Good News from the Graveyard

Luke 24:1‑8

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. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 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? He is not here; he has risen! 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.’” Then they remembered his words.

I

ts cold in the tomb and hope perishes in the gloom! The smell of myrrh and aloes, so intimately associated with death, permeates the atmosphere. The dampness of the walls penetrates to the heart. In the tomb there is no warmth, no light, no life. This tomb is no different from any other tomb. The race is infected with the universal malady of sin and attendant death, and a tomb is the only real estate to which each individual at the last aspires. He was no different at the last.

We thought He was different. We had convinced ourselves that He would never die. His words … how shall I describe the words He spoke? His words thrilled our souls; they were words like no man ever spoke before. Even His enemies admitted this. One of our own relates an incident that occurred when the religious leaders had conspired to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His time had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in Him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more miraculous signs than this man?” The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him…

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared [John 7:30-32, 45, 46].

Clearly, there had been something different about Him. He claimed to be the Son of God and convinced us through giving health and hope to the most needy among us. That claim of divine parentage had brought down on Him the wrath of the religious and civic leaders, and by twisting Roman law they crucified Him. He was crucified as though He were a common criminal. Hanging on that cross He had died far too soon. Others lingered, even for weeks, but He was dead within a matter of hours.

Strange… His death and the words He spoke as He hung there are unlike any ever witnessed before … or since. Deserted by those who professed to love Him and forsaken by those who claimed to be His followers, He died alone. Save for a few women and one young man near the cross, He died desolate and alone in that final hour.

As was their practise, the Romans had posted guards near the cross to ensure that no one would foolishly try to bring Him down. The religious leaders taunted Him throughout the ordeal. Parading before the cross they slandered Him and made a profane mockery of the vulgar spectacle of death. Yet, even in the face of overwhelming insult His words were so very different from those of any other man who would be in that same position. Years later one who had been closest to Him would write of His death:

He committed no sin,

and no deceit was found in his mouth.

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly [1 Peter 2:22, 23].

The words He uttered that last awful day are indelibly stamped in our memories.

His first words were so unexpected. Unlike others who died on a cross He did not curse or call down imprecations on the heads of those who tormented Him. Instead, He prayed. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing [Luke 23:34].

He was concerned for His own small family. He spoke first to His mother and then to His cousin. Dear woman, here is your son… Here is your mother [John 19:26, 27].

Even in death He was reaching out to people, especially those who were powerless and most in need of a friend. Throughout His brief service to God, He had proved compassionate and His words again revealed the compassion which had always marked His life. He said such a strange thing to one who was crucified with Him. That is, His words are strange if He was not who He said He was, for He was powerless and incapable of doing anything. Nevertheless, I am a witness to those words that He spoke. I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise [Luke 23:43].

As that endless torture neared the end He lifted His head to Heaven and agonised. Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani—the words mean, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me [Matthew 27:46]?

As He hung there He revealed something frightening, something which though we all recognised we had yet never really believed. He had said He was the Son of God. He had also said He was fully man. We never really believed it, but in His death we saw something we didn’t want to admit—He was one of us! He was just like us … frail, mortal, fragile, susceptible, vulnerable. Hanging on that cross I heard Him cry in agony, I am thirsty [John 19:28]. With those pathetic words He had betrayed His humanity.

Perhaps it was only the pain that inspired His next words which were so unusual. His words seemed calm, even tranquil. He said Father, into your hands I commit my spirit [Luke 23:46].

He rallied, and pushing up He uttered the strangest word. Uttered isn’t the correct way of saying it. That word pierced our ears and penetrated the inner recesses of our minds. No one who could escape that word. Tetevlestai—It is finished [John 19:30]! That word broke over our heads like a great wave washing away whatever courage or bravado we may have possessed. We were each left before that cross with souls bared, exposed as cowards before a divine scene. Our souls were naked before a dead man and each person there felt as though he were actually in the presence of the True God.

The moment that awful word broke from His lips He bowed His head and died … and we trembled. Together with the earth, we trembled. The moment His cross was dropped into the hole prepared for it the sky had mysteriously darkened. Though it had been a cloudless day, it seemed that God’s sun could not look upon what was happening. Throughout the entire ordeal there had been a pervasive air or unreality. At His death the earth heaved with great, convulsive sobs as though the whole creation mourned what was taking place. Later we would learn that the great curtain which separated the Holy Place from the vulgar gaze of worshippers, had ripped … torn in two from top to bottom. Tombs in Jerusalem had broken open and there were reports of holy men and women long since dead walking in the streets.

Everyone who claimed to have known Him ran. If the events of the day were not enough to frighten them, there was the threat posed by the Jewish leaders. Those same Jewish leaders could yet retaliate against His followers. Perhaps the leaders of the nation wouldn’t have done anything in any case, but those who had been His closest disciples nevertheless fled in fear. I can’t imagine that anyone can blame them; the political and religious leaders had hated Him with unreasoning bitterness. Theirs was that strange, religious malice which doesn’t reason but only seeks to destroy. So often our world has witnessed that bitter wrath arising from a group that cannot stand up to the truth, so they resort to slander and physical attack in a cowardly display of malicious destruction.

The ultimate indignity we each feared and anticipated was that His body would be rudely thrown into a common grave; but we were all surprised by two men who came to seek permission to bury Him. With His death they were emboldened by their common love for Him which until then had been hidden. The two men were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. You will no doubt recognise them as members of the Sanhedrin. They risked their standing in the nation for a man who was executed as a criminal. They had a great deal at stake if they should be identified as followers of this man. Yet, somehow—prompted by the words He had spoken prior to His death, motivated by the life they had witnessed over the previous three years, impelled by the words He had spoken from the cross—they went to Pilate to ask that His body be given to them.

Pilate was astonished. Could this man be dead already! He sent soldiers to verify that the man was truly dead. Spearing Him in the side, they pierced His heart. Crude Roman soldiers that they were, they laughed. “If he wasn’t dead before, he is now.” Another soldier, a centurion who had stood near the cross when He died, arrested their crude humour. “Men, I’ve never seen anyone die like this man. Surely He was the Son of God,” and the remainder of the guard agreed with him. Sobered by the thoughts of their fellow legionnaires the soldiers reported back to Pilate. Jesus was dead.

The Roman governor granted permission to take His body. They gently lowered His broken body from the cross and hurried to the tomb in order to prepare it for burial. The Passover was almost upon them and they did not want His body to be cursed without burial at that holy season. They carried Him to Joseph’s new tomb and gently laid Him in the niche which had been prepared for Joseph himself.

Alternating tight layers of linen with myrrh and aloes they wrapped His body from foot to neck and tenderly prepared Him for His final rest. Were He alive, He could not have moved by reason of the tightly wrapped linen and the weight of spices. After covering His face with the napkin, they stood silently for a brief moment, their individual thoughts unvoiced and unshared. Joseph thought he saw tears in Nicodemus’ eyes, but he couldn’t be certain in the flickering light of the torch which weakly pierced the darkness of the tomb. After a moment, Joseph gently placed his hand on Nicodemus’ shoulder and said, “Let’s go. There is nothing more we can do.”

And so they left. They left Him and returned to the world of the living where life goes on no matter how unfair or cruel. They left Him alone in the world of the unseen. The tomb was sealed with the customary rock closure. More than that, at the insistence of the Jewish leaders the Romans had placed the seal of the Empire on the tomb. One dared open this grave only at the risk of incurring the wrath of the mightiest nation in the world. To ensure that no intruder would tamper with the body, and at the insistence of the Jewish leaders, a guard of Roman soldiers was placed in front of the grave.

The soldiers had laughed and joked with one another. “Have you ever heard of anything so stupid? These Jews are crazy! No one ever had to guard a corpse before. Where would a dead man go? This is insane.” Nevertheless, four soldiers at a time stood watch while twelve others were nearby sleeping or carrying out the normal routine of a soldier’s life. By their presence these Roman soldiers provided a profane honour guard over the tomb of the man they had just crucified. How very strange to witness such a scene as that of soldiers guarding the body of a criminal—a Jew at that!

In the tomb, all is dark—as dark as death itself. The cave is permeated with the odour of death. You can smell it—sweet and bitter at once. The walls are cold—so cold the chill seems to penetrate to one’s very soul. The One in this tomb is dead—cold, stiff, lifeless. All that remains of Him are memories and the words inscribed over every soul which exits this world—Hic Jacet. He has disappointed each of us through His failure. Despite His brave words He failed, and that is the most bitter thought of all.

But wait! It is the third day. Something is happening in the tomb. The chill that once penetrated to the depths of the soul is yielding to warmth. Can you feel it? It is as though life itself is entering where it is forbidden to enter. There is a sense of expectation which cannot be explained. Wait! Is it my imagination, or is the darkness receding? Do I see a glow in the tomb? What is happening? The cold is transformed to the warmth of life and the darkness is changed to light. Can it be? Is it true?

It is true! Jesus Christ is alive! He is no longer dead! He has conquered death! He has entered the realm of the dead and He has set the captives free. He said He would rise again, and now He fulfils His promise. He is alive! Glory to God, Jesus is alive! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen.

Outside the tomb the soldiers are disquieted. They call for their companions to rouse themselves and come quickly. A nameless dread seems to have seized them all and they are terrified. Battle hardened soldiers cry out in fear. Fully alert they are looking about mystified. Suddenly one screams in terror. Dropping their weapons these warriors fall to the ground as if they were dead. What can cause such terror in men trained in the art of war? What can turn their hardened muscles to water and cause them to faint?

There by the stone which they had sealed is an angel. Powerful messenger of the Living God, he has come to roll back the stone. Christ the Lord is risen today. The angel rolls the stone away from the entrance so that all the world may see and testify that the tomb is empty. Let all witness the power and the glory and the might of the Risen Son of God who conquers death and brings light and life to all. He alone has gone into the grave and returned. He alone has power over death, hell and the grave. He alone was dead and is now alive forevermore. The Son of God is alive. The first Easter has dawned. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Glory to the Risen Son of God! Amen.

Does it make any difference? Does it really matter? Coming to the tomb the women who courageously came to implore the Roman Guard to permit them to attend the body encounter a strange (I suppose it could even be called a weird) scene. There is the tomb, but everything is oddly wrong. The stone no longer covers the mouth of the grave and sitting on the stone is an angel—resplendent in shining, white robes. Whatever can this mean? Now he is speaking to them. 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 Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again” [Luke 24:5-7].

What wonder those words inspire! Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember… Now it all floods back into consciousness. They do remember His words. 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 [Matthew 16:21].

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about [Luke 18:31-34].

Where do we find the living? We find the Living One walking in the midst of His Living people—the church. The Living Christ will not, indeed He cannot, remain among the dead. We find the Living Saviour exactly where He promised He would be. Wherever the Risen Christ is, there I will find fellow believers—alive and rejoicing in His life. Wherever Christ the Lord walks, there I will find living members of His Body walking with Him. Wherever Christ the Living Lord of Glory speaks, there I will find people who have discovered life in Him speaking for Him and with Him. Where do we find the living? We find the living rejoicing in the life of Him who conquered death.

There is no life except that which is found in Christ. We may exist, but we shall never live until we are alive in Him. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of eternal life. Arising from that conversation with Nicodemus is the best known of all Bible verses, John 3:16. 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. Did you think that the offer of eternal life was restricted to chronological dimensions? That life which is offered in Christ the Lord is multifaceted. It ensures that we are made alive to God—adopted into His family with all the privilege of His children. Ever after we are called by His Name and received by Him.

That eternal life was secured by this Jesus of Nazareth by the resurrection from the grave. He was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead [Romans 1:4]. With His blood He purchased men for God [Revelation 5:9], and those whom He bought are henceforth known as His church [Acts 20:28]. We have been made alive with Christ by faith in Him [Ephesians 2:5]. Therefore, in order to find the living I must look in that place where the living is found—the church which He purchased with His blood. Though it may not be immediately obvious, when I unite with the church I come to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. I will have come to the spirits of righteous men made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant [Hebrews 12:23, 24]. These who gather to worship week-by-week, these who seek to walk humbly before God, these who live that He may be glorified—they are the living. They have received the forgiveness of sin and the hope of the resurrection and have been made alive in Christ.

No wonder, then, that this singular event—the resurrection of the Christ—became the foundation for the Faith. Crucified, the Son of God was no different from thousands of other Jewish criminals. Buried, He was no different from the whole of the race which is under sentence of death. Risen from the dead, He demonstrates power over death. Therefore, we who look to Him anticipate that we also shall be transformed and we expect that even now we shall see evidence of that transformation.

The message of Easter is the victorious message of life for the God’s holy people. You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do [Ephesians 2:1-10].

That is the Good News from the graveyard! Though once dead in our sins, we (you and I) can have life in Christ. Appearing to John on the Isle of Patmos the risen Son of God identified Himself as the Living One. Jesus is alive and He now walks among those who also are alive. On that Lord’s Day when He appeared to John, He announced, I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades [Revelation 1:18]. Since this is true, we need to think carefully about what we celebrate at Easter rather than treating it casually or merely considering the day as another holiday. We celebrate the foundation for our Faith and the basis for our hope.

This is the message His people celebrate at Easter—the hope of the resurrection. Christ the Lord has conquered death. Together with God’s people wherever they may be found throughout the whole of the world, we exult in the knowledge that our God lives. Death no longer holds us in thraldom and we are no longer terrified at the threats of the evil one. In the Hebrews letter is recorded a wonderfully powerful statement concerning Jesus and all that He has accomplished. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death… He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted [Hebrews 2:14, 15]. Those words apply to each of us, if we accept His sacrifice in our place and if we believe that He now receives us.

He is alive and because He lives we need not fear death. Were this all that His victory meant, it would be glorious. There is so much more to give us hope, though. Because He lives we have access to Him. He is our help in time of need. We may experience life—real life—now. That life becomes reality through the New Birth. You may be born again into the Family of God enjoying the full life that God provides. That life begins when you trust this Risen, Living Jesus as Master of your life. When we believe that this Son of God died because of our sin (there was purpose in His death; He gave His life—no one took it from Him), when we confidently rest in Him as the Risen Master of our life, we shall be born from above. All our sins will be forgiven. We will be set free from the power of sin. We will be freed from the persistent presence of sin. We will be unshackled from the bondage of fear of the penalty of sin. We shall be adopted into God’s family. We shall be born from above. This is Good News indeed!

“Pastor, I am confused. How can faith in a dead man give me a new kind of life?” Don’t you understand? It is not a dead man whom we Christians proclaim and present today. The one we urge you to receive is Christ the Living Lord. He is alive.

“How may I know Him? What must I do in order to have this life of which you speak?”

Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call [Acts 2:38, 39].

Even though the Jews had called for the death of this Jesus, they could be forgiven and made alive with Him. To those Jews, Peter declared, You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets [Acts 3:15-21].

Hailed before the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of the nation, that same disciple called for faith in the Living Son of God. Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is

“the stone you builders rejected,

which has become the capstone.”

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved [Acts 4:8-12].

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God

[2 Corinthians 5:17-21].

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13].

Today, who stands with Christ? Who says, “I’ll live with Him”? Who today takes this Jesus, risen from the dead and victorious over death, as Lord of life? Amen.