Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19970601.htm

MATTHEW: JESUS AS ISRAEL'S MESSIAH AND HIS MESSIANIC KINGDOM
Part XII: The Postponement of Messiah's Kingdom
C. The Victory Of The King
1. The Overwhelming Power Of The King In Behalf Of His Believers
(Matthew 27:61-28:10)
  1. Introduction
    1. Many a believer faces great obstacles to his welfare and to his ministry efforts in terms of oppressive political and religious forces of ungodliness. In fact, much of Christian newsletters today is filled with setbacks to the cause o f the Christian faith by way of oppressive laws and secular movements.
    2. The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth proves that the power of the risen Lord is bequeathed in behalf of the cause of the Body of Christ to a degree that should always encourage us to keep plugging.
  2. The Overwhelming Power Of The King In Behalf Of His Believers, Matthew 27:61-28:10.
    1. After Jesus died and was buried, the evil religious coalition sought to annihilate Jesus' following by sealing the tomb, making it impossible for anyone to steal the body and claim Christ had risen, Mtt. 27:61-64.
    2. This religious coalition utilized the most powerful political and military complex of the day to seek to annihilate Christ's following by sealing the tomb and setting a watch of Roman soldiers, 27:65-66.
    3. Opposite this show of oppressive force, some followers of Jesus who were women, a gender viewed as less in honor and significance in that culture, helplessly watched the burial of their deceased leader, Mtt. 27:<*7>60f. (McDowell, A Ready Defense, p. 237)
    4. However, the resurrection of Christ revealed that God's overwhelming power of Messiah was available to support the causes of His believers against the wishes of this secular opposition, Mtt. 28:1-10:
      1. When the women returned after the Sabbath to see the sepulcher, they witnessed God's terrifying power of overcoming death and the political-military complex that wanted Jesus to stay dead, Mtt. 28:1-4:
        1. First of all, there was a violent earthquake to signal the resurrection of Christ, Mtt. 28:2a.
        2. Then, a single angel of the Lord descended to the earth from heaven, and came up to the Roman guard and single-handedly rolled back the stone of the tomb and sat upon it in complete defiance of the political a nd military establishment that wanted to keep Jesus' body in the tomb, Mtt. 28:2.
        3. As the angel's appearance of power and light was overwhelmingly terrifying, the Roman guard shook for fear and fainted dead away, not offering any resistance to this lone angel, Mtt. 28:3-4!
      2. These women also were displayed the encouragement of God's power to assist Christianity worldwide:
        1. When the women encountered the angel, he went out of his way to tell them that, unlike the terrified soldiers, they as believers of Jesus were not to be afraid, Mtt. 28:4 with 28:5: (a) the middle voice of the imperative, fobeisthe, indicates that the angel did not want them to be afraid as it would not edify them. For their own welfares (middle voice), they were to be fearless at this event. (b) Also, the presence of the added pronoun "you" which can be eliptically supplied with the imperative in the Greek puts an emphasis on the subject, the women. In effect the angel implied, "Don't you ladies be afraid like the lot is for these soldiers -- you are a group God wants to edify in this event!"
        2. Well, the women left the angel both very joyful and fearful, Mtt. 28:8. Accordingly, Jesus Himself encountered them and again urged them with the same verb formation the angel had used (fobeisthes) to stop being afraid for their own benefit, Mtt. 28:10.
        3. Now, both the angel and Jesus urged the women to tell His disciples not only that Jesus had risen over death and the powers of the political-military complex to the contrary, but that He wanted them to meet Him in Galilee, Mtt. 28:7, 1 0.
        4. In Galilee, Jesus gave them orders about making disciples of all nations. This order was opposite the original intent of the political-religious complex that wanted to annihilate Christ's following by sealing His tomb, Mtt. 28:16-20 w ith 27:64!
Lesson: The resurrection power of God aims to equip the (a) least significant of God's people with (b) heaven's powers (c) to counter the greatest religious-political-military complexes the world can muster to oppose Christianity (d) and to equip and edify believers over their individual weaknesses and fears (e) so they can make disciples of all men in the world! Thus, BE ENCOURAGED to ADVANCE!