Luke 24:1-8 – Calling All Angels
Tonight we are continuing to look at various angles of the resurrection and what it means for us today. Tonight’s message is a thought I have never preached on before, and I hope that it speaks to your heart. I’m talking about angels. Let’s read Luke 24:1-7.
I know it’s been over 4 years, and a lot has happened since, but do you remember the commercial that was running just before, and during the 2002 Olympics? It featured snapshots of different people playing or watching hockey throughout the country. Everybody yells out, “He shoots, he scores!” And the tag line at the end is, “If we all shout it loud enough, they’ll hear us in Salt Lake.”
Although hockey isn’t something I care about, generally speaking, we Canadians can get pretty excited about a hockey game. We even go wild about one shot on net. Well, Luke 15:10 says that the angels get really excited about one person becoming a Christian. I don’t suppose they yell, “He shoots, he scores!” But Luke does say that there is rejoicing – there’s a party in heaven – in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. People get excited over a game; angels get excited over people.
That first Easter Sunday was something to get excited over. It was good news. Let’s look at what role angels played on that Resurrection Day.
First, we have to paint the picture. It was early Sunday morning when the women headed out to the garden where Jesus was buried. Who was there? There was Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus had cast out demons. She became one of Jesus’ closest followers. There was also another Mary – Matthew calls her “the other Mary”. She was the mother of James the disciple, and the wife of Alpheus, also known as Clopas. This Mary was likely the sister of Jesus’ mother, of course also named Mary.
There was also a woman named Joanna, who was the wife of Chuza, who was a steward to Herod Antipas. This Herod presided over one of Jesus’ trials. And there was also a woman named Salome, the wife of Zebedee, and the mother of James and John. It was this woman who had wanted her sons to sit at either side of Jesus when He began ruling His kingdom. I would say that she matured over time of following Jesus, from wanting to rule to wanting to serve.
I have one study book that says 14 women went to the tomb that morning to anoint Jesus’ body with perfume and spices. Only 4 are named specifically in the Gospels, but our passage today in v10 names 3 and then says “the others”. It may indeed have been 14. At any rate, these women headed to the tomb, and wondered along the way how they would move the stone blocking the tomb itself.
Here’s the first part that an angel plays in the day’s events. Matthew tells us that an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled the stone away. Then he sat down on it. This frightened the guards so much that we read that they shook and became like dead men – that is, they began shaking and eventually passed out because of fear. This was pretty important. The women were not going to be able to roll the stone away, so an angel took care of it. And the women were not going to be able to get to Jesus’ body because of the guards, and an angel took care of that too. An angel made the way for the women.
Now, here’s where the story gets a little messy. I believe all 4 accounts of the Resurrection story, so at this point you have to be a little creative to make them all fit together. Mark and Luke say that the women went into the tomb, and that’s where they actually saw something. Mark says one young man dressed in white, who was obviously an angel, spoke to the women. Luke says it was 2 men in clothes that were as bright as lightning, again with the idea that they were angels. My guess is that there were 2 angels there, but only one spoke to the women. They started by sitting, and then rose to present the women with the news.
The news that the angel spoke was more than good – it was wonderful: “Don’t be afraid or alarmed. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. But why are you looking for the living among the dead?”
I can imagine a twinkle in the angel’s eyes as he asked that question. Why are you looking for a living person in a grave? What would a living person be doing in a tomb?
Anyway, the angel continued: “He is not here – He is risen, just as He said. Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee, that He would be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, but be raised again on the third day?”
The women flashed back to those words that Jesus had spoken, and it started to make a little more sense.
Then the angel said, “Look at the place where they laid Him. Now, go tell His disciples, and especially Peter, that they will see Him soon, even as far away as Galilee. Now, ladies, I have told you the good news.” At that the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid, trembling, bewildered, but still filled with joy at the possibility that Jesus was alive.
They ran back to tell the remaining disciples, the Eleven, what they had just seen and heard. The men didn’t believe it, because it didn’t make sense. So Peter and John ran to the tomb. They saw the grave clothes lying there, and even though it didn’t make a lot of sense, John perhaps believed that Jesus really had risen, and headed back too, not letting anyone else in on their thoughts.
Eventually Mary Magdalene trickled back to the scene. She went into the tomb again, and saw the 2 angels again. They were sitting where Jesus’ body had been, one at the foot and the other at the head. They asked why she was crying. She said that she didn’t know where Jesus had been taken. Suddenly Jesus appeared behind her, even though she didn’t recognize Him. He spoke her name, and she knew that Jesus was alive. She ran back to tell the good news. Meanwhile, the other women came back to the tomb also. Jesus appeared to them as well.
So… the role that the angels played in this story was… they rolled away the stone, they scared the guards, they announced Jesus’ resurrection to the women in the tomb, and they questioned Mary Magdalene when she returned. Now, the question is, Why? After all, God could have done it all. He could have rolled the stone away Himself. I bet Jesus walking out of the grave would have done a fine job of making the guards faint. Jesus Himself could have made the announcements. God did not need to use angels. But obviously, He wanted to. God didn’t have to, but He chose to use His messengers to tell the story and accomplish His purposes on earth.
And folks, let me tell you tonight, it’s the same with us. God doesn’t have to use us, but He wants to. He could accomplish all His goals on earth without our help at all. Honestly, what could finite, foolish, weak, imperfect and sinful people do for an infinite, wise, strong, perfect and holy God? Even at our best, all that we do is flawed and doomed for failure.
But again I say, God doesn’t have to use us, but He wants to, and so He chooses to. I suppose there are many reasons, but it seems to me that God wants us to be part of His plans for redemption so that He can share joy with us. He wants us to get a sense of joy that He feels when one of His children comes home. He wants us to feel the same pleasure that He does when a person turns from his or her ways and decides to begin a new life with God. He wants us to feel the same enjoyment that He feels when a person chooses to put God first in all they do. God using His followers to share the message of Jesus is about sharing the same happiness He feels when it pays off.
It’s no wonder that Paul called the church at Philippi his “joy and crown”. God had blessed Paul with helping people begin to walk with God. That was Paul’s source of fulfillment. Nothing else seemed to matter as much.
Now, I wish that I could tell you how to win many people to the Lord. I can’t, because I don’t seem to do it very well. As far as actually praying with a person to cross the line, I can’t offer a lot of advice on how to accomplish that, but I know what the Bible says about how we are to live. We are to serve others and not ourselves. We are to live selflessly, putting others needs ahead of our own, putting others’ comfort ahead of our own. We are to use our jobs as mission fields, not being greedy or mean or stingy. I’m not saying say nothing and I’m not saying talk all the time.
I’m saying walk close enough to God through prayer and reading the Bible that when the Holy Spirit nudges you to speak, you’ll recognize His voice and you’ll do it. That’s all any of us can and should do. Obeying the voice of the Spirit when He speaks is all that any of us is required to do.
Let me close with this. Someone imagined a fascinating conversation that Jesus had with the Arch Angel, Gabriel, just after Jesus returned to heaven after the Resurrection and the Ascension.
Gabriel asked Him, "Well how did it go? Did you complete your mission?"
Jesus said, "Yes, it is finished.”
Gabriel said, “So you saved the whole world?”
Jesus said, “No, I didn’t. I modeled a godly life for 33 years, and I persuaded a few thousand Jews in a little corner of the Roman empire to follow me.”
Gabriel was surprised. “Only a few thousand?”
Jesus said, “Well, even most of them left when I was killed.”
Gabriel again was surprised. “They killed you?”
Jesus said, “Yes. I died for the sins of the world. Then, I burst from the tomb to persuade a little circle of frightened disciples that my life and my story are God’s way to save the world, and then I gave those 120 to the Holy Spirit and I left them to finish the task."
Gabriel was stunned by this. "You mean," Gabriel, said, "your whole plan to save the world depends on that little rag tagged bunch of former prostitutes and fishermen and tax collectors?"
"That’s right," Jesus said.
"But what if they fail?" Gabriel persisted in growing alarm, "What’s your backup plan?"
And quietly Jesus said, "There is no backup plan."
Folks, God wants to use you and me to continue the plan of salvation.
