Lessons From The Empty Tomb Series

Luke 24:1-12

“Lessons from an empty tomb”

“Through the empty tomb we know the power of God.”

Sunday Morning Sermon – Easter Sunday

04.08.07

Intro:

Intro – Video Free from Sermonspice.com “Easter Drawing”

(Title and Text)

The resurrection… the empty tomb… a risen savior…Jesus exalted to the highest place, given the name above every name… the hope of our resurrection, the hope of our eternal salvation, the hope of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for us. We celebrate; we gather together, we anticipate our communion with him in glory, all because of the resurrection of Jesus. Every ounce of belief, every display of faith, all the good works you could do, in his name – would be void and without meaning if the resurrection weren’t true. The Bible says that my preaching is worthless and so is our faith if the resurrection didn’t happen. So central is the resurrection: If you disprove the resurrection, disprove Jesus rising from the death, disprove the power over death and the grave, you could disprove and throw out the window all of Christianity. That’s how important this one event is, that’s how huge this one day is. It’s so important that if it didn’t happen, we would still be lost in our sins.

Discussion:

But Jesus has been raised – Glory has been fulfilled – power has been displayed – Authority has been given.

The seriousness of God the father allowing his one and only son to die on the cross – a horrible death so that if we believe we could have salvation – means that God is serious about the separation that our sin has created. He meant it – it was purposed in the heart of God to bring us back to him, to bridge the gap, remove the space and bring us peace. God is serious about you – because he loves you.

If you have your bibles this morning turn with me to (advance) Luke 24:1-12 (Read)

The story of the empty tomb is told by all four gospels – each adding different features, each for a different reason. Here’s a few things we can learn this morning – Lesson # 1 (advance)

I. Jesus died

Jesus declared it is finished, gave his spirit to the father and breathed his last. He didn’t somehow avoid the cross, bypassing the need for the resurrection, run off to Italy with Mary Magdalene and raise a family. How mindless we can be when we play games with God’s gift!

a. Most people in that time

i. Died from the beating that took place before the cross

ii. The ones who didn’t were hung on the cross – they suffocated.

1. Breathing required lifting the body with the legs

When a person was unable to lift themselves they would stop breathing. So how do you check to see if they are dead? Cause, good Jewish people wouldn’t leave bodies on the cross during the Sabbath. You don’t have to check. You break their legs. They didn’t have to break the legs of Jesus, it was clear he was dead – instead they took a spear and pierced his side, just to make sure. (advance)

John 19:32-36 (NIV)

32The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"

Assume for just a second that he wasn’t dead before the spear went into his side, assume for just a second that he was still alive – this would have killed him for sure. Church – Jesus died.

b. He wasn’t guilty of anything – the reason for his death

i. Our sin.

Christ died for the ungodly. Here it is again – God has taken our sin and the punishment that was intended for us, he took it for us. I was raised in a really small school – 100 kids in the entire school – 13 in my graduating class. Our principle was a wimp – he didn’t give hard licks – they used a board for a paddle to spank the kids with. The boys in our class made a contest out of how many times we could get paddled during a school year – I was up over 70 and I didn’t win the contest. Never once did any of the other kids who were not in line, to get punished, offer to take the punishment that I earned. It never happened.