The Empty Tomb - Luke 24 Vs 1-12

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Faith Bible Church. If you'd turn in your bulletins to the announcements, come tonight for prayer meeting, meet back in the fellowship hall. Missionary of the Month is Darcy Bergland.

She serves with Ethnos 360 in Indonesia as a Bible translator. That's a lot of work, and pray for her good health, for the salvation of the people she works with, and for finalizing the printing of the Bible in more languages.

Baptism Sunday. We have a baptism plan for December 29th, and if anyone's interested in baptism, please let Harold or Victor know, and there will be no Bible studies until January 15th. Dear Father, thank you so much for this privilege and opportunity and pleasure it is to meet together in your name, and worship you, and learn more about you.

We give you this.

Time in Jesus' name, amen. I'm sure some of you have been waiting all year for to be able to sing Christmas carols again, and it's our first song is Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and herald means not wrong spelling, misspelling, but it's a messenger, somebody that brings news, and something is or to express something is about to happen.

So let's stand together as we sing a very familiar.

Hymn.

Our next song is God Yet Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and this song was written almost 500 years ago,.

And it was originally in Latin, and it was very dark and somber, and over time they wanted to add a little more life to the song, and apparently in London back in the day, they actually sang this, the night watchman would sing this song walking through the streets of London.

Can you imagine that? Wouldn't that be a beautiful sight? So let's sing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

Bible reading today is from 1 Corinthians 15 20 through 28. That's 1 Corinthians 15 20 through 28, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits. Afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he sayeth all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is expected, which did put all things under him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word.

And I know the emphasis at Christmas time is on the birth of Jesus Christ, but that was really just the beginning of his earthly ministry. And this song that we're going to sing one day brings us from the beginning of his entrance into this world to the point of death and resurrection.

And Romans 5 -6, at just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ.

Died for the ungodly. One day when heaven was filled with his praises, one day when sin was as black as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin. What example is he? Living he loved me, dying he saved.

My sin far away, rising he justified. Freely for ever, one day he stayed. One day the grave him no longer away from the door. A road over death he had conquered, now he ascended. My love he saved. My sins far away, he justified.

One day the trumpet will sound for his coming. One day the skies with his glory will shine. Wonderful day my beloved one's bringing. Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine. Rising he justified.

Turn to Luke chapter 24 verses 1 -12. Luke chapter 24 verses 1 -12. Now on the first day of the week very early in the morning they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this that behold two men stood by them in shining garments.

Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth they said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful man and be crucified and the third day rise again.

And they remembered his words and then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

And their words seemed to them like idle tales and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb and stooping down he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves and he departed marveling to himself at what had happened.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father we are grateful that Jesus didn't stay dead. We're grateful that we worship the living Lord, the risen King, and we're grateful that he is with us through his Holy Spirit.

Help us to honor him in our hearts and in everything we do. Help us know that he is present with us and help us to appreciate and be grateful that we get to worship him this morning in Jesus name. So Luke chapter 24 is the last chapter of the gospel account.

And what's important about Luke is that Luke's decision to write this gospel comes from his desire and purpose to show that Jesus died and rose from the dead. And you'll see the amount of detail that Luke provides.

And in one sense that is how we ought to believe. We believe because Luke has given us the evidence. We believe because God through Luke has given us the evidence. And many of us I think in our immaturity or even in our rebellion we desire how come I don't get to see the empty tomb.

But I would like to pose to you we believe in so many things without having seen it ourselves just because there's a written record of it. I'm sure none of you are old enough to have witnessed the Revolutionary War.

But we believe it happened and we believe we won because there's a written record of it or multiple written records of it. Same thing with what's on the news. Yes there are some fake news but when there's a hurricane in a certain region and we read that on the news we believe it.

Without having to experience that ourselves because there's a written record of it. And that's the same thing with any court trials. Even if you're not one of the 12 jurors you believe the verdict because there's a written record of it.

There's a transcript. And in the similar sense there are five pieces of evidence of the resurrection that Luke gives us in these 12 verses. He wants us to believe. He is writing to those who cannot enter the tomb.

The later generations of Christians. He's writing to those who have not encountered the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Yet his purpose still remains the same. He writes to us these pieces of evidence so that when we take a look that we may believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

When we piece them each together they become impossible to refute. Our faith is dependent on the testimony of God and his saints. And that is what faith is. The resurrection is the most important event in human history without a doubt because without the resurrected Lord we are still in our sin.

Yes Jesus suffered God's wrath on the cross on our behalf however without the resurrection he is just like any other man whom Rome has executed. There is no difference. It's a nice idea but without the risen Lord we still remain in our sin.

Without the resurrection Jesus is just like all the religious influencers of the past. Joseph Smith Muhammad and Buddha who remained dead. However today's passage shows us that Jesus did rise from the dead and this changes everything.

The resurrection proves that we are truly reconciled with God. After all Jesus is not just another dead guy who told you to do good works in order to be made right with God. Instead he is the living Lord who rose from the dead and reigns from above to make a way for sinners to be reconciled with God to be made with made right with God.

And unlike the famous dead people that I've mentioned he lives to save to the uttermost. Buddha can't save you. Muhammad can't save you. After all they couldn't even save themselves from death. What makes you think that they'll save you from your death?

But Jesus he defeated death once and for all. And he rose again to never die. And because of this we have the hope of our resurrection. It will be his living voice that will raise us from the dead. And because he has risen we have the full guarantee of his presence with us.

Because he is risen we have the full guarantee of our pardon. Because he's risen we have the full guarantee that there is someone living right next to God the Father who prays on our behalf. Whenever you sin you don't have to worry that God will be angry at you because the risen king intercedes for you on your behalf.

And because he's alive he intercedes for us to the uttermost. The main text main point of this text is that because God's revelation of Jesus' resurrection is sufficient for faith we must proclaim it to all regardless of the outcome.

Because God's revelation of Jesus' resurrection is sufficient for faith we must proclaim it to all regardless of the outcome. First God provides both heavenly and earthly testimonies to Jesus' resurrection for us to believe.

God provides both heavenly and earthly testimonies to Jesus' resurrection for us to believe. After the crucifixion in which he suffered God's wrath for our sin he was buried in a tomb nearby in a tomb prepared for by Joseph of Arimathea one of the council members.

And verse one sets the context for Christ's resurrection. Now on the first day of the week very early in the morning they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

We do not get to know what happened during the sabbath. We do not get to see the process of resurrection. But what we do see is that it happened. It begins very early on the first day. The first day in Judaism is actually Sunday.

The sabbath is the last day. It's the sixth day. The first day is a Sunday. And just as God created life on the first day God will resurrect a life on the first day. Just as creation occurred on the first day recreation will occur on the first day too.

And that's primarily the reason why we meet on Sunday to celebrate the risen Lord rather than on the sabbath. These women are the ones who wanted to honor Christ by anointing his body with spices but could not because of the sabbath day.

And none of these women expected to see what they saw. Verse 2 introduces the first evidence for the resurrection. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. When you read Mark's account the women were actually concerned that the stone wouldn't be able to roll away.

They're women. They couldn't possibly imagine how they would be able to roll away the big heavy stone covering the entrance of the tomb. And now here they have something else to worry about. The tomb's actually opened.

Who could have done this? Now this evidence alone does not provide sufficient evidence for resurrection. But consider their dilemma. The women arrived very early morning on the first day. The day before was the sabbath which for the Jews in Jerusalem they wouldn't have been able to roll away the stones because that would have been considered work.

Then who could have done it if they are the first ones to arrive? That kind of begs the question. Could it be someone who was already there? If the women were the first ones to arrive at the tomb on the first day and they didn't roll away the stone, in fact they worried about they wouldn't be able to roll away the stone.

Then maybe someone was already there at the tomb perhaps buried in the tomb to roll away the stone when he rose from the dead. And verse 3 gives us the second evidence. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

The open tomb invites the women to further investigate. Obviously Jesus does not need to open the tomb in order to get out of it. After all he is able to walk out the tomb. He can walk through the doors.

Why can't he just walk out the tomb without opening it? Jesus' resurrection was and is not based upon some blind belief but a detailed investigation involving multiple individuals. Not only is the tomb open but Jesus' body is missing.

If the tomb were open and there's a body there, that's no resurrection. But we have the two criteria for the resurrection. The tomb's open and there's no body. The evidence narrows down to two possible options.

Either the dead body was stolen or the body walked out of the tomb. And John says they are perplexed by this that behold two men stood by them in shining garments. The word shining here is like lightning, splendid, white, glowing, glorious.

Although it says men here, their shiny robes tell us they're actually angels. And we get this confirmation in verse 23 on the road to Emmaus. When these two gentlemen who heard about the resurrection share it with Jesus that these women had a vision of angels.

The shiny garments further signify actually a connection to heaven. After all during the transfiguration Jesus is wearing a shiny white garment. And furthermore after Jesus' ascension the angels, two angels, will show up and they're also wearing shiny garments.

And an angel who shows up before Cornelius the centurion will be wearing, you've guessed it, a shiny garment. Fitting that the gospel account that celebrates the birth of God incarnate with angels and the lowly shepherds will end with both the heavenly and earthly proclamation of his resurrection as well.

Luke didn't just make this up. God is giving a testimony of his risen son. God has resurrected his son. And Luke describes that there are two angels here. And this is important because in Judaism two witnesses are required to prove the truth of the matter.

That's Deuteronomy 19 .15. And for Jesus' resurrection there were two witnesses from heaven. You may not have seen it. The women may not have seen it because the resurrection occurred before their arrival.

But God saw it and he sent his two witnesses to testify on his behalf. And the third evidence, the third evidence, this is the third evidence, develops this event to be supernatural. It is no longer possible to hold that Jesus' missing body was just stolen, especially when God's messengers are involved.

Angelic encounters are supernatural events. And as they cower in fear and respect, the angels speak, why do you seek the living among the dead? This rhetorical question actually indirectly proclaims that Jesus is no longer dead.

You won't find Jesus in the tomb because the tomb is for the dead. The logical conclusion is Jesus is no longer dead. And the first part of verse six emphasizes and further describes the point that's made in the rhetorical question.

He is not here but is risen. The first testimony of Jesus' resurrection, in fact, came from above. The first testimony of Jesus' resurrection comes from God through the angels. It is God the Father who reveals the resurrection.

And that is the fourth evidence. It's the verbal testimony from the heavenly creatures sent by God. And the ultimate evidence of the resurrection came from Jesus' mouth. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again.

This is the reference to Jesus' prophecy of his death and resurrection all the way back in Luke 9, 22. Ultimately, Jesus' word testifies to Jesus' resurrection. What this shows is that every word that comes from Jesus' mouth must be fulfilled.

Anything and everything that Jesus said is true and will be fulfilled. Something greater than the angelic testimony is God's own testimony through his son. And this morning none of us get to look inside the empty tomb, but we have the testimonies of both the angels and women of the resurrection.

The tomb was empty, the body is missing, the angels announced that he's risen according to Jesus' words. All of it hangs on the fact that Jesus had said it and it was fulfilled. Growing up in a non-Christian home, my dad tried to convince me that Christianity is wrong and he saw a documentary.

And thinking that he would be able to show me, he recorded it on the VHS tape. It's like a DVD but thicker. And it was supposedly about finding Jesus' body in Jerusalem. Presumably they found a tomb that's marked Jesus.

Obviously that's not surprising when there are millions of people who lived in Jerusalem. I'm sure multiple people were named Jesus. Rather a popular name considering that it's the same name as Joshua.

If you know more than one Joshua in your life, there's the point. And what's even astounding is they weren't even able to open the tomb because they didn't have the right permit. So the documentary rather ends very inconclusively.

Well it could be. That's how it ends. Well it could be Jesus. And the minister, there's a minister. They interview people, right? They interviewed a Christian minister. And they said, what if they did really find Jesus' body?

And he actually says, this wouldn't change my faith because I believe Jesus rose from the dead spiritually, not physically. And back then I thought, oh that's, I guess that's faithful. However that's a faithful faithless thing to say.

That has no faith in the evidence that God has given us. After all, there is no archaeological evidence that can possibly rival the word of God which testifies to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And this is because scripture is the primary evidence of Christ's resurrection. And when we attempt to play scripture at the same level as any other writings or any books or any other evidence that are man-made or man-discovered, we're committing idolatry.

We cannot possibly equate the word of God on the same footing as the word of man. Or in our case, documentary of man. And this is because God's word alone is sufficient. God does not need any extra biblical books to support his claims.

We're grateful that we do have history and archaeology on our side. We're grateful that science, although late, often shows what God has already done. But even if those things did not, nothing would change in God's word.

God has said it, and it is true. And that's it. Unfortunately, we treat scripture as insufficient to prove the truth of the matter in our days. We want to start with the extra biblical accounts, or we attempt to supplement scripture with extra biblical evidence.

And I'm not saying the extra biblical or archaeological records are always wrong or unreliable. That's not the point. However, the only testimony that we need of the crucifixion and resurrection is the divine testimony from God, the inspired word of God, inerrant and infallible.

And consider what the early church received. They did not receive a tour of the empty tomb, although some of them could have. But that's not the point. They didn't get a photograph or a painting of the two angels.

They did not pass around the linen cloths that once wrapped Jesus' body. What they received was better. They received God's word. They received not only one, but from four witnesses, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

And furthermore, testimonies from the other apostles like Paul and James and Peter. They received the compilation of both earthly and heavenly testimonies from God, and they preserved it. And that's what we read this morning.

Scripture alone is enough. Scripture alone was enough for the early church to believe and be saved. And scripture alone has been enough to sustain and bless the church for the last 2 ,000 years. And scripture alone is enough for us.

If you want the primary proof of Jesus' resurrection, you don't need to read Josephus. You don't need to read Tacitus. You need to read the Bible. That is God's testimony using many human testimonies to show that his son did rise from the dead.

Second, what is the immediate response to Christ's resurrection? The proper response to Christ's resurrection is proclamation regardless of the outcome. The proper response to Christ's resurrection is the proclamation regardless of the outcome.

Verse 9,. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and all the rest. The eleven here are the eleven remaining apostles since Judah is no longer with them. All the rest probably mean the rest of the disciples of Christ who gather together because after all they are scared.

Their teacher, their master in their mind is dead and still dead. They don't know what's going to happen. So, they're together. What is important here is that the good news of Jesus' resurrection was not kept a secret.

It was never a secret. They did not gatekeep this information. Jesus' resurrection was proclaimed since the first day, which means it couldn't have been made up two centuries later. They couldn't keep their mouth shut because it was exciting.

Luke provides us with the names of the source. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. Mary Magdalene was mentioned in Luke chapter 8.

She was the one whom Jesus delivered from seven demons. And from Galilee to Jerusalem, Mary remained faithful to Christ. From the crucifixion to resurrection, Mary stayed close by. Joanna was the wife of Herod's household manager.

So, Herod's steward. So, she was actually higher up in the socioeconomic background. She was also mentioned in Luke 8. And despite being in a powerful position, Joanna humbly followed the king. And it is the last Mary, the third Mary.

It's hard to discern which Mary it is. The direct translation is Mary of James. Both of these names are quite common, right? In fact, we have two Jameses among the apostles. Jesus has a half-brother named James.

So, this could be Mary the mother of Christ, or it could be just another Mary who's a disciple. And because the name is so common, it is hard to know which Mary this is. As mentioned last week, what's striking here is that the first human witnesses to see the evidence of the resurrection, the most important event, not only in history, but also in Christianity, right?

If there's no resurrection, we have no business meeting here. The most important event was witnessed first by women. And that actually defends the faith. Because the tradition back then was that women were not suitable nor sufficient witnesses in the court of law under ancient Judaism.

So, if Christianity were a made-up account, made-up religion to just gather influence and followers, just like all the other religions, frankly, right? It's all about popularity contest. It would not have made sense to make up a religion in which the most important event is witnessed by women.

The star witnesses could have been Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Why didn't Luke write that? Luke knew of Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph of Arimathea was a follower of Christ. He would have easily lied and said, sure, just put my name down.

Because that's not how it happened. Luke brings the truth of the matter rather than what will ultimately sell. Luke wrote a historical biography rather than a fiction. And 2 ,000 years later, that supporting evidence is pretty powerful.

Luke's credibility only rose over 2 ,000 years. Whether he knew it or not, God knew. And Luke lists the main witnesses who testified to Jesus' resurrection so that the early readers could verify for themselves.

After all, why do you give the names? So that you could talk to them yourself. Unlike our current media, the resurrection did not come from an anonymous source. You see that all the time. An anonymous source said this guy is a drunk.

An anonymous source said this guy did this. Not with the resurrection. They're names that you can check. Now, how did the apostles respond? And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

The early church leaders were skeptical of the resurrection. And I'm not talking about just some unknown people. I'm talking about the 11 apostles, the very foundation of the church. The ones who will, most of them, will be martyred for the faith.

But their beginning faith in the resurrection was barely existent. This verse does not portray the apostles well. And this further grows Luke's credibility. Luke's testimony is even more trustworthy because he's not afraid of telling the truth, even if it makes the apostles look bad.

After all, Luke wasn't one of the apostles. His sources were probably the apostles. And I am sure the apostles were higher than him. He doesn't mind showing that the apostles didn't believe it at first.

Luke does not sacrifice truth on the altar of positive public opinion or positive public relation. Luke would rather tell the truth of the matter rather than to network in the church. However, verse 12 shares Peter's response.

But Peter arose and ran to the tomb, and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves, and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. Peter, knowing his personality, eagerly checks it out for himself.

And he sees a new evidence, and that's the cloths. Those are the cloths that wrapped Jesus's body. And that would be a new evidence because dead people are wrapped in the cloths indefinitely. Living people have no need for the cloths wrapped around their body.

Living people can actually take the cloths off, unwrap them themselves. This text shows that the fitting response to the resurrection of Jesus Christ is proclamation, regardless of the outcome. Christianity is not some secret Gnostic cult in which most people are prevented from entering in, but rather Christianity proclaims the gospel to the dying world.

There is no secret information that the older Christians and elders know about that you don't. We're not about the secret handshakes. We're not about secret rituals. Everything you know about Christ is accessible to us, and everything we know about Christ is accessible to you.

And that is Scripture. It's the living testimonies from God and many witnesses. And all you need to know in order to be made right with God is that Jesus died for your sin and rose from the dead. And Christianity provides a clear way to God, to anyone who desires to trust Him.

And there are no roadblocks. There are no secret inner circles. If you trust in Jesus, you belong to Him, and that's final. Second, the proclamation does not depend on the potential outcome. Oftentimes, we make our decisions based upon what could happen.

I mean, who doesn't? But notice what did not stop the women, the fear of the negative opinions of men. The thought that Jesus' disciples would find it ridiculous did not stop them from proclaiming everything that they witnessed from the tomb to the angels, the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

In fact, most of the apostles did not initially believe them. Yet this morning, 2 ,000 years later, we can see the gospel traveled regardless. Because the outcome does not depend on the heralds, but the gospel is sufficient and powerful enough to spread and save dead souls.

And just like these women, we are commissioned to spread the news of Jesus' resurrection regardless of the outcome. Our eloquence and presentation do not matter. You don't need a Bible degree. You don't need a seminary degree.

You don't need answers to every hard theological question. You just need to know that Jesus died for your sin, suffered the judgment that you deserved, and He rose from the dead. That's all you need to know, a simple sentence, and you are fully equipped to share the gospel with anyone and everyone you come across.

A five-year-old new believer can be just an effective instrument, just as an effective instrument of God's redemptive plan as much as a 90-year-old mature believer who has followed the Lord for decades.

This is because God is the one who saves through the redemptive message of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. That is not our job. And this Christmas season, we actually have a great opportunity to share the risen Lord.

Many of the Christmas carols we even sang this morning fully shares the gospel. Almost every verse does. There are cases in which musicians have been saved from playing the Christmas carol, not the modern type of All I Want for Christmas is You, but rather the historical hymns.

It's rich in theology, and it is filled with the gospel. The fact that God incarnate came down to die for our sin on the cross. And this Christmas season, it's a wonderful opportunity to proclaim the greatest gift that we've ever received, who is Jesus Christ.

Even when someone mentions a gift, you can easily say, you know, my favorite gift I received this Christmas, the favorite gift ever that I celebrate the most, that I appreciate the most, is that God of the universe died for me, and He rose from the dead.

It's as easy as that. And you've just heard the gospel. This Christmas season, we can naturally talk about whom we're truly celebrating on Christmas. It is the risen Christ. And may we look forward to His second coming when we will be reunited with Him once and for all.

Let us pray. Father, we are thankful that Jesus' resurrection is filled with so many pieces of evidence that it is irrefutable. Father, help us to trust in the risen Lord. Help us to know that He is with us, and help us to make Him the center of the Christmas season.

Help us to be excited, as excited as the women were to share the resurrection. Help us to desire to look foolish for Christ. Help us to desire and long to see the dead souls rise from the dead as they trust in Jesus Christ.

Give us the courage. I confess that it is scary for me to share the Christ with people. Help us to trust in the message. Help us to not trust in ourselves. In Jesus' name, amen.