This recording is from Willow Creek Church in Winter Springs, Florida, where Dr. Pete Alanson is our senior pastor. Today's sermon is part three in a three-part series titled Who Is Jesus Really? This message is taken from the Book of Matthew, chapter 28, verse 1 through 20, and is called a dangerous account. Now here's Pete with today's message. And this morning, this morning, if you have your Bibles, turns a Matthew 28. We are not going to be looking at new truth. We're going to be looking at old truth, asking for the God of the universe to take the old truth and make it real and alive to us. I suspect because so many of you, I recognize out there. And because I know some of you are not in the right service, you come to other services, you've come early to get this out of the way in a sense. To miss the traffic and in this early service, we so often see people who come who know the gospel, why else would you get up this early to be here? But the reality is we're not coming to hear brand new truth, but to hear the old truth in a powerful way. And so our text this morning is Matthew 28, 1 through 15. This is God's Word, according to Matthew, as he communicates it to us. After the Sabbath, on the dawn of 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 had come 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're looking for Jesus who was crucified, he is not here. He is risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly, tell his disciples, he is 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 worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, there they will see me. While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan they gave the soldiers a large sum of money telling them you were to say his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. The elders took the money and did as they were instructed and this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. The resurrection is frankly a dangerous account that many people want to suppress, isn't it? It has always been a dangerous account that many people wanted to suppress. I find it fascinating, don't you that at Easter every Easter the media gets together and bends over backwards to find a way to attack Christianity in a powerful way. It's like it's programmed into their blackberries and their trios and their outlook programs. Time to start attacking Christianity and so they do. And of course the attack de jour in 207 has been, as I said a couple of weeks ago, the bone box in Jerusalem that had the name Jesus and Mary on it and that was shocking. It was about a shock it is going to the yellow pages and looking under Jay and finding Johnson. They're going to ask and finding Smith, you're kidding those were such common names. Well last night they're still at it. They're still at it last night on CNN. It was amazing. They said you know Christianity was about ready to die. It was about ready to die. And what happened is that Peter and Paul got together and they said we've got to take this, we've got to take this to the Gentiles because it's dying among the Jews. We've got to get and they agreed. Peter and Paul agreed to take the gospel to the Gentiles and therefore Christianity is alive. What the way it happened, was it? No. No because what had happened is that he was alive and he appeared to his disciples and because of that they were going everywhere, gossiping about he is risen. The tomb is empty and they couldn't stop it. In fact it couldn't, it couldn't be held to Israel. It spilled out into Asia Minor and it went everywhere. Resurrection is a dangerous account. It really is, isn't it? Think about it. It's dangerous to those people who want to say that there is no God and he has an entered space and time in history. It's dangerous because then how do you explain the empty tomb? Christian, do they attack the Easter bunny like they attack the resurrection? It's dangerous because maybe it is, maybe it is that God has come in human flesh and maybe the tomb was empty. It was, we know it and it's such a dangerous account to be able to, by the way, I do like dangerous things. I've got to tell you that and I've told you my hunting story and I brought a rattlesnake in here. I got one more and you're going, oh no, grown, yeah, it's another snake story. It was another hunting story and I was out hunting turkey this time and my son just about stepped on a very, very big water moccasin there, dangerous snakes. Jumped into their stream, he was shot, but he didn't roll over. But I wanted to see him because I like dangerous things. So I got him out and threw him at my son's feet. You know what? He wasn't dead. He wasn't dead. Until my son shot him again. It was great fun. For me, he hated it, but it was fun for me. My friends in New England always say better, you than me. Some objects are plainly dangerous to bad things. And I like those things are dangerous to bad things. In that context, since those snakes are dangerous, I like shotguns. I like chemo and I like radiation because I hate cancer. I'm so sick of it. So many in our family have fought that. But I like those deadly chemicals because they kill cancer. There's a substance called permethrin, along with another unholy mix of chemicals. It kills fire ants. Anything that kills fire ants, I like. The resurrection is dangerous too. To those who would look at Christianity and think that we are a superficial moral lifestyle, and that's all we are. And who won't take a look at us, the resurrection is dangerous to that. It's dangerous to those who think that we're a bunch of puritanical panty wastes running around here. It's even dangerous to Christians who think that God doesn't listen to them and doesn't see what's going on in their life. The resurrection is dangerous even to those of us in the body of Christ who've forgotten the power of God. And so we must remember, and in that sense it's good that it's dangerous. On Easter, Christians want to know three things. Every Easter, is it true? Why is it true? And so what? What are the implications? That's what we're going to look at. As we look at those three things, is the resurrection true? Why is it true? And so what? We're going to talk about why it's dangerous, and as we go along, we're going to answer those questions. Why is the resurrection so dangerous? Number one, because it's an unexpected account. In verses 28 through 1 through 8, we see that these ladies did not expect it. Did they? They came to the tomb in verse 8, and ladies, by the way, you are so blessed in this. In many ways, the gospel shows how it raises the view of women. But in the Old Testament, Jewish mindset, women were never allowed to be witnesses in court. But it's women that Jesus selected to be the first ones to see Him. And so they come, and they see Him. And when they saw Jesus, it says they were afraid and filled with joy. They were surprised, and they were shocked, but they were happy. But they didn't expect it. Nobody expected the resurrection. Did they? Did any of the disciples expect it? No. I love this, because they were all so shocked. And part of the power of the resurrection is that it was unexpected, even by those whom He had said these words. Shortly before He rode into Jerusalem. Jesus pulled His disciples away. As they were walking to the city, He pulled them aside, said, listen to this. As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the 12 disciples aside and said to them, we're going up to Jerusalem. And the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priest, and to the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death, and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flagged and crucified on the third day. He will be raised to life. And they're looking at Him like He spoke. Well, He did speak, but they looked at Him like, what are you saying? This is outrageous, impossible. I don't think most of them even got it, but He predicted it fully. And there it was. Thomas wasn't there when he showed up. His friends said, even after the disciples had seen Jesus. Thomas said, I'm not going to believe it until I see Him. I like Thomas. I would be like that too. Have you ever seen a resurrection? No, that the disciples didn't expect a resurrection is proof that they didn't concoct a resurrection. And that's the big claim against us as Christians. They say, Christians made it up. They lost their Lord. They figured it out. They made it up. No, they were as surprised as anybody. The first Christians were the first skeptics turned into believers. And that's why the resurrection is so powerful because even the people in that context didn't expect it. Never underestimate the power of God. Guys, sometimes we Christians think we got God in our hip pocket. We got God figured out, don't we? I know how the prayers got to be answered. Lord, here, this is what I want you to do. And God looks at us and He laughs. And He says, that's too small a prayer. That's too little. You know that, remember that benediction now into Him who was able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we can ask her to think? That's what God wants us to pray. He wants us to pray big prayers. And so we pray our prayers. We say, God, this is the way it's got to work out. And He goes, He smiles. And He says, let me surprise you. Tell me what you want done and let me surprise you. That's how we ought to pray based on the resurrection because God is an unexpected God. And if you've given up and don't think He can untie the knots in your life or fix what's wrong. Again, He's the master of the unexpected. The power of the resurrection is that it was an unexpected account. And it's dangerous to those who don't want to believe. Secondly, it's a supernatural account. The resurrection is nothing less than the raw power of God, the power that created the universe where Genesis says, he spoke and it was done. And I was in a store yesterday sometime and I saw a girl with a tattoo on her upper neck and it said Genesis. And then I thought, was that some rock band? And then I looked down and she had a whole bunch of scripture tattooed on her back from Genesis. I'm going, now that's unique. It was in English so I could read it. And I thought, but that's cool because I listened. It was in a Chick-fil-A. So they had to have been Christians, of course. And it was so cool because it all starts there. God spoke. And with the power of the living God, it all came into being by the word of His power. It was a supernatural account. And the resurrection is absolutely supernatural. We are based in history generated by the supernatural power, raw power of God that brought Jesus Christ back from the dead. And if you live by the unproven theory that we live at a closed universe that is totally run by natural laws, you're going to think the resurrection is crazy, but the resurrection will break your theory. It was clear that Jesus was literally dead on the cross, wasn't it true? Hey, back to the snake. You know what I found out? I learned something. I learned that if a snake is shot in the water laying on its belly, it's still alive. But when it floats over onto its back, it is dead. I took it out the second time, and it was dead. Much to the relief of my son. The Roman soldiers knew death. They knew death in human beings. They knew the smell of it, the sight of it, the sound of it. Not one of those Roman soldiers didn't think Jesus was dead. That's why they didn't break his legs, right? Because the others, in crucifixion, were pushing themselves up to stay alive to get to suck in a little bit more breath. Jesus didn't have to. He had given up his body. Joseph of Arimathea was given Jesus body. He didn't think Jesus was alive. The ladies wrapped the body in spices and linen. They didn't think he was alive. They put him in a tomb. No mortally wounded man could survive by himself without air. Then three days later, they saw him alive. Very much alive. And not wounded. Not like, how are you guys doing? Not like, hey, somebody get me a crutch here. Jesus wasn't holding his side thinking, you know, this is the worst wound I have in the whole business. He was very much alive, very manly, very much God. Supernatural. Christianity is historically based and supernaturally generated. This is what we're all about. Jesus said to his disciples, in the world you will have tribulation but take heart, I have overcome the world. That's the power we need, isn't it? We need a supernatural faith. We don't need religion. Don't you hate religion? I do. Last few weeks, we lost our boxer. Jake the boxer died. Now I understand what a lot of people feel like when they lose their animals. I didn't before. I told you before when I looked into his eyes, what did I see? Nothing. But we loved him. Now I know why people come up to me and say, pastor, is my dog going to be in heaven? It reminds me of the old radio preacher who was asked that by a young boy. My dog is going to be in heaven. He said, son, I don't know. When you get there whistle, see if he shows up. Jake will be there because he was not a Presbyterian yet but he was saved. If we think about that with animals, we've got to think about it with ourselves. Look on the back of the sermon outline with all those names in Memorial 2. People that we think about. They mean so much to us. The hope that we have is that we're not just in a religious thing that ends when we die. We're not doing religion. We're looking forward to a whole new life in heaven with new bodies. We are into something supernatural. We are in over our heads in something that is way bigger than us. Guys, let me talk to you for a minute. Where do we get courage? I've learned one thing about men. Every one of us is scared. At some point, every one of us is scared. We face fear more often than others recognize because we cover it up pretty good. We press it down but everyone is afraid and every one of us needs courage. What's courage? Somebody's courage is walking naked through a cannibal village. I don't know if that's a better definition but we need courage and where do we get it? We need it from God. And it can come to us. We don't have to fake like we're courageous. We can get courage to fight for our families, to fight for our wives, not fight them but fight for them. We can deal with the real stuff in our heart. We can deal with our addictions. We can deal with what we need to fight for. Even in the midst of tedium of life, diapers, meals and clothes. Keep on keeping on. We can get courage because we live with a supernatural God. Unexpected account. Supernatural account. And I witness account, Matthew 28, we go on and on. You simply cannot hide something that was so public as if the resurrection of Jesus is dangerous because it is so public. And it was an eyewitness account. And you know the interesting thing is when you go and you look at the gospel events, it's fascinating how so many people knew about this resurrection. Read Luke's account. Almost everybody knew that a crucifixion for sure was going on in Jerusalem. You say why? I mean there were crucifixions all the time by the Romans. They were killing everybody. Yeah, here's the difference. Usually the Romans were killing crucifying Jewish killers or Jewish thieves. Here they were killing a Jewish pastor. So remember months ago when that pastor's wife killed the pastor her husband. Man, I tuned into that said honey, we need to talk. We watched that together. They were killing a Jewish pastor or rabbi. So so people were watching. People wanted to know what was and so and so when the word began to spread. That he was alive. The word got out the word got out big time. We saw that the Jewish authorities didn't try to deny it. They just alibide it and they paid hush money for it. And then Paul has this great manifesto first Corinthians 15. I received what I passed on to you as a first importance that Christ died for us in according to the scripture that he was buried that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures that he appeared to Peter and then to the 12 after that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time. Most of whom were still living, those some have fallen asleep. You can even redefine death when you understand the resurrection. Some have fallen asleep, Paul says. They're not lost. They're with him. Then he appeared to James. Then to all the apostles he appeared to me. You know, there were people that denied the resurrection of Christ but it was everywhere. There were people today who deny the resurrection but substantiate that there are in fact extraterrestrials. I find that a little bit unique. That was something that could hold up in court. They deny in something that we've never seen. They believe it was an eyewitness account and the eyewitness was not so just so that you and I would believe today but that we would know a theological fact of great importance and it is this. Paul says it in Romans. Jesus died for our sins but was raised because of our justification. In other words, the resurrection proves Jesus came alive again because the father said I accept your sacrifice. When Jesus said it was finished, it was finished. Business was finished with God and nobody has to die for their own sins anymore. They accept Christ. Because truly the work was finished and we don't have to worry about death. Death is not our enemy. Christians were so energized by the resurrection that pastors had to keep some of their guys from going into the arena and the gladiatorial arenas. You say what? They said I want to be with Jesus so I'm going to go stand up and declare my faith and some of the pastors say not now. Why don't we finish this building project? They literally were pulling their people back who wanted to make a testimony for Jesus because they knew that death couldn't defeat them. Watching an old movie the other day, what about Bob? Remember that? Bill Murray. Bill Murray, Richard Drifus, Richard Drifus is that incredibly well-known, celebrated therapist from New York. He's got it all together and Bill Murray is the very sick but lovable client who drives him crazy. He gets to his house on vacation, spends time with him and the therapist's son has got a death fixation. He wears black all the time. He's scared of everything. Lies away at night as a little boy thinking about death and we're all going to die and you know how Drifus's dad couldn't figure him out but Bill Murray fixes him. You know what he does? He says hey think there's something worse than death, Tourette Sender. It's where you speak foul. He says this is worse and they laugh about it and the kid gets over his death fixation and he's laughing. Listen. We Christians don't get over death and the fear of death by offloading it onto something that we simply laugh about. We get over the reality of death when we look at the resurrection and we can develop a theology of death that will enable us to be alive. You can only be free to really live if you're not afraid to die and this is powerful. The resurrection is dangerous to those who are afraid of death because it'll set you free. It's an unexpected account, a supernatural account and I witness account, a personal account, Matthew 28 now. He appears to these ladies and he says greetings. That sounds a little formal doesn't it? You know probably in our language they hide ladies and they're looking at him and they're amazed. And then in Luke 24 we see that he's on the road to Emmaus and he's interacting with Cleopas and other disciples. And then he shows up in the upper room and he presents himself to these disciples on a personal basis. First, he appears to his disciples personally. He lets them touch him and then he connects with them and opens their minds to the scriptures. Jesus personally appeared to his disciples and you know what the interesting thing is that you and I have a very similar experience. If you have seen the risen Lord visibly than we need to talk I have and I'd like to know about that. We probably could put that image on the side of our building and draw crowds from all over the world here. But each one of us has had a mystical experience with the living God as we wrestle with the truth of the resurrection. You have to look at the historical facts at some point and say it is either true or it's not true. And how did we come to faith in Christ as we wrestled with these biblical facts with the account of the resurrection and the crucifixion we wrestled over and over and over. And at some point he appeared to us in our heart through the Spirit and he said see it's true. See it's true. There are two people in this room that have the same testimony of how they became Christians. Everyone is different. You know why that is? Because every one of you has had a personal contact by the living God of the universe as he has taken the facts of the gospel and brought them into your heart and said your mind. The Holy Spirit does that. And he applies that in a personal way. Some of us studied it intellectually. Some of us saw God's power at work in an extremely painful time and we had to come back and others experienced moral failure and found through our moral failure that Jesus was the moral forgiver. And we found the power of God. You know the resurrection is dangerous to guilt, don't you? It's you can't continue to live in guilt if you know that he rose again from the death because your sins are paid for. The resurrection is a short account. The shortest account of the resurrection is found in Mark's gospel. Mark was written to Romans who were always on the move. I think men like Mark's gospel because it's 15 short verses. Very chapter, very short chapter, 16. Here it is. When the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Solomon brought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Usually 75 to 100 pounds of spices were put on a corpse. Very early on the first day of the week just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone which was very large had been rolled away. And as they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side. Don't be alarmed, he said. You're looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified, he has risen, he has not here. See the place where they laid him but go tell us the disciples. And it's the same way. Trembling and bewildered the young women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. Somebody said that after 9-11 the world was changed but somebody else rightly said that 9-11 showed that everything had already changed. After the resurrection, everything really did change. No longer could you just do religion without realizing that power was connected to it. No longer did you have to fear death. The resurrection is a dangerous account. Let me just wrap it up, I tell you four things, it's dangerous too. It's dangerous to atheism, agnosticism. It's dangerous to humanism, it's dangerous to any life constructed without God. If you look at the facts, if your friends will look at the facts, it's dangerous to any life constructed that leaves the living God of the universe outside. The resurrection is dangerous to religious pluralism. This is not a political discussion but I want to say this. In John 146, Jesus said to His disciples, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the we Christians in America fight for religious freedom. We send troops to fight for religious freedom. We send to religious freedom but we do not believe in religious equality. Well, not in the way Jesus defines that there is only one way to go. This is where we are absolutely inflexible. There is only one Savior and His name is Jesus Christ. Our world needs Him while we give people room to embrace other religions. We must never forget what is the truth. We must give them the truth. It's dangerous to Christian lukewarmness. The early Christians weren't lukewarm, they were on fire. Have you seen the movie about William Wilberforce yet? Amazing grace. Is it about him or is it about Newton? It's Easter Sunday, I don't know that. William Wilberforce was an incredible guy. He was raised around guys like George Whitfield, John Wesley, John Newton, the old slave trader. He came to faith in Christ young but was from a very rich family and got away from it and when he became an MP in the British government, God got a hold of him. And he went away and he prayed and he came back. A blaze with a mission for his life. His life mission was this. God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners. 20 years later, 20 years later, the slave trade was abolished. 46 years later, three days before his death. Every slave was emancipated in the British Empire. He was described an ugly little man with two long nose but a big heart. John Pollock said this. He was a man of great charm. He had a marvelous smile and he laughed a lot. He was a man of wit. His voice made you long to hear him more. Underneath lay a deep repentance but his overriding quality was a sunshine of spirit. His contemporary, the poet Robert Sethby wrote, there is such a constant hilarity in every look and motion, such a sweetness in all his tones, such a benignity in all of his thoughts, words and actions that you can feel nothing but love and admiration for a creature so happy and blessed of nature. This guy changed the world. This is a lovely guy with a long nose who laughed a lot because he found a risen Lord who was filled, filled his heart with grace. You and I can change the world but not alone only together with the power of God. The resurrection finally is dangerous to living out of guilt. You think that you're being spiritual by living in guilt, by flagellating yourselves for all that you've done. You've missed the gospel. Of our sins were placed on Jesus to the point that when he was on that Christ cross and said it is finished. God said, you're right. I encourage you this morning if you don't know Jesus and you've been coming and listening for weeks and weeks and you've heard the gospel, the good news is you don't have to die for your own sins. Embrace Jesus Christ alone who's your salvation, not your good work, not things that you've done, not by coming to church here today. I know you ought to get some merit for driving into this parking lot and braving these crowds early in the morning on a day that feels more like Christmas than Easter. I know but there's no merit in what we do. It's only in Jesus. Embrace Jesus and then walk out of here today as a Christian remembering that there is no power that can't untie your knots but the resurrection power. There is no power like the resurrection that can't help your merits, that can't help your issues. Walk out of here today knowing that you can change the world by the power of the living God within you. It is risen. Let's take that to heart. Go Lord, take the truths of the gospel, take the truths of the resurrection and put our hearts on fire. May we laugh and dance and sing and may we give ourselves help this world. Pray this holy name of our risen Savior Jesus. Willow Creek Church is associated with the Presbyterian Church in America. Our website is www.willowcreekchurch.org and our phone number is 407-699-82-11.