Super Sunday (Matthew 28:1-10)
On Sunday August 27, 2006, Dad called just as I was about to preach to say that my grandmother—Nannie—was about to leave this world. Nannie meant the world to me; I was the firstborn grandchild, so I got spoiled rotten; Nannie doted on me every chance she got. It was difficult to preach that morning, but I did.
After morning worship, Tammy, the boys, and I headed to Kentucky. I vividly recall Mom’s standing at the entrance to the hospital waiting on us, and I collapsed in her arms and sobbed, “Not my Nannie. Not my Nannie.” Well, yes, it was my Nannie, and that evening she left this world for the next. That was a devastating Sunday, but I had joy because of a “Super Sunday.”
You’ve had grief invade your life, too. Perhaps you sobbed when you lost a grandparent or a parent or a child or a spouse or a close friend. Death is a part of this world: “It is appointed for man to die once” (Heb 9:27). Yet, because of a Super Sunday two thousand years ago, there is hope in the face of death: “In Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22). On that Super Sunday, some women learned an invaluable lesson: “Jesus lives.”
Scripture (Matthew 28:1-10)
verse 1-4:
The women were violently jostled about by a great earthquake; that’s what the Greek term for “great” implies. As you probably recall, a great earthquake also accompanied Jesus’s death; now three days later, an earthquake accompanied his resurrection.
An angel rolled back the stone covering the tomb’s entrance, and the guards who saw him fainted.
verses 5-7:
The women, however, had nothing to fear. Jesus, who had been crucified, wasn’t in the tomb, for he had been raised, as he had promised. The angel invited the two Marys to examine the place where they had seen Jesus’s body placed. Then the women needed to hurry and tell the disciples what had happened.
verse 8:
The women left the tomb to obey the angel’s word.
verses 9-10:
Jesus then appeared to the women. Mary and Mary took hold of Jesus’s feet and worshiped. The women saw no hallucination or apparition—the women actually touched Jesus’s resurrected body. Jesus was, in fact, raised from the dead.
Jesus reminded the women they were to inform the disciples of the good news. In the first century, the testimony of women was considered unreliable, and that’s putting it kindly; the apostles would never have invented a story where women tell them Jesus had been raised—it simply would not have been acceptable. The only reason the early church would share this nugget is if it really happened this way.
Application
“Jesus lives.” Jesus walked from his tomb on Super Sunday. How should you, therefore, live?
One: Calmness
The angel told the women, “Do not be afraid” (Matt 28:5); Jesus told the women, “Do not be afraid” (Matt 28:10). When they had every reason to fear, Mary and Mary had Calmness.
When you have every reason to fear, you have Calmness. The Lord “has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb 13:5-6). God is your helper, and no matter what happens, you may have the Calmness that your soul is safe in his hands.
Two: Confidence
The women had Confidence the resurrection really happened; the angel said, “Come, see the place where he lay” (Matt 28:6).
You, too, have Confidence in the resurrection. There are many historical truths which establish the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But find Confidence simply in knowing the Bible tells you about the resurrection: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). If you want Confidence in the resurrection, read the gospel accounts to know “Jesus lives.”
Three: Confession
The women needed to make Confession of the Risen Christ. The angel said, “Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead” (Matt 28:7).
You must also make Confession. Jesus said, “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God” (Lk 12:8). “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 Jn 4:15). If you want your name confessed in heaven this morning, if you want God to abide in you, you must confess Jesus.
Four: Compliance
The women demonstrated Compliance to the angel’s message: “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples” (Matt 28:8).
You also need Compliance. Jesus: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21). How is your Compliance to the Father’s will?
Five: Celebration
Mary and Mary’s puzzlement and fear became Celebration when they saw Jesus: “They came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him” (Matt 28:9).
Jesus deserves Celebration of praise. “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!” (Ps 95:6). “Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!” (Ps 96:9). Do you give God the proper Celebration?
Does your life give God glory and honor?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.