The Tomb Is Empty. Go and Tell.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a reminder of new life. It is the only path to eternal life.
Every year, during this season, something amazing happens. In my backyard, we have an apple tree. We don’t really care for it that well. I think we have a strand of lights connected to it. It got damaged a decade ago from a late freeze so it’s got some character. But without fail, every year that apple tree buds again. We don’t water it, or fertilize it, prune it, or whatever else you’re supposed to do with an apple tree. But every year it produces these beautiful leaves, and buds, and these white and pink blossoms, and if the bees are feeling up for it, apples. So many that we don’t really know what to do with them.
Easter always falls around this time, it moves a few weeks back and forth, but it’s in the Spring. And every year as we get to see green return, and blossoms in trees, and tulips on Pearl Street, we’re reminded that even through the winter, new life is coming.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than just a reminder of new life. It is the only path to eternal life. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Christian faith is futile. It amounts to nothing. The law, the life of Christ, his death, would mean nothing if not for the resurrection. You cannot have Christ without the resurrection. The thing we need most desperately in life is not more time, more money, or less worry, less problems. The thing we need most in life is to be found in Christ. And because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be found in Him.
The Resurrection of the King: Matthew 28:1–10
In order to understand why all of this matters, you need to know what happened three days earlier. Many times when we come to the Bible we fail to grasp the importance of sections because we don’t know what is happening. So let me tell you.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God was incarnate, meaning that God became man. The author of creation entered the story, a story to which we all belong. He was born of the virgin Mary. He was born of the line of David and his parents were told he was the Messiah that was promised to come. This Messiah was the coming King, deliverer, and Savior that was promised all throughout the Old Testament. Jesus lived a life of obscurity until he was found in the temple as a young man teaching. We know he grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men. Presumably Jesus was a carpenter or general contractor, like a small business owner, taking his dad’s vocation.
But when Jesus was 30 he entered his ministry. He came to a man named John the Baptist and was baptized in the river Jordan. At his baptism, the God the Father spoke and blessed Him. Jesus’s baptism was a type of anointing, a commissioning for ministry. From that time forward he performed signs and wonders, teaching God’s Word to people, ministering wherever he went. He gathered twelve men to be his disciples. He made friends and many enemies. He obeyed God’s law perfectly. He committed no sin.
And this Jesus, the Messiah, the one prophesied of, was on a mission. His mission was simple: Glorify God by saving people from their sins. Many think Jesus was a good teacher or a healer or some important religious leader. But many miss the entire point if they don’t see that Jesus Christ came to glorify God by saving people from their sins. And the only way to accomplish this mission was by dying on the cross for our sins, shedding his blood as the sacrifice for sin.
Three days earlier it seemed that darkness had won. The promised Messiah is dead, from crucifixion. They watched him die, breathe his last, removed from the cross, buried in a tomb. And if Jesus had not risen from the tomb the cross would not have mattered. Why?
Because the mission of Jesus Christ was not to merely die. But to die as the sacrifice of atonement for sins, replacing the sacrifices in the Old Testament. The blood of bulls and lambs could never fully atone for the sins of man. That is why they had to be done year after year. And if he had just died, then it would have meant that his payment for sin didn’t go through. Because the penalty for sin is death. And if he had stayed dead then he would not have conquered sin and death. It would have been like going to a cash register with a card only to find your payment declined.
The text says that it was the dawn after the Sabbath. What day is this, and why does it matter? This goes back to creation. The Sabbath, day seven, was a day of rest instituted by God. God finished his work on the sixty day. This is a new creation. This dawn is on Sunday. Christ cried “it is finished” on the sixth day, Good Friday, took rest on the seventh, and rose on the eighth to signal a new creation. The tomb is turned into a womb out of which salvation is born. The second Adam. First born of the dead.
Who are these women going to see him? Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, mother of James. They knew Jesus. They loved Jesus. They are going with spices and ointments to anoint the body according to Mark’s gospel. This was tradition but even in this we see a promise. They did not know the stone was rolled away. They did not know the guards were struck with fear. They did not know that their Savior lives. Yet, they go in faith to honor their Savior.
They come to the tomb and encounter an angel of the Lord. We don’t know if this is Gabriel or another angel; other gospel writers include a second angel but Matthew just mentions this one. This angel rolled back the stone. When Christ went to the cross, he had armies of angels at his disposal but because of his mission, he did not use them. Now, at his resurrection, the angels clear the way. The angel sits on the stone he rolled back from the entrance of the tomb, sitting down, foreshadowing Christ seated on his throne. This angel looked like lightning.
Have you ever seen lightning? Like really seen it. One time my wife and I were hiking in the mountains and up high we saw lightning. This was not a midwestern storm to admire or a far off storm in West Texas that may seem beautiful in its own way. This was up close and personal. It is terrifying. This is what the women saw. The appearance of the angel strikes down the guards who became like dead men. And what does the angel say?
“Do not be afraid.”
Darkness seems to have won. The captain of our salvation fought against evil, and those tormentors and evil doers. And he seemed to have fallen before them at the cross, buried in a tomb. But here our captain comes forth from the grave, the power of God, our conquerer, champion, and victor. They should not be afraid because they have come to seek Jesus who was crucified but he is not here. Where is he? He has risen.
The angel tells them to come see the place he was laid, see the tomb empty. This Christ, who died on the cross, is risen from the grave.
They are sent to tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee, one hundred miles north. This was foretold by Christ in Luke 24:6.
And they immediately depart, filled with a holy fear and great joy. Jesus lives and it is a miracle. There is a sense of holy dread and hope that has overcome them. They run to tell the disciples. But before they get there, Jesus meets them and they worship. They touch his feet, verifying that it was not Jesus in some apparition as if he was a ghost or spirit. He lives. And they bow before him because Jesus is the only one worthy of worship. He is King.
The author J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian writer in the 20th century. He wrote Lord of the Rings which has incredible imagery and storytelling. It was written as a Christian novel which is why so many themes seem to call us back to the story of Christ. In The Two Towers, Gandalf, the wizard who guides and leads those going to destroy a ring of immense power to save the world, falls deep in the mountains fighting a monster of tremendous power. They think he is dead. Hope is lost. The good guys find themselves backed into a box canyon at Helm’s Deep with armies of orcs and goblins swarming and swamping them. There seems to be no way out. The night has come and the enemy seems to triumph, but at dawn Gandalf appears over the mountain with armies of horsemen to save the day.
Tolkien intentionally wrote this to echo the reality that Jesus Christ is risen. He is alive. Our Savior lives.
The Doubters: Matthew 28:11–15
Since the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, there have been doubters. And there have been those who do not just doubt but actively subvert truth. It is one thing to have questions and look for verification. It is an entirely other thing to know the truth and subvert it and spread lies about the truth.
Here we have the chief priests of the Jews, those scoundrels and evil doers who worked to crucify the Lord. They hate Jesus. The guards from the tomb, those men who were pale of face and terrified of the angel, tell the chief priests of the news. Jesus lives. Imagine this. Three days earlier these men conspired to kill Jesus Christ. And now they hear that he lives. This is their chance. They are hearing the good news that Jesus lives. But instead of repenting for their wickedness and putting their faith in Christ, their hearts are hardened.
The chief priests, scribes, and elders gathered together in what’s called the Sanhedrin. They give the soldiers money to tell a lie. A preposterous lie at that. How could they have known what happened if they were asleep? If asleep while on guard, they could be prosecuted. If they did wake up and see it, why didn’t they try to stop it? Why would the disciples strip him? We know that there were garments left in the tomb. How could the disciples have beat the guards? Furthermore, how could they have moved the stone? And why wouldn’t the authorities try to find where they put the body then? If the body was stolen, they should be searching for it and arresting the disciples. They even admit the tomb is empty. No one says that Jesus’s body is in the tomb.
And just as the chief priests chose to deny this truth, many today who hear the good news will reject it. Even those who witnessed it themselves, the guards, were bought off to hide the truth with money. Which raises an interesting question: is there a cost at which you would deny Christ? What is your price? Perhaps it is not money — perhaps if someone took away your lifestyle, or if you were injured, you might deny Christ? Or if you experienced great loss such as of a loved one or family member? What if you experienced hardship or persecution and suffering, would you deny Christ then?
The only thing that can stand fast in the face of such temptations and sufferings is a faith that is given by God. A faith that clings only to Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Not money, not circumstances, not lost opportunities, not death itself. Many ask why does God allow bad things to happen. There are many bad things that happen in our world. But the question “why does a good God allow bad things to happen?” is the entirely wrong question. The better question is: why in our world with so much evil, does God do anything good? Why offer us salvation at all given sin?
There are those today who dispute the account of the resurrection of Jesus. But it is one of the most historically substantiated realities in history. There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than that Alexander the Great ever lived. The biographies of Alexander the Great were written 400 years after he died. Paul wrote to people who could walk across town and interview eyewitnesses all within five years of the resurrection. By the standards historians use for every other ancient event, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is extraordinarily well attested from the Bible and from extra-biblical sources.
The spirit of these chief priests and elders continues to this day among those who deny the resurrection of Christ and promote that Jesus does not live. Not only among those who practice false religion but among all who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
But everyone admits the tomb is empty. No one disputes this. I have been to the place of his burial. The tomb is empty. I have seen it with my own eyes. Christ Jesus is risen. But you don’t need to see the tomb yourself. You need to hear and comprehend this reality: that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. God’s Word says “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
You need to believe. Jesus Christ is risen. He is alive. Today he is seated in heaven. And he will return to judge the living and the dead. All power, all glory, all dominion belongs to Him.
You must come to terms with the judge of the world. You have fallen short of the glory of God. You have sinned. The terms are this: his life for yours. You bring your sin and he gives you life. Many Christians rightly testify that God saves. But many people wonder “saved from what?” From sin and its penalty. From murderous actions and desires, from covetousness, theft, and lust. From all the multitude of ways that we have violated God’s holy law. And the due penalty of such treasonous actions: eternal separation from God in the torment of hell. This is what God saves from.
But Jesus said that whosoever believes in him will be saved. You must put your faith in Jesus Christ.
The Commission: Matthew 28:16–20
Then what? What happens when we come to Christ?
Christ commissions his disciples. He sends them out, giving them his marching orders: make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded. This observance is not just a casual familiarity with the commands of Christ but a thorough and rigorous adherence to Christ’s commands in every aspect of life. Not just personally but corporately for nations and bodies. Societies of men are to be saturated with Christ’s commands such that entire civilizations are brought to submission to the Lordship of Christ.
All those who put their faith in Jesus Christ are put to work. Because of his authority, we are commissioned and sent into the world to bring it subject to his rule and reign in every aspect of life.
And He is with us now. This Christ whom we worship and long for is not far off. He is near now. In the proclamation of this gospel, Christ is near to you. As J.C. Ryle wrote: “He is with us daily to pardon and forgive, with us daily to sanctify and strengthen, with us daily to defend and keep, with us daily to lead and to guide: with us in sorrow and with us in joy, with us in sickness and with us in health, with us in life and with us in death, with us in time and with us in eternity.”
Your Christ, Your King
If you were to read the entire Gospel of Matthew in one sitting, it wouldn’t take much time. And the message would be clear. The message of Matthew’s gospel is this — that Jesus Christ is King, he is the Messiah. This is your Christ. He is the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth. He has been given the keys of life and death. Christ is the anointed priest who alone can absolve us of our sins, he is the Savior of the World, and He alone can give repentance and take away sin. And like the women running to tell the disciples of this great news, it should fill us with a holy dread, a reverence, and joy. It should lead us to worship Him alone.
The troubles of life often weigh us down. We are busy. But not just busy. We are worried. Some are saying we are the most anxious generation that has ever inhabited the planet. That may seem dramatic but if you look around, you begin to notice it seems true. People are worried and afraid. They are medicating themselves to try and free them from their anxieties and fears. We have many trivialities that trouble us. Where will we live? How shall we eat? Who should I marry? How do I find a spouse? Where should I go to school? How can I afford a mortgage? How can I save for retirement? There are many concerns in our world. What will happen to our nation? What about the future of my children? Why do the wicked prosper?
But friends, can I let you in on a secret. Many times we fear things that are trivial because we don’t comprehend the fear behind the fear. The thing you should fear is the judgement of the Lord.
Some of you are burdened, heavily, with cares of the world. Either trying to achieve something or get out of a troubled situation or solve problems deep into the night. You wonder how you can do it all. And if you do not have a holy fear of the living Christ, those things will snuff out the joy of the Lord. They will entangle you. Only by having a holy reverence and fear of the Lord who gives life, can you find joy in all things.
The reality is that you have a serious reason to be afraid and fear. There is good reason for your anxiety…if you are not in Christ. Because you are in great danger. The God-Man Jesus Christ, the judge of the world, lives today. And if you will not come to him and worship him like Mary Magdalene, then you will be separated from him. You will be judged for your sins.
And so, you need to come to Christ, the only one who can forgive your sins. The only one who can save. The King of kings and Lord of lords.
The tomb is empty. Up quickly, go and tell. Marvel at this work of God, worship, and go. It is the greatest news. It is the news the world needs to hear.
This sermon was preached at The Well Church in Boulder, CO on April 5, 2026. To listen to this sermon go here. To watch this sermon go here.