The first Easter morning began as a day of mourning. Jesus was the beloved leader of many people. His followers had seen him preach and perform miracles, even raising a dead person back to life. They loved him, and he loved them.
So you can imagine their complete devastation when Jesus was hauled away by the authorities, and tried, first before the Jewish leaders and then before the Roman authorities. His followers were afraid, and they watched from a distance, hoping that Jesus, this worker of miracles, would by some miracle be saved. But that didn’t happen. Jesus was crucified on a cross, hung to die between two criminals. For his followers, it seemed to be the end.
After Jesus died, a man named Joseph went to Pilate, the Roman official, and got permission to take care of Jesus’ body. He took Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had never been used before. A group of women who were disciples of Jesus followed Joseph and saw the tomb where his body was placed.
These women were Jews, and the Sabbath was about to begin. So they went home and prepared spices and perfumes, intending to come back and care for Jesus’ body according to their normal practices. But because it was the Sabbath, they waited.
While he was with them, Jesus had opened their eyes to a new understanding of God. Jesus had told them that he was the Son of God. He had taught them about God’s great love for them. Now, their beloved leader was gone. He had died a cruel, shameful death, and his body was lying in a cold tomb, and their spirits were crushed.
That Sabbath must have been a very dark day for them. The passage I am reading is from Luke 24, and it is the third day of their mourning the death of Jesus. Notice, as I read, what great restraint Luke uses in telling the story of how Jesus’ followers discover that he has risen from the dead. Notice their reactions of skepticism, wonder, and disbelief.
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they [that is, the apostles] did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
When the women arrive at the tomb, they are expecting to find a dead body, because they had watched as Jesus was crucified, and they had watched Joseph of Arimathea place his dead body in the tomb. So when they come to the tomb and find the stone rolled away from the entrance, they are probably disturbed. But not to be dissuaded, they enter the tomb, only to find it empty. Their first reaction is wonder. Most likely they are wondering what has happened to Jesus’ body.
But they don’t have much time to wonder, because suddenly, two men who are gleaming like lightning appear. The women are startled and afraid, which is the way people in the Bible always react when angels appear to them. Then the angels say to the women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in
Then the women remember that this is true—Jesus did tell them these things. In a way, it’s surprising they had not thought of this when he died. Most likely they had already remembered that he had told them he would be crucified. However, when he told them he would be raised on the third day, it made no sense to them, so they forgot all about it.
Their minds had sifted through the things they heard, and the parts that made no sense, they simply forgot. We do the same thing. We filter out things we don’t understand, things we don’t want to know, and things we just don’t care about. It’s a way of coping.
But now, these women have seen the empty tomb, they have seen and heard the angels, and they remember Jesus’ words predicting his death and resurrection. So they return and tell their story to Jesus’ disciples, also known as the apostles. The disciples respond with skepticism. It says the disciples did not believe the women, “because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” They did not believe what the women told them.
When something doesn’t fit into your view of reality, the natural response for most of us is skepticism. There are exceptions. Some people seem ready to believe almost anything. But that’s not how the disciples were. When they first heard the story the women told them, they responded with skepticism and disbelief.
Sometimes we tend to think that people long ago were much more gullible than we are, and would believe anything. If you read the Bible, you will find that is not at all the case. There were as many skeptics then as there are now.
The disciples had been with Jesus day and night for three years, but when these women came to them with this preposterous story of an empty tomb and angels whose garments shone like lightning, they didn’t believe it, because it sounded to them like nonsense. Apparently they also had forgotten the words Jesus spoke to them about being raised on the third day.
But it says that Peter got up and ran to the tomb. When he arrived at the tomb, “he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves.” Then it says he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Peter may not be a sophisticated, highly educated man, but he’s not stupid. He wants to know what is going on. He wonders. If Jesus’ body was stolen by grave robbers, then why are the burial cloths still in the tomb?
You may remember that on the night when Jesus was taken away and tried; the night before his crucifixion, Peter had a particularly rocky night. Jesus had told Peter that Peter would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Three times, Peter did deny Jesus, at the exact same time when Jesus was enduring a demeaning trial and being beaten. When, the rooster crowed in the early morning, Peter was devastated by his own failure, and he wept bitterly.
So when Jesus was crucified, Peter must have been even more devastated than the rest of the disciples. His last action before Jesus was crucified was to turn his back on Jesus. Now, when Peter heard what the women said, he must have felt a glimmer of hope. So he ran to the tomb. The angels had left by then—all Peter saw was the empty tomb and the grave clothes.
He went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Can you even imagine how he is feeling? He suffered extreme remorse over the way he disowned Jesus on the night before his death. He felt like a complete failure. Then, he had stood by helplessly while Jesus was tortured and crucified. It must have been almost too much for him to bear.
Now, something has happened, but he doesn’t know what. Most likely he does remember what Jesus said—that he would be crucified and be raised on the third day. But none of this fits with his own understanding of reality.
The reality, in Peter’s mind, is that he is a failure and Jesus is dead. But a tiny little seed of hope is growing in Peter’s heart. There’s this little seed of hope that says something new and powerful is happening. That’s the way hope is.
Hope does not deny reality. Hope believes there is something greater than the present reality that can overcome despair. Hope understands that God can and will act to overcome our present reality.
Those first women and men who saw the empty tomb reacted with skepticism, wonder, and disbelief. When we confront the resurrection of Jesus, we may have those same reactions. Some of us will be skeptical—we want proof that this story is reliable. Some of us wonder—we want to know more. Some of us react with unbelief—this story just does not make sense.
If those are your reactions, I challenge you to learn more about Jesus. If Jesus is truly the Son of God—God in human flesh—then of course the story will be challenging to our human understanding of reality. If God is truly God, then God is much greater than what we can even imagine.
We can react to the resurrection with skepticism, wonder, and disbelief. But there is another possibility, and that is belief. Those early followers became the first believers, not because they were gullible people trying to invent a new religion, but because over the next forty days Jesus appeared to them. Many people were witnesses of the risen Lord Jesus, and they believed.
The message of Easter is a message of hope. The purpose of Jesus’ death and resurrection is that we might understand God’s incredible love for us. Jesus, who was without sin, took our sins upon himself when he went to the cross. He became the perfect sacrifice for our sin.
Jesus offers us complete forgiveness for our sin, and he invites us into a relationship with God. The message of the cross is that God wants to have a relationship with us, his creation. He loves us. He cares about us.
The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16,17).
This is the message of Easter: God loves you. The risen Jesus offers you forgiveness of sin, and invites you to have peace with God. It is a message of hope for you and for all people.
Some of you will hear this message and react with skepticism or disbelief. I encourage you to learn more. Find out the truth about who Jesus is.
Some of you will react with wonder. You have a glimmer of hope, and you want to know more. I want to encourage you to simply take a step of faith and accept the gift of salvation Jesus offers. There would be no better day than Easter to put your faith in Jesus Christ.
Some of you have already put your trust in Jesus, and you know the joy of knowing God. I encourage you to celebrate this day with joy and thanksgiving. Renew your commitment to live your life fully for Jesus Christ. Remember his incredible love for you. Remember that we are an Easter people.
Prayer:
If you are one who would like to begin a relationship with God, I invite you to quietly pray right now. Jesus died so that your sins might be forgiven. There is no sin he cannot or will not forgive. So I invite you to silently confess that you are a sinner, and ask Jesus to forgive you. Invite him to come into your life and be your Lord and your Savior. The Bible says “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
Lord God, I pray for each person here this morning. Some may still be skeptical and unbelieving. I ask that you would bless them and draw them to yourself. Some may have just prayed, asking for forgiveness. Lord I thank you for that step of faith. Come into their lives and fill them with your presence. May they know the joy of their salvation.
Lord, some here have walked with you for many years. This morning I pray that you would renew their hearts. Remind them of your great love for them, and rekindle their love for you.
God, we thank you for your amazing love, demonstrated by the cross. We thank you that Jesus has conquered sin and death. Thank you for the great hope we have in Christ Jesus. Amen
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