Sermon Tone Analysis

We can pick up where we left off last week where we talked about the terrible cruelty of the cross and how Jesus suffered an unbelievable execution.

I think we need to remember what happened on that Friday before the passover where Jesus was tried, he was sentenced, he was beaten with the whip so much so that he would have been as one verse says unrecognizable as a man.

Many who would endure that type of beating from a Roman soldier would in fact die there.

Jesus was forced to carry the beam of his cross publically to the place of the skull where he would be nailed to the beam and they would lift him up where he would suffer incredibly, he would take on all the sin in the world, from the beginning of time to the end of time and would eventually give up his spirit and die.

Death occured after about 3 hours.

The soldiers, to make sure he was dead would stab him in the side where it is written that blood and water flowed,.

which is a sign that Jesus was in fact physically dead.

He was taken down from the cross by a man named Joseph of Arimathea who wanted to make sure that Jesus was buried properly.

This was Friday.

They weren’t allowed to touch the body of Jesus after the sun went down because of the sabbath so they kind of hurried things along.

They wrapped his body in a cloth and would return on Sunday morning to finish preparing his body for burial.

This is where we pick up.

It is Sunday morning after the passover.

We aren’t told how Jesus comes alive.

Scripture doesn’t record it for us.

We don’t know.

But here is what we do know, and all 4 gospels tell the story of Jesus’ empty tomb.

The women are on their way to finish with Jesus’ body.

Luke 24:1-12

24 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

It must have been awfully amazing, confusing, emotional when those women saw the empty tomb.

It must have been incredible.

They went crying and mourning to make sure Jesus’ body was prepared correctly and they leave running and exhilarated and bewildered.

There is no amount of material evidence that will convince all people.

The evidence that there is for Jesus Christ to have been resurrected already exist.

And yet people still doubt

What is our response to the resurrection?

We are alive.

He is alive We are alive.

Jesus wasn’t in the tomb.

His body wasn’t there.

And this is what today is all about.

It is the celebration of Jesus’ victory over death.

We are alive.

I love the image of the Empty Tomb.

Most of all, I love the visual image of the Empty Tomb.

In one decisive and specific moment in history, Jesus Christ summarizes and finalizes the salvation narrative.

It is finished is right.

He is alive, He is alive and that means something.

That means something very special.

1.

The Empty Tomb reveals that God is in fact, faithful.

We see this from the very beginning.

Do you know what God said in ?

I will tell you

Genesis Centuries earlier, after Adam and Eve rebelled, God promised that he would crush wrong once and for all ().

He vowed to send his Son to defeat sin and death by his crucifixion and resurrection.

At the very beginning, after Adam and Eve rebelled against God God promised that he would crush wrong once and for all.

He vowed to send his Son to defeat sin and death by his crucifixion and resurrection.

Thousands of years would pass, but God neither forgot nor turned away from his promise.

He didn’t get tired, He wasn’t distracted.

He made a promise, and he controlled the events of history so that at just the right moment, Jesus Christ would come and fulfill what had been promised.

God is faithful.

2. The Empty Tomb reveals that God is powerful.

Think of the authority you need to have to control all the situations, locations, and relationships to guarantee that Jesus would come at the precise moment and do what he was appointed to do.

God had Jesus come at just the right time, when the world would be ready.

We don’t know all the factors that were present to say that Jesus should have come at a particular time.

But we could guess about a few things.

During the time period when Jesus came there was an international language that all the citizens of the empires spoke, Greek.

There was also a general peace in the empire and there was also a great road system that made travel easy.

We don’t know if these were the reason for Christ coming when he did but we know that God orchestrated it at the perfect time.

IT is a powerful God we worship.

Also, could there be a better demonstration of God’s authority than to have power over death ()?

O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?

O death, where is your sting?

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

().

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Think about that for just a second.

Power over death.

There is no greater power.

Every living thing has one thing in common, it will eventually die.

Even though it might take a while.

The oldest living thing on earth is the great bristlecone pine tree, which scientists have found to be over 5000 years old.

But you know what, even though it has been around for so long it will surely die at some point.

Nothing has the power to live forever, except for the immortal God.

By God’s awesome power, Jesus, who died physically, took off his grave clothes and walked out of that tomb.

The empty tomb reveals that God really is all powerful.

But with all that power there is an amazing aspect about God and the empty tomb reveals this about God.

3. The Empty Tomb reveals that God is loving.

Why would God go to such an extent to help us?

Why would he care to notice us, let alone rescue us?

Why would he ever sacrifice his own Son?

Not only is God loving - he is the definition of love

You and I have to recognize this fact, that his love was not motivated by what he saw in us, but by what is inside him.

Because all humans, yes all of us can be unloving and rebellious.

We are full of ourselves and have to have our own way.

In the midst of that God is still loving.

He loves to transform us by his grace and rescues us by his love.

The empty tomb reveals God’s love.

4. The Empty Tomb guarantees eternity.

This is such a great point.

No matter how boring, no matter how routine, and slow our lives feel, we are moving towards a glorious and incredible conclusion.

There will be a moment when God takes you out of this broken world into a paradise where sin and suffering will be no more.