### **Introduction:**
Good morning! Look around. We are standing in a place of graves. A place of sorrow. A place of mourning… And yet, here we are this morning, greeting the dawn. We are in a place of endings, but watching a beginning.
Scripture tells us that very early in the morning, much like this morning, hope broke through even in a place of death.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, the women, who had been with Jesus through His ministry, went to a tomb.
They expected grief.
They found life.
On this Easter Sunday morning, in this cemetery, among these stones and monuments, names and memories… we come to celebrate that death did not have the final word. As our bulletin cover says,
“Death no longer has dominion over Him.” (Romans 6:9b, NKJV)
(*Pause momentarily. Let people feel the weight and beauty of it.*)
Luke records for us the events of that first day of the week in Luke 24:
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still 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.’ ” (Luke 24, NKJV)
This morning, I want to take just a few moments and share with you the hope that woke up with the sun on that first Easter Sunday morning.
1. The first thing I see is that Hope Begins in the Dark.
Luke said that it was very early in the morning. John’s gospel (John 20:1) even said that the women went to the tomb while it was still dark.
What were they doing? They were going there to complete the final steps of love for the dead by embalming Jesus body, something they were not permitted to do until after the Sabbath had passed.
Even though it was still dark, though it was before sunrise, though it was dawn, the Sabbath was over. They wanted to complete what they had been unable to complete as soon as they could.
You can imagine the emotions as they made their way to the tomb.
Sorrow. After all they had suffered a great loss in their lives.
Confusion. How could Jesus have left them? How was this possible that He had been crucified?
I’m sure there was even a sense of fear, knowing that Jesus’ tomb would be guarded.
They were experiencing all of the emotions that we would feel.
These are things we all feel in our lives today.
And it is with these same feelings that we too approach God.
But faith moves us, even when things are unclear. We know that we can come to God, no matter the lows through which we are going.
We can know that He will be there.
You know, just an hour ago, this cemetery was blanked with darkness.
But light came.
The world turned.
The light reminds us of hope.
The shadows did not last.
And neither will our sorrow, our confusion, our pain, our fear, our loss, or even death itself.
2. The second thing of note is that The Stone Was Already Rolled Away.
https://thinkingtobelieve.com/2011/03/24/the-size-of-the-stone-covering-jesus’-tomb-2/
In Mark’s account (Mark 16:3), the women express concern about the stone. How in the world were three women going to roll the stone back so they could get into the tomb? Some have estimated that the stone would have weighed anywhere from 1 to 2 tons, depending on the type of stone used! And typically, the grove that kept the stone in place was sloped down hill to make it easier to roll the stone in place. The women were possibly going to have to push a 1 to 2 ton stone uphill, then put something in front of it to keep it from rolling back down in front of the opening to the tomb.
I can understand why they would have worried about how they were going to roll that stone out of the way.
But when they get there, God had already taken care of the stone.
Are we surprised? We should not be.
After all, listen to just two of these promises:
To Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7 and 8:
7 …“Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31, NKJV)
In Isaiah 45:2 and 3, God says:
2 ‘I will go before you?And make the crooked places straight;?I will break in pieces the gates of bronze?And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness?And hidden riches of secret places,?That you may know that I, the Lord,?Who call you by your name,?Am the God of Israel.
(Isaiah 45, NKJV)
You see, God promises that He goes before us, often working while we are still worrying.
As you look around us this morning, we are surrounded by head stones. They are very heavy. The stories behind these stones are often filled with great grief.
But the heaviest stone — the one that sealed the tomb outside Jerusalem — God rolled it away.
Not just for Jews, but for all who would believe in Him!
3. We also see this morning that the Light Revealed an Empty Tomb.
For many years, we have stood on this mountain on Easter morning awaiting the sunrise, just like we are doing this morning? Before the sun crests the ridge, everything feels hidden. We can sense the trees, the stones, the gravestones… but we cannot see clearly. Our eyes strain in the dimness. The shape of the world is there—but its beauty, its meaning, its reality is still wrapped in shadow.
And then, slowly, the light begins to rise over that mountain there (point eastwardly). It does not change the mountain. It does not move the trees or alter the landscape. It just reveals what was already there. Suddenly, we see everything in color, in clarity, in fullness.
In a way, the resurrection is just like that. It was God’s light flooding the world’s darkest place—a tomb. On that morning, very early, the women arrived expecting shadows. They expected silence. They expected death. But the rising sun revealed something they never imagined—the stone had been rolled away… and the tomb was empty.
The light did not make it true. It simply made it visible. Just like pictures in the old days.
Before everyone had a camera on their cell phones, photos used to be developed in a darkroom. Developing film and printing pictures was always a truly magical process to me, back in the day when I would print pictures for my high school yearbook. The image was there, on the film—but it had to be exposed to light to become visible. Without that process, you could not see the picture.
The resurrection is God’s light flooding the darkroom of our broken world. The full picture of His plan—grace, redemption, eternal life—was always there.
Before the light, Jesus had already risen.
Hope was already alive.
But in the light of the empty tomb, we can now see it.
The resurrection light of Christ still shines that way. You know, no one turned on the sun this morning. It rose by God’s design. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead brought us light today. That light always reveals what has always been true: death is defeated, Jesus is alive, and hope was never gone—it was just waiting for the light.
4. Finally, today, Morning Brought a Message: "He Is Risen!"
That is the best message of hope if there ever was one!
He Is Risen!
He wasn’t gone.
His body hadn’t been moved.
Jesus was alive!
The risen Savior brings new purpose! When the women and the disciples realized Jesus was alive, everything changed — they had a new purpose! Their confusion turned to clarity. Their questions turned to calling. The resurrection gives our lives direction—not just to survive or succeed, but to follow the living Christ. We are not just wandering through life; we are walking with a Risen King. That gives purpose to our pain, meaning to our waiting, and value to our every day.
The risen Savior brings new joy! Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances. Joy is rooted in truth. And the truth is this: Jesus lives. Death is not the end. That kind of joy does not come from the world—it comes from the empty tomb. That is why even in a cemetery, even in grief or loss, we can still smile. Because Christ is alive, and in Him, so are we.
The risen Savior brings a new mission! When Jesus rose, He did not just say “Rejoice”—He said “Go.” The resurrection is not the end of the story—it is the beginning of the Church’s mission. We are not saved just to be comforted; we are saved to be commissioned. In Mark’s narrative, the “young man clothed in a long white robe” (vs. 5) told the women:
6 …“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” (Mark 16, NKJV)
We have that same mission today! The Risen Christ calls us to carry His light into the world.
The risen Savior brings a new hope! Hope is not wishful thinking. It is faith. It is confidence in the promises of God. Easter morning proves that every promise God has made can be trusted. The resurrection is the down payment on our eternal future. It means that even here—on this mountaintop, in this cemetery—we can say with assurance: death is not final. One day, every grave will break open, and those who are in Christ will rise. Our hope is not buried. It is alive.
The empty tomb is not just a symbol of what happened to Jesus. It is a promise of what happens to all who belong to Him. Very early in the morning, hope woke up—and it is still awake and alive today!
**Closing Challenge**:
This morning, what did you expect to find, coming to this cemetery, here on this mountain? What do you expect to find when you come to Jesus early in the morning? Are you looking for a Savior you think is still in the tomb—or are you ready to be surprised by His resurrection power?
I challenge us today to not leave this cemetery the way we came.
I pray that we will leave like the women left the empty tomb—surprised by joy, filled with hope, ready to tell others: ‘He is not here. He is risen!’
Even here, even now, very early in the morning, Jesus’ resurrection is real.
Hope certainly woke up with the Son — the resurrection of the very Son of God!
