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Christian Network

 
  A Change of Address
Matthew 28:1-10
 
Easter Sunday Outline
 
 

Matthew 28:1 through Matthew 28:10 (KJV)
1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the 
week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2And, behold, 
there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, 
and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3His 
countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4And for fear of 
him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5And the angel answered and 
said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was 
crucified. 6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place 
where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen 
from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see 
him: lo, I have told you. 8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with 
fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9And as they went 
to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came 
and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10Then said Jesus unto them, Be 
not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they 
see me.
 
Several years ago, The Saturday Evening Post ran a cartoon showing a man about 
to be rescued after he had spent a long time ship-wrecked on a tiny deserted 
island. The sailor in charge of the rescue team stepped onto the beach and 
handed the man a stack of newspapers.
“Compliments of the Captain,” the sailor said. “He would like you to glance at 
the headlines to see if you’d still like to be rescued!”
Sometimes the headlines do scare us. Sometimes we feel that evil is winning, but 
then along comes Easter, to remind us that there is no grave deep enough, no 
seal imposing enough, no stone heavy enough, no evil strong enough to keep 
Christ in the grave.
·        
James W. Moore, Some Things Are To Good Not To Be True, Dimensions, 1994, p. 80
It’s not every day that someone moves out of the cemetery, but that is exactly 
what Jesus did.  Usually we think of the grave as a permanent resting place, but 
for our Lord it was a temporary way station. He changed his address, and because 
He did, I shall as well.
 
It had to be frightening that first Easter Sunday.  It had to be traumatic for 
the ladies to come to anoint the body of our Lord only to find Him missing.  
They were undoubtedly afraid.  Indeed, the angel addressed their fear in verse 
five of our text.
 
Easter is also scary for those of us looking back on it today.  Why?  It is 
scary because if Christ is truly alive then we must deal with Him.  We must 
believe he was who he said he was.  Believing this will truly change our lives.
 
Do Not Be Afraid (v. 5)
 
The first thing the angel said to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary was “5And 
the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek 
Jesus, which was crucified.”  Why were the ladies afraid that morning?  I ask 
you today “Why wouldn’t  they be afraid?”  They had just seen the man they 
loved, the man they had followed, the man that was their teacher, they saw him 
carted away as a common criminal and put to death.  Surely they feared that they 
would be next.  Possibly they feared that if they were seen in the vicinity of 
the open tomb they might be accused of stealing the body to claim the 
resurrection.  Whatever the motivation for their fear, the scripture is clear 
that they were afraid.
 
During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced 
many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured 
Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler 
in the audience. "You were one of Stalin's colleagues. Why didn't you stop him?" 
"Who said that?" roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in 
the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, "Now you know 
why."  
·          Today in the Word, July 13, 1993 
The angel said “Do not be afraid!”  Over and over when God or His angels appear 
before humanity this is what is said.  Rightfully so because we should be afraid 
when we enter into the presence of the almighty God.  Standing before God should 
cause us to tremble.  Our sinful nature should cause us to be afraid.  We have 
every reason to believe that we should be subject to the wrath of God because we 
have flagrantly violated His laws.  Yet often enough today we are not afraid of 
God because we have placed ourselves, erroneously so, above God.  
We fear men so much because we fear God so little. 
o         William Gurnall
We don’t have to be afraid though.  I understand this seems contradictory, but 
it really is not.   We must have a certain respect for God.  He is worthy of 
that respect, yet we don’t need to be frightened because He is a loving God.  
His grace is something beyond which we can never hope to understand fully.  We 
need to fear him, but not be afraid of Him.  
Easter turned their world upside down.  Things that couldn’t happen happened.  
Things that were not normal took place.  Their whole way of life was being 
shaped and challenged.  If we take an honest look at Easter ourselves, we too 
will see our whole world turned upside down.  
The angels said to the two ladies to put aside their fear…..and “come and see”.
Come and See (v.6)
In the Good Friday edition of B.C., an Ant walks up and sees another ant with a 
clerical collar standing between a cave with a cross on top and a sign that 
says, "Good Friday Service Today." The first ant says, "Sickos! If somebody 
killed my God on a Friday, I certainly wouldn't call it Good Friday."
The preacher ant replies: "Nor should you, my son! Providing, of course, your 
God were able to stay killed."
·          B.C. by Johnny Hart, 4/2/99
Verse six is a clear invitation to the ladies to come and verify for themselves 
that Christ was gone.  The resurrection of Christ must be personally 
experienced.  This is what the angel was inviting the ladies to do, indeed what 
he is inviting us to do as well.  We cannot rest our faith on some blind notion 
that he “might” be alive, we must be assured that He is indeed risen.
You must experience the Resurrection for yourself. It cannot be experienced for 
you. The faith of the women in the resurrection was not enough for the 
disciples; the disciples had to see for themselves that Jesus was alive. The 
experience, if valid, will change your life 2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is 
in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 
There is much talk today of experiential faith. The faith that must be 
experienced through all kinds of outward manifestations. There are those who say 
that for one to truly have experienced the resurrection power of the Spirit in 
our lives we must speak in tongues. There are others that say you have to feel 
good and laugh your head off. The most important experience we need is the 
experience of truth. You don't have to speak in tongues. You don't have to seek 
any outward manifestation to prove your experience. Don't let anybody put that 
bondage on you. But you must experience the reality of the resurrected Christ! 
The Resurrection is a truth that can be experienced. It is not some dry point of 
ancient theology. It is a relevant truth that will change your life. It must 
move from a head knowledge and travel that 18" down to your heart. There are 
some in this congregation who desperately need to experience that reality today. 

·        http://www.gotell.com/cityview/sermons/easter1.htm Pastor Gordon 
Goetsch
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had to come and see, to personally experience 
the resurrection so that they might fulfill the next words of the angel…to go 
and tell.
 
Go and Tell (v.7 & 10)
Verses seven and ten are really the crux of the story.  The whole point, if you 
will, of the exercise.  Now that you (Mary Magdalene and the other Mary) have 
seen that Christ was who He said He was, now go and tell someone about it.  
About 1930, the Communist leader Bukharin journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His 
mission was to address a huge assembly. His subject, atheism. For a solid hour 
he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity, hurling argument and ridicule. At 
last he was finished and viewed what seemed to bc the smoldering ashes of men’s 
faith. “Are there any questions?” Bukharin demanded. A solitary man arose and 
asked permission to speak. He mounted the platform and moved close to the 
Communist. The audience was breathlessly silent as the man surveyed them first 
to the right, then to the left. At last he shouted the ancient Orthodox 
greeting, “CHRIST IS RISEN!” The vast assembly arose as one man and the response 
came crashing like the sound of an avalanche, “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”

James W. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Tyndale, 1988, p. 176
Both the angels and Christ Himself made this request.  Both said to Go and Tell. 
 If we do not go and tell, then you better believe that others will.  There is a 
strong contingent of people who will emphatically tell you that THE DEAD DO NOT 
RISE FROM THE DEAD!  Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and we must tell the 
world that we know of the truth told here.
If we do not go and tell, then the world will never know. A poll was conducted 
by a church directory service a few yrs. ago. Asked: "Why did you choose to come 
to this church?" Results: 18%--Prior denominational ties; 9%--Pretty bldg.; 3% 
because minister came to visit; Well over half came for one simple 
reason--somebody invited them!  This event on the first Easter Sunday is what 
gives substance to the great commission.
Her name was Carol. She was the organist at her church. She was an outstanding 
musician, but she did something no organist should ever do. She overslept on 
Easter morning and missed the sunrise service.
She was so embarrassed. Of course, the minister and the church forgave her. They 
teased her about it a little, but it was done lovingly and in good fun. However, 
the next Easter, her phone rang at 5:00 in the morning. Jolted awake by the loud 
ringing, she scrambled to answer it. It was the minister, and he said, “Carol, 
it’s Easter morning! The Lord is risen! ... And I suggest you do the same!”
The message is clear: We too can be resurrected. Christ shares his resurrection 
with us. He rises, and so can we. We too can have new life. We too can make a 
new start. We too can rise out of those tombs that try to imprison us!

James W. Moore, Some Things Are To Good Not To Be True, Dimensions, 1994, p., 
74.



 
We serve a risen savior, He’s in this world today.  This is what makes today a 
special day.  Because of the empty tomb we have choices that can dramatically 
alter our lives.  Christ left the cemetery, he changed his address.  Because of 
this, we can know that death for us is but a temporary transition.  Praise God!  
Jesus is alive.
 
 
 
 

Rev. Charles Mims    
Copyright ©2000 by Claim The Victory Ministries
South Peninsula Baptist Church
Daytona Beach, FL