"After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.  And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.  For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.  But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples, "He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him." This is my message for you.'  So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him.  Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.' " (Matthew 28:1-10) (NRSV)

Do you think the angels drew straws to see who would have the privilege of announcing the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour?  It may sound like a silly question, but can you imagine the excitement of heaven among all the angels, after peering down from heaven and watching all the horror of Christ upon the cross?  Can you imagine the thrill that went through heaven as they discovered that Jesus had risen?

Can you imagine the excitement that existed as the heavenly creatures discovered that God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit always knew and always planned that the Son of God would lay down His life only to take it up again on the third day?

Can you imagine the praise that was offered up as the heavenly host realized that the Son of God, by whom all things were created and in whom all things consist was not dead but alive?

Can you imagine the joy that rang through heaven as the realization is made that the keys of death and hell are now forever in the hands of the Living one?

Can you imagine the energy, the excitement and thrill of hearing the angelic choir singing on that first Easter day, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

Do you think the angels drew straws to see who would get the privilege of announcing the Lord's resurrection? "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "No, I want to be the first to tell!" "No, I want to be the first to tell!" "Alright, alright, alright, we'll draw straws."

It's fun to imagine, but this we don't have to imagine, an angel did come - and when he came the earth shook .  That's appropriate, for he was carrying a message that would shake the very foundations of the world.  Sin had been atoned for and death had been defeated.   He went to the tomb where Jesus was buried and rolled the stone away.  He did not do this so Jesus could get out.  No, our Lord could not be contained by a stone vault.  The resurrection had already occurred.  The angel rolled the stone away in order to show us that the tomb was empty.

And after rolling the stone away, the angel did something.  He must have had a sense of humor, because after rolling the stone away, the text says (verse 2) the angel sat on it.

He sat there on that stone.  He sat on it as if to say, "Isn't God great?  Look what he's done!"

As God's emissary he sat on that symbol of death, he sat on that symbol of worldly power, he sat on that rock and pointed to the empty tomb, and in effect said, "Look what God has done.  Isn't he great?  Jesus is not here, he has risen just as he said."

Well, the guards that were there they shook and became like dead men.  So the angel didn't spend any time with them.

But there were the two Mary's who, at the first sign of light, had come to anoint the body and give Jesus a proper Jewish burial.  They didn't know how they were going to move that stone, but it didn't seem to be a problem.

For there was the angel of God sitting on the stone.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  And he spoke to the women a message given to him by his commander in heaven, a message that is for you and for me:

"Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised, just as he said.  Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: he has been raised from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him." (Matthew 28:5) (NRSV)

And having performed his duty he said, "This is my message for you." Or the NIV translates it as, "Now I have told you." In effect, I have done what I was commissioned to do".  With that the women hurried off.

The angels' message contains four words for Easter: "Come," "see," "go" and "tell."  We must come to the tomb, and see the place where the Lord lay, and then go and tell others about His resurrection.

Two words of invitation, and two words of commission.

I

The first word of invitation is "come".  If we ever doubted that this angel is from heaven, all doubt is banished as soon as we hear this word, "come" - for it is always the invitation that God issues.  From the very beginning, God's word to a lost and sinful humanity has been "come".  So we read in Isaiah:

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." (Isaiah 55:1,2) (NIV)

Come, come.  He is the great God of heaven, He controls all the universe, He controls all the laws of earth and sky, but He will not control your response to Him.  He will always invite.  You must come to Him of your own volition.

"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of water of life." (Revelation 22:17) (NIV)

"Behold I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.  (Revelation 3:20) (NIV)

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) (NIV)

Come, come - always that is the invitation offered by God to His people.

Do you want to be forgiven of your sins then come to the one who laid down his life for you?  Do you want eternal life?  Then Jesus says, "Come to me and I will give you life, life to the full."

God sends no one to heaven, and no one to Hell – it is we who choose.  He offers the invitation to the banquet - we choose.

Come, come - this is the heavenly invitation.  Don't let anything hinder you from coming to Him.  There is so much in this world to hinder you from coming.

For some of you it may be your family that hinders you from coming to God.  John Phillips tells of a neighbour friend who was hungry for spiritual things.  John and his wife witnessed to the woman and eventually she accepted the invitation to have Jesus Christ as her Saviour and Lord.

She came running over to John's wife her face beaming with joy and exclaiming, "I See it, It's not by works, It's by faith!" She began to attend worship, but the rest of her family exploded.  One of them said, "If you don't stop going to that church, I shall never speak to you again or visit your home." Her family ties were strong and it worked.  She never did come back to worship, and never again did she speak to John or his wife about spiritual things. ¹ Jesus said, "A man's enemies will be the members of his own household." Is your family is hindering you from coming to know God fully through faith in Christ?  It is very difficult and it requires sensitivity, but do not let them hinder you from coming to the living God.

For some of you, if it's not family, it's friends.  Your friends are not encouraging your walk with God - instead they are detracting you from Him.  At times (this is sometimes especially true for teenagers) there is such a desire to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, a soul mate that we have forgotten about the one who created the soul, the lover of our soul, the Saviour of our soul.  Do not let anyone pull you away from God, the friend who will never abandon you.  Now, we should not live little Christian lives isolated from the world.  No, be in the world, and be salt and light, be an influence, but do not allow yourself to be influenced away from God.

If it's not family or friends, then it's fun.  You are so caught up with the so called fun of this world that you have lost focus of what really matters, and what really counts - what really lasts for eternity.

I love fun, and God is the creator of fun, but all-out devotion to entertainment and amusement is wrong.  In the words of one modern Christian writer, "we are amusing ourselves to death."

Come - don't let anything hinder you.  God will not force you, He only invites.

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32) (NIV)

II

But the next word, is also a word of invitation and that is "See".  This is what the angel of the Lord says, "See the place where the Lord lay."

Again, this is a great invitation of our Lord.  It indicates two things. First, it indicates an experience.  God never says, "Come and sit, but always come and experience, come and see."

This is the word we read in Psalm 34:8: "Come and see that the Lord is good." That is come and experience. In Psalm 65:5: "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf."

But the word "See" not only indicates an experience, but it also indicates understanding.  In Scripture those people who see are those people who understand.  The blind are those who never perceive, never understand, never get the truth into their hearts and souls.

This is Isaiah's lament about the people of Israel, they:

"were ever hearing, but never understanding, and ever seeing but never perceiving.  Their hearts were callused, and their ears dull and their eyes closed." (Isaiah 6:9) (NIV)

Do you remember how just after the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, tickets went on sale to allow people to come and view Princess Diana's burial site?  It is recorded that 10,000 calls a minute poured in from around the world jamming 220 phone lines on the first day to buy tickets for 22 dollars a pop.  Twenty two dollars each - to see what?   To be sure she was a lovely person, and she died tragically, but what will you see when you go to her grave site?  The grave of a dead princess.

The angel sits on the stone of Jesus' grave site and invites you to come and see the empty grave of the risen King of Kings.  All the phone lines of heaven are open, you can come any time.  You don't need to buy tickets.

Simply come and see.

Come and understand that the tomb is empty, says the angel.  Come and understand three facts.

Come and understand that Jesus' claims are verified as true.  Jesus said, "Destroy this body and in three days I will raise it up!" See the tomb! It is the third day and the tomb is empty.  What Jesus said is true.  He can be trusted!

Second, come and understand that Jesus' sacrifice has been accepted.

If Jesus still lay in the grave, it meant that God did not accept His sacrifice for our sins.  The wages of sin is death.  If Jesus did not rise from the death then it means He was not the sinless sacrifice and you and I are still lost in our sins.  But He was raised from the dead, hence His sacrifice was accepted, and the full penalty of sin was paid for in Jesus Christ.

As Paul writes to Corinthians:

"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.  But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. (I Corinthians 15:17) (NIV)

His sacrifice has been accepted, He lives today, so we too who place their faith in Him will live again.

Come and see not only that His claims have been verified, not only that His sacrifice has been accepted, but thirdly come and see that death has been defeated.  Because Jesus has risen, you and I through faith in Him can have life now and for ever.  Jesus did not come to this earth to teach, die and rise again in order that in the end He might lose those for whom He died.  No, whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

"Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where O death is your victory?  Where O death is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54-58) (NIV)

Did you see Paul McCartney perform his Oscar-nominated song at last week's Academy Awards?  Seeing him reminded me of the time he was interviewed and asked about the afterlife - and Paul McCartney said, "I don't believe in an afterlife because I've been waiting for John Lennon to speak to me from the grave, and he hasn't."  The journalist had a sense of humour and said, John Lennon wasn't speaking to Paul McCartney half the time he was alive so why would he start now that he was dead?

Our risen Lord Jesus Christ has spoken, more than that says John in his first letter, "That which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the word of life."

He is risen - see the empty tomb.  Come and see, an invitation.

III

But there are two words more and these are words of commission - Go and tell.

And immediately we realize that these words also echo throughout Scripture particularly the words of our Lord:

"All authority 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, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:18) (NIV)

The first word - is "go".  Go.  My friends, there are some who linger who at the tomb, some who always linger on Christ's death who never take Christ down of the cross.  But our Lord is the risen Lord and we are not to focus on the death of Christ alone.

We are to go away from the tomb.  But we don't go willy-nilly with no purpose, no message, we go to tell.  What do we tell?   We are to tell that Jesus rose from the dead, we are to tell what we have seen when we came to the tomb.  It is empty!

If we have come, if we have seen that the tomb is empty and if we are commissioned to go, then it is inevitable that we have a message to tell to those we encounter.  Good news must be told! If we do not tell it, we do not really recognize for what it is.

Do you think the angels drew straws to see who would have the privilege of announcing the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour?  But it's not so far-fetched - for those who have come, those who have seen will want to do two things - go and tell!

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - March 2002

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Footnote:

1.	John Phillips, Exploring the Song of Songs : p. 42.