Sermon – Matthew 28:1-10 – Life after Death

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church

Sermon – Matthew 28:1-10 – Life after Death[1]

March 23, 2008 – Easter

Section 1 – Ways people deal with death today

An elderly Buddhist Monk in rural China is making his way up a mountain to a small stream where he has sat many times before to meditate. There he watches the water playfully dance over the rocks. For him this is the most peaceful place on earth. He imagines that one day he will be a tiny drop of water gliding over these stones and then melting into the stream to exist no more.

A mother drives to isolated section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. She stops her car and gets out. She looks around at the curve where her son died in a traffic accident a week before. She places his picture, an old teddy bear, some flowers, and a white cross on the side of the road as a memorial to her son. Then she gets back in her car and drives home in tears.

A disabled Hindu man is being cared for by some Christian mission workers in New Deli. He is desperately poor and without their assistance he would surely die. He thinks, “What could I have done in my past lives to deserve this terrible fate?” He is encouraged when the missionaries tell him that in Jesus there will be new life. So he thinks “I must try harder in this life so that my next life will be better.”

A woman in Korea prays silently before dawn. She has a small altar in her living room. On it stands a picture of her dead father. She prays to him daily fully believing that these prayers will protect her family. Some Christians told her that Jesus prayed to his father. “This is good”, she thinks, and continues her prayers.

In Gaza a Muslim father is outraged when his older son is killed by the Israelis in an air attack on his car. His son had been a member of Hamas and did good things for the elderly and the widows of Gaza. So he told his younger son to go into Israel as a suicide bomber confident that the spirits of both sons would go immediately to paradise as martyrs.

A group of friends in ten cars proceed slowly toward the edge of town. They stop at a seedy building and go inside. They say their final goodbyes to an old friend. One places a golf ball in the casket. They hear supermarket music from an old organ. A button is pushed and their friend is cremated. Then they all go out for lunch.

People deal with death in many different ways. Our beliefs and practices come to us from our families, traditions and cultures. We watch how our parents deal with death and what they say about it. This shapes our beliefs. Religious teachings may have some influence. What we all want to know is, “What happens after we die?”

Section 2 – Interpretations of life after death in biblical times

In ancient times people had their beliefs about life after death. The pagans mostly believed that at death one becomes a disembodied spirit. Many thought that these spirits hung around the earth looking for new bodies to inhabit. They were ghosts. Others believed that these disembodied spirits go somewhere much better that here. Plato taught that the world we live in is inferior and incomplete. It is a mere shadow of a perfect world that exists someplace else. Plato said that our bodies decay to dust in this world while our spirits ascend to the perfect world above.

The ancient Hebrews did not accept pagan teaching on death. They believe that the world we live in is not inferior or imperfect. Our world was created by God and was created good. The Hebrews thought that men and women, through sin, had corrupted the world, but one day God would restore the world to what it was supposed to be. So when we die our bodies return to the dust of the earth, and our souls, our personalities, thoughts, and feelings are preserved by God. Then one day the bodies of God’s people will be resurrected from the dead and reunited with their souls to live forever in the presence of God in this world as they were created to live.

Section 3 – Historical Support for the First Easter

Although these ancient ways of thinking about life after death are well known, there was not much written about the topic before the 1^st century. Authors realized that they just did not know very much about what happens after we die so there was not much to write about. Then all of that changed and suddenly there was an enormous amount of literature from many sources all about life after death. What happened to cause this great proliferation of literature about an obscure subject? Historians would ask: “what historical event occurred to cause all of these writers to begin writing about life after death?”

And that brings us to a very strange story we find in Gospel of Matthew. Let me read it to you.

Matthew 28:1-10 ^NRS Matthew 28:1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² 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. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷ 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." ⁸ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

This story is strange for several reasons. First, there is no pronouncement by Matthew that this is to fulfill some prophecy. Usually Matthew tells us with great fanfare that something Jesus did was to fulfill the words of the prophet who said … But in this story there is no prophecy quoted. The prophets knew that one day all of God’s people would be resurrected from the dead, but they never envisioned the resurrection of one person before everyone else. This story is also strange because the witnesses are all women. Women were considered unreliable and could not testify in court in that culture. So why would Matthew write a story where the only witnesses were women? It appears that this story was not written by Matthew at all. Rather it seems to be an eyewitness account from someone who saw what actually happened.

In this story we have an empty tomb. There could be many reasons for an empty tomb. Maybe the women were confused and went to the wrong one. Or maybe Jesus’ body had been stolen by grave robbers. If an empty tomb is all we have then we can’t say much about life after death. But in addition to the empty tomb we also have an appearance by Jesus. Of course Jesus could have been a ghost, a disembodied spirit. But the appearance of Jesus combined with the empty tomb indicates that it was an embodied Jesus who came out of that tomb and appeared to the women.

The only rational explanation for all of this is that Jesus truly and historically was resurrected from the dead. Jesus did not disappear like a drop of water into a stream. Jesus was not reincarnated into another person. Jesus was not a disembodied spirit or a ghost. Jesus did not stick around to help his descendants. Jesus’ spirit did not go to heaven leaving his dead body behind. Rather Jesus’ body was raised from death to life proving, by his example, that the Hebrew idea of a future resurrection of all of God’s people was true.

Section 4: Life after Death

When we die our bodies will decay, but God will preserve our souls, our identity, intellect, personality, memories and feelings. And one day in the future we can expect that God will resurrect us, just as he resurrected Jesus, with renewed bodies for our preserved souls.

Most of us believe that our spirits go to heaven when we die. In reality the opposite is true. Heaven comes to us. The promise of scripture is that the resurrection of God’s people is part of God’s recreation of the world. When Jesus in his flesh and blood resurrected body ascended to heaven he began the work with God of creating a new world for us. Our existing world will not be destroyed. Rather it will be transformed and renewed. Not only all of us, but all of creation, will be resurrected by God into a new creation. And it is in this new creation where we will live in our resurrected bodies with Christ for eternity. This is why the resurrection of Jesus Christ was so important. It gave us a glimpse of a glorious future reality. We now know what the future hold for us. And this gives us great hope.

So to the Buddhist monk sitting beside the stream, you will never become a drop dissolving into the water. But if you accept Jesus Christ you will be resurrected in the new creation and will enjoy this beautiful stream forever.

To the mother in Pennsylvania, do not be afraid for the day will come when you will be reunited with your resurrected son in a glorious new creation through your faith in Jesus Christ.

To the disabled Hindu man, you will not be reincarnated over and over again always hoping to enjoy a better life. But if you believe in Jesus Christ you will be resurrected in a new, glorified, and healthy body to life forever in a glorious new earth.

To the woman in Korea, your father has no ability to protect your family. Instead you should direct your morning prayers to Jesus Christ. Jesus will protect your family. And one day you can expect to be resurrected with all those in your family who accept Jesus Christ as Lord.

To the father in Gaza, your son’s spirit does not fly off to paradise. Rather his body will simply be blown apart by the bomb. But if you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord then you can pray for peace in your land with the confidence that you will be one day reunited with you dead son in a glorious and peaceful future resurrection.

And to the group of friends who just cremated their old friend, if you accept Jesus Christ in your lives the Holy Spirit will be there to comfort you in your loss with the assurance that God will gather up your friend’s dust and breathe new life into his resurrected body, so that your group will be reunited in the resurrection.

Conclusion

Today we celebrate the day when an historical event proved that our bodies will one day be resurrected from the dead and we will live in the presence of God forever. The historical event which happened that day was a foretaste of our future resurrection. And what happen that day? What happened was the central tenant of our faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the Lord is Risen!

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[1] Adapted from, N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope – Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (New York: Harper One 2008)