This is an exposition of Luke 24:1-2. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, February 18, 2018.
Intro:
I said last week, “None of the Gospels begin with, ‘Once upon a time.’” The reason is simple, the Gospel is no fairy tale. It is not a morality tale, it is not a made-up story to teach a principle. It is a fact rooted in time and space. It is the account of something that happened in this world. It is the glorious good news that God has redeemed for Himself a people.
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God so loved this world that He gave His one and only Son to save us. Now, that does not mean that it is a story easily believed. We all know people who do not believe. We know people who have heard the story but find it unbelievable. They dismiss it as myth, legend or superstition. Some regard it as foolish, others believe it to be “dangerous” or harmful. I understand that. There are elements of the story that are hard to accept because they are so out of the ordinary. They stand in contrast to what we normally experience in our everyday lives. Perhaps foremost on that list is something that is at the heart of our faith. We are not used to corpses walking out of the cemetery! In fact if we ever come across something like that it will be in the pages of the National Inquirer or on some crazy internet site. Yet the apostle Paul said to the Corinthian believers, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). He said this is of primary importance, this is something that is essential to salvation; Christ dead, buried and raised.
This is the fact that dominated the preaching of the apostles and it is the core truth of the message we have been given to take into all the world. Fantastic? Yes. Unusual, out of the ordinary? To say the least. Yet we stake our lives and our eternity on it. But none of us were there. None of us witnessed the resurrection and none of us has seen the risen Lord, how can we be so sure? For some answers let’s go to Luke’s account of what happened early that Sunday morning. Our text is found in the opening verses of Luke 24.
Text: Luke 24:1-12
Late Friday afternoon, following three hours of darkness there came a cry from the center cross on Golgotha, “Papa, into your hands I commit my spirit.” With that, Jesus of Nazareth breathed His last breath. The darkness that covered the land seemed to now cover the hearts and souls of those who loved Him. They believed He was the Messiah, the Son of God. But as they looked upon His now lifeless body on that blood-soaked cross, all hope was gone. Slowly they all walked away. That is all but a group of women who had followed Him from Galilee. They stood at a distance and watched as a wealthy man removed the nails from His flesh and carefully lowered Him to the ground. He wrapped His body in a linen shroud and they followed as He was carried to a nearby tomb. After the stone was rolled in place they sorrowfully walked away. They were going to prepare spices and oils to further anoint His body. After observing the Sabbath, these women returned to that garden tomb…
Philip Graham Ryken says of this passage, “Why is it Jesus is absent from this text? Luke is writing to give his friend Theophilus an accurate and orderly account of the life and ministry of Jesus. Thus Jesus is the focus of the whole book. He is center stage throughout. Now, at this most critical moment - He is absent. Why?”
I think that’s a good question. In the other Gospel accounts He makes an appearance to Mary and the others. We see Him in Matthew, Mark and John, why not here in Luke? The Gospels are selective history with a purpose. The writers have an agenda. I don’t mean they distort the truth in order to make a point, I mean they tell the story to emphasize different truths. If you look carefully at Luke’s account I think there is an important truth highlighted.
I think this text serves to teach us that…
Thesis: Bold proclamation of the resurrection demands physical evidence confirmed by the prophetic Word.
Let’s think about what happens in this text. I want you to note three things as we walk through it.
- Sometimes biblical truth overwhelms leaving you dazed and confused. (24:1-4)
- When staggered by biblical truth it is essential to remember and affirm the truth of God’s Word. (24:5-8)
- Truth confirmed empowers an emboldened witness. (24:9-12)
Conclusion:
I’ll admit it is an extraordinary thing. It is something you must wrestle with and come to your own conclusion. Is Jesus alive or dead? I think there is every reason to believe He is alive.
There is the empty tomb.
There is witness of the apostles.
There is the eye-witness accounts given in Scripture.
There is the lives of the apostles - why would they give their lives for a lie?
There is the witness of the church for 2000 years.
But really it all comes back t this. Are the words of Jesus to be accepted or not?
What say you?
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