Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Jesus' Burial and Resurrection
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. Hope that you had a good weekend. My name is Philip Thomas, Pastor of Journey here in Elgin. And ⁓ this is our journey through Scripture as we continue to take a chronological look ⁓ through the whole whole Bible. And we are ⁓ we just talked about the death of Jesus ⁓ on the cross. ⁓ today we'll be looking at the the burial and the resurrection. So we'll be ⁓ at the end of Matthew twenty-seven, Mark fifteen, Luke twenty-three, and John nineteen, and then at the beginning. of Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20. So we'll do both the the burial and then the resurrection. So ⁓ one of the things that is interesting that is consistent through all four of the gospels ⁓ is that Joseph Joseph of Arimathea ⁓ basically purchased ⁓ a tomb for Jesus's body to be put in. ⁓ He was a religious leader that disagreed with all that had been going on. ⁓ and so he goes and asks Pilate to take Jesus' body and place it in a tomb. ⁓ this is interesting because Jesus' body would have been placed in the the potter's field or popper's field. ⁓ but yet ⁓ Joseph of Arimathea ⁓ purchased a new tomb. And it and it interesting to think of too the tomb that we we kind of have pictured in our head That is not where a person would spend the rest of eternity, ⁓ in a physical sense. ⁓ it it's not like ⁓ they ⁓ like whenever you bury someone today, that's where they are forever. ⁓ the tomb, they would be there for about a year and then they would go and get the bones of the person and go and ⁓ bury the bones or do something with the the bones. ⁓ that was kind of part of the tradition. So In a tomb, you could have multiple people that ⁓ were in a tomb ⁓ at a time. But Joseph of Arimathea buys a new tomb. So Jesus is the only one in this tomb. ⁓ and so we know that, and then we know that the women saw where the tomb was. ⁓ so those things are consistent that we see throughout ⁓ all of the ⁓ gospels. there's a a few other ⁓ things that are highlighted in some of the different gospels. So first Matthew twenty seven, ⁓ starting in verse fifty seven. ⁓ that is ⁓ the account of the the burial talks about Joseph of Arimathea ⁓ laid it in a new tomb, which he had hewn out of r a rock, and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there and the other Mary sitting opposite the tomb. Verse si sixty two. This is kind of interesting, that kind of jumped out to me. On the next day which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember while he was still alive, how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise. ⁓ and then it so he gave them permission to put a guard. So the religious leaders are actually breaking the Sabbath. This would have been on Saturday that they are having this conversation. ⁓ it says on the the next day, which followed the day of preparation, they wanted to make sure that ⁓ the body was not stolen on the third day. ⁓ and so that is when the ⁓ pilot allowed the guards to be ⁓ placed. ⁓ thought that that was very interesting, ⁓ of the the desperation that they were in, that they were scared to death, that something more would happen. And pilot probably was too. He's like, ⁓ I don't want to deal with that ⁓ as well. so that that was was pretty pretty interesting to see how much the religious leaders worked with Pilate ⁓ and ⁓ got along all of a sudden when it came to Jesus. Another thing that just was interesting is they called Jesus how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise. Right, calling Jesus the deceiver. ⁓ that's a that's a word that's used to describe Satan as well. ⁓ that is the disdain that they had for Jesus, how they viewed him and thought of him. ⁓ then you have Mark that ⁓ talks about Jesus' burial in Mark fifteen, verse forty two through forty seven. ⁓ it says verse forty three says Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council me ⁓ member who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God coming and taking courage. Right? So he he showed courage to go to Pilate. ⁓ but he was looking forward to the kingdom of God. He believed that Jesus was the the Messiah ⁓ but ⁓ was still was still willing to make it clear that that he was a supporter of Jesus. ⁓ it's pretty pretty high high praise for Joseph of Arimathea. ⁓ Luke ⁓ twenty three, verse fifty through fifty six has the the ⁓ burial. Again, nothing new in ⁓ Luke's. Well he does talk about the women who see and then that they go and prepare the spices and fragrances ⁓ that they will come back to put on the body. you know, on Sunday. That's what was would normally happen. ⁓ it it wouldn't happen on the Sabbath, so it would have to wait till Sunday. ⁓ of course, they know that there's something a little bit different. There's a huge rock in front of this, so they're not sure how they're going to get in. ⁓ John nineteen, thirty-eight through forty-two. ⁓ it talks about Joseph Amarhea ⁓ being a disciple of Jesus, but it says, But secretly for fear of the Jews, ⁓ he asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. So you know, he Joseph of Arimathea is one who is a disciple of Jesus. He believes in Jesus, but he knows he has to be careful. ⁓ we also see in John, it says in Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night. That's in j ⁓ John chapter three. Remember, ⁓ he is a Pharisee, a chief priest. he came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. So ⁓ he Again, that's that's quite a statement that Nicodemus is making. ⁓ then they took the body of Jesus, bound it in strips, blend in with the spices, custom of the Jews is is to the bear ⁓ to bury. ⁓ and ⁓ so you have two of religious leaders who and both of ⁓ had tried to speak out. Nicodemus tried to speak out ⁓ to get Jesus a a more fair trial and that went on deaf ears. ⁓ so you but they are also in a position where they have to be very careful ⁓ at this time. ⁓ but it's interesting to see how they try to to to do what was right even in a a very difficult situation. So then we have the resurrection. ⁓ again, everything that we've read up until this point ⁓ about Jesus, ⁓ what he went through on the cross, it would have would have been horrific. It would have still been a unbelievable sacrifice that he was willing to die ⁓ an unjust death, but it is the resurrection. ⁓ that is the reason that we are even here today going through a chronological walk through scripture. right the resurrection, ⁓ it Christianity hinges on the truth of the resurrection. And not that that it was just a spiritual resurrection, but that this is a bodily resurrection, that Christ literally returned from the grave, that he not only did he spiritually defeat sin and death, he physically defeated sin and death. And it it's vital to hold on to that. I I would just encourage you if if you don't if you struggle to believe that, ⁓ y you know, y you you really need to start asking God to to reveal more to you and to open your eyes. ⁓ I our culture wants us to kind of ⁓ not not not see the importance of the resurrection. ⁓ because if we don't see the importance of the resurrection, ⁓ then we don't experience the power of the resurrection. ⁓ the power of the resurrection is what changes lives. It's what ⁓ gives us hope. It's what overcome sin and death. It's how people's lives can radically change is because of the resurrection, the the life changing power of the resurrection. And do not ever diminish ⁓ what what happened on that day. And so we see in Matthew twenty eight, verses one through eight, the ⁓ women going to do do the go through the proper procedures and things like that. And of course There's ⁓ no one there. There is only a an angel who had rolled back the stone. It says his countenance was like lightning, his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. It also says there was a an earthquake, similar to where there was an earthquake when Jesus died, now there's an earthquake and Jesus being ⁓ ra raised again, and ⁓ so you just see that the all the earth is responding to the magnitude of the moment. ⁓ the the angel says, Do not be afraid. I know you seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here, he is risen. Come and see the place where the Lord lay. Go quickly and tell his disciples. So that so they go, and of course, this is the the women, specifically Mary Magdalene, are the first ones to see Jesus. ⁓ if if if the people if they were trying to make up this religion, this was the worst way to do it. Women's ⁓ testimony had no validity in court. ⁓ it was not to be taken seriously. And so the fact that the first ⁓ people that saw Jesus ⁓ alive or saw the empty tomb, that it was women, ⁓ if if that wasn't true, ⁓ you would you would make up a better story. You ⁓ it would be Peter or it would be the disciples or something like that. ⁓ because their testimony would at least be valid. ⁓ this is again, this happened. So they're going to tell it like it happened. And so it was the women who were the first to experience the empty tomb. ⁓ I I love Mark, ⁓ chapter sixteen, verse six says, But he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, he is risen, he is not here. See the place where they laid him, but go tell his disciples. Do not be alarmed. Right? What a What an interesting term ⁓ of how fearful and and confused and alarmed you would be. ⁓ but the angel telling them, Do not be alarmed. ⁓ Luke twenty-four ⁓ talks about the the the whole ⁓ in encounter. again they see the angels, and I love the angel response in Luke, ⁓ chapter ⁓ verse five. ⁓ then as As they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. I I love that. Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁓ John 20, ⁓ verses one through thirteen, how he is ⁓ risen from the from the tomb. ⁓ the ⁓ this one talks about how Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb, sees that it's empty. ⁓ then you have Peter ⁓ running to the to the tomb and he's faster, so he ⁓ he's ⁓ a little slower actually, ⁓ but he goes into the tomb first, sees that it's empty, then they go back confused. ⁓ and you have ⁓ Mary Magdalene who runs into the gardener and she is weeping and overcome and wondering where the Lord is, and she is actually the first to see Jesus. ⁓ in ⁓ chapter twenty. Of John verses fourteen through eighteen, you see this and ⁓ he asks why she is weeping. ⁓ she explains, Do you know where they've taken him? And when Jesus says to her, Mary, she hears his voice and recognizes that it's him. And you know, we don't know exactly why she didn't recognize him. More than likely she didn't recognize him because she was weeping, ⁓ and crying. ⁓ so she I mean, she wasn't expecting to see Jesus, right? And ⁓ ⁓ but we ⁓ also know that something was different about Jesus. ⁓ verse 17 of John twenty says Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father and to my God and to ⁓ to to my God and your God. ⁓ right, so there's something different about Jesus, ⁓ his ⁓ his new body, his physic new physical body. Clearly it wouldn't have been in the same shape exactly as what 'cause I mean, can you imagine? I mean, he his body would have been ⁓ so broken ⁓ from the ⁓ wounds that he had ⁓ experienced. There was some healing going on. But we also know that you could still see the marks. ⁓ I'm just gonna say they weren't ⁓ but they weren't fully opened, right? They had they'd experienced healing. You could still still see the scars. ⁓ so we don't we don't fully know what that resurrected body is, ⁓ but we know it's recognizable. We know that it's real, that ⁓ that there's a physical nature to it, not just spiritual. ⁓ Matthew twenty-eight also talk about the ⁓ the women ⁓ seeing ⁓ Jesus says ⁓ verse twenty eight, ⁓ Matthew twenty-eight, verse nine, and as they were Went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice. So they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. He said, Do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go into Galilee. There they will see me. ⁓ Matthew twenty-eight also ⁓ gives an indication of ⁓ the the conspiracy. ⁓ verse eleven. Now while they were going back, behold, some of the guards came to the city to report to the chief priest all the things that had happened. When they had assembled the elders con consulted together, they gave large sums of money to the soldiers, saying, Tell them his disciples came at night, stole him away while we slept, and if this cubs to the governor's ears we will appease him and make ⁓ make you secure. So they took the money and did as were instructed, and ⁓ this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Now this is interesting, so they are trying to cover this up, obviously. ⁓ and I I think it's important that we that we recognize ⁓ that they knew how serious this was. And they they did not want this getting out. So they bribed the guards and then they promised them that they'll keep him s keep ⁓ safe from the governor if there's any problems that come with it. ⁓ but this starts circulating a false narrative. ⁓ and that is very powerful. ⁓ of course Matthew was gospel written to the Jews, ⁓ desiring for the Jews to come to know Jesus. This is kind of a reason that many did not, right? Because they were lied to and they believed that lie. ⁓ I think you know, we just look, ⁓ it's not that hard to to see how effective a cover up can be. you you can you can spread a lie much faster than the truth, especially when the truth is that someone rose from the dead. That's a hard one to believe, right? So people are going to naturally believe the lie. ⁓ and the religious leaders knew that and wanted to make sure that ⁓ the lie became the narrative. All right. ⁓ we're going to continue on Thursday. ⁓ continue looking in Mark sixteen, Luke twenty-four, John twenty, and Matthew twenty-eight. So we will we will be finishing out kind of the some of the more encounters with Jesus ⁓ and then ⁓ Jesus ⁓ his ascension ⁓ back ⁓ into heaven. So we encourage you to read ⁓ the the end of each of the gospels and we will ⁓ see you all. Thanks for joining us.