AI-assisted analysis for orientation; read the source transcript or listen to the sermon to evaluate the interpretation.
The sermon centers on the empty tomb as evidence that Jesus is divine and that His atoning work is complete. Christ’s resurrection functions as the believer’s assurance of acquittal, forgiveness, and future resurrection. Spurgeon calls hearers to grieve rightly over sin and Christ’s suffering, to face death honestly, and to approach the tomb for comfort. The final emphasis is consoling: fearful and sorrowful Christians may repeatedly return to the risen Christ for peace and hope.
Theological center: Christ’s bodily resurrection proves His divine identity and confirms that His atoning work fully satisfied sin’s debt, securing believers’ justification and resurrection hope.
Applications: Come to Christ’s tomb · Examine the empty tomb · Approach Christ in distress · Interpret the empty tomb
Primary texts: Matthew 28:6 · John 20:1 · Isaiah 53:3
“Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matthew 28:6 EVERY circumstance connected with the life of Christ is deeply interesting to the Christian mind. Wherever we behold our Savior, He is well worthy of our notice “His cross, His manger, and His crown, Are big with glories yet unknown.” All His weary pilgrimage, from Bethlehem’s manger to Calvary’s cross, is in my eyes, paved with glory. Each spot upon which He trod is to our souls consecrated at once, simply because there the foot of earth’s Savior and our own Redeemer once was placed. When He comes to Calvary, the interest thickens, then our best thoughts are centered on Him in the agonies of crucifixion, nor does our deep affection permit us to leave Him even when, the struggle being over, He yields up the ghost. His body, when it is taken down from the tree, still is lovely in our eyes—we fondly linger around the motionless clay. By faith we discern Joseph of Arimathea and the timid Nicodemus, assisted by those holy women, drawing out the nails and taking down the mangled body. We behold them wrapping Him in clean white linen, hastily girding Him round with belts of spices, then putting Him in His tomb and departing for the Sabbath rest. We shall on this occasion go where Mary went on the morning of the first day of the week, when waking from her couch before the dawn, she aroused herself to be early at the sepulchre of Jesus. We will try, if it be possible, by the help of God’s Spirit, to go as she did—not in body, but in soul—we will stand at that tomb. We will examine it and we trust we shall hear some truth-speaking voice coming from its hollow bosom which will comfort and instruct us, so that we may say of the grave of Jesus when we go away, “It was none other than the gate of heaven”—a sacred place, deeply solemn, and sanctified by the slain body of our precious Savior. I. AN INVITATION GIVEN. I shall commence my remarks this morning by inviting all Christians to come with me to the tomb of Jesus. “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” We will labor to render the place attractive, we will gently take your hand to guide you to it, and may it please our Master to make our hearts burn within us while we talk by the way. Away, you profane—you souls whose life is laughter, folly, and mirth! Away, you sordid and carnal minds who have no taste for the spiritual, no delight in the celestial. We ask not your company. We speak to God’s beloved, to the heirs of heaven, to the sanctified, the redeemed, the pure in heart—and we say to them, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Surely you need no…