He is Risen!
Notes
Transcript
He is Risen!
Good Morning
My wife told me the other day that I can sometimes act like an idiot. I think that was pretty cool of her to give me permission.
Update on Dr. Fisher
First Duncan is announcing that they have a man coming in view of a call!
First Waurika’s pastor resigned last week! Please keep them in your prayers.
Today we are going to be in Luke 24:1-12.
Last week we looked at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We saw how he told 2 disciples where to find donkey that no one had ever sat on and He also told them what to say when the owners questioned them about taking the donkey. We saw the crowds through their coats and palm branches down as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. They shouted Hosanna (save us now) and blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! They thought that Jesus was going to finally take His place as King and free Isreal from the Romans! That is not why He came, He came to free us from the bondage of sin! He came so that we can have life!
Then there was Friday! Some of the same people who were throwing their coats down and throwing down palm branches, shouting Hosanna, Hosanna, they were now shouting crucify Him, crucify Him! They chose Barabbas the murderer and a notorious criminal. They chose him over the Son of God! They convicted Him in a fake trial and then beat Him and crucified Him. After He was killed, they put Him in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, who was a respected member of the council. Luke tells us that he was a good and righteous mean and that he did not consent to the decision of the council to kill Jesus. John tells us that Joseph was a disciple of Jesus. Then we see Nicodemus, a Pharisee, come and bring a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds! Not all of the Pharisee’s and religious leaders were bad.
Today we are going to look at what happened when they came to finish preparing Jesus’ body for the grave.
Please stand as we read God’s word.
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 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? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 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, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 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.
We can see that the women were the ones who were going to finish preparing Jesus’ body for the tomb. This isn’t surprising, since how many of the apostles were at the cross? One, John was the only one there, the rest had scattered afraid that they might get the same treatment as Jesus. So these women get up early, I don’t think that they got much sleep at all! They had been through such a roller coaster of emotions in the past week. With the entry into Jerusalem and then the arrest and death of Jesus. Now they have to go and bury the man they have been following for the past 3 years. They were probably emotionally and physically wiped out.
It is Sunday, that is the first day of the week in the Jewish calendar and it is early. Sometime between 3-6 am. The word used for at early dawn is the term used for the 4th watch of the night. We know from the other gospel writings that they got there before the sun was up. So it was early in the morning. They had the spices with them for Jesus’s body. They were not expecting to find anything but His body still in the tomb. They were in for a surprise!
How did these women think they were going to get into the tomb? They knew that it had been sealed with a large stone. There was no way they were going to move it. I wonder if in their exhausted state, if they even thought about that. To their surprise when they got to the tomb, the stone was moved!! They rush in to find Jesus’ body gone!! I can only imagine the conversation in the tomb between these women. They have stolen Jesus’ body, why would they do that! Haven’t they done enough!! Why can’t they just leave Him alone, He is dead!
None of them remembered what Jesus taught them. That He would be arrested, beaten, and crucified. Then on the third day, rise! They were all there when He taught these things. They know what He said and yet they couldn’t remember it. They were to worried about preparing His body for the grave. They were in to much shock about all the things that had happened!
While they are still in the tomb, they saw 2 men next to them, in dazzling white clothes! These two men are angels! The women had a common response to seeing angels, they were frightened. They also bowed their faces to them.
One of them asks a great question. One that probably confused the women. Why do you look for the living among the dead. They were probably like, what is he talking about, we are not looking for anyone who is alive. We are looking for Jesus of Nazareth. He was crucified and we need to finish preparing His body. They were looking for the dead among the dead.
The angel tells them that He is not there, that He has risen! Our King is alive! Praise God! I would like to have seen the look on their faces when he told them that. They still hadn’t remember Jesus’ teaching yet, so they probably had a look a lot like you do when I tell my jokes! What do you mean He is risen.
But before they can start asking questions, the angel reminds them about what Jesus taught them. That the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise! The angels basically tell the Good News to these women and then they remembered Jesus’ words. I believe that they were so tired and stressed out over all that had happened, they just needed a reminder about what Jesus told them. They got it and look at what they did!
They went back and shared the Good News! He has risen! They told the Apostles and all the others that were there. Our King is alive! They explained everything to the Apostles and they didn’t get it, again. They didn’t believe them. Even though they had been taught by Jesus that all of this was going to happen. It happened just like Jesus said it would. They even heard it fresh from the women returning from the tomb. They would have been excited and overjoyed! But they still didn’t believe them. They didn’t believe, that is a sad statement! All that they had seen Jesus do, all that they had done with the power Jesus gave them! All that Jesus had taught them in private, more than anyone else! They had special access to teachings that no one else had. Yet, they did not believe! We like to call Thomas doubting Thomas, but none of them believed here!
Then Peter got up and ran to the tomb. I guess after hearing all the news and thinking about it, he wanted to see for himself. So, he gets to the tomb and looking in he sees the linen clothes that Jesus had been wrapped in, laying there where His body was. If someone is going to steal a body, they are not going to unwrap it! They are going to grab it and run. No one would take the time to take the linen clothes off of Jesus’ body. That would have taken a lot of time to do. Seeing the linen clothes laying there Peter went home marveling at what he saw. It doesn’t say that he believed them now, it says that he went home marveling about what had happened.
It is strange that the people that first find out that Jesus is risen are women. Not that women are not important, but in that day, women were not treated the same as they are today. I think that God did this to help women become valued more. Jesus did a lot of things to help the way women are viewed and I believe that this is one of those things. The women are the ones who stood by the cross and watched Him be killed. They are the ones who helped to prepare His body and they are the ones who come back at the first opportunity to finish the job. God rewards their faithfulness with being the first to know that He is risen! Remember, they did not go to the tomb with the idea that they are going to find Jesus alive. They are going to finish burying Him. They had forgotten Jesus’ teaching about His resurrection. They got there and heard the news from the angels and they became excited witnesses. They went and told the group what they had seen and heard! Christ is alive!
Jesus died, was buried and rose on the 3rd day! Praise God! That is the King I serve, the risen saviour of the world! That is the on Jesus that brings life to us.
If you serve a verse other than the one who was killed and rose again, then you serve a false king. You serve a Jesus that is not in the Bible. A Jesus that can not provide salvation.
Only the Jesus of the Bible can bring salvation to you. If you don’t believe like the Apostles, the Bible tells us that Jesus appeared to over 500 witnesses!
There have been countless people die for Jesus. No one dies for a lie! 10 of the Apostles were martyred for their belief in Jesus Christ and that He is risen. John survived being boiled in oil and never once did any of them renounce their faith in Jesus. Nothing the world could do to these men could make them change their minds about who Jesus is! If it were a lie, they would have confessed to stop the pain and suffering that they were going through. Jesus is alive! He is risen!
Jesus left heaven to be born a man, so that He could be rejected by Jewish religious leaders, beaten and crucified. He was killed in the worst way man knew how to kill someone at the time. It was a brutal death, that some never even made it to the cross. Many died at the beatings before the cross. Jesus voluntarily suffered this death for you and me. He did this because we have a debt that we can not pay, a debt that money can’t satisfy. Our debt requires death as payment, either ours or Jesus’ in our place. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. Death is the only thing that will pay the debt we have. If we chose to pay our debt with our lives when we die, we will spend eternity in hell.
The only way to heaven and eternal life with God, is if we allow Jesus’ death to stand for our debt. That only happens when we repent of our sins and believe that He is who He says He is. The Lamb of God sent to bring salvation to those who repent and believe.
We can do good the rest of our lives and it won’t make any difference if our faith is not in Jesus.
He died for you and me.
He loves us so much that He went through the worst the world and satan could throw at Him and He took it for us. For you and me.
Just like the women couldn’t make the men believe, I can’t believe for you or make you believe. I can only tell you. That Jesus died for you and He is risen. You and I are both sinners and we need Jesus. I found Him and my life hasn’t been the same since. I hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth every step. He is a good King. His yolk is easy. He walks every step with me. I mess up everyday! but He still is there with me and forgives me every time.
Have you put your faith in our Risen King?
Have you experienced forgiveness?
Are you tired of trying to be good enough?
The bad news is you will never be good enough!
The good news is you can stop trying. He is good enough for you!
All you have to do is repent and believe in Jesus Christ and all is forgiven!
You become a new creation and the old passes away!
If you have not repented and believed in Jesus, when we start singing this song, tell Him you repent of your sins and you believe that He is the Son of God, who takes away my sin!
When we sing you talk to God! Then if you do, let someone know so we can celebrate with you!
Let’s pray.
