HE IS RISEN! LUKE 24:1-12 SERMON

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1 1 HE IS RISEN! LUKE 24:1-12 SERMON Last summer Sally and I celebrated our 40 th wedding anniversary. For this wonderful occasion, our three children collaborated and decided to purchase a gift from Harry and David. For the last six months we have been receiving gifts of fruit and cheese in the mail. In addition, our children purchased six bottles of wine which pair with each of the particular gifts of fruit and specialty cheese. Sally and I have really enjoyed these tasty gifts! Every month we received our package it reminded us of the love and graciousness of our children! As much as we have enjoyed the fruit, cheese and wine gifts we knew that eventually the six months would end and we would stop receiving our packages. This past month was our last gift from Harry and David. But the gift we celebrate today, the gracious gift God gave us on Easter endures forever. His precious gift of salvation, of eternal life lasts forever! On Easter, Jesus gave us the gift of eternal life! As the Resurrection text begins, Jesus had been dead for several days. We read in the end of Luke, chapter 23 that a prominent man in the Jewish community by the name of Joseph of Arimathea received permission from Pilate to take Jesus body down from the cross, wrap it in linen cloths and bury his body in a tomb. The Jews considered an unburied corpse a sign of disgrace and divine judgment. Burial would take place on the same day as death. In Matthew s account, he called the tomb, his own new tomb, meaning the tomb belonged to Joseph. The tomb had recently been cut out of stone. In his account, John informs us that Nicodemus, a Pharisee and secret follower of Jesus, assisted Joseph in transporting the body to the tomb. The women who would later visit the tomb followed Joseph and Nicodemus and saw where they laid Jesus body. These same women took spices to the tomb early on Sunday morning. They wanted to anoint Jesus body with the spices because there had not been enough time on Friday before the start of the Sabbath. Jewish custom required wrapping bodies in spices and ointments. Luke tells us that the women found the stone, rolled away from the tomb. (vs.2). When the women entered the tomb they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Imagine their complete shock and utter surprise! They were fully expecting to find his body in the tomb but nothing was there! Remember, they had watched Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus place Jesus body in that very tomb on Friday and then, early Sunday morning they found the tomb with nothing in it! The next vs.vs.4 says, while they were wondering about this. The word wonder means, perplexed. The women were very perplexed! Suddenly, two men who were really angels stood before them. These angels appeared out of nowhere! Their sudden appearance frightened the women, who bowed to the ground. The angels said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! (vs.5) Listen carefully: in this verse, the angels spoke the most powerful words recorded in human history! They said, He is not here; he has risen! Jesus wasn t in the tomb, because he had risen from the dead! By rising from the dead, Jesus gave us the gift of eternal life.

2 2 Note the angel s exact words: he is not here, he has risen. The word here indicates spatial reality. These four, simple words, he is not here, he has risen indicate that a bodily resurrection took place. If Jesus had merely been raised spiritually, as a spiritual being, the angel would have said, he is now everywhere. But the angels didn t say that; they said, he is not here. Why is it significant that Jesus rose bodily from the grave? First, because that s what actually happened! Second, it honors and affirms Jesus full humanity and full divinity. A spiritual resurrection, in which Jesus would be raised as a spiritual being, would simply lead us to believe that we should only obey Jesus teachings and ideals. So, Jesus gave us the gift of eternal life in rising from the grave. But what does Jesus bodily resurrection mean for us? 1 Jesus bodily resurrection means that Jesus spoke truthfully! Vs.6b-7 The angels recall the words that Jesus had spoken to the women and disciples prior to his death about his crucifixion and resurrection. These prophetic words about his impending death and resurrection were actually spoken in both Galilee and Judea on numerous occasions. Jesus spoke about his death and resurrection in Matthew 16, in John 2 when he cleared the Temple, in Luke 18:31-33 and in other verses. Let s look at two of these additional occasions in which Jesus prophesied of his death and resurrection. First, turn to Matthew 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. Now, turn to Mark 10:32-34 where Jesus spoke to them in Judea, They were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. We are going up to Jerusalem he said, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise. Jesus death on the cross and resurrection confirmed what Jesus had told them earlier. Jesus actions, his death on the cross and his bodily resurrection confirmed the truthfulness of his words! We can count on Jesus words being true! Jesus spoke truthfully! He spoke truthfully all the time. Jesus never lied or misspoke, or told half-truths. He didn t have to correct himself because he never lied! In this day and age in which various kinds of leaders have to correct themselves, apologize for lies, try to explain what they really meant, it s reassuring to know that Jesus never, ever lied or misspoke about anything or anyone! This means that his disciples could trust him completely and we can trust Him completely too! You can trust absolutely everything Jesus said! John described Jesus in John 1:14 as being full of grace and truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. (John 14:6)

3 3 2.Jesus bodily resurrection means that we can avoid the fear of death. Six years ago I preached a nine week sermon series on avoiding fear. At that time our economy had tanked and the unemployment rate had skyrocketed. I preached on the fear of inadequacy, fear of rejection, the fear of being overwhelmed by life s hardships, the fear of commitment, fear of uncertainty, the fear of losing a loved one, the fear of change and other fears that we commonly experience. I said that fear can easily overwhelm us. Fear can dominate our lives! Are you afraid of something? You might be afraid of losing your job or afraid of your wife leaving you or afraid of becoming addicted to pain medication you have been taking. One common fear that many people experience is the fear of death. The fear of death can haunt us and bother us considerably! Are you afraid to die? Since Jesus rose from the grave, we do not have to fear death. When Jesus rose from the grave, he conquered death and gave us the gift of eternal life! Now, we have to receive this gift of eternal life that He offers to us. If we have received Jesus gift, the gift of salvation that He purchased for us on the cross, we will live eternally in heaven with Him. Death serves as a transition from this life to another far more glorious life! I believe our life in heaven will be so much better than anything we know here on earth! In recent years many books have been written and movies made about people who have died and gone to heaven and then returned to life. In 2004 Don Piper wrote a book about the automobile accident which took his life on January 18, A passing motorist, who happened to be a pastor, prayed over Don and asked God to restore his life. Ninety minutes later, (ninety minutes later!) Don came back to life on earth. Years later he wrote a book about this incredible experience, which he titled, Ninety Minutes in Heaven. Don wrote, without the slightest doubt, I know heaven is real. It s more real than anything I ve ever experienced in my life I can never again be totally content here because I live in anticipation. (pgs ) This man s telling us that he s been to heaven! Did you hear? He s been to heaven! He spends several chapters in his book describing heaven in great detail. Think of heaven for a moment as the Bible describes it: no darkness, no crying, no pain, no illness, no suffering, with the everlasting presence of God. Wow! We get to see Jesus face to face! I remember as a kid going to Disneyland and having such a great time that I wished my day in Disneyland would never end. I loved the rides, the food, heck I even loved watching President Lincoln talk and move stiffly in that Great Moments Theater with Mr. Lincoln on Main Street! I loved Disneyland so much I wanted to live in the Magic Kingdom every day of my life! Guess what! Jesus established a kingdom that will never end, a kingdom which we can live in everyday! It s not a magical kingdom like Disneyland but a godly kingdom. When we confess

4 4 Jesus as our Savior and Lord we become part of God s kingdom and we receive his gift of eternal life! Unlike a trip to Disneyland, our trip to heaven will be permanent and last forever! We can avoid the fear of death because we have this fantastic hope of heaven! Finally, 3. Jesus bodily resurrection means that we too can live eternally! In John 14:19 Jesus states, Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you shall live also. The eternal life Jesus gave us in rising from the grave doesn t simply apply to length of life. It also applies to quality of life. Jesus rising from the grave means that we can live lives with purpose, meaning and hope in this life, right now! Many of you recognize the name of C.S. Lewis. Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland; he had good parents and loved his only brother. He served as an officer in the British army in World War 1. Lewis later attended Oxford University and after graduating, became a tutor. At this time he became good friends with JRR Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In 1954, CS Lewis became Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University. He began writing books in 1925 and wrote prolifically for many years. In 1955 he wrote his autobiography, which I referred to in last week s message. Lewis wrote about his conversion to Christianity in this book. He wrote that he began as a Christian in childhood but later abandoned his faith. Then, one night when he was 31 years old, alone in his room at Magdalen College, Oxford something powerful happened. He wrote, You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed; perhaps that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England. (Lewis, Surprised by Joy, Harcourt, New York, 1955, pg.221) How refreshingly honest! CS Lewis surrendered his life to Christ! Today I d like to give you an opportunity to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ and experience the gift of eternal life. This relationship with Jesus can give you meaning, purpose and hope! It can give you a reason to live! Jesus told us that in order to know him and receive his gift of eternal life, we must seek his forgiveness for our sins and believe that he died on the cross for us. When we take this step, we receive the gift of eternal life! God loves us and wants us to have the gift of eternal life! I often compare beginning a relationship with Jesus to knowing the A-B-C s: A stands for admitting that we ve sinned. The Bible says, everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Roms 3:23). Sin is rebellion against God, living our lives on our own terms. B stands for believing in Jesus. We believe that he died on the cross for our sins for he paid the price owed to God for our sin. God hates sin and being a perfect, holy God cannot accept it. So, Jesus paid the price for our sin. C represents commitment to Christ. We commit ourselves to him by faith, not having all the answers, not seeing God but knowing by faith that he exists and that He loves us.

5 5 In just a moment I will ask those of you desiring a relationship with God to pray a prayer printed on the bottom of your bulletin with me. But first, I want you to think about it and really consider this invitation as you hear Doug and Gabi sing The Same Power. Do want the power of God living in you by His Holy Spirit? Invite him into your life today! Jesus wants to enter your life, give you the gift of eternal life and the power to live such a life. Please look again at the prayer on the bottom of your bulletin. You can pray the prayer silently and I will pray it out loud. Perhaps you ve prayed this kind of prayer before but you have strayed from your faith and wish to re-commit your life to Christ today. After you pray the prayer, I invite you to stand where you are for a few moments and publicly acknowledge your decision. You might have prayed this kind of prayer in your room one night as you cried out to God but have never publicly acknowledged your faith in Christ. Jesus always called people publicly and that s why I going to ask you to stand. Let me invite those of you who have made a profession of faith and wish to be supportive today of others to pray while this invitation is being given. Ask the Holy Spirit to move in our midst and speak to people s hearts. Ask God to give people courage to take this important step and stand and acknowledge Jesus publicly. If you would like to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ today or re-commit your life, pray the prayer printed with me on the bottom of your bulletin and then, please stand.