He is not Here, He has Risen!

Sermon Summary:

The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the most transformative miracle in human history, fundamentally changing everything about our existence and eternity. Matthew’s Gospel takes us on a remarkable journey—20 chapters covering 33 years of Jesus’ life, then slowing dramatically to devote seven chapters to one single week. This pacing signals the magnitude of what’s unfolding. When we arrive at Matthew 27, it feels like defeat—the light has been extinguished, hope has been dashed. But then we turn the page to Matthew 28, and an angel proclaims the most powerful words ever spoken: ‘He is not here, He is risen just as He said.’ This isn’t just another miracle in a life full of miracles; this is THE miracle that defeats death itself. The women who faithfully watched Jesus die, witnessed His burial, and came to anoint His body became the first proclaimers of resurrection hope. Their faithfulness reminds us that God entrusts His greatest messages to those who remain present even in darkness. For us today, the resurrection means we don’t just believe in life after death—we believe in life after life after death. We’re invited to put on ‘resurrection glasses’ and see everything differently: our purpose, our struggles, our future. The mandate is clear: go and tell. Interestingly, research shows Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with secular alternatives to faith, searching for something real. We have the answer they’re seeking. But first, we must personally meet the resurrected Jesus ourselves, allowing Him to transform not just everything around us, but everything within us.

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Sermon Points:

MIRACLE – At the heart of The Real Story is the miracle of Easter—Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead!

MESSAGE – The message of Easter is that He is risen! Death has been defeated. The Kingdom of Heaven has come on this earth. Everything has changed!

MANDATE – Go and tell!

MEETING – In order for all of this to mean anything to you, you must personally meet Jesus!

Key Takeaways:

• Matthew devotes seven chapters to Jesus’s final week compared to twenty chapters for the previous 33.5 years, signaling the week’s significance
• Jesus’s entire life and ministry was characterized by miracles, making the resurrection consistent with His divine nature
• The resurrection is not the end but “the end of the beginning”—the inauguration of God’s eternal kingdom
• Through resurrection lenses, believers view everything differently—death, suffering, purpose, and eternity
• The resurrection validates Jesus’s substitutionary atonement on the cross and secures believers’ future resurrection
• Women were the first witnesses and proclaimers of the resurrection, demonstrating their restoration as equal partners in the Jesus community
• Current research shows Americans are returning to religion, creating a ready audience for the Gospel message
• Christianity offers what secular alternatives cannot—true meaning, community, hope, and transformation
• The mandate for believers is to “go and tell” the resurrection message
• Personal salvation requires personally meeting the risen Jesus, not just knowing about Him intellectually

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Scripture References:

• Matthew 28:1-15 (primary text)
• Matthew 4 (prophecy of light dawning in Galilee)
• Matthew 21-27 (Jesus’s final week)
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-26 (Paul’s testimony of resurrection appearances and theological reflection)
• 1 Peter 1:3-5 (living hope through resurrection)
• Matthew 27:55-61 (women at the cross and burial)

Stories:

• The false story of Wellington’s victory message at Waterloo being interrupted by fog, communicating “Wellington defeated” before the full message “Wellington defeated the enemy” could be sent—used as an illustration of incomplete messages and the transition from Matthew 27 to 28
• The actual historical account of Major Henry Percy taking three days to deliver news of Wellington’s victory to London, during which time the people lived in uncertainty
• The pastor’s personal experience of standing in the empty sanctuary on Silent Saturday, visualizing the congregation’s faces in their usual seats
• Contemporary account of Joseph of Arimathea giving his tomb to Jesus “just for the weekend”
• Lauren Jackson’s personal journey from being a Mormon who became a “none” (no religious affiliation) to researching America’s return to religion as a New York Times journalist
• Richard Dawkins’ inadequate response suggesting golf, civics, and documentaries as alternatives to religion when confronted with evidence that secularization predictions were failing
• The pastor’s childhood memory of his mother saying “somebody’s always watching”—now literally true with online viewership

Sermon Transcript

And all God’s people said, wow, right? Can we just say wow? Thank you so much worship ministry for leading us in worship today. And we’re so grateful to see you here today. I want to welcome you in this room.

We also have folks in our overflow room. I just went and greeted them. And anyime we gather for worship, we have lots of church members who are no longer able to be with us on Sunday morning. They join us online every Sunday. So for those of you in this room, can we just greet the rest of our family today and welcome them to worship wherever they are?

We’re glad they’re here and we’re grateful. So we have begun a journey here at our church. It’s actually one that we believe is going to take us through the next three years at least, where we are learning more about human flourishing. And there is a landmark study that has begun that is being led by scholars at Baylor University and at Harvard University studying human flourishing. What does it mean for human beings to flourish?

And this study has been ongoing now for a little over a year. As a matter of fact, the last day of this month, you can be looking for it on April 30. The research team is going to be publishing their first set of findings over this because of the last year of their research has been concluded. And they’re hosting a national presentation at Gallups headquarters in Washington, D.C. on April 30 to share some of the research from some of the studies they have compiled and the findings that they’ve discovered in their research about what does it mean for human beings to flourish. And so as a church, we are looking at that from a Christian perspective, from a Biblical perspective, what does it mean for people to flourish Biblically?

And so our theme is flourishing Together. And this first year we are focused on what it means to be rooted in Christ. And as we’ve made our way through each season of the year here at First Baptist, we’ve had a different theme that we’ve gathered around that connects to the overall theme. And so for the spring of this year, which will start next Sunday, a new series will begin that we’re calling Walk this Way. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to study one of the domains of human flourishing.

According to these sociologists and researchers, they have highlighted six different domains of human flourishing that are being studied in this research. There is happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, close social relationships, material and financial stability, meaning and purpose. We’re going to study that domain in the summer but then there’s one other domain, character and virtue. And we are going to spend the spring looking at character and virtue from a Biblical perspective. Well, what does it mean to develop inner character and then have that reflected in virtuous living?

And we’ll connect it to some of the research that’s being conducted as well. But we’re primarily going to look at it from a Biblical perspective. But before we get to that, let’s finish the Easter season. So we need to have this one more message in this series, the Linton series, which we’ve called the Real Story. And today, at the heart of the Real Story is the story that we’re going to focus on today.

And that is, he is not here. He has risen. The text is found in Matthew 28. So if you have your copy of the Gospel of Matthew, I’ll invite you to look at it with me. It’s on the 28th page.

There are Bibles in the Prracs if you’d prefer one of those. And let’s look at the last page. In Matthew’s Gospel tradition of our church, whenever the Gospel is read, we stand in the honor of the Lord Jesus. So if you’re able, I invite you to stand as we hear this reading of the Gospel.

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’s a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and on going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. It’s one of my favorite images in the New Testament. Just rolled the stone back and just sat down on it. That would be one expression of dominating, wouldn’t you agree?

And it says his appearance was like lightning. His clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. Another fascinating feature of this story, because if you read back in Matthew 27, these guards were hired to guard the tomb of a dead man. And now they appear as dead men, and the dead man is alive.

It’s quite ironic the way Matthew tells it. So verse five, the angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you’re looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples he’s 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 and clasped his feet and worshiped him. And then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me. 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.

When the chief priests met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, you’re to say his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. 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. Thank you.

You may be seated.

I doubt that you’ll be surprised that the first word I want us to consider this morning as we reflect upon the resurrection. Jesus is the word miracle. At the heart of the real story is the miracle of Easter. Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. It’s a powerful truth that we gather today on Easter Sunday and celebrate.

As a matter of fact, as Christians, we celebrated every Sunday. Our worship calendar was changed by this event, the resurrection of Jesus. And so worship moved from what the Jews considered the Sabbath by the early Christians to Sunday, the first day of the week to honor the resurrection of our Lord. Now, Matthew, when we’ve been using Matthew as our guide for the Lenton season. Matthew has written this massive account of the life of Jesus.

And these first 20 chapters in Matthew cover 33 and a half years in the life of Jesus. He begins with the genealogy of Jesus. He then shares the birth narrative of Jesus. And then he tells this amazing story about the single most important human being who has ever lived on planet Earth. Three and a half years of public ministry, brilliantly told by an eyewitness.

Then you come to Matthew 21 and something really interesting happens. Matthew slows his pace. 20 chapters cover 33 and a half years. The next seven chapters cover one week. So the signal to the reader, this must be a significant week to get this much material devoted to this final week in the life of Jesus.

Well, Matthew tells the story. The royal entry of Jesus in a Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, his teaching during the week, particularly in the temple. But you can feel the mounting tension between the religious leaders and Jesus as the week unfolds. And then there’s the betrayal of Jesus, his arrest, his trial, his conviction. Then he was sentenced.

Then Matthew tells the story of his burial, his death, rather, and his burial. And Matthew 27, Jesus has died. The hopes of these early followers have been dashed, and it seems as if the story has come to an end. It’s a beautiful story. It was filled with so much hope.

As a matter of fact, Matthew reaches back to the Old Testament prophecies to let us know that Jesus keeps fulfilling prophecy after prophecy. One of those that he points to in Matthew 4 is that there’s going to be a great light dawning in northern Israel in the land of Naphtalei and land of the Gentiles. Well, that’s where Nazareth is. And this light was going to be a light of hope for all of the world. And then we come to Matthew 27, and the light has been extinguished and Jesus has died, and it appears that all hope has been lost.

It’s a riveting story. You know, when you think about this message that we share, it’s a powerful one. But when you come to the end of Matthew 27, it feels like a defeated word for us. I don’t know if y’all are familiar with the victory of General Wellington over Napoleon at Waterloo happened in 1815. It was quite a fascinating story.

Unpredictable, actually. Most folks thought Napoleon would win, and certainly folks in England were very nervous and anxious about this battle once they heard that it was unfolding. But there’s a famous story about how London was notified about the victory. I don’t know if you ever heard it or not, but here’s how the story goes that once Wellington had defeated Napoleon, it was. It was very difficult to communicate in those days.

And according to this story, there was a watchman who was placed on one of the towers in the Westminster Cathedral in London, and he was looking out across the sound, waiting to hear a message signaled by a signaler on a ship. And as the story goes, the person responsible for communicating the news to London sent the message, wellington defeated. And then the fog fell, and that was the only thing communicated. And so the person on the tower received the message, Wellington defeated. And presumably shared the bad news that, in other words, Napoleon had won and the French had vanquished the British, and sad times were ahead.

And then once the fog lifted, the controller sent the message again, and it was received. Wellington defeated the enemy. Well, that’s very different news. And so the people of England then rejoiced, but they heard a delayed message. The only problem with that story is we just don’t think it’s true, but it makes for a good sermon Illustration.

If you think that Matthew 27 ends as if Jesus has been defeated, but if you’ll hold on, you’ll discover he’s defeated the enemy. What really happened was actually there’s a British author who’s actually written a book on how this happened. It did take three days for the news to reach London. June 18, when, when the battle was over, there was a major named Henry Percy who was given the responsibility of carrying the message back to England. Interestingly enough, in 1815, there were 50 newspapers operating in London, and not one of them sent a correspondent to the battlefield.

That was before anybody thought of those kind of things. And so Percy had this message from Wellington himself, and it took him three days to get to London to share it. So London, the people of England, did live for three days wondering what had happened on the battlefield. And so that does connect. But the point is that incomplete message, it signaled defeat when actually there was a victorious message coming.

Well, that feels to me like Matthew 27. Matthew 27. It seems as if all hope has been dashed. And then you turn one more page and you read about the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. And this angel says, he is not here.

In fact, one of the Gospel writers says, the angel said, why are you seeking the living among the dead? He is risen, just as he said. And so this morning, I just want to make sure that we don’t nestle too closely upon this truth and somehow it loses its magnitude. And that is, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a miracle. Hallelujah.

That means all hope has not been dashed. The light has not been extinguished because of the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. Now, why should I be surprised that there was a miracle on Easter Sunday? If I’ve been reading the Gospels, if you think about it, the entire story of Jesus is riddled with miracles all along the way, miraculous interventions. Think about it.

Jesus was born of a virgin, a miraculous birth. The announcement was made by an angel. In this miraculous announcement, both Mary and Joseph received a message from an angel. And then a star appeared in the east, miraculously. And the magi made their way to Jerusalem to worship the King of the Jews.

And then when they found their way to Bethlehem, they were warned by an angel in a dream, another miracle, not to go back to Jerusalem. And then an angel appeared to Joseph, another miracle, and said, you need to take Jesus out of Jerusalem, and I mean out of Bethlehem rather. And he took him to Egypt for safety. And then while they were living there in Egypt, another miracle, Another angel appeared to Joseph and said, it’s safe. To return back to Israel.

And so they did, and they moved to Nazareth. And that’s where Jesus was reared. And then Jesus began his public ministry when he was 30 years old. And it’s miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle. He turned the water into wine at the wedding.

He would cleanse lepers. It was interesting how Jesus would touch a leper. And rather than him becoming impure, the leper would be purified. Jesus healed all manner of diseases and infirmities. He superintended the miraculous catch of fish on more than one occasion.

He cast demons out of demon possessed people. Blind people were healed and could see and their sight was restored. Deaf people who encountered Jesus could hear. Mute people who encountered Jesus could speak. One time, Jesus fed 5,000 people with just a boy’s lunch.

He walked on water. He calmed a stormy sea. He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. He raised the widow of Nain’s son from the dead. He raised Lazarus from the dead.

And so Jesus, his entire life was characterized by miracles. So now we come to Easter Sunday, and Jesus has died on the cross. He didn’t swoon. He didn’t faint from the heat or the pain. He died.

Numerous eyewitnesses have given account of his death. And now we come to what? His resurrection. And what is the resurrection of Jesus? Well, it’s a miracle.

Another miracle. There’s an angel, there’s an earthquake, and there’s this incredible pronouncement. Well, what is this? Is this the end? No, it’s not the end.

It’s not even the end of the beginning, as some have said. This is actually, if you will, or the beginning of the end. Rather, this is the end of the beginning. We’re just getting started with the resurrection._us and so I wanna encourage us this morning, let’s don’t get so close to it that it loses its magnitude. It’s a miracle that he was resurrected from the dead.

I’ve been to a lot of funerals. Have you? I have yet to see anybody resurrected from the dead. It’s an incredible miracle. No one was expecting it.

How do I know that? Well, these women came to the tomb to help continue to prepare his body for a proper burial. And they were shocked to get this news. So with that said, I want us to think for just a minute this morning about the message of Easter. What is the message of Easter?

The message is he’s risen. Death has been defeated. The kingdom of heaven has come on this earth and everything has changed. Everything. Not most things.

Not some things. Everything has changed. Because see, you and I, as Christians, we put on our resurrection glasses and we use these lenses. And it is through the lenses of the resurrection that we see everything else in this world. Everything about us, everything about history, everything about what God is doing.

Jesus had died and now he lives. And he lives forever. So the last time we gathered in this room was on Good Friday. And it was a powerful, powerful night of worship. And we asked this question, why the cross?

That was our question on Friday night. Why? Why did Jesus have to die? And so we grappled with the answer. The only answer is that God intervened and he met our deepest need on the cross through the representative substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

The death of Jesus on the cross makes it possible for our sins to be forgiven. His death makes it possible for us to be reconciled to a right relationship with God, to be rescued from a self centered, low horizon life. His death makes it possible for us to be restored to God’s original purpose for our existence. Which means we can now bear God’s image, reflect his love and his will on this earth. And because of the death of Jesus, you and I can now begin a journey, an eternal journey in the age to come, while we’re still living in the reality of this present evil age.

That’s the message of Good Friday. But then we all scattered and we went to our homes and it went about our daily lives. And then yesterday, known in history as Silent Saturday. And so across the world we waited. That’s what Christians do.

I came back in this room on Saturday morning. It was quiet, it was empty. And it was a powerful time for me. I stood right here at this pulpit and I took a picture of the sanctuary and it was empty. But your faces started popping up because I know where you sit, except for today.

Some of you have thrown me a little bit because of you got other people sitting in your seats. They just don’t know it.

And so this room was empty when I stood in here on Friday and now look at it. So let me take another photo of this room full. How about that? How about Happy Easter? He is risen, right?

He is risen indeed. There we go. Well then these disciples though, and the followers of Jesus, I’m not sure how long Saturday was for them, but I can promise it was longer than it’s been for us. They weren’t sure what was going to happen. And then on Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus.

And now everything has changed forever. That’s the message of Easter. We believe in life after death, yes. But as NT Wright likes To say we believe in life after life after death. That’s what we believe in now, because the resurrection breathes life into everything.

It changes everything. Let me read to you what Paul says about it. The Apostle Paul, who was an eyewitness of the resurrected Lord, he wrote what we believe is the earliest testimony to the resurrection of Jesus. We think he wrote 1 Corinthians before Matthew, Mark, Luke or John wrote, and so listen to what he says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3. For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the 12.

And after that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, even though some have fallen asleep. So when Paul wrote this, he said there are eyewitnesses still alive who saw the resurrected Lord. Then he appeared to James, that’s the brother of Jesus, then all the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to me also as one abnormally born. Paul says, someone who didn’t deserve this. I’ve actually met the resurrected Christ.

And then as he reflected on the resurrection, theologically, he says this in verse 20. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as an Adam, all dies, so in Christ, all be made alive. But in each turn, Christ the first fruits.

Then when he comes those who belong to him, then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he’s destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he’s put all of his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Paul says. Paul says Christ will defeat death.

He’s already given us a glimpse of it on Easter Sunday. But ultimately, we’re all going to be resurrected from the dead. That’s what Paul means by Jesus being the first fruit. You see, Jesus is the only one who’s been resurrected res from the dead. These others in the scripture were raised from the dead to die again.

Jesus was resurrected from the dead to never die again. In one day, we’re all going to be resurrected. That’s where there’s going to be life after life after death. He’s the first one. That’s why Paul calls him the first fruits.

Eugene Peterson likes to say that Jesus leads the resurrection parade. Well, then, Simon Peter, also an eyewitness. He’s reflected upon what the resurrection means. And listen to what Peter says in 1 Peter 1, verse 3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy, he’s given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoile, or fade. And this inheritance is kept in heaven for you who, through faith, are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that’s ready to be revealed in the last time. Peter says, is through the resurrection of Jesus. You now have a living hope in eternity that will last forever. And God is shielding it himself with his own power.

What a powerful message. And so the point is, once Jesus has been raised from the dead, the reality of the new heaven and the new earth are right in front of us. We are resurrected one day as well. We’ll be restored believers. We will live purposely forever.

So what? What’s going to happen in the future? Well, one day there’s going to be a new heaven and a new earth. The Bible says that’s when heaven and earth are going to collapse together into one reality. And the redeemed restored resurrected believers will live purposefully forever in that new reality.

That means that one day when that occurs, there will be no more death, there will be no more sin, there will be no more disease, there will be no more pain, there will be no more sorrow. Come on, y’all. There will be no more suffering. All of that’s going to disappear in the age to come. The Tree of life reappears in the book of Revelation.

Death itself is cast into hell in Revelation, chapter 20. And you and I, as the people of God, will have our resurrected bodies, and we’re going to live purposefully, powerfully, and significantly. We will be fully alive after the resurrection of all the saints. This life then, is purposeful and meaningful and significant because God is already getting us ready for what we’re going to experience in eternity. Praise his name.

So, wow, y’all. I mean, come on, y’all. It’s good news. This world is full of bad news. This is good news because everything has changed.

Hallelujah. Now, let me give this to you quickly. There’s a mandate, though, on Easter for the people of God. There’s something for us to do. God’s people, what is it?

Go and tell. That’s what it is. Look at verse seven. The angel told these women, go and tell the Women met Jesus in verse 10, go and tell he said. Well guess what they did.

That’s what they did. They went and told. Matthew says as they were on their way, Luke and John tell us they went and they told the disciples they did exactly what they were told. Can I just pause as an aside, if I may, for a second? How about these women?

Aren’t they awesome? Aren’t they? Yeah, it’s okay to clapform them. It’s awesome. You’re going to see them in heaven.

And guess what? They’re the very first proclaimers of the single most important news that’s ever existed in the history of the world. These women. It shouldn’t surprise us though, because guess what? If you look back on page 27, guess what happened at the cross.

You know Matthew. You know what Matthew tells us? Matthew 27, verse 55, Jesus is hanging on the cross. He’s just died. Guess what it says.

Many women were there watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, the mother of Zebedee sons. And then Jesus body is removed by Joseph of Arimathea. You all remember that story?

And places him in his family tomb. Y’all may have seen that little thing running around on the Internet right now where Pilate supposedly said to Joseph of Arimathea, you’re going to give your tomb to this unknown carpenter from Nazareth. And Joseph of Arimathea supposedly said, yeah, but it’s just for the weekend, so I don’t know. Regardless, so they’re burying Jesus in the tomb and I want you notice what the text is in verse 61 of Matthew 27. Guess what?

Mary Magdalen and the other Mary were sitting there watching. So where were the women when Jesus died on the cross? They were watching. What about when he was buried? They followed Joseph.

They were watching on Easter Sunday. Guess what? They were the first ones to get to the tomb because they thought they were supposed to go and anoint his body and prepare his body for burial. There are some scholars who say this one story from Matthew is the restoration of women in the new Jesus community to be equal partners with their male counterparts. They’ve been trusted with the greatest news the world has ever known.

Let’s thank these women for their faithfulness to our Lord and with the message itself. Wow. I would concur. So what about me and you? Well, here’s what I’d say to you today.

If you’re a believer. Go and tell, Go and tell and here’s what’s interesting. You may not realize this, but do you know, as Christians, if we go and tell do you know we’re going to find a ready audience in America right now? Some of you may be saying, wait a minute, preacher, I’ve been watching. We read that book deting 40 million American adults have left the church in the last decade.

I know it. I’ve read that and I’ve looked at the research. There’s been the rise of the nuns. Remember, not none, not in UN the N O N E’s the nuns, the people who have no faith. But you know what’s happened over the last three to four years.

The number of nuns in ous is beginning to diminish and Americans are starting to turn back to religion. It’s fascinating as what the research shows us. I’ve been following the writings of Lauren Jackson. She is a journalist of the New York Times. She’s the associate editor of the Morning, which is the daily newsletter, the New York Times.

She has spent this entire year researching the trends in American religion. She has also consulted with Gary Burge who is doing incredible research. If you want to find someone who’s looking at what’s happening in America and religion, consult his research. But in this past year, what they’re discovering is, is that the interest in religion in general, the interest in Christianity is on the rise in America. So you’ll find a ready audience if you go and tell.

As a matter of fact, on Good Friday, Lauren’s article in the New York Times was entitled this Americans Haven’t Found a Satisfying Alternative to Religion. Isn’t that interesting today? Her article is entitled America Wants a God. And I’ve been reading her research. The rise of the nuns has abated.

It’s no longer growing like it has been in the past. And she’s documenting it in the interviews that she’s been doing. She grew up as a Mormon and she tells her story that she attended church and her Mormon church and she walked away from it. She became one of those nuns. It’s her personal story, but she has begun to find her way back, just like many, many other Americans.

And what’s interesting is she’s discovered that Americans are dissatisfied with the alternative to religion. So she read a famous book when she was really influenced by all this by Richard Dawkins, who’s this very famous atheist, when she started gathering all this research and she started noticing that the trends were turning away from the secularization of our nation. She called Dawkins here this past year and she Asked him, what do you think your prediction that America would be completely secularized in a generation is not coming true. In fact, the opposite is happening. And he said, well, it’s interesting what his answer.

He said, well, you don’t have to turn back to religion to answer these questions. He said, if you’re interested in these experiences, go study civics. If you want the personal experience of community, go play golf, join a country club, Watch some of these documentaries on spirituality. You know what she said to that? She said, people are trying that.

It’s not working. Here’s what she says. Today, people want to belong to richer, more robust communities, ones that wrestle with hard questions about how to live. They’re looking to heady concepts, confession, atonement, forgiveness, grace and redemption for answers. Listen, y’all, I love golf, I love to play golf.

But I’m going to tell you right now, playing golf, watching documentaries and studying civics, it is nothing compared to the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has changed eternity. People are hungry for what really matters. You know what the research is telling us? Pick something. Depression, happiness, loneliness, health, premature death, alcoholism, suicide.

Just pick any of those. And what we’re discovering is, is that Christians in particular, and people who are given to religious expression, encounter every one of those differently, and they live happier lives, healthier lives, they are less lonely, they’re less prone to depression, they’re less prone to have premature death, they’re less prone to commit suicide, they’re less prone to be captured by alcoholism and drug addiction if they are committed to some kind of religious expression. General and Christianity in particular, why should I be surprised? Because there’s a deep need we have, and that deep need can be met in Christ. The living life giving, eternal message of Jesus is good in any generation, and for heaven’s sake, we need to share it today.

It’s not captivated by any kind of political approach. That’s not what Christianity is. Christianity lives independently of all philosophical systems and all political movements. It is its own thing because it’s rooted in a real story about the life, the death, the burial, the resurrection and the future return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And our world needs to know it, and they need to hear it from us.

So go and tell now. One other word. Are y’all still with me? All right, one other word. And that’s the word meeting.

And this is important for us personally. In order for all this to mean anything to you, you must personally meet Jesus. You see, if you look at verse 8 of Matthew 28, the women heard the news from the angel. They hurried away, still afraid, but filled with joy. And then an amazing thing happens.

In verse nine, they met Jesus. There it is. They met Jesus personally. And what I would say to you is, if you want any of this to matter to you, you’ve got to meet Jesus personally. Because on the one thing, on the one hand, when it comes to big picture, it doesn’t really matter what you do with Jesus.

Big picture, it’s not going to change anything. Big picture, in other words, Jesus has offered up himself as a sacrifice for the sinfulness of humanity. God’s accepted it. Jesus died on the cross. He was resurrected from the dead.

Those are historical facts. He has inaugurated the kingdom of God on this earth. He has brought into being the age to come that has now invaded this present evil age. He’s been ascended to the Father. He’s going to return as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

You can’t change any of that. That is all going to happen. But if you want this to apply to your life, don’t you want to be in on it? I mean, don’t you want to be in on it? This is the biggest thing there is.

Don’t you want to be in on this? In order for that to happen, you’ve got to personally meet Jesus, just like these women did. The resurrected Lord. So today, on Easter Sunday, let me invite you to that. Many of you in this room have done that, but, you know, there are some who haven’t.

And there are those who are joining us online. Who knows? This week, next week, we have hundreds, thousands of people that join us online. Week after week after week after week. People are watching.

Kind of reminds me when I was a little kid, every time I held out there, the door to school or whatever, I still had my mama’s voice in the back of my head telling me, watch what you do, watch what you say. Somebody’s always watching. Turns out she’s right. Somebody’s always watching now for sure. So.

So there are those watching who may not know. So let me invite you to meet Jesus. He’s the Son of God. He was born of a virgin. He grew up in a town called Nazareth.

He was trained to be a carpenter. Turns out he was born a king, a priest, the prophet. He taught us everything we need to know to follow God. He taught us the way home to the Father. He lived an example for us.

He lived a perfect life. He offered up himself on a cross and he died on that cross. For your sin, for your brokenness. For your shame, for your iniquity. Everything that you and I have ever done that separates us from God, he took all that on Himself and on the cross.

He paid the debt for us and we could never pay. He died in our place. He died on our behalf. He represented us as a human being. But he substituted for us in his death on the cross.

And then he was gloriously resurrected from the dead on Easter Sunday. And he appeared to over 500 people. And he taught him about the kingdom of God. And then he was gloriously ascended to the Father. And then he sent the gift of His Holy Spirit and He brought the Church into being.

And one day he’s going to return as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And I want today to invite you to invite him into your life. Because once you do that, not just everything has changed, but everything about you has changed. And when you receive him, you become a member of eternity in this kingdom that God has built you for in the first place. And then your life on this earth takes on deep meaning and real significance.

And you can live in this age to come while you and I still battle this present evil age. Praise God for the message of Easter. True, the angel said it. He is not here. He has risen, just as he said.

Hallelujah. Let’s pray together.

So, Father, today we are grateful for the good news of Easter. We thank you, Lord, that Matthew’s Gospel doesn’t end on page 27 in death and despair, even though that’s very much a part of the story. That the light truly was not extinguished, but that the light dawned into a new and glorious day. And we now live in the light of the resurrection of Jesus. It’s my prayer, Lord, that everyone within the sound of my voice will be able to celebrate Easter this year.

Those of us who know you will celebrate well. Those of us who need to know you. I pray that today will be the day that they will enter into this kingdom. Life. Life.

And celebrate Easter for the very first time. May it be so. And we pray in Jesus name, Amen.