196. Luke 24:1-12 FINDING THE TOMB EMPTY

Introduction:

	In our text a small group of Christian women go to the tomb
of Jesus and find it empty.

I.  The connection of this text to our previous texts

	In our previous text Joseph and Nicodemus prepared the body
of Jesus for burial by covering it with spices and wrapping it in
linen so that the linen holds the spices the spices tight to the
body.  Then His body was laid in Joseph's tomb and a great stone
was rolled over the entrance.
	Some of the women in our text were present and watched.  They
saw where the body of Jesus was laid and they left with the
intention of returning later with more spices and with ointment.
	It was late in the evening on the Passover when Jesus was
buried.  The sun was setting and it was only a matter of minutes
until a new day would begin.  The Jews marked the close of one
day and the beginning of the next at dusk dark.  Jesus was buried
right at dusk dark.
	The new day was a special Sabbath day which always
immediately followed the Passover.  It was not the regular
seventh day Sabbath, but was a special Sabbath.
	The women, of course, could not return to the grave with
their spices and ointment on the day He was buried because there
was not enough time to get the spices and return.  They could not
return on the special Sabbath because it was against the law of
the Sabbath.  At the close of this special Sabbath day, which
would come at dusk dark, Jesus had spent one night and one
daylight period in the grave.
	The women still did not return to the tomb on the day
following the special Sabbath.  They wanted spices and ointment
and needed this day in which to make the purchase.  They would
not be able to buy them on the special Sabbath.  So they bought
them on the day immediately after the special Sabbath.  At the
close of that day on which they bought the spices Jesus had been
in the tomb two full nights and two full daylight periods.

II.  The two Sabbaths of that week

	It was at evening at dusk dark of that second day that a
second Sabbath arrived.  This was the regular seventh day
Sabbath.  There were two Sabbaths in that week.  The first was
the special Sabbath which followed the Passover.  The other was
the regular seventh day Sabbath.
    In the original Greek, the language in which the New
Testament was first written, a plurality of Sabbaths is mentioned
in all four gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
	In our text the English translation does not mention the word
"Sabbath" at all.  Yet in the original Greek manuscripts, the
plurality of Sabbaths is very clear in this verse.  Our English
versions say that on the first day of the week very early in the
morning the women came.  The Greek texts say that after the
Sabbaths (plural) very early in the morning the women came.
	What Sabbaths?  What plurality of Sabbaths?  The first
Sabbath was a special high Sabbath that always followed the
Passover.  The second was the regular seventh day Sabbath.

III.  A brief recapping of the time element

	Let me briefly recap the time element for you.  Jesus was
buried at the close of the Passover Day at dusk dark.  The
special Sabbath day started almost immediately after He was
buried.  That night plus the daylight that followed made one day
that His body was in the grave at dust, at the close of the
special Sabbath.
	A second day began at dusk.  That night plus the following
daylight period, in which the women bought the spices and
ointment, made two nights and two daylight periods that Jesus was
in the grave.
	At the close of that second day at dusk dark a third day
began.  That third day was the regular seventh day Sabbath.  That
night plus the daylight period that followed made three days and
three nights that the body of Jesus was in the tomb.
    In Matthew 12:40 Jesus, Himself, gives us the key to the time
element of the resurrection.  Jesus said, "For as Jonas was three
days and three nights in the whales's belly; so shall the Son of
man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
said that He would be in the grave three full nights plus three
full days.  He would not be there just one day plus the parts of
two others.  He would be there three full days and three full
nights.  He would not be there three days and nights plus one
more night.  That would make four nights.
    That means that Jesus arose from the grave long before the
women arrived and found the tomb empty.  Jesus arose from the
grave just shortly after dusk.  That made exactly three full
nights and three full days.  He arose at dusk or shortly
thereafter.  The women arrived at dawn the next morning and found
the tomb already empty.  It had been empty all night.

IV.  The find of tomb empty

	The next morning at daybreak the women came and found the
tomb empty.  V. 1, "Now upon the first day of the week, very
early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the
spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."
The same women who had watched the burial came and brought
certain other women with them to the tomb.  They came to the tomb
with the spices and the ointment to anoint the body of Jesus and
were not in the least expecting to find the tomb empty.
    John said that as the women approached the tomb they
discussed how they might get the stone moved out of the way so
that they could get inside.  The They knew that the stone would
be too heavy for them to move.  But they had come trusting that
God would provide a way for it to be moved.
    V. 2, "And they found the stone rolled away from the
sepulchre."  They must have met with mixed emotions at this
sight.  On the one hand they were glad that it was moved.  That
saved them the problem of trying to get it moved.  On the other
hand it disturbed them.  John said they were afraid that somebody
had stolen the body of Jesus and carried it away.
    V. 3, "And they entered in, and found not the body of the
Lord Jesus."  When the women entered the tomb they would enter
into what is called "the preparation room."  They would be able
to see into the shelf-like area where the body of Jesus had been
placed.  They were shocked.  There was no body there.  John tells
us that at this time Mary Magdalene rushed back and told Peter
and John that somebody had stolen the body of Jesus and they did
not know where it might be.

V.  The appearance of the angels

    V. 4, "And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed
thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments."
The other women stayed and saw two angels.  Luke says that they
were in the appearance of men, but other gospel writes call them
angels.  Even Luke's record would lead us to that conclusion.  He
said that their garments were bright and shining.  They were,
indeed, angels of God.
	The women, by this time, were not merely disturbed.  They
were frightened.  V. 5, "And as they were afraid, and bowed down
their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the
living among the dead?"  The angels sought to console the women.
They sought to inform them that the reason they did not find a
body is because Jesus is no longer dead.  He has risen from the
dead.
	They reminded the women of the words of Jesus, Himself, which
He had spoken to them before they left Galilee.  V. 6-7, "He is
not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he
was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into
the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise
again."  The words of those angels not only reminded the women
that Jesus had predicted that He would arise from the grave, but
reminded them that He had predicted that three days would pass
before He would arise.
    V. 8-9, "And they remembered his words, And returned from the
sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all
the rest."  The women believed the words which Jesus had spoken
to them and now they understood that He had indeed arisen from
the grave.  They returned to tell the apostles.
    The group of apostles, which were formerly spoken of as "the
twelve" are here spoken of as "the eleven."  Judas was no longer
with them.  To be technical, even Thomas was not present at that
time as we have evidence in other Scriptures.  But Thomas was
still an apostle and counted in the group even though he was not
present.

VI.  The message to the apostles and other disciples

	The women tell, the apostles and all who were present that
Jesus has arisen from the grave.
	Luke tells us some of the names in this group of women who
went to the tomb.  V. 10, "It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and
Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them,
which told these things unto the apostles."  Just as Luke had
included Thomas even though he was not present, even so he
included Mary Magdalene in the group of women even though she had
already left the grave before the others.  She was still counted
in the group.
	Not all the names of the women in this group are given in
Scripture.  All four gospel writers, including Luke, name Mary
Magdalene.  She was a very prominent person in the group because
she had such great reason to be so devoted to Jesus.  At an
earlier time she had been possessed with seven demon spirits
which had made her life a shambles.  Jesus had cast those demons
out had and put her life back in order again.
	Luke also names Joanna.  Joanna is first mentioned back in
Luke 8:2-3.  She was the wife of one of the stewards of Herod
Agrippa and was one of several women whom the Lord had healed of
grievous afflictions.  She, too, had great reason to be devoted
to the Lord.
	Luke also names Mary, the mother of James, but does not say
which James he was talking about.  Since he did not mention this
James as being the son of Zebedee, it is believed that he was
talking about the James who was the son of Alphaeus.
	Mark names one more of these women.  He names Salome.  She,
too, was a woman very devoted to the Lord.  All of these women
had one thing in common among themselves and in common with all
of us who are saved.  They had all spared from the fires of hell
by the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.  They all had
one extremely good reason to be devoted to Jesus and so do all of
us who are saved.
    V. 11, "And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and
they believed them not."  The apostles and other disciples who
heard the women tell about Jesus being raised from the dead did
not believe it.   It is so easy to accept what we see in
preference to what we hear.  These men had seen Jesus crucified.
They had seen Him die on the cross.  They had not seen Him after
He arose from the grave and so they had a hard time believing
that He was risen.
    It is good for us that they were so hard to convince that
Jesus had risen.  If they had been gullible and had believed in
His resurrection just because they wanted to believe it, we could
not be certain that He did arise.  But since they were so hard to
convince, we can be sure that He did arise
    V. 12, "Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and
stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves,
and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to
pass."  The linen clothes were there, but Jesus was not there.
The spices used by Joseph and Nicodemus are not mentioned, but,
no doubt, they, too, were still there.  Simon Peter should have
been able to weigh this evidence and know that Jesus had arisen,
but He was not completely convinced until later.

VII.  The message to us today

	There are three things that We should take special notice of
today.  First: Because Jesus did arise from the grave He stands
ready to save all who call upon Him for the salvation of the
soul.  A dead Savior could save no one, but a living Savior can
save anybody who calls upon Him for salvation.
	Second:  Since Jesus still lives today and since He ever
lives, He saves with an everlasting salvation.  Nobody who is
ever truly saved loses his salvation.  Hebrews 7:25 says,
"Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them."
	Third:  Since Jesus, Himself, arose from the grave, this
gives us every assurance that He is able to raise us also from
the grave.  "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him,"
I Thes. 4:14.

Conclusion:

	Let all who are unsaved call on Jesus and be saved.  Let all
who are saved be devoted to the Lord.  Let all of you who wish to
move their membership here to Pleasant Hill come.