Let's turn in our Bible now to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 28, verses 1 through 10. Matthew 28. It's on page 835 of the Pew Bible. Our text is Matthew 28, verses 1-10, but we'll actually begin reading with Matthew 27, verse 57. Matthew 27, verse 57. Thus says the inspired and inerrant Word of God, When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body 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. 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 while he was still alive, after three days I will rise. Therefore, order this 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 them, 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, 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 fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings. And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped 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. May God bless the reading of his holy word. To our beloved congregation in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Matthew puts a heavy emphasis on Jesus' identity as Immanuel. In the beginning of the Gospel, Matthew's narrative of the birth of Christ quotes the prophet Isaiah saying, Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. And the Gospel ends, as we will see this evening, with Jesus' own Immanuel statement. Jesus says, Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. But as we open our scripture text this morning, the women in our narrative do not have a sense of Immanuel. Rather, they have experienced quite the opposite. Consider the events of the past few days for these women. The previous chapter of Matthew tells us that these women were watching from a distance as Jesus was crucified and died. And then when Joseph of Arimathea laid the body of Jesus in the tomb, these women were there sitting opposite the tomb. When the Sabbath comes Saturday, the women have to leave because to visit the tomb on Saturday would be to desecrate the Jewish Sabbath. But now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, first thing in the morning, the scripture tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And why are they there? Certainly because these women want to be near. to their beloved Jesus. They want to be with their beloved Jesus. The scripture says they have come to see the tomb, similar to how those of us who have lost a loved one may spend a good deal of time by their gravestone. But the important thing for us to recognize is that these women have not come to the tomb expecting any good news. As far as they are concerned, there is no gospel for them. As far as they are concerned, their loved one is dead in the grave. They've come to mourn and to grieve the loss of Jesus. They have not come to see if He has risen just as He said. They have not come to worship Him. They have come because they think that there is no Emmanuel. Jesus is not with us. They think Jesus is dead. But lest we give these women too hard a time for their lack of faith, we must notice that Jesus' disciples are actually even worse. Jesus' disciples do not even come to the tomb at all. At least the women have come to express their love for Christ, while the disciples are off hiding somewhere in despair. These women come in order to see the tomb, but as it turns out, they end up seeing much more than they expected to see. We go on in our text, 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. Now boys and girls, do you remember why that stone was there? Well, it was placed there to block the entrance of the tomb. And it was sealed by the Roman soldiers to prevent Jesus from getting out. The chief priests and the Pharisees have commanded these soldiers to seal the tomb, to make it as secure as they possibly can. And the reason that they do this is because the chief priests and the Pharisees, unlike Jesus' disciples and unlike these women, actually remember what Jesus had said. The Jewish leaders told Pilate, Sir, we remember how that imposter said while 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 them, you have a guard of soldiers or take 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. You see, congregation, the enemies of Christ have done everything they can think of to keep Jesus in that tomb. But it is not enough. The powers of darkness, the forces of darkness cannot stand against the powers of heaven. And as I meditated upon our text this past week, I could not help but think of Psalm 2, where the psalmist asks the question, why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed. But even as the enemies of God and of Christ are raging and plotting, the psalm tells us that he who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision, then He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury. The enemies of Christ are determined to guard that tomb at all costs, but then God shows up on the scene. God makes a mockery of their effort. He sends an angel, a heavenly messenger, and with the angel, a mighty earthquake. Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. And you've got to love how the angel rolls back the stone which was sealed with Pilate's seal. Don't touch this stone. Don't move it. You've got to love how the angel rolls back the stone and then sits on it. Making an utter mockery of the feeble attempt of the Jews and Pilate to keep God's anointed king in the grave. And notice the angel's appearance. The Scripture says it was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. This messenger of light by his very appearance announces the reversal of the darkness that was present on Good Friday. And notice what happens to the guards. The external shaking of the earth leads to the internal shaking or trembling of their hearts. They are filled with fear, so much so that those who are supposed to be guarding the dead man actually themselves become like dead men. Roman soldiers were trained never to fall down, but even these hardened men are no match for the power of Almighty God. None who stand against His Son will stand. And so it is a terrifying scene, certainly for the guards, but also for the women. And that's why the angel must speak to them a word of comfort. And so the angel said to the woman, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. Don't be afraid. Why not? These women have seen a lot of terrifying things. In fact, the angel actually names one of those terrifying things. Jesus, their Lord, has been crucified. How terrifying! They've lost their leader. They are like sheep without a shepherd. And if we think about it, the next few words the angel speaks do not seem terribly comforting either. The angel says, he is not here. You can imagine these ladies' thoughts, you know, going a million miles a minute. What do you mean he's not here? If he's not here, then where is he? What has happened to the body of our beloved? But the angel continues. He's not here, for he has risen, as he said, come see the place where he lay. The angel invites the women into the tomb. But they do not see there what they expected. Jesus is not here. Immanuel is not here. God with us is not here with us in the tomb, in the grave. He is risen indeed. And as the angel reminds the women, this should not be a surprise to them. This is in fact exactly what Jesus had said. Jesus had taught and shown over and over again that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. So women should not be looking for a dead Christ. They should be looking for their resurrected Savior. Nevertheless, in spite of their unbelief, In spite of their not being with God, on the same page of God, God is with them. God has graciously sent them a messenger to show them what has taken place and to remind them of the word that Christ had spoken. Consider all of these things that we see in our text today. All of these things have happened for the benefit of these women. Take the removal of the stone, for example. Boys and girls, why was that stone removed? Was the stone removed so that Jesus could get out of the tomb? Was it keeping Jesus in the tomb? Is that what the scripture says? The stone was rolled away and then Jesus walked out? No, notice that our scripture text does not tell us anything about how the resurrection of Jesus took place. Contrary to the song we actually sung before the sermon, we do not actually see the Savior leave the tomb, glowing with the mortal bloom. We don't know what the resurrection looked like, or how it happened. But one thing we do know is that the stone was not removed so that Christ could get out of the grave. It was not keeping him in. The other Gospels, Luke and John, make it very clear that the resurrected Christ can walk through walls. And so if our resurrected Lord can walk through walls, then certainly no stone could ever keep the Lord of Glory in a tomb. And so then why is the stone rolled away? Well, the reason the stone is rolled away is so the women can see that the tomb is empty. It is rolled away so the women can see that Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead. And it is so that we may know the truth of the empty tomb. And we may know and believe the truth of the resurrection. The tomb is empty. He is not there. He is risen, just as He said. And how should these women respond to such glorious good news of the resurrection of Jesus? Well, the angel does not leave them guessing. He gives them a nudge in the right direction. Once they've seen the place where Jesus lay, they are expected to become messengers themselves. They are to 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. What the angels want these women to pass on to the disciples is quite simply a reminder of what Jesus Himself told his disciples not too long ago, back in chapter 26, verse 32, where Jesus said, after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. The disciples need that reminder. And so it does not take very long, as we see, for the come and see of verse 6 to turn into the go and tell of verse 7. The women are not supposed to simply sit around and wait and meditate on the meaning of all of these things. They're expected to immediately go and to declare the Good News, declare the Gospel. And if we know anything of the culture of this time, then we can consider how the Lord has greatly blessed these women, how the Lord holds them in such high regard. God has given them the opportunity to be the official witnesses of the empty tomb. You know, in those days, women were not allowed to be witnesses in a legal sense, but God exalts those who are considered lowly by other people's standards. God raises them up and honors these women by giving them the opportunity to be the first to pass on the good news of the resurrection of their Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we are told in verse 8, the women do not delay in their obedience. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell His disciples. Now let's pause here for a moment and consider the response of these women to the Gospel. The response of these women to the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice first that their fear is not completely gone. After all, can anyone rightly stand as a witness to the mighty power of God and come away unaffected and wholly unafraid? These women certainly have gained a great respect for the power of their sovereign God, and yet their fear is overwhelmed by something else. Their fear is surpassed by the great joy that they have. Congregation, I wonder, is this how we respond to the good news of the resurrection of our Savior? Do we stand in awe of the mighty power of God? Do we rejoice with great joy that the Lord has been raised from the dead? Or has Easter simply become something routine for us? Every year, in fact, every Lord's Day, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Have we forgotten the significance of this event? And have we forgotten how we should respond to it? Give glory to God. To Him belongs all power and might and majesty. Give glory to God for He has confirmed that your sins have been paid in full by Christ's one sacrifice accomplished. on the cross, give glory to God and rejoice. Rejoice with the great joy of sinners who have been forgiven an infinite debt. Rejoice with the great joy of rebels who have been graciously pardoned by a just and yet merciful King. Congregation, is that how we respond to the good news? Are we rejoicing with great joy today? But there's more for us to consider in our text. Congregation, do we see the commission of these women? And do we see that this commission of these women is also our commission? Notice how eager they are to obey the angels' command. They do not walk, but they run to spread the good news as quickly as possible, so the disciples may rejoice along with them. Are we like these women? Are we eager to see others rejoicing with us? Congregation, this Good News is not meant to be kept to ourselves. Well, the women move quickly to obey, but they're actually interrupted on the way. Verse 9, And behold, Jesus met them and said, Rejoice! And so the women have found Him whom they sought, or rather, Jesus has found the women and Jesus greets them with a command to rejoice. Yes, it is a greeting as the ESV translates it. But the Greek literally means rejoice. And congregation, this is the only way a person can respond to an encounter with the resurrected Christ. Rejoice! He is risen! His word is true! He has fulfilled the prophecies. Jesus truly is the anointed Son of God. He is the Christ. And consider this. You have a relationship with this Jesus. You have a relationship with this Immanuel. He is not just God with us abstractly, in general. He is God with me and God with you. Therefore, rejoice. Be glad. And what's more, worship Him. That is how the women rejoice with worship. Verse 9 continues, And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. How blessed they are to have the opportunity to feel His feet with their hands. They know that He is truly there. They feel His feet. He's no ghost. He truly has been bodily raised from the dead. And He truly is there with them. And in this moment, these women most profoundly grasp the significance of who Jesus is. Yes, He truly is Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus with us, the resurrected Christ with us. And He is the Son of God. He is God in the flesh, very God of very God. And so the women bow down to worship Him as God. The words of a familiar hymn seem fitting. As we consider their worship, God himself is with us. Let us now adore him. Him alone do we own as our God and Savior. Praise his name forever. And Jesus responds to their worship by comforting them. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. Now, Jesus' words are very similar to the words of the angel in verse 7, and yet the words of the heavenly messenger cannot compare. with the words of the Son of God himself. What a blessing that the women receive the word of Christ himself as their comfort on the first Easter, on the first Lord's Day. And what a blessing that we too have the joyous opportunity to gather together every Lord's Day to hear that same word of the resurrected Christ ourselves. For the risen Christ has not stopped speaking to His people. Every Lord's Day we are called to do as these women have done, to worship Him. To worship our Triune God through Christ. And each Lord's Day Christ continues to comfort us so that we might not fear the things of this world. And He continues to command us as well as we are too easily distracted from our commission for the proper response So the resurrected Christ is not merely to sit there and worship, but to also worship by declaring the good news to others. Now as we look at verse 10, what Jesus says does have a lot in common with what the angel said, but there's one striking difference to which I would like to draw your attention. Remember what the angel said. He said, go quickly and tell his disciples But what does Jesus say? Jesus says, go and tell my brothers. Why is this important? Why is this significant that he calls them brothers? Well, remember what the disciples have done. Remember that the disciples have abandoned Jesus. They have forsaken Jesus. They all ran away, nowhere to be found in Jesus' darkest hour. They deserted Him. And considering their grievous failure, perhaps upon hearing the news of Jesus' resurrection, they might think, we're just a bunch of failures. How is Jesus going to treat us? Will He receive us again? How will He treat us after we have abandoned Him, after we forsook Him, after we did not remain with Him? It's true the disciples did desert Jesus, they did forsake Jesus, but He has not forsaken them. In fact, in a sense, Jesus restores them by calling them His brothers even before they have repented. This shows what Jesus has accomplished in His work. He has created a new family. The church is His family and He gives His disciples the amazing grace to call them brothers even when He could have branded them all as traitors. Jesus will meet with his brothers as the one who has reconciled them to himself by his one sacrifice accomplished on the cross. A sacrifice proven by his resurrection to be complete. He has paid for all of their sins and trespasses. They're paid in full. And so Christ can restore his rebellious disciples and call them brothers. Jesus restored His disciples, and He will restore you as well. You may have forsaken Him, left Him, rebelled against Him, spit in His face, or perhaps you have simply become indifferent to His cross. and to His resurrection. Whatever the case, if you repent and turn to Him, trust in Him, then He will not leave you in the outer darkness. He will restore you and comfort you and assure you that you are His brother. You are His sister. You are His beloved. The resurrection of Jesus marks the dawn of the new day. Christ is victorious over sin and the devil. His light has overcome the darkness, even our sin. And so may we respond rightly to such good news, to this resurrection. May we respond with fear and with reverence. May we respond with great joy and rejoicing and with heartfelt worship. For Christ is worthy of all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise. Before we close this morning, one more thing from our scripture text. I want us to notice that in our passage this morning, Matthew is creating anticipation. See, not once, but twice. In verse 7 and in verse 10, we are told that Jesus will meet His disciples in Galilee. And we are supposed to wonder, what will happen there? What will happen in Galilee? What will the Lord Jesus say to His disciples? The Gospel writer Matthew wants us to be excited to find out. He wants us to be eager to hear what the Lord will say to His disciples. And so if you're wondering, If you're eager to hear what the resurrected Christ has to say to His disciples, and you should be, then I will see you again this evening as we gather once again in the presence of our resurrected Lord, in the presence of Emmanuel, to worship Him, to rejoice in Him, and to hear what He would say to us, His disciples. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You for the assurance that we have of the forgiveness of our sins. We thank You for all of the benefits that we have received through Christ's resurrection. We rejoice in the knowledge that because He overcame death by His resurrection, He is able to make us share in the righteousness that He won for us by His death. We rejoice in knowing that by His power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. And also we trust in Christ's resurrection as a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. And Father, as we see the glory of our resurrected Lord, and as we believe in the truth of this wondrous event, please cause us to respond to it rightly, with fear, with great joy, with worship, and with a desire to hear and obey the word of our Lord. Comfort us in the truth of this resurrection, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.