Luke presents Jesus as risen for a reason.
Here is the companion video for the last part of Luke!
Jesus had repeatedly made this outreageous claim that he would rise from the dead. Crazy, right? Even though it seems so obvious to us that Jesus would be resurrected, think about how this would have sounded to the people around him.
What if a popular preacher today (we’ll use Charles Stanley as an example) began to tell everyone that he would soon be killed by the authorities, but that he wouldn’t stay dead? How do you think you would respond to that claim?
How would the late night talk show hosts respond to that?
What would happen to the popular opinion of Charles Stanley if he talked that way?
The point is this… Nobody would actually expect it to happen. Right?
Could it have really been that different for the followers of Jesus? They knew that Jesus had an incredible ministry, that he did things they just couldn’t explain… But do you think they really believed that he would rise from the dead?
As you read the following passage, think about where everyone was and what they were doing early on that Sunday morning.
Luke 24:1-12 NLT
But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.
The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”
Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.
You can get a little insight on these women by reading the following passage:
Luke 8:1-3 NLT
Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.
How deep was the relationship between Jesus and these women?
As they were on their way to the tomb, what were they planning to do?
What do you think they were talking about as they made their way through the garden that morning, before arriving at the tomb?
What were they expecting to find when they arrived?
Why do you think these women “bowed with their faces to the ground?” Is that the response you would have in this instance?
Jesus uses an interesting word when predicting this day…
Matthew 16:21 ESV
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
The “man in dazzling clothes” used the same interesting word when speaking to the women at the entrance to the tomb:
Luke 24:6-7 NLT
Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”
Do you see it? The word is “must.” Jesus must go… Suffer… And be killed. What are Jesus and the angel saying here?
God’s plan all along was to use the greatest tragedy of history to bring about his redemption, and to glorify himself. It may have caught the women and the disciples by surprise, but it was God’s plan all along.
Acts 2:23-24 NLT
But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.
Romans 3:23-26 NLT
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Isn’t it true that the tragedies of our lives so often catch us by surprise? And, don’t we think that our heartache, our great hurts and problems derail the plan of God in our lives? How do we respond when we think this way?
In reality, if the greatest crime ever committed was actually ordained by God to complete his plan, then what great sin can thwart His will for you life?
What can God do through the tragedies in your life?