Luke 24:1-12
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “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.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
It was early Sunday morning when the women came to Jesus’ tomb, ready with the spices to embalm His body. We know from the other gospel accounts these women were very concerned about who they could get to roll the massive stone away from the tomb so they could get to the body. So when they got to the tomb they were shocked to find the stone already rolled away with no body inside and no one else around.
1. What was the Response?
The women were perplexed. They were unable to find any logical explanation for the empty tomb. What do you think was going through their minds? Maybe they were asking: Are we at the right tomb? Is this the right address? Where are the guards? What’s going on? They had witnessed the crucifixion, saw the Roman guards take Jesus’ dead body off the Cross, saw where Joseph laid Jesus. Did someone steal His body? How did they get past the Roman guards? While they were scratching their heads, they were startled by two men in radiant, gleaming clothes that appeared out of nowhere.
One of the angels asked a strange question: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Can’t you just imagine the women standing there with the embalming materials, hearing this question and the wheels in their brains begin to spin? Who are these men, why are they here, and how did they know who we are looking for? The angels were basically saying, if you are looking for a gravestone, an epitaph, a person to mourn over and pay respects to, this is not the place to find Him. He’s not here, He is risen! Don’t you remember what He told you would happen to Him after three days?
Obviously, they didn’t remember that Jesus told them how He would be delivered into the hands of sinful people, crucified, and raised on the third day. They had no clue what Jesus was talking about when He told them and didn’t make the correlation when they saw the empty tomb. It wasn’t until the angel reminded them about His words that the light went on, they woke up, and ran to the disciples and all the others to tell them what they had seen and heard. You would have thought the disciples would have been excited about the news but…
The disciples were unwilling to believe. V. 11 says that what Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Jesus’ mother, and the other women told the disciples in their excitement, was like a fairy tale, nonsense. Can we really blame the disciples who were there for Jesus’ trial, were there as He was crucified, when he cried out and took His last breath, and was then laid in a tomb? They loved Jesus as Teacher and Savior and expected Him to usher in the kingdom of God in ways that made sense to them. None of this made sense. The events of that dark day were devastating - extinguishing their faith in Jesus and in their grief, and they were not about to get their hopes up again.
The crucifixion and death of Jesus meant that he was not the true Messiah they had been waiting for and that the Kingdom of God had not come. The disciples were in shock and mourning as their hopes had been shattered. In their minds they were done – “don’t tell us any more of your stories, no more false hopes.” Maybe they were wondering, “Now what do we do?” Back to the same old, same old? Back to work, to old stomping grounds, to old friends and acquaintances (what would they say to them?), and life as it was before Jesus?
I have met many people who have come to this place in their lives - full of hope, excited about the future, only to be disappointed by life. It doesn't have to be something big, just a series of small things happening over time that cause people to become doubtful, mistrustful, and cynical. Tired of being hurt and disappointed, we retreat into ourselves, keeping a safe distance from people and even God. But is this life? Hiding from further hurts and disappointments? Peter didn’t think so -after hearing the breaking news, we see in v. 12 that…
Peter rose and ran to the tomb. Peter thought, “maybe there is some truth to what they are saying.” But he wanted to verify their story and went to look for himself. Peter took in what he saw at the tomb and started to put the pieces of the puzzle together: The trial, the crucifixion, the darkness that came over the land, Jesus’ death, the earthquake, the body laid in the tomb, the witness of the women, the angels, the empty tomb, the grave clothes folded neatly where Jesus’ body should have been. Peter marveled about what he saw, began putting everything together and was beginning to believe.
What we observe on Resurrection Sunday and for the next 40 days is that Jesus met the women, Peter, and the disciples where they were at. Jesus physically showed up in the room they were hiding out in; He let them see and touch His scars; He talked with them and ate with them. These disciples were followers of Jesus but once He died, their faith and hope died within them. But as Peter and the disciples were taking in everything that was happening, they were convinced of the resurrection. When Jesus was risen that Sunday morning, their faith was brought back to life.
For 40 days Jesus taught them about all that was written and prophesied about Himself. He opened their eyes, assuring them again and again that He was the Messiah who triumphed over death and the grave until there was no doubt in their minds. We know that their lives were radically changed by the resurrection of Jesus because they witnessed, firsthand, the promises and prophecies powerfully fulfilled by Jesus.
Within a few weeks, about 500 meters from the empty tomb, Peter, a common fisherman, who in cowardice denied that he even knew the Lord just a few days early, would confidently confront thousands of people in Jerusalem. Peter was pointing to the empty tomb and preached:
Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses (Acts 2:29-32).
After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, His previously fearful, timid followers turned the known world upside down (Acts 17:6).
2. What are the implications of Resurrection for us today?
For the atheist, there are no implications regarding the resurrection - life and all we live for ends at the grave. There may be people here who think, “What if this could be true?” Maybe you haven’t come to believe in Jesus as your resurrected Savior, but are thinking things through as Peter did - trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together to come to a logical conclusion. When the light goes on, you will begin to understand the truth of all Jesus did to take us from a life without God and without hope for the future, to a life filled with a living hope and promise of heaven at the end of this lifetime. The resurrection tells us that life and all we have lived for isn’t without purpose and meaning and does not end at the grave.
For the Christian here, life’s situations may have brought you to a place of disappointment, doubt, and disillusionment. Maybe you have gone back to your old way of living, the things you sought out to bring fulfillment, the life you had before you came to know Christ. No matter where we are, God will meet you there when you call out to Him. As many of us did on Good Friday, we can bring our sin, faults, frailties, failures, and broken dreams to the cross of Christ. When we meet Him there again and again, He speaks to us there again and again and we watch Him bring resurrection life out of death.
After the three-year pandemic which incredibly affected every facet of life, many of us just went back to the way we lived before - back to work, back to school, back to the normal routines, back to what we call “life.” But is this life? Is this all there is to life? Or is there something more, something that we aren’t seeing, aren’t perceiving, or taking the time to work out?
Jesus is risen from the dead. He has paid for our sins and for those of us who have put our faith in His perfect work of redemption we will be raised up with Him when this life is over and live with Him forever and ever in His presence. He desires to set us free, to bring us back to life, He doesn’t want us just to survive but to thrive. This is good news - this is the gospel.
