April 20, 2025
Matthew 28:1-20
“Undeniable”
Service Overview: The resurrection of Jesus isn’t just a hopeful story—it’s a verified event rooted in history. Matthew 28:1–20 reveals eyewitness accounts, official records, and Jesus’ own words confirming His victory over death.
Memory Verse for the Week:
1 Peter 1:3 – “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Background & Technical Insights:
- what is happening is the action of God himself. The God who remained apparently silent on Good Friday is having the last word. He is answering the unspoken questions of Jesus’ followers, and the spoken question of Jesus himself on the cross. And what God is doing is not just an extraordinary miracle, a display of supernatural power for its own sake, or a special favour to Jesus. What God is doing is starting something new, beginning the new world promised long ago, sending the disciples to Galilee in the first place but then, as we shall see, on to the ends of the earth and the close of the age with the news of what has happened. A whole new world was opening up in front of them. (N.T. Wright, Matthew For Everyone, Part 2, 198-199)
- All the gospels stress the significance of the women as the first witnesses of the empty tomb. This is hardly likely to be a fictional invention, in a society where women were not generally regarded as credible witnesses, especially as the singling out of the women for this honor detracts from the prestige of the male disciples. (R.T France, The New International Commentary: Matthew, 1098)
- Once again the instinctive concern of the Jewish leaders relates to expedience and the people’s reaction, not to the truth. The story they concoct shows how desperate they are for an explanation, for if the guards were asleep, they could not know of the alleged theft; and if one of them awoke, why was not an alarm sounded and the disciples arrested? Molesting graves was a serious offense in the ancient world, subject at times to the death penalty. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol 8, 591)
- The resurrection is the hinge on which all Christianity turns. It’s the foundation on which everything else rests, the capstone that holds everything else about Christianity together. Which means—crucially—that when Christians assert that Jesus rose from the dead, they are making a historical claim, not a religious one. (Greg Gilbert, Who Is Jesus?, 125)
- The resurrection takes the question “Is Christianity valid?” out of the realm of philosophy and makes it a question of history. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 125)
- It is not strange that He, the Author of Life, should rise from the dead. If he was truly God the Son, it is much more startling that He should die than He should rise again. (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 54)
How is it the resurrection was and is undeniable?
- The tomb was empty—and no one could deny it.
(Matthew 28:6, 11-15; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-3; John 20:1-9; Acts 1:3; 2:29-32; 1 Cor. 15:6)
A denial of the resurrection does not figure in early anti-Christian apologetics. That would be the obvious thing to attack if you wanted to stamp out this fledgling religion, right? But no one attacks it. Why do you think that is? I think it was because too many people knew it was true. There may have been bewilderment about its significance, but the fact of Jesus’ resurrection was never denied. Jesus was clearly raised from the dead. The argument was simply about what that could possibly mean. (Mark Dever, It Is Well, 141)
- The eyewitnesses had nothing to gain in lying about it.
(Mat. 28:8; Luke 24:22; Acts 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 15:5-8; 2 Cor. 11:23-28; Heb. 11:36-38)
There was no possible advantage to the church to recount that all the first witnesses were women. It could only have undermined the credibility of the testimony. The only possible explanation for why women were depicted as meeting Jesus first is if they really had. (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 213)
There is one more thing to keep in mind. As Pascal put it, “I [believe] those witnesses that get their throats cut.” Virtually all the apostles and early Christian leaders died for their faith, and it is hard to believe that this kind of powerful self-sacrifice would be done to support a hoax. (Timothy Keller, Reason for God, 218)
- Cowards became courageous because of it.
(Matt. 26:56; John 20:19-22; Acts 2:14; 4:13; 5:29; 7:54-60; Rom. 8:11; Phil. 1:20-21)
The obvious sincerity of the disciples is evident in their suffering and dying for what they believed. … It is impossible to deny that the disciples honestly believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, in light of their life of suffering and their dying for this truth. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises, 26)
The remarkable change in the early believers is another proof of His resurrection. One day they were discouraged and hiding in defeat. The next day they were declaring His resurrection and walking in joyful victory. In fact, they were willing to die for the truth of the resurrection. If all of this were a manufactured tale, it could never have changed their lives or enabled them to lay down their lives as martyrs. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Matthew – Galatians, 105)
What happened as a result of the resurrection is unprecedented in human history. In the span of a few hundred years, a small band of seemingly insignificant believers succeeded in turning an entire empire upside down. As has been well said, “They faced the tyrant’s brandished steel, the lion’s gory mane, and the fires of a thousand deaths,” because they were utterly convinced that they, like their Master, would one day rise from the grave in glorified, resurrected bodies. (Hank Hanegraaff, Resurrection, 57)
Conclusion… So the resurrection is undeniable, what difference does it make?
- It means that in Christ your worst days don’t have the final word.
(Ps. 30:5; Is. 61:3; John 11:25-26; Acts 16:25-26; Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Phil. 3:10-11)
We want gain without pain; we want the resurrection without going through the grave; we want life without experiencing death; we want a crown without going by way of the Cross. But in God’s economy, the way up is down. (Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Brokenness, 49)
Suffering as a Christian is a sign that God is powerfully at work in our lives. Longing for our final redemption, suffering for doing right, and being persecuted for our faith are all evidence that God has begun the good work of making us like Christ. Our suffering consequently becomes a great encouragement to our faith, since those who share in Christ’s sufferings know that they will also share in his resurrection (Matt. 5:11-12; Rom. 8:17; Phil. 3:10). (Scott Hafemann, The God of Promise and the Life of Faith, 151)
- It means that in Christ your life has real transcendent purpose.
(Mat. 28:19-20; John 15:16; Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 15:58; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:10; Heb. 13:20-21)
Salvation is not simply a pietistic experience of assurance that we are “justified by faith,” or “forgiven,” or “saved,” but is the assurance of a saving relationship with Christ whom we confess as Lord and serve as Lord by following His teachings. This is a righteousness of relationship, a new life in which we walk with Christ (Phil. 3:9). (Myron S. Augsburger, The Communicator’s Commentary, 331)
- It means that in Christ, God’s grace is greater than your guilt.
(Psalm 103:10-12; Isaiah 1:18; Micah 7:18-19; Romans 5:20; 8:1; Colossians 2:13-14; Ephesians 1:7; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 10:22; 1 John 1:9)
God’s grace didn’t get us going then leave us to get by on our works. Grace didn’t just justify us in the past, it sustains us in the present and will deliver us in the future. (Randy Alcorn, The Grace and Truth Paradox, 46)
As a result of grace, we have been saved from sin’s penalty. One day we will be saved from sin’s presence. In the meantime we are being saved from sin’s power. (Alistair Begg, Made For His Pleasure, 39)
God’s grace does not mean that God benignly accepts humans in all their fallenness, forgives them, and then leaves them in that fallenness. God is in the business not of whitewashing sins but of transforming sinners. (David Garland, 1 Corinthians, 215)
Gospel Connection…
This is the gospel: Jesus died to rescue us from sin, and rose again to restore us to God.
(John 3:16; Rom. 4:25; 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:4-6; Col. 1:19-22; Heb. 9:12; 1 Peter 3:18)
The good news is that God Himself has decreed a way to satisfy the demands of His justice without condemning the whole human race. Hell is one way to settle accounts with sinners and uphold his justice. But there is another way. The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the justice of God. And what is this wisdom? The death of the Son of God for sinners! (John Piper, Desiring God, 59)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- What do you find most convincing about the resurrection of Jesus?
- What stands out to you about the transformation of the disciples post-resurrection?
- Which of the conclusion points (“worst days,” “transcendent purpose,” or “greater grace”) speaks to your current life situation?
- How has the resurrection helped reshape how you view suffering or failure?
- In what ways do you struggle to live with a sense of eternal purpose?
- Have you ever felt like your guilt disqualified you from grace? How does the resurrection speak to that?
Quotes to note…
Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that the kingdom of heaven has broken into earth’s history. Our world is now headed for redemption, not disaster. God’s mighty power is at work destroying sin, creating new lives, and preparing us for Jesus’ second coming. (Bruce B. Barton, Matthew, 569)
The call to follow Christ is the call to joyfully endure suffering in this life for the promise of eternal blessing in the next. (Francis Chan, Letters to the Church, 131)
Matthew has alerted us to a recurring feature of Christian faith: the need to argue for the truth of Easter, and to expose and demolish rival attempts to say what happened. Those who believe in the resurrection need to be constantly on the alert against attack. They also need, of course, to be sure that they are themselves allowing the resurrection to blow constantly like a fresh breeze through their own lives, thoughts and imaginations. There’s no point defending and explaining God’s new world if you’re still living in the old one yourself. (N.T. Wright, Matthew For Everyone, Part 2, 204)
Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection, because it is entirely artless. They do not invite us to look at themselves, as they invite us to look at the empty tomb and the collapsed graveclothes and the Lord whom they had seen. We can see the change in them without being asked to look. The men who figure in the pages of the Gospels are new and different men in the Acts. The death of their Master left them despondent, disillusioned, and near to despair. But in the Acts they emerge as men who hazard their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and who turn the world upside down. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 58)
Hope is not defined by the absence of hardship. Rather, hope is found in God’s grace in the midst of hardship. Hope is found in His promise to give us a future. God offers hope to Christians when He promises, “I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Rom. 8:38-39). (Dan Wickert, Counseling the Hard Cases, 114)
The resurrection is not merely important to the historic Christian faith; without it, there would be no Christianity. It is the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions. Through the resurrection, Christ demonstrated that He does not stand in a line of peers with Abraham, Buddha, or Confucius. He is utterly unique. He has the power not only to lay down His life, but to take it up again. (Hank Hanegraaff, Resurrection, 15)
The hardest part about grace – swallowing our pride and saying, “I don’t deserve this any more than that criminal does.” (Randy Alcorn, The Grace and Truth Paradox, 81)
Grace comes not to take away a man’s affections, but to take them up. (William Fenner, A Puritan Golden Treasury, 89)