The Empty Tomb

This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoice in it! Wonderful words from Psalm 118. This is the most important day of the year in Christianity. Today is proof that Jesus Christ is King. This is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. After being dead for three days, he is alive! He is Risen! (He has risen indeed!) Alleluia! (Alleluia!). What Jesus did 2,000 years ago, we cannot recreate even today with all of our modern medical technology. Times have changed and so has our medical world. I guarantee you that if our doctors start bringing the dead back to life after they have been dead for three days, it will make the network news. I remember when David Koresh of the Branch Davidians stated that he would rise from the dead after 3 days. Well, that didn’t happen. Sure we have our skeptics today who will say, "maybe he wasn’t really dead", or "where are the witnesses that he was alive?" Skeptics will always be skeptical. Even if you show them the facts, they will doubt it anyway. In fact it is hard to convince a skeptic even when you prove it to them. They will want to see proof, over and over again. A couple of nights ago, I watched the movie Contact with Jody Foster in it. She does a marvelous job of playing the part of a skeptic when asked if she believed in God. She wanted empirical proof so that she could believe. Well, that is NOT how faith works. Believing is a matter of faith, and you cannot decide whether or not to believe, you can only reject it. Faith is given to you. The fact is that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross and rose from the dead. The Bible has been preserved more than any other work of literature. Whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ does not change the fact that He died for you. If I choose to reject Jesus, that doesn’t alter history or the fact that he died. We cannot undo the past. Jesus died on the cross for all the world and for all the sins, yet many skeptics will still reject Him. I bet that even you to have had doubts about Jesus Christ. If you haven’t, then you are in a league of your own, for even the followers had doubts, even the Apostles. Have you ever doubted the virgin birth, the death and resurrection, the healings, the raising of the dead, the casting out of demons, walking on water, walking through walls....

Today’s gospel lesson should bring you comfort! Jesus died on a Friday and they had to quickly get him down from the cross and into a tomb because Saturday was the Sabbath and they could not be around a dead body on the Sabbath. So they quickly put Jesus body into a tomb before they were even finished preparing him. When Sunday came, which is the first day of the week, they quickly returned to finish preparing his body. Scripture states:

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

The other accounts talk about it still being dark outside. Luke simply states "early in the morning". If you ask a farmer, a rancher, a fisherman, or a hunter, ... early means before the sun rises. The women did not waste time, they were at the tomb early in the morning, before the sun had risen. They had work to do! But they are also DOUBTERS! They are doubting Jesus and they don’t even know it. These are true followers of Jesus. Listen to the Scripture and pay attention to their actions.

4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In 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? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’" 8 Then they remembered his words.

Notice they do not have the slightest clue that Jesus has risen, or that he will rise, or even wondering whether or not he will rise from the dead. They simply went back to the tomb to finish the work that they started. When Jesus said "it is finished" while on the cross, they took it as he is finished and now dead. Many people think of Jesus as dead today. Skeptics! Just like the women and just like the Apostles! It took two angels in gleaming clothes to point out the fact that He is not dead, but alive, but they still don’t get it! They were scared and put their faces down to the ground. The idea of the impossible is too far for them to reach, grasp, or to understand! The angel tells them: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen!" And now the angels get to point the finger at them and say "I told you so!" just like we like to do when we prove something to someone. The angels did not point their fingers though and the wording was "Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’"

They had all been around Jesus and heard him say this several times, yet they did not understand what Jesus meant by it. Let’s review different passages where Jesus can say "I told you so!"

Mat 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Mat 17:22-23 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.

Mark 8:31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Mark 9:31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."

Luke 9:22 And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

Luke 9:44 "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men."

When you read these different passages, you have to ask yourself, what is wrong with them! I maintain, nothing...., they are sinners just like you and me today. No matter how much you read the Bible and tell the stories, you still turn our backs on God when you sin. I actually find comfort in knowing that even those who walked with Him, ate with Him, and were taught by Him, they are just like us in that they had doubts. When the angel told the women Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’" 8 Then they remembered his words.

But this applied to the women, not to the Apostles. They would know better! Right? Scripture states:

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

The Apostles too doubted. They didn’t believe the story at first. It simply sounded like nonsense to them. Well, like Paul Harvey and Now, the rest of the story: they ran to the tomb and witnessed the truth, that Jesus had risen from the dead! Jesus did rise from the dead and declares VICTORY over death! David Koresh of the Branch Davidians is still dead, but Jesus rose again from the dead! Something that we cannot do even today,... with modern medical technology. The resurrection is mention in all four Gospel accounts because of it’s importance. With his death and resurrection, he wipes away the sin of doubt, and all the other sins. He brings forgiveness of sins and eternal life! The Gospel is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! It is Jesus that save you! Listen to the words Paul as he writes to Corinth.

1 Corinthians 15:2-5

"By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve."

Like Paul, I preach this same message to you, that you are saved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is that he died for you, that he was buried and rose again from the dead. He did this for the forgiveness of your sins. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! HE IS RISEN! ALLELUIA! AMEN!