This Resurrection Sunday, Bethel Baptist Church welcomed Reverend Braden Parks and Pastor Josh Wertz from the Edinburg United Methodist Church, its congregants, and Stone Pillar Worship.  They blessed us with a great sermon from Matthew 28:1-10, fellowship, and music for our "Son"rise service at 6:30 a.m.  Thank you to those who joined us in celebrating the risen Savior!

Pastor Steve Robinson gave the 10:30 a.m. message on Matthew 27: 39-40; 45-54; 28:1-10 and reminded us again that our freedom in Christ came with a great price - the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

27:39-40 "Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

This is the same crowd who, days earlier, waved palm branches at Jesus's triumphal entry. They were still under the impression Jesus was going to rule as a military leader, unaware that the temple Jesus was speaking of Himself as the temple, referring to the heavenly Kingdom. 

v45 "From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over all the land."

This is thought by some to be an instance of an eclipse. However, eclipses typically last about fifteen minutes. This is a supernatural event caused by God. Here, nature itself is in agony over Jesus's tormented suffering.

V46-50 "About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

This is in fulfilment of the prophesy found in Psalm 22:1, which reads, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?" written hundreds of years prior to the crucifixion.

At the moment Jesus cried out to God, "why have you forsaken me?", signifies a spiritual transaction where God the Son received from God the Father, the sins of the world laid upon Him. Jesus bore the sins of all humanity for all time perfectly, completely satisfying the wrath of God for us, for once, for all.

V47-49 "When some of those standing there hard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah." Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

Offering Jesus vinegar on a sponge fulfils another prophesy, from Psalm 69:21 - "They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst." 

V50 "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit."

Reverend Steve spoke about how whether crucified with nails or bonds, the Romans bragged that they were able to keep them alive for three days on a cross. Not only did Jesus defy the Romans by not giving them the satisfaction of them ending His life, it paints a picture of Jesus's willingness to die in our place. This also fulfills yet another prophesy that His bones would not be broken. Every so often, the condemned and crucified would have their shins broken in order to speed up their deaths. The Romans, seeing that Jesus had already died, did not break His bones.

This fulfills one prophesy given three separate times in Scripture. Numbers 9:12 says,  "Not one bone of the Messiah shall be broken."  The same prophesy is also found in Exodus 12:43, 46 and Psalm 34:20.

Matthew 28 starts,  V1- 6 "Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as 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.” "

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’s body (Mark 16:1), another supernatural earthquake happened, thought by some to be the angel moving the stone over the tomb. The angel’s appearance was so intimidating that even the guards were afraid. The angel does not address them, but the women, confirming the words of Jesus.

V7-8 “ “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.”

The angel then instructs the women to make haste to spread the good news of the resurrection. This is significant because back in Biblical times, the witness of women were worth one third of a man’s testimony. That the angel appeared to the women confirms the validity of Scripture in that the writer would not have invented this story, as this can be seen as an embarrassing detail. Further, the angel says Jesus went ahead of them, and then told them where they would find Him, confirming their relationship with Him would continue.

V 9-10 “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.”

Jesus then appeared to the women Himself, repeating and confirming the words of the angel they saw with the same instructions. The word ‘greetings’ is the Hebrew word samach, also translated ‘rejoice’, or ‘to brighten up’. The women, hearing this, physically and spiritually humbled themselves and knelt to worship the risen Savior.