Hope of the Resurrection
Luke 24:1-12

Intro:
• Teaching Interview Question: A few years ago, I was interviewed for a teaching job. 175 people applied for 5 positions. They paper screened us down to about 45 people, and then they interviewed us 5 at a time. I remember one question, where I had to be the first to answer, it was a question from the superintendent of the district. He asked, “What would you want to hear on your hospital bed? Imagine you’re on your death bed and you overhear the doctors speaking. What would you want to hear?” – Instantly, the Lord brought one word to my mind. “Hope!” “That’s what I would want to hear,” I said. “That no matter how bad it looked, no matter how desperate the situation I would want to know that they had some plan that might work, even if it was a long shot. I would want to hear hope.”
• Why did Jesus have to rise from the dead? In one word, “hope”. God’s people needed hope to believe that Jesus was who he said he was, that his death truly paid for their sins, and that they have the hope of eternal life to look forward to. Today, it is my prayer that God would fill your hearts with hope.

Turn in your Bibles to Luke 24. We’ll be looking at verses 1-12. As you’re turning there, I want to pose a question:

• What comes to your mind when I say the word, “evangelist”? Imagine what this person looks like, maybe it’s a general look, maybe it’s a specific person. Now, I’d like you to raise your hand if the “evangelist” in your mind was a woman. Raise your hand if the “evangelist” in your mind was man. I think we have a tendency to see evangelists as men.
• But Jesus picks 3 evangelists to be the first to spread the good news of his resurrection and they are all 3 women: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James.

Luke 24
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
• Spices: Dead bodies would decompose quickly and smell badly, so the women brought aromatic spices. This shows us two things about these ladies:
1. Their love for Christ: This was an act of love for a man they deeply cared about.
2. Their unbelief: Jesus had said he would rise on the 3rd day, but they came bringing aromatic spices to minimize the stench from a dead corpse.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
1. We gain hope from an empty tomb.
• Empty Tomb: The empty tomb is common to all 4 resurrection stories found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There’s Jesus’ grave, but there’s no Jesus there. They did not find the body.
• Occurrence in history: Christianity rests on the fact that this was an actual historic event, not a metaphor, or simply a symbol of hope. Our hope rests in the fact that Jesus in history truly did rise from the dead as he promised he would, and it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, more than the virgin birth, more than the voice from heaven, more than the amazing wisdom with which he spoke, and more than the miracles he did…it is the resurrection above all these things that validates our faith. If Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the church, the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith.
• Acts insists on the historicity of the resurrection: That Jesus died, rose again, made appearances on at least 10 occasions, and appeared to over 500 people.
(1:3) [Jesus] presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
(2:32) This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
(3:15) “You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”
(4:10) Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.”
(5:30-32) “The God of our fathers raised Jesus…and we are witnesses to these things...”
(13:30-34) God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people [of the] the fact that he raised him from the dead.
How do we know Jesus really rose from the dead? (I want to just briefly share 4 evidences for the resurrection.)
1. There were over 500 eye-witnesses. Over 500 eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ.
2. Jesus followers were willing to die for their belief in the resurrection. Nothing else explains incredible devotion Jesus’ followers had to the gospel message after his death. John was exiled to Patmos for his belief in the resurrection. The other 10 disciples and many other followers of Christ were martyred for their faith in the resurrection. Who would die for a lie? The moment of death is the moment of truth. These eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection went to their death confirming the truth that Jesus had risen from the grave.
3. No other explanation makes sense of the facts. (Stole the body, Mass Delusion, Mass Conspiracy)
4. After Jesus death, there was a massive explosion of the gospel across the world. This message spread across Europe, south into Africa and east into Asia. The fuel that fired all this evangelism was rock-solid faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus did not rise, his followers would have dispersed and his message would have fizzled out. Nothing else except for the resurrection explains the massive explosion of the gospel proclamation across the world after Jesus’ death.
This gospel message spread on wings of hope, and in the mouths of those who firmly believed that they would have eternal life based on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

2. We gain hope from a resurrected Christ.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
• Perplexed: There was a process that Jesus followers went through. They started at unbelief, then they become confused or perplexed, and then they believed. These ladies and later Peter went through these 3 stages.
• Bright and shiny men: The ladies arrive at the tomb expecting to find the body of Jesus, but instead they encounter two angels. Notice what they don’t say. They don’t say, “Good morning bright and shiny men!” They don’t say anything, but rather stand there in fear and trembling before these two men who are radiating the glory of God.
• The men ask them 1 Question: “Why?” They ask the ladies why. Why do you seek the living among the dead? You saw his miracles. You heard his teaching. You know he told you … the son of man must die and be raised to life on the third day…so WHY? Why do you come expecting to find a dead man?
• Answer: In one word is unbelief. But now they’re going from unbelief to confusion. Step 2 in the journey to faith.
• Before Criticising: Before we criticize these ladies too harshly for their lack of faith, consider that even Jesus’ own disciples were lacking faith at this time. Consider how often we have doubted the promises of our Lord.
• 1st Post-cross Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection: The angels are the first to declare the news that Jesus is among the living, that He has risen.
• Story: Christ is risen indeed!
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin was one of the most powerful men on earth. He was a Russian Communist leader. And he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution. There is a story told about a journey he took. He went from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge crowd. The subject was, of course, atheism. He attacked Christianity! He said some insulting words about Christianity. And he argued against it as well. It took him a long time to convince the crowd. At the end of his talk, he was confident that he had convinced the crowd that they should reject Christ and embrace atheism. So he turned the meeting to the parish priest. The priest complimented him on his eloquence. Then turning to the crowd, he dismissed them by saying: “CHRIST IS RISEN!” And the people passionately exclaimed as with one thundering voice: “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”. No matter what had been said to those people, they knew in their hearts the essential Gospel message that Christ had indeed risen.
8 And they remembered his words,
• Jesus predicted his death and resurrection: (scripture examples, destroy this temple, and in 3 days, sign of Jonah)
o (John 2:19) Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
o (Matthew 12:39-40) “No sign will be given … except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
o (Mark 8:31)"The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again."
o (Matthew 17:22-23)22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
o (Luke 9:22) “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
• Once they understand. Once they truly believe. Once they have hope, they are driven to tell others.

3. Our hope empowers us to tell others.
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
• Fully convinced: When you’re fully convinced, you tell others about it!
• Once you know, it’s time to go: It’s time to go tell someone!
What does the resurrection accomplish?
3 things stand out to me.
1. The resurrection singles out Jesus as the best candidate for God’s appointed Teacher for mankind.
• Jesus resurrection was unparalleled: In all other world religions, there is no evidence for a resurrection, neither is there are a claim of a resurrection. Think of all the other leaders of world religions. Buddha, Muhamed, Joseph Smith, Krishna, Confuscious. Of these, none of them even claimed to have risen from the dead. Where are they today? They’re all dead! Jesus resurrection was unparalleled in that he is the only one to have risen from the dead…and thus Jesus stands above all others as the best candidate for God’s appointed teacher of mankind.
2. The resurrection gives fearful, struggling people hope.
• Hope that Jesus is who he claimed to be.
• Hope that when Jesus died on that cross, He truly paid the price for our sins. God’s anger against my sin has been dealt with. There’s no more wrath for me because Jesus took it upon himself.
• Hope of life after death. Jesus came back to life after he died and he promises all who believe in him eternal life.
• Hope of a relationship with God. We can have a relationship with him because he’s alive. You can’t have much of a relationship with a dead man. But we serve a risen savior!
3. [Like I said earlier] The hope of the resurrection empowers believers to tell others about Jesus.
And that’s just what these 3 ladies do.
Look at verse 10.
10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,
• Jesus appears first to women: Common to all 4 resurrection stories. Jesus exalts the importance of women.
• Samaritan Woman Evangelist: Next week Dean will speak about the woman at the well. When Jesus takes the gospel to Samaria for the first time, he begins by reaching out to a woman…against the custom of the day. The first Samaritan to believe was a woman and God used her to lead the whole village of Sychar to Jesus Christ.
• Similarly, when God raises his Son, the first witnesses he gathers to himself are all women: Ladies, do not underestimate the power of your testimony. Has the resurrected Christ done a work in your life? Then, go tell it on the mountains…don’t leave the work of evangelism just for the men to do…go tell it on the mountains…over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountains. Spread the good news that Jesus Christ is alive!
• 3 women:
o Mary Magdalene: Jesus had cast 7 demons out of her. She was there at the cross when he died after most of his disciples had fled. It is Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus appears to first.
o Joanna: She was a friend of Mary Magdalene. We know that women never go anywhere alone. Mary was no exception. She brought her friend.
o Mary the mother of James: She is believed to be the mother of James the Less, one of Jesus’ disciples, probably called less because of his stature.
• Meaning of their names:
o Mary: bitter
o Joanna: comes from the name John, which means God is gracious.
o Joanna is in the middle between the 2 Mary’s. In a world surrounded by bitterness, let us remember that God is gracious!
o Carolyn’s mother who is here today, her name is Joanna Joy: God is gracious. Let us rejoice! In a world full of bitterness and sin, God gave his son to die on the cross that we might live. God is gracious. And God raised his son up from the dead. Let us rejoice! … And let us tell others just like these 3!
• Who do they tell first? The people who were closest to Jesus, the ones most likely to believe them, the disciples. These were the ones who were with him most, who heard his teachings, who saw his miracles. Surely, they would believe.
11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
• Idle tale: an old wives tale, a story you make up because you’ve had too much time on your hands
• Disciples Did Not Believe: This is common in all 4 resurrection stories. The disciples of Jesus were slow to believe. These disciples who later became the world-changing apostles who spread the good news of Jesus didn’t believe these ladies; and more than that, they didn’t believe what Jesus said about how he would rise on the 3rd day.
• Doubting Disciples: We’re familiar with Doubting Thomas, but they were all doubting disciples. They were al skeptics!
4. The hopeless skeptic runs to the tomb and finds it empty.
One of these doubting disciples decided to check it out.
12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
• Drama: Consider the drama here. This is Peter! The man who had boldly declared to Jesus the night of the Passover, “I will never deny you.” Then he went on to deny Christ 3 times. Peter, who once was a cocky spit fire, has been knocked down a few pegs. He’s burdened by feelings of guilt and shame. At this point, Christ dies. Things go from bad to worse. Peter is guilty, miserable and depressed. Then, he hears the ladies say, “We went to tomb and it was empty. We saw angels and they told us that He has risen!” I think Peter’s first thought was, “I doubt it.” Like the other disciples he has a hard time believing it. But then, like a match lit in a dark room, there is a spark of hope in his heart. He takes off running. Perhaps with tears streaming down his cheek. He’s thinking…
“I’ve got to know. Is he alive? I’ve got to see him. I’ve got to tell him how sorry I am. I’ve got to tell him I’ll never deny him again. I’ve got to tell him that I love him!”
• Marvels: Peter arrives at the empty tomb and he marvels. He’s not sure what to make of it. He has gone from unbelief to confusion. He’s now at step 2 on his journey to faith. Later Christ appears to Peter and all his doubts subside.
• In history, there have been many skeptics who have tried to disprove the resurrection. They run to the tomb looking for the dead body only to find evidence that blows them away and dispels all their doubts. They run to the tomb and find a risen savior.
• The Skeptics Discover Christ is Risen Indeed
• Dr. Peter Hammond in his article, Christ is risen indeed, makes reference to some of these skeptics:
o Frank Morison, a lawyer, determined to disprove the Resurrection and thereby undermine Christianity. The result of his exhaustive investigations was his conversion to Christ and the publication of his book: “Who Moved the Stone?” which decisively demonstrates the overwhelming evidence for the Resurrection.
o A skeptical university lecturer, Josh McDowell, determined to disprove Christianity by investigating evidence against the Resurrection. The result was his conversion to Christ and publication of the monumental: “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” which exhaustively and conclusively presents documentation and evidence upon evidence substantiating the historical truth, factual accuracy, archeological evidence, manuscript evidence, fulfilled prophecies, transformed lives, and other indisputable evidences which support the fact of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead and the truth claims of Christianity.
o Thomas Arnold, Professor of History at Oxford University, one of the greatest historians of the 19th Century wrote: “I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better, fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair enquirer, than the great sign which God has given us that Christ died and rose from the dead.”
o Simon Greenleaf, recognized as one of the most skilled legal minds ever produced, developed the Harvard Law School. He is recognized as the top authority on what constitutes sound evidence. Simon Greenleaf made a thorough and exhaustive examination of the objective evidence and the testimony of the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In his book: “The Testimony of the Evangelists” (Baker, 1874) he concluded: “It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact.”
o Simon Greenleaf declared that any court of law, if presented with the evidence of the Resurrection, would have to give a verdict in favor of the integrity and accuracy of the Gospel writers and the fact of the Resurrection.
• Christians, take heart, you serve a risen savior.
• Leader: Christ is risen.
• All: He is risen indeed!