The Resurrection Hope
Matthew 27:57 – 28:10
- The resurrection of Jesus is God’s “Yes” to the cross and proves that Jesus’ death had achieved its God-intended purpose
- Believing the resurrection requires us to reconcile two seemingly contradictory but verifiable facts
- Fact 1: Jesus died and was buried on Good Friday
- Fact 2: Three days later the tomb was empty and many people saw Jesus alive again in plain sight repeatedly over a 40 day period.
- These two facts require explanation. Three possible explanations exist.
- The “stolen corpse” theory
- The “swoon” theory
- The resurrection really did happen
Matthew backs the third explanation and backs it up by providing God’s own authoritative explanation of events delivered through His own angelic messenger.
- The angel delivered God’s explanation of the resurrection in three clear words:
- A word of comfort (Matt. 28:5) “Do not be afraid”
- A word of certainty (Matt. 28:5) “He is not here. He has risen”
- A word of commission (Matt. 28:7ff) “Go and Tell”