Sermon from April 5, 2026

Today we will be studying the resurrection of Jesus from the guard's point of view.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

If you have your Bibles, just turn with me to the book of Matthew. I want to pick up reading where we uh Karen left off this morning. I'm going to look at Matthew chapter 28, verses 11 through 15. As you're turning there, I just want to tell you a little something here. This morning I had a chance to talk with um Harry Levana right before the breakfast. And I was telling Harry about my day yesterday. And then he reminded me of something I don't need reminding of. He reminded me that I'm getting old. That was not intended to be a joke, not intended to be funny, it was intended to be real. But we laugh because we know what's coming. And I've noticed that the older I get, I'm starting to forget where things are. Now I know, and I think it's proven fact that they're always in the last place you put them, unless someone moved it. But pretty much wherever it is, it didn't move. The problem is I can't remember where that last place was. It takes a while to figure that out. Hopefully you don't relate to that, but you might. But let me ask you a question this morning. Do you know where Jesus is? Do you know? You see, when I think about getting old, I'm confident that whatever it is that I'm looking for is in the last place. It's just I get a little bit confused on the details to remember where that was. But today I know where Jesus is. We celebrate his resurrection today. We know that he sits at the right hand of the Father, and we're going to look at that at the end of these slides today. But what I want to do, it's only 10 o'clock, we get out at 12. I got two hours, we can get this. What I want to do today is for us to think about the resurrection from the viewpoint of the guards. Let's think about that. In chapter 11, excuse me, 28, verse 11, it says, while they were going, behold, some of the guard went to the city and told the chief priest all that had taken place. So to get a good understanding of this, understand that the Romans are the ones that are in control. They've given some of the control in the tabernacle of the synagogue of the places to the Jews, and the Jews knew if they want to keep peace, they've got to keep people in line. That's why they wanted to go after Jesus. That's why they wanted to kill him because he was causing a pester, and they didn't want to lose their place in their favor they had with the Romans. So you know the story, they finally got what we would think of maybe as their way. Now, we knew God was in control the entire time, but they finally got a hold of Jesus, got him on the cross, got him off the cross, and they got him buried. Now, there's some guards that came along. My thoughts are that the Jews said, We got to make sure this goes as planned. Let's put guards in front of the grave. Now they already rolled a big old stone. It wasn't like you were gonna be able to come out. But they put guards in place. Guards' job is to protect a guard to watch over. In those days, you didn't do your job, the one job you had to do, it's likely you could lose your head, lose your life. So this is a very important role. And you know what? I believe without a shadow doubt, those guards knew what happened. Didn't we just didn't she just read a minute ago that there was an earthquake? Didn't we read that an angel came down dressed in white, rolled that stone away, Jesus came out? Didn't we just read where the guards were fearful and afraid and fell down? Oh, you see, they knew the truth. They knew exactly what happened, they knew where Jesus was, where he had been, because they were the ones that sealed the tone the tomb. And they would have looked, but they would have known that he was in there. When all this other stuff took place, they knew that he was no longer in the tomb. But that leads to a problem. The problem is they had one job to do is to keep him in there, and you know what? They could not do it. What would that mean for them? Very likely, so they they've got to come up with a plan. What can they do to save their life? Nowadays, if you got guards in the military and things like that, you probably won't get the death penalty for that. But it's likely you would go to jail for a certain time over that, right? You'd get in some big trouble. You don't complete your job in the security, um, and the security system that people have. So, what we have is uh Jesus, I mean, excuse me, the angels have just spoken to the to the women, to Mary and others, told them to go talk to the disciples. And as they do that, the guards are like, okay, we've got to figure this out. So, what do they do? They don't go, they're Romans, they don't go to the other Romans because they don't want to cause any trouble, they want to go to the chief priests, the ones who got Jesus put in the tomb to explain what happened. And that's what they did. They had a good memory that had just taken place. Matter of fact, they may have gotten quicker to the chief priest than Mary and others had gotten to the disciples. So the chief priests may have been among some of the first ones to hear of the resurrection of Christ, or in this case, the idea they knew that he was there and he came out, he was nowhere to be seen. Where was Jesus? Where is he today? Verse 12, it goes on to say, and they assembled with the elders and took and had taken counsel, and they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers. So here you have these chief priests, these elders, they have lots of money, which probably it could be a mistake when pastors start collecting lots and lots of money, because sometimes that can turn into bad things. But the chief priests needed to protect themselves, and they wanted to protect the guards, and at the same time, they wanted to make sure Jesus stayed in that tomb and that he didn't raise from the dead. So, what are they gonna do? They're gonna devise a plan to figure out how they can spread a rumor to keep the peace. What do they do? They decide they're gonna bribe the soldiers. That shouldn't be hard to do. If I put up my wallet today and said, Um, Miss Celeste, would you like 20 bucks? Or if I say Reese, you want 100 bucks. Well, I don't have 100 in my wallet, I got 20. But if I did that, you'd probably take it. Okay? The soldiers, and a predicament, they need a way to get out, a way to save their life. And all of a sudden the chief priests are offering money. There must be something they have important to say. Look at what it says in verse 13. And they said, Tell the people his disciples came by night and stole him away while they were asleep. Now, really, think about that. Think about the logistics of that. The disciples, did they have a true understanding of Jesus? Now, they had walked with Jesus, they had talked with him. They said they were going to defend him. Peter even cut off a servant's ear when Jesus was being arrested. But Peter was also the one who denied him three times. Did they fully understand, even though they had heard it, that he was going to raise from the dead? It almost doesn't even make sense the lie they're wanting them to tell. Because why would the disciples do that? Uh, besides the fact that how can you get past 12 sleeping guards without an act of God? After that, how can you move a stone if there's only eleven disciples living at this point? How are you gonna get that stone moved quietly? I mean, come on. But that was the plan. Verse 14, and they went on to say, if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. Oh, you see, the chief priests that they wanted to hide the truth. They had heard the teachings of Jesus, they knew that he had talked about being resurrected just like the disciples had. But they want to make sure that Pilate doesn't get the news. And if he does, they're telling the guards, you know what? We've got your back. We'll tell them that y'all just really messed up. Maybe you'll get a slap on the wrist, but this will be something to keep you out of trouble, and not just keep you out of trouble, but will help stop or attempt to stop the spread of the truth that Jesus has actually risen from the grave. This last verse, what happens? The guard liked the idea. Says they took the money and they did as they were directed. And then that last little part says this, and the story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Matthew, having written this book probably about 63 AD, it had been some 30 years had passed since the resurrection of Jesus, and the rumor was still going around that the guards fell asleep on the job, and Jesus had gotten out. They had taken his body. Now, if you know there's going to be trouble, if the chief priests have been trying to uh squelch or put down any idea that Jesus could even raise from the dead, and they go to the Romans and ask for backup security and get guards, are they gonna get the new guys on the block? The young kids that are just learning how to do the job? Probably not. I'd imagine they would get some of the best, maybe some of the best of the best. There's lots of theories about people trying to say that Jesus really didn't rise from the dead. Stealing the body is just one. Well, the disciples would have no need to do that because they weren't even sure how this resurrection thing was going to work. If you say there was a seance taking place or telepathy or some other kind of weird science stuff that's out there, I'm not buying any of that. The guards knew the truth, they had seen it with their own eyes. They knew what had taken place. Chief priest had mocked Jesus, even while he was on the cross. Well, if he's the Son of God, can he save himself? You see, Jesus did an even greater miracle at that time to remind people that he is who he says he is, that he was doing what he said he was going to do. So this answers the question: where is Jesus? Now, in the case of Mary and others, and they went to the disciples, they came across Jesus. He revealed himself to them. Over many days, he revealed himself to many people, over 500 people. But for us today, people ask us, or we ask ourselves, where is Jesus? What's the common response? Yeah, he's in my heart. Now, for somebody who speaks Christianese, we understand what that means. The fact that you've prayed and asked God to forgive you of your sins, you place your faith in him, and he lives in you, his spirit. But for somebody who doesn't speak Christianese, who doesn't understand our churchy language, what do you mean Jesus is in your heart? I got Jesus that little statue, he somebody gave me that the other day. You know, did you swallow it? How's it in your heart? But let's look at what scripture says about where Jesus is. Take a look at Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2. Look into Jesus, the founder, perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising his shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. So we've been walking through the book of Acts on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, and we know that Christ ascended, the disciples watched him ascend into heaven. He goes up and he sits at the Father's right hand. Now, when he was on the cross, he had already said it is finished. It was his time to die, but he's letting the world know that he had done what the Father had called him to do, to give his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. So is he just at the right hand of the Father? Just sitting down, relaxing, taking it easy, like this, drinking some water, eating some honey. Well, a couple things we need to understand. If he's at the right hand of the Father, the Father was in the center, this is on the right. It's a place of authority. He's the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. He is who he says he is. And when he told his disciples a little bit later, if you keep on reading in Matthew, he says, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. He's got that authority. But he's not just sitting there like I'm sitting here just kind of taking it easy. Look at what it says. Romans 8 34 says, uh, who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God. But what else does it say? What is he actually doing besides sitting? Who indeed, Paul's without a doubt, indeed, is interceding for us. Now, is there encouragement in that? He had already taken care of our sins. He did that on the cross. Different stages in each of our lives, we come to acknowledge that and we receive that salvation by his grace. Yet, as we live our daily life, we fight off the flesh, we seek to be that new creation, and we seek to become more like Christ. There is a battle going on. And Jesus is interceding for us. If I were to take time, I won't now, but if I'm taking time to ask you, how was your week this week? Maybe you had a great week, maybe you had a difficult week, maybe you had some financial struggles, maybe you had health struggles. And we say, Where was Jesus? I would propose two things. One, that he was right there with you. Because, see, we abide in him, his word abides in us. We become one. Not that we're Jesus, but we have a relationship with him. But not only that, I would find encouragement in the fact that he is interceding for each of us. He goes on to say in 1 Timothy 2.5, for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man, or excuse me, God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Christ is that mediator. He's the only way to heaven, and he's the one who is interceding on our behalf. Now, when it comes to the practicality of right now, seated at the right hand of the Father, he said he wasn't going to leave us alone. He was going to send us a helper, the Holy Spirit. This Easter, do we understand where Jesus is? It's so easy to get distracted by the world, by the news media, by the bad events that happened, the tragedies, the deaths, the sickness, encounters with people who do things that don't please God. It can be very distracting. And we could wonder where was Jesus when this took place? And I pray that we would understand that He's right there with us, interceding for us. His Holy Spirit giving us strength, comfort, and power. Are we willing to receive that? Are we willing to acknowledge that? And finally, are we willing to tell others about that? So, this Easter, we're gonna leave here in just a few minutes. We've got family coming, we all do, most of us do, I guess, and gonna have different traditions, probably gonna eat a lot of food again. But if somebody were to ask you today or tomorrow, where is Jesus? How would you respond? Yes, you can say he's in my heart. Make sure they know what that means, that you've committed to follow after him. But let them know that unlike any other lowercase gods, our Jesus is not in the tomb. There's nobody there. No pun intended, nobody there. But he's risen. That's our hope, that's our joy, that he is risen, that he has risen indeed. Let's let everybody know where Jesus is. We're gonna forget where we put our car keys, we're gonna forget where we put the mail or whatever else. But let us to the last breath remember where Jesus is. And you know what? You do that, you take that last breath. Guess what? That next step in eternity, you'll be sitting face to face. There's nothing better than that. Jesus, our Savior, who is risen, and who's coming back, and who we will spend eternity with if we truly have a relationship with Him. Let's understand where Jesus is, and let's tell the world who doesn't understand that, who can't see it because of the struggles and strife, and expect Jesus just to show up and answer every single prayer, every single need, and prevent all the bad stuff from happening when that's not going to take place. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you, Father, for your word. Thank you, Father, for your resurrection. Thank you, Father, that in the midst of all that you were doing, when the world tried to stop by promoting lies and telling things that were not true, to confuse, to stop the truth, that through the power of your Holy Spirit, we have your word today, and we know exactly what you are, and we have that hope of eternal life. Help us to share that, Father, today and in the days to come, and to continue doing so until you come back. We love you. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. Amen.