THE RESURRECTION - THE DEVOTED WOMEN AT THE TOMB – RESURRECTION MESSAGE FOR EASTER – PART 1
[A]. INTRODUCTION TO RESURRECTION
As I am sure you all realise, this Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. (This message was given on an Easter Sunday). All our churches will be empty for Good Friday and Sunday services, the first time ever in Australia (that was during Australia’s draconian Covid lockdown – worst in the world). Many consider Easter to be the pivotal time for the Christian faith, but in fact, the events focused on at Easter, need to hold equal importance all through the year.
The death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus are fundamental to our faith, not just a “once a year” consideration. This is why Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper on the Passover/betrayal night so that we could have a reminder before us always. We know from the New Testament and early Church writings that the Christians remembered the passion of the Lord weekly, often at night or very early in the morning, sometimes by a river, because Sunday was not a holiday in the Roman Empire. The weekly remembrance of His sacrifice draws the child of God closer to his/her Lord. I know this varies a lot in churches with some having “Communion” twice a month or once a month or quarterly and one group does not have it at all. There is much value in a weekly remembrance. It keeps the cost of our redemption close to us.
{{1Corinthians 15:3-8 “I delivered to you AS OF FIRST IMPORTANCE what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that HE WAS RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”}}
Everything God does for human confirmation is done with two or three witnesses. At this Passover time nothing was done in a corner. The dealings of God are open and transparent and there are several reasons for that. The first is that there is abundant proof of what transpired so that man is without excuse, so he can’t claim he did not know.
Secondly, the soul of man is dark and darkened solidly by sin so the word of God needs to be a hammer to break the hard heart – {{Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”}} Multiple witness can be that hammer. The Lord made sure that for the Resurrection, there were so many witnesses. Anyone living at the time of Paul could have sourced first hand witnesses of the resurrection easily enough.
What about us today? Well it is by faith. All the way through Hebrews 11 Paul uses the words “By faith,” and they are crucial for any approach to God as he also explained here – {{Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”}}
{{1Corinthians 15:12-20 “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain. Your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. IF THE DEAD ARE NOT RAISED, NOT EVEN CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied, BUT NOW CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THE FIRST FRUITS OF THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP.”}}
While here on earth and at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus authoritively claimed He was the Resurrection and the Life. He did so BEFORE He raised Lazarus so after the appearance of Lazarus, His words were sealed. Without doubt Jesus is THE Resurrection and the Life. I thought I would look at the change in the women at the tomb of the Lord, and what the resurrection did for them, in these two Message Parts. This is more of a devotional message I want to share. I will begin with the burial and all the primary text today is taken from Luke’s Gospel.
[B]. THE LOYAL BELIEVING WOMEN VISIT THE TOMB FOR BURIAL
{{Luke 23:55 “Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed after and saw the tomb and how His body was laid.”}} Here we have again that faithful, devoted and supportive group of women we last saw in chapter 8. These loyal women had stayed with Him right through His ministry. They had ministered to the Lord and His disciples for the period of His public ministry; they had witnessed some of His miracles; they had heard portions of His sweet words to a lost humanity, and no doubt they had heard Him announce prophetically His death, burial and resurrection.
But like the disciples, they had not comprehended the significance and impact of the statement, “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE”. Now the Lord, in whose presence their souls were thrilled, and those times when they had known joy and peace - all had savagely and untimely been taken from them, and their world seemed to have crumbled. How distraught their emotions must have been; how purposeless their present condition must have appeared.
There are times when we too, feel the framework that we have built up around us comes crashing to the ground and we are cast into situations that are painful and have no direction and no resolution. It is easy to feel a portion of our life and goals just doesn’t mean anything any more. For these women, how uncertain the future must have seemed, yet their love for Him compelled them to follow Joseph of Arimathea to ascertain the exact place of burial so they could return after the Sabbath, and pour on His body, the whole preparation of their devoted memories. Not only did they follow Joseph, but also they witnessed the Lord’s body in the tomb for the end of verse 55 tells us they saw how His body was laid.
We are creatures of the present and react in the present. We don’t always assess the present in the light of the future. Things can really upset us, especially injustices, and sometimes we brood on those and they eat into our souls and into our peace and joy. How much different it would be if we lined up the present with the future. We have a glorious future ahead in the presence of the Lord, so what value should we place on the difficulties of the present? They are passing ones like wisps of a breeze.
Those women in their love and sincere devotion could only see the immediate present and did not connect the future, which was the statement – I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.
[C]. SPICES AND PERFUMES PREPARED
{{Luke 23:56 “and they returned and prepared SPICES AND PERFUMES, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”}} There were in their number a few women whose material standing was above average, so one would expect the spices and perfumes of verse 56 to have been of considerable value. This was their final opportunity to demonstrate the worth of the past three years, to anoint Him with the recognition of true devoted loyalty and love. These spices were prepared in sadness and with reflective memories. Perhaps their thoughts were overcome by dejection and deep grief, but devotion enabled them to prepare as if for a king, and truly, King He was, and they would soon know that. A willing devotion and action accompanying it, is allied to worship, and these true-hearted women certainly did that. How far are we prepared to go? Is it too much bother; too much cost to personal liberties? Jesus it worth every honour we give Him. Too many Christians are lazy and show little proper commitment. O, they need to take a lesson from these women.
We need not miss either the great fulfillment of prophecy with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Long ago Isaiah wrote – {{Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet HE WAS WITH A RICH MAN IN HIS DEATH because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”}} We read of that “rich man” presented in this passage - {{John 19:38-39 “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate granted permission. He came therefore, and took away His body, and Nicodemus came also, who had first come to Him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, ABOUT A HUNDRED POUNDS WEIGHT.”}}
Joseph was rich, and he was “the rich man in His death” spoken of by Isaiah. Of course the Holy Spirit prompted the two men to do that but the weight of quite expensive burial spices
demonstrated their love and commitment to the Lord, equal to the women.
They rested on the Sabbath as all Jews did, but the hours dragged by with constant recall of the events of the previous day when Jesus hung on that cross, and flooded their hearts with grief or sorrow. Their hearts had been broken by the inhuman events they had witnessed and probably reacted with the injustice of it all. The Virgin Mary was in great sorrow and she would have recalled this some 33 years earlier – {{Luke 2:35 “and a sword will pierce even your own soul - to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”}} The women had lost a loved one, more than that, a dear Friend who was the Jewish Messiah. There would be the mix of historically recalled events; the times of joy and hardship; the reliving of significant episodes in the past three years of ministry, and the presumed emptiness of the days ahead.
NOW WE MOVE TO CHAPTER 24 OF LUKE’S GOSPEL
[D]. DEVOTION FOLLOWS THE DARK NIGHT INTO EARLY RISING
{{Luke 24:1 “At early dawn on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”}} All the memories from two days previous flooded back, but they had determined that their last great act of personal devotion would be kept, so at early dawn, probably as early as morning light permitted, they were found making their way to the tomb carrying the contributions of their expressed love. Verse 10 records the women in this group. They did not know at that stage the “soon to be realised” truth of the Lord’s statement made early in His ministry, “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED.” It is an interesting thought, but when were these spices prepared? The previous verse suggests it was after the crucifixion and that would have been difficult as the women were disorganised in their thoughts and heart broken, but they returned from the terrible scene to prepare the spices. Then in sadness they rested on the Sabbath.
[E]. THE WORST POSSIBLE HORROR AWAITED THEM
{{Luke 24:2-3 “and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they DID NOT FIND THE BODY of the Lord Jesus.”}} Before they reached the precise spot, they noticed the stone rolled away and sudden anxiety gave way to confusion. Someone had been here before them! Would all be still in order inside? They entered but with horror they noticed the tomb was empty. Where was the body of the Lord Jesus? The fragrance of the perfumes and spices their worried hands were holding, could not replace Him. Where was their Lord? Resurrection to life always leaves a vacancy, but they did not know that when they entered the tomb.
It is of interest Luke pens the words, “. . . did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” This is the ONLY place in the entire gospel where the title, “Lord Jesus” is used and doesn’t it fit perfectly into this account of the faithful band of women. He was their Lord Jesus and all through the years they acknowledged His Lordship. This one paramount truth - His Lordship - is subtlety being undermined these days in a number of ways, even disgracefully in some churches.
I will always love one passage of scripture so much and it is this – {{Philippians 2:8-11 “and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even DEATH ON A CROSS. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father.”}} Yes, He has always been Lord, but through the resurrection He is declared Lord and the world must acknowledge that fact! How fitting it is that Luke inserted the name “Lord”. The Holy Spirit sure knew what He was doing!
Jesus is Lord, but do some in the churches honour Him as Lord? Firstly, there is irreverence shown as in the reference to Jesus as my “mate” or in other terms of common familiarity. Secondly there is the under-recognition of His Lordship in all facets of life. By not accepting His full control over our lives in all situations, we are devaluing that Lordship. Thirdly there is the ever-increasing output of bible translations aimed for specific groups in the market place where the exact translational truths are being compromised. Thus we have the “gender neutral” version (such as the NIV after 2011) to cater for the modern approach to sexist literature. Fourthly, There is the so-called contemporary music scene with its rock rhythms and worldly imitations, chanting out stuff with “Jesus, Jesus” without the understanding that He is Lord and must be reverenced that way. There is too much flippant addressing of the Lord in the modern music trash that has swept through the Christian music market.
If we don’t catch the serious reverence of Philippians 2 v 11 where supremely, He is Lord with His name above all names, and fail to appreciate the awesome and holy God our Saviour, then we know nothing, and the acknowledgements of these women in their testimony will leave us far behind.
God honoured those women but even then, their deep devotion and care and fixation of mind never was placed in the perfumes and spices, because their devotion was directed towards the dead Lord, not the living Lord of the resurrection (not yet anyway). Contrast this band with Mary of Bethany who anointed the Lord for the burial but did it while He was still living. She understood more than them all, what lay ahead for Him. She understood the words He was speaking.
We have also Nicodemus who came with a costly mixture of myrrh and aloes to help Joseph of Arimathea in the preparation for the entombment in accord with Jewish custom, but only Mary really understood that He was the Resurrection and the Life, and after three days he would rise again.
As we consider the women’s part in all this we are left with a thought to ponder. It seems possible to be fully devoted to the Lord in service and love, but at the same time not fully discerning the truth, or understanding the full implications of what we have read in the bible or have heard. But God knows our hearts and ministers to our needs graciously.
True discernment is so rare for us in our fallen frailty. A consideration of the soldier’s armour of Ephesians 6 could suggest a reason for this lack of discernment. We could be quite well equipped as Christian soldiers in most of that armour, but how inadequate it would be to depart for the battle with some of the front parts missing or the back parts forgotten or the feet unprotected. Paul says taking the “WHOLE armour of God” not most of it, because a fully equipped soldier is more likely to be discerning in the battle than the ill-equipped one. What better “wholeness” can we have than full righteousness, peace, truth, faith, salvation and the Spirit’s sword, which is the powerful word of God. At times, so much of the devotion and service of the saints, all deeply heart felt, is misdirected, lacking full knowledge and discernment.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
