Book of Luke - Ch. 24, Vs. 1-12 (01/30/2005)

We're gonna start in Luke chapter 24, I believe is where we were Last time brother

Otis taught. Let's have a word of prayer and we'll begin with Luke chapter 24 verse 1

Lord, thank you for our time of fellowship today and Lord We thank you for watching over our family in this week and also our church family and bringing us back together.

We We are excited about Jenny and Arlen and the baby being here next

Sunday And so watch over them and give them strength and father.

We Pray that you'll guide us as we study your word this afternoon in Jesus name.

Amen All right, let's read a little bit of this and then we will make some comments

Now upon the first day of the week Let's stop right there. What day would that be?

No Sunday Yeah, I always think of Monday as the first day of the week too but because that's the first work day of the week, but Sunday is the first day of the week and The resurrection day was on Sunday and that's why we have church on Sunday.

That's the Lord's Day and There is some controversy about that rising up all around us in the country today by by predominantly

Messianic Jewish groups That are trying to get people to go back to the Sabbath on Saturday But I believe you can find

Plenty of evidence that even before the days of Constantine the one that they say hated the

Jews so much But but well before his time You can find evidence that they were worshiping on the

Lord's Day, which was Sunday not Saturday And they did some but the early Christians did keep the

Sabbath on Saturday, but they also went to worship on Sunday they did both So there's no evidence that the early church worshipped on Saturday Many of them actually did worship on the first day of the week and they can came to call that the

Lord's Day So the first day of the week very early in the morning They came into the sepulcher bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others with them

And I want you to take it into your minds the scenery as we read through this picture the scenery because there's a lot of proof in these passages that have to do with the resurrection many of the

Bible scholars have said in their books when you read especially the ones that write about apologetics and things like that That our faith is a faith that's based on facts and that is true the

Christian faith Is the only faith in the world that is based on facts of science and history and and so forth

And the others are not if you read the Book of Mormon's you'll find all sorts of things having to do with Archeology and even science itself where it's not true and it doesn't fit and they say well, it's just a matter of faith

So in other words, it's okay to believe things that aren't true is what they're saying but our Bible is based on scientific fact is based on truth and the world around us and it is in fact in meshed with Science and truth and nature and the truth of the way everything is the

Bible is just in meshed with it You can't separate it out. It's based on Historical fact and truth and scientific fact and truth

So you'll find some things happening down through this passage that seem a little bit subtle But those who really study these things in detail who want to go to the

Bible and find Things of facts that have to do the resurrection use some of these minor little things

So try to picture these and we'll see how they really speak louder than the first time you just read them verse 2 and they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher and They entered in and found not the body of the

Lord Jesus And it came to pass as they were much perplexed there about behold two men stood by them in shining garments and As they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth.

They said of them. Why seek you the living among the dead? I love that phrase, don't you? He is not here.

He is risen Why seek you the living among the dead? He is not here.

He is risen remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee saying the

Son of Man must be delivered in the hands of sinful men and Be crucified in the third day rise again, and they remembered his words and Returned from the sepulcher and told all these things into the eleven and to all the rest

It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women that were with them

Which told these things and to the Apostles and their words seemed like idle tales and they believed them not

Now that's the very Apostles right there. They didn't even believe they were telling the truth. So Peter jumps up and runs

He's not gonna take their word for it And he runs to the sepulcher. We know that John was with him from other passages and Stooping down he beheld the linen clothes

Laid by themselves and departed wondering in himself at that which was come to pass and I'm gonna stop there for today

But I want you to find it interesting like I do that just because he looked in and he saw those clothes that made him wonder

It made him wonder now The word wonder is like he had a wonderment about himself when he saw the clothes

Though there are two things we want to discuss this afternoon And that is number one the stone and number two the grave clothes as far as proofs of the true

Resurrection let's go back to Mark chapter 16 to that passage that deals with this and let's talk about the stone for a moment and When the

Sabbath was passed Mark 16 1 when the Sabbath was passed Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and and Salome had bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him and Very early in the morning the first day of the week

They came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the Sun and they said among themselves

Who shall roll now care read this part? who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher and When they looked they saw that the stone was already rolled away and look at this phrase for it was very great

In the Greek the word great is the word magus it means huge it means gigantic it took

Probably more than four Roman soldiers to roll that stone away is how many men it might take

I'm on ten I don't know big strong men five ten of them

It would take to roll a stone like this and they might even have to have a lever to do it

To get it rolling in the first place And so the women were concerned about this because they were going to anoint the body and they were concerned

Well, who's going to move the stone for us? So we see that the evidence here in the historic account of this is that the stone was huge and So in order for it to be moved would have required a small army of men now

We're not going to go into this part in the scriptures But you're aware of the fact that they had posted a Roman guard at this place to keep from happening what the

Jews feared most and that was that someone would steal the body and claim that there was a resurrection and What's interesting about it is the very fact of the precautions that they took to keep that from happening is what proved it

It's one of the great proofs of the genuine resurrection is that those Soldiers were there the entire time under penalty of death if they allowed that stone to be moved and yet that stone was moved

And the women couldn't figure out how so the movement of the stone is one of the great proofs

That apologists have always used to prove that the resurrection historically happened

Exactly as we believe in the Christian faith and is exactly as the Bible records it of course now let's go to the passage in the book of John and Start with Chapter 20 and let's talk about the grave clothes for a moment.

Remember It's the grave clothes that caused Peter to wonder So there's something about how they were laying in the sepulcher

Caused him to be amazed Something about the clothes that was unusual and not quite right in his mind the way he expected to see it

First of all, he probably expected to see Jesus body in there and that wasn't there But then when it wasn't there the clothes were not like his mind thought they should have been so this is something well to take

Note of well in chapter 20 of John It says the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark

Into the sepulcher and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher

Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved that's

John And saith unto them they have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher

So did she believe in the resurrection? Tough she thought someone had stolen the body and We know not where they have laid him and Peter therefore went forth and the other disciple

John and came to the sepulcher So they ran both together and the other disciple outran

John Probably because he was a little thinner and more athletic and Peter was big and bulky probably big strong stocky guy perhaps and John outran him and Came first to the sepulcher and he's stooping down and looking in saw the linen clothes lying

Yet went he not in Now look at the difference in the personalities John was a little apprehensive

He wasn't gonna go in there and Peter He outran him and he got there and he kneels down and Peter runs right past him and goes inside Isn't that like Peter?

Then coming Simon Peter following him and ran into the sepulcher and seeth the linen clothes lie and the napkin

That was about his head not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself then went in also the other disciple which came first to the sepulcher and he saw and believed

For as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead, but now they know it you see they were

Blinded to it, but now their eyes are open Then the disciples went away again into their own home.

So what was it? They saw in The Luke passage Peter was amazed when he saw this

He was in wonderment when he looked in and saw these grave clothes the way that they were When John goes inside and looks it says all sudden he believes so what they saw caused

John to believe and caused Peter to be in wonderment and what it was was if They used to wrap the bodies the

Jews even to this day do not believe in embalming but they they would wrap like a mummy and put a layer of cloth and then a layer of herbs and spices and another layer of cloth and then another layer of herbs and spices and Then they had a separate wrapping that went around and around and around the head

And what these men saw when they came to this grave early in the morning and looked in was they saw the grave clothes as if there were a body still in them except just Fallen down because there's no longer any body within them and then the wrapping of the head was neatly laid over to the side and What their mind would have expected to see had someone stolen the body number one there wouldn't be any grave clothes

They just grabbed the body throw it over their shoulder and run to get away from those Roman guards number two if they had

Taken the time which they wouldn't have to take the grave clothes off They would have had to unwrap it this way

And it would have been in a big mess piled up just all wrapping over here and the head thing would be thrown in there with That's not what they saw

What they saw was grave clothes as if the body were still in it only the body had been withdrawn through the clothes

And they had just softly collapsed down a little bit flatter And that was a weird thing to see their mind knew that's not what they should be seeing

They should either not see the grave clothes or they should see them strewn all over the place hurriedly and in the body gone and that's

Not what they saw They saw grave clothes through which a body had withdrawn and Left them exactly as they were with the body in them only the body was gone and that blew their minds

There was no doubt in their mind that the body of Jesus had raised and left those clothes there without even disturbing them and It changed their view

It changed their way of looking at things and it caused it is the physical thing that was used by the

Holy Spirit in their life to cause their eyes to be open to believe in the Resurrection to believe that what

Jesus had said that three days later I will build this temple You know put it up again you tear it down and so forth

And it all came to pass in their mind because of what they saw in the grave clothes

So when you put together just those two items and there are other things we look at in the resurrection factual

Scientific things and even spiritual things that could not be true unless the resurrection actually happened

But in the passage we studied this afternoon the main two are the size of the rock and the fact that it could not have been rolled away with those

Roman soldiers there and Secondly the grave clothes the way the body just withdrew and left them just right there and the napkin had been just laid

Nicely beside it two of the greatest proofs that the apologist used when they talk about the facts of the resurrection

Let's have prayer together father. We thank you that you have Entwined your word with truth and science and history in such a way

That it cannot be denied by those who are your called Your word is given to us

We know it's given to the world in the sense that the lost will be judged by it But there is no excuse because you have given proof of your word

Everywhere we look in archaeology and science and in history and it's upheld 100 % all the time

Even the more they dig the more they uphold your word That is not true the

Book of Mormons and the other books that are out there and so father we thank you that you have

Divinely inspired your word and protected it and guarded it through these years and given it to us in this generation

And you've also placed it in the midst of truth all around us so that we truly do have a faith

That's based on facts Once you give us the heavenly gift of faith

We can look around and see how everything we read is true with everything that's around us

And so Lord we thank you for that. We thank you that you give us a stronger faith

The more we read your word and study it our faith grows as we look into your word

Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God We ask you to go with us in our ways this afternoon protect each of our families