Luke 24:1-8 NIVUK
[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. https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.24.5.NIVUK
I have always been entranced by detective stories. I grew up watching classic reproductions of Agatha Christie novels like Miss Marple, Poirot and others of the same ilk. I loved the American TV show ‘Columbo’. And nowadays I am a big fan of shoes like ‘Death in Paradise’ and ‘Shetland’.
Every one of these shows has a common thread, as has any investigation of any event: we must understand where it happened, how it happened, to whom it happened and why it happened. Then we can establish the truth and who is guilty or innocent. Without a careful examination of the facts, any investigation is useless.
Resurrection from the dead is a great miracle. There is none greater. It is a miracle that our modern scientific mind has difficulty contemplating.
But Jesus’ claims, and the claims of the Bible and true Christianity, all depend on it. Paul even wrote this:
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 NIVUK
[12] But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. [15] More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. [19] If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. https://bible.com/bible/113/1co.15.19.NIVUK
So if there is no resurrection, then everything about Christianity is a complete waste of time and every Christian is to be pitied.
But if there is a resurrection, then you’d better be ready for it.
We will examine four aspects of Christ’s resurrection. You can then decide for yourself if you believe it to be true.
The first of these is The Place Where He Had Been.
And I would hope that would be painfully obvious:
Matthew 28:1 NIVUK
[1] After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
Why did they go to the tomb?
Because Jesus had died and been buried there. They had every reason to expect Him to be in the tomb because they had watched Him die a wretched and torturous death.
Although he was never a doctor, John provides us with definitive evidence that Jesus was dead:
John 19:31-37 NIVUK
[31] Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. [32] The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. [33] But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. [34] Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. [35] The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. [36] These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken,’ [37] and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.19.31-37.NIVUK
So let’s get this straight right at the beginning: Jesus did not swoon. He did not feint. He did not black out. He did not ‘play possum’. Such an assertion is an insult to the skill of Roman executioners, a belittling of the stone cold brutality of crucifixion and an insult to our intelligence.
Jesus was dead. Medically. Surgically. Definitively.
So going to the tomb to tend to His body, while loving and caring, was a wholly legitimate thing to do. The two Marys expected Him to be there. They had firm evidence for this expectation. It was wholly reasonable and rational.
But the sight they saw upended that expectation quite spectacularly:
Luke 24:1-5
[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?’ https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.24.1-5.NIVUK
That question is quite incredible. They had every right to believe that a dead man would be lying in a tomb. That’s where dead people are. But what this angel tells them is that Jesus is not there because He is alive!
The two Marys aren’t the only people confused by the empty tomb:
John 20:1-10 NIVUK
[1] Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. [2] So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’ [3] So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. [4] Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. [5] He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. [6] Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, [7] as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. [8] Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. [9] (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) [10] Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.20.1-10.NIVUK
Jesus deliberately makes His first resurrection appearance at the Empty Tomb (Matthew 28:8-10; John 20:11-18).
Why is that?
I believe the symbolism and the meaning is absolutely critical here. Jesus’ victory is about the defeat of death. Tombs are the territory of death. It is their home turf. Jesus proclaimed His victory right there, in a place surrounded by dead people, to show both His uniqueness and the absolute nature of that victory.
And we also have the grave clothes that were found in the tomb. These were not, as the old hymn ‘Thine Be The Glory’ poetically states, ‘folded where Thy body lay’. Instead, as several commentators point out, the embalming oils would have made the linen bandages rather hard, meaning that they remained in the form of His body (John 20:3-7). This suggests that no grave robber had removed His body.
This was all the evidence John needed – he saw it and believed (John 20:8).
So we see that the Marys, Peter and John were absolutely correct and logical in their decision to go to the empty tomb. However, Jesus was not there because He was alive.
Apart from the place where Jesus had been, we see The Place He Returned To. We read these words:
Matthew 28:8-10 NIVUK
[8] So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. [9] Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped
his feet and worshipped him. [10] Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.28.8-10.NIVUK
Mark 16:7 NIVUK
[7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” ’
I see this as a wondrous act of grace.
After all, what had happened to the disciples? They had risked everything to follow a Teacher who claimed to be the Messiah. He had been crucified. He was dead. They were in Jerusalem.
Yes, Jesus had been raised. But this would have been a thoroughly confusing time. They would have no idea what would happen next.
Where was the most logical place to go next?
Back home.
Home, where people knew them and knew Jesus.
Home, where they had the safety and support of loved ones.
Home, where the resurrection message would be met with some confusion and bewilderment, but less hostility.
Home, where they could take their time to process all that happened.
But I believe there was something more wonderful happening here – something that ought to send our hearts soaring.
These disciples had let Jesus down. All of them. Without exception. Peter more than the others – and he was among their leaders.
They had set out as twelve. They had returned as eleven.
And now Jesus was returning them back to their home town.
Why?
To press the reset button on their ministry. To start again.
That is, in essence, what He does with Peter (John 21:15-19).
It is such a beautiful thing that the Lord Jesus takes care of His errant disciples in this way: He meets them where they live and gently restored them, even when they had failed Him so badly.
And for this to be a place to where Jesus had returned is just so very special.
Apart from the place where He had been and the place He returned to, we also see The Place Where They Were Going. And that place is, maybe surprisingly, a place to where they were not commanded to go:
Luke 24:13 NIVUK
[13] Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
Now, here things get interesting. During the resurrection accounts, at different points in time, Jesus tells them to go to Galilee (Matthew 28:10) and then later to stay where they were in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49).
He says nothing about Emmaus.
Emmaus is to the west of Jerusalem; Galilee is to the north. From the tone of the conversation on the way (Luke 24:14-24), we don’t see any joyful anticipation of meeting with Jesus in His home area. Instead, we see resignation, despondency, a sense of failure and surrender.
These men were not just walking away from Jerusalem, they were walking away from Jesus.
Isn’t it fascinating? There is no sense in this passage that the persective of Jesus’ disciples is that they had let Him down. Instead, there is a sense that Jesus had let them down. They are puzzled, befuddled, confused. You get the sense that their faith has not just wavered, it has faded completely.
And yet...
Just as Jesus met with the Marys by the empty tomb, and just as met with His disciples by the lake, here He meets with his bruised and broken disciples on the road away from Him.
And yes, let’s not be in any doubt about this, He deals with their lack of faith (Luke 24:25-27).
But so profound is this experience that these men head back to Jerusalem as soon as they can to tell the news (Luke 24:33-35).
Again, this is a beautiful, grace-filled encounter with the risen Christ, designed to mend and restore the shattered faith of His disciples.
But there is an end to this: a glorious, wonderful end. Because after the place where He had been and the places He was returning to and they were going to, we see The Place Where He Arrived.
Luke in particular tells us that Jesus has returned to Heaven:
Luke 24:50-53 NIVUK
[50] When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. [51] While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. [52] Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. [53] And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.24.50-53.NIVUK
Acts 1:6-11 NIVUK
[6] Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ [7] He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ [9] After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. [10] They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. [11] ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/act.1.6-11.NIVUK
Peter preached this:
Acts 2:32-33 NIVUK
[32] God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. [33] Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
Paul, in the glorious hymn he quotes in Philippians, adds this to the picture:
Philippians 2:9-11 NIVUK
[9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So when Jesus had defeated death and presented Himself as victorious to His followers, the Bible is clear that He returned to Heaven, sat down on the right hand of God on high.
Hallelujah!
The story of Easter begins in disgrace and defeat, it ends in complete and total victory; it begins in what seems like a tragedy – the worst of all tragedies; it ends in the deepest of all joys; it begins in crushing disappointment; it ends in the thrill of seeing hope fulfilled.
Easter is celebrated differently across the nations. In the UK, chocolate eggs are on sale as soon as Christmas is over. Our supermarkets are full of them.
But not in the Philippines.
One year, we had a video call with my daughter’s Filipino cousins. While on the call, she took a large chocolate Easter egg and showed them it. They were wide-eyed in amazement. They had never seen chocolates that large.
Until my daughter took a knife and cut into her chocolate egg. Then they were crestfallen.
The egg was hollow. All was not what it seemed.
If your Easter is all about the coming of Spring, or bunny rabbits or eggs or chocolate, then it will be hollow. There will be no substance to it. It will purely be an exercise in marketing.
But if it’s about the risen Christ, who died to save you and rose from the dead to meet you where you are broken and lead you to Heaven?
Then it has substance. And more than enough joy to last you the rest of the year and the rest of your life.
I wish you the happiest of Easters today.
Because Christ is risen!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You that You have risen from the dead and offer me eternal life. I gratefully accept it from Your hand and will live the rest of my life for You. Amen.
Questions
1. What evidence is there that Jesus really rose from the dead?
2. What difference did this fact make to His followers?
3. What difference does it make to you?
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