Jesus has Risen: Come See and Go Tell

The resurrection of Jesus is the turning point of history and the foundation of our faith. In this episode, Pastor Chris Teien walks us through the incredible invitation found in Matthew 28: Come and see the empty tomb, and then go and tell the world that Jesus lives. Discover how the resurrection changes everything—our hope, our mission, and our relationship with God.

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/16335655

Key Points:

1. Come – Jesus invites us to come to Him for forgiveness, hope, and a transformed life (Matthew 11:28–30; John 6:44).
2. See – Witness and believe the truth of the empty tomb, the resurrection power, and the life-changing hope of the gospel (John 20:4–9; 1 Corinthians 15:17).
3. Go – Share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection boldly with others in everyday life (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8).
4. Tell – Proclaim the message of Christ's victory over sin and death so others can find salvation and purpose (Romans 10:9–13; Colossians 4:2–6).

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:
 Pastor Chris humorously shares about family Easter traditions, the origins of Easter culture, and a story about someone handing a police officer a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, connecting it to the reality that only Christ offers true forgiveness. He also shares personal reflections on cultural challenges when sharing the resurrection message with grace and truth.

Notable Quotes:

• “The resurrection gives authority and power to the church to share what we believe.”
• “We are not called to kill the Easter Bunny—we are called to point people to the Risen Christ.”
• “Come to Jesus, see His power, go into the world, and tell about the hope you have found.”

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Heart-level reflection: Reflect on what it means personally that Jesus rose from the dead for you.
2. Daily-life application: Look for one natural opportunity this week to share your faith story.
3. Spiritual step or challenge: Pray for boldness to ‘go and tell’ with love and truth.
4. Practical next step: Invite someone to church or to explore the Bible with you.

Scripture References:a

• Matthew 28:1–10 – The resurrection and the angel's invitation to come, see, and tell
• John 20:4–9 – Seeing and believing the empty tomb
• Romans 10:9–13 – The promise of salvation by faith
• Acts 1:8 – Receiving power to be Christ’s witnesses
• Colossians 4:2–6 – Living wisely and proclaiming the message clearly
• 1 Corinthians 15:17 – The resurrection’s essential role in our faith

Keywords:
 Resurrection, Easter message, Christian hope, Great Commission, gospel invitation, Jesus Christ, empty tomb, personal testimony, Christian faith, evangelism

Closing Statement:
 The resurrection of Jesus invites us to come and find life, to see the evidence of His victory, and to go tell others about the hope that changes everything. Will you accept His invitation and live it out?

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I hope this message helps you understand and apply God’s Word. Find sermon transcripts at Well.faith, learn more at ChrisTeien.com, or come visit us at Rockwell Church in Virginia, Minnesota. If this message encouraged you, I’d love to hear from you at wellfaith24@gmail.com.

Transcript

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Chris T 0:16

All right, so let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for this opportunity to worship you on this resurrection Sunday, Lord. We pray your Holy Spirit would speak through me that these people that are here would be encouraged by your word, that they would be motivated, that they would be captivated by your love, that they would pursue you with open arms. We thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and rising again and sharing the message so that we would all know it and leaving us your holy word for us to base our lives on and to teach others. So we thank you for this time. We pray, bless it in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, well, it's Easter, as you know, and the whole concept of Easter as opposed to Resurrection Sunday can sometimes get you in hot water with other Christians who like to be debating or whatever. For instance, if you saw the River Rock Facebook post about come to Easter Sunday, some guy chimed in, we don't know who he is, who said, Where in the Bible does it say Easter? But that's what we call this in our culture. And the people we are trying to reach to invite most likely call it Easter, not Resurrection Sunday. When you go to the store, they say they'll be open or closed on Easter, it's what we call it. And it is interesting to think that we live in a culture that celebrates something, an alternative celebration. We celebrate Christmas as in Christ's birth, and some people celebrate Santa Claus and presence and a cultural Christmas. We celebrate Christ's resurrection, and some people celebrate bunnies. But there is some misinformation about people celebrating Easter and bunnies. I mean, really in our culture, this research shows that in 2015 more Americans searched for quote church on Google in the week leading up to Easter Sunday than any other week in the year, and church service was also something that was searched. So basically the number one time when people go to church that don't usually go to church is Christmas, and the second time is when they go to church is Easter. Now, our church, a smaller church, sometimes we suffer because we get some people to come in, but we have lots of families in our church that go to grandma's church or their parents' church, and there are some churches that happen to have like 20 services during the week. Sometimes we we don't gain as many people as some other churches that have five times more people than they usually do at Easter time. Uh TV networks often pay attention to the cultural Christian holiday of Christ's resurrection and Easter. This research showed that two networks ran overtly Christian programming during the primetime slot on their Easter Sunday schedule last year. We'll have to see if that's true again. And Easter spending is people spend $17 billion, including the average person spends $28.11 on candy. But got questions, uh, had a question that what is the origin of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs? And I thought it was really interesting. So maybe it helps with some misinformation that even I thought that they say isn't true. So it's commonly thought that the word Easter comes from a pagan figure called Easter or Oester, who was celebrated as the goddess of spring by the Saxons of Northern Europe. The only problem with this theory is that no, it has no basis in history. The existence of a goddess named Easter or Spring Festival in her honor is based on pure conjecture. The same is true of the origin of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs. No one knows for sure how these things became part of Easter observances. The most we can say is that the word Easter is probably related to the word East, Oost in German, and that the Saxons had a month they called, I can't even say it. But the legend of the Easter bunny bringing eggs appears to have been brought to the United States by settlers from Germany. The German tradition of the Easter bunny or Osterhaus migrated to America in the 1700s accompanying German immigrants, many of whom settled in Pennsylvania. So, and then culturally the Easter bunny's been recognized. I guess in Switzerland they recognize the cuckoo. But anyway, so there's even in some cultures, you know, the Easter bunny brings you presents like Santa Claus and everything. And it's it's a cultural thing. I don't want to trip people up and you know shut them down or reject them because they choose to use the word Easter. But I'm not a fan, though in our house, uh since I married my wife, they had this weird, they were Germans, as a matter of fact, had this weird tradition of smashing and cracking Easter eggs. So basically the Easter eggs that are made are on the table, and so you have your egg and they have their egg, and then you smash them together to see if your egg cracks, and if your egg doesn't crack, then you turn it over and you go on to the next person and see which one is the champion egg. I've learned over time that usually the ugliest egg is the champion egg. Um year Julie's dad cheated and used a porcelain egg. So uh anyway, so it's a weird tradition. So we don't want to get hung up on that. What we want to do is we want to go to people in our culture and we want to reach them where they're at. If you want to tell somebody about the love of Jesus, that he died on the cross, that he rose again, don't first come at them by killing the Easter bunny. All right? Easter bunny's harmless. He's not really gonna do anything. I don't, I've never met anybody who worships the Easter bunny. There's just a lot of confused people that do traditional stuff and they don't know why. So instead we want to focus on Jesus, on Jesus' resurrection, on the fact that he has risen from the dead, on the fact that Jesus died for our sin, and then he rose again, showing he had power over death, that Jesus came into the world to teach us how to live. He died for us and he lives again, and he's interested in our lives, and he cares for us. He rose from the dead, and he is changing us. So when we come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and we get saved, the Holy Spirit's power comes in us and we start to be transformed, we start to be changed, we become different people, better people, more like Christ, and we are being prepared for Christ's second coming. We know that when we die, that we can have full confidence that we are secure in Jesus, if we've believed in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So the resurrection gives authority and power for the church to share what we believe. There are many different religions and many different thoughts, but when we use scripture and the historical evidence of the Bible, we will be much more successful in helping people come up with a reasonable answer for the questions they have, for the faith that they have, and we are transformed. The resurrection gives us hope and meaning in life. The resurrection helps us get through these days with great assurance for our eternity. We are transformed because he is risen. Transformed. Romans 12, 2 says, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. With the Easter bunny and culture and everything, I we don't really celebrate that. I would be quick to tell my children and grandchildren the truth behind that. Same thing with Santa Claus. But the culture of the world. We want to do all that we can to reach the culture. We want to influence the culture and not be influenced. Yet we want to do some in a winsome way, in a loving way, in a caring way. So we are transformed because he is risen. Galatians 2 20 says, My old self has been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I mean, to think about Jesus giving himself for us, that he died on the cross. That if you were to read the Gospels, I was listening to the one-year chronological audio bible on Audible. So I was listening to that. I actually marked out what chapters it is. It's like in Maine chapter six, I don't know, section 37 to 48 or something like that. It starts with Jesus is heading towards the cross. And then it says, and John says, and Mark says, and Luke says, and Matthew says, and it gives it all out in order, and it was really great. And repeatedly you heard that Jesus told his disciples, basically, I'm I'm going to the cross, I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to rise again. And so Jesus knew that was coming. And sometimes we discount that and we go, Yeah, well, you know, there's a lot of people that would die for something. Like I'm sure that you've heard of somebody in the military who would dive on a grenade to save everybody else. But this is different. This is God becoming a man, coming down to earth to live among us, totally sinless, and then let people crucify him on the cross, taking on the sin of all mankind, and then rising from the dead, and then showing himself to many, rising again up into heaven, saying that he's coming back, with angels saying that he's coming back. That would be like unbelievable if you didn't have scripture to back it up, if you didn't have historic evidence to back it up, if you didn't have people's changed lives to back it up, if you didn't have all of these years of the gospel at work in people's lives, the good news of Christ in people's life. It would be unbelievable, but through the Holy Spirit and through what we have for God's word, it is believable. And we have 2,000 years of great scholarship, of uh manuscript evidence and everything that says this is the real deal. And when you try to explain it away, it's hard because you don't really have any other. I mean, where did we come from? The gospel in Christ's resurrection answers the three questions we have. Where did we come from? Why are we here? And what happens when I die? What happens after I die? So those three questions are what people ask, and these are things that we need to answer and to let them know. And one thing that we can share too is how we've been transformed, how we are different because Christ has come into our lives. So if you look at Matthew chapter 28, we're gonna read verses 1 through 10, and we're just gonna focus on the four words that we have in your bulletin there. So um, Matthew 28. It's out of the most of it's out of the New Living Translation today. So it's interesting to me that one of our largest churches, alliance churches, that the senior pastor has chosen to reach his culture and the people that they want to lead to Jesus, they're using the New Living Translation. I know that I know that on your phone you can pull up like 12 different Bible translations and compare them, and there's no end to Bible translations. But the question is, who are you trying to reach? And I look at their season so far, and like in the first three months of the year, it's I think they've led 160 some people to Christ through their church. I like what they're doing. And I like how this reads. Matthew 28. Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. So it had been the Sabbath, and so Jesus was on the cross, and then he was put in the tomb, and they weren't able to treat Jesus, to honor him, to uh use spices. Basically, it was kind of an embalming, but it was just on the surface of his skin. It was a way to honor him and to care for him. And it's really interesting, too, that Jesus' disciples who denied Jesus are all kind of hiding away, but the women had the courage to go out and try to see Jesus' body. And if you read through the gospel accounts, you see that they were afraid. They were wondering how in the world they were gonna roll away the stone so that they could see, so they could get inside the tomb and do this. They were totally crushed and disappointed, thinking that that was it, that Jesus, whom they loved, was dead. And that was the end of that. But they wanted to honor him, and they were gonna go see if they could use these spices to like embalm him. As the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the tomb. So they weren't allowed to go and do this work until after the Sabbath. So suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Probably because of his holiness, probably because they were supposed to be guarding the tomb, and now what are they gonna do? I'm sure that that would be totally terrifying. Next verse. Then the angel spoke to the women. So it's interesting that uh two of the gospels, one or two of the gospels, sure there's two angels, and then others sure there's one, but maybe they're just focusing on the angel that spoke. Because there's different accounts doesn't necessarily mean that uh there's an inaccuracy. Each gospel gives an account, and the author is inspired by the Holy Spirit to focus on certain things. Here they're focusing on the one angel. The angel spoke to the women don't be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn't here, he has risen from the dead, but just as he said would happen. Come see where his body was lying. And now go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you. Jesus didn't need to open, have the tomb open for him to rise from the dead. As a matter of fact, the gospel accounts show that when the disciples come and find the tomb, that Jesus' clothes are there. So if somebody were to open the tomb and steal the body, they're most likely not going to leave his clothes behind, and the guards wouldn't be terrified, and they wouldn't have made up a story. So you need to read through the all the gospel accounts. It's it's really awesome and encouraging. So the angel tells these ladies, go tell the disciples who are hiding, feeling they're probably rejected because they denied Christ, and the angel says, You will see him there. Remember what I've told you. Verse 8. The women ran quickly from the tomb. So it's interesting too in this story that if you are going to manufacture an account of a religious superhero of a deity that in that culture, unfortunately, women weren't given a lot of authority. So if you were going to write this in such a way that it would be credible and believable, you wouldn't write that the women ran quickly from the tomb. But if that's what happened, that's what happened. And he gives the gospel accounts even more credibility. They were very frightened, but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel's message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them, and they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. And Jesus said to them, Don't be afraid, go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there. So that grasping of the feet is a way to worship and uh to give honor to a king. So, and that's what the women did. And Galilee is where Jesus kind of started everything, where he got the band together, where he got where he called a lot of his disciples, and where he was gonna relaunch the mission again. So Jesus foretold these things, but I wonder if the disciples weren't allowed to totally understand it until it happened. So, and how could you understand anything like that? It's like it would go over your head. You'd be like, What? You're gonna do what? Huh? I'll believe it when I see it. And then they did see it, and it was awesome. When we think about our condition, if we're totally honest with ourselves, we all have a problem with sin. Even the best of us, if you look at God's standards and God's perfect standards are way more than we could ever achieve on our own, we all struggle with sin. Some more than others, and sometimes uh the sins that we had before we got saved were were really noticeable, and then as we grow in Christ, the things that we notice as sins are different. So maybe we don't do things outwardly that are so sinful, but often uh if the Holy Spirit were to reveal to us what some of our sins are, maybe we have a sin of pride, something about our attitude is sinful, or our desires, or sin is doing anything outside the will of God. And 2 Corinthians 5 21 says, For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. And that was one of the main reasons that Christ came was that we could be saved, that he would be the sacrifice for our sins. I think Luke 19 says that Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost. And it all hinges around not Jesus just dying but rising again. And 1 Corinthians 15 17 says if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you're still guilty of your sins. But Christ has been raised. That is what we celebrate today. So we know that we all sin. The Bible says everyone has sinned, and we all fall short of God's God's glorious standard at Romans 3.23. Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. So we work, we make wages, and we get paid. We live, we sin, the pay wages of sin is eternal separation from God or death. But the free gift, not one we have to pay for, not one that we have to earn, is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Romans 5.8. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. So Christ came for sinners, and we need to go out into the world and tell sinners that we are sinners and that Christ has made it possible for us to be forgiven of our sin. So the first word is come. But the angel told these women to come. I want to tell you to come and be transformed. But they were invited by the angel to come. And we need to come. Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. But we don't often come because we're we know we're sinners. We think that we've sinned too much, we think that we've gone too far, that Christ will reject us, that we're not we're not invited, that we are not welcome. Often when we do shameful things, we don't want people to find out. We don't want to be seen, we don't want to be known, and so we'll hide away. But Jesus calls us to come. Come see where his body was lying. Will you come? Do you come to Jesus? Do you pursue Jesus? Do you say, I want to walk with you? I know that you are inviting me into this relationship. John 3 17, God sent his son into the world, not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. He has got an open door for you to come to him. And Jesus says, if you come to him, that you will not be rejected. However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. John 6 44, for no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. So the angel says, Come. The angel says, Hey, come, check this out. Hey, come over here. And then he's gonna, the angel is going to say, see. But Jesus is the only way. I come. Jesus told them I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. There's no so there's salvation and no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. So we are told to come, and we try to make excuses. So this was in the New York Times, but some guy in Minnesota got pulled over for being in somebody's car that there was an arrest warrant for, and it turns out he had an arrest warrant too. As he's getting out of the car, he pulls out the famous monopoly card, the get out of jail free card, in which he hands it to the police officer, and the police officer laughs and they appreciate his humor and everything, but he still went to jail. And so just because you think you have a card, or just because you think you have an excuse isn't good enough. It's not good enough for God either. The only get out of jail free card that you get is when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. And he can forgive you of your sin, but he doesn't want you to stay in that condition, he doesn't want you to keep doing those things he wants you to do right and to live right and to live a life of righteousness in him. This video explains our sinful condition.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

Every crime against humanity, every genocide, every unspeakable act of oppression and tyranny, every act of terrorism, every starving nature, every drop of murder deployed, every star, and the same.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

He was wounded for our transmission for our liquid fees. He did all this gentle weed could be called and God exalted him to the highest place. He gave him the name that is above every name that the name of Jesus every we would found in heaven and all earth and under the earth and every tongue confessed in Jesus the master of all this the resurrection that the tongue and gave his life, that he extended and invited to know the God of all creation, that he offered us life when we knew know the evil, that he offered us relationships, when all we knew how to do was to eat and break a bunch of gold that is the resurrection, that in his death we have come to know life, that we can freely offer our life to him.

Chris T 24:08

Alright, so our problem with sin, and Jesus is our solution, and he is the one that can transform our life. And in Romans 10, 13 it says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it's by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it's by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And you can be saved by asking to be forgiven, by praying something like, Lord Jesus, I know you died on the cross for my sin, and I am a sinner. Please forgive me of my sin and come into my life and save me. Make me the person you created me to be. I want to follow you. And as you pray that it's not the prayer that saves you, but it is confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. It is believing in your heart. It is by confessing with your mouth you are saved. Confess that to the Lord. And you confess that to others. You tell other people that you are a Christian. So come. And the angel said, see, and he told the women to see into the tomb and to see what was there. And Jesus wasn't there. He was he was gone. His clothes were there, but he had been resurrected. He was not there. And the disciples came to look at the tomb. John 20, verse 4, as they were both running, but the other disciple, that'd be John, outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And he stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there. While the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings, then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed, for until then they hadn't understood the scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead. And that is what our faith is based on, and that is the foundation of the power of our faith and the power for our hope. And it wasn't a hallucination. You can't get all the disciples to believe the same hallucination wouldn't be possible. And then Thomas, who says, I'm not going to believe until I put my finger inside his wound. John 20, 27. Jesus says to Thomas, Put your finger here and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe. My Lord and my God, Thomas exclaimed. And Jesus told him, You believe because you've seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me. And the disciples thought Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. And we are some of those disciples who haven't actually seen Jesus that believe in him. Blessed are those who believe in me without seeing me. And then we're told to go. We're told not to just keep the good news to ourselves, but we are told to go. Go across the street, go across your cubicle, across the office, go across the lockers in your school, go online and share your faith. But go share his transforming power. Go make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this. I am with you always to the end of the age. And that is what we're to do. We are supposed to come and see. We are invited into a relationship with Christ. And he wants us to come to him and see. Not just look and see, but look into, truly understand, truly comprehend, truly see what there is for us, what God has for us, and what he has given us. And then we are told to go. We are told to go and make a difference in the world. Go make a difference in your life. Go and talk to the people that are around you and tell. Tell about his transforming power. Second Timothy 2 25. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts and they will learn the truth and they will come to their senses and escape the devil's trap, for they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. So to proclaim his message. Colossians 4 2 through 6 also talks about that. Paul says, Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should, and we're supposed to live wisely among others. Acts 1.8. We'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and we will be witnesses telling people about me everywhere. So how are we supposed to live our lives? We're supposed to live our lives coming to Jesus. We're supposed to be seeing what God has given us in his word and what he is going to do in our lives and what he has done in our lives, and we are to go to tell people around us. We are to go. Some people will go to other states or to other countries around the world to share their faith. Other people will just go across the room, across the street, across the office to tell people about what they've experienced with Christ and what the Bible says about Christ and how they can be forgiven of sin. They will tell about the good news, they will tell the gospel. And Romans 1:16 says the good news about the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come. Then Jesus will come back. And what an exciting day that will be. That is the hope of the church and the motivation for us for what we do and the way that we do it. So will you do this? Will you come? Will you see? Will you go? Will you tell? Will you do this today, maybe? I don't know where you're going after this, but will you do these things? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, just thank you so much that you've given us this opportunity to see in your word that you love us, that you care for us, that you are reaching out to us, that you want to have a relationship with us, that Jesus, you had a plan and you carried it out, and it affects us now, 2,000 years later. Lord, help us. We are weak. We can't do it on our own, but you say that your Holy Spirit will empower us. We often don't know what to say, but your word says that you'll give us the words and the strength. Lord, we don't often know who to talk to, but we pray that you lay that upon our hearts. We are we're not perfect, but we pray that you would make up our shortcomings and that you would do great things through us for your glory and for their eternal salvation. Jesus, we thank you that you have risen and that we know about it in Jesus' name. Amen.