If this is true, if this is real- that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead (verse 6), and that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him (verse 18), and that he will be with his disciples to the end of the age (verse 20)- if this is true, then nothing is more important in our lives, nothing is more crucial or more urgent or more needful than believing it and becoming a follower of Jesus. I know it's a big if- if this is true, if this is real (you may believe it or not)- but if the premise is true, wouldn't you agree with the conclusion?- nothing is more important for everyone in this room than to believe in him and be his follower.
Authority over All Things
Just think of it. Jesus says in verse 18, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." If this is true, then today Jesus Christ is the Lord of the universe.
He has authority over politics and government; he has authority over all armies and military might;
he has authority over all industry and business (NASDAQ and Dow Jones);
he has authority over science and education- all research and discovery and universities and colleges;
he has authority over all entertainment and media- radio, TV, magazines, ne wspapers, Internet, theater, art;
he has authority over all sports and leisure- over the Wolves and Blazers this afternoon and every other playoff game;
he has authority over all natural phenomena- all weather and floods and volcanoes and earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes and global warming and ozone layers;
he has authority over all planets and moons and stars and light and energy and motion and time;
and therefore he has authority over our lives- health and disease and success and failure and life and death.
I don't know where you are this morning. You may or may not believe the testimony of Jesus and his disciples. But I hope you see at least that if- if- it is true that Jesus rose from the dead as the Lord of the universe with all authority in heaven and on earth, then believing it and following Jesus as our Lord is the most important, most urgent, most crucial thing in our lives.
Two Crucial Events
No matter how hard I try to think of an alternative, I can't escape the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ as Lord of the universe with all authority in heaven and on earth is the greatest event in the history of the world- except, perhaps, for one other, the one that happened three days earlier, namely, his death.
So what I would like to do this morning is ponder two events with you- or think together about two claims of Matthew 28:one that Jesus was crucified; the other that Jesus has risen from the dead and is alive and with us to the end. There would have been no need for the resurrection if Jesus had not died; and there would be no saving significance to his death if he did not rise. Both are utterly crucial.
Jesus Has Been Crucified
The time is early Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene and the other women have come to the tomb of Jesus. They see an angel whose appearance is like lightning (verse 3). Then, according to Matthew 28:5- 6a, "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.'" There is the first claim in this text that I want us to focus on:"Jesus has been crucified."
What do we need to know about this event- that Jesus was crucified- so that his resurrection is seen to be what it really is? Here are five things:
1. The crucifixion of Jesus was public.
This thing did not happen in a corner (Acts 26:26). It was not a secret rite. It is not mythological. It is historical and public. There were crowds of people who saw it happen (Matthew 27:39) in an open public place. All the religious and secular leaders were involved. And secular historians of the earliest centuries treated the death of Jesus as historical fact. Tacitus, the Roman historian who was born in AD 55 and who did not follow Christ, explained who Christians were like this:
Christ, from whom they took their name, had been put to death as a punishment during the reign of Tiberius at the hand of one of our Procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for a moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome. (Annals 15:54)
2. The crucifixion of Jesus was painful.
The article on "Cross" in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia describes crucifixion:
The punishment was meted out for such crimes as treason, desertion in the face of the enemy, robbery, piracy, assassination, sedition, etc.... Among the Romans, crucifixion was preceded by scourging, undoubtedly to hasten impending death. The victim then bore his own cross, or at least the upright beam, to the place of execution.... The number of nails used seems to have been indeterminate. A tablet, on which the feet rested or on which the body was partly supported, seems to have been a part of the cross to keep the wounds from tearing through the transfixed members. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, ii. 42)
The suffering of death by crucifixion was intense, especially in hot climates.... The swell [ing] about the rough nails and the torn lacerated tendons and nerves caused excruciating agony. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood and a terrific throbbing headache ensued. The mind was confused and filled with anxiety and dread foreboding. The victim of crucifixion literally died a thousand deaths.... The sufferings were so frightful [Josephus wrote] that "even among the raging passions of war, pity was sometimes excited" (BJ, V, xi, 1). The length of this agony was wholly determined by the constitution of the victim, but death rarely ensued before thirty- six hours had elapsed.... Death was sometimes hastened by breaking the legs of the victims and by a hard blow delivered under the armpit before crucifixion. Crura fracta was a well- known Roman term (Cicero Phil. xiii. 12). The sudden death of Christ evidently was a matter of astonishment (Mk 15:44). ("Cross," ISBE, Henry Dosker)
So there is no surprise when we read in the gospels that, Jesus gave a "loud cry" (Mark 15:37). His suffering in those last hours was indescribable.
3. The crucifixion of Jesus was planned by God.
Jesus said to his disciples several times that this was his destiny. For instance, Matthew 17:22- 23a:"Jesus said to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.'" In Acts 4:27- 28, the disciples prayed to God like this:"Truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur." The death of Jesus was not a historical fluke or accident or merely the effect of great injustice. It was by the plan of God.
This is the teaching of the New Testament everywhere. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son..." (John 3:16). "[God did] not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all" (Romans 8:32). Jesus was crucified by design, not accident.
4. The crucifixion of Jesus was punishment for sin, but not his own.
This was God's plan- that his only, eternal, uncreated, divine Son should be born as a man, live a perfect life and then die, not for his own sins but for the sins of others. The apostle Paul put it like this in Galatians 1:4, "[Christ] gave Himself for our sins... according to the will of our God and Father." And in 1 Corinthians 15:3, "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."
Even more astonishing and confirming of the truth of this is that in the Jewish Scriptures 700 years before the crucifixion of Jesus, the death of Jesus is described like this:"He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5- 6). His death was punishment for sin. But not his own.
Which leads to one last thing to say about this death.
5. The crucifixion of Jesus is precious.
This not my word, though I love it. It's what those who knew him best taught. Peter wrote, "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18- 19). And again in 1 Peter 2:7, "To you therefore who believe, he is precious." The crucifixion of Jesus is precious to those who believe, because by that death we are ransomed from sin and guilt and condemnation and hell, and given eternal life.
This is what Jesus came to accomplish:eternal life for all who believe. This is why he was crucified. It was public, painful, planned, punishment (for us!) and precious. My prayer today is that you will all see him for who he is, and that he will become precious to you.
He Is Risen
But he can't be precious to you if he is dead. So the resurrection of Jesus is just as crucial as his crucifixion. So take the final moments of this message and ponder with me this other statement in Matthew 28:6. The angel said to Mary and the others, "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying."
What can we say about the resurrection of Jesus? We could talk for hours about it. If I had time, I would talk about how public it was, because he appeared to so many and for so many days to increase our confidence that it is true and real (1 Corinthians 15:6; Acts 1:3); and how physical it was, not ghostly or mystical (Luke 24:39- 43); and how productive it was, because it secured the resurrection of all who trust him (1 Corinthians 15:20).
But I will only linger over two things about the resu