Meaning and Purpose for the 21st Century Church

Go Large, Go God, Go Resurrection!

(Matthew 28, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, April 21, 2019)

[1] Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. [2] And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. [3] His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. [4] And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. [5] But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. [6] He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. [7] 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.” [8] So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. [9] And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. [10] Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

[11] While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. [12] And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers [13] and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ [14] And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” [15] So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

[16] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Go to Galilee? Why not Jerusalem? Why not Rome?

The first section of Matthew 28 gives us the facts of an angel visitation, an empty tomb, and a sudden meeting of the resurrected Christ himself.

Perhaps in the shock of the plain facts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and because of our familiarity with what the Bible says about this important event, we might easily miss how understated this all is. Even the announcement of the birth of Christ to shepherds thirty years earlier was much more glorious. We certainly could have envisioned a far more spectacular beginning to the resurrection era. Lots of important people, a glorious crowd of angels and people from heaven, combined with great special effects, all in a very prominent and famous location could easily be imagined. Instead we have a few overwhelmed women, some guards that were there to prevent anything like this from ever happening, and a few disciples that will soon hear the news and doubt the report that will come to them.

Notice just one detail repeated twice here, first by the angels and then from Jesus. It is an instruction about the location of a future meeting. The angel said, “He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.” Then Jesus repeated this detail. “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Why Galilee? Why not Jerusalem? Why not Rome? Why not all over the world at once like the second coming of the Lord? Instead Jesus sends his disciples back to their humble home region. All of this adds up to a clearly victorious but surprisingly small victory, at least at first. They are to be a part of this modest start. “Go home. That's where we are going to talk some more.” That's worth thinking about...

Small Minds and Big Lies

How to react? The second paragraph gives us the response of Jesus' enemies to the crisis of the events presented above. It sounds all too familiar. Damage control. The powers that be are convinced that this will all blow over and soon amount to nothing.

They met together to come up with a plan. It was not a very good one. The guards have to lie about sleeping when they were supposed to be doing their duty. Then they have to report on something that happened while they were sleeping. There was money added to the mix to keep everybody quiet who really knew better. It seems obvious that the assembly of religious leaders actually thought that this would work, and that in a few days the whole matter would be forgotten. If somehow the governor heard about anything, they promised to take care of it without any great difficulty. Sound OK?

Obviously this did not work. In a few days over 500 people would see Jesus at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). More than that, in just a few weeks, the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the first gathering of the church, and a centuries-long adventure would begin with very plain people who would go to very ordinary places and live out flawed lives of faith, hope, and love in the midst of ridicule and persecution. A few years later, Herod Agrippa would be very aware of Christianity (Acts 26:26), and the message of the gospel would have an empire-changing impact on Rome and all her territories (Acts 18:2) and the emperor Claudius would command “all the Jews to leave Rome.”

The Large Commission

All of this happened with an understated start on the part of heaven's forces and an assumption by the Lord's foes that they could wait out these reports of resurrection. With such a small and slow start, the commission that Jesus gives his disciples is shockingly large in four ways: 1. The Large Power and Authority of Jesus, 2. The Large Geography of the Divine Command, 3. The Large Life of Total Obedience, 4. The Large Presence of Immanuel – God with us.

God's plans for a new resurrection life are massive. Jesus has all power and authority in making and ruling a renewed, immortal world and in bringing us into that eternal kingdom. He looks for his ambassadors to make disciples from all nations, despite the hatred and resistance that may come from those who persecute the church. The Messiah's followers are instructed to stretch forward in their communal life of imitating our Savior in love and holiness. In the fulfillment of his glorious decrees, the resurrected Jesus extends to us the astounding assurance that he will be with us always, even “to the end of the age.”

The second paragraph of Matthew 28 is what the great celebrity institutions of this passing world offer people who are searching for a purpose for their lives. Keep your head down and your mouth shut, and here's some money for your troubles.

The final paragraph of Matthew's gospel is what God has for us. Identity. Meaning. An Eternal Purpose. All kinds of useful kingdom work for every imaginable type of person. And with all this the benediction of our Resurrection King. Thanks be to God!

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 105 – An Inheritance

New Testament Reading—1 Corinthians 15:58 – Labors in the Lord Not in Vain