"The Miracle That Still Changes Lives" Series

“The Miracle that Still Changes Lives”

Luke 24:1-12

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

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Nine days ago the surgical team had just begun their work on my daughter in law. They were barely into surgery when the procedure had to be stopped. What was expected to be a 10 hour surgery had lasted only one hour. My oldest son, David received a page that we were needed in the consult room to meet with the lead surgeon. We raced to that area, a small sterile room with a small table and 3 chairs……only to be delayed another 15 minutes before the doctor arrived. That time seemed more like hours……. To say that we were anxious to see the surgeon would be a grave understatement. Neither one of us knew what to say to the other. We just waited. We stared at each other not knowing what the news would be. I tried to help David remain calm. But we were both afraid we were about to hear the worst news possible.

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The disciples found themselves in an extraordinary situation. The One whom they had followed for 3.5 years; had sat at His feet and learned all of the great teachings firsthand, had now been crucified on a cross and buried in a borrowed tomb. These 11 men……Judas was gone at this point; had left their families, their jobs, everything behind, to follow Him and now He was dead in the grave. On the first day of the week several women……Mary and several other women went out to visit the tomb where the body of Jesus had been laid. And then to their complete surprise, the body was missing. Two men in clothing who appeared to be shining were standing there and the men asked them this question……“Why do you stand here looking for the living among the dead?” In other words why would you come to a cemetery to visit someone who is alive? The scripture tells us that very evening the disciples were so frightened that they went to a house and locked all the doors in hopes that they would not be found, only to face a similar death if they claimed to know Him. And on that day, the first day of the week, the day we mark down as Resurrection Sunday, they were all reminded of several truths. (1) First of all the disciples were reminded of the truths they had learned in the past. Let’s face it, sometimes, we just forget. Parents have to remind their children on a regular basis of many of the things they have taught them. Supervisors have to remind their employees to stay on task, to complete what they start and the disciples had to be reminded of a truth they had been told over and over and over. The scripture puts it this way…..”From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Did you hear that? From that time on Jesus explain to His disciples He was leaving.

It’s hard to imagine why it had not sunk in. But let’s face it. The disciples were human. We refer to them as saints but they were certainly not without sin. Peter denied he even knew Jesus, Judas walked away completely, they lost faith on numerous occasions and the list of mistakes they made goes on and on. They were ordinary men. Just like you and me. And Jesus had to stop many times and say, let me tell you one more time where all of this is headed. Because they had to be reminded.