EASTER
April
16-17, 2017
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Matthew 28:1-10
“GOD CARES ENOUGH TO SEND THE VERY
BEST!”
1.
His
Son.
2.
His
angels.
3.
You!
Matthew 28:1-10 (NIV) After
the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2There
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. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes
were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him
that they shook and became like dead men. 5The angel said to the
women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking
for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as
he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then 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." 8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet
filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met
them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped
his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not
be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they
will see me."
Hallmark Cards came up with it. An advertising
slogan that stuck. “When you care enough to send the very best!” The message
was clear. Anything less than a Hallmark greeting card wasn’t good enough,
didn’t show enough care. If you really cared you’d send the best, a Hallmark
card. Now, as my poor wife will testify I’m no greeting card giving expert and
don’t actually agree with what feels like a manipulative effort to sell more of a
specific brand of greeting cards. And yet, I have to admit there is truth
behind the slogan. Love, caring, is shown by actions that match words and the
depth of the love and care can in fact be measured by the quality of the
sacrifice. You give your best for what is most important to you. When you look at what God gave it’s clear that
what’s most important to God is people. He cares for you and me. As we gather
on this joyous Easter we see in the Easter message, God cares enough to send
the very best.
There’s a lot of joy and happiness
around Easter especially if the sun is shining. American Easter customs have
family dinners or Easter buffets, baskets and candy. But real Easter joy
doesn’t come from those once a year things. Real Easter joy flows from the
reality of death. That might sound kind of weird but let me explain. Some of
have called death “Easter’s handmaiden.” In other words, death serves Easter.
In a sense that is true. If there were no death there would be no Easter.
“After
the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary went to look at the tomb.” It was early Sunday morning and Matthew
tells us of two women who went to a tomb. Whose tomb? Who had died? You know.
Jesus. Why had He died? Because God cared enough to send the very best. Death
is Easter’s handmaiden. There would be no Easter if Jesus had not died. There
would be no need for Jesus to die if people weren’t dying. And why were they
dying? Why do they die today? Sin. Friends I know we live at a time and in a
country where it’s just not polite to tell people what they are doing is wrong
and still we can’t get away from news where people are telling other people
what they are doing is wrong from anything to holding a press conference to
deplaning paying passengers. The fact of the matter is the only one who gets to
say to all, “This is wrong” or “This is right” is God. And when He calls
something wrong, it is. Every death screams out to all people, “God is right.
Sin is wrong. And because all people sin, all people die.” But that’s not the
worst of it. The real wages of sin isn’t just an earthly body giving up its
spirit. The real wages is the eternal death of separation from God in hell. Now
you can join the 42% of Americans who believe there is no Hell if you want but
it won’t change the fact that Hell is real. Nor will it change the fact that
God loves people, all people, you so much He sent the very best to keep you out
of Hell. He sent His Son Jesus. If you didn’t get a chance to hear a Bible
based Good Friday message it was on Good Friday that Jesus Christ, the holy and
perfect Son of God died after paying the punishment price for everyone’s sins.
That’s why we call His death day Good. Good for us. God sent the very best.
And God wanted people like the women
who ran to Jesus’ tomb, people like you and me to know that so on Easter
morning He cared enough to send the best, His angels. “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. 3His
appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The
guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5The
angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are
looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen,
just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then 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."
Angels! Angels are God’s servants. They are spirits. By nature they are
invisible. They have no bodies. God has granted them powers beyond our ability
to understand. Angels are very common. They are everywhere. You just don’t see
them because they are spirits. One of the jobs God gives them is to protect us
and they are very good at it. So good at it most of the time we are unaware of
all the times they have protected us from danger and how they regularly stop
the Devil and demons from harming us as they wish. In fact the only time harm
comes to us is when God allows it to for the good plans He has that fit in with
salvation. Angels are very common. The appearance of angels is not. In the
Bible angels only appear as angels for the very import points in the history of
salvation. Like Easter. Jesus Rises from the dead. God cared enough to send the
very best. The women were expecting to find the dead body of their Lord. They
needed to know for sure He was alive. God sent an angel. "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who
was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come
and see the place where he lay.” It was important for the woman to be able
to know and believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Everything hinges on it. The
Bible itself tells us if Jesus hadn’t been raised from the dead our faith in
Him is worthless. We would still have to pay for our own sins. It says if Jesus
didn’t rise from the dead we are to be pitied more than anybody else for
placing faith in what was not there. But Jesus did rise from the dead. Happy
Easter! Our faith in him is worth everything. Our sins are paid for in full. To
make sure we would know God sent the very best. Angels made the announcement
that first Easter morning.
But God wants everyone to know this.
Once again He sent the very best. “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." 8So
the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to
tell his disciples.” Death is Easter’s handmaiden. The women went to the
tomb expecting to find the dead body of a dead Jesus instead they found out He
was alive. They were filled with joy.
Everything changed because Jesus lives. “Suddenly
Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his
feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be
afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Others needed to know. Jesus’ disciples who thought He was dead and gone needed
to know. They needed their sadness turned to joy, their despair to hope. God
sent the best. These women? Yes. And you and me too. I know we don’t think we
are God’s best. But we are when we carry with us the message of Easter.
Especially to those who are dealing with a death.
Easter buffets and dinners are great.
But at every gathering this year someone will be missing. God has asked some of
you here to deal with the death of a loved one very recently. When you gathered
at the funeral or at the graveside, when you miss your loved one at the Easter
table, baskets and candy won’t bring you hope and joy. But Jesus does. Hear the
Easter message. Jesus is risen from the dead. That changes everything for those
who died believing in Him. Remember what He said? “I am the resurrection and the
life whoever believes in me will live even though he dies and whoever lives and
me will never die.” And “Because I live you also will live.” Like the women,
like the disciples, we have sadness at death. But God has changed that for us.
He cared enough to send the very best—His Son Jesus to pay for sins and rise
from the dead. Angels to make the first announcement. And now you. Whose face
is missing from your Easter table? Who would you like to see there now? They
may be missing from yours, but because God sent the very best they aren’t
missing from the Lord’s Easter banquet. They live. And you will see them again.
Comfort each other with these words. Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.
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