“Christ Is Risen” 

Pastor David Moore

Old Testament reading: Isaiah 53:1‐12 

Who has believed what we have heard?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. 

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  By a perversion of justice he was taken away.  Who could have imagined his future?  For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.  They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.  When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.  Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.  The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance.  The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.  ~C. S. Lewis 

New Testament reading: Matthew 28:1‐10 

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.  There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him. Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” He said. They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.  

Events of the Resurrection: 

∙ Two earthquakes
∙ Stone rolled away from tomb
∙ Empty tomb
∙ Angel speaks 

The least qualified people many times are used best to share the Good News of the Gospel.  ~D. Moore 

      ∙ He has risen. 

∙ Angel tells women to tell the guys Christ has risen. 

∙ The women run into Jesus. 

∙ Jesus gives the disciples the Great Commission. 

Matthew 28:18‐20  “All Authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

The only thing that makes sense is that the disciples experienced, saw, talked to, ate with, the God/Man who they knew had been killed on the cross, and yet, here He was.  And with this experience, all the things Jesus said to them begins to make sense.  ~D. Moore 

Today: think about this defining moment in our lives and world history.  We know this living Messiah is in our lives.  Thank Jesus with all your being, that He has overcome our sins and death through His Resurrection.   

God bless you, have a good week.s