If you’ve ever had to walk through the grieving process, you know how mornings can hurt. Getting out of bed feels heavy. Your mind rehearses what you lost as you wonder if it was all a dream. The sorrow that crowds every corner makes routine tasks feel like your world is moving in slow motion. That is where the Easter story starts. Two women rise before sunrise, not looking for hope, but looking for a tomb. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary carry spices to help with the smell of death. They do nothing for the ache of the heart. Matthew tells us it is…
Matthew 28:1 NASB Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
The line is simple, almost quiet, yet it signals a hinge in history. The Sabbath has ended, and something new is beginning. Yet the women cannot see it. They approach the grave the way we often approach painful memories, with slow steps, settled expectations, and quiet resignation.
Good Friday had left them stunned. To behold the Man of Sorrows—wounded for our transgressions—is to be laid low. And if it does not affect us deeply, we likely have not looked closely enough. When The Passion of the Christ opened in 2004, reporters described audiences leaving the theater in silence. Some were weeping. Others remained seated until the credits ended, unable to move. One viewer said, “I knew Jesus suffered, but I didn’t know it was like that.” Another whispered, “It felt wrong to breathe when He gasped for air.” Those reactions mirror the shock of the first disciples. The lash, the thorns, and the nails formed a scene so violent and sacred that it seemed to pull the oxygen from the air.
The air is cool, the sky is still dim, and the world feels like it’s holding its breath as the two women walk in silence. Their arms are full of spices, but their hearts are full of sorrow. The last three days have been a blur of trauma and tears. Jesus is dead. The One who healed the sick, silenced the storms, and broke bread with sinners has been laid in a tomb, wrapped in linen and sealed behind a stone.
They aren’t coming to celebrate but to mourn. Their grief walks ahead of them like a shadow. And if we’re honest, we know that shadow. We know what it feels like when life doesn’t turn out the way we hoped, when faith feels like it’s hanging by a thread, when God seems silent and absent. We know what it is like to quietly carry heartbreak.
But what they don’t know, and what we so easily forget, is that while they are on their way to the tomb, heaven has already moved. The stone is already rolling. The ground is already shakingnd the One they came to bury is already alive.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a footnote in the gospel, it is the climax. It is not the epilogue to a tragic story, it is the triumph of the story. Everything hinges on this: that Jesus is not in the tomb. That death is not final. That sin does not have the last word. And that hope is not a naïve wish, but a blood-bought, empty-grave certainty.
This morning, we are not here to reenact a legend or commemorate a martyr. We are here because a real man named Jesus of Nazareth died and then walked out of His grave. We are here because the resurrection changes everything. And if that sounds too familiar to stir your heart, then maybe you need to hear it again for the first time. Maybe you need to see what these women saw. To hear what they heard. To feel what they felt. Because if you do, you’ll never see life the same way again.
Matthew marks the time as the beginning of dawn, signaling more than just a time of day. This is the dawn of a new creation. The darkness of Friday and the silence of Saturday are giving way to light. The Sabbath, the final day of rest in the old order, is over. And now, the first day of the week begins with an act of divine recreation.
Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” are not there to witness a miracle. They are not anticipating resurrection; they come prepared to anoint a dead body. Although their deep love for Jesus carries them through grief, their expectations remain wrapped in burial cloth. They assume that death is final. Yet, the empty tomb will soon challenge that assumption, teaching every mourner that death does not have the last word. These women are not experiencing hallucinations born from wishful thinking. They are realistic mourners approaching a sealed grave. Unknown to them, however, God has already begun His work ahead of them. Even as they walk in sorrow, Jesus is already alive, the stone is already rolling, and an angel awaits to reveal the truth. Just as the women draw near, creation itself joins in declaring Christ’s resurrection.
Matthew 28:2 NASB And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
Matthew often uses the word “behold” to grab our attention, signaling the significance of the event he describes. Here, the ground shakes, just as it did when Jesus died in Matthew 27:51. Now it shakes again as He rises, marking two significant events with powerful symmetry. These two earthquakes serve as bookends: one announces judgment upon sin, the other proclaims death’s defeat.
The angel does not roll away the stone to let our Lord out. He didn’t need assistance to exit the tomb because His resurrection body was not bound by normal physical limitations. After His resurrection, the Gospels show Jesus appearing suddenly inside locked rooms (John 20:19, 26) and vanishing from sight (Luke 24:31). These appearances suggest that His resurrected body could transcend normal barriers, including the sealed tomb. Instead, the angel moves the stone to allow witnesses to enter and see that Jesus is no longer there. God opens the tomb not for Christ’s sake, but for ours. He visibly reveals the victory already won, transforming the sealed grave into a symbol of triumph.
The angel then sits upon the stone, and this posture holds special significance. Angels in Scripture usually stand ready for their assignments, but here the angel sits to show completion. The resurrection is not a battle still ongoing but a victory fully achieved. The angel resting on the stone signals completion and victory. But it isn’t just his posture that communicates this triumph, it’s also his radiant appearance.
Matthew 28:3 NASB And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
The angel bears the brilliance of heaven itself. His appearance is sudden and overwhelming, like a flash of lightning in the night sky. His clothing is radiant white, symbolizing purity and divine majesty. His luminous presence is heaven’s visible endorsement of the empty tomb. It signals clearly that this moment is supernatural, authoritative, and divine. The women had approached the tomb anticipating darkness and decay, but instead, they encounter heaven’s brilliant glory. This striking contrast is intentional. God is clearly marking the boundary between the old world dominated by sin and death and the new age inaugurated by the risen Christ. Human strength and authority buckle when confronted by divine glory, as Matthew clearly shows next..
Matthew 28:4 NASB The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
The irony here is thick because the guards assigned to keep the living Christ in the grave become overwhelmed by fear. Though physically alive, they now appear as dead men. Meanwhile, the One presumed dead is actually alive. This reversal challenges every worldly assumption about power. Those who depend on human authority, military might, and political influence collapse in the presence of divine holiness. Rome’s strongest soldiers cannot prevent heaven’s purpose. They can roll stones and seal tombs, but they cannot silence the risen King. In fact, their very failure becomes the backdrop for God’s victory. Notice how differently heaven responds to those who seek Christ with sincerity rather than oppose Him.
Matthew 28:5 NASB The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
Whenever God’s glory appears, people tremble in fear, so God speaks through his angel, “Do not be afraid.” Throughout the Bible, holy encounters begin with people shaking in awe. Moses hid his face at the burning bush, and Isaiah cried “Woe is me” in the temple. These reactions show how overwhelming God’s presence can be. In those moments, God always speaks to calm our fear. Here, the angel carries God’s reassuring words, reminding the women that they are safe even in the light of his glory. Fear is a natural response in the face of holy disruption. But the resurrection is not a threat; it is an invitation.
The angel says, “I know what you are looking for…” acknowledging their sorrow and devotion. He is showing that God understands what brought them to the tomb. God sees the tears they’ve cried, the confusion they carry, and the longing that brought them to the tomb. They are not scolded for their limited understanding but met with compassion. They are reassured that God knows exactly why they’ve come, and He does not overlook their confusion or disappointment. He recognizes the ache that drives our search and points to “the one who has been crucified.” The Lord’s identity will forever be linked to the cross. The resurrection only has meaning when it is the resurrection of the crucified one. If Jesus had not bled, He could not save. If He had not borne God’s wrath, He could not declare peace. Before we can grasp what makes the resurrection good news, we must first understand the weight of what Christ died to save us from.
We often think of sin as something that only really bad people commit. But God’s law tells a different story. Have you ever bent the truth to protect your image? That breaks the command against bearing false witness. Have you envied someone’s life, talents, or possessions? That’s coveting. Have you ignored someone in need, not with concern, but with cold indifference? That fails to love your neighbor. Have you treated God casually, rushing through prayer, using His name carelessly, or giving Him your leftover attention? That breaks the first and third commandments. The truth is, we have all broken God’s law in thought, word, and deed. Often, we do it without even noticing. And from God’s perspective, sin is not a small mistake. It is willful rebellion against His holiness and the wages of our rebellion is physical & spiritual death.
Jesus was not killed by accident. He died under the weight of our guilt. Every sin exposed by the law, every lie, every selfish choice, every careless word, was placed on Him. He stood in our place. He was condemned by the law we have broken so that we could be forgiven by the grace He secured. The crucified Christ is not just part of the story. He is the reason the tomb is now empty. So the angel continues…
Matthew 28:6 NASB “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
The angel reminds them that Jesus had already said this would happen. In Matthew 16:21, 17:23, and 20:19, Jesus spoke plainly about His suffering, death, and resurrection on the third day. These were not vague predictions. They were repeated and clear. Still the disciples had trouble holding onto those words. They may have heard but not understood. They may have understood but struggled to believe. Or they believed, but fear and grief had pushed the promise out of view. Now the angel calls them to remember what Jesus said and to see that His words have come true.
His resurrection is not a spiritual metaphor or a poetic flourish. Jesus physically rose from the dead in a real place at a real moment in history. This truth stands at the center of the Christian faith and shapes how we live. If Christ has not been raised, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, then our preaching is empty, our faith is useless, and we are still in our sins. Without the resurrection, Christianity collapses into a hollow philosophy. That’s not just a theological crisis. That’s a personal one. If Jesus did not rise, then nothing matters. But if He did rise, then everything does. His resurrection isn’t just a claim to affirm, it’s a reality that reshapes what we live for.
The resurrection reorders my priorities.
If death is the end & there is nothing more, it makes sense to live for whatever pleasure or comfort we can find. We may as well spend our time chasing money, protecting our health, and doing whatever makes us feel alive, because, in the end, none of it would matter. However, if those values are still shaping your life, if church attendance feels optional, if serving God feels inconvenient, if obedience feels negotiable, it may be that you’ve heard the resurrection story but never truly believed it in a way that reorders what drives you.
But the tomb was empty. Hundreds of witnesses saw Him alive. The early church did not grow because people admired Jesus’ teachings. It grew because eyewitnesses could not stay silent about what they had seen. And what they saw was not a ghost or a dream. They saw the crucified Christ alive again, eating, walking, and speaking in the flesh. That event demands a verdict. If He really rose, then He is exactly who He claimed to be, the Son of God, sent by the Father, with authority over life and death. The resurrection is not just proof that His words are true. It is the public declaration of His identity. He is not merely a teacher. He is Lord.
The angel invites the women to see it for themselves. “Come, see the place where He was lying.” This is God’s kindness on display. He does not demand blind faith. He gives evidence. He invites us to examine the truth, not avoid it. The tomb is not sealed in mystery. It is open. It is empty. The grave clothes are still there, but the body is gone. This invitation is not just for them, it is for us. God calls us to come and look closely at the resurrection, not from a distance and not through the fog of assumption. He wants us to see that our faith is grounded in reality. And when we truly see it, when we take the time to consider what it means that Jesus is no longer in the grave, it begins to change how we see everything else. Seeing the truth always leads to doing something about it. When we truly see what it means that Jesus is no longer in the grave, it doesn’t just stir our hearts. It summons our lives.
The resurrection moves me from agreement to action.
The angel does not stop at “come and see.” He follows with “go quickly and tell.”
Matthew 28:7 NASB “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
The resurrection is not just a comfort to behold. It is a message to proclaim. The women are not instructed to sit and reflect but are sent with urgency, “Go quickly.” The risen Christ is not meant to be kept a secret, but meant to be declared. These women, who came grieving and afraid, are now the first messengers of resurrection hope. God entrusts the most important announcement in history to ordinary people with trembling hands and tear-streaked faces. And He still does. The gospel does not wait for polished credentials or perfect confidence. It simply requires that we have seen the empty tomb and cannot keep it to ourselves. And the first to carry that message are not the priests, the Pharisees, or even the eleven disciples. In a world where the testimony of women held little weight, heaven chooses them as the first eyewitnesses. God elevates the lowly. He entrusts the most important announcement in human history to the most overlooked voices.
The message is “He is risen from the dead.” The resurrection did not happen in a spiritual or symbolic sense. It happened in a real body, at a real place, in real time. And now, the angel says, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee.” Galilee is where it all began, the place where Jesus first called His disciples. It is not a place of prestige but a place of ordinary life. Jesus does not rise and retreat into heaven but returns to the region where His disciples work, walk, and live. The resurrection is not just a moment for reflection once a year. It marks the beginning of a whole new way of living with Christ at the center. And so, Matthew notes that, these women respond with fear and great joy:
Matthew 28:8 NASB And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
Those emotions may seem opposed, but in this moment, they belong together. Their fear was not the kind that drives people away from God. It was the kind that draws people in with reverence. They had just seen what only God could do, and they stood in awe. That fear was not isolated. It was accompanied by great joy, because Jesus was alive. Death had been conquered, and everything He had promised was now confirmed before their eyes. Their sorrow gave way to hope, and their grief was overtaken by wonder.
We should ask whether our response matches theirs. Too often, we speak about easter without the awe it deserves. We affirm it with our words, but we are not stirred by it in our hearts. We agree with the truth, but we do not rejoice in it. Yet if we truly believe that Christ has risen, then both reverence and joy should mark our lives. His resurrection is not just something we acknowledge. It is something that should reshape our priorities, reorder our affections, and renew our hope.
The women did not delay. Matthew says they ran to report it to His disciples. Their response was immediate and wholehearted. They had seen the evidence, heard the angel’s message, and now they moved with purpose. This is what happens when the truth of the resurrection takes hold, not just agreement, but action. They did not need a second invitation. They did not wait until the moment felt right. The news was too good and too urgent to keep to themselves. And notice whom they were sent to, Jesus’ own disciples. The same men who had scattered in fear were now being drawn back by grace. God was not done with them, and He used these women as the first messengers to bring them back to hope. The resurrection gives us a reason to move, not in guilt, but in glad obedience. When we believe that Jesus is alive, we cannot stay still. And look who meets them.
Matthew 28:9 NASB And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Matthew says, “Jesus met them and greeted them.” That may sound simple, but it is deeply personal. The risen Christ does not wait for them to arrive somewhere else. He meets them on the road. These are the first words from the mouth of the risen Lord, and they are not grand or complex. They are words of welcome. He greets them not as rebels, but as friends. His word is chairein, a common greeting in Greek meaning, “Rejoice.” On any other day, it might seem ordinary. But coming from the mouth of the One who just conquered death, it explodes with meaning. Rejoice, because sin is atoned. Rejoice, because death is undone. Rejoice, because everything broken is being made new.
And their response is immediate. They draw near. They fall down. They take hold of His feet and worship Him. There is no distance and no hesitation. They are not confused or uncertain. They know exactly who He is. The One they saw crucified is now standing in front of them, alive in the flesh. This is not admiration. It is not analysis. It is worship, adoration, submission, and awe. And notice how close they get. They fall to the ground and grab His feet. Matthew includes that detail to make something clear. This is not a dream. Not a vision. Not a ghost. Jesus is bodily raised. He can be touched. And if that is true, then the world is no longer the same.
And neither are we. The One who conquered death doesn’t hold them at arm’s length. He welcomes them with gentleness, meets them on the road, and speaks not with rebuke, but reassurance. He does not only rise in power, He rises in relationship.
The resurrection gives me a new identity as God’s child.
Matthew 28:10 NASB Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
These are the same words the angel used, but now they come from the risen Christ Himself. And they are needed, because even joy can feel overwhelming. Jesus calms their fear to steady their hearts, not to interrupt their worship. Then He sends them with a message, and He chooses His words carefully. He does not refer to the disciples by title or position. He calls them His brothers. That is a shift in language. Before the cross, He had called them disciples. At times, He had even called them friends. But now, through His death and resurrection, He refers to them as family. The resurrection confirms that their adoption is complete. The cross paid the debt, and the resurrection sealed the relationship. By grace, they now belong to the household of God. And Jesus offers them a promise: “There they will see Me.” His work is not finished. He will meet them again, just as He said. The resurrection is not just a historical event. It is the beginning of a new, ongoing relationship with the living Christ.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a claim to believe. It is a reality to live under. You can’t stare into an empty tomb and then go on as if nothing happened. You can’t hear the angel say, “He is not here,” and live like He still is. But if we’re honest, many of us do exactly that. We sing the songs. We nod in agreement. But Monday comes. And our joy fades. Our worship feels shallow. Our priorities stay unchanged.
Let me ask you, has the resurrection really changed you? Has it reshaped how you see your pain, your purpose, your identity?
The risen Jesus calls fearful disciples “My brothers.” That’s not sentiment. That’s grace. The cross paid your debt. The resurrection confirmed your adoption. If you belong to Christ, God doesn’t call you a disappointment. He calls you family. He’s not waiting for you to clean yourself up. He’s calling you to come, to take hold of the One who has already taken hold of you.
So come. Come if you’ve grown cold. Come if you feel ashamed. Come if you’ve wandered. Come and see that the tomb is still empty. And come not just to observe it, but to respond. Fall at His feet. Call Him Lord. Say with your life what the women said with their hands: “You are alive, and I am Yours.” Because there are no spectators in resurrection. Only worshipers or wanderers. The question is: which one are you?
