Untitled Sermon

Easter 2022

Our Living Hope

Luke 24:1-12

Happy Resurrection Sunday! A lot has happened since last Sunday… and I don’t mean our Easter Egg hunt!..... Although that was amazing!....

…>>> What I mean is that it’s Holy Week and we started off with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday...

On Monday and Tuesday of HOLY WEEK… the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders escalated…..

On Wednesday Judas met with the religious leaders and arranged for Jesus’ betrayal.

On Thursday Jesus met with his disciples in the Upper Room and shared the Last Supper with them….

………Later that same night he was arrested while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane….

Early Friday morning Jesus was tried before Pilate and sentenced to death….

By Friday evening Jesus was crucified, dead and buried….

Saturday was a Sabbath day of rest…......>>>>>..

And so………………………………>>>>> at last we come to Sunday morning….

And we can say, HE IS RISEN…… HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Only seven days had passed since the triumphal entry… but so much has happened in between…..>>>>>>>> Let me ask you……..>>>>>>>>>>

…………………How do you feel knowing all this has happened?

……………………………Now, imagine how the disciples felt at this moment...

They were in shock from the events of Thursday and Friday….

They were in mourning over the death of their Lord and friend….

They were hiding in fear for their own lives….>>>>>

Jesus had warned them that the road to Jerusalem was the road to suffering and the cross…>>> but somehow…. they didn’t understand….

But now Sunday morning had arrived… and everything was about to change. Read Luke 24:1-12

I. The good news of Easter (4-8)

These were clearly not ordinary men standing before these women...

They appeared out of nowhere...

Their clothes were shining like lightning…

The other gospels confirm to us that these were indeed angels...

These were messengers sent from God with their clothing still burning bright with the glory of heaven….

In the Bible whenever an angel appears…. one thing always happens. People fall down on their faces in fear….

It is an instinctive reaction…. Angels are majestic and glorious beings…. Their appearance alone…. would invoke a level of fear in anyone!

The women at the tomb were no different….

In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground.

The angels asked the women: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words. (Luke 24:5-8)

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Let’s pause and unpack this!

Why would the women be looking for a living Jesus in a grave? ..>>>

Jesus had already told them that He would be raised from the dead on the third day! ……

Living things do not dwell in places made for the dead!

…………..Do any of you hang out in a graveyard or in a morgue????? LOL

The grave is not a suitable place for life…. Yet, just like these women… humanity seeks to find life in places where life does not exist….

Let’s zoom out from this specific circumstance and take a look at us today:

We seek to experience life through religion/structure/ritual…. rather than a relationship.

We seek life through attaining perfection.

We seek life through the glorification of self.

We seek life through the approval of others.

We seek life through sinful pleasures and earthly desires . . .

……..And the list goes on and on!

If we seek life in anything other than Jesus….>>>>> then we are going to find the opposite of what we set out to find…..

Instead of life and freedom…. we'll find spiritual & physical death and bondage…..

Jesus Christ offers us life…. and life to the fullest according to John 10:10.

Jesus is triumphant over death and the things that lead to death!

…………………………………………That is why we shouldn’t be discouraged!

Whatever situation, mindset, trial, temptation, or struggle you are facing…. the Lord can use it to bring life to your soul….!

Your battle is already won…. now it’s your turn to receive the life He so freely offers….>>>>>

Whether you have been a Christian ever since you can remember…. or you recently accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior….

It's easy to get sidetracked and forget that it’s our job to receive… experience…. and… enjoy life…. through Christ and Christ alone…

That’s the Good News of Easter!>>>>>

He is our living hope…He is life!...He is the way, the truth, and the life!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.”—1 Peter 1:3-4

PAUSE: ………. What are the things that you are trying to find life in… instead of Christ?...

What excites you?

What helps you get through the hard times?

The things of this world may help us get through the small battles….

But only Jesus can help us win the war!

II. How will you respond? (9-12)

That’s the good news of Easter…. He is our living hope… The victory has already been claimed for you!...

And so… only one question remains….. How will you respond?

How will you respond to the resurrection of Jesus Christ… our living hope!

There are three responses in the text I’d like us to look at….

A. The women’s response: Believe it and Shareit!(9-10)

First there was the response of the women….in verses 9-10 it says: “When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.” (Luke 24:9-10)

The women came back from the tomb…. and they told all these things to the apostles and to everyone there with them…

They must have been frightened…. They must have been confused.

They certainly did not understand all that was happening…

There was only one thing they could do….

They could share what they knew….

They could share that Jesus’ body was no longer in the grave... and…

They could share that the angels said that he had risen from the dead….

The women believed it… and they shared their faith with others…

Are you a believer in Jesus’ resurrection this morning?.. Romans 10:9 says, 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.[1]

If you believe…. then you need to share your faith with others…. just like these women did!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Jesus died…. but he rose again from the dead….

He is alive forevermore…. That is good news worth sharing….

Don’t keep the good news of Easter all to yourself…. That would be selfish!... Share it! ………………If you Believeit, Share it!

B. The apostles’ initial response: Don’t Believe it, and Reject it. (11)

Then there was the response of the apostles, or at least their initial response……..

The apostles’ response was that they didn’t believe it… and did nothing!

They Rejected the GOOD NEWS!...........

Look at verse 11: “They did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” (Luke 24:11)

The women believed… and shared the Good News…. But the apostles did not believe, and did nothing…..

The apostles did change their minds later… but their initial response mirrors the response of so many people today….

They hear the Good News of Jesus Christ… and do nothing….. as if it was all nonsense to them…

Let’s be honest today… people are comfortable in their cozy lives… at least until something disrupts that life….

They dismiss the GOOD NEWS of Jesus…

They continue to live their lives as though nothing happened that first Easter morning…..

Is that your response today? Have you heard the Easter story before… but never really done anything about it?

Have you ever thought, “Well, that’s okay for those ultra-religious people… but I’m doing okay…..

If that’s you… then you are missing out on the most wonderful news in all the world….

Jesus is alive! And if Jesus rose from the dead… that means that if you put your faith in him… then one day you will rise from the dead, too.

Does that sound like nonsense to you?...Think about it….

What if it were true?...... Don’t you at least want it to be true?

…………….Of course, you do!

Anyone who has ever buried a loved one would absolutely wish it were true...

But the apostles’ initial response to the report of Jesus’ resurrection was to reject it completely….

“They did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” (Luke 24:11)

C. Peter’s response: Check it out for yourself (12)

That almost seems like the only two options right…

You either believe it and share it….. or

You Don’t believe it and Reject it………

Then there’s Peter… let’s look at Peter’s response in verse 12:

“Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” (Luke 24:12)

If you are not sure what to make of Jesus’ resurrection…. there is a third option you can take rather than simply rejecting it as nonsense.

You can do what Peter did... You can check it out for yourself…

Peter ran to the tomb….

He examined the evidence….

He saw the stone that was rolled away…..

He entered the empty tomb and saw the strips of linen that once contained the body of Jesus…… now lying there by themselves…...

He went looking for Jesus… and you know what?... He found him!

Not lying dead in a tomb… but resurrected and alive!

The Bible tells us that Jesus appeared to Peter first before he appeared to the twelve… (Luke 24:33; 1 Corinthians 15:5)

This must have taken place sometime after Peter left the tomb….

Peter was not yet ready to believe that Jesus was alive…. but he did not dismiss it as nonsense…..

He checked it out for himself… and he encountered our Living hope!..

He encountered Jesus Christ!

You might say, “Well, that’s all well and good for Peter…. He could run to the empty tomb and check it out…… I can’t do that today.”

No, you can’t….. But you can pray… you can read the bible….

You can come have a talk with me… and pray with me or another leader here in the church…. and let us share with you the evidence that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead…..

If you are not yet ready to believe this morning…. don’t just dismiss it all as nonsense….

Be like Peter and check it out for yourself.

CONCLUSION: Invite the worship team back up.

The angels asked the women that first Easter morning…

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Let me say it to you again friends……

If you are looking for Jesus among the dead… you will never find him, because he is not there….

But if you look for Jesus among the living…. if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead… you will find him….and you will be saved.

Jesus Christ is alive….. He is risen!....... He is risen indeed!

[1] The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.