Luke 24:13-33
Structure
o Empty Tomb, angelic & woman report, & Peter's response vs. 1-12
o The Emmaus Road, proof that Jesus has risen vs. 13-35
Today we've celebrating the resurrection of Jesus together
Easter is where everything about Jesus intersects for us
Easter is that poignant moment in time
We don't have to second guess the plans of God
The first Easter shows us just how far God will go towards bringing us
To know life him
That we are more pursued than we realized
more loved than what we often see
today we need to return again to those events of the first Easter Sunday
if what happened to Jesus only ended at Good Friday we wouldn't have much room for hope of anything
the empty tomb
is where everything changes - the world is never the same again here God interrupted the usual course of events in the world
to bring about Jesus' resurrection from the dead
Jesus has risen
the empty tomb assures us that death & sin are defeated
no longer do we need to look for the empty tomb
instead look for the one who rose again from it
as we read of those first Easter Sunday events
Luke 24 verses 1-8
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8 Then they remembered his words.
Jesus' disciples didn't anticipate the resurrection is clear enough
in the early hours morning the woman set out for the tomb to care further for the body of Jesus
they're surprised to find instead angels at the graveside
Jesus himself speaking and alive in the flesh
its only then the penny drops about what Jesus had said would happen
only when they come face to face they remember what he'd said
"on the third day he would be raised again"
how ironic these angels have to remind them
they are seeking the living from among the dead
they return filled with this wonderful news
the contrast couldn't have been any starker
instead of joy they're faced with skepticism dead men don't rise
as we read in verses 11-12
11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 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.
Peter's response to everything was action
Still grieved at Jesus death
stung with his denial of Jesus a few nights before
Peter races to the tomb to also discover it empty he wanders back puzzled
these disciples keep looking for proof of life about Jesus
just like I came across on an interview on the TV once
a man by the name of Michale Fischer was asked this question
How do you feel about the fact that for you to live
someone has to die?
Michael Fischer sat there staring at the camera lost for words
then you saw his lower lip start quivering
tears filled his eyes and he said
"I have no idea how to answer that…I would probably pray for that person everyday for the rest of my life."
no this wasn't a Sunday morning religious show
or a compass special
it was the BBC TV Production "Superhuman" by Dr Robert Winston called