Matthew 28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Big Idea: Jesus does just what he says he’ll do!
Jesus’ whole ministry, people expected him to do big things. They expected him reform the pharisees, become a popular teacher, to lead a revolt against the Romans, or to become a new king of Israel.
But Jesus never said that he would do any of those things. What he did say was much much bigger. The Son of God couldn’t be satisfied as a career teacher, or the king of a small country that only made up a fraction of the Roman Empire. He possessed the fullness of the Deity in physical form so anything less that coming back from the dead and saving the world would have been selling himself short!
Application: Not only did our Lord do all of that, but he even said that he was going to do it ahead of time. In some cases hundreds of years ahead of time! So how do we apply this? But knowing that Jesus can do exactly what he said he will do, and by knowing that he has done it for us.
When David went up against Goliath, he knew that he was going to win. God had anointed him to be the next king of Israel. Since he wasn’t the king yet, then that meant he couldn’t die. He believed that God would keep his promise even when giants got in the way. Jesus kept his promise even when death got in the way. And just like David defeated Goliath, Jesus defeated death and paved the way to a new relationship with God for us. Death can’t stop us, Jesus said so!