Come and See then Go and Tell.

Introduction

I want to start out today sharing a story with you, one that may seem all too familiar and comes to almost every home. One day a little boy came into his classroom; let’s call him Tommy. It was Friday, and you know what that means. Yes, that’s right, it’s test day. Your parents had warned you sternly all week, if you don’t do well on your spelling test this week; you won’t get to go to your best friend’s birthday party this weekend. Tommy comes in the classroom, He sits in His chair, a quick look at the clock says that it’s 8AM. Tommy thinks to himself, at least we always start with math, math is easy. He knew though, 8:55 was coming, and that is usually when spelling begins. He watches the clock, the minutes seem to go by slowly at first, but then very quickly. Before he knew it, it was time. The teacher stands up, she begins to pass out the test. Tommy thinks to himself again, thinking, “why didn’t I study last night instead of playing video games? That game wasn’t even that fun.” While taking the test, nervousness is felt the whole time, but it is turned in. Later that day, the teacher grades the test. Usually, she would grade the test then call each classmate individually to look at the test together. She calls his name, to which he says, “how did I do?” She then tells Tommy, “well, why don’t you come and see?” Tommy walks over, knowing it probably wasn’t good, he finds himself wondering, “does the I before E rule apply to the word neighbor? Did I get that one wrong? Oh no.” Slowly, Tommy walks up and sits at the seat beside the teacher’s chair. He then sees the text, where he expected to see lots of red marks, Tommy sees very few, in fact He made a 95, this is SO GREAT! As the teacher goes over the test with Him, He finds himself distracted, because all he can think about is going to tell his parents how well he did on the test. This is a story that may seem all too familiar for you, in fact for most of you, you have probably lived through this story or a similar story several times. That being said, you may have found yourselves in two different roles (nervous student and shepherding parent, some even the grading teacher). This is much like today’s sermon’s main idea is Come and See then Go and Tell, only this news is much, much greater news.

The Text

Now, if you will read along with me in your Bibles; our passages today are Luke 23:50 through Luke 24:12. Before we begin though, let’s pray into our text. Father God, we thank you for this chance to come together and hear your word today. Your word is truth, and we thank you for that truth. We ask that we take the message you are about to share with us today and help us apply it to ourselves to keep, but not to just keep to ourselves; but rather to share with others. It’s these things we ask for in Jesus Christ’s holy name, Amen. Luke, 23:50, if you will all please rise for the reading of God’s word.

50 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, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

53 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. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

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. This is the Word of the Lord (thanks be to God). Thank you, you may be seated.

The Context

We are here today to celebrate the most important day in all of Christendom. This is the day that Jesus Christ, the Savior of the entire world, rose from His grave and victoriously displayed His power over the death of sin and the grave. This is the holiest and most important day for all of Christianity. The events that we just read depict the day Jesus was laid in His tomb and the day His body was found missing. But what got us to this important turning point in history?

You will recall a few weeks ago, on Palm Sunday, that we celebrated and read on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. This day he was celebrated, people shouted praise to Him, Hosana in the Highest!!! Jesus didn’t come to Jerusalem to be celebrated though, He came on a divine mission, to be the perfect and complete sacrifice for mankind’s sin to God. Jesus would faithfully fulfill The Will of The Father and present Himself as the Lamb for Sacrifice. The night of the Passover, which we also refer to as the Last Supper of Jesus, He would be betrayed by one of his apostles (Judas Iscariot) to a crowd who was led by the Jewish religious officials and the betrayer.

He would be arrested and brought through trials, finding himself eventually in front of the Roman Governor, Pontius Piolet. Under pressure from the crowds, Pilate sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion. What follows is a horrific scene that is lovingly suffered through by the savior. Jesus is beat to horrific measures and is then made to carry the instrument of His execution, a cross, to the point of His punishment. He is then put through the agony of a brutal death while the Father looks away from His beloved Son as Christ takes on the sin and the wrath of sin of the entire world upon Himself. After His death, the roman soldiers made double sure that He was dead, by piercing his side with a spear. This fulfills the Prophecy in Isiah 53, as well as many others which says,“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. At the end of this scene, is where we find ourselves into our text today; in which I want to share with you four things.

The Exposition

The first thing we are observing today is that; Jesus was laid in a tomb. 23:50-56

Let’s zoom into the text, verse 50. 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, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

53 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. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Here we learn about what happened to Jesus just after his death. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, who was a righteous man that was looking for the Messiah and had firmly believed that Jesus is the Messiah enters the picture.[1]Joseph believed this so much that Werisbe says about this action that, “It is likely that Joseph and Nicodemus (another ruling member of the Jewish people who is a follower of Christ) had learned from the Old Testament Scriptures how Jesus would die, so they agreed to take care of His burial. The new tomb was likely Joseph’s, prepared in a garden near Golgotha but not for himself; it was for Jesus. No rich man would prepare his own burial place so near a place of execution and so far from his own home. The two men could well have been hiding in the tomb while Jesus was on the cross, waiting for that moment when He would yield up His life.”[2]

That is a true picture of faith. They knew Jesus was who He said He was, so they acted accordingly. I want to draw your attention to the other characters in the narrative though. That is the women. They were with Christ in His final moments, many of them had been with Him for years; one of them (Mary, the Mother of James/Jesus) had been with Him his entire life. They followed Him. They came to see where their Lord had been laid. They saw it with their own eyes. They knew where Jesus’ body was, and they intended to return to see to His burial rights directly after the sabbath as the sabbath is a time of religious rest and worship for the Jewish people that was held sacred.

But why was Jesus here? Why did He get put in a tomb and what does this mean to us today? Well, essentially it means the same thing today as it did back then. That is, Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins. The people both now and then (and long before and long after now) are the reason He was put in this tomb.

The second thing we are observing today is Jesus’ body was missing after the sabbath.24:1-3

Luke 24:1-3, 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.

Now we move on, after the burial and after the sabbath day had passed. Very early in the day, the women set out to see Jesus’ body and perform His burial rights. When they went though, they saw an astounding sight. Where they should have expected to see a guard detachment and a large stone blocking their way as Matthew 27 tells us, rather they see something quite astounding. They see a tomb wide open, a large stone moved out of the way. Instead, they saw something rather shocking. They found that the body of Jesus was missing, this would have seemed like an impossible situation to them as the body was heavily protected. They came to see the body but instead they saw something entirely different. Instead, they saw an empty tomb.

You know, this image reminds me a lot of Jesus’ words in John 1:36-41; where just before John the Baptist had declared to some of His apostles that Jesus is the Christ, this passage reads, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.[j] 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus[k] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter[l]).

Both the apostles in these verses and the women in our main text today did something. They came to see Jesus. They came and saw a great many things. They saw Him heal, they saw Him weep, they saw the Holy Spirit descend on Him, they saw Him take on the worlds Sin as an ultimate act of love to us and Love and obedience to God the Father. We must see and understand this as well; that Jesus came (God Himself) came to this earth and became a human, just like us, lived the perfect sinless life (which we cannot do) and gave Himself up for anyone who would call on Him as Lord.

The Third thing we are observing today is that Jesus’ resurrection was told about from the angels. 24:4-7

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.”

Just like we would be, the women were perplexed. This just doesn’t make any Earthly sense! “Since they had seen Joseph place Jesus’ body in the tomb, the women were completely “perplexed” “wondering”) at what had happened.”[3]Wouldn’t you be? Then as their minds ran with confusion, two men came to them, comparing this passage to its parallel texts we understand this to be two angels that are before them. These angels then ask, “why are you here?” You should know he isn’t here. Jesus isn’t dead, He is alive, don’t you remember what He has been telling you!? Then they remembered what He had said. In fact, He had taught this to them several times but every time they seemed to lack the understanding of what He was saying, as it didn’t really make sense to them. One account (of several) of this is found in Mark 9:31 where Christ says, ““The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”[4]

They now saw and they now understood, Jesus was here, and He died but now He is not gone. Three days had passed, and He was now alive; again, just as He said He would be. Only one person, one being is capable of this. That is, YES, Jesus the Lord, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. The perfect lamb of God, on who the entire world has been groaning for as Romans 8 tells us. God’s people hadn’t at this point heard from Him in a very long time; now was the time to understand He is Here, and He dwelt among us. To follow along to today, we still get to make this claim, He dwelt among us. He understands us as only a flesh and bone person could. He loved and loves us to a perfect completion. He still gives this same message and same invitation today, that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) would be adopted as Sons and Daughters of the Most High. This was true to them, and it is true to us as well.

The fourth thing we are observing today is that; Jesus is alive, so they went to tell the others. 24:8-12

Let’s take a look starting at verse 8.8 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 start with a profound statement, they remembered! If only we didn’t have the same problem the apostles did. If only we could remember. They now remembered and understood the truth’s that Jesus was sharing with them all along, a truth that the woman at the well was dealing with as well when we she said to the people in her village, ““Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”[5] As Matthew Henry says about our faith life, “all of our mistake’s spring from ignorance of forgetfulness of the words Christ has spoken.”[6] Now the women, Mary, Joanna, Mary (Jesus’ mother) and the others received a commission to Go and tell the others, which we hear about in the account by Mark from the angels to the women which reads, 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.”[7] They saw, now they understood and were given this mission. GO AND TELL. And so, they did, they went to tell the others, but by and large their words were not heard and were thought of as tall tales. Oh, if only they would have remembered as well. As Henry said, forgetfulness of the Lord’s word is often our biggest problem. Peter though, who had denied Jesus 3 times the morning of His execution, who showed both great belief and disbelief at times rose to see the tomb himself along with James and John (the brothers, the son of Zebedee). There he saw the same bewildering sight the women had seen, an empty tomb. He then leaves marveling at what he had seen. Have you ever marveled at something, or maybe been bewildered before? Have you ever seen anything so amazing that it seemed hard to believe? That is what is happening to Peter here. He is on the cusp of understanding and accepting that Jesus had risen from the dead and was Lord of all the heavens and Earth. He was just beginning to really understand this, will you?

Peter himself, would then go on in his ministry to tell many people about Jesus. Jesus later appeared to him, and Peter believed with all of his heart. In fact, he would be the premier leader of the apostles, the first among equals. Now that he knew, history would tell us that he made missionary journeys to Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea, and would be instrumental to bringing the message of Jesus Christ’s gospel to the gentiles, and guess what that means if you are sitting in this room and unless you find your heritage deep in the messianic Jewish people, then you have benefited from his “Going and telling” others.

Closing Thoughts and Conclusion

I want to bring to a close today, this Easter Sunday, and recap for you what we have heard about from God. The most important thing, the reason for Easter is to, “Come and see, go and tell!” This is the Easter mandate for the church.”[8]We then read through the text that Jesus was laid in a tomb; we then saw and heard that his body was missing after the sabbath day; the angels proclaimed that Jesus was not there, that he had risen; finally, we know that Jesus is alive and that we are to go and tell others of this. If you are hearing these words today and you are a believer of Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as you Lord and savior. Then you now know what you must do. You have come and seen that He is Lord, have you yet gone and told others about Him? Have you done this yet? Have you done as, yes you know the verse I am about to say, as Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”[9] If you have, this is great, but I invite you look deeper and ask that God will put new people in your life to minister to and that He would remove anything for you that is keeping or hindering you from doing so.

If you are not yet a believer In Jesus Christ, then you have heard the greatest news in the whole world. Nothing can surpass it or even come close. This truth is sure, it is without question, and it reigns supreme for all eternity. God created this world, but mankind saw and took (out of the selfishness of pride and of our (mankind’s) heart) and took the steps that would separate ourselves from God. This created a sin nature that is imparted to all people even today. Yes you, yes, the person next to you, yes me standing in the pulpit are guilty of sin, and yes all sin is big and damaging. God though, in His infinite mercy provided a way for us to be made right with Him, a way that we can and do experience a joyful reunion with Him. This is through the perfect sacrifice, that of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. To accept his sacrifice as your own, all you have to do is believe these truths, accept Him as your savior, and turn from your ways of rebellion against God. Then you will be restored to fellowship with Him, but not just a shallow fellowship, but a deep relationship; that of a daughter or son. I invite you, if today is the day to make this serious decision, then do not wait. God has provided the lifesaving message to you today. If you would like to talk more about this, I will be here. I would love to pray with you and speak more about putting your faith and trust in Christ. Let’s pray together and worship through our last hymn together……

[1]Liefeld, Walter L. “Luke.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8, Zondervan Publishing House, 1984, p. 1046. [2] Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1996, pp. 276–77. [3] Osborne, Grant R. Luke: Verse by Verse. Edited by Jeffrey Reimer et al., Awa Sarah, Lexham Press, 2018, p. 561. [4]Mark 9:31 ESV [5]John 4:29 ESV [6]Henry, Matthew, and Thomas Scott. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary. Logos Research Systems, 1997, p. Lk 24:1. [7]Mark 16:7 ESV [8] Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1996, p. 278. [9]Matthew 28:19-20 ESV