Setting The Resurrection Focus

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You're listening to Heat the Word with our pastor and teacher Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke, verse by verse.

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Paul makes the point that the resurrection is the central point of the Gospel. So often we focus on on the crucifixion and on the death and on the suffering of Christ, and well we should. But we should also remember that the resurrection is life to us, that we will be raised with Christ, that we have life in him, and that should be an incredible source of comfort and peace and joy to us.

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. As we just heard a moment ago from Pastor Kim, the resurrection is the key to the Gospel Jesus Christ. You see, the same power that God the Father used to raise his son Jesus from the dead is the same power that he's working in us to accomplish his will. We can also look forward to the resurrection of our bodies when he returns. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about He the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke chapter 24, verse 1, as we join Pastor Ken.

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Open your Bibles to Luke chapter 24.

Turning To Luke 24: The Empty Tomb

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We'll be starting in verse 1. As you remember when we studied together last, we studied there at the end of Luke 23, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus had been tried in an unjust trial. He'd been scourged, he'd been forced to carry his cross. He'd been humiliated and nailed to the cross. He'd been mocked, he'd been spat upon, he'd been beaten, and ultimately he was killed. And then his body was taken by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus and placed in the borrowed grave. And that, last Sunday, is where we left the story. As we begin in verse one of chapter 24, we see really a new day dawning in the history of the world and in the history of man's relationship with God. Verse 1. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. We remember in the last few verses we saw the spices being prepared and the women following and seeing where he was lain. And so they returned now to where he was lain. But verse two tells us, But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still 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? And they remembered his words. If I were to put a title on today's message, it would be Resurrection and the Divine, I told you so. Because that's really what these verses are. First of all, let's look at what we're finding here. The stone was rolled away from the grave. Now let me ask a question. Was the stone rolled away so that Jesus could get out? Or was it rolled away so that they could get in? It was so that they could get in. We see later on that Jesus, hey, in this new body, he can walk through walls, right? He he can appear in one place and disappear and appear somewhere else. So he didn't need the stone to be rolled away, but the stone was rolled away for our benefit. Because you see, had that stone not been rolled away, then everyone would have assumed that the body was still inside. And so the stone was rolled away so that they could see that he had been risen. They had in fact been worried about it as we read in the other gospels. They said, Who's going to roll the stone away for us so that we can get in and prepare his body? That was their concern. Now, there are those that would say that the resurrection of Christ is a fabricated story, that the disciples came in while the Roman guards were asleep and that they stole the body away in order to perpetuate some hoax. There's some wonderful evidence here for the fact that that is not what happened. First of all, if this were a fabricated story, if the disciples had in fact planned it this way, it's very likely that they would not have chosen

Why The Stone Was Rolled Away

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women to be the first witnesses of the resurrection, because you see, in that culture and in that society, the testimony of women was not permissible in court. And so if you were going to choose a good witness, it wouldn't have been this group of ladies right here. So the fact that they're presenting the story as the women being the first ones to discover that Christ was risen, in essence, lends credence to the story. Now, the two men that we see here in verse four, it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. I believe that Matthew and Mark give us a little more detail on those two men. And let's go ahead and get their accounts. Turn to Matthew twenty-eight. Matthew twenty-eight, starting in verse one, we'll read the first eight verses. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow, and the guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, Come and see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee, where you will see him. Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. Now there is a gap of time between verse seven and verse eight, isn't there? Because what did the angel tell them? Come and see where the Lord lay, and then in verse eight it picks up, and they departed from the tomb. So there's a gap of time that exists in there when the women actually went in and they saw that the tomb was indeed empty. Let's turn now to Mark 15. Now when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, brought spices, that they might come and anoint him. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen, and they said among themselves, Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large. And entering the tomb they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen, he is not here. See the place where they laid him, but go, tell his disciples, and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you. So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Now I don't believe that they said nothing to anyone indicates that they didn't go and tell the disciples. I think it indicates that they said nothing to anyone until they reached the disciples, because they were not proclaiming it

Women As First Witnesses

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and shouting it along the way. Why? They were terrified. Now, as we piece all of this together, I believe that these two young men, or these two angelic beings that we see in Matthew and Mark, are the same two that we see described here in Luke. So let's continue in Luke 24. As we piece that all together, we see that the angels here tell them, He is not here, but he is risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee. So they remind the women of what Jesus had already said, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again, and verse 8 tells us, and they remembered his words. Well, let's look together at some of the words that they were remembering at this point. Not all of the statements that Jesus made regarding the coming crucifixion, but some of them. Luke 9, 22, Jesus had said, The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be slain, and be raised on the third day. Luke eighteen, thirty-one through thirty-three tells us, then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished, for he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated and spitted on, and they shall scourge him and put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. Matthew twelve forty, for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew seventeen, twenty-two and twenty-three says, And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again, and they were exceeding sorry. Now there are numerous occasions in which Jesus foretold his own death, so much so that even his enemies knew that he had claimed he would rise again. Perhaps the most telling verse regarding the disciple state of mind, though, is to be found in Mark 9, 31 and 32, where it says that he taught his disciples and said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him. They didn't get it. I mean, how many times do you have to tell people something before they get it? I was talking with my pastor once many years ago when I was filling in for him on a Sunday, and I said, You know, Bill, I've taught for you a few times when you were gone, and and it feels really weird because I feel like I'm saying the exact same thing every single time I preach. And Bill said, Oh, don't worry, nobody remembers anyway. I mean, think about it. You come to church and what do you hear? Repent of your sins. Believe in Jesus Christ, and you'll be forgiven and you'll receive eternal life. You hear it time and again, the wages of sin is death. You hear it time and again that as Christians, we're to pray, to have fellowship with one another, to do those things that are needful for our growth, to read the Bibles and to share our faith with other people. So if you think about it, the gospel message really is one central message, one central theme. And each week you come, and I tell you, really, in many ways, the same thing that I've told you weeks and weeks and weeks ago, all over again. And yet somehow it does sound kind of new every time, doesn't it? Because there's something about human nature that doesn't hold on very well to divine truth. We just don't always get it. And in the case of the disciples, they they certainly

Harmonizing Matthew And Mark

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weren't getting it either. They were they they didn't understand what he was saying, and yet they were afraid to ask. I wonder if perhaps the reason that they didn't really hear what Jesus was saying is because he was saying something that they didn't really want to hear. Isn't that the way it is with us sometimes? We go to the Lord and we say, Lord, what do you want me to do in this area of my life? And we hear that answer and we're like, no, no, no, no, that couldn't be it. What do you really want me to do, Lord? And then we hear the answer, and we're like, no, no, no, no, that's just my flesh. No, that's you know, again and again and again. Why do you think God repeats himself so many times? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, in other words, listen up, guys. I'm telling you something that's important here. Now the women reported this to the disciples, but surprise, surprise, they refused to believe. Let's look at verses 9 through 12 in chapter 24 of Luke. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, and their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb, and stooping down, he saw the linen clothes or the linen cloths lying by themselves, and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. He was amazed at what had happened. Does it say that he believed? No, it doesn't say that he believed. Says that he marveled. Well, one disciple at least at this point does believe, and we read of that in John chapter 20, verses 3 through 10, where John gives his account of that morning. Peter therefore went out and the other disciple and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. You ever wonder why John mentions that? I mean, we we look at this and we say, well, we believe this is John who's writing here as he refers to that other disciple. And he mentions that he outran Peter as though, one up, you buddy. I got there first, right? So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. Isn't that just like Peter? He he doesn't stop to look, he's just like, Bam, I'm in there. I want to see what's going on. And he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first, went in also, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. We're told that John believed, but Peter departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. So Peter goes away amazed, but John goes away believing. John had seen the empty tomb, and his faith came alive. He believed. This initial disbelief of the majority of the disciples is an incredible piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact that those who had the most reason to believe that Jesus was raised did not believe that very fact is a testimony to the reality of what had happened. You see, had they plotted and schemed together to make it seem as though Jesus had risen from the dead, then they would have been quick to acknowledge the fact that he was raised. And yet they denied it. They rejected that truth. They didn't believe it. They thought that these women were just crazy, that they were just, you know, wishful thinking. And yet each one of these men who initially did not believe would ultimately give his life with the exception of John for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of the early believers, both the apostles and the others that believed with them in those early days, many of them, most of them, it would seem, died a martyr's death. Fox's Book of Martyrs gives us a breakdown on some of those, and let me just share some of them with you. First, James the Great. Now, Stephen, of course, was the first martyr of the church, but James was the first of the apostles to die. He was beheaded at the order of Herod Agrippa. Philip, who was born in Bethadia in Galilee, was the first one to be called by the name Disciple, and he labored diligently in Upper Asia and suffered martyrdom at Helopolis in Phrygia, and he was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified around A.D. 54. Matthew, the tax collector, ministered in Parthia and Ethiopia, and it was in Ethiopia that he would die a martyr's

Remembering Jesus’ Predictions

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death, as he was slain with a halibird in the city of Nadaba around A.D. 60. James, the brother of Jesus, at the age of 94, was beaten and stoned by the Jews and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club. Matthew, as you may remember in the early chapters of Acts, was the one that was chosen to replace Judas. He had been with them from the beginning and had seen the works that Jesus had done. He was stoned to death at Jerusalem and then beheaded, in addition to being stoned. Andrew was taken and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground. Mark, who was not one of the apostles but was the writer of the gospel that bears his name, was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria. Peter, of course, we understand by tradition, was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded, Jude was crucified at Edassa. Bartholomew was beaten and crucified. Thomas was thrust through with a spear. Luke hanged on an olive tree by the Greeks. Simon the zealot preached the gospel in Marshinia, Africa, and even into Britain. And he was crucified in Britain. And then John, though he did not die a martyr's death, was uh banished to the island of Patmos, prior to which they had tried to boil him in oil, but he just wouldn't die. And so we see these men who at first didn't believe, dying, giving their lives for something that they did believe. Something happened in between those two times, and that is they met the risen Christ. They saw Jesus face to face, and they were henceforth filled with the Holy Spirit and they were changed. You see, if Jesus was not raised from the dead, these men would have known it. So if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then each of these men died for a lie. Now people will die for lies, but only if they believed the lies. What man or woman would die for something that they knew to be a lie? None. Not unless they stood to gain somehow by it. And what did these men stand to gain? They died for something that they knew to be the truth. They died for the risen Savior, and they died with the hope of the resurrection in themselves. Paul summarizes this. Well, in 1 Corinthians 15. Turn with me there, if you will. Starting in verse 1, he says, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and in which you stand, by which also you were saved, if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. So Paul encapsulates in these few verses the true message, the central message of the gospel for us, simply put, that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that, he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. What Paul is saying here is listen, the gospel that I declared to you is not something that I'm asking you to just take my word for. But there are men alive today who saw the risen Christ, and I'm one of them, Paul says. Paul had seen him on the road to Damascus, Peter had seen him, the apostles had seen him, and over five hundred believers in that day had seen him. And he said, Many of them are still alive today. If you were to enter into a court of law today with the agreed testimony of five hundred witnesses, the thing to which they testified would be established as fact, wouldn't it? It would be believed, it would not be disputed. And we have the written record of this testimony, and yet people today choose to call this a fable. They choose not to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Verse 7. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, then last of all he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Now if Christ is preached

Disciples’ Doubt And John’s Belief

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that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are all men most pitiable. Paul is saying, listen to me. And because of that fact, because Christ is risen, then we know that there is a resurrection also for us. And we know that our sins are forgiven. He said, if Christ isn't raised, and if there is no resurrection, then what forgiveness is there for sin? Paul makes the point that the resurrection is the central point of the gospel. So often we focus on the crucifixion and on the death and on the suffering of Christ, and well we should. But we should also remember that the resurrection is life to us. That we will be raised with Christ, that we have life in him, and that should be an incredible source of comfort and peace and joy to us.

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For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. That's chapter 11, verse 10 of the book we are currently studying here on Heed the Word, Luke. Luke's gospel account of the life of Jesus is an invaluable study that we know God will use in your life. We do thank you for joining us today. This has been another edition of Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher, Ken Davis. As you likely heard at the beginning of today's program, this message is available free of charge on our website. Simply log on to www.heedtheword.org. That's heedtheword.org. Once you're there, select the Listen Online page. There you'll find the Heed the Word Media Player. For your convenience, today's message is available in MP3 podcast and mobile formats. By far, the best way to stay current with all the latest teachings from Pastor Ken is to subscribe to the Heat the Word Podcast. So log on to HeedTheWord.org and continue studying with us today. If today's message has ministered to you and you live in the Burleson, Texas area, or will be passing through, we'd like to invite you to join us for worship. We meet each Sunday morning at 10.30 a.m. and Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. You can log on to HeatheWord.org for driving directions and more information. So please stop by and visit us. Well, that's all the time we have for today. We encourage you to join us next time as Pastor Ken continues teaching through the Gospel of Luke on the next edition of Heed the Word.