Not an Idle Tale

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father,

we know that our salvation

and every progress we make in the spiritual life,

they depend on what Christ did,

his death, his resurrection,

and his sending of your Holy Spirit.

Lord, we don't want to lose sight of that.

We want to remember that truth daily.

We want to live in accordance with that truth.

Amen.

Because that's where the power

and perseverance for every believer come.

So we pray that you'd remind us of that.

And as you always do,

speak to us this morning

in the reading and preaching of your word.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Luke 24, verses 1 to 12.

Luke 24:1–12

But on the first day of the week,

at early dawn,

they went to the tomb,

taking the spices they had prepared.

And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

But when they went in,

they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were perplexed about this,

behold,

two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.

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?

He is not here,

but has risen.

Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee

that the Son of Man must be delivered

into the hands of sinful men

and be crucified

and on the third day rise.

And they remembered his words.

And returning from the tomb,

they told all these things

to the eleven and to all the rest.

Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna

and Mary the mother of James

and the other woman with them

who told these things to the apostles.

But these words seemed to them an idle tale,

and they did not believe them.

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.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Every single human being that has ever graced

the history books that we read has died

and is dead,

except for one,

our Lord Jesus.

The death which has plagued humanity since Adam,

the very first human,

was defeated at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

So that we who trust in him

are promised eternal resurrection life.

And if you really grasp this

and come to grips with this reality,

then your life is not going to be the same.

You can't return to business as usual.

It changes your life.

It gives you his resurrection power.

And that's my prayer for us this morning

as we go through this passage,

that we'll be confronted with the reality

of the resurrection

so that we live every day

believing and remembering

the good news that Jesus Christ

was delivered, crucified,

and raised to give us life.

That's the main point of this passage.

I'm going to talk about it in two points.

First, we're going to talk about

remembering the word of Christ.

And secondly, we'll talk about

believing the word of Christ.

Before we dive right into our chapter, though,

look back with me at the last two verses

of chapter 23, which we covered last week.

It says,

So it was customary in those days

for people, the loved ones that are remaining,

to take the deceased person's body,

to wash it, anoint it, and wrap it

so that it doesn't decompose too rapidly.

And so these faithful women

who, unlike most of Jesus' 12 apostles,

accompany Jesus to the end,

they are getting ready for their life

after Jesus.

They expect Jesus' body to rot

after his death.

So they prepare spices and ornaments.

And as all the faithful Jews did,

these women, on the Sabbath,

they rest according to the commandment.

So Jesus has died,

and now they are returning to their lives,

their old lives,

business as usual.

But something unusual is about to happen.

It says in verse 1 of chapter 24,

But on the first day of the week

at early dawn,

they went to the tomb,

taking the spices they had prepared.

So the Jewish Sabbath runs from

Friday sundown to Saturday sundown,

but probably because it's hard

to locate a cave in a tomb,

a tomb in a cave that's in the dark

in the middle of the night.

They went away for daylight.

And as soon as there's light

at the crack of dawn,

they go to anoint Jesus' body.

And every one of the four gospels,

as Luke does here,

records that Jesus was raised from the dead

on the first day of the week.

They also use sometimes,

as Luke later does,

the more traditional formula that we know

on the third day.

But this is intentional.

There is a reason why they say

that Jesus was raised on the first day,

and they emphasize that

because it conveys a note of hope

and renewal.

And this is in the same way,

that's for the same reason

we like the new year.

Something fresh,

something new,

a clean slate,

a hope,

new beginning.

That's what that first day represents.

Jesus' resurrection

makes all things new.

And that's why Christians

from the earliest times

switch their worship time and day

to Sunday

to commemorate the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus

and to worship on that day

instead of on the Saturday,

on the Sabbath,

as Jews had historically done.

And not just on the first day of the week,

the woman also journeyed

to the tomb,

it says,

at early dawn.

And Luke,

like John,

makes use of this light-darkness motif

throughout his gospel.

Just before Jesus' birth,

his would-be uncle,

Zechariah,

prophesies in Luke 1,

78-79,

the sunrise shall visit us

from on high

to give light

to those who sit in darkness

and in the shadow of death

to guide our feet

into the way of peace.

And Jesus teaches

in Luke 11,

34-35,

your eye is the lamp

of your body.

When your eye is healthy,

your whole body

is full of light.

But when it is bad,

your body is full of darkness.

Therefore,

be careful

lest the light in you

be darkness.

And notably,

just when Jesus

was being delivered

into the hands

of sinful men

to be tried and executed,

Jesus said

in Luke 22,

Luke 22:53

verse 53,

when I was with you

day after day

in the temple,

you did not lay hands on me,

but this is your hour

and the power

of darkness.

And when Jesus

finally breathed his last,

he says in Luke 23,

Luke 23:44

verse 44,

there was darkness

over the whole land.

Luke is playing

on this motif

to tell us

that something is happening.

It's the early dawn.

The woman had come

to mourn Jesus.

They had come

to see death,

a grotesque reality,

but it's the first day

of the week.

It's early dawn

and something strange

and radical

and new

is afoot.

And we find

the first clue

of Jesus' resurrection

in verse 2.

And they find

the stone rolled

away from the tomb.

So in those days,

a tomb cut in stone

would be covered

with this big

kind of slab

of disc-like stone.

It'd be rolled

in front of it

to cover it up

and keep people

just that have

no business

being in there

from getting into it.

And so the fact

that the stone

is rolled away

suggests some kind

of tempering.

Something's happened.

But this doesn't

deter the woman.

Mark 16, 3,

a parallel account

tells us that

the women were asking

themselves,

who among them

will roll away

the stone?

So they're probably

a little relieved

that it's rolled away,

but they're probably

also troubled.

Maybe they're wondering

there was a grave robbery,

which was common

in those days,

although that robber

would not have found

much to take

in this tomb.

So they head right on in,

still expecting

to find Jesus' body

there.

But,

it says in verse 3,

when they went in,

they did not find

the body

of the Lord Jesus.

Notice that there's

a repetition

of the word find

in verses 2 to 3.

It forms a nice contrast

between verse 2

and verse 3

and heightens

our expectation

for the resurrection.

Because in verse 2,

they found

the stone rolled away

from the tomb.

But when they went in,

they did not find

the body of the Lord.

The stone they

did not expect

to find rolled away,

they found rolled away.

And the body

that they did expect

to find,

they did not find.

What could this

possibly mean?

So verse 4 continues,

while they were

perplexed about this,

behold,

two men stood by them

in dazzling apparel.

We learn later

in verse 23

that these are,

in fact,

angels.

Throughout Scripture,

angels often appear

in the likeness

of man,

human likeness.

And the dazzling apparel

is a clue to this

because Luke

often describes

heavenly beings

with this word,

dazzling.

So example in Luke 9,

29 to 30,

when Jesus is transfigured

into his heavenly glory,

it says that his clothing

became dazzling white

and behold,

two men were talking

with him.

So this is,

there's a lot of parallels

between the transfiguration

and the resurrection.

And the presence

of the two angels,

it reflects

the scriptural precedent

for requiring

two or three witnesses,

at least two witnesses,

in order to establish

a testimony as valid.

So earlier in Luke 10,

Luke 10:1

verse 1,

Jesus sent out

his disciples

to proclaim

the kingdom of God

and of course

when he did that,

he sent them out

two by two

so that their testimony

and witness is valid.

And in Luke 23,

Luke 23:16

verse 16,

Luke carefully noted

that two civil authorities,

not one,

all the other

gospel writers

only note one,

but Luke notes

that both Herod

and Pilate

bore witness

to Jesus' innocence.

and so now,

there's,

and actually not even

just during the trial,

but also at his execution,

both the centurion

and the criminal

crucified next to him

declare his innocence.

So in each juncture,

Luke is very careful

to show us

there are two witnesses.

This is a valid testimony.

Jesus is innocent

by all accounts.

And here,

his resurrection

is attested to

by two angels

for that reason.

And this is,

this kind of literary emphasis

is why you find

some variations

in the resurrection accounts.

So some of the other

gospel writers

only include one angel

and because that's not a focus.

They only needed one angel

to display their purposes,

to fulfill their purposes

in writing.

So these discrepancies

are not irreconcilable.

They're complementary

rather than contradictory

findings.

And what's important

is that the basic framework

is all the same

in every single

gospel account.

All of the accounts

are set in the early morning

of the first day

of the week, Sunday,

with Mary Magdalene

sometimes accompanied

by other women

going to the tomb.

The resurrection occurs

when the disciples

are not expecting it.

The initial reports

are doubted.

The women are the first

to witness the empty tomb.

The stone is rolled away.

The tomb is empty.

The angels appear.

And then later,

Jesus appears

to a variety of people

leading to firm

belief in the early church

in the bodily resurrection

of Jesus.

Every single one

of the gospels,

every single resurrection

account has all of those

skeletal consistencies.

There's extraordinary

consistency in that regard.

And if you think about it

a little bit further

and you're tempted

to doubt these accounts,

the minor discrepancies

in eyewitness reports

are not all that surprising.

People often wrongly assume

that various eyewitness reports

of the same event

would be identical.

But they rarely are.

It's common knowledge

among forensic scientists

that eyewitness accounts vary

because both human perception

and human memory

fluctuate and vary.

And depending on who you are,

what your background is,

your attributes,

and your experience,

what you perceive,

what makes the deepest impression

on you,

and how you interpret

that sensory experience,

it all varies.

And how much you recall

of it all varies.

So if two independent eyewitnesses

were to give in court

an identical testimony

to forensic lawyers,

there would be a clear red flag

that there was collusion involved,

that they're not giving

independent eyewitness testimonies.

So the fact that there's

some minor variations

in these kinds,

which, by the way,

are not irreconcilable,

shows that these are actually

authentic accounts.

That's not a fiction

developed by the early church.

With that aside,

let's return to the text.

After encountering the angels,

it says in verse 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?

He is not here,

but has risen.

But the fear

is a common response

to angelic

or divine encounters.

But the angels

offer hopeful words

to them.

Why do you seek

the living among the dead?

He is not here,

but has risen.

The verb has risen

is actually passive

in the Greek.

So it should be

has been raised.

It's a divine passive.

When there's a passive

word that's not,

doesn't have a subject

that's identified,

scripture writers

are using a divine passive

to indicate that God

is the agent

of that action.

So who raised Jesus

from the dead?

God,

the father himself,

the almighty God,

the creator of life

himself,

is the one who raised

Jesus from the dead.

And so the woman

should not be searching

for Jesus among the dead.

He should be sought

among the living.

And this leads

to a gentle prodding

from the angels

in verses six to seven.

Remember how he told you

while he was still

in Galilee

that the son of man

must be delivered

into the hands

of sinful men

and be crucified

and on the third day

rise.

The angels are reminding

the woman

that Jesus

had already told them

that this would,

exactly this thing

would happen.

And he did

in multiple occasions.

Luke 9, 22

and Luke 18, 32, 33.

Jesus prophesied

of his suffering,

his death,

his resurrection

on the third day,

all of it.

And this is the more

traditional form

of the third day.

It's the tradition

that's preserved

in 1 Corinthians 15, 4

and later in the

Apostles Creed

passed down to us

that Jesus was raised

on the third day.

And this also has

biblical precedent

and meaning.

In Genesis 22,

after journeying

for three days

in order to sacrifice

his beloved son,

the only son

of his wife,

Sarah, Isaac,

Abraham is delivered

on the third day.

God provides a substitute,

a lamb,

to sacrifice

so that Isaac

can be spared.

In Hosea 6,

which we read

for call to worship

this morning,

while prophesying

of the impending judgment

on the nation of Israel

for their sins,

he utters this promise,

come,

let us return to the Lord

for he has torn us

that he may heal us.

He has struck us down

and he will bind us up.

After two days,

he will revive us.

On the third day,

he will raise us up

that we may live

before him.

And the prophet Jonah

is swallowed up

by a great fish

and dwells in the belly

of this great fish

because of his disobedience

to God.

And it's on the third day

that God delivers him.

And Matthew 12,

40 makes an explicit

connection between

his third day

resurrection of sorts

and Christ's resurrection

on the third day.

So Jesus had very

specifically predicted this.

He said in Luke 18,

32 to 33,

for he,

referring to himself,

will be delivered

over to the Gentiles

and will be mocked

and shamefully treated

and spit upon.

And after flogging him,

they will kill him.

And on the third day,

he will rise.

As the history

of redemption shows

and as Jesus'

own prophecy shows,

the woman should have expected

something to happen

on the third day.

They should have expected

the resurrection.

And so the angels

exhort them

to remember.

They try to jog

their memory.

And their exhortation

produces this pattern

of word

and response.

In verse 6,

the angels told the woman,

remember how he told you.

And then in verse 8,

they respond.

They remembered his words.

In verse 5,

the angel said to the woman,

why do you seek

the living among the dead?

And in verse 9,

we see the woman respond

by returning from the tomb

to the land of the living.

So sandwiched between these

word and response accounts

is verse 7,

which is the focal point

of this entire passage,

that the Son of Man

must be delivered

into the hands

of sinful men

and be crucified

and on the third day rise.

That's the heart

of Christianity.

That's the basic facts

of the gospel.

It says that the Son of Man

must be delivered,

but why is Jesus' betrayal

and his sentence

and execution

and resurrection

necessary?

Luke often uses the word

must or ought

to describe something

that God has foreordained.

It's a divine necessity.

Why is this

a divine necessity?

It says in Leviticus 17,

11,

for the life

of the flesh

is in the blood

and I have given it

for you

on the altar

to make atonement

for your souls.

For it is the blood

that makes atonement

by the life.

It's in the shedding

of the life blood

that there is atonement

for sins

because as Romans 6,

23 says,

the wages of sin

is death.

Only death

atones for sin.

And all of the Old Testament

sacrifices

were intended

to foreshadow,

point to the ultimate

atonement that takes place

and that Hebrews 9,

12 describes.

Jesus entered

once for all

into the holy places

not by means

of the blood

of goats and calves

but by means

of his own blood.

Thus securing

an eternal redemption.

There was a price

that had to be paid.

apart from us

paying the price

with our own death,

there could be

no satisfaction

for sins.

We were doomed.

That was our fate.

But Jesus

took our place.

He did

what must happen.

He did

what was

necessitated

by our sins

and by God's love

towards sinners.

And he did that

by atoning

for our sins

and shedding

his life blood

pouring it out

on our behalf.

And so

just as Adam,

the first man

and representative,

the head of humanity,

sinned

and through his sin

death came to all

of humanity

and now

through Jesus

the second Adam,

the new

and better Adam,

the new representative

of God's people,

life,

resurrection,

eternal life

comes to us.

That's why

it's a divine necessity.

No one can be saved

apart from Christ.

I want all of you

to understand this.

There's no other God

that can save us.

There's no other man

that can save us.

There's no other religion

that can save us.

There's no other philosophy

that can save us.

There's no salvation

apart from the name

of Jesus Christ.

And that's why

it's so urgent

to proclaim this message.

That's why I say

the same thing

to you

every week.

Because there's no

salvation

apart

from Jesus.

We have to believe

in him.

many of you

have already

put your faith

in Jesus Christ

for which I'm

so grateful.

And if that's you,

it's your responsibility

to remember

this truth

always.

The word

remember

is repeated

twice

in this passage.

Verse 6,

verse 8,

it says,

remember how he told you

while he was still

in Galilee

that the son of man

must be delivered

into the hands

of sinful men

and be crucified

and on the third day

rise.

That is the most

important thing

for you to remember

every single day.

Too often

we forget

this truth

and remember

everything else

for our business

as usual.

But this is the one

truth you must

remember

every day.

The command

remember

is an important

theological word

throughout scripture.

The verb

remember

occurs 222 times

throughout the Old Testament.

And that's just

one word

not counting

all the other

variations

and synonyms

of that word.

And in the Bible

remembering

the redemptive

acts of God

in order

that we might

apply,

reapply that truth

and relive

that truth

in our lives

is a central

act

of worship.

You can't

worship God

rightly

unless you

remember him.

Unless you

remember who he is.

Unless you

remember what he

has done.

And that's why

in Luke 22

Luke 22:19

verse 19

when Jesus

instituted the

Lord's Supper

he said

this is my

body

which is

given for you

do this

in remembrance

of me.

So do you

remember

the gospel

daily in your

lives?

I guarantee

if your life

lacks

spiritual

power

and life

if you

lack

joy

in your

life

if you

find

that

your

passion

and zeal

for God

is lukewarm

or cold

I guarantee

you're not

remembering

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

there are

many things

that Christians

can be

tempted to

make

the center

of their

spiritual

lives

but none

of them

can take

the place

of this

gospel.

Let me

give you

a few

examples

maybe

your

life

Christian

life

is

formalistic

you're

just going

through the

motions

and there

is no

dynamic

life

in the

Holy

Spirit

you're

bored

with

God

you're

indifferent

to his

word

you have

no hunger

for God

but then

what you

need

instead

of your

formalism

is the

gospel

to remember

that Christ

personally

died for

you

to reconcile

you to

God

that you

can have

this dynamic

relationship

with him

and be

filled

with his

living

spirit

that's

what

the

gospel

teaches

us

perhaps

your

Christian

life

is

legalistic

you're

trying

to earn

God's

favor

you're

relying

on your

own

righteousness

rather than

in the

righteousness

of Christ

when you're

diligent

in your

spiritual

pursuits

in your

daily

disciplines

and you're

succeeding

succeeding

at least

in your

mind

you become

prideful

conceited

but then

when you

sin

when you

feel like

you're

failing

you get

weighed down

with guilt

a burden

that you

cannot

bear

but what

you need

instead of

illegalism

is the

gospel

of Jesus

Christ

to remember

that there

is no

condemnation

for those

who are

in

Christ

Jesus

and that

Christ's

perfect

righteousness

is yours

through faith

in him

that's

what

humbles

you

and gives

you

love

toward

Christ

maybe

your

Christian

life

is

activistic

for sure

the gospel

transforms

us

to do

good

works

and seek

justice

Isaiah

1 17

Micah

6 8

but you're

so consumed

with the

evil

that is

out there

that you've

lost sight

of the

evil

within

you

so your

activism

has become

self-righteous

and strident

you've

forgotten

the sweet

grace of

God

and your

own

need

for

forgiveness

you've

become

so

focused

on

saving

this

world

that

you've

forgotten

that

God

so

loved

the

world

he

sent

his

only

son

already

to

save

it

but

what

you

need

instead

of

your

activism

is

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ

to

remember

that

you

yourself

is a

sinner

saved

by

the

grace

of

God

and

that

the

ultimate

hope

of

salvation

is

not

you

but

Jesus

perhaps

your

Christian

life

is

scholastic

you're

puffed up

with

knowledge

you can

wax

eloquent

on

Christology

the

theology

of

the

son

of

God

but

you

do

not

have

the

humility

of

Christ

you

can

debate

the

nuances

of

pneumatology

the

doctrine

of

the

Holy

Spirit

but

you

are

not

yourself

filled

with

the

Holy

Spirit

you

do

not

display

the

fruit

of

the

spirit

in

your

life

you

get

a

rise

out

of

nitpicking

books

and

articles

and

sermons

and

you're

intolerant

and

pridefully

critical

of

anyone

who

does

not

share

your

level

of

theological

precision

you

have

mastered

the

word

of

God

but

you

have

not

been

mastered

by

the

word

of

God

and

what

you

need

instead

of

your

scholasticism

is

the

gospel

to

remember

that

Christ

didn't

come

so

that

you

might

theorize

about

him

but

so

that

you

might

know

him

personally

and

experientially

so

that

you

might

be

humbled

by

the

grand

realities

of

the

gospel

and

be

built

up

in

love

that's

why

maybe

your

life

is

more

mystical

or

emotional

istic

and

for

sure

the

gospel

affects

our

emotions

as

well

if

our

emotions

are

not

affected

something

is

awry

but

you

go

beyond

that

your

faith

rests

unduly

on

the

highs

and

lows

of

your

emotions

so

you're

unstable

and

your

pursuit

of

God

is

unsustainable

going

from

one

emotional

high

to

the

next

without

any

enduring

steadfast

devotion

and

service

to

God

but

instead

what

you

need

is

the

gospel

to

remember

that

though

your

subjective

feelings

might

change

the

objective

reality

of what

Christ

has

done

for

you

never

changes

no matter

how bad

of a

day

you're

having

it's

by

remembering

that

that

you

grow

perhaps

one last

example

your

Christian

life

is

anthropocentric

man

centered

it's

all

about

you

fulfilling

your

life

meeting

your

perceived

needs

self

actualization

you see

Christ

as a

therapist

and not

as a

savior

you act

as if

God

exists

to make

you feel

better

about

yourself

but

instead

what

you need

is the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ

to

remember

that

the

death

and

resurrection

of

Christ

is a

demonstration

not only

of his

love

for you

but also

of his

holiness

and justice

and how

unworthy

and sinful

you are

to receive

it

the gospel

exalts

the glory

of God's

grace

not your

deservingness

none of

these other

ways that I

mentioned

consists

of remembering

the crucified

and risen

Christ

but for

you

the way

you live

must be

different

you must

remember

the gospel

because that's

how we grow

and persevere

as Christians

Colossians 1

21 to 23

puts it this

way

and you

who once

were alienated

in a hostile

in mind

doing evil

deeds

Christ

has now

reconciled

in his

body of

flesh

by his

death

in order

to present

you holy

and blameless

and above

reproach

before him

if indeed

you continue

in the faith

stable and

steadfast

not shifting

from the hope

of the gospel

that you

heard

it is

not shifting

from the hope

of the gospel

that you

have already

heard

that's how

you persevere

that's how

you become

presented to

God holy

and blameless

and above

reproach

so is the

gospel

functionally

your hope

before God

or has the

gospel become

unessential

and irrelevant

to your

Christian life

and also

those who

remember

the word

of Christ

must retell

the word

of Christ

there is a

transmission

of testimony

here

from the

angels

first

reminding

the woman

of what

Jesus

had told

them

in verses

five to

eight

and from

the woman

to the

apostles

and the

disciples

in verse

nine

and then

it says

in verse

nine

that they

told all

these things

to the

eleven

which is

no longer

twelve

but eleven

because Judas

the betrayer

is gone

and to all

the rest

and then

later in

verse 14

we see

two of

the disciples

talking with

each other

about all

these things

that had

happened

so there's

ongoing

transmission

of the

good news

of Jesus

Christ's

death and

resurrection

throughout

chapter 24

because Christians

are witnesses

of Jesus

Christ

we bear

witness

to his

death

and resurrection

that's why

we're here

transmission

is essential

because unless

the witnesses

retell the

good news

of Jesus

no one

will hear

and believe

it

notice

notice

how

Luke

emphasizes

this

it's

not

when

the

woman

see

the

empty

tomb

that

they

believe

did you

guys

see

that

sometimes

we

think

oh man

if only

I had

a chance

to see

the

empty

tomb

with my

own

two

eyes

and I

would

believe

in the

resurrection

no

they

don't

believe

it

after

they

see

the

empty

tomb

they

believe

it

after

they

hear

the

good

news

and

this

is

consistent

with

Luke's

emphasis

Luke

11

29

32

where

Jesus

said

no

sign

will

be

given

except

the

sign

of

Jonah

in

that

context

he's

referring

to

the

preaching

of

Jonah

which

became

a

sign

to

the

people

of

Nineveh

so

likewise

it's

the

preaching

the

proclamation

of the

gospel

that's

the

sign

by

which

all

of

us

ought

to

believe

and

that's

why

Romans

10

14

to

17

says

this

how

then

will

they

call

on

him

in

whom

they

have

not

believed

and

how

are

they

to

believe

in

him

of

whom

they

have

never

heard

and

how

are

they

to

hear

without

someone

preaching

and

how

are

they

to

preach

unless

they

are

sent

so

faith

comes