"They Worshiped Him”
[Matthew 28:1-10]
April 24, 2011 Second Reformed Church
After His late-night trial, Jesus was handed over to the governor, the Roman, Pontius Pilate. He was tortured, loosing massive amounts of blood. He was crucified, hanging on a cross for three hours until He died. And then, to make sure their was no life in Him, a centurion pierced His side with a spear and ruptured His heart. Jesus was dead.
They quickly buried Jesus, but didn’t finish the burial preparations because the Sabbath was upon them, and it was against the law to work on the Sabbath. So the women planned to return to finish their preparations after the Sabbath, but they knew that a massive stone had been rolled in front of the tomb to keep anyone from stealing the Body and a guard of centurions – perhaps as many as sixteen centurions – we stationed in front of the tomb, and the women had no idea how they would get in.
Still, in faith, at the dawn of the first day of the week, Sunday, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and Salome, and a number of other women headed off for the tomb to finish the burial preparations. And on their way, there was a great earthquake.
Once they reached the tomb, they understood what had happened: the angel of the Lord had descended from heaven and hit the earth with such force that he caused an earthquake. And then he rolled the stone away – the sixteen, muscle-bound centurions all fainted as though dead at seeing the arrival of the angel – and the angel sat on top of the stone.
Even when angels appear in the form of humans, they are terrifying: we’re told that his appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The angels of heaven are holy, and though the light of holiness that emanates from them is nowhere near as strong as the Light of the Glory of God Himself, it is still a blinding light – stronger than any light we have ever seen on earth.
And the women were filled with fear, because they didn’t know what was happening – why an angel of the Lord had appeared in their presence. But the angel spoke words of comfort to them, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
Is that why you’re here this morning? Do you believe the tomb was empty? Do you believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead and is alive? Or is something else more likely?
Could it be that the small band of women overpowered the sixteen centurions and then convinced them to lie to the chief priests about what happened?
Could it be that the women devised some sort of pyrotechnics display, which was buffeted by a convenient earthquake, and then pushed the massive stone out and away from the tomb?
Could they all have come up with the story about the angel and kept the story straight and stood by it for the rest of their lives? (Don’t doubt that they were questioned and questioned again for the rest of their lives about that morning )
Could they have stolen Jesus’ Body and hid it so no one would ever find it, yet stick to the story that He was alive for the rest of their lives, without deviation, and be willing to suffer and die for it?
Could they have found a look-alike, bearing crucifixion wounds, Who could appear and disappear and walk through walls and cause one hundred and fifty-three fish to jump into a boat and convince His closest disciples – whom He had spent three intimate years with – that He was the risen Jesus – Someone Whom they would be willing to die for even then?
Or does it make more sense, as unusual as it is, to believe that the history is true – that Jesus physically rose from the dead?
The women looked into the tomb – it was empty. The burial clothes were there on the slab where He had been laid, but the Body – Jesus – was gone.
So they ran from the tomb filled with fear and joy – they didn’t know how Jesus had risen from the dead – they didn’t understand the full implications of what it meant – but they knew Jesus was alive. Their Teacher, their Friend, the One they believed was the fulfillment of the prophecy of God’s Savior – He was alive
So they ran to tell the disciples, “Men, come out of hiding. Jesus is alive ”
And as they ran back to tell the disciples, Jesus met them, “Greetings ” The word that is used is a greeting, but the implication is greater than our English word, “greetings ” Jesus said, “Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted It is I.”
And they went up to Him and fell at His Feet and grabbed hold of them, and they worshiped Him.
Do we remember how the Ten Commandments begins? (In the Bible, not the movie.)
The first two commandments, as we divide them, read: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:2-6, ESV).
What was God commanding?
The Heidelberg Catechism explains that this means that we are not to be involved in any sort of idolatry. We are not to pray to any human or any creature. We are to acknowledge that there is One and Only One True God, trust in Him alone, and look to Him, humbly and patiently for everything that we need, worshiping God and God Alone. We are to be willing to live without and/or give up anything that goes against God’s Will in any way. We are not to worship God through images or statues or pictures, but in spirit and truth alone – that is, as God has commanded and taught in the Scripture.
It would be a sin, then, to worship a mere human being.
Our Scripture tells us the women “departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell the disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings [Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted It is I.]’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.”
These were devout Jewish women who were looking for the Savior that God promised according to the Scripture. So for them to worship Jesus, we can only conclude one thing: they believed that He is God.
And that is what the Church concluded in its earliest years: the only way for Jesus to take our place before God was for Him to be a real human being, and the only way for Jesus to survive God’s Wrath for our sin and earn the righteousness we need to be right with God, is if Jesus is God Himself.
Paul taught that Jesus is God: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV).
Peter taught that Jesus is God: “[Jesus’] divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (II Peter 1:3, ESV).
It was necessary for the Savior God sent to be both completely human and completely God, so He could legally be our Substitute and survive the punishment for our sin. Since Jesus did come as our Substitute and suffer that we might be forgiven – and He survived and lives, He is worthy of our worship.
“Greetings ” indeed Jesus is risen Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted Jesus has paid our debt and made us righteous before God – and He is changing us from glory to glory into the Image of the Son.
That is why we are here – that is why we can rejoice in knowing that Jesus did rise from the dead – because Jesus is the One True God – the One Who is worthy of all worship. That is why we gather – and that is why we do anything and everything we do here – because Jesus is worthy of worship as God.
Paul tells us that the day is coming when everyone who ever lived will know that Jesus is God, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11, ESV).
And we have this picture of worshiping Jesus from John: “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
“‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood your ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of myriad angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“‘ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing ’
“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“‘To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever ’ And the living creatures said, ‘Amen ’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:6-14, ESV).
Jesus’ Resurrection makes it clear that He is God, because He is worthy of worship, and only God is worthy of worship. Let us hold fast to the Truth of the Resurrection and worship our God and Savior. Let us show others in what we do and say and how we live before the Face of God, that we truly believe.
And let us come to the Sacrament, expectantly, believing that we will meet with the same Jesus Who rose from the dead two thousand years ago. That our God will meet with us and give us His Grace that we might be His people and have the strength and ability through Him to accomplish all He calls us to do.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You Who came to earth and lived and died and rose again, You are worthy of all worship, and we humbly come before You in prayer asking that You would direct us towards Your Face – that we would seek You and long for You and declare Your Worth in everything we do and say and are. Minister to us now that we might worship You all the more. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment