The Resurrection of Christ, Part 1

Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for today, and we thank you that you have revealed your glory in your word, that we might be able to understand how beautiful you truly are. And today, as we have the opportunity once again to examine the word of God, may you teach us and instruct us in the way that we should go, that our lives would truly reflect the beauty and glory of the risen King, Jesus Christ our Lord. In your name we pray. Amen. How significant is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that you cannot be saved unless you believe in that resurrection.

The Bible says in Romans 10, verse number 9, that if you confess Jesus as Lord, that is, if you say the same thing about Jesus that the Bible says about Jesus, that he is the Lord and master of all, and that you are willing to submit unconditionally and totally to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The cornerstone of the gospel is on the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. When we look at the crucifixion, we understand redemption.

When we look at the resurrection, we understand regeneration. And the two become as one when you understand the implications of the gospel of Christ, that he came, he lived, he died, and he rose again. The crucifixion of Jesus tells us about how the wrath of God was fully on Christ instead of us. And with the resurrection of Christ, the reward of God was fully on us because of him. In other words, we benefit in his death because he bore our sin. We benefit in the resurrection because we now bear his life.

Such a crucial chapter is Luke chapter 24. As we talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it becomes the theme of the apostolic writers as they would present Christ as risen from the dead. But you will note as we study the resurrection that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that which vindicated his prophecy. It vindicated his prophecy, Jesus would say on many occasions that he would die, but he would rise again on the third day.

And sure enough, that's exactly what he did. In fact, in Luke 24, the angel said, he is not here, but he is risen. Remember how we 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.

The resurrection of Christ vindicated his prophecy. In fact, on the road to Emmaus, as he was speaking with two individuals, Jesus said these words to those men. O foolish men of slow 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? And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. In other words, the Old Testament very clearly taught the death of the Messiah, as well as the resurrection of the Messiah.

And Jesus, when he came, would prophesy his death and resurrection, because that was all predetermined in eternity past. And so his resurrection vindicated his prophecy. His resurrection also validated his priority. It validated his priority. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost. The priority of Christ is to save you from your sin. The priority of Christ is not to make your marriage better. The priority of Christ is not to give you a better job. The priority of Christ is not even to heal your physical body.

The priority of Christ is to save you from your sin. Jesus is a savior. Jesus is a deliverer. And without the saving of man from his sin, there is no hope. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that one event that validates his priority. It was to come to seek and save that which is lost. He came to deliver us from our sin. The Bible says he came to give us his life.

He said, I am the resurrection and I am the life. In order for us to have his life, he must be raised from the dead. Jesus said, because I live, you too also will live. This is his priority. He came to deliver us. He came to give us his life. He even came to prepare a place for us in heaven. He said, I must go and prepare a place for you. So that when I come again, I can receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. He came to empower us. Ephesians 1 speaks the fact that we would know the power of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He has the same power that rose him from the dead or raised him from the dead. He also came to intercede for us. He also came to return for us. But his priority was to deliver us from our sin. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ validated that priority, vindicated his prophecy. Thirdly, it verified his deity.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ verified his deity. Jesus said in John 10, no one takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own initiative. And if I lay it down on my own initiative, I will take it up again. Only God can do that. That's why in Revelation 1, verse number 18, it says, I am the living one. I was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore. He is the Alpha and the Omega. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ verified once again that he is the Lord God of the universe. That he is in complete control of everything.

So as we study Luke chapter 24, you will see how the resurrection of Jesus Christ vindicated his prophecy, validated his priority, verified his deity, and fourthly, vanquished his enemy. Vanquished his enemy. Book of Hebrews, second chapter, verse 14 says, Since then the children of God 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 deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

First John 3, verse 8 tells us, The Son of Man appeared for this reason, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

He vanquished the enemy. Our Lord God, through his resurrection, opens up to us the beauty and glory of his identity. And so we want to spend this week and next week looking at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And then the rest of Luke chapter 24, beginning to understand the implications of that resurrection as it affects the disciples, it affects everybody involved. Now the unique thing about the Gospels is that it gives us a clear picture of what exactly happened on that Sunday morning, some 2000 years ago.

To read Matthew, to read Mark, to read Luke and John, you get the complete picture. And as you read the different accounts, you come to understand that there are certain elements that each of them speaks about. They all differ on some accounts, but there are some similarities that all of them address. One is that they all address the fact that Jesus was truly dead. On top of that, they all address that on Sunday, on Sunday, the third day he rose from the dead.

They all address the fact that the angels are the ones who explain what happened. They all address the fact that the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection were women.

And they all address the fact that the men refused to believe what the women said. That's the commonality between all four Gospels. And interestingly enough, all four Gospels leave out one main thing. They all leave out the actual event of the resurrection. Because nobody was there. No one knows exactly how it happened. It's a mystery. Not to be revealed until you get to heaven. The tomb, in fact, was empty. Jesus is no longer there. But the actual event of the resurrection itself, nobody explains.

Nobody details. Because nobody was there, and God didn't reveal it to anybody. So that's an interesting note as you study the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so we want to take you through Luke 24, verses 1-12. To explain to you, once again, how this tomb was exposed. How the truth was explained. How the tidings were exclaimed. And how the testimony was examined. Those are the four points we're going to cover with you this week and next week. So you kind of have an idea as to where we're going.

So let's begin by looking at Luke 24, verse 1. It says, This was the first day of the week. Isn't it interesting to note that the Jews didn't call the days Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. They numbered the days. Day 1 was Sunday. Day 2 was our Monday. Day 3 would be our Tuesday. And I don't need to go through the rest of them. You understand that, right? They just numbered the days. They took it from Genesis chapter 1. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Would it be that we would number our days the same?

We're going to meet on the third day of the week. People say, what day is that? How would I know what day that is? Well, if you read your Bible, you'd know what day that was. And so, you have to understand that it was on the first day of the week.

That they gathered together. That day would be the third day he was in the tomb. Based on his prophecy of Matthew chapter 12, verse number 40. He died on Friday. Was buried on Friday. Was there on Friday. All of Friday night into Saturday. All day Saturday into Saturday night and Sunday morning. And sometime in the early mornings of Sunday, he rose from the dead. So, he fulfilled his prophecy on the third day.

This is the first day of the week. In fact, the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us in the book of Acts. That the first day of the week is the Lord's day.

It's the Lord's day. This is the Lord's day. That's why we gather together on Sunday morning. Because the early church did. They gathered together on the first day of the week.

They gathered together on the Lord's day. And that's why we gather together on Sunday. To worship Christ. To celebrate. It's a celebration. We gather together to celebrate every Sunday. What do we celebrate? We celebrate Christ. What do we celebrate? We celebrate the fact that He is the King. What do we do? We come to celebrate Christ. That's the only reason we gather together. We don't come to celebrate you. If you want to do that, go to Disneyland. At Disneyland, they celebrate you. But at church, we celebrate the Christ.

It's all about Christ. It's all about His glory. It's all about His beauty. It's all about Him. And on the first day of the week.

The early church would gather together to celebrate Christ. Because that was resurrection day. That's the day that speaks of regeneration. That's the day that speaks of new life. That's the day that speaks of being born again. So we gather together on the Lord's day. That's why I don't like Saturday night service. Because it's not the first day of the week.

Which was patterned to us by the early church. I'm against going to church on Saturday night. So you can have the Lord's day for your day. I'm against that. I think that's wrong. You might disagree with me, but that's okay. I think I got biblical evidence to prove everything I'm saying. So you need to understand that this is the Lord's day. You're here today because you're honoring the Lord on the Lord's day. This is His day. And would it be that every Christian would say that this is the Lord's day?

We want to put Him first. He is before our work. He is before our play. He is before anything else we do. It is the Lord's day. And we honor Him on His day. The first day of the week.

And the Bible tells us in Colossians chapter 2, verses 16 and 17. That all the feasts and all the festivals are done. Because of the resurrection of Christ. They were all shadows. They were all point to this day. And so we gather together on the first day of the week to celebrate Christ.

If you ever wonder why you're here, that's why you're here. There is no other reason to come to church but to celebrate Christ. If you're here for another reason, you're here for the wrong reason. You're here to celebrate everything He is. And everything He has done. And once you understand that, everything else that is going on in your little life, pales in comparison to Him. Because nothing in your life is as big as you think it is at the moment. But Christ is bigger than anything in your life.

And so we come to celebrate the Christ. We come to lift Him up, to put Him on display. And so the Bible says that on the first day of the week at early dawn, they came to the tomb.

Now, this tells us something very unique. Because at the very outset, in verse 1, we realize that there is a discrepancy in the Gospels. And you've got to try to figure out exactly what's happening. Because if you read the Gospels, you realize that Luke says they came together at the early dawn. In Mark's Gospel it says the sun was risen. In Matthew's Gospel it says it began to dawn. And John's Gospel says it was still dark. So, who is right? Is somebody wrong? Did somebody make a mistake? Did somebody oversleep when they wrote the Gospel?

Do they understand this? Well, it's not very difficult to understand at all. Once you understand the sequence of events and the timeline surrounding the empty tomb. And so you need to understand that if I'm in the land of Israel, and the sun rises in the east like it does in America, then I know that the man of olives will cast a shadow over Jerusalem as the sun would rise in the east. And so if I'm writing from my perspective, and I realize that the sun is rising, it could still be dark at the garden tomb in Jerusalem, because while the sun was rising in the east, it had yet to come up over the man of olives which cast a shadow on the city of Jerusalem.

That could very well be. I don't think that's the case, but that could very well be. And it could be just from a writer's perspective at the early dawn, when the sun began to rise, or whatever the case may be. But John tells us something very interesting. John says, it was still dark. So turn with me to John's Gospel for a minute.

You need to understand this. You might think this is a little thing. To me, I think it's a big thing, because I think it helps you understand the sequence of events when it came to the recognition of this tomb being exposed. The tomb is exposed. The tomb is empty. The stone is rolled away. The Bible says, chapter 20, verse number 1, Now wait a minute.

Go back to Luke 24. What does it say? It says, Who's they? Well, if you go back to Luke chapter 23, it says these words. So the women, okay, listed in Luke chapter 8, were there watching Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus put spices over our Lord's body, wrap Him up, and lay Him in a tomb and seal the tomb. Roll the stone back. They went back to prepare spices, because they weren't going to be outdone by a bunch of strangers. They were going to go back and pay homage to their Lord. They were going back to the tomb, not because the tomb was going to be empty.

They were going back to the tomb because Jesus, presumably, would still be there, and they could anoint the body with spices. They didn't believe in a resurrection. And so that's why they were going back. But, in John's account, it says that while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene shows up. Isn't that interesting? Now, if you read Matthew's gospel, Matthew tells us these words. Matthew chapter 28. Now, after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

Are you a little confused yet? You've got the women in Luke's gospel. You've got Mary Magdalene. You've got Mary, the mother of James, who is the wife of Clopas. You have Salome. You have other women. But John's gospel tells us that Mary Magdalene was there and nobody else. It was still dark. Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the mother of James, she was with her, but wasn't with her in John. And Luke's gospel says all the women were coming together. How do you rationalize that?

How do you understand that? It's not that difficult. Think about it with me for a second. The women have prepared the spices. It's early in the morning. They all get up, and they all go to the tomb, all expecting to use their perfumes and spices on the body of Jesus. But some of them had to carry the spices. We know that Nicodemus had a hundred pound weight of spices and perfumes and aromas. So these women had to carry all the things they prepared. Mary Magdalene probably would have been the youngest of the women.

She would have ran on ahead because evidently she would get to the tomb while it was still dark, light enough to see that the stone had been rolled away. For the Bible says in John 20 these words.

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.

And so she ran and came with 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. Okay? So she never looked inside the tomb. She saw the stone rolled away and presumed that somebody had taken the body. The Bible never tells us she looked into the tomb. And so she would get there while it was still dark. She probably led the way. She probably was the first one there.

She saw the tomb was empty. The stone was rolled away presuming someone stole the body. And what does she do? She runs to tell Peter and John. She goes a different direction than the direction the other women were coming to the tomb. You understand that? She goes to tell Peter and John. At that time, the other women appear at the tomb. And now the sun is beginning to dawn. You understand that? So the sun now is beginning to dawn. Mary would get there. John would tell us Mary would get there while it was still dark.

So evidently she got there first. She was the first one there. The stone was rolled away. She presumed that the body had been stolen or taken. So she goes to tell Peter and John. While she's telling Peter and John, the other women show up. There's a discussion. Mark 16 tells us there was a discussion on their way to the tomb. Listen to what it says. Mark 16 says, And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices that they might come and anoint him.

And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? Who's going to roll away? This is their discussion on the way. Who's going to roll the stone away? We saw Joseph of Arimathea. We saw Nicodemus roll that huge stone across that entryway. Who's going to roll it away for us? Now note, they had no idea that there was a Roman guard at the tomb. They never met the Roman guard at the tomb.

They never had a discussion with the Roman guard at the tomb. In fact, if there was a Roman guard at the tomb and they knew about it, they probably would not have gone back to the tomb. But they had no idea that there was a Roman guard there because that happened on Saturday. That happened on the day after the crucifixion. How do we know that? Go back to Matthew. Matthew 27, verse 62. The prophet said to them, you have a guard. Go make it as secure as you know how. And they went and made the grave secure and along with the guard, they set a seal on the stone.

So this happens on Saturday. So you have a Roman guard. Some say it's four. Some say it's eight. Some say it's 16. Some say it's 32. No one knows the exact number but we know there's a series of men that are there. The tomb has been sealed but the women don't know the guards are there. But when the women show up, the stone is rolled away and there are no soldiers and there is no savior. What happened to the soldiers? Where did they go? Weren't they there to guard the tomb? Well, Matthew 28 says, Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning and his garment as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. Wow. Now you know what happened to the soldiers. Sometime while it was still dark, early, early Sunday morning there was a severe earthquake. Now, did that shake all of Jerusalem, all the surrounding area or just the place of the tomb?

We don't know. But there was a severe earthquake. And those guards had already experienced an earthquake when? On Friday, when the earth shook and the stones were split in two. So now comes another severe earthquake. And with that earthquake comes this angel, bright as lightning. So bright, so pure, so clean that when the soldiers saw the angel having faced the earthquake and the stone being rolled away from the tomb, they were in great fear. Great fear. And the Bible says they became like dead men.

Just wiped them right out. When they awoke, the angel was gone, but the stone was rolled away. There would be no need for them to stay and guard the tomb because Jesus was gone. So they're gone. And so by the time the women get there, all this has already taken place. By the time Mary gets there, the stone was rolled away. She assumes, presumes, that the body's been stolen. She runs to tell Peter and John, not going the same way she came because the other women were following. She would go tell Peter and John that the stone had been rolled away and that someone had taken the body.

The other women, they show up. They show up at the tomb and they realize that the tomb is empty and they are there. They would have an explanation from the angel. We'll see in a moment. They would leave and Peter and John would show up and they would look into the tomb. And that's where we have the account in John chapter 20 when it says, Peter therefore went forth and the other disciple and they were going to the tomb and the two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb.

And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there but he did not go in. Simon Peter therefore also came following him and entered the tomb and he beheld 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 piece by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered then also and he saw and believed.

For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their homes. So you get the picture? Now you begin to understand the events of what took place. They appointed a Roman guard on Saturday. The Roman guard is there. There's a severe earthquake. There's an angel that descends and rolls away the stone. The Roman guard become like dead men. They're absolutely in fear. Knocks them right out. They awake. Jesus is gone. They leave.

There's no need to guard an empty tomb, right? So they leave. Mary shows because she runs ahead of everybody else. Sees the stone rolled away. Assumes someone stole the body. Goes to tell Peter and John. Then the other women show up. They receive an explanation from the angel as to what has happened. They leave. Peter and John show up. Look inside. Tomb is empty. They go home. Mary stays. And Jesus appears to Mary. Now you begin to understand the scenario. It's not that the gospel writers are wrong.

They all approach it from a different angle. When Mary got there, it was still dark. But when the rest of the women got there, the sun was beginning to rise. But what took place earlier that morning was something supernatural. So what happened? Where did the soldiers go? Well, go back to Matthew 28. It says, verse 11, Now while they were on their way, behold, some of the guard came to the city and reported to the chief priest all that had happened. So some of them would go to the chief priest and tell them what took place.

And when they had assembled with the elders and counted together, they gave a large sum of money to their soldiers and said to them, You are to say his disciples came by night and stole him away while he was asleep, and that 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. They came to the chief priest and explained to them, as it says in verse number 11, what had happened.

What did they say? They said exactly what Matthew 28 says. Here we were standing guard. It was early Sunday morning. There was a severe earthquake. You felt the earthquake, didn't you? Did you guys not feel the earthquake? We felt it. You didn't feel it? We did. And the stone was rolled away. And there was this angel, this bright light that came and sat on top of that stone. And we were so afraid. It put us right out. We got up. Angel was gone. Stone was rolled away. Jesus wasn't there. So here we are.

Here we are. Now, for the council to say, look, we're going to pay you some money. And you tell everybody you fell asleep. Do you know that falling asleep on your guard is grounds for execution? So they paid them to tell something absolutely foolish. And they took the money. They bought the bribe. Tell someone that they fell asleep. And while they were asleep, the disciples came, rolled the stone away, and stole the body. Problem with that is that the disciples were in great fear. They were nowhere to be found.

And the disciples didn't believe in a resurrection. So why would they even begin to form a story based on a lie and lose their lives based on a lie that they would steal the body and try to convince everybody there was a resurrection? We know this. The tomb was exposed. It was exposed for this reason. Not because Jesus needed to walk out. Didn't need to have that happen. Jesus would rise from the dead. He would go right through the rock. As we will see later on, he appears in the upper room by going through closed doors.

That's what a glorified body does. He doesn't need the stone to be rolled away in order to get out. We need the stone to be rolled away in order to see in. The tomb was exposed for the world to see that Jesus is not here. He is risen just like he said. And that's where point number two comes in.

In Luke's gospel, the truth was explained. Remember, there is no stone, there is no soldiers, and there is no Savior. Okay? No stone, no soldiers, and no Savior. The tomb is empty. The soldiers knew the tomb was empty, and they would go and tell the Sanhedrin. They were the ones who guarded it. The Jewish leaders knew the tomb was empty and concocted a story as to how it became empty. Mary Magdalene knew it was empty because she reported to Peter and John that someone had taken the body. The explanation is simple.

Jesus rose from the dead just like he said. And so when you go to Luke 24, it says, verse 2, And he found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Now remember, the women are going, and they're saying to themselves, to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us? We can't do this. We've got the spices in both hands. We're weighed down by the spices. We're older women. We necessarily can't roll the stone away. Who's going to help us do this? They get there, and they found the stone rolled away. How convenient is that?

It's already been taken care of. But when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. They get there, the stone is rolled away. This is great. We have access. Let's go, and let's put the spices on the body of Jesus. And they get there expecting to see him. And he's gone. He's not there. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel. 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?

Here are two angels. Two angels who look like men. And here they stand in dazzling apparel. The women see them and bow down before them in humble submission because they know that this is a supernatural event. This is not something that's natural. These aren't two just ordinary individuals. These are spirit beings in the form of a man in dazzling apparel. They fall down. They bow before them. The question comes, Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he is remembered. He is risen.

Remember how he spoke to you while he was 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.

Don't you remember? Don't you remember all the times he said these things to you? They'd forgotten. They'd forgotten. We know of the specific occasions in the Gospels where Jesus speaks about his death and resurrection. And I'm sure that there were many other times that he spoke about his death and resurrection. They just didn't get it. They didn't get it because they didn't want to get it. They didn't want to get the fact that Jesus was going to die. Once he started talking about death, it was like, I can't hear you, I can't hear you, I can't hear you, I can't hear you.

I don't want to hear this anymore. No more death, no more death, no more death. He always said, on the third day I'll rise again.

He always gave the victory over death, but they didn't hear that because he turned them off. As soon as he started talking about death, just turned them off, deaf ear to Jesus. So the angel says, why do you seek the living one among the dead? Don't you remember what he told you? How do you miss this? And I'm sure that the angels are baffled over what it is we don't remember when the son of God speaks to us. It's like a mild rebuke. Don't you remember? How did you miss this part? This is the part.

He came to die. He came to rise again. How did you miss the main event? How did you miss the main action? How did you, you were so concerned about everything else around you, but you missed the main reason for his arrival. How did you miss that? And I'm sure that they wonder how we miss so much about what Jesus says about who he is.

Don't you remember? The Bible tells us, and they remembered his words. The truth was explained by divine revelation. The truth was explained by heavenly messengers. This is what happened. He is the living one. And why would you seek the living one among the dead? Jesus rose from the dead. And the Bible tells us these words in Acts chapter 17. Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because he 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.

He furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. The Bible says you better repent. God is declaring that all men everywhere need to turn from their sin and follow Jesus Christ the King, because there's coming a day in which he, the righteous judge, will judge everyone. And all who are in the grave shall rise. John 5 tells us, all will hear his voice, all will rise, some to the resurrection of life and some to the resurrection of death. The question is, what will you rise to when the day of resurrection comes for your body?

Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity we have to study the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, that monumental event that changed everything, that changed the life of these women, these disciples, and that caused the church to explode. Our prayer, Father, is that we would be the kind of people who live in the light of your resurrection. You've caused us to be born again into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. We have hope because Jesus is alive, and he's alive forevermore.

For that, we thank you in Jesus' name.