“Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.’ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.’ While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, ‘Tell people, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.”

Life From Dry Bones

I have heard it said many times, “what was started in a manger was finished on the cross.” Jesus Himself said, “it is finished” from the cross in John 19:30. While I’m not nearly foolish enough to argue with Jesus, I would push back against the sentiment that the entire mission was finished on the cross. Jesus’s death, the blood He shed and life He gave up served as atonement for the sins of all mankind. But His mission, God’s plan, was not just that the temple of His body be destroyed, but that in three days He be raised up. What was started in a manger – in fact what was started in Eden, when man chose rebellion against God and brought the sting of death upon himself, wasn’t just finished on the cross, but in the empty tomb.

1. The Announcement of the Gospel

Jesus was crucified, gave up His life and was laid to rest in a tomb during the Passover. No action was taken by His disciples during the Sabbath, in observation of the day of rest. But now we see as the first day of the week begins, at the first permissible hour after the Sabbath has ended, the female disciples of Jesus make their way to the tomb. Not knowing that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had already performed the traditional burial practices on Jesus’s body, Mark and Luke’s gospels tell us that the women went with spices to anoint the body of Jesus. Mark 16:3 shows us the subject of their conversation as they approach the tomb,

“And they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?’”

We see their question answered in today’s passage.

“And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.”

Ezekiel 37:1, 7-10,

“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.”… “So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.”

We see examples in the Old Testament of God’s power shown manifested in grand forces of nature. The flood which destroyed the ancient world, the pillars of cloud and fire as He shepherded His people out of Egypt, the wind that parted the Red Sea, the whirlwind from which He addresses Job. In Ezekiel 37, we see God lead Ezekiel in the Spirit into a vison of a valley filled with dry bones, where he is instructed by God to prophesy over the bones and command life to return to them.  The sound used to describe the bones coming together is, “a rattling,” but an alternate translation given is, “an earthquake.” This is no gentle rustling or soft stirring, this is the power of God moving and restoring life to that which by all human accounts was sealed in the finality of death.

Ezekiel 37:11-14,

“Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”

The scope of the promises made here which Jesus fulfills is staggering. God’s people are cut off from Him, dried up and dead in their sin. Through overcoming death, through salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God liberates His people, restoring us to life in the Spirit and bringing us to Him, where we belong. We see the promise of God’s Spirit living within us, the Helper of the Holy Spirit that comes after Christ’s ascension. These assurances are made by God, promised to His people, and will be delivered through Jesus. And so we see in the stirring of the dry bones, a vision of an event of restoration that shakes the world itself, a parallel to the earthquake as the stone is rolled away from Jesus’s tomb and death is triumphed over.

“His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.”

Along with the earthquake, we see an angel descend from heaven, roll away the stone and sit on top of it – the messenger from God again showing the Lord’s dominance over the grave. If we look through the Bible, there are a lot of examples of angels recorded, though their appearances vary. Sometimes they look like ordinary men, like those that God sent to save Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom. Conversely, we have examples like the four living creatures, seen in Ezekiel and Revelation, as well as the Seraphim seen in Isaiah, neither of which would ever be confused with a human. The angel shown in Matthew’s gospel (as well as an in the other gospel accounts) seems to have a human form, but is very clearly not human. The appearance like lightning and clothing white as snow, and especially the effect the angel has on the guards, making them tremble and become lifeless calls comparison to other passages. The figure who appears in Daniel 10, who Daniel grows weak and briefly passes out upon seeing, or John in Revelation 1, who, upon seeing Jesus fully glorified, falls at His feet “as though dead.” God sent an angelic messenger to share the news of the birth of Christ with the shepherds in Luke’s gospel, where we also see that the glory of God displayed through His messenger was terrifying to behold, before the good news was shared. Similarly the angel at the tomb has come to share good news – he has come to share the gospel.

“But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

The gospel, the good news, the message of Resurrection Sunday, the fruition of God’s promise to His people. Jesus addressed this multiple times, from saying that the Pharisees would receive no sign but the sign of Jonah, to the times He openly told His disciples that He was to die and be raised up three days later. But through what seemed like some combination of willful blindness and a lack of enlightenment in the Spirit, this message was never received by the disciples. In Matthew 16:21-23 we see Jesus rebuking Peter for contradicting Jesus over His foretold death and resurrection. What the angel tells the women is not new news, but it is newly received, and it is the greatest news that has ever been given – Jesus the Christ is alive.

2. The Promised Resurrection

“So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.’”

Obeying the instruction of the angel and leaving the tomb we see the beginnings of the joy over the resurrected Savior. It is interesting to see this come full circle, that in the garden the Serpent tempted Eve, and Eve shared in this with Adam. We now see the good news of the gospel given to the women of Jesus’s ministry, for them to carry and share with their brothers in Christ. As the women make their way from the tomb, they find themselves face to face with Jesus. All this helps point to God’s compassion and understanding, guiding His people, His flock to the truth of their promised salvation. Jesus told them what would happen multiple times before His crucifixion, God sent an angel to the tomb to deliver the news of Jesus’s resurrection and now Jesus meets them Himself, showing them the truth and dispelling any doubt that may have remained. As it says in Hebrews 4:15,

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

God understands our weaknesses, our fears and doubts, the depth of our sorrows and the strength of our temptation, and in them all, He has made provision for us. Not so that we may carry on in the wrong manner, but so that we may know the Truth and be given a path to Him. This kindness is also shown in Jesus repeating the instructions of the angel – as they fall at His feet to worship Him, fully enveloped in the enormity of having the risen Christ before them, He tells them not to fear, and reiterates to tell His brothers to go to Galilee and He will see them there. They are not asked to subsist on faith without any reassurance, but are given proof of what has happened in seeing and hearing directly from Jesus, with the promise that He will meet with the others as well. This mirrors the way that God calls us to Him now, and how He grows our faith, providing comfort and reassurance of His supremacy. In His resurrection Jesus has corrected and perfected what man broke in the fall. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 says,

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

He bore the wrath of God and paid the price for the sins of man on the cross. He removed the sting of death and opened the path for eternal life for all who come to Him.

3. The Failed Reception

“While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, ‘Tell people, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.”

While we know that the disciples of Jesus were obedient during the Sabbath, if we look in Matthew 27:62-66, we see that the Pharisees go to Pilate after Jesus’s burial, and obtain permission to seal the tomb and place guards around it. Verses 63-64 say,

“Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”

This is both sad and ironic, as if we look to the sham trial that Jesus is put through, we see in Matthew 26:59-62 that the matter of His resurrection is presented and purposefully distorted,

“Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, ‘This man said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.”’ And the high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?’”

In what they say to Pilate, we can see that the Pharisees understood that Jesus spoke to the raising of His own body, but they attempted to bear false witness against Him, twisting words and feigning ignorance in pursuit of their own ends. These men are the very embodiment of why Jesus weeps over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37-39,

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Ezekiel 16 is a cutting section of text that brutally, but accurately describes Israel as “The Lord’s Faithless Bride.” It paints the picture of the broken and destitute nature of the people’s origin, how it was God who lifted them up and glorified them as His, and how they betrayed their covenant through the worship of the pagan gods of other nations. We see this cycle repeat throughout the entire history of God’s people, from their time with Moses in the wilderness, to the era of Judges, to their flourishing and diminishing under various kings through the following centuries. While the passage in Ezekiel comes during the time of the Babylonian exile and the destruction of Israel, we see in the Pharisees and the teachers of the law in Jesus’s time that the idol worship has not ended in the years since God gave them back their homeland. While the worship of Baal, Ashtaroth and the other pagan gods may have fallen from prominence, we see that they have turned the very law that God gave them into their point of obsession and worship. The love of God is absent from them, and their pursuit is only after self-righteous power and outward piety. Ezekiel 16:59-63 says,

“For thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.”

“When I atone for you and all that you have done…”

God promised to mend the gap that we could not – the gap we proved only capable of widening, and He did. Christ’s perfect, sinless life, His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection and triumph over death provided all of God’s people with a path to salvation. In Him is the wellspring of living water, the bread of life, the Truth and life everlasting at peace and in the presence of the Father. But for those who choose the world, who devote themselves to empty gods of their own making, who seek war with the Father through the rejection of the Son there awaits only separation and agony.

Matthew 13:41-43,

“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYXT6ogNdJQ