He is Not Here

What if the thing you’ve already called “over”… isn’t?

In this Resurrection Sunday message from Matthew 28:1–10, Pastor Jason Barnett explores one of the greatest paradoxes of the Christian faith: the tomb that was meant to silence Jesus became the place of His greatest victory.

The women came expecting death. Grief. Finality.
But God had already moved.

This episode unpacks what it means that Jesus is not just risen then, but alive now—and how that truth changes everything about your story today. If you’ve ever felt stuck, defeated, or like something in your life is beyond hope, this message is for you.

Because if Jesus lives…
then death doesn’t win,
your past doesn’t define you,
and your story isn’t over.

🎧 Listen now and discover how the resurrection isn’t just something to believe—it’s something to step into.

Linkoln shares his story on why he started coming to Ravenna Church of the Nazarene and shares why you should consider doing the same.

Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
530 Main Street, Ravenna, KY 40472

Transcript

PARADOX

#7 HE IS NOT HERE

     I am going to be honest with you and share something you may not expect from a pastor. I dread board meetings. Not because of anything anyone here has done, our board here has been incredible. But I dread board meetings because of scars I carry from the past.

     Every time a board meeting comes up, my mind starts going, “What if this is the meeting that things go bad again?” “What if someone is upset?” “What if everything we have been working toward blows up?” I will even start playing out conversations and scenarios in my head. Preparing for the worst.

     But every single time, I walk out of our meetings encouraged. Supported. Even a little convicted for assuming the worst and allowing my anxieties to steer my thoughts. I show up expecting something difficult, but I walk into something completely different.

     I think most of us do that. We spend a lot of time worrying and preparing for what we think is coming so that we can miss that God has changed or is changing the outcome.

     Matthew 28 is that kind of moment. People are walking toward what they think is the worst, but they discover God has done something incredible.

Matthew 28:1-10(CEB)

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. 2 Look, there was a great earthquake, for an angel from the Lord came down from heaven. Coming to the stone, he rolled it away and sat on it. 3 Now his face was like lightning and his clothes as white as snow. 4 The guards were so terrified of him that they shook with fear and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He isn’t here, because he has been raised from the dead, just as he said. Come, see the place where they laid him. 7 Now hurry, go and tell his disciples, ‘He’s been raised from the dead. He’s going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ I’ve given the message to you.”

8 With great fear and excitement, they hurried away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. 9 But Jesus met them and greeted them. They came and grabbed his feet and worshipped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my brothers that I am going into Galilee. They will see me there.”

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

     Since Ash Wednesday, we have been in a series called “Paradox.” We have been looking at the moments in the passion story where things seemed like defeat, but they were actually where God was doing His greatest work.

     Today’s story is the greatest of them all. The truth is though, if the story ends in the tomb, none of it matters. Without this moment, the Resurrection, there is no victory. No hope. No life. But Matthew tells us that something shocking happened. The tomb did not end the story, it revealed what God had already done.

     Mary and Mary come to the tomb. They are not expecting a miracle, this trip was for them to process loss and finish up a funeral. Verse 1 says they came “at dawn on the first day of the week,” meaning they were so grief stricken that they probably had not slept. These women were living in the worst, and expecting more of the same.

     Before the ladies even show up, God had already moved. God acted in an earthquake. An angel had rolled the stone away. In an act of both victory and defiance, the angel sat on top of the stone waiting for Mary and Mary to arrive. The women did not make this happen, they simply showed up and discovered what God had already done.

     “Don’t be afraid,” says the angel in verse 5. The angel tells them the good news, that Jesus is not dead, but alive. He was truly dead, but not Jesus has risen. Mary and Mary are told in verse 7, “I’ve given the message to you.” They were tasked with taking this news to the disciples. And verse 8 adds, “With great fear and excitement, they hurried away.” When heaven breaks into earth, it does not feel neat. It feels overwhelming. The ladies were experiencing this whirlwind of emotions as they left in obedience.

     Mary and Mary do not have it all figured out, they just leave with the message. They leave with no other physical proof than seeing an empty tomb. As they were walking in obedience, verse 9 says, “Jesus met them on the way.” They had the courage to step forward and Jesus met them in the middle of it.

     There are several paradoxes in this passage. God using women to share the message, and the living guards becoming like dead men while Jesus, who was dead, is now living, among the few. But our focus is on this: The tomb meant to silence Jesus became the stage of His loudest triumph.

     Mary and Mary approach the tomb expecting more of the worst. In their minds, Jesus is dead, and death is final. But when they get to the tomb, God has already moved in a place they thought was finished. The stone that symbolically demonstrated the decisiveness of death’s permanent hold had already been moved, and the angel was sitting defiantly victorious on it. The Resurrection had already happened. The message was already waiting.

     Some of you are walking with places in your life that you think are finished. You are bracing yourself for the inevitable, already expecting the worst. A relationship on the rocks. A struggle that you think cannot be escaped. A failure that you will never be able to outrun. A situation you have labeled over. Sins too great that there is no way God can love you or change you. You have already decided how it is going to go.

     But the Resurrection tells us a different story. You are not walking into something empty or doomed. You are walking into a moment God has already touched. Jesus is not waiting at the end of your story; He is waiting to meet you. He is waiting for you to take a step of faith/

     Your situation may look finished, but God is already moving in it. The tomb is empty! Death is defeated! Believe that Jesus is alive. Because He lives, what feels final is not.

     Stop standing at what God has already emptied. The Resurrection is something you step into. Pray. Move. Re-engage. Respond. You may not feel Jesus yet, but you will meet Him along the way if you are willing to take that next step.

     The angel said to Mary and Mary, “He is not here.” The tomb is empty. But the question is, what are you standing in front of that God has already emptied? You might be calling it the end, but the Resurrection of Jesus says it is not. Death has been defeated by death, and because Jesus lives, the story is not over for you. I have given you the message, so step forward and believe that Jesus is alive.