Today we're going to be reading from two passages. One is the very famous passage of how they discovered the empty tomb, and Jesus first appeared to the women, Matthew 28 verses one through 10. And then we'll be looking also at Revelation chapter one, a vision of the risen and glorified Christ that Jesus' best friend on earth, the Apostle John, had after Jesus had returned to heaven.
So let's listen to the Word of God in Matthew 28 verses 1 through 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."
And then our next passage is from Revelation chapter one. It's important for us not simply to think back to 2,000 years ago and think of Easter as an event that happened way back when, because what it means is that the Lord Jesus Christ is living and reigning right now. And Revelation chapter one gives us a vision of Christ from heaven.
John says, "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands representing the churches, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a gold sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.
Then he placed his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
This ends the reading of God's Word, and God always blesses His Word to those who listen.
When we see the vision of the risen Lord Jesus Christ that John saw, when we realize who He really is and realize His majesty and His greatness, then perhaps the first thing to do is simply to do what John did and fall at His feet, because He is the living one. He is the all-powerful one. He is the splendid one.
In this vision, John sees his best friend, but as he had never seen him before. During Jesus' life on earth, John could lean over and whisper in his ear and hang around with him as though Jesus were just another guy. And John knew even then, and came to know better and better, that Jesus wasn't just another guy. But nonetheless he could have this closeness, this familiarity with him.
But when he sees Jesus on his heavenly throne, then he falls at his feet as though dead. The voice of Jesus sounded to him like the sound and thunder of many waterfalls. The appearance of Jesus' body and his feet are almost like melted metal that is glowing and dreadfully hot. His face is shining brighter than the sun; you can hardly look at it. He's clothed in dazzling white.
His hair is white, not because he's really, really old necessarily, though he's the Ancient of Days. He's ever young, but it's just this dazzling brightness. And so John is just stunned by this vision. And this vision shows us again the deity of Jesus Christ, the fact that he's not just a man, but that he always was and always will be God Himself.
When John sees this vision, he falls at Jesus' feet. What happens when Jesus rises from the dead on that first Easter morning? Well, just the appearance of one of Jesus' servants, just the appearance of one angel, is enough to make the earth shake and enough to make powerful Roman soldiers fall down as though they are dead. And this stunning vision, just of an angel, is overwhelming.
And when you read in the Bible, sometimes when angels came to people, people would fall before them almost in worship, and the angel would say, "No, no, no! You shouldn't do that. You shouldn't worship me." What happens when the women fall at Jesus' feet and worship Him? Does He say, "No, no, no, no, you shouldn't do that"? No. They should do that, because Jesus is not just a glorious man or a splendid angel with the radiance of heaven. He is the one who rules heaven. He is one with God Himself.
And so it was appropriate and right on that first Easter that the women, seeing Jesus, should fall down and worship Him. And it was right that John should, upon seeing this vision of his best friend glorified and exalted, fall down and worship Him.
On this Easter, we need to remember again who Jesus is. Remember again other visions of the Bible. When Abraham came near to God, and God came near to Abraham, the Bible says that Abraham was called a friend of God. And yet what did this friend of God say when he spoke to God? He said, "I who am but dust and ashes," and would fall on his face before the Lord.
The Bible says of Moses, the Lord would speak with Moses face to face as a man would speak with his friend. And how did Moses relate to this one who spoke with him as his friend? Well, Moses, it says, hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. That's the greatness and the majesty of God.
When Ezekiel saw a vision of God and of God's angels, Ezekiel spoke of this dazzling, overwhelming glory and brightness that just flattened him, and he realized that he wasn't actually seeing all the fullness of God in that vision. It was just a vision. He says, "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." So it's several removes from what God is actually like, and that is enough to overwhelm him and amaze him and astonish him.
And I could speak of other visions in the Old Testament of people who saw something of the glory of God and found Him awesome, found His splendor so stunning. And we too, how can we respond to the glory of God and the glory of God revealed on this day in the resurrection of Jesus, without being stunned and amazed and overwhelmed?
In the New Testament, Stephen was speaking to some of the same people who had killed Jesus, and he was about to be killed by a mob himself. And Stephen, as they were getting ready to kill him, what was his impression? Did he say, "Oh no, this huge, powerful mob of mean people are about to kill me"? He said, "I see heaven open, and I see Jesus at the right hand of God," and his face was like the face of an angel.
And so what was the thought of Stephen? Did he think, "Oh, poor me, and the poor Christian cause facing such strong and deadly opposition"? No. His last words were, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them." Because when you see Jesus in His power, everybody else seems pretty puny, and those who are His enemies seem pitiable.
And so, seeing the majesty and the power and the splendor of Jesus made him feel sorry for the people who were killing him, and praying that they would be forgiven. And we know that the Lord answered his prayer at least in one case, and probably in others in that mob as well.
But certainly, we know the ringleader of that mob that killed Stephen was Saul, Saul of Tarsus. And what happened to him, and what did he see? Well, he was on the road to Damascus to kill some of Jesus' followers when the risen Lord appeared to him. And how did Saul respond? Well, he was flattened to the ground and blinded. That's what happened when he actually met the one that he was against, whose movement he was trying to stop. He was flattened as though he were a dead man, and he was blinded until the Lord restored his sight.
This is what happens when people come to know Jesus in His divine splendor and in His divine power. He is awesome. He has this stunning splendor, and so this encounter with Him is a humbling one, at the very least. If you have never been on your face before the Lord Jesus Christ and overwhelmed by His power and His majesty, then you probably don't know Him very well yet, because anybody who has come very close, that is just their instinctive reaction. They're down because He is that great.
And on this Easter, let me just begin by saying that that is the first thing we need to understand. Do not underestimate Jesus Christ. Do not underestimate His glory, His majesty, His power. We need to know that everything, all of the universe put together, and all the powers of the universe, I'm not just talking about the little governments of this world and the people who think they're hotshots who are going to be dead in a few years. Just think of all the powers of the universe and of all the galaxies. Those have all come from His hand.
And the Bible says of the Lord that these are just a little fringe of His works. They're just the outer margin of His actual power. So, to understand the real power of the Lord Jesus Christ, we never will. But we can only adore and marvel and be overwhelmed by His splendor, by His majesty, by His magnificence, and be amazed also at this thought: the Bible says that in our resurrection, our lowly bodies will be made like His glorious body.
So there's a sense in which a vision of the risen Lord Jesus Christ is also, staggering as it may seem, a vision of your future. If you saw people who belong to the Lord as they are now and as they will be in resurrected splendor, you'd be tempted to fall down and worship them. You shouldn't, but you'd be tempted to just because there would be a magnificence and a splendor and a power in every one of Jesus' followers. The Bible says that we will reign forever and ever, and we will have glorious bodies that are made like His glorious body.
So, part of the value of this staggering vision is just to adore Jesus for who He is right now, and a part of it is to get a preview of what you are to become, and to start acting like it a little more. Don't be so petty. Don't get all wrapped up in minor things and foolish squabbles when you are a prince or princess in God's kingdom, destined for that kind of glory.
And think about the people whom you meet. Those who already belong to the Lord, you can be guaranteed that they too are going to be glorified like that. And those who don't yet belong to the Lord may yet be headed in that direction. So treat people right, treat them like royalty.
But also affectionate. Because, you know, when you see Jesus in His splendor, perhaps John was tempted to think, "Well, I thought I knew Him. I thought we were friends, but whoa, this, this, do we still have the connection that we used to have? This Jesus used to be my best buddy, but that was while He was still wearing sandals and an ordinary robe and looked like an ordinary Jew like me. And now He looks so different and He has such majesty."
But what does Jesus do? He lays His hand on him and says, "Don't be afraid," because He's still who He's always been. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. While He was on earth, something of His divine majesty was concealed. When you first see Him in an overwhelming vision, maybe something of His humanity or of His loving kindness and mercy aren't the first things that strike you, just because of the sheer shock of splendor. But He's the same. He's still the friend. He's still John's friend, who says, "Don't be afraid."
When you read in the Gospel of John, the resurrection accounts there, three times Jesus says the same thing upon coming to His disciples and His friends. He says, "Peace be with you." He always needs to say that, it seems, once He comes to them in His glory and in His resurrection power, because the first and instinctive reaction is just to be scared. The women who went to the tomb, their first reaction was fear. They were scared. And when Jesus would come as the risen Lord to His disciples, their first reaction was fear. And so His first words to them almost always were either, "Peace be with you," or, "Fear not."
And still, we need to hear those good words from the Lord today, because while some people may underestimate Jesus' splendor and His power and His glory, others of us may have a sense of the great and transcendent Lord who is so much beyond us, and so much greater, and more holy, and more magnificent. But we don't have that awareness that the Word became flesh, that He is still one of us, and that He loves us with an everlasting love. He's still the friend of sinners. He's still the one who was criticized during His time on earth for hanging out with the wrong people. He comes near, and though we may be flattened by His majesty, He puts His hand upon us and gently says, "Do not be afraid."
Do not be afraid. What are you scared of? What are you scared of? Well, when you really begin to understand the world as it really is, there is only one worth fearing, the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell. That's what Jesus says. Don't fear anybody else; just fear that one. And then, once you come to know Him, then you don't need to be afraid even of Him anymore. Fear not, because He is the one who has come to save us, not to destroy us.
And so there is this awesomeness to Christ, but also this affectionate touch of His love, the One who loves you. So think again. What are you afraid of? You don't need to fear it because He is greater than it, and you don't need to fear Him. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but once you fear Him and really come to reverence Him and then trust Him, you can count on His love and His tender touch.
And then He comes in this overwhelming vision. He puts His hand on him and says, "Fear not." And then what does He say? "I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I was dead, but behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of Hades."
So the third thing I want to highlight about Him is simply that He is alive. And He's not just alive in the sense that you and I are alive for the moment, but He is truly alive because He's the first and the last. He was there before any other form of life ever existed, and He outlasts every other form of life. And every person who ever lives, He is there at the end of their journey. He is the first, and He is the last. He says simply, "I am the living one." That is a tremendous statement about who Jesus is. Simply, "I am the living one."
During His time on earth, Jesus often used "I am" sayings to describe Himself, and very often that "I am," which is reflecting God's words to Moses, "I am who I am," is connected with life. "I am the bread of life. He who believes in me will never go hungry. He who believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If anyone remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing."
What is the thing about a vine and branches that makes the branches bear fruit? Well, the vine is alive, and it is the life of that vine flowing through its branches that makes the branches alive and able to bear fruit. And so, when Jesus says, "I am the living one," He is the source of all life. He is the creator of all life. He is the one whose life is indestructible.
The apostle Peter made a great statement in one of his sermons. He said it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. We on Easter may have a hard time with our own skepticism. We're a bit like Thomas, and we find it difficult to believe that Jesus came back from the dead. And if you feel that way, you're in pretty good company. That was how just about all the disciples felt when they first heard the report from the women. They thought they were out of their minds.
And even after most of them were persuaded, Thomas was a holdout because he wasn't there during one of Jesus' appearances to them. So, yeah, just the way we tend to look at things, we say, boy, that sounds really, really hard to believe, that He would rise from the dead. But when you know that He is the living one, then you begin to realize that the really, really, really hard thing, in fact, the impossible thing, is that He would not be living. It was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him because He's the living one.
And that should tell us a few things. One is, of course, that our doubts are generally upside down. When Jesus was talking with some questioners and debaters who didn't believe in resurrection, He said, "You do not believe because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God." Those are two areas where it's so easy to go wrong. You don't know the Bible. You think that your brain is the final authority on things when the Bible is telling us God's Word and His take on things. You don't know the Scriptures, and even worse, you don't know the power of God.
Because if you knew the power of God, you would know this. And He was talking again to these debaters. He says, "What does the Bible say? What did God say to Moses at the burning bush? He said, 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' He's not the God of the dead. He's the God of the living. For all are alive to Him." He is the living one, and everybody who ever lived is alive to Him. That's what the Scriptures say. That's what the power of God says, and that's what it means when Jesus says, "I am the living one. I am the God of the living."
And so we celebrate that Jesus has risen with indestructible life. There are other people who were raised from the dead temporarily; they died again. That's why Jesus is different. He's the first fruits of the real resurrection from the dead because He, as the Book of Hebrews says, has the power of an indestructible life. And so He is the living one with this indestructible life. He says, "I'm the living one. I was dead, yeah, but I am alive forever and ever."
And again, that has a couple of implications for us. One is that we go through our lives looking for life. It's a strange thing that we spend a lot of our lives looking for what makes us come alive, looking for what is satisfying, and we chase down a lot of silly alleyways and places where, in the end, we only find dullness and death. You need the living one to really live. You need Him to find out what life is about even now, and you certainly need Him to live forever and to reign in His kind of splendor.
So, the very fact that He's the living one means that receive from Him His indestructible life, His abundant life, right now. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." And that's because He is the fountain of life, as the Old Testament says of God: "With You is the fountain of life. In Your light, we see light." So don't choose what is lifeless and worthless, but the One who is life-giving and indeed makes us live forever.
And a final thing to observe in this passage, besides the fact that He is awesome and affectionate and alive, is that He is authoritative. He says, "I hold the keys of death and Hades." He holds the keys of everything, and keys are authority. Keys are governance. One of the last things Jesus said to His disciples before He ascended to heaven was this: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations." He has all authority, and therefore He claims all nations as His own.
We sometimes wish, those of us who are Christians, that Jesus hadn't gone to heaven, that He had stayed here on earth, that His company could be enjoyed more visibly. And there is coming a day when that desire will be fulfilled, and He'll come back, and we will again see Him and rejoice in His visible presence among us. But in the meantime, Jesus said, "It's for your good that I'm going away, because when I go away, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to you, and I'm going to be reigning from heaven." And so we can be thankful even now that He holds the keys of death and Hades.
If you look at the visions of Revelation, there's a vision in chapter four of a scroll that nobody can open, and it is the scroll of God's unfolding purpose for history. And in heaven they're crying because nobody can open that scroll. And then the Lamb who was slain comes, and He can open it and unfold and cause to happen God's purposes for history.
In Revelation chapter three, the Lord Jesus, it is said of Him, "What He opens, no one can shut, and what He shuts, no one can open." That's authority. And Jesus says to this church, "I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut."
The fact that He holds these keys, that if He locks it, it's not going to open, and if He opens it, nobody else is going to slam that door shut and lock it. What does that mean for us? Well, among other things, it means that you don't need to worry quite so much, as we often do, about something bad happening to you or something fatal happening to you. The One who holds the keys of death is going to keep you in this life as long as He means to, and you will not be going through that door of death unless He turns the key to it.
The other thing it means is that if you go through that door to death, you're not going to stay in that room of death if He has opened the door back out of it again. And so, when you pass through the one door, you pass right through the next door if you belong to Him. Jesus says, "Whoever believes in me will never see death." It might happen to you, and you're never even going to see it because when you die, the first thing you're going to see is Him, not death, because He holds the keys. And so you will enter into death, and you will pass right back out of it because He holds the keys of death and of Hades.
He holds every key. He holds the key to our Father's heart. He's the one who is before the throne of God, constantly interceding for us. And when He appeals to His Father, He's only doing what the Father already willed for Him anyway. And the Father is gladly pouring out His love upon us.
So think about it. Think about it for yourself. I asked before, what are you afraid of? For some of us, of course, death is a great fear, and the older we get, the closer it approaches. To know that Jesus Christ holds the keys of death and of Hades is a tremendous comfort for us all, because we can face death without needing to be afraid. We can face every fear without needing to be afraid, because He holds those keys.
And think about that also in relation to those whom you love and whose passing you grieve. For me, this is my first Easter without my father in this world, and many of you can think of people very, very dear to you who are no longer with us in this world. But Jesus says, "I am the living one. I was dead. I'm alive forever and ever. I hold the keys of death and Hades." And as He said to those doubters, all are alive to Him. He has authority, complete authority, even over death itself.
And so, whether you're facing an illness, whether you're facing aging, whether you're facing death itself, whether you're grieving the death of another, the Bible says we don't grieve as those who have no hope, because we know that He's risen, and we know that He will raise all who belong to Him.
So today, this is the Jesus who lives now. Easter is not just an event about an earth-shaking event of 2,000 years ago that we commemorate. Easter is a living person right now who holds the keys of death and of Hades. And His promise is this: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Not might be saved or have a reasonable shot at maybe getting saved. If you confess Him as Lord and with your heart believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
We praise You, Lord, as the great and magnificent and awesome God and Savior. We thank You for Your love from everlasting to everlasting, for Your tender touch, Your reassuring words: "Fear not." We thank You that You will not crush a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick, but that You are gentle with us who are weak and who are sinful and who need You so much.
We thank You, Father, that You sent Your Son. We thank You, Lord Jesus, that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to You, that You are the living one. And so we pray that we may live in union with You each day, drawing upon the life of Your Holy Spirit within us, looking forward to the day when our lowly bodies are glorified like Your body, and where we live with You and reign with You forever.
And in the meantime, help us, Lord, to live as royalty, not in arrogance, but with the confidence and the dignity of those who belong to You. And help us, Lord, to treat others with respect, even with awe, as royalty who are Your sons and daughters.
And Lord, take away our fears. Lift up our hearts today. Restore and renew each of us who came to this place, perhaps downtrodden or struggling with various things. But give us, Lord, in our own hearts, open the eyes of our hearts that we may see a vision of the risen Christ and the vision of what You have promised to those who love You. We pray in Your name. Amen.