A Journey to Calvary; His Passion and our Deliverance Part 4
The Empty Promises of Easter
Am Service April 12th 2009 Easter
Luke 24:1-12
Introduction
In our world, we are taught that; “if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.” So many of us have been taken in by “empty promises,” that we are leery of anything or anyone that tells us we can have something for nothing.
THE WORLD SIMPLY DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY!
But, you know what – God does – God never made a promise that was too good to be true.
The truth of the matter is, the world is full of empty promises. We watch TV, and the advertisements tell us that we can be happy, sexy, rich, or famous, if we only purchase a certain product. It doesn’t take long before we have been fooled enough to know that the world’s promises are full of emptiness.
But, God is different. Instead of promises full of emptiness, on Easter, he gave us emptiness that is full of promise.
This morning, I would like us to think about the promises of Easter. There are three of them. Each promise is marked by something empty. An empty cross, and empty tomb and empty burial clothes. It is the very fact that each of these is empty that assures us that God’s promises are real.
Because they couldn’t hold Jesus, because he couldn’t be contained by the cross, the tomb, or even his burial clothes, we can be sure of the fullness of God’s promises in our lives.
Read Scriptures: Luke 24:1-12
I. The Empty Cross; Promises us forgiveness
Vs. 1 “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.”
Let’s go back, if we can, to that 1st Easter Morning. It is early morning – dawn – but the sun has not risen. A few of Jesus followers – women – are on their way to a tomb. It is the tomb where Jesus was buried. They have been walking now for about ½ hour. The conversation is subdued. The task before them is a sad one. They are going to anoint the body of Jesus. As they come to the top of a rise in the path, they all stop. Motionless and quiet, they stare off in the distance.
Just outside the city stands a gruesome reminder of the events of just a few days ago, on top of the Hill the locals call, “The Skull.” 3 Crosses.
Yesterday was the Sabbath, so nobody had yet removed them. So, there they stand, an empty reminder of the horror of Friday. It was there Jesus died.
Don’t ever believe anyone who tells you he was just faking it. There was no question – Jesus was dead. The soldiers knew it, the Romans knew it, the Jews knew it.
Together, they made up a lie – the disciples stole the body. Can you imagine 11 fishermen overpowering a company of Roman soldiers, moving a 2 ton stone and stealing the body of Jesus – just so they could claim he had come back to life – and then willingly die to protect that lie.
You see, Jesus really did die – that is why I want you to see the cross this morning. It is the place where he died – but today, it is empty. Empty of Jesus body, but full – full of God’s promises. Full of hope – for you and me.
The promise of the empty cross is that you and I stand forgiven. Because it was on that cross that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
It was on that cross that Jesus Christ offered his perfect, sinless life on behalf of each one of us. No one else – not Moses or Abraham, not David or Isaiah, not Muhammad or Buddha – no one else has ever lived perfectly and then offered his perfect life for our salvation. That is why the Bible tells us that “there is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved.”
When Jesus Christ breathed his last, he cried out; “It is finished.” The penalty was paid. On that cross – that empty cross – It was there, that his blood was spilt for our salvation.
Before that fateful Friday, God could open the books and look up each name, and written in black were the words – “guilt of sin.” But when Jesus went to the cross, God literally transferred our accounts to His name. On that day, across every name of the person that has placed there faith and trust in Him – he wrote – in Jesus blood – “Forgiven – Forgiven – Forgiven.”
Because of the work that Jesus did on that cross – you and I now stand Forgiven. The first “empty promise” of Easter is the empty cross – filled with the promise of forgiven sins.
II. The Empty Tomb; Promises us Eternal Life
Vs. 3,5-7 “but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ’The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”
A father and son were traveling down a country road on afternoon in the spring time when suddenly a bee flew in the window. Being deathly allergic to bee stings, the boy began to panic as the bee buzzed all around inside the car. Seeing the horror on his child’s face, the father reached out and caught the bee in his hand. Soon, he opened his hand and the bee began to buzz around once again. Again, the boy began to panic. The father reached over to his son, and opened his hand showing him the stinger still in his palm. “Relax, son,” the father said, “I took the sting, the bee can’t hurt you anymore.”
The fact of the empty tomb is the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise to every one of us, that believe in Him, that we too will be raised to eternal life.
To those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, death has lost its sting – it is no longer something to be feared. What fear is there when we have the promise that one day we will live forever with Him in Heaven?
In the Children’s Movie The Jungle Book: Mowgli, the man cub, asks the animals what’s the most feared thing in the jungle. He’s told that when two animals meet on a narrow
path that one must step aside and let the other pass. The animal that steps aside for no one would then be the most feared. Mowgli wants to know what kind of animal would that be? One tells him it’s an elephant. Another tells him it’s a lion. Finally the wise old owl exclaims, “The most feared thing in the jungle is death. It steps aside for no one.”
I am here to tell you this morning, that one day death is going to step aside for me, because of the empty tomb of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because He defeated death with He triumphantly rose from the grave, robbed in white holding the keys to death, hell, and the grave, one day I will live eternally in heaven because of the second empty promise of Easter, the empty tomb.
III. The Empty Clothes; Promises us A Personal Relationship
Vs. 12 “Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.”
Think about that – the cross couldn’t hold him; the tomb couldn’t contain him, the burial clothes were just unnecessary, because Jesus is alive! He has skin and bones and a face and was recognizable. And he talked, and touched and loved and healed. He did it the day of his resurrection, and he does it still today. And – most importantly – he wants to do it with you.
The empty burial clothes tells us that He is alive, and He wants to have a very personal relationship with you. He is not some distant God who is just waiting to shoot lighting bolts at you when you mess up, just because you haven’t been to church in a while, He is not going to cause the roof to fall in on you, He loves you.
He went through all that He went through on the cross for you, He arose from the grave for you, He left His empty burial clothes for you to know that He is alive and because He is alive, He wants you to know Him personally, He wants you to talk to Him, He wants you to trust Him, He wants you to live for Him.
Conclusion
This morning, we have heard about three promises that God has made to us; the promise of forgiven sins; the promise of eternal life; and the promise of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My question to you this morning is this; will you take him at his word?
If so, listen to this final promise – it is found in Romans 10:13 – “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This morning, if you have never accepted God’s promises for your life, He is waiting, probably wondering, "For heaven’s sake, what is taking you so long?"
Don’t wait another day, do it today, and know the joy of eternal life in Jesus Christ.
(Thanks sermoncentral contributor, Preacher’s outline and sermon bible)
