HE HAS RISEN!
Lk 24:1-35
Lk 24:6a He is not here; he has risen!
This passage, Luke chapter 24, is about
the empty tomb, the missing body, and the appearance of the risen Christ.
Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, "If Christ has not been raised,
your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." And according to theologian
Gerald O'Collins, "Christianity without the resurrection is not simply
Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all."
(Gerald O'Collins, The Easter Jesus,
134) Why is this resurrection crucial to our lives as followers of Jesus and
how does this ancient text apply to modern believers? I pray that answers to
these questions may be plainly explained to us through this passage and this
Easter Bible Conference, and that we may all share the resurrection faith and
become witnesses to the risen Christ to the ends of the earth.
[PART ONE] He has risen! (v.1-8)
As soon as Sabbath rest ended, the
women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body.(1) Earlier, Jesus had cured Mary
Magdalene and Joanna of evil spirits and diseases.(Lk 8:2) And the other Mary
was Jesus' mother. Their earnest love for Jesus and deep sorrow at his death led
them to the tomb although they also wondered how they would be able to enter
it. In Mark's gospel, they said to each other, "Who will roll the stone
away from the entrance of the tomb?" But to their surprise, the stone had already
been put aside, and the body of Jesus was absent from the tomb.(2-3) While all different
scenarios were running through their heads, two angels stood by them and said,
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has
risen!"(5b-6a) The angels told this astonishing news too plainly, unfazed.
The angels continued, "Remember how he told you, while he was still with
you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners,
be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"(6b-7) They were
right; it should not be a surprise, because Jesus had said that he would die
and rise from the dead, and he did just that! By swallowing up death(Isa 25:8),
Jesus crushed the head of Satan(Gen 3:15), our most potent adversary. Now Satan
has no claim on us. Grief, anger, anxiety, insecurity, and everything rooted in
death has been overcome. We are given new birth into a living hope and into a
heavenly inheritance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.(1Pe 1:3-4) These
are given to us when we believe, as the women did. Complete peace and joy from
unity with God surges in our hearts. How joyful were the women? They hurried
away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell the
disciples.(Mat 28)
[PART TWO] What holds you back?
(v.9-24)
In contrast to the women’s gleeful
tidings, the disciples hardly showed any reciprocation. Verse 11 says, “But
they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like
nonsense.” To the disciples, who were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ crucifixion, it
was evident that no one could survive the brutality of the punishment. And it
was nonsensical to say that the stone was rolled away and the body was absent
from the tomb which was supposed to be tightly guarded by Roman soldiers. But
Peter got up and ran to the tomb, and found it empty.(12) In his gospel
account, John says that he was there with Peter.(Jn 20:2-3) Now the women’s
testimony gained more authenticity, confirmed by two male disciples, who were
thought to be more reliable back then. But still, disciples seem to reject the
truth. That same day two of them were fleeing from Jerusalem to Emmaus out of
fear and confusion.(13) Jesus came along and walked with them, but they did not
even recognize him.(16) Why were they "so foolish" and "slow to
believe" his resurrection?(25) The reason is found in their conversation
with Jesus. Their hope for the resurgence of Israel led by powerful prophet
Jesus was now torn apart.(20,21) Their hopeless grip on this abortive hope is
blocking them from knowing the truth. In verses 23-24, they said, "[The
women] didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision
of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb
and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” They
perceived the empty tomb and the missing corpse from their companions’ report,
but not the risen Messiah. Likewise, this miraculous event that happened in a
different continent on the globe almost two millennia ago does not seem to make
connection to our lives. It sounds more sensible to say there is no
resurrection than to say Jesus is alive today. And more often, our sights are
blurred by different causes or feelings that ultimately lead us to death as the
two disciples were trapped in their human expectation. The power of death has
expertise in camouflage; it mingles with our lives so naturally that most of
the time we are unaware that it is blocking us from having the resurrection
hope, the true living hope. Whether subtle ups and downs of life or the
greatest virtue of the age, it makes our spirit writhe in pain as long as it
has stronger claim to our minds than Jesus' resurrection.
[PART THREE] Listen to Jesus! (v.25-35)
Then how do we remedy this piteous
situation? What did Jesus do? He taught the Bible to them. In verse 27, Jesus
went over the entire Scripture with the two disciples in the light of his
suffering and resurrection. Later, after Jesus was recognized by them, they
said, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on
the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"(32) Faith comes from hearing
the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.(Ro 10:17)
God's word has power in it; it is alive among us today. No matter how abject
the darkness we are going through is, his word is powerful enough to kindle the
light of truth in our hearts so that we may see the risen Christ with faith.
Jesus' work does not end with rising from the dead; he is still alive and is
eager to come to us and help us believe his victory. After the Bible study with
Jesus, the disciples' eyes were opened as he broke a loaf of bread.(31) When
they began to see who he was, their hearts were reshaped and were filled with exhilaration.
Now they turned their way back to Jerusalem, from which they were initially running
away gripped with dread and dismay. When they arrived where the Eleven were to
share this great news, pieces were put together. "It is true! The Lord has
risen and has appeared to Simon!"(34)
[4] Personal testimony
I was also under the reign of darkness.
When my mother died, I got a fissure, which could not be closed by any means.
It meant that I would have to either jump over or fall into it while others
walked on the level ground. Strife against emotional detachment, people's
stigma about a motherless child, and insecurity of my future were looming over
me. At my mom's funeral, one relative said to my grandma, "Now you have to
be stronger than anybody. Otherwise, who will take care of those young
kids?" I overheard the conversation and thought, "No, I have to be
stronger." I had to have a "grieving process" according to some
psychological theories, but my mind was already busy enough fighting with
outward adversities. My academic achievements and outlook for success comforted
me, but darkness deepened as it burrowed into the drape of outward pride and
excellence. Then I went to high school, where I began to see that everyone had
already been racing toward a sole objective of "entering a good
college," even at the cost of morality, wholesomeness, and moderation. My
inability to catch up with this heated competition was another source of
deprivation from the beginning. The burden was aggravated as I took on more
academic load in coming years. I had been striding twice as fast as others to
overcome the big crevasse, but now I had to move at an impossibly challenging
pace. My dad's remarriage, financial problems, and distrust among my family
members were additional pressure on me. All the glories I had enjoyed faded
away, and the previously overlooked necessity of "grieving process"
came along, together with anger and brokenness. I cried every day and held
everything against God and people around me, while I tried to give myself
another meaning of life. But the more I squirmed to escape, the power of sin
dragged me down even more. Last week I asked my Mom about how I was at that
time. She said, "You came home and said you would stay up late studying,
but you always cried until one in the morning, went to bed when you were
exhausted from crying, and got up at six. I wondered if you were getting any
sleep. That was how the evening went every day." I am certain that you who
have seen me for the last seven months know that I am not like this anymore.
You are witnesses of God's great work in my life. These are the verses he gave
me then. 2 Co 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." My effort to fight my way through to the top was not
effectual, but God used this weakness to humble me and help me wait for his
deliverance. Zep 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior
who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer
rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." And the greatest of
the great mercy was that God himself loved me and was with me to the extent that
he sacrificed his Son Jesus. Grievance against God and man, and ultimately the
power of death, were gradually washed away with the blood of Christ and the
tears I shed before his cross. But still, the darkness was not purged
completely as the two disciples could not abandon their dead hope on the basis
of their narrow understanding. I was overwhelmed by a deluge of confusion and
instability in a new society I stepped into last year. In order not to be swept
by the gush, I grasped at my dead hope in myself which was not weeded out
completely. It was easy to go back to the old idol, but the consequence was
complete voidness and heavy burden on my spirit. But as I meditated on this
passage over last month, Jesus visited me as he did the two heavyhearted
disciples. I was washing the dishes one afternoon, my soul being tired from
bemoaning many unsatisfactory things. Jesus asked me, "What did I do for
you? Didn't I die on the cross bearing all your sin and rise to give you
eternal life?" I could not but repent of my unbelief and I cried, holding
the dishes. Again it was God's grace that I was given the living hope through
Jesus' resurrection and that God did not let me lose this hope. And I believe
the same is with my Korean mother. Now I use my time, energy, and talent to
work out my salvation, to glorify my Lord with everything I can offer, to love
my Lord with all my strength, heart, and soul, and grow as his disciple who
proclaims this great news to others, not to selfishly adorn my own life or to
compensate for irreversible loss. I praise and thank God for this amazing grace
that softened my rugged heart and planted living hope in me. There are also
many people who helped me grow in faith, but I give special thanks to my
family, who sacrificed a lot to support me and showed me a living example of
love and humility of Christ.
Jesus is not in the tomb; he has risen.
He rose from the dead to give us victory over death and eternal life in his
kingdom. The resurrection hope is still alive in many hearts and expanding through
the people who live out this hope by loving others sacrificially and showing
them humility of Jesus. But very often, we may be mourning over the empty tomb
like the women or disappointed at our own dead hope, not recognizing the risen
Christ. But as Jesus walked with the two disciples, listened to them, and
imparted understanding of his resurrection to them, he is willing to be with us
today and lead us to the victory and eternal life he earned for us by
conquering death. One last question remains: "What is my life like after
that?" Jessica will be up here soon to share with us our lives as
witnesses to his resurrection. Let's pray.
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