Witnesses of the Resurrection
Luke 24:1-12
Jeff Hughes – April 14, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. Today, like every other Sunday of the year, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, unlike any other Sunday, this is the actual anniversary of that fateful day, nearly two thousand years ago, when a few of Jesus’ disciples were the first ones to arrive at the tomb to see just what had happened.
b. In light of us celebrating Easter today, we are taking a break from our normal study of the book of Acts, to look at the events surrounding the resurrection of Jesus as told by Luke.
c. Jesus’ resurrection was undeniable, and would be witnessed by many of His followers. Luke was a Greek physician who verified this, along with Matthew, a tax collector, Mark, a young disciple of Christ at the time, and John, a fisherman from Galilee who also happened to be one of Jesus’ most beloved disciples.
d. As we have seen over the past four months, the resurrection is a cornerstone of our faith, and the disciples after the Lord’s resurrection and Ascension were charged with the duty of carrying the good news of His resurrection to the whole earth.
e. Each gospel writer brings his own perspective to the good news about Jesus Christ, and we can learn quite a bit by seeing each one’s view of the resurrection. Since we are studying through Acts normally, I chose the narrative of Luke to be our baseline as we look at the resurrection. As we are familiar with, and used to studying Luke’s literary style. But, we will be looking at what the other gospel writers have to say as well.
f. But first, let’s pray, and ask the Lord to come and bless our study of His Word this morning.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. On February 27th, 1991 Ruth Dillow was at home in Chanuk, Kansas when the phone rang. It was bad news from the Pentagon. Her son, Private First Class Clayton Carpenter, had stepped on a landmine in the Persian Gulf War and was dead. It was an awful, sickening reality to learn that her son would never come home again. Three days later Ruth received another phone call. The voice on the other end said, "Mom, I’m alive!" Ruth said that at first she could not believe it was the voice of her 23 year-old son, over whom she had mourned for nearly three days. Ruth said, "I jumped up and down. I was overjoyed! You just don’t know how much.".
b. This same scene was played out in the homes of seven more of our soldiers, as they were returned unhurt from being held as Prisoners of War. Many thought they were dead, they thought that they had been executed, but the fact was that their loved ones were alive.
c. The apostles didn’t get a phone call from Jesus letting them know that He was alive when they had assumed that He was dead. They had a good basis to assume this, because they had seen him killed on the cross. They saw a Roman soldier put a spear through His side, and they saw His lifeless body being taken down from the cross.
d. The women saw Jesus laid in the tomb. How could they not believe that He was dead? That why what we are going to look at today came as such a shock to them. Jesus had risen from the dead.
e. There’s a place for you to take notes in your bulletin if you would like, and if you need a Bible, just raise your hand. Luke is right past Mark in the New Testament, and just before John.
f. Our scripture reference today comes from chapter 24, and we are looking at verses 1 through 12.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 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.’ " 8 And they remembered His words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
ii. We see here a faithful group that came to tend to the Lord even after His death. When the tomb was opened though, it was empty! That was miraculous in itself, but this was also marked by two angels, messengers from God, sent to give them a message of encouragement.
iii. This was certainly something to tell the others about, so they ran back to town to let the men, the apostles know about the miraculous things that had happened.
iv. But, at first the apostles didn’t believe them, but something must have convinced them, because Peter runs to the tomb to see what had occurred, and was shocked himself at what he found.
v. This morning, we will look at five points as we take a close look at the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ – the early morning, the empty tomb, the encouraging angels, the explanation of the women, and finally the establishing of the facts.
vi. One thing I want us to realize is that the small group gathered in Jerusalem was still in shock over Jesus imprisonment, trial and death. There was still work to do though, even though He was dead. His body had to be prepared for burial, and since He had died in the late on Friday, they were unable to tend to Him on the Saturday, which was the Jewish Sabbath. The law prevented them from doing this work.
vii. So, the waited until Sunday. Let’s start there.
b. The Early Morning (Luke 24:1)
i. 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.
ii. We see that the ladies waited for the Sabbath to be over, and they went to go prepare Jesus for His burial. The Sabbath officially ended at the start of Saturday night, but since they could not go to the tomb that night, they didn’t have street lights in those days, they went early in the morning.
iii. They went early in the morning not out of convenience or wanting to get it over with, no, they went early in the morning out of love for Jesus, and they wanted to get to His tomb as early as they possibly could.
iv. John’s account tells us that they went while it was still dark, probably in the twilight of the morning, just before dawn. Can you imagine what they must have been thinking, walking along the road to the tomb of Jesus?
v. They must have had thoughts about Jesus, and the crucifixion that they had just witnessed three days before. They probably thought about Joseph of Arimithea, and how he had given up his own tomb for the Lord.
vi. Mark tells us that these ladies were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and Luke tells us that Joanna was there too.
vii. Mary Magdalene is first mentioned in Luke chapter 8 as a woman who ministered to Jesus out of her substance, meaning that she gave to support the ministry of Jesus. Jesus had done so much for her, scripture tells us that He cast seven demons out of her, so she not only gave of her money or substance, but she was one of the women who accompanied the party to Jerusalem for the Passover.
viii. Mary the mother of James is also mentioned as the wife of Cleopas in scripture. Many scholars believe this Mary to be the Jesus’s aunt, or Joseph’s sister, making her Mary’s sister-in-law.
ix. Salome was the apostle James and John’s mother. Some believe that she was Mary’s sister, or another of Jesus’ aunts. It would have been customary for the family to prepare the body, and this is what we see happening here.
x. Joanna was the wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, a woman of some substance and standing in the community.
xi. Now, John tells us that Nicodemus had anointed Jesus’ body with spices before the burial, but, since He had died in the afternoon, Jesus had to be hastily buried so that they would have him in the grave before the Sabbath began Friday night.
xii. These ladies came with more spices though, and the thought is that they came to finish the job that could not be completed on Friday. They came to the tomb with spices that they prepared possibly the night before, in their homes.
xiii. Their job was to complete or finish the burial of Jesus. I also want us to notice that they made preparations beforehand for the burial. What’s the significance of that?
xiv. Well, Jesus tells us to be prepared for His return. Just like Mary, Joanna, Mary, and Salome were preparing Him for what they thought was His departure, we need to prepare for His return.
xv. While He was with them, Jesus told them this parable that we find in Matthew chapter 25, starting in verse one, maybe you’ve heard it, it’s the parable about the ten virgins.
xvi. 1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight a cry was heard: ’Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ’Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ’No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ’Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ’Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
xvii. No one knows the day or the hour of His return, it is a mystery and will no doubt be a surprise to many, but, He tells us to be prepared nonetheless. God wants us to include Him in our plans and preparations.
xviii. Well our ladies were certainly surprised when they got to the tomb; we see this in verses 2 and 3.
c. The Empty Tomb (Luke 24:2-3)
i. 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.
ii. We see right off that they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. This must have been a surprise, because we are told in Matthew’s account of how the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders had petitioned Pilate to put guards at the entrance to the tomb, and seal it, which Pilate, the Roman governor agreed to.
iii. Mark chapter 16 tells us that the women were wondering who they could get to roll away the stone as they walked there, but God had already taken care of that.
iv. They got there and found that the stone had already been rolled away. That must have been amazing. This was a huge stone that would take several men to roll away, but yet, here it was rolled away.
v. Matthew gives us some more insight as to how this actually happened. In chapter 28 he gives the account of a great earthquake, and an angel who rolled away the stone, and struck fear into the guards, and this group of ladies shows up a little later, to find the stone rolled away and the guards gone.
vi. They walk in and find the body of Jesus not there. It wasn’t in the tomb, where was it?
vii. Before we answer that question, let’s look at the tomb. Now in these days in Israel, a rich man like Joseph of Arimathea would have a cave cut into the rock for a tomb, It would have a doorway, and an entranceway, and several places cut into the rock inside to place bodies that had prepared for burial inside.
viii. The bodies of the departed were somewhat mummified by the process of anointing them with spices, ointments, and linen strips. The Jews would then customarily leave the body for a few years, until it decayed into just bones, then the bones were placed in a small stone box called an ossuary, and the ossuaries were stacked up in the tomb as well.
ix. Recently, an ossuary from about this time was recently found to have the inscription “James, the brother of Jesus” on it. Now, customarily, just the first name was carved into the box, like James, Joseph, or Simon, but, if the person was related to someone famous, their relationship to the famous individual was inscribed along with their name.
x. Some feel like this James is the half-brother of Jesus, who later wrote the book of James in the New Testament. We can’t know for sure, but one thing is for certain. The James who was the Lord’s brother was related to a famous person named Jesus.
xi. Back to our original question though. Where was Jesus’ body? It was gone. Jesus had risen from the dead just as He had promised. Jesus had told them “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.”
xii. It was three days, because of how Jews counted days. We count a day as one day, and it’s following night. Jews traditionally counted a day as a night, and it’s following day.
xiii. Jesus was buried Friday afternoon, day one. Friday night and Saturday, day two. Sunday morning, day three.
xiv. Jesus’ promise to them had come true. And they were about to find that out in no uncertain terms. We find this in verses 4 through 8.
d. The Encouraging Angels (Luke 24:4-8)
i. 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.’ " 8 And they remembered His words.
ii. The ladies walked in and found an empty tomb, this would have been a cause for concern. The scripture tells us here that they were perplexed.
iii. Many people through the years have spread the rumor around that Jesus’s disciples took Him from the tomb and hid the body. Matthew’s gospel tells us this explicitly. It tells us that this story was cooked up by the Sanhedrin, and that they paid the Roman guards of the tomb handsomely to say that they fell asleep, and that the disciples came and stole the body.
iv. Clearly though, this is not the case. If this was the case, then the ladies would not have been so worried and perplexed. They would have known exactly where Jesus was.
v. But, they had visitors of a different sort. Two men in shining garments were there to greet them in the tomb. These were no doubt angels, and as we have covered before, angels are God’s messengers. They are created to do the will of God.
vi. We see them appearing in significant scenes in the Bible, like when the met with Abraham to let him know that he would have a son in his old age, or when some appeared to shepherds to let them know about the birth of Jesus.
vii. When God sends an angel, there is something important to do or to tell. This was no exception. This was a messenger direct from God sent to give the followers of Jesus a message.
viii. When angels appear, people get scared. That is a normal reaction. People are afraid of the supernatural and supernatural events. The ladies were afraid, they were reverent before God’s messengers. The women were face first to the ground. This is also normal. This is the posture we see people in when they come face to face with an angel in scripture.
ix. The first words out of the angel’s mouth is a rather startling question, considering where the women were, and what they were doing.
x. The angel asks, “Why do you see the living among the dead?” This question gets to the heart of what happened immediately. The angel got right to the point. The point was that Jesus was not to be found among the dead, but among the living, because that is what He was, alive.
xi. What is surprising to me is how many people are seeking life in dead places today. We see it all the time when people flock to a certain area because they thing some object looks like Jesus or Mary. Others seek life in traditions, or in man’s efforts.
xii. So many people go to cold, dead churches that aren’t reaching out to people around them and touching lives. When I first came to Calvary Chapel, I was amazed at how many people came to Christ through the church.
xiii. It was so different from the church I came from. The reason behind it is simple. Many churches are very religious. They get into a set routine, and that’s the way they have always done it.
xiv. At Calvary we stress the relationship rather than the religion. We strive to be flexible enough to follow God’s lead and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
xv. Back to our study of Luke though. Let’s look at verse 6.
xvi. The statement from the angel in verse 6 tells us that Jesus had risen from the dead. He was not there. The angel tells them to recall the words that Jesus had spoken to them while He was still in Galilee.
xvii. The angels were reminding them that Jesus had told them that this would happen, He had foretold this to them. They were probably convicted when they remembered this. Jesus had spoken metaphorically to them many times, but this time, He was speaking plainly when He told them He would be raised from the grave.
xviii. The angel was no doubt referring to this event we find in Luke chapter 18 - 31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." 34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.
xix. Jesus had just finished telling them a parable, but He took the time to explain to the apostles what was going to happen, they didn’t get it.
xx. The women remembered these events, and they were amazed and overjoyed at the news of this. This news was too good to be true! No, this news was so good it HAD to be true.
xxi. They had to tell someone. They had to tell the others about what had happened. We find this in verses 9 through 11.
e. The Explaination (Luke 24:9-11)
i. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.
ii. The women ran back to tell the eleven remaining apostles. Judas had sold out to the Sanhedrin and was no longer with them. But also, they went to tell these things to Jesus’ other followers that were in the area. They were excited, and had to tell anyone who would hear them.
iii. In verse 10, Luke gives a list of the women who were there to tell the apostles about what had happened. We see three here, Mary, Mary, and Joanna who were there at the tomb, but we also see there were other women with them, we know from Mark that one of those women was Salome.
iv. So, they tell these amazing things that they have just seen and heard to the apostles. I bet they thought that the apostles would be overcome with joy, jumping up and down, you know.
v. But that wasn’t the case. The apostles didn’t believe them. They thought that the women were telling wives’ tales. Another version reads, the apostles thought the women were speaking nonsense. These guys weren’t sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the resurrection. They were skeptical unbelievers.
vi. That’s how a lot of us are. We see God moving in our lives, or in someone else’s, but we don’t believe it. We think it is just chance, that person is just fortunate.
vii. A humorous story is told about an elderly woman and her atheist neighbor. This elderly lady steps onto her front porch every morning, raises her arms to the sky and shouts, "PRAISE THE LORD!" In the course of time, a young atheist man moves into the house next door. He becomes irritated at the elderly lady, so every morning, he steps onto his front porch after her and yells, "THERE IS NO LORD!"
viii. Time passes with the two of them carrying on this way every day. Then one morning, in the middle of winter, the elderly lady steps onto her front porch and shouts, "PRAISE THE LORD! Please Lord, I have no food and I am starving, provide for me, oh Lord!"
ix. The next morning she steps onto her porch and there are two HUGE bags of groceries sitting there. "PRAISE THE LORD!" she cries out. "HE HAS PROVIDED GROCERIES FOR ME!"
x. The atheist neighbor jumps out of the hedge and shouts, "THERE IS NO LORD. I BOUGHT THOSE GROCERIES!!"
xi. The elderly lady throws her arms into the air and shouts, "PRAISE THE LORD! HE HAS PROVIDED ME WITH GROCERIES AND MADE THE DEVIL PAY FOR THEM!!"
xii. Sometimes God uses unbelievable circumstances around us to bless us. People tend to look at me strangely when I tell them how blessed I have been to work at Enron Corporation in Houston. It blows people’s minds, but it is true.
xiii. The apostles didn’t believe these women that they knew and trusted. One thing was clear at this point. More evidence was needed for this band of skeptics. I can see Mary telling them, “If you don’t believe us, then go see for yourself!”
xiv. The apostles decide to take her up on this, and we find it recorded for us in verse 12.
f. The Establishing of Facts (Luke 24:12)
i. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
ii. Peter runs off to go see. John’s gospel tells us here that both he and Peter ran to the tomb, and that he outran Peter getting there. John stood outside, and saw the linens that covered Jesus neatly arranged, but didn’t go in. When Peter arrived, he went in to investigate.
iii. What is significant about the linens is that they were sill in order, like they were when they covered Jesus’ body, but He was gone, He had passed through them, just like He had passed from death to life.
iv. We see from this verse here in Luke that Peter sees the linens, and left, wondering what had happened. John tells us in his account that he saw the linens and believed. Peter still needed more proof. John was satisfied with what he saw.
v. This really speaks to God grace for me. It tells me that God brings us along each individually, making Himself known to us.
vi. Peter’s problem was that he didn’t recall the Lord’s words that He had spoken foretelling about all this, so He was still confused. He knew something miraculous happened, but he couldn’t put it all together. God still had some work to do on Peter.
vii. Like Peter we can know that Jesus rose from the dead, but it won’t matter very much to us unless we know the significance of it. We need to know what it means in our lives, and what the Bible tells us about this miraculous event that happened on this day almost two thousand years ago.
viii. There are four major things I want us to understand concerning the resurrection.
ix. The first thing I want us to understand it that the resurrection proved that Jesus was who He said He was, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the King of all Creation, and the suffering servant.
x. The second thing is - the resurrection of Jesus means that Jesus has paid for our sins in full. His atoning death on the cross was the payment for our sins, and the Resurrection was the receipt. We can be free from the curse of sin and death that has plagued man since the beginning through the sacrifice of Jesus. It was simple, it was total, and with the Resurrection, it was complete.
xi. The third thing I want us to realize is that the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope for the future for ourselves. We are all promised a resurrected body in Jesus’ coming kingdom, if we trust in Him. The Bible tells us in Colossians and Revelation that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, meaning that we will be resurrected from the dead as well, through His power.
xii. The last thing I want us to see is that the resurrection means that God no longer dwells in a temple, a building in Jerusalem, but in us. When Jesus died on the cross, the fifteen foot thick veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, meaning that there was no longer a separation between us and God, the Resurrection is our guarantee of that.
xiii. God will take up residence in our hearts if we trust in Him, in Jesus Christ.
g. Conclusion
i. Before I close, I want to draw our attention to one more thing that we don’t see here in the Scripture. That is that the actual resurrection of Jesus is not recorded for us in scripture.
ii. What we have looked at today all happened after the fact. With the exception of the account from the angels to the women, the evidence, while compelling, did not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus did actually rise from the dead.
iii. That evidence would come a little later, when Jesus appeared to them one by one, or in a group setting. That was the evidence some needed, like Thomas.
iv. But the evidence must have been convincing at that point, because as we are seeing in our regular study in Acts, these men would later put their lives on the line for their eyewitness account of the resurrection of Jesus.
v. But, ultimately, the choice whether to believe the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection or not is up to each one of us individually. Each one of us has to choose to accept this of reject it.
vi. Really, the apostles were blessed to have the Lord appear to them. It made their choice real easy. But, as Jesus would tell Thomas – “Blessed is he who has not seen, and yet believes.”
vii. It comes down to a question of faith, and that question will be the most important one that you will ever answer in your life. In a few minutes, we are going to pray, and you are going to get a chance to make that decision. Are you going to accept Jesus, and the evidence, or reject it? I pray that each one here would not leave today before deciding to accept Him.
h. Point Summary - There are three things I want us to take away from this message -
1. Jesus’ resurrection was a surprise even to His followers.
2. Jesus’ resurrection validates His life and ministry.
3. Jesus’ resurrection is what saves us from our sins.
i. I‘d like to close with a short story.
i. It is reported that at the close of the Battle of Waterloo, the English people were anxiously awaiting news of the result, because it’s outcome meant the future for all of Europe. Their only means of communication was a system of signal lights flashed across the English Channel. The fog became so dense that only a part of the message was made out. It read, "Wellington defeated." Gloom settled upon the English. But imagine their joy when the fog lifted and they received the whole message, "Wellington defeated the enemy."
ii. When Christ was crucified, His disciples were so enshrouded by the fogs of doubt that they saw but one meaning to the sad event, "Christ defeated." All hope was gone; Christ was dead. But Easter morning brought the glorious fact of the risen Lord, and the message read, "Christ defeated death." How glorious! By dying, Christ conquered the grave; by ascending, Christ made possible our ascension even to heaven.
iii. Dietrich Bonhoffer once wrote that Socrates had mastered the art of dying, and that Christ overcame death as "the last enemy". There is a real difference between the two things; the one is within the scope of human possibilities, the other means resurrection. It’s not from the art of dying, but from the resurrection of Christ, that a new and purifying wind can blow through our present world. ... If a few people really believed that and acted on it in their daily lives, a great deal would be changed. To live in the light of the resurrection--that is what Easter means.
j. Let’s Pray.
V. Closing Prayer
