Pastor Timothy Patoka Easter Sunday: April 21, 2019 What Had Happened? Luke 24:1-12 1) Jesus Rose To Be Our Savior 2) Leave The Tomb In Amazement This past week, we have received some noteworthy headlines that have left people wondering if what they heard had actually happened. In Paris, the historic Notre Dame cathedral went up in flames taking down its iconic spire and most of its roof. Thanks be to God that no one was killed in the flames! But it’s going to take a while for the French nation to figure out what the next steps are in rebuilding it. On a happy note, there was great news in the world of golf. Tiger Woods won his 5 th Masters tournament at Augusta, Georgia. But what makes Tiger’s win so noteworthy is that the last time he won was 11 years ago during which he dealt with multiple back surgeries and personal problems. Yet, despite it all, he came back out on top. When I first heard about both of these, it took me a little while to believe them. How could a historic cathedral suffer so much damage from what seems like a preventable disaster? Did Tiger Woods really live up to his legendary namesake after 11 years of disgrace? When we hear news that seems beyond belief, it takes us a while to believe it. Sometimes we require proof before we will believe it. This morning, we are gathered together around a noteworthy headline that is far more unlikely than the combination of Notre Dame in flames or Tiger winning the Masters again. The incredible headline is that Christ has risen, he has risen indeed. As we’ll see in our verses this morning, the first witnesses of the empty tomb had trouble believing in Easter’s good news. They wondered, “What had happened?” As we follow the women to the tomb, we’ll hear from the angels what happened, that Jesus rose from the dead to be our Savior. Then we’ll follow the Apostle Peter who ran to the empty tomb and left it in amazement because of why Easter brings us joy to this day. 1) Jesus Rose To Be Our Savior Jesus’ followers had gone through a lot. After an emotional high on Palm Sunday when the crowds welcomed Jesus with shouts of Hosanna, they had since gone to the deepest of lows. They saw Jesus betrayed, arrested, sentenced, nailed, and declared dead. After taking his body off the cross, they quickly laid him in a tomb before the Sabbath came and its mandatory rest. The women were not able to finish their burial preparations on Good Friday. So, at Sunday’s first light, they gathered their aromatic spices together and set out for Jesus’ tomb. But when they got to the tomb, things had changed since Friday – the stone had been rolled away; the Roman guards were nowhere to be seen. They knew they were in the right 1
Pastor Timothy Patoka Easter Sunday: April 21, 2019 place. After all, they had seen Jesus laid in this very tomb three days before. Still curious, they went inside the tomb only to find something they least expected – Jesus’ body was not there! All they could do was wonder what had happened. But they would not wonder for long. Suddenly two angels appeared ad told the women what happened that Easter morn. They said, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again?” (Luke 24:5b-7) If you’re looking for a truth bomb, look no further. Notice how they describe Jesus. He’s not simply missing, he’s living! He can’t be found among the dead anymore! This is exactly what Jesus said beforehand while still in Galilee. One place where that is recorded is in Luke chapter nine when Jesus told them, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law. He must be killed and be raised on the third day.” (Luke 9:22) The women had seen the suffering, betraying, rejecting, crucifying, and dying that Jesus talked about. And now they were seeing the last detail – the rising from the dead on the third day. “What had happened?” the women were wondering. Listen to what the angels say – Jesus is not here in the tomb, he has risen from the dead to live again; he is risen, he is risen indeed. Alleluia! But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to believe what the angels said. If you found it hard to believe the news of this past week, how much harder with the good news of Easter? Intellectually we know that such things shouldn’t happen. Talk to any person who has lost a loved one or whose commute is by a graveyard, and they’ll tell you that the dead don’t come back to life. Because of this, the sinful mind has devised ways to explain away the angels’ message. It repeats the lies of old and claims that some people came at night and stole away Jesus’ body. It blames the early Christian church by saying that accounts about Jesus were repeated and enlarged until they became larger than life. It can also outright deny that Jesus of Nazareth ever lived, let alone did the divine things the Bible says. But there’s also an emotional component to it, something that may strike a chord in your heart. To admit that Jesus has risen from the dead means that one day we will have to meet him. And that can make us uncomfortable. While we may not outright reject what the angels said to the women, we may choose to not think about it in hopes of pushing off that inevitable unpleasantness. Yet there is no reason to reject or shy away from the angels’ answer of what happened on Easter. Rather, we ought to cling to it all the more because that impossible good news is our assurance that we have a Savior. As Jesus told the women while they were still in Galilee, “the Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” (Luke 24:7) Jesus knew what was going to happen to him if he continued on 2
Pastor Timothy Patoka Easter Sunday: April 21, 2019 his journey to Jerusalem. And the thing I find most impressive is that Jesus still chose to do it. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane and allowed himself to be delivered over to the hands of sinful men. He followed the soldiers to Pilate’s judgment hall and did nothing to prevent his crucifixion. Such tragic events were necessary because that’s how Jesus paid the price for our sins. He took upon himself all our sins and received all God’s punishment for those sins. He was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Do you want to know how we can be sure that God accepted Jesus’ death as this sacrifice for all sins? Look to Easter and the empty tomb. That is God’s confirmation that our sins have been paid for, the proof that we have a Savior whose name is Jesus Christ. Everyone who trusts in him for their salvation is assured that God doesn’t hold any sins against them. They are at peace with God. And that’s from God himself. 2) Leave The Tomb In Amazement As Jesus said he was going to die on the cross and rise from the dead, so he did. The angels were not giving false hope to the women that morning. They were dropping a truth bomb from God’s Word. And the women couldn’t keep this good news to themselves. They went back to the eleven apostles and other believers to tell what had happened. But they didn’t believe the impossibly good news, at least, not yet. To say that Jesus had risen from the dead, after seeing him die three days before, was simply nonsense. But not for the Apostle Peter. He had to see for himself if what the women said was true. So he got up, ran to the tomb, and looked in it. And what did he find? Not Jesus’ dead body. Rather as our verses tell us, “he saw only the strips of linen cloth. He went home, amazed at what had happened.” (Luke 24:12b) Peter had not yet seen the risen Christ. All he had to answer his question of “what had happened?” was the empty tomb and the women’s words. Yet he leaves in a state of amazement, a mixture of awe and wonder, because he understands why Jesus’ resurrection is so important. It is more than the account of one person escaping the clutches of death. It’s the assurance that we have a Savior from our sins. Because he has risen, we too will live! When we leave here today, I hope that we will leaving in a state of amazement because of what happened on Easter. But how long will that stay with us? At least for a little while. But most likely that amazement will be quickly replaced by something else once our Easter candy runs out or lives returns to normal. Yet that shouldn’t be the case. Easter’s joy lasts far longer than a season. They last forever. Jesus’ resurrection assures us he is our Savior and our sins are forgiven. What we have from God is a clean slate before him and an eternal future in heaven. Yet, because our attention is so often fixed on the here and now, we get more excited about things and achievements in this world than what is given to us by God. Or perhaps we try 3
Pastor Timothy Patoka Easter Sunday: April 21, 2019 to use Easter worship as a fresh start to include time in God’s Word as part of our weekly routine. But we know how dangerous old habits and misplaced priorities are which so easily creep back in and tempt us to take our eyes off of our Savior. No matter how it may happen, as we step away from our Savior, so too does our amazement at what happened on Easter. Don’t let your amazement at what happened on Easter become a distant memory. Take a hint from the women and the Apostle Peter by regularly coming to Jesus’ empty tomb through the words of the Bible so you can always remember what your Savior did and why it matters. Jesus knew what was going to happen to him while still in Galilee. Yet he did not shrink back from his coming betrayal, suffering, or death because that is how he would pay the price for all our sins. His resurrection from the grave is our assurance that God has accepted Jesus’s sacrifice as payment for our sins. That in turn brings us to amazement which lasts for all time. Whenever you sin or fail to live as God demands, look the cross and empty tomb. It’s because of what Jesus did there that you have peace with God above. It’s because of what he did there that you have an eternity in heaven waiting for you. As he rose, so too will you. And it’s not just at Easter time we can hear about this wonderful gift. It’s on every Sunday where churches gather together around the Word of the Lord they review yet again what happened on that Easter morn so they can be amazed by Jesus who rose to be our Savior. Amen.
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