Power Revealed

Notes from Pastor Ky's message on Matthew 28:1-15.

This past Sunday we celebrated the truth that after Jesus was crucified, He rose from the grave and conquered sin and death! 

In His resurrection, Jesus shows us that He has power over death.

How? He is the author of life — He existed before death was a thing.

There is no other major world religion that has a holiday where they celebrate the day that their God or prophet rose from the grave, nor will you find any Christian church that claims to house the remains of Jesus. As Christians, we set our hopes on the resurrection of Jesus! 

The resurrection also shows us His power over all other authorities.

In Matthew, we have observed a power struggle between Jesus and the religious teachers of His day. Ultimately, these leaders plotted to kill Jesus because they were jealous of Him.

In Matthew 28:11, we see how these religious leaders responded when they learned that He had risen – they bribed soldiers to say that His disciples stole His body. Contrast their response to how Jesus’ disciples responded — most of them went to their deaths proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection! If Jesus hadn’t risen from the grave, they would have had nothing to gain (and everything to lose!) by sharing this news. 

Though with Jesus’ death, it seemed as if the Pharisees had won — but, as it turned out, Jesus was actually using their aggression toward Him to accomplish His own purpose.

“For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I make take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This charge I have received it from my Father.” — John 10:17-18

The religious leaders did not take His life from Him, but He chose to lay it down.

By His resurrection, Jesus established His authority not just over death, but over all other rulers, principalities, and authorities – especially the Jewish religious leaders, who thought they could silence Him along with His teachings and followers by putting Him to death.

The resurrection also proved that Jesus has the power to forgive.

Jesus tells those that believe and place their faith and trust in Him that “your sins are forgiven.” How could He promise that? Under the Old Covenant, being in right standing with God required a lot of work. Their system was all above levels of access (temple areas, sacrifices, etc.). Jesus could offer free forgiveness because He was the answer that is all of those things — the temple, the priests, the sacrifices — they were all just preludes to the work of Christ. 

We no longer have to make sacrifices for our sins because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice.

Hebrews 10:11–12, “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

More than just making a sacrifice for Jewish people, Jesus made access to God available to everyone.

Consider the woman at the well (John 4:13-14),

“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

We all often wonder, “can God really forgive me?” It’s funny that even unbelievers are known to have “Come to Jesus” meetings. Often, these meetings are full of dread, shame, and confrontation.

But friends, the promise Jesus has given us is that if we would be willing to turn from our sins and draw near to Him, that experience is not one of dread or being bludgeoned with endless guilt or shame. Rather, it’s one of coming home! A Father, his arms extended, welcoming His children back into the fold.

Psalm 103:12 paints a dramatic picture for us, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

He’s a good Father who loves us!

His message is as simple for us as it was for the woman at the well. There’s no special journey, no special person, no moral scale you have to tip — just repent and believe! 

Had Jesus said all this, died, and stayed in the tomb, all of those claims would be irrelevant. But He didn’t! We can rejoice in the fact that Jesus did not stay in His grave, but on the third day rose again to spend eternity with His Father in Heaven. He paid the ultimate sacrifice and washed our sins white as snow, so we can now spend eternity with Him too.

This is the hope that we have in Jesus, and why we celebrate Easter Sunday!

“Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

— Romans 10:9