The empty tomb and the assurance it gives
Text: Luke 24:1 – 12
There’s a story that’s told about a man who was an atheist. He didn’t believe in God… in-fact he was somewhat of a militant atheist. He liked to get online and argue with Christians, and protest prayer before football games… He was one of those guys who wanted to take the words “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and it was just kind of his crusade in life to speak out against God and Jesus, and the Bible, and the Church. And really, he was kind of an unpleasant person to be around. But it just so happened that this man had a son, who had just gone in to the first grade. And after a few weeks of going to school the little boy came home and said, “Daddy, Jimmy, a boy in my class is having a birthday party and he wants me to come. Can I go to it?” Well this dad, wanted his son to have social interaction with the other kids, and wanted him to make friends, so he agreed to let his son go to the birthday party. That evening when he came and picked his son up, he was surprised when his son said, “Dad, Jimmy’s mom and dad go to church. They pray before they eat. They don’t say bad words, and they’re really happy. Can I go with them to church on Sunday?” The father almost choked and then he said, “Well son… we’re atheists. We don’t believe in God, and we don’t go to church. Do you understand son?” The little boy shook his head and was quiet for a few minutes. Finally he looked up at his dad and said, “Dad, do you think it makes God sad that we don’t believe in Him?”
Sometimes kids have profound insight don’t they?
Well if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Luke this morning. Over the past three Sunday’s we’ve been looking at the last week of Jesus’ life while He was here on earth. And today is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, so that’s what we’ll be looking at this morning. Luke 24:1 – 12 (READ).
Now this passage that we just read is laid out plain and simple. It makes a claim. It puts it out in front of you and then asks you, Are you going to believe or not? That’s what the people in this text… the women… the disciples… they are being challenged with that same question. And what I want you to do this morning is put yourself in their shoes… imagine that you were there and you had seen the things they had seen and experienced the things they had experienced. Two days before… on Friday, they saw Jesus, get beaten so badly He could barely stand. They saw Him nailed to a cross. They saw the darkness from noon til 3:00 PM blot out the sun… they heard the words of Jesus from the cross. They saw Him die. They saw Him taken down from the cross, and because it was so close to the Sabbath they didn’t have time to prepare His body for burial. So they quickly stuck Him in a borrowed tomb. I’m sure they all heard how the Sanhedrin… the religious leaders of the day, had gone to the Romans and had them seal the tomb and place guards around it.
But now it’s Sunday, and these women – who loved Jesus, and were devoted to Him… they’re on their way to the tomb to properly prepare His body for the burial rite. And as they draw near to the tomb, Luke tells us they notice that the stone has been rolled away. And Luke makes no mention of the guards who were standing watch around the tomb… by now they’ve all scattered. They’ve seen what just took place and they took off. But the women – they’re confused. They go inside and Jesus isn’t there. In-fact; it’s empty. In verse 4 Luke says that these ladies were “perplexed” by this… The Greek word there is “aporeü”. So that’s more than just going… “hmmm, this is strange?” It means they were besides themselves. They were confused almost to the point of being distraught. All kinds of thoughts are probably running through their heads, “Someone came and moved the body”, “The Sanhedrin or the Romans have come and stolen it away!” And they’re really upset about this.
Now before we go on, I want you to notice something here. These ladies… these women… they were godly women, and they loved Jesus, but they lacked faith. How do I know that? Well Luke tells us that they’re going to the tomb… but what’s their reason for going there? To prepare the body for a proper burial right? And Luke says they’re perplexed, their distraught, they’re really upset… Why?
Because they expect to find Jesus’ body in the tomb and it’s not there.
Now this is all happening as a result of either not listening to what Jesus had said when He was with them, or not understanding what He was saying when He was with them. That’s why Luke records for us what the angel says in verses 5, 6, & 7, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and on the third day rise?”
So Jesus has told them He was going to be crucified, that He was going to die, and be buried, but He also told them that on the third day He would rise up from the dead.
Now what’s interesting here, is that the angel doesn’t tell them right away to go down the road a ways and you’ll run into Him. Instead he reminds them of Jesus’ words. He says, “Remember what He told you!” “Remember Jesus’ words!” How does faith come? Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of Christ.” So it’s almost like the angel is saying, “Ladies, you’re not going to be able to make any sense of this unless you remember Jesus’ words. The way for you to understand this... the way for you to understand the resurrection is to go back to Jesus' words and remember them!” And sure enough… Luke tells us… in verse 8 – they remembered.
Now this is Luke’s first point, and I hope that everyone here… I hope that God opens our understanding so that we get this. The way we live the Christian life, and the way we grow in grace, is by consistently hearing and believing God’s Word. Now you might be a member here, or you might be visiting with us this morning, and we’re happy to have you here, but regardless I want to encourage you, no matter where you live… find yourself a Church that consistently preaches and teaches the Word of God and get plugged in to it.
Now let’s go on here… the angel is basically saying to these women, they won’t be able to comprehend or understand these events apart from Jesus’ words… and that’s important. We aren’t to be interpreting God’s Word in light of events… we interpret events in light of God’s Word. It’s the Word of God that’s supposed to frame our understanding of everything that happens in life. So the angel is saying here, “If you’re going to respond to the resurrection in the right way, the starting point is to remember Jesus’ words.” And they do! Luke tells us they do remember! And from that point on, through the rest of our text, everything these women do come about as a result of that. They go running back to the disciples and begin telling them about everything they’ve seen and experienced. Listen… you share what you’re excited about. You share what you love. You share with others, what thrills your heart. And what fills your heart.
So why are these women so excited about this? Because they’ve remembered Jesus’ words… they’ve remembered what He has told them. And their hearts are filled with hope. Now understand… when the Bible talks about hope, it’s not talking about wishful thinking… No… when the Bible talks about hope it’s talking about an expectation and an assurance of something to come. And if there’s one thing we need in this world today – its hope… its assurance. Not the kind of hope that people and politicians promise us. But real hope and real assurance.
So what kind of hope and assurance does the resurrection give us? Well the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 4 (Romans 4:25) that Jesus was delivered up for our transgressions… that means that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He took our punishment and bore the wrath of God on our behalf.
You see; we’ve all sinned against God, we’ve all rebelled against God, and we are all guilty before God. But Jesus takes our place, and He takes our punishment. And instead of the wrath and judgment of God coming upon us for our sins, it comes on Jesus. But Paul doesn’t stop there… he goes on and says, “Not only was Jesus delivered up for our transgressions… He was raised up for our justification.” So what does that mean? Well – it means that the resurrection is the proof, and the evidence that whoever is saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ has been justified before God. In other words, in the resurrection of Jesus, God is saying that Jesus did everything that was necessary to save us and justify us before God. You see; Jesus came into this world as a man. He lived a perfectly righteous and holy life. He never sinned against God like we have, but instead obeyed God perfectly. And then He went to the cross and died for our sins, and in our place.
And in dying on the cross, He endured the wrath and judgment of God for us. He took the punishment for our sins. And paid for them. All of them! And God looked at the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, and He said, “It is more than enough. Jesus has done everything that needed to be done.” And so He raised Him up as proof and evidence of that fact. And so the resurrection is saying to you and to me who have trusted in Christ – that our sins have been forgiven. It’s saying that we have been reconciled to God and brought back into right standing with Him and a right relationship with Him, and that we have been adopted into His family, and given eternal life. It’s saying that we are no longer guilty before God, because all of our sins have been paid for. And not only that, but all of Jesus’ perfection, and righteousness, and obedience has been credited to our account. So all of our sin was laid upon Him, and all of His righteousness was laid upon us.
And if that wasn’t enough… the resurrection shows us that we serve and worship a living Savior! That’s why the angel says, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Jesus is alive… and the Bible tells us that He ever lives to make intercession for us.
We talked about this a couple of Sunday’s back… But the resurrection not only tells us that Jesus took all our sins, and paid for them, and not only was His righteousness credited to our account, but also that He’s alive right now, and He’s interceding on our behalf.
You see; the Bible tells us that there’s more going on than we can see. There is a cosmic drama that takes place in heaven… it says that the devil accuses us before God. In other words, the devil will come before God and he will point out all your sins. He’ll say, “Look at that person God… They have lust in their heat… they have hatred and anger in their heart. They’ve lied, and cheated, and stole. They’ve manipulated others. They’ve mistreated others. Look at the terrible things that are in their minds and thoughts. And God sees it, and God knows it. But that’s not all that’s taking place. Because Jesus is alive, and He’s seated at the right hand of God, and God looks at us… and yes, all those things the devil accuses us of have taken place. We are sinners, but Jesus leans over and says, “Yeah, that’s pretty bad… Remember I paid for that sin. And that sin. And that sin. Remember Father, I endured Your judgment and wrath for that sin.” Jesus is alive making intercession for you and me right now. He’s alive to comfort us in times of sorrow. He’s alive to walk with us in the valley of the shadow of death. And because He’s alive, we know that those of us who belong to Him, will also be with Him as well someday.
How do we know that? Because we remember His words. Because He has told us these things. And so here we are… we’ve gathered here this morning, if for no other reason than to hear these words… “He is risen! He is alive!” And we should shout it out from now until eternity! PRAISE GOD! Thank you Jesus for dying for me! And thank you God, for raising Him up, to show that all of my sins are paid for and forgiven.
Let's pray.
