Morning of Mornings

Morning of Mornings

Luke 24:1-12

The Bible is filled with statements about the morning.

· We’re told that Jesus often prayed early in the morning.

· In the Old Testament, Joshua is pictured as a man who rose early in the morning.

· Think of the morning when Abraham got up early and took Isaac to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him.

· What a morning it was for Jacob, when he woke in the morning and set up a pillar of stones in honor of God at Bethel.

· It must have been a great morning for Daniel when the first rays of sunshine lit up the city of Babylon after a night in the lion’s den.

· Imagine how perfect the morning was for the disciples after they spent a terrible night on the Sea of Galilee in a storm.

Yes, all of these were great mornings. Yet none of them compare to the morning that’s in our passage today.

I’d like for us to spend some time looking at that great morning when Jesus conquered death, Hell and the grave forever. There’s never been a morning like that before and there won’t ever be one like it again.

· What a morning it was when Jesus rose again!

· What a morning it was when He pulled the stinger from death and gave life eternal to all those who place their faith in Him.

· What a morning that was!

But we need to understand that the resurrection still has effects that reach down to us this very day. You see, He is alive this morning!

Let’s pray and then work through these verses as we look at that morning of mornings.

Pray!

Luke 24:1–12 ESV

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.

First, it was a morning of

Solemn Reflections

As the morning dawned on the first day of the week after Jesus had died on the cross, some women came to the tomb to finish preparing the body of Jesus for His burial. This process had been started by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea on the day He died.

While these women were heading to the tomb, the disciples were locked up inside the Upper Room trembling in fear that the same kind of death that Jesus had met awaited them also.

Certainly, these women were sad and the disciples were scared. Just as the Jesus has said, the Shepherd had been struck and the sheep had scattered.

Why were they so upset?

They had all believed Jesus was the Messiah. They had put their faith in Him and they’d expected Him to set up His Kingdom and overthrow their bondage to Rome.

Even though He’d repeatedly told them of the cross and of the resurrection, they’d never completely grasped the message, or the meaning of His words. And now, He’s dead! The One that they’d placed all their hopes in was gone.

This Man who had so radically changed their lives by His power and demonstrated the love and power of God to them had died a violent and humiliating death. Surely, it was a sad day for His followers!

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 ESV

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul says that if Jesus is dead this morning, then we all have reason to grieve! If Jesus is dead, then we’re all headed to Hell and none of us has hope beyond this life. We should be pitied.

It was a morning of solemn reflections and

Startling Revelations

In the midst of their sadness on that morning, God the Father took great pains to minister to the needs of their hearts. Aren’t you glad that He cares when you hurt? He moved in several powerful ways to encourage the hearts of these saddened believers.

He rolled away the stone

And He didn’t do this so that Jesus could escape. He did it so that they could look in.

He sent an angel

The angels said:

“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.”

There has never been a message like that before. He is alive!

He had a word of encouragement

Mark tells us:

Mark 16:7 ESV

But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

Peter, the one who had denied Him three times denied received special encouragement.

He met Mary outside the tomb

Mary stayed behind weeping because she couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t be able to say a proper goodbye. But Jesus appeared to her and ask who she was looking for and why she was crying. She finally understood when He called out her name.

He left a message

John tells us that the face cloth wasn’t lying with the other cloth that Jesus was wrapped in. It was neatly folded and set to the side. In that culture, people would signal that they were finished with a meal. If you got up and wadded up your napkin, you were finished. But if you folded it, it meant you were coming back.

This was telling the disciples that he was just stepping away for a moment but that He would be back. He was saying to them, “I’m out of your sight right now, but I’ll be right back!”

He revealed Himself

While two disciples were traveling to Emmaus, Jesus revealed Himself to them and explained that everything that had taken place was according to Scripture.

Now, there were many things that took place that resurrection morning that declared that it was a glorious day. And for us, some 2,000 years later, the message hasn’t changed one bit. We need to hear the good news that Jesus has risen from the dead and that means He is alive this morning and there is hope for tomorrow!

The person who’s trapped in sin and sees no way of escape needs to know that Jesus made a way to set you free! You need to know that if you come to Him that He’ll be there to hear you, to save you and to help you through this life.

Everyone needs to know that Jesus is alive!

It was a morning of solemn reflections, startling revelations and

Stunning Realizations

While the disciples were hiding in the upper room fearing for their lives, something miraculous happened. Jesus, the One who’d died just three days before, was standing in their midst! They were terrified and thought they saw a ghost.

He showed them the nail holes in His hands and in His feet to prove that He was real. He even offered to let them touch Him and then sat down with them to eat. Most of the disciples hadn’t believed until this moment, now they’re convinced, Jesus is alive!

Luke 24:41 ESV

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”

41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling…

They thought it seemed too good to be true. They were so excited that they really couldn’t believe what was happening in their midst. It was an exciting moment for them.

This is what needs to happen in the lives of people living in our world today.

People need to realize that Jesus is more than a baby in a manger or some poor guy who got Himself crucified. He’s more than a story in a dusty old book. People need to understand that Jesus is alive! He’s real and that He’s the only hope people really have.

Today isn’t about Easter baskets, hiding eggs or some rabbit. Today is about Jesus!

It’s about the fact that He died for our sins while we were still sinners. It’s about the fact that He was buried and then three days later, He kicked the backdoor out of the tomb forever and made a way for you and me to have eternal life by our simply trusting Him as our Savior!

Who is Jesus to you?

Is He just a story from the pages of an old book or is He real in your life this morning?

You see, just knowing about Jesus and what He did won’t save you. You have to know Him in a personal and real way before you can be saved from your sins and an eternity in Hell!

Who is Jesus to you?

It’s a question we all need to answer.

Jesus even asked His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter had the right answer, do you?

Another question that needs to be answered is the Pilate asked:

Matthew 27:22

“Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

What’s your answer to these questions this morning?

It was a morning of solemn reflections, startling revelations, stunning realizations and

Spiritual Repercussions

As they ate that first resurrection morning, Jesus began to tell His disciples that God’s plan was to save the world. They’d been called to be witnesses and to spread the news that a great spiritual victory had been won when Jesus rose from the dead.

When Jesus rose from the dead, old enemies that had plagued man since sin entered into the world were forever defeated that day. Let’s look a little closer at what was defeated.

death

Imagine the struggle that morning as death had to surrender to life! No more would death be able to claim the victory and claim the human race with its bitter curse. Jesus rendered death helpless.

Now, for the child of God, death is simply the doorway from this land of sorrow to that Heavenly land where every tear will be wiped from every eye and the saints of God will live forever in the glorious presence of our Savior!

Another enemy that died that day was the grave.

The grave

All of our lives, we live in fear of that moment when we die. The truth is that while we’re ready to go to heaven, we’ll always fight for that next breath.

But I think we have the wrong perspective when it comes to the grave.

That hole in the ground is nothing more than a place to store this old worn out, sin-ridden body until the day of the resurrection! When we lay this flesh down in death, our spirits go to our Father in heaven. The next time we see our bodies, they will be glorified and will be like His.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–15 ESV

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

One of these days, the grave will give up the body that’s been placed there and that body will be forever changed into one just like that of our Savior.

Instead of weeping at the grave of a believer, we should shout ourselves hoarse! They’ve surpassed us and are already home with Jesus in glory. What a blessing to know!

Another enemy that died that day was sin.

sin

Now, sin had been taken care of three days earlier on the cross, but the resurrection of Christ from the dead is the Father’s “Amen” to the sacrifice of the Son on the cross. You see, a dead Savior can’t save anyone!

But One who is alive can save all who come to Him.

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

That’s a big verse and promises great things to everyone who will believe its message. Listen, sin doesn’t have to defeat you! Jesus won the victory over sin on the cross and nailed its coffin lid shut when He rose from the dead. You can be free!

Let me bring up one more enemy defeated that day. His name is Satan, the devil, the dragon, the accuser, the deceiver, that old serpent or whatever name you want to call him, the outcome is the same.

Satan

He is the enemy of God and of all God’s people. He tried everything he could to stop Christ’s plans to go to the cross, but Jesus endured every temptation. He weathered every storm and made it to the cross.

When Jesus cried “It is finished,” Satan heard the foundations of his kingdom begin to crack. Three days later, when Jesus rose from the dead, Satan witnessed the total destruction of every plan and scheme. He saw his power broken. He was defeated forever by Jesus!

Let me read what the Bible says about the devil’s future.

Revelation 20:7–10 ESV

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Victory has forever been won over the devil!

Do you understand it yet?

· Because He lives, You and I can be saved by the grace of God.

· Because He lives, we can have our sins washed away forever.

· Because He lives, we can go to Heaven when we leave this world.

· Because He lives, the grave has no power over those who believe.

· Because He lives, eternal life is our present possession.

· Because He lives, one day we too we’ll live with Him in heaven.

· Because He lives, I’ll never have to take a step in this world alone.

· Because He lives, there is hope, there is help and there is a home waiting for us.

· Because He lives, I’m alive.

· Because He lives, my sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west.

· Because He lives, my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.

· Because He lives, God is my Father.

· Because He lives, sin has no more dominion over me.

· Because He lives, I’m saved forever.

The list could go on forever. What we need to understand this morning is that He lives!

Have you come to the realization that Jesus is alive and that He’s all you need?

· Do you understand what will happen if you die without Him?

· Do you realize that there is no other way into Heaven than Jesus?

· Do you know that He loves you?

· Do you know that His death was for you?

· Do you know that His death won’t mean anything to you until you bow before Him in repentance and humility and confess you sins unto Him?

· Do you know that you could do that this morning and be forever saved today?

You can! All you have to do is come to Him. All you have to do is believe in Him! All you need to do is leave where you are sitting and come and be saved by grace!

What a morning it was when Jesus rose from the grave!

Why not let this be the morning when you allow Him to fix whatever is wrong in your heart today?

He lives and He lives for you!