Because He Raised Him
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Speaker 2:have a bible and you wanna open up to Luke chapter 24, we're gonna be reading verses 1 through 12. Listen carefully. This is the word of the lord. But on the 1st 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.
Speaker 2:But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold 2 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 3rd day rise.
Speaker 2:They remembered his words and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But these words seem 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.
Speaker 2:The word of the lord. Thanks be to god.
Jeffrey Heine:Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you that your word is sufficient and that you are faithful. And so we ask that in your faithfulness, you will teach us tonight. You will challenge us, you will confront us, and that we will be transformed by your spirit to be more like your son, our savior.
Jeffrey Heine:We are desperate to hear from you. So we anticipate that now. We pray these things in the name of Christ, Lord of the nations. Amen. So here we are, in a pretty familiar text, the the resurrection.
Jeffrey Heine:And if you've been in Christian circles for long, you've, you've probably heard the resurrection story a number of times and you kind of have like a synthesis, this harmony of the story. And maybe each, you know, every Easter, when it comes up and you're like, wait a minute. They read it out loud and you're like, wait a minute. I thought that there was one angel. What?
Jeffrey Heine:I thought there was an earthquake. I thought, when did the stone move? And like what? And and but we kind of have this like working synthesis of the story. And here tonight, as we have been studying Luke and getting used to his voice, we're gonna pay attention to what Luke has to tell us about the resurrection.
Jeffrey Heine:Now it's unique in that this is Luke writing this, but I think that when we when we stop and we listen to it, we can see how his independent account serves a very particular purpose. 2 weeks ago, we looked at the crucifixion, and in that, we asked a very particular question. And I asked if we understood what they were doing to Christ. If we understood what was happening on the cross. And that was in contrast to the question or to the statement that Jesus made in his prayer that they knew not what they were doing.
Jeffrey Heine:And so we ask, do we know? And I think that we have another question that we can wrestle with as we look at this section in Luke 24, and that is this. Why do you believe? I mean, that's a pretty pretty big question. It's a vital question.
Jeffrey Heine:It's one that we might not ask ourselves all that often. Why do you believe? Why do you have faith? And as we unpack this, I'll tell you why I think this is a question that we find in Luke 24 and one that we should wrestle with. Now I I recently restarted exercising.
Jeffrey Heine:Gym that I belong to much, much longer than I have been going to it, I I actually went, and I actually exercised, and I I tried to be consistent, and I I tried to to to be disciplined. And, you know, it's maybe it's, Jess and I were expecting our first child, in December or, writing a will because of that, or having to to take out life insurance or or just all these things are letting me know that I'm getting older. And you don't just get to eat whatever you want to eat and expect that it works the same as when you were 17, where I had, oatmeal cream pies for breakfast. It doesn't it doesn't work the same. And so I I've understood this for some time.
Jeffrey Heine:I I know the facts. If you exercise and eat well, it is better for you. I've known that for a long time. And so after understanding these facts, I've decided to finally put them into practice. Now it might not last very long at all.
Jeffrey Heine:I'd like to think that it will. But that's how education works. That's how belief works. We are confronted with information. It's weighed in conjunction with previous information that we have.
Jeffrey Heine:It's deliberated, and if we find it convincing within whatever amount that we seem is sufficient for it to be convincing, then we take it on or we reject it. And for many, this is how they approach belief in Jesus. Information is gathered. It's weighed in conjunction with previous information. And if it's found convincing within whatever realm of convincing they deem worthy, they then accept it or reject it.
Jeffrey Heine:And so we turn to this issue of the resurrection here in Luke 24. The information, the gospel writing, it's examined and it's weighed with previous information such as people don't come back from the dead, and then it is accepted or rejected. And for many, even those that consider themselves to be Christians, this issue of the resurrection is rejected. And here on the 4th July, it's fitting to reference our good old friend Thomas Jefferson again, like we did, when I taught on the transfiguration in Luke 9. When he made his Jefferson Bible, taking out the miracles.
Jeffrey Heine:This is how the story ends after the crucifixion. Chapter 17. See, it's so easy. Just 17 chapters. 7 chapter 17 verse 63 of the Jefferson Bible.
Jeffrey Heine:There they laid Jesus and rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and departed. The end. That's the end. No more. He weighed the evidence.
Jeffrey Heine:Dead men stay dead. It's it's done that every time. Every funeral is a testimony to this truth, and he acted accordingly. This must be idle talk. The resurrection must be nonsense.
Jeffrey Heine:And this isn't just a recent conclusion. I mean, people have understood that dead means dead for a very long time. But the Jews did have this belief in a resurrection, but that was a belief that would come later at the last days, that all would be raised for judgment. But the idea that one man would be raised apart from that, that was inconceivable. A few weeks back at the beginning of June, Steve Jobs gathered his little gathering of nerds and his little nerdery in California.
Jeffrey Heine:And I think that's officially what it's called, the nerdery. And he told them that he was going to be releasing this new phone, the new iPhone 4. And it was just a couple weeks, like 3 weeks go by. And on June 24th, 1.5000000 iPhones were sold. 3 weeks go by.
Jeffrey Heine:He makes one announcement and thousands of people show up outside of Apple Stores expecting it. 1,500,000 people. Three times in Luke, Jesus has told of his death and his resurrection. He even told them the day he would be raised, the 3rd day. He told his disciples, the 12, and he told the men and women, because the women, are told by the angel later, Remember what He told you.
Jeffrey Heine:People knew this. His disciples, His followers knew this, but they didn't know it. No one expected this. No one expected this. Chapter 23, if you want to look, verse 56, the second part there, It says that they rested on the Sabbath.
Jeffrey Heine:So Jesus was crucified on Friday. Sun goes down. They they started some of the burial that they where the burial rite, where they would rub oils and spices on the body. And they gotten some of that done, but the sun is going down and and it's the Sabbath, so they had to stop. And they rolled the stone in front of the tomb, and the women went back, and they had to rest.
Jeffrey Heine:And these women, they, they, they couldn't, they couldn't continue this work of bearing their lord. They had to wait. And they waited all day Saturday. They rested. They couldn't even prepare the spices.
Jeffrey Heine:But then the sun went down on Saturday, and they could begin. And they started preparing the spices, And as soon as the sun came up, they took off. But that Saturday, with along with the disciples, they they rested. And I'm sure they went over the events the last 48 hours. I'm sure that the phrase, it it all happened so fast, kept going in their minds.
Jeffrey Heine:Peter, wrecked with shame of denying, even knowing Jesus. I'm sure they could barely eat, sick to their stomachs. They could barely sleep, flashbacks to everything that happened. What if I had done this? What if I had done this?
Jeffrey Heine:What if I had spoken up here? They didn't know how this was going to turn out. They also didn't know if they might be executed as well. I mean, they had been preaching this gospel. They had been baptizing people.
Jeffrey Heine:And so fear in their hearts, They were trying to piece together everything that had happened. All that had just shattered their lives in the past 48 hours, but this was their Sabbath. I'm sure that arguments probably broke out among the disciples. Blame, anger, just emotions boiling up. And so as the women prepared their spices, they were thinking about the dead Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:They had rubbed spices on his corpse and they were, they they bound his body in linen, but there was more to do. And so as soon as the sun came up, they took off. And Luke, so precise, so technical, he cuts to the chase. First 2 in chapter 24. And they found the stone rolled away, rolled away from the tomb.
Jeffrey Heine:When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Luke doesn't go into the earthquake that rolled the stone away that we see in Matthew or how this, how big the stone was, and they were wondering what they were going to do with it that we see in Mark. He gets to the most important point at hand. It was moved, and inside of that tomb, it was empty. And then 2 angels appear.
Jeffrey Heine:Verse 4, while they were perplexed about this, the empty tomb, behold, 2 men stood by them in dazzling and shining apparel. And immediately the women assume a position of reverence. They were full of fear, terrified, and they fell on their faces on the ground. Angels, just like we saw in Luke 2, with the shepherds. And just like the shepherds, the women were full of fear.
Jeffrey Heine:And one of the angels says this to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? What a startling question. Jesus is dead. These women had touched him. They had washed the blood off of his body, and they rubbed the oil and the spices in.
Jeffrey Heine:Why do they look for Jesus among the dead? Because they had touched his dead body. He was dead. But the angels question has unimaginable consequences. Why should they look for a dead man among the dead?
Jeffrey Heine:Because he's not a dead man. Have you ever been around a grieving family, where they couldn't help but to talk about the person that had just died. Maybe it's that awkward, you know, turkey lunch or or let that you have afterwards or someone brings like tuna fish. I don't know. This is random, like foods.
Jeffrey Heine:Everyone just kind of crackers they're munching on And they they talk about the person that died and they're sharing stories. And those heartbreaking moments where they catch themselves as they talk about the person in the present tense, and they realize they can't do that anymore. He is turns into he was. She is turns into she was. It's difficult to see as they catch themselves.
Jeffrey Heine:But these women, they, they had already begun life with Jesus in the past tense. His lifeless body was their startling and sobering introduction into past tense Jesus, and now his body was gone. And they were told by these angels that they cannot think of Jesus in the past tense any longer. They cannot look for the living among the dead. And the next thing that the angel says, is present in what's called the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Jeffrey Heine:And it is this central declaration of the resurrection, verse 6. He is not here, but has risen. In Luke 2 with the shepherds, the angels tell them where they can find Jesus. They say, go here. Jesus is here.
Jeffrey Heine:You will find him here. And now we see angels declaring to the women, you cannot find him here. What an amazing contrast. How far we have come since that manger, Now to the empty tomb. You cannot find him here.
Jeffrey Heine:It is not that his body is simply gone, or it was stolen by robbers or that it was moved somewhere. It is not here because he has risen. There is no room for for misinterpretation. There aren't varying possibilities of this. He is not here because he is risen.
Jeffrey Heine:No misinterpretation, only room for rejection. And then the angel calls them to remember. Something we have seen in Luke already, in the crucifixion with Jesus and, the thief on the cross. The angel calls him to remember, remember how He told you verse 6 through 7, 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 3rd day rise. Twice in chapter 9 and in chapter 18, Jesus has told of His death and His resurrection.
Jeffrey Heine:And the women remember this. They remembered his words. By the grace of God, they remembered. John goes further to even say, they remembered the scriptures. They remembered what Jesus said that he would suffer, but that He would be raised.
Jeffrey Heine:Not resuscitated, but raised and glorified. Verse 8, they they remember and they return. They go back to the disciples. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, and also some some other women with them. And they told these things to the apostles and, and look at this, but these words seem to them an idle tale.
Jeffrey Heine:Some of your translations might say, it seemed to them as nonsense, and they did not believe them. They did not believe them. And it's not just because they were women, which it is true that that their testimony would not be, permissible in court, but but it's not just that. It's because it was unbelievable. These men had no concept of how this could be.
Jeffrey Heine:Resurrection of 1? They thought it was nonsense. Even though Jesus told them that it would happen, and when it does, they say nonsense. If this doesn't slap us in the face, if this doesn't wake us up and remind us of our raging rebellion against God, I I don't know what will. What what will?
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus said that this will happen. He tells them when, and then when it does, they say nonsense. If you're in any of those really fun debates about, free will, will will will of man, all of those things, think of this. See the will of man. Nonsense.
Jeffrey Heine:I will suffer, be crucified, be buried, and raised on the 3rd day. I I will rise on the 3rd day. Nonsense. The will of man. If we do not see that we are complete enemies in complete rebellion against god, then we will not see the fullness of the power of the resurrection.
Jeffrey Heine:If we do not see that we are enemies, enemies with God, then we will not see the fullness of the power of the resurrection, nor the power of His grace. And if we do not see that faith is a gift and a work of God, then we will see faith in God as an achievement of man, and not a work through the cross and his resurrection. Turn, just really fast to first Peter chapter 1. You gotta get through all of Paul's stuff real fast and, and get to Peter. If you're in an ESV, it's 10, what's that?
Jeffrey Heine:1014? No. First Peter, chapter 1, looking at verse 20. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for your sake. Who through him are believers in God.
Jeffrey Heine:Who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and your hope are in God. This is Peter, the one who denied him, denied even knowing him. He tells us these things, that you are believers in God through Christ. That question, why do you believe? It is because God raised him and gave him glory.
Jeffrey Heine:So your faith and your hope would be in God. Without the resurrection, our faith and our hope would not be in God. It would be in ourselves. It would be in us. It is through Christ only.
Jeffrey Heine:We are believers because he has risen. All the promises, the promises to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob and to David, they are fulfilled in the resurrection. This is why you believe. I love this declarative quality of the resurrection that Luke gives. He is not here, but has risen.
Jeffrey Heine:The angels didn't say, Mary, how's life going? You know, are you are you satisfied Are you ready for your best life now? Are you ready to unleash who you can be? No. Emphatically, no.
Jeffrey Heine:They declare the risen Lord and testify to the power, to the authority, not only over life, but over death itself. And it's because of this power, Peter ran. This Peter that tells us of our hope and our faith given to us, our our our hope in God given to us by this resurrection. That one that denied even knowing Jesus takes off running. Yeah.
Jeffrey Heine:This whole, exercising thing that I, that I, that I'm trying out. I used to say that I don't run because I'm rarely chased. And and I don't lift big, heavy things unless they need to be moved somewhere. Up and down, and then in the same spot, like, that that doesn't do anything for me. But but as I was I was running the other day and and not fast, and not for a long distance.
Jeffrey Heine:But but as I was attempting to run, I I thought about Peter. Running with everything that he had. Running because of a hope. Running after Jesus, And he takes off running. Full of shame, full of guilt, sick to his stomach, can't eat, can't sleep.
Jeffrey Heine:Terrified Peter, taking off as fast as he can and he was stunned. He saw an empty tomb and he was stunned. He didn't understand. His mind hadn't been opened yet. That comes about 33 verses later.
Jeffrey Heine:We're gonna get there, but but right now he doesn't understand. But can you imagine that that flicker, that spark of hope When he heard these women say, he's alive. He's not dead. It's not over. Since the beginning of the gospel of Luke, we have noted that a primary objective that Luke has is that we would have, that the reader would have a certainty of hope, a certainty in the faith.
Jeffrey Heine:And now we we come to this where God is demonstrating and revealing why we have this hope. John Piper talks about how we read the Gospels backwards because they were written backwards. I mean, Luke knew where he was going with this. He knew that as he talked about the birth and as he as he talked about these different sufferings and the different trials that Jesus faced, that all along resurrection was coming. And this is why he wrote this, so we would believe.
Jeffrey Heine:And that in believing, we would offer ourselves as living sacrifices. The only reasonable and rational response to this irrational, irrational and unreasonable resurrection that That we would turn in worship. The resurrection changes everything. He was raised so we might hope in God, not in ourselves. Acts, I mean, different story.
Jeffrey Heine:These, these inconsistent and unfaithful and just ignorant disciples become so bold and passionate and declarative just like those angels declared to them. He is not here, but He is risen. This has been Luke's goal all along. And the resurrection reminds us that we should live in that hope today. That we would live as those who believe in this resurrection.
Jeffrey Heine:There should be a startling difference between you as a Christian who believes in the resurrection and one who says that they are a Christian and rejects the resurrection. There should be a difference there. We cannot call these things the same. Paul says there's no hope. There's no reason to preach.
Jeffrey Heine:There's no reason for faith if there is no resurrection. And so with that question of why do you believe? We have to ask ourselves and ask one another, does that show forth? Do we live like there is a risen Lord? And that these promises have been fulfilled through Him?
Jeffrey Heine:This faith is a gift from God. It redefines us and it redefines our understanding. And this is the, the good news of the surprising, illogical, irrational, unbelievable gospel. He is not here, but has risen. Pray with me.
Jeffrey Heine:Lord of the nations, we come to you and, and ask that you would continue to press upon our hearts and transform our minds that we might believe What is unbelievable that we might hope in the living Lord. That we would not live simply as followers of a moral teacher or respectable rabbi, but a risen Lord. Open our minds, lead us in your truth. And in that truth, lead us by your spirit to worship, not to better arguments or more logical or reasonable arguments, but lead us to worship. And we pray that you would do that now.
Jeffrey Heine:We pray these things in the name of Christ and for the name of Christ amongst the nations. Amen.
