THE
SIGN
THEY MADE THE SEPULCHRE SURE
HOW PRESUMPTUOUS!
Matthew 27:66What folly, that men should think that they could
entomb and hold fast the Son of God! Repeatedly during
the Lord's public ministry, the Jewish leadership kept
demanding that He give them a sign (Mt. 12:38; 16:1; Lk.
11:29). They wanted something miraculous--something
supernatural -- something tangible and visible -- some-
thing that would substantiate what they viewed as His
revolutionary teaching and lifestyle. They wanted to
know by what right, in whose name, with what credentials,
through what power He was teaching contrary to the
rabbis and scribes. He repeatedly responded to their
demand for a sign by saying, "...There shall no sign be
given..." (Mk. 8:12; Lk. 11:29).But the Jewish leadership was persistent -- they
continued to demand a sign (Jn. 2:18; 6:30). Their
relentless pressing led the Lord to tell them that it was an
adulterous generation that "seeketh after a sign" (Mt.
12:39; 16:4). His point was clear, concise and condemning.
Had they been true to Moses and the prophets of Israel,
they would have known by what right, in whose name,
with what credentials and through what power He was
ministering. The leadership of Israel has prostituted itself
by substituting the traditions of men for the truth of God.
They were unfaithful to their heritage -- they had
committed spiritual adultery.But still they persisted in demanding a sign. Finally the
Lord promised one sign. He said, "Destroy this temple
[speaking of His own body], and in three days I will raise it
up" (Jn. 2:19).He gave the very same sign, through different imagery,
in response to their repeated request. He said, "...as Jonas
was three days and three nights in the whale's belly;
so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth" (Mt. 12:40). Jesus was declaring
that the sign to authenticate everything He had said and
done in life was this--Kill me, and on the third day I will rise
from the grave (Mt. 27:64). In other words, the Lord made
His resurrection the authenticating sign to substantiate
the genuineness of His message in life and His sacrifice in
death. If Jesus did not rise from the sepulchre, His claims
would be false, His death in vain. If He did -- then He was
who He claimed to be -- He could atone for sin and had
power to bestow eternal life (Rom. 1:4).
The omnipotent God, who planned that the resurrection
of His Son be the hinge by which death opens up into life,
could not be thwarted by soldiers standing guard or a
stone rolled into place to seal His tomb.In the end, the stone would be rolled away by an angel
of God -- not so much to let Jesus out as to let the world
in. No force in the universe -- neither fallen angels nor
unregenerate men -- could frustrate God's plan. How
utterly presumptuous, therefore, that men should think
that they could MAKE "the sepulchre sure," (Mt.
27:64, 66).HE IS NOT HERE HOW PERPLEXING!
Luke 24:6Following the crucifixion of the Son of God, Joseph of
Arimathaea went before the Roman governor, Pontius
Pilate, to beg for the body of Jesus. Who would have
thought it? He was a member of the Sanhedrin -- the very
political body which had condemned Jesus to death. But,
that verdict was never unanimous. Joseph of Arimathaea
did not condemn Him (Lk. 23:51). He was an honourable
man -- one who awaited for the Kingdom of God (Mk.
15:43)."And he took it [the body of Jesus] down, and wrapped
it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone,
wherein never man before was laid" (Lk. 23:53) -- an
untouched tomb to house in death the One born of an
untouched woman.And Joseph of Arimathaea (a town about 20 miles
northwest of Jerusalem) was accompanied in the
unpleasant task of preparing the body for burial by a
least-likely-to-succeed candidate. "And there came also
Nicodemus, ..., and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about an hundred pound weight" (Jn. 19:39).How strange God's ways. Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews who had come to Jesus by night for fear of the Jews,
(Jn. 3:1-2; 19:39), and Joseph, a secret disciple of Jesus for
fear of the Jews (Jn. 19:38), team up to bury the Son of
God. "Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in
linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is
to bury" (Jn. 19:40).What irony! The disciples who had followed the Lord
in public for more than three years were now in hiding
(Mt. 26:56). And these two believers who had followed
the Lord in darkness and in secret now stepped forward
into the light to lovingly bury their crucified Messiah.
Their deed of courage would be immortalized. These
teachers of Israel finally realized that here at last was the
long-promised Lamb of God of whom their own prophet
had written. "(5)But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
(6)All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:5-6).After three days later Mary Magdalene, Mary, the
mother of James, and the other women came early in
the morning to the sepulcher with spices to anoint the
Lord's body for final burial. When they got there, the
stone was moved -- the tomb was empty (Lk. 24:2-3).
And two angels sent from God said, "(5)Why seek ye the
living among the dead? (6)He is not here, ..." (Lk. 24:5-
6). They were much perplexed!
HE IS RISEN HOW TRIUMPHANT!
Matthew 28:6Three simple words: "he is risen[.]" And with that
reality, light dispelled darkness -- righteousness bested
sin--truth destroyed error--life conquered death--and
God defeated Satan. The consummation of that statement
is still future -- but immutably certain.The full significance of the resurrection can never be
understood apart from the cultural setting in which it
occurred.A tension of overwhelming magnitude existed between
the crucifixion and resurrection of the Son of God. These
two historical facts are separated by only three days in
time and perhaps less than a hundred yards in distance.
But no other events in the annals of history tended so
strongly in opposite directions.
Calvary led followers of the Lord down to the
depths of utter despair and hopelessness. The resurrection
lifted them up to the heights of absolute triumph and
exaltation. What they mistakenly thought was the ultimate
agony of defeat would issue forth three days later in the
thrill of unchanging, unending victory.The disciples had forsaken everything and followed the
Lord. For three long, difficult years they walked with
Him, talked with Him, ate with Him, were ministered to
by Him. He was their rabbi. They were convinced that He
was Israel's long-awaited Messiah. And that, not without
reason. His credentials were impeccable. He was born at
the right time (before the destruction of the Temple, Dan.
9:25-26); in the right way (a virgin birth, Isa. 7:14); at the
right place (Bethlehem, Mic. 5:2); of the right lineage (the
tribe of Judah and family of David, Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam.
7:16). His message was authoritative (Jn. 7:46); His
power confirmative (Mt. 8:23-27); His bearing divine (Jn.
8:20).The disciples were certain that here at last was Israel's
great Deliverer. Surely this Son of David would break the
yoke of Roman oppression and restore Israel to her
former glory.But during those tumultuous last days, everything
seemed to be going wrong. First the multitude cried out,
"Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel..." (Jn. 12:13). But
the next day many were shouting, "Crucify him[!]" (Mk.
15:13). And within hours His life was torturously ebbing
away as He hung between Heaven and earth on a Roman
cross. How ironic! Jesus was not dead because He fell off a
Judean hill. They weren't mourning because He was run
over by a runaway chariot. He hadn't been set upon by
thugs. No -- He had been crucified on a Roman cross
--by the very same people the disciples thought He was
going to lead them in rebellion against.Low in the grave He lay -- and the disciples thought
that was the end; their hopes thrust through at the place
called Calvary; their dreams unfulfilled; their longings
unsatisfied. But on the third day -- on the third day He
rose from the grave, He was alive -- vitally, dynamically
alive. "He is risen[.]" How triumphant!
COME SEE WHERE HE LAY HOW CONCLUSIVE!
Matthew 28:6True faith is not belief without evidence -- but trust
without reservation. It is neither blind nor unreasoning.
Faith--the biblical kind--rests upon the revealed Word
of God. Abraham is repeatedly set forth as a man of faith.
(Gen. 15:6; 22:12; Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Heb. 11:8-10,13,17-19).
And the divine commentary on the patriarch is this,
"Abraham believed God, ..." (Rom. 4:3).The leadership of Israel repeatedly asked Jesus to
authenicate His ministry through a sign. He promised
only one, Kill me and on the third day I'll rise from the grave.And so men came to the grave on the third day. It
should have been sealed and guarded -- it wasn't. The
stone should have been in place--it wasn't. Jesus should
have been inside -- He wasn't. But there was an angel
present. And he said, The best I can do is show you where He
used to be -- "Come, see the place where the Lord lay"
(Mt. 28:6). The grave clothes were neatly wrapped
undisturbed, in place, the head separated from the body.
The form of a man was still there. But Jesus wasn't. In a
resurrected body of a different dimension, He had passed
right through the grave clothes.The empty tomb had a message for the disciples then, as
it has for today. To science and philosophy it says,
Explain this event. To history it requests, Repeat this event.
To time it challenges, Blot out this event. And to faith it
pleads, Believe this event.They "made the sepulchre sure" -- HOW
PRESUMPTUOUS! "He is not here" -- HOW
PERPLEXING! "He is risen" -- HOW TRIUMPHANT!
"Come, see the place where the Lord lay" -- HOW CONCLUSIVE!Please! Please! I would implore you if it would help. For
the eternal good of your soul and the glory of God, flee to
Calvary -- there to be identified with Christ in His
substitutionary and sacrificial death. Only then can you
be identified in His bodily resurrection unto ever-
lasting (Jn. 5:24).
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