Resurrection Sermon (#1)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Resurrection Day (or Easter Sunday) is the day on which we commemorate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Two thousand years ago the Lord died on the cross on a Friday, then on the first day of the following week he was resurrected, he came back to life.

Most people in the world today, even non-Christians, are familiar with the story of the crucifixion and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore I will not repeat the whole story here; but I would like to emphasize the importance of his resurrection, and the connection between his resurrection and our lives.

The enemies try to discourage people from believing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus

According to the biblical records, after the Lord Jesus died on the cross, a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea, who was also a disciple of the Lord, went to Pilate, the governor of Judea, to ask for the Lord’s body. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb; then he rolled a big stone in front of the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and another woman also called Mary were sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day was the Sabbath. The chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate, and told him that when Jesus was still alive, he had mentioned that after three days he would rise again. So they, that is, the chief priests and the Pharisees, proposed securing the tomb, otherwise Jesus’ disciples might come to steal his body away and tell the people that he had risen from the dead. Pilate agreed and told them to have a guard stationed at the tomb and to put a seal on the stone of the tomb.

After the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, and an angel came down from heaven and rolled away the stone of the tomb. The angel told the two women that Jesus had risen and was not here in the tomb; and the angel told the women to go quickly to the Lord’s disciples and tell them that the Lord had risen from the dead. So the two women went.

^NIV  Matthew 28:11 – 15 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Here it says that the chief priests and the elders immediately devised a plan, and they made up a false story to be spread among the people saying that the disciples of the Lord Jesus had come during the night and stolen his body.