History's Greatest Victory Series

THE ROAD TO THE RESURRECTION

HISTORY’S GREATEST VICTORY

TEXT: Luke 24:1-12

Luke 24:1-12 (KJV) Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. [2] And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. [3] And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. [4] And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: [5] And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? [6] He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, [7] Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. [8] And they remembered his words, [9] And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. [10] It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. [11] And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. [12] Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

I. INTRODUCTION—THE ROAD TO THE RESURRECTION

-We started several weeks ago with some of the various scenes from the life of the Lord in His last week before the Crucifixion:

• The Washing of the Disciples’ Feet

• The Lord’s Supper

• The Great High Priestly Prayer

-All of those scenes leading up to this one seem to place in the Lord in any place but that of a victor. He has been pulled from a place of prayer in Gethsemane, He has been paraded through a kangaroo court of false charges, and then He has been cruelly nailed to the cross.

• Cursed

• Beaten

• Spit on

• Mocked

• Called by evil names

• Hanging for six hours on a cross

• Bloody. . . Lonely. . . Desolate. . . Forsaken. . .

-His friends came a removed Him from the cross and managed to put Him in a borrowed tomb. What looked like the end was really the beginning!

-On Sunday morning, He defeated the bonds of death and the grave and came through it all. . . He is risen! The tomb is empty!

1 Corinthians 15:55-58 (KJV) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

-We know and understand this because the Spirit has filled us. . . But there will come a day when the entire world will bow before the Lord and every tongue will confess that He is Lord!

II. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RESURRECTION

-The focus of the initial area of this text is a group of women (v. 10). His mother was among the small group. There are others with her—women perhaps related to Him, others whom He had healed and blessed, but all of them had been lifted by His life and His presence among them.

-Scripture is clear that there was a small group of women who followed Him about Judea during his ministry. They were sort of a support group for Jesus and the disciples.

-It bears in mind that we must notice that it was the women who were the last at the cross and the first at the tomb. Women were a very prominent part of the ministry of the Lord because of how that he had lifted them. Their lot in life was not the best when the Lord came.

• Women were nothing more than slaves

• He lifted them to the level of human beings

• He refused to look them as if they were simply a material possession of a father or a husband

• He looked at them with great value

-Go anywhere in the world today and where the gospel is absent the plight of women is deplorable.

• Human trafficking

• Places in the world where women are still very much a piece of property

• Various forms of discrimination

• Psychological control