"The Resurrection" Luke 23b-24 April 20 2025

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Luke 24, verse 1:

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?

Verse 6:

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.

Skipping down to verse 36:

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Verse 40:

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Verse 50 - his ascension:

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

(Pray...)

The Scandal

As I was preparing for today, and examining the death and Resurrection of Jesus, a thought occurred to me

What must have gone through the minds of the disciples and followers of Jesus after the Crucifixion?

I just read in verse 45 that Jesus had to open their minds to understand the Scriptures

The fact that Jesus and the Father knew full well that there would be a Resurrection was never understood by the disciples until it happened

They were blind to the Resurrection until Jesus opened their minds to it

Imagine following Jesus for three years - and witnessing all the incredible things he did -

How he taught

How he loved people

And healed them

All the miracles he performed

How he stood up to the religious elite

And how he revealed himself as the Messiah

Never once, committing a sin

And some how, by the arm of Rome, and through the intense hatred of the Pharisees, and the anger of the crowds - Jesus was nailed to a cross and crucified

And just days before all of this, Jesus came into Jerusalem in his Triumphal Entry on a donkey, as the crowds were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

And then the entire city of Jerusalem was stirred up - and they demanded, “Who is this?”

And the crowds answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

But then days later, Jesus is tried, tortured, and crucified - and then buried in a tomb

I imagine the disciples asking themselves, “How could this happen?”

“This is scandalous,” they must have thought - that an innocent man like this could be killed on a cross like that

They had hoped that Jesus of Nazareth would redeem Israel - and now this

But then the greatest hope in the history of mankind came - the empty tomb!

All hopelessness from what they thought was a scandal was instantly gone the moment they realized the tomb was empty and when Jesus was now standing in their midst

And now everything made sense

Jesus is the Messiah - the Son of God!

For those who repent and turn to him, Jesus became the Redeemer of the world, not just Israel

The Greatest Hope

Everything in which we base our hope today - everything - hinges on the Resurrection

But what if there was no Resurrection?

Paul imagined exactly that

1 Corinthians 15:13–19 NLT

For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

I want to cry when I read this

But I’m compelled to let this sink in

If there was no Resurrection, then the ministry of Jesus was fake - the Gospel is fake - and there is no God

If there was no Resurrection, then the atheists have been right all along -

Ultimately, life is meaningless

No Resurrection means no God - and that the Bible is all wrong

If we just live for a short time on Earth, and then we enter into oblivion - then what are we doing?

Why gather on Sundays? Why pray? Why suffer for Christ?

I know this is dark - but stay with me - this is exactly what Paul did to make his point

For a moment, Paul strips away the most glorious and the most important event in the entire universe

In this passage, Paul gives us the ultimate alternative, and shows us what life would be like in a godless reality

He’s saying we are the most to be pitied - because we believe in all of this

Why did we waste all this time in a life of faith?

Why don’t we just dip ourselves into the pool of hedonism and enjoy life to its fullest?

Why don’t we just take one message from the Bible: “Love one another,” and forget all the rest

Live for yourself - and try to be nice to others while you’re at it

And if you can, try to create your own meaning in life

The Glory of God

The good news is that the Resurrection is real

The culmination of God’s ultimate plan for us is found in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

As I said before, it is arguably the most important event in the entire universe

Go all the way back to Genesis 3 and you will find the first mention of this plan in verse 15 when God cursed the serpent -

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

The result of that culmination is the redemption of God’s elect - and the institution of His church

Everything hinges on the Resurrection

Our redemption and reconciliation with God

And God’s eternal plan for humanity...relies solely on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

All of us who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus - were at one time, enemies of God and dead in our sins

We are now alive in Christ

Col 1:15 says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Only because of Christ’s death on a cross and his Resurrection

This past week, I’ve been thinking about the glory of God - and how that glory was revealed in the Resurrection

Romans 6:4 ESV

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

That’s my emphasis btw

The Bible says that we will be glorified with:

Romans 8:17–18 ESV

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

How can we possibly be glorified with him?

My dad earned his doctorate when I was little

I think I was 8 years old

He received his doctorate from the prestigious University of Southern California

I was there - and I got to witness when he crossed the stage

I remember that day - I don’t remember all the academic speeches, but I do remember seeing my dad up on stage

When he was handed that diploma, he got all the glory and honor for one of the biggest accomplishments of his life

- he had put in a lot of hard work and he deserved the recognition

The question is - did I get anything out of it?

Yes!

Not because I did anything to help him, but because that was my dad!

I shared in his glory - I could point to him and shout, “That’s my dad!”

For the rest of my life, and to this day, I have been able to tell people, “My dad earned a doctorate”

Because - he’s my dad

In 2016, the Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series, ending their infamous 108-year championship drought

The last time they had won the World Series was in 1908

The Indians had tied the Cubs, 6-6 in the eighth inning

And then the Cubs answered back to a score of Cubs 8, Cleveland 7

It came to the final out in the tenth inning - Cubs won the World Series 8-7 in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series

I’m a Cubs fan and I remember watching that on TV

It was a glorious moment for the Cubs who had waited 108 years to get their 2nd WS win

Let me ask you - what do you suppose my response was when I witnessed that game?

Do you think I crossed my arms and gritted my teeth and said, “Look at those arrogant multimillionaires. They think they’re so special.”

Or do you think I was jumping up and down - with my arms in the air - screaming with delight - and maybe shedding a tear?

My dad got the glory for his accomplishments - but I shared in that glory

The Cubs received their glory, but me and a lot of other Cubs fans got to share that glory

Because Jesus rose from the grave, that makes me want to shout, “That’s Jesus. That’s my Savior!”

Close

I want to close with one more scripture slide

It’s so simple - but so incredibly profound

Seven words -

John 14:19 ESV

Because I live, you also will live.

That’s the essence of the Resurrection - and the meaning of Easter

Because Jesus lives, I live

No other god is alive today - only Jesus Christ

He became sin and died on a cross

And then he rose from the grave in glory - so that we might live

Jesus never sinned, but the Bible says he became sin on the cross 2 Cor 5:21

So that - we might become the righteousness of God in him

Jesus took our sin with him to the cross

God looked at his Son as if he had committed every sin we have ever committed - even though he was innocent

God punished Jesus on the cross as if he had lived my life

And now God treats me as if I had lived the perfect life of Jesus

That’s the Gospel

The Resurrection is the only thing in this universe that has meaning

But if you die an unbeliever - then I’m sorry, but your life is meaningless

I’m not alone in believing that:

Friedrich Nietzsche

Jean-Paul Sartre

Richard Dawkins

Atheist astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson once said that he’d rather not be cremated after he dies, but buried

“So that,” he said, “the energy content contained within it gets returned to the earth, so that flora and fauna can dine upon it, just as I have dined upon flora and fauna during my lifetime.”

I’m sorry - but what a depressing outlook on your life

If you’re an atheist, you can hope for that all you want

But what you can never hope for - is oblivion after death

That’s the ultimate hope for an atheist - is that they will cease to be - and total oblivion is what’s waiting for us after we die

Your body may feed flora and fauna - but you will never be greeted by utter annihilation

All of us will live on forever somewhere

After you die, you will either immediately be in the presence of Jesus forever

Or you will live forever in torment in a Christ-less eternity

What a terrifying thought

Ladies and gentlemen - there is hope in Jesus - because he conquered death

And we will be with him forever

It’s the only thing that has meaning in this life

God raised him from the dead

It’s really that simple - Because Jesus lives, we live

(Pray...)

Communion

(Pick one…)

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

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