Luke 24:1-24:12 - Why Do You Seek the Living Among the Dead?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
The title of this sermon is a bit lengthy. But I love the question that is asked in today’s passage.
Why do you seek the living among the dead?
This question shows the slowness of the followers of Christ to grasp the resurrection. We see that they were slow to believe. The women go to the tomb with burial spices. The disciples refuse to believe the testimony of the women. Peter leaves the tomb in a confused state. And John tells us that Thomas won’t believe the testimony of the other 10 disciples seeing Jesus unless he first sees it himself (John 20:24-25)!
The old preacher, Alexander Maclaren rightly stated:
“The evidential value of the disciples’ slowness to believe cannot be overrated.”
Alexander Maclaren
As R. Kent Hughes correctly asserts - The only explanation that makes any sense is that they saw the empty tomb, saw the Lord raised in His glorified body, and believed the Word of God.
The disciple’s slowness to believe in the resurrection thereby highlights and magnifies the truth of Jesus raising from the dead.
Despite the lack of faith from these followers of Christ, He chose to have them be His witnesses and sent them out to share the good news of the Gospel with the world. We gather today because they eventually faithfully preached the Gospel abroad. May we celebrate the truth of this message.
Christ Is Risen!
He Is Risen, indeed!
Let’s read our Scripture for today…
Read Full Scripture:
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
And they remembered his words,
and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,
but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Prayer
Today we will see three things the empty tomb shows us. The first is…
I. The Empty Tomb Revealed the Risen Savior (1-3)
I. The Empty Tomb Revealed the Risen Savior (1-3)
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
We are told that this account takes place the first day of the week. This was on what we now refer to as Sunday. Because the Lord was raised on Sunday, the first day of the week replaced Saturday as the Sabbath for the early church (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Revelation 1:10) and is referred to as the Lord’s Day. This is why we gather on Sunday instead of Saturday as a church.
Luke had already told us that the women who followed Jesus had gone to prepare some spices on Friday after they saw Jesus placed in the tomb (Luke 23:55-56).
When putting the Gospels together - the women likely consisted of Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and Salome - although Luke tells us that there were more as he states there were other women (Luke 24:10).
We see the faith and love that these women had for Jesus as they set out not knowing how they would even get into the tomb as seen in Mark 16:3.
And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
This brings us to verses 2-3 in Luke 24…
And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Upon arriving, however, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, and the body of Jesus was missing. Matthew tells us how this happened. An angel of the Lord rolled back the stone which frightened the guards who had been stationed to watch the tomb so badly that they stood there like dead men (Matthew 28:2-4). Mark 16:4 also tells us that this was a very large stone. Joseph, being a wealthy man, had purchased a very nice tomb. This stone was likely so large that it would have taken many men to move it. As we already mentioned, the women who had been pondering how they were going to move this large stone find that the work of moving the stone had already been done - supernaturally as well!
Why was the stone rolled away?
This question is a bit deeper than one would imagine because…
We know that Jesus didn’t need the stone to be rolled away in order to get out of the tomb. We see that in His glorified and resurrected body, He was able to walk through walls and doors (John 20:19).
So why was the stone rolled away?
The stone was rolled away not for the benefit of Jesus - but instead - as a witness and testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus didn’t need the angel’s help to get out of the tomb. Jesus was able to lay His life down and take it up again!
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
This is incredibly important for us to understand. Jesus is fully and truly man - but He is also fully and truly God. And being fully and truly God, He had the power to raise Himself from the dead.
The religious rulers and the Romans did not take the life Jesus. He laid it down Himself. The angels didn’t raise Jesus, He raised Himself. He is all-powerful and all-sufficient.
And because of this great power that He demonstrated by raising Himself - He promises to also raise those who follow Him in faith! Those who repent of their sins and place their trust in Jesus Christ alone can be assured that this same Christ with the power to raise Himself will raise us to new life as well!
We have seen that the empty tomb has revealed the risen Savior!
Next we see that…
Scripture References: John 20:24-25, Luke 23:55-56, The Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Revelation 1:10), Mark 16:3, Matthew 28:2-4, Mark 16:4, John 20:19, John 10:17
II. The Empty Tomb Reaffirmed the Revealed Scripture (4-8)
II. The Empty Tomb Reaffirmed the Revealed Scripture (4-8)
While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
I love that Luke uses the word perplexed here. This means to be at a loss. They are literally out of their mind about what has happened. As they stand there trying to process the situation, we are told that two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. This is a way of Luke telling us that these are angels which is made clear in Luke 24:23.
Listen to the women’s response…
And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
They go from confusion to being terrified. They fall to their faces out of fear. They are not worshiping these angels as we know that angels refuse to accept worship. Instead, they bow down in terror and submission and probably to hide their eyes from the blindingly bright light. With the low light of the dawn, the dazzling apparel of the angels must have shone brighter than the sun rising in the east.
Now comes an amazing question from the angels to the women.
Why do you seek the living among the dead?
In other words, Jesus said He was going to raise. Why do you come with spices and ointments to anoint a body that isn’t even here?
Why are you looking for the risen Savior in His tomb? Tombs are for dead people. Jesus has told you how many times that He would raise from the dead!
Consider a few of Jesus claims to raise from the dead…
In John 2:18-22 He told the Jews that when they destroyed this temple - speaking of His body - He will raise it up again three days later.
In Matthew 12:39-40 Jesus gave them the sign of Jonah - saying that He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and rise.
Matthew 16:21 specifically mentions Jesus teaching on His resurrection.
We have already mentioned John 10:17-18 where Jesus said He would lay His life down and take it up again.
In other words, His resurrection should not have been missed by His followers. It should have been expected. Yet, these women as well as His disciples completely miss this incredibly important teaching of Jesus - namely His resurrection.
Still confused and frightened, one of the angels speaks to the women in the following verses…
He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words,
The women are told that Christ is risen! He is not there.
The women are reminded of the teachings of Jesus - specifically quoting Matthew 16:21. He had told them that He must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. Yet, on the third day, He was going to rise. And He has risen indeed!
After being addressed by the angel, the memories of their Savior’s teaching came flooding back. Excitement began to fill their weary minds and souls. Hope had returned.
We can learn a lot from this interchange. What went wrong in this scene?
The women had forgotten the Lord’s teaching.
They had not treasured and understood His Word the way that they should have. This can happen to us as well.
Sometimes we don’t fully understand or grasp the teaching in the first place. Maybe it is because of a lack of attention - or maybe it is because of our preconceived ideas or beliefs. This is likely what happened to these women. They missed the Lord’s teachings on His death and resurrection because they, like many others, believed that Jesus had come to reign on earth the first time He came. This caused them to completely miss all of these prophecies that Jesus gave about His burial and resurrection. Christ will certainly return to reign - but His first coming was as the Lamb of God to take upon Him the sins of the world on the cross (John 1:29).
Brothers and sisters, forget not the Lord’s teaching.
His way leads to life. It is the narrow way, but it is the right way.
Jesus teaches about the difficulty of following Him in Matthew 7:13-14:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
We live in a world that is bent on following the wide way to destruction. Forget not the way of the Lord. Jesus Christ is the way, and the truth and the life. May we walk in wisdom and not forget His commands.
Now we come to our last point…
Scripture References: Luke 24:23, John 2:18-22, Matthew 12:39-40, Matthew 16:21, John 10:17-18, John 1:29, Matthew 7:13-14
III. The Empty Tomb Requires a Response (9-12)
III. The Empty Tomb Requires a Response (9-12)
and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,
With great excitement, they told these things to the 11 disciples and some of the other followers of Jesus. As we already mentioned, Luke gives us the list of women who were witnesses of the empty tomb and of the angel’s testimony.
I love that Jesus allows women to be the first witnesses of the resurrection. These women had witnessed His death at the cross, His burial into the tomb, and now His empty tomb. Despite the inferior position women had in Jewish society, Jesus had sovereignly appointed these women to be His first witnesses. Deuteronomy 19:15 states:
“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
And here Luke records three women by name and even mentions other women who were there as well.
Jesus spent much of His ministry breaking the Pharisees’ legalistic guidelines. He healed on the Sabbath (Luke 14:3), allowed His disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1), didn’t participate in legalistic handwashing rituals (Luke 11:38), among others. And in this same vein, He now has went against their made-up guidelines of witnesses not being able to be women.
This is yet another testimony to the truth of the resurrection. If the resurrection was a fabricated story by Jesus’s followers, certainly women would not have been the original witnesses.
Unfortunately, the disciples do not believe the witness of the women…
but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
After telling the Apostles these things, the disciples think that the women must be out of their mind. Maybe after the huge amount of stress and heartache that the women had experienced, they were becoming delusional. Or maybe after all of the sleep deprivation, they were unable to tell fact from fiction.
Despite the clarity of their witness, the disciples refuse to believe.
Their unbelief is not only directed at the women, though.
They also had heard Jesus mention His resurrection as discussed before. Jesus had spoken of His resurrection many times. This was not a novel idea that had never been taught. Yet, the disciples were unmoved by the news that Jesus had risen.
Very interestingly, Jesus’s own disciples are the first skeptics of the Gospel. They are the first true unbelievers in the resurrection.
Again, we see the truth of the Gospel. Something must have happened in order to change these 11 men from skeptics to martyrs. Only by seeing Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit, could such a change truly happen.
We have mentioned before that 10 out of the 11 remaining disciples died a martyr’s death. John, the only one who did not die at the hands of his persecutors, was banished to an island.
Something had to have changed in the lives of these men to go from skepticism to sacrifice.
The only rational and logical explanation is that they saw the risen Christ and were filled with the Holy Spirit Who emboldened and empowered them.
Getting back to our account for today…
We are told that one of the disciples, although he doesn’t believe the report given by the women, he wants to check out the situation for himself…
But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Peter, being a act first and think later kind of guy, took off and ran to the tomb. The Gospel of John tells us that John also went with Peter. John even lets us know that he won the race to the tomb in case you were wondering. Yet, Peter barreled into the tomb first as John cautiously with scoping out the place.
Walking into the tomb, Peter sees the linen cloths lying by themselves. Jesus isn’t there. The cloths, we are told are actually neatly folded as well (John 20:6-7).
Peter then went home marveling at what had happened. He is amazed and astonished - overwhelmed by what he had just seen.
I know we are oftentimes hard on Peter. Unfortunately we usually have quite a good reason to be. However, we have to give him credit that despite his doubt, he went to check things out. Sadly, however, his response to the empty tomb was one of wonder and confusion and not faith and belief.
The Gospel had not yet taken root in his heart. He did not fully understand the truth of the resurrection. However, this was going to change. And once he was converted - born again - saved - he became one of the strongest preachers of the early church. Listen to him testify to the truth of the resurrection in Acts 2:22-24
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
There is a man who has been changed by the truth. There is a man who understands the empty tomb well.
Scripture References: Deuteronomy 19:15, Luke 14:3, Luke 6:1, Luke 11:38, John 20:6-7, Acts 2:22-24
Conclusion:
As we prepare to close today, I want each of us to think about the question the angel asked...
Why Do You Seek the Living Among the Dead?
The women, Peter, and John all went to the tomb looking for Jesus. Despite the clear teaching from Jesus about His resurrection, they were spending their time looking for Jesus in the wrong place.
In response to this, I have two challenges for you to consider today.
My first challenge is to seek the One and True Jesus of the Bible.
The only way to find and know the true Jesus is through His Word.
Open the Scriptures and read. Meditate and pray on His Word. Don’t seek the false Jesus portrayed by many in our world that make Him one-dimensional. Seek the true Jesus of the Bible - fully loving and yet full of truth. Full of grace and yet full of justice. Strong and mighty and yet compassionate and kind.
My final challenge for today is this: Are you seeking things that are life giving from a world full of things that contain only death?
Brothers and sisters, many people try to find satisfaction and joy in the things of this world. They are looking for life in a place full of death. They think that if they make more money, then they will truly have life. They think that if they find that right relationship, then they will truly have life. They think that if they get that honor and acclaim, then they will truly have life.
But the resurrection of Jesus Christ reminds us that there is only One Way to truly have life - and that way is through faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
If you are seeking to find life in a world full of death - repent - turn away from the things of this world and turn toward Christ in faith.
Only when you seek Christ will you truly have an abundant life. He provides you with eternal life and forgiveness.
May we celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus. May we look for Him where He may found - not in the grave - but exalted at the right hand of the Father.
Because we know that…
Christ Is Risen!
He Is Risen Indeed!
