The Resurrection According To Luke
Luke 24:1-12
March 14, 2021
We actually are afforded here with a really wonderful opportunity.
• We are seeing a nearly 4 years study in the book of Luke come to an end and we are now arriving at the resurrection.
• At the same time in only 3 weeks we will celebrate Easter Sunday.
So instead of 1 week of resurrection, we’re going to get about a month.
That’s great for us because there’s not a more hope filled message in the world than the message that Jesus conquered death.
So this morning we start our journey in Luke’s gospel
Looking at his account of the resurrection of Jesus.
We obviously start with the ever relevant reminder that
The message of the resurrection is of extreme importance.
It is NOT an over-exaggeration to say that
If you remove the resurrection Christianity is destroyed and
If you do not preach the resurrection you are not preaching the gospel.
Perhaps no passage states that better than:
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”
• In order to be saved Paul says that a person must believe that God raised
Jesus from the dead.
The resurrection is the UNIQUE message
Which the CHURCH ALONE POSSESSES.
And this is the message that the apostles preached to the world.
Certainly Peter’s preaching was focused on this truth.
Acts 2:22-24 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
Acts 3:14-15 “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.”
Acts 4:10 “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by this name this man stands here before you in good health.”
Acts 5:30 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.”
And when the book of Acts shifts to the ministry of Paul,
We find that this message is central to his preaching as well.
Acts 13:29-30 “When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. “But God raised Him from the dead;”
When preaching in Athens, Paul said:
Acts 17:31 “[God] has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
It was Paul who actually summed up his entire ministry when he said:
Acts 24:21b “’For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.'”
Of when Paul is on trial and Agrippa shows up and Festus is trying to explain to him who this prisoner Paul is. Festus says:
Acts 25:18-19 “When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.”
YOU SEE THE MESSAGE.
They preached that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
Now it was only a few weeks ago that we very adamantly said that
THE CROSS WAS THE CENTRAL POINT OF CHRISTIANITY.
And I will stand by that statement forever.
The cross is the central moment.
However, without the resurrection the cross is useless message.
• It is the resurrection that validates the cross.
• It is the resurrection that assures us of the righteousness of Christ.
• It is the resurrection that guarantees that the atoning work of Christ was indeed successful.
We hold that on the cross that righteous man
Experienced the wrath of God for sin that was not His own.
That He was in fact the propitiation for sinners.
That whole message falls apart if Jesus remains dead.
1 Corinthians 15:14 “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:17 “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”
• Every other hero’s story may contain his glorious entrance…
• Every other hero’s story may include his mighty deeds…
• Every other hero’s story may culminate in his dramatic death…
But only Christ’s story continues with a resurrection from the dead.
The Christian message is unique.
Jesus rose from the dead in a physical body
And He promises a bodily resurrection to all who believe in Him.
The resurrection is HUGE!
And this morning we study that from Luke’s gospel.
• Now, you are well-aware that each of the gospel writers include and omit
certain facts about the story.
• They are inspired by the Holy Spirit to tell you the account from their
perspective.
• They all know more than they write.
• It ISN’T just unabridged history.
• There is a theological point.
If you want to see the entire story and the entire day weaved together, then I highly recommend you listen to John MacArthur’s two sermons on Luke 24:1-12
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/42-291/an-empty-tomb-with-an-angelic-explanation
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/42-292/witnessing-women-and-doubting-disciples
But you know that no writer gave us the whole story
Because they weren’t trying to give us the whole story.
They were giving us selected parts of the story to make a point.
Now, there are some facts that all 4 writers include.
• The Empty Tomb
• The Angelic Witness
• The Women Give The Report
• The Disciples Don’t Initially Believe
All 4 gospel writers include those 4 realities.
One might consider those the essential truths about the account.
However, there is ONE GLARING ABSENCE to each of their accounts.
There is one thing that none them show you.
NONE OF THEM SHOW YOU THE RESURRECTION.
None of them give that information, because none of them saw it.
They knew Jesus died (John saw it)
They knew Jesus was buried
They saw Jesus alive
But none of them saw the moment it happened,
That part of the story is not in Scripture.
That means that each of the gospel writers
Is left to prove the resurrection by a different means
Than an eye-witness account of it.
• These are men who would tell the world that Jesus rose from the dead.
• These are men who would die a martyr’s death for proclaiming that message.
And each of them give you their proof that Jesus rose from the dead
Even though they didn’t actually see the resurrection take place.
Now, for curiosity sake:
Matthew’s main focus is on THE GUARDS
• That they were stationed to guard the tomb
• That they abandoned their post
• That they returned to the city
• That they were bribed to lie about what they saw
• That they agreed to a lie that would have gotten them in trouble
Matthew 28:11-15 “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”
In Matthew’s gospel that becomes the lie that proved the resurrection.
Mark’s main focus is on THE EYE WITNESSES WHO SAW JESUS ALIVE
• Namely here Mark points out that the women saw Jesus.
• In fact Mark includes that later Jesus rebukes the disciples for their refusal to
believe the women.
Mark 16:14 “Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.”
If this was a “made up” story
No fiction writer would have used women as his main witnesses.
These women were the only ones to see the entire story unfold.
• They saw Jesus die (John was the only disciple)
• They saw Jesus buried
• They saw Jesus alive
They were credible witnesses and to Mark that is a great proof.
John’s focus seems to be on THE EMPTY TOMB
• Specifically the fact that the stone was gone and the grave clothes were left.
• No grave-robbers are going to strip a dead body naked before they steal it.
John 20:6-8 “And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.”
That empty tomb and the presence of those grave clothes was John’s great evidence that Jesus was now alive.
BUT LUKE USES NONE OF THOSE.
Luke mentions nothing about the guards,
Nothing about them being stationed, about them being frightened, or about them being bribed.
Luke doesn’t include that Jesus appeared to the women.
No account of Jesus’ talking with Mary, nothing there.
Luke does mention the empty tomb & that Peter saw the linen wrappings,
But Luke does not say that this fact convinced Peter.
Luke only includes that Peter “went away to his home, marveling…”
None of those proofs are Luke’s main proof.
WHAT IS LUKE’S MAIN PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION?
THE WORD OF GOD
Luke’s account is the longest, spanning some 35 verses.
• It starts with the women at the tomb
• It ends with the men on the road to Emmaus.
And all of them get rebuked in their unbelief for the same thing.
They did not believe the word of God.
(6-8) “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words,”
Or even later with those men on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:25-27 “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”
And even later when Jesus appears to the disciples.
Luke 24:44-46 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,”
This is Luke’s crowning proof.
• The prophets said Jesus would rise from the dead…
• Jesus said He would rise from the dead…
• And now the gospels say He did rise from the dead…
It is, in my opinion, the greatest proof we have
That Jesus died, was buried, and that He rose from the dead;
THE BIBLE SAID HE WOULD & THE BIBLE SAYS HE DID.
• We didn’t see Jesus actually die
• We didn’t see Jesus actually buried
• We didn’t see Jesus actually rise
• NEITHER DID THE GOSPEL WRITERS (with the exception of John and His death)
We believe because Scripture says it happened.
That is clearly why Luke believed
And that is the emphasis of the story that he shares with us.
And that is the truth we want to examine over the next few weeks.
Well, let’s look at our text this morning.
There are 4 things to be seen here.
#1 A MISSING BODY
Luke 24:1-4a
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”
If you’ll remember the Sabbath had crept up on them on Friday evening.
• The Sabbath began at sundown on Friday and Jesus hadn’t died until 3pm.
• Then Joseph had to get Pilate’s permission to get Jesus’ body.
• Joseph then had to take Him down, wrap Him, and transport Him to the tomb.
• By the time this was all finished, it was too late to adorn the body of Jesus with spices.
• They had to wait.
Well the Sabbath ended at twilight on Saturday night,
And so in the middle of the night the woman took back up their mission
To adorn the body of Jesus.
• They traveled outside of the city,
• They were carrying their supplies.
• Mark’s gospel says they were actually worried about how they were going to move the stone.
But, when they got there:
(2) “they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,”
To them it appeared that someone had already been there.
In fact, John’s gospel seems to relate that simply upon seeing the stone moved that Mary Magdalene immediately turned around and made a bee-line to tell Peter that the body of Jesus had been stolen.
John 20:1-2 “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
That was her assumption. “Someone has taken His body”
That was likely the assumption of all the women.
For (3) “when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”
And here is what is INTERESTING.
(4a) “While they were perplexed about this…”
“perplexed” is APOREO
It is the negative form of the Greek word that POREUO
Which means “to carry on” or “to go one’s way”.
APOREO then means “people who don’t know where to go”,
Or “people who are trapped or fenced in”.
In a mental sense it is people who are “stumped” or “at a loss”
They don’t know what to think or what to do with this.
• They are totally dumbfounded.
• They are without a direction.
Why do I tell you that?
• Because don’t you think it’s just a little strange that upon seeing that Jesus’ body was gone, NONE OF THEM EVEN REMOTELY CONSIDERED THE POSSIBILITY THAT HE MIGHT BE ALIVE?
That wasn’t even considered as an outside possibility…
That thought didn’t even enter their mind as what might have occurred…
They had no expectation of a resurrection at all.
To them a missing body could only mean someone stole it.
And if that’s not what happened
Then they were totally perplexed as to what it could have been.
It was the greatest of mysteries.
A Missing Body
#2 AN ANGELIC REBUKE
Luke 24:4b-8
What a great confrontation here!
(4-5) “While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?”
• The women are at a total loss as to what has happened
• And instantly they are confronted by two glowing angels.
• And immediately they were terrified.
“terrified” is EMPHOBOS which is an intensified form of PHOBOS (phobia)
• They were scared out of their wits.
• These same angels had caused the guards to fall into a coma earlier in the morning.
• These women are “terrified”
And it is then that “the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?”
It’s a really great question.
How many times have you ever found yourself looking for someone?
• Maybe you get separated from your spouse at Wal-Mart…
• Or you’re looking for the UPS man around Spur…
• Or you simply need to find a person to visit with them…
• You know what it is to search for someone.
How many times in that search have you said, “You know, I think I’ll go look at the cemetery, I bet that’s where they are”?
That is the sort of sarcasm that is behind this question.
“Why do you seek the living One among the dead?”
Well the obvious answer is
Because they didn’t think He was “the living One”.
They thought He was dead.
• They saw Him die
• They saw Him buried
• They figured He was like every other buried person they had ever known,
• They figured He was still here.
And it is at this point that the angel gives them
THE GREATEST NEWS THEY HAD EVER HEARD.
(6) “He is not here, but He has risen.”
It is a huge statement!
As we said at the beginning.
The resurrection of Jesus is the VALIDATION that Jesus was sinless.
Acts 2:25-32 “For David says of Him, ‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. ‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
We have no doubt that Jesus was innocent because God gave vindication of His life.
It is also VERIFICATION that His atoning death was successful.
Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
Just as He died because we are sinners,
So also He was raised because we have been justified.
The fact that He is alive proves His saving death was effective.
It also gives us great confidence that DEATH (the consequence of sin) has been DEFEATED.
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
This is great news that these angels just announced to these women.
JESUS IS NO LONGER DEAD, HE IS ALIVE!
BUT THEY DON’T STOP THERE.
• ONLY LUKE includes what they say next.
• It is a simple and soft rebuke.
“Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
You know how that works.
And you know the insinuation.
It’s when you do something wrong and your boss or parent or spouse says, “Remember I told you not to do that”.
It’s not just an insinuation that you are wrong,
But that you are wrong because you didn’t listen.
That is the rebuke you see here.
• Ladies, the reason you are at a loss is because you did not listen to Jesus.
• You did not listen to the word of God.
Remember right after Peter made that famous confession of Jesus:
Luke 9:21-22 “But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”
JESUS HAD ANNOUNCED IT.
Matthew’s gospel includes this reminder:
Matthew 12:38-40 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, ” An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Jesus HAD told them.
• They had failed to listen to Him or believe Him.
• They had not listened and that is why they were “perplexed”
But now the angels straighten them out.
(8) “And they remembered His words”
• The light bulb came on.
• Jesus had said He would be raised, and now He was!
A Missing Body, An Angelic Rebuke
#3 AN IGNORED REPORT
Luke 24:9-11
So now the ladies have been sufficiently rebuked
For their failure to believe the words of Jesus.
And they are off to tell “the eleven” their new-found news.
Interestingly enough all the other gospel accounts include that
JESUS THEN APPEARED TO THEM, but LUKE DOES NOT.
It almost seems strange that Luke would omit
Such an amazing and seemingly important piece of information.
You’d think that these women seeing Jesus alive
Would have been something Luke would have wanted to include.
But he doesn’t because
Luke’s authority is not bound up in what is seen with the eyes,
But in what is heard in God’s word.
Let me remind you of another story that only Luke includes.
Remember the rich man in hades?
Luke 16:27-31 “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house for I have five brothers — in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'”
There Abraham helps us RANK our verifying proofs.
• And according to Abraham (in the story Jesus tells) the written word has more authority than even a visual sighting of a resurrected man.
THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR US
Because we have never seen the resurrected Jesus.
We certainly don’t go to lost people and say, “Wait right here and let me go get Jesus to appear to you.”
No, we offer them only the word of God.
And I’ll tell you this; not only is it enough, it is the greatest proof!
It is such a great proof
That Luke doesn’t even include
The in person visit Jesus had with these women.
They had Jesus’ words, and according to Luke that is all they needed.
And these women take those words now to the eleven.
(8-11) “And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.”
So they take this message to the eleven and unfortunately:
“these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.”
What words?
• Well the context of Luke’s gospel indicates to us that “these words” are the same words the angel just reminded the women of.
• We read in verse 8 “And they remembered His words”
But it is “these words” that now appeared as “nonsense”.
Do you see why the disciples are terrified?
Do you see why the disciples are depressed?
It is because they have not believed the words of Jesus
And even when confronted with them again they still will not believe them.
That’s why there are more rebukes on the way.
To the eleven the promise of a bodily resurrection was nonsense.
• Today we’d call it “A Crazy Conspiracy Theory”
If you’ll remember Martha had similar logic.
• Lord you can’t move the stone, he’s been dead 4 days and he’ll stink.
If you’ll remember the Corinthians tried to apply the same logic.
• 1 Corinthians 15:35 “But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
The Corinthians wouldn’t believe in bodily resurrection
Because they couldn’t understand it.
The disciples are right there.
• The women wouldn’t believe what they couldn’t imagine…
• The disciples won’t believe what they can’t understand…
Both revealed a failure to believe the word of God.
A Missing Body, An Angelic Rebuke, An Ignored Report
#4 A CONFUSED DISCIPLE
Luke 24:12
When you put all the gospel accounts together you find that
• Peter had left at the report of Mary Magdalene that Jesus’ body had been stolen.
• He and John had actually run to the tomb and John outran Peter,
• But where John stopped outside the tomb, Peter went on in.
• Peter was curious.
BUT WHAT WAS HE DOING HERE REALLY?
Peter was seeking to verify what he had heard.
• These women believed the angel’s words before they saw Jesus alive
• That wasn’t enough for Peter, he wanted visual proof.
In some ways he was a fulfillment of what Abraham had said
Because he hadn’t believed the prophets or Jesus either.
He had to see for himself.
All Peter saw was an empty tomb.
And the Bible says “he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.”
“marveling” is THAUMAZO
It means “to wonder at”
Often times it is translated “amazed” as in the crowds were amazed at Jesus.
It is used of Jesus when He saw the great faith of the centurion
IT SPEAKS OF WHAT OCCURS
WHEN SOMEONE SEES SOMETHING THAT IS UNEXPECTED.
And that sums up Peter.
He, like the rest, did not expect the resurrection.
This was all unexplainable to him.
Namely because he had not believed the words of Christ.
Now there is much more here,
• Especially as we get to those men on the road to Emmaus,
But let me simply remind you that
Our greatest proof that Jesus rose from the dead
Is that the Bible says He did!
I had a conversation with a Camp Leader several years ago who told me, “If the Bible was proved untrue, it wouldn’t affect my faith in the least.”
I asked him what his faith stood on then.
• He said, “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
• My response was, “I doubt you’d even know of the crucifixion of Jesus were it
not for the Scriptures.”
• He then assured me that Jesus would appear to you, as Jesus had appeared
to him.
But even if I believed Jesus actually appeared to him (I’m skeptical),
• Certainly that is not the norm for everyone.
Beyond that, according to the story we read earlier,
• That is not enough to make people believe.
THE WORD OF GOD MATTERS
• Why do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?
• Why do you believe Jesus was born of a virgin?
• Why do you believe Jesus worked miracles?
• Why do you believe Jesus died on the cross?
• Why do you believe Jesus rose from the dead?
Did you see any of those things?
Did you talk to anyone who saw those things?
• No – you simply believe them because the Bible says they happened.
And that is more than enough!
We believe because God in His word says that it happened.
THE FOCUS HERE is that Jesus Himself said it would happen.
You’ll see next time that it is way more than just Jesus who said it would happen.
Often times at Easter we sing “He Lives! He Lives!” And we sing “You ask me how I know He lives…
…it’s because the prophets said He would, and Jesus said He would, and the apostles who were inspired by the Holy Spirit said He does!”
It’s more than experiential, it’s contained in the inerrant word of God!
We believe Jesus rose because the Bible says so.
There’s much more to talk about here in the coming weeks.
