Among the most significant words ever spoken were uttered by an angel at dawn on the first Easter Sunday. These words were spoken to two women, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:6, NIV). Three days before this, Jesus had been mocked, brutalized, crucified, and buried. The Jews of Jerusalem had watched Him die. His followers had watched Him die. I can only imagine the sense of sorrow, disillusionment, and loss they must have felt. A stone was placed over the entrance of His tomb, and soldiers were ordered to stand guard for three days. Then the unbelievable happened! Let’s read Matthew’s story of what happened just over 2,000 years ago on that Sunday morning. He wrote, “After the Sabbath, at dawn on 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 came 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 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. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead’” (Matthew 28:1-7a, NIV). I don’t want this to be just another sermon that simply tells again the Easter story again. By the way, the Easter story is the story of the resurrection of Jesus. Many of you have probably heard the story before and believe it. So I don’t just want to tell you the story again. I want to answer an important question about the story. The question is, “Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important that God dispatched an angel from heaven to tell two women about it and then order them to tell Jesus’ disciples about it?” That’s exactly what Matthew said happened when he wrote, “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. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead’” (Matthew 28:1-7a, NIV).