Welcome to our ongoing series, the Mysteries of the Resurrection, getting ready for our giant Easter Celebration. This is part 6 in the series.

My talk today is called "The Mystery of the Frustrated Skeptics."

There are two kinds of laws that govern your life. And it is crucial—eternally important—that you understand the difference between them.

The first kind of law is a regulation. Think of the speed limit on Interstate 5. That sign says 70 miles per hour. That is a regulatory law. If you choose to, you can break it. You can push your foot to the floor, watch the needle climb to 95, and completely defy that law. You might get a ticket. You might lose control. Face consequences. Anything. But it is entirely within your power to break a regulatory law.

The second kind of law is different. It's not a regulation; it's a reality. Think of the law of gravity. You cannot break the law of gravity. If you walk to the edge of a cliff and step off, you don't break the law of gravity. You prove it. Tragically.

You cannot break a law of fundamental reality. You can only break yourself against it.

When you deal with God, you are not dealing with a traffic cop handing out citations for breaking regulations. You are dealing with the Architect of Reality. You cannot break God's truth. You can only break yourself against God's truth. No one can break God's laws; you can only break yourself against God's laws.

It's like bashing your skull against a granite boulder, hoping that if you hit it hard enough, the boulder will crack.

Is this you? You do this. You hammer your head against the bedrock of reality because you are addicted to your own control, committed to doing what is right in your own sight.

That is exactly what we just read in Matthew 28. In this paragraph, we are witnessing some very powerful, very religious, very desperate power-brokers colliding head-on with a fundamental reality they cannot fight against and win: The tomb is empty. Jesus Christ is alive.

This isn't like a speed limit they can ignore. This is gravity.

And instead of surrendering to that reality, instead of falling on their faces in worship, they fight it. They buy their way out of it. They pull out "a large sum of money" to manufacture a lie, hoping they can bribe reality into submission.

Today, we are going to look closely at their strategy, because their story is a mirror. It shows us the high price, the sheer exhaustion, and the absolute absurdity of fighting God's truth.

But more than that, we are going to see that the very Rock these men were trying to destroy is the only foundation that can actually save you.

Let's look at what happens when human pride goes to war with a divine reality.

Look at the text. Look at what happens when human beings decide to go to war with a fundamental law of the universe.

When you fight God's reality, a very predictable, tragic sequence of events unfolds.

First, by definition, fighting reality makes you nuts.

You lose your mind, your sobriety, your common sense.

Look at the Roman guards. These are hardened, professional killers. But when they collide with the reality of the angel and the empty tomb, they faint like dead men. And when they wake up, they don't report to their commanding officer. They run to the priests. Why? Because their worldview just broke.

And look at the religious leaders. When they hear the tomb is empty, they don't go investigate. They don't look for the truth. They panic. They convene a back-room conspiracy.

When you fight a reality you cannot control, your common sense is the first casualty.

Second, you step all over your own value system.

When you go to war with truth, you start doing stuff that goes against your own principles.

You do stuff you swore you'd never do.
You wake up one day in a very bad place, and ask, How did I get here?

Look at the chief priests. These are the theological elite of Israel. They dedicate their lives to the Law of Moses. They know the Ten Commandments by heart: "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

Yet here they are, opening the temple treasury to pay off soldiers to lie to the public. It goes against everything they claim to stand for. It nags at their conscience, but they suppress that truth with a giant pile of hush money.

Verse 12 says they gave a "large sum"—sufficient silver—to the soldiers.

You might not be bribing Roman guards, but have you been there? Have you found yourself stepping all over your own morals, compromising your own integrity, just to prop up an illusion?

You know this will cost you, but you push that thought down and just keep funding the lie.

Third, fighting reality forces you to believe the absurd.

Because you suppressed the truth, you have to invent a story to take its place. And usually, that story is irrational.

Look at the lie they concoct in verse 13: "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.'"

Think about the absurdity of that statement.
How can you be a witness to an event that happened while you were unconscious?

"Yes, your honor, I was fast asleep, but I can tell you for a fact it was Peter and John who moved the two-ton stone!"

It's delusional.

The Bible predicts there will come a day when the whole human race gets sucked into "strong delusion."

You see it everywhere today.

The absurdity that the universe is a cosmic accident... but you can still find meaning.

The absurdity that truth is subjective... but you get mad when somebody lies to you.

The absurdity of demanding grace for all your own mistakes... but justice for everyone else's.

The absurdity that humans are just a collection of chemicals and energy... but you still love and value your children and call them precious.

Anyone who refuses to yield to the Ultimate Reality will find themselves defending the indefensible and believing the unbelievable... in a futile attempt to avoid the unavoidable.