angel says, "Do not be afraid." Matthew alone gives us the detail of verse two, "That a great earthquake occurred." And even without any kind of equipment, there was no problem finding the epicenter, the source was the tomb. You say, “What caused the earthquake?" Not what, but who, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat on it.
Now the earthquake came but nothing says Jesus came out. You know why? He was already gone. Do you understand that the angel did not roll the stone away to let Jesus out? He rolled the stone away to let the women in. Jesus didn't need the stone removed to get out any more than He needed the door opened to get into the upper room where he appeared to the disciples.
In fact, the Scripture tells us that the grave clothes that were wrapped around His body when He was buried were lying in the very place that they were when they were on His body. He went out through the grave clothes and through the grave and through the stone. A glorified, resurrected Christ rearranged the molecules of His supernatural body and He went right through anything. He had already risen.
And in the first light at the dawn of the third day to fulfill the prophecy, Jesus came out of the grave through the stone, alive. Now there's a little drama that Matthew doesn't record. Mary Magdalene who was loved and saved by Christ was a devout follower. When she came and saw the stone rolled away she panicked. John 20:2 says, "Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
Now Simon Peter along with John, were staying in Bethany and that is two miles away. She's reporting to the two leading apostles. Her assumption is that some grave robbers have come; and they've stolen His body. And in her fear, she tells nothing about the angel and she just goes on her way. Now, hearing that, Peter and John start running to the grave. Peter goes first and John comes after Peter. But John came to the tomb first but because he is more timid he stops and looks in; Peter bolts by him to see what is there.
Now we are back at the tomb with the other women. Mary is gone while the women look from the open tomb to the angel. Matthew 28:3, "And his countenance was like lightening and his garment is as white as snow.” That's the reflection of deity. So this angel of the Lord takes on the character of deity. Its shining light reflects in this angelic being not his own deity but the glory of God.
The Roman soldiers who are now waking up after the earthquake and it says in verse 4, "The guards shook for fear of Him and became like dead men." Now these are Roman soldiers and they have seen a lot. And they should be ready for anything and yet they literally fell over and passed out. They later came to see the chief priests and told them their story. And, of course, the chief priests bribed them to lie about it.
Verse five, "the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid. Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.” The New Testament says, "He raised Himself." The New Testament also says the Father raised Him, and the New Testament also says the Spirit raised Him. They were all in on it, the whole Trinity.
In Matthew 28:6-7, the angel said, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” His resurrection already happened. No one saw the actual resurrection of Christ.
The angel says, at the end of verse six, "Come, see the place where He was laying." They went in. Then Luke 24:3-4 says, "Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.” John 20:12 says, "One of them sat at the head and one of them sat at the feet of the slab where Jesus had been lying.” And it says, "The women," Luke 24:5 "were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground."
And then the angel said to them in Luke 24:5-8, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ 8 And they remembered His words.” The evidence for its truthfulness is beyond question.
Hundreds of eyewitnesses saw the risen Christ. Women who never expected a resurrection don't fabricate one. Disciples who never expected a resurrection don't make up one. And none of them would go out and die as martyrs if the resurrection was fake. And how else can you explain their transformed lives? And how else can you explain the church and thousands of years of history of transformed lives by the living, risen Christ?
There's another emotion in Matthew 28:8-10, "So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Fear starts to give way to joy as they head toward the disciples. By the time Peter and John arrived, the women are gone. And they're going to tell the disciples the message the angel gave them. And that is to go to Galilee and Jesus will meet you there. There would be several occasions where Jesus would meet with the eleven, but not until Galilee would everybody be gathered together. And in that great assemblage in Galilee would come the great commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel.
It's important to note that when the women tell the disciples what happened, the disciples did not believe them. It's a sad reality that their faith was so shallow. The women were full of joy because if Jesus really was alive there is a great future. It's not over. It's not all darkness and despair and the end. Jesus died and He rose again and He blazed a trail through the grave and to life forever. There is a great future. And that wasn't the end of their transformation.
There's another attitude that comes in verse nine, when they are walking along or running to the disciples to tell them this message from the angel that He's alive and they're to meet Him in Galilee, "And behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.” So their attitude changed from joy to worshipping.
Jesus is no figment of their imagination, this is not a group hallucination. This is a person. They grasped His feet. They seized Him with adoring love. They were overwhelmed with thanks, overwhelmed with wonder. They acknowledged Him as Lord and God and Christ. They bowed the knee to Him. They recognized His deity, His glory and His lordship.
That is where God wants to take you. Your amazement and wonder and your astonishment over the reality of a resurrection will damn you if that's all there is. And so will your joy that there may be another life because Jesus conquered death unless you come to the place where you bow your face before Him and confess Him as Lord and worship Him as their Savior. And that's what they did.
Jesus said to them in verse ten, "'Do not be afraid. Go in and take word to my brother to go and leave for Galilee and there they shall see me.'" That angel really did his job right, didn't he? And here, they get the same message from Jesus. And what does this produce? They've gone from sympathy to fear to joy to worship to hope. "What? We're going to see Him again? We're going to be with Him again? We're all going to go together to Galilee and we're all going to be together."
At first it was all fear. Then it was fear mixed with joy. Then it was fear added with worship. And Jesus had to say to them, "Stop fearing." And now the fear is gone and the heart is left with hope. "Stop your fear. Just go tell my brother we're all going to meet in Galilee." Well, that's the right response - hope.
Not that we're all going to meet in Galilee, but that we're all going to meet in glory. That's the way to respond to the resurrection. There's a place for sympathy. There's a place for holy fear. There's certainly a place for joy. But what really matters is that you fall on your knees and worship and that your heart be filled with eternal hope. That's the evidence of salvation. Let us pray.