LUKE 23-24 23:50-24:12 THEY DID NOT FIND THE BODY OF JESUS2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 23-24 23:50-24:12 They Did Not Find The Body Of Jesus

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. There's a saying, if the cross is the payment for our sins, then the empty tomb is the receipt.

If the cross is the payment, and indeed it is, Jesus on the cross paid the price for our sins so that we could have redemption and the opportunity of forgiveness and everlasting life. The receipt...

that proves that purchase was completed is the empty tomb. And so the title of the message this morning is, They Did Not Find the Body of Jesus. Because what we see happening here is the followers of Jesus were

finding out, they're in the process of discovering that Jesus has resurrected from the dead. Now, we're going to be looking here at chapter 23 and finishing that up, and then heading into chapter 24 through verse 12 to see these different encounters that the followers of Jesus have with this empty tomb.

And we don't find out till later on in chapter 24. In the coming weeks, we'll get to see the revelation of Jesus to his disciples. But we get to see them kind of in this transition period of trying to figure out

What's happening? Jesus is not in the tomb as we expected. Here on the screen you have a picture of the tomb that's in the garden nearby the place of the crucifixion in Israel. And this is the tomb that we believe that Jesus was placed in.

This is the tomb that fits the description of the scriptures as far as the place, the geography, everything lines up with the way that it is described in the Word of God. And so what you can see here is a tomb that's carved out of rock.

It's carved out of the side of a hill. You can see some of the repairs that were made in the wall, and that's the entrance to the tomb. There would be a weeping chamber within, and they would spend some time preparing the body of Jesus there. And then there would be a further chamber, an inner chamber, where they would lay the body of Jesus.

And as you go, if you have opportunity to go to Israel today, you can see the same thing that the ladies saw when they went to the tomb on that Sunday morning. The same thing that Peter will see when he runs to the tomb on that Sunday morning. You can see that the body of Jesus is not there. This is an essential doctrine for us as believers in Jesus.

The truth that Jesus has resurrected is not an optional truth. It's not something you can take it or leave it. It's not something we can agree to disagree about. This is something that is essential. Jesus Christ raised from the dead.

And it's a central part of our Christian faith. So much so, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the Apostle Paul talks about this. And he says in verse 14, if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. And then in verse 17 of 1 Corinthians 15, he says, and if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Paul says, look, this

teaching about Jesus rising from the dead is so essential that without it, there's no point to the Christian faith. There's no point to believing in Jesus. It's worthless to believe in Jesus if he has not risen from the dead. And if he's not risen from the dead, then you're still in your sins because his payment on the cross is

wasn't worth anything if he did not resurrect on the third day as he declared that he would. This is an essential element of our Christian faith. Jesus has raised from the dead on the third day. And without it, we have no faith. Without it, all of this is meaningless and pointless.

But the reality is Jesus did resurrect and that's why our faith has great value and meaning because what Jesus did upon the cross did have the full effect of paying for the penalty for our sin.

But because it's an essential doctrine, it's one that's often attacked. It's one that's often questioned. It's one that's often ridiculed. And, you know, throughout times there's different kinds of arguments and things that try to come against and discredit the resurrection of Jesus. And I'll make reference to a couple of those. But primarily we want to look at what does the scripture have to say about the empty tomb?

I was kind of thinking of it as I was studying and preparing for this morning as, you know, when you're missing something, what do you do? Well, typically what we do is we try to remember the last time we had that, right? You're trying to figure out where your keys are. Okay, where was the last time I remember having my keys? And you kind of retrace your steps. Well, that's kind of what we're going to do here as we look at this passage. We understand Jesus is gone from the tomb, right?

Well, what happened? Let's retrace our steps. Where do we last see the body of Jesus? And so there's four points we'll walk through this morning here in Luke chapter 23 and then on into chapter 24. The first point here in verses 50 through 54 of chapter 23 is that Joseph placed his body in the tomb.

Check out verse 50 again. It says, Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.

Here we're introduced to this man named Joseph. We don't know a lot about him. It's just what's recorded about him in each of the Gospels regarding this event of him burying Jesus in his tomb.

But we do know from those passages that he's from Arimathea. This is about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. So he's nearby there in the region of Judea. Here Luke tells us he's a good and just man.

He was a man who was waiting for the kingdom of God, Luke says. And so he was believing in God. He was looking forward to what God had in store. He was trusting in God. He was a good and just man.

We also know from Matthew chapter 27 that he was a very wealthy man. And so he was, you know, prominent in the society because of his wealth. He had great wealth and that's demonstrated by him owning land right here in Jerusalem, which is this garden where he will bury Jesus. But we also learn from this that Joseph is a council member.

Now that means that he is a member of the Sanhedrin, which was essentially the Jewish Supreme Court. It's the Sanhedrin that met and then convicted Jesus and turned him over to Rome to be crucified. It was these Jewish leaders that were involved in that. And so it tells us here, Luke tells us that Joseph was part of that council,

but that he had not consented to their decision and deed, that he was against. He did not want Jesus to be put to death. He disagreed with them on this course of action, but he was one of the few. And so they continued on doing what they did to crucify Jesus.

We also learn from John chapter 19 verse 38. John gives us a little bit more insight. He tells us that Joseph was a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews.

And so this Joseph of Arimathea, he was a prominent person. He was in the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Jewish council. He ranked high in the society. He was wealthy. He was well known. He was local. He was nearby.

And he was a secret follower of Jesus. He believed in Jesus, but he was fearful of letting others know because of how they would react. As you could imagine, you know, they were pretty antagonistic against Jesus to the point that they wanted to put him to death. And so he didn't want to make it publicly known that he was in support of Jesus and believing in Jesus until now.

And there's a change that happens here. Joseph here, there's some boldness that he gains after Jesus is put to death. He decides, you know what? Now is the time. I need to make it public. I need to let people know.

that I believe in Jesus. And so in verse 52, it says, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Now this was a bold move for him because, again, he was a secret follower. Nobody knew he supported Jesus. But now, everybody would know. Now, it was going to be clear to everybody around that Joseph was

Well, he looked favorably upon Jesus. That he believed in Jesus because he, well, it tells us in another gospel that he took courage. He strengthened himself and then he went and talked to Pilate and he made an odd request. He requested the body of Jesus.

Pilate granted that request. And so now Joseph is entrusted with this body. And in verse 53, it says, he took it down, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock where no one had ever lain before. This is a tomb that was on his property. He had a garden there nearby and there was a tomb in that garden that he had built.

where he had dug out, carved out of the rock. And so it's his garden, his tomb. He brought the body of Jesus here, and he laid it in the tomb. John chapter 19 tells us that Nicodemus, you might remember him from John chapter 3, Jesus told him, you must be born again. It was that conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus that made an impact. And so later on, Nicodemus is with

Joseph, and they're ministering to the body of Jesus together, taking it off of the cross and preparing it for burial. Here's a quick look at the tomb once again. And so here's this tomb that's hewn out of the rock. There was the entrance to the tomb and they would take it. Right inside that entrance was a weeping chamber. And it's there that they would spend some time preparing Jesus's body for burial. And

We see here that they wrap the body in linen. They also apply some fragrances and oils and such to help counteract the smell of decomposition for the body. And so they're taking some time to prepare the body of Jesus.

There would have been linen strips that they placed around his body. It kind of conjures up in our mind, you know, like the image of like a mummy, you know, from Egypt and those pictures that we have in our heads of that. It would be similar to that. They would wrap him in these linen strips and then with a separate piece, they would wrap his head with another piece of linen. And so they would do all of this in this weeping chamber and then there would be a low entrance into another chamber where they would have a place to rest the body.

And so this is what Joseph and Nicodemus are doing to Jesus. Now, one of the things that you can see here is the wall has been broken down over time. And so they had to put in some blocks there and repair it. But another interesting thing is there's a channel right in front of the entrance to the tomb. And so here's what they would normally do. Once they prepared the body, they would put it inside on the place where they would lay the body, where it would rest. And

and then they would seal up the tomb with a rock. Now don't picture a rock like a big boulder, you know, like a sphere, but it's more like a disc, and it would fit right in that channel, and so they'd be able to roll it to cover up the door, and then they could roll it away whenever they needed to get back in, and then roll it back, and so it was a door that they would use to roll back and forth to seal up the tomb. And what their practice was, was to put

put the body to rest, and then they would come back when it was just bones left.

And they would take those bones and they would put them in a small box and they would store that inside the tomb. And that way it would be used for the whole family. And so the next family member would die and there would be a place for them to be laid and their body would decompose. They would gather the bones. They would put it in a box. And then when the next family member died, they could continue on. And so it was a way that they handled, you know, being able to bury the whole family in a small place.

They would reuse the space over and over again for the different family members. And so in this case, Joseph decides, I'm not going to use this for my family. I'm going to use this for Jesus. Not fully understanding yet that Jesus would not use it for very long, but

He intends to have Jesus laid there to rest, and that would be his burial place. Well, it tells us in verse 54, that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew near.

And so this is all happening on Friday evening or Friday afternoon. Sabbath began at 6 o'clock on Friday evening. And so this is happening. Jesus died probably around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. So between that time, he is taken down from the cross. His body is prepared. He's laid in the tomb. And

and they're trying to get it all done before Sabbath actually begins. And so they're in a rush. They're hurrying to be able to get this taken care of. Well, as we consider this understanding that Joseph...

placed the body of Jesus in the tomb, I would suggest to you that God set this up, that this is not just random insight or random information that's included in the scriptures, but Joseph is mentioned in all of the gospel accounts in regards to taking down the body of Jesus and burying it in this way. And I think God did this on purpose so that we would have very clear evidence that

of the resurrection of Jesus. Because what we have is a clear chain of custody where Jesus is on the cross, then he's entrusted to Joseph, and then he is placed in the tomb and under guard. And so we have a clear chain of custody. We know exactly where Jesus was at all times from the cross and

To the point on Sunday morning where they find the tomb is empty. Now this is...

a little bit of a strange situation for a crucified person. Normally, crucified criminals were not given a good burial. They weren't, you know, cared for and taken down. They were criminals who were crucified. And so, they were just cast into open graves or mass graves or common graves. They were just whatever. Whatever was the easiest method of disposal, that's what they used.

And so this is unique. Jesus is taken care of by Joseph. And I think another aspect to this that's important for us is that it's Joseph who placed the body of Jesus in the tomb. It's Joseph who did it. We got to think back and understand Joseph was a prominent person. He was well known. So when this account is told...

When Matthew writes his gospel or as he shares the gospel, when Luke is researching this gospel message to be able to write this account, when John is declaring the gospel and writing his gospel record, this would be easily verified, right?

It's not that it was just some random person. I don't know. Some guy asked for him. You know, he was anonymous. We don't really know who it was. And so we don't really know where the body of Jesus went. No, no. This is very clear. It's Joseph who did this. Who was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. A wealthy man from a specific place. All of this would have been easily verified as the gospel message is being presented and the resurrection of Jesus is being declared. Right?

It was Joseph who did this. And it was his tomb in his garden. It all happened on his property that was nearby the place of crucifixion. And so these are all easily verified facts.

of a person who would be well known, that as the gospel message is going out from this time forth, they would know of Joseph. They would be able to go to Arimathea and say, hey, did you guys ever hear of Joseph? Oh yeah. Did he have property in Jerusalem? Yeah, he had property in Jerusalem. They would be able to verify these things to know for sure that yes, Jesus was for sure placed in this tomb on that afternoon.

Well, as we go forward, looking at the next group of people, now we see the women who come on the scene, and they're trying to find the body of Jesus in verses 55 through chapter 24, verse 3. Let's look at verse 55 and 56. It says, "...and the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after."

And they observed the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. So here these ladies who are followers of Jesus are paying attention to Joseph and Nicodemus. They're going with them. And so they go into the garden. And as Joseph and Nicodemus are preparing the body of Jesus, these ladies are watching.

They're watching them prepare. They're watching him be laid to rest. They're watching the tomb get sealed up behind the stone. And then they go their way and prepare their own fragrant spices and oils with the intention of coming back later to honor the body of Jesus.

But it was the Sabbath. And so because of the timing, they were unable to honor the body of Jesus the way that they wanted to. They had to wait until the Sabbath was over. So it's late Friday. They go home. They rest all day Saturday from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. They rest and

And then they prepare their spices, they prepare their oils, and then first thing Sunday morning, they head back. In verse 1 it says, 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.

So here we find them now, very early Sunday morning. It's what we would usually refer to as Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday. And these ladies head back to the tomb.

Now we know from verse 10, this group of ladies includes Mary Magdalene, a woman named Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and then it says also other women. So it's a good group of ladies who are on their way now to the tomb on Sunday morning. They prepared spices and

Because they were expecting to find the body of Jesus there. They were not expecting a resurrection. They were expecting to anoint his body. They were expecting to honor him in this way by applying these oils and fragrances to him. But then in verse 2 it says, But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

As they're walking to the tomb that Sunday morning, the other gospels record that they're talking amongst themselves wondering, how are we going to get past the stone? The stone was sealed over the tomb. We're not strong enough to move it. Sure, there's soldiers who are there guarding the tomb, but we don't think they're going to help us open the tomb. So how are we going to get inside to be able to apply these ointments and oils to Jesus?

They didn't know, but then when they get there, they find that the stone had been rolled away. How did that happen? How was the stone rolled away? Well, we learn how it happened in Matthew chapter 28, verses 2 through 4. There it tells us that there was a great earthquake, and an angel descended from heaven, and

He rolled the stone away and then he sat upon it. I kind of like that picture. I can't understand why exactly, but it's just kind of a cool picture. Like he just rolls it away and then he just kind of kicks back on it. He just sits down. He's like, that was fun. Meantime, the guards who were there guarding the tomb are freaked out and they're shaking. It says they shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

And so these guards are freaked out and they're like passed out. They're like dead men because they're so fearful. Well, that happens and then these ladies arrive. It doesn't tell us exactly if the guards are still there. If they are there, they're still freaked out. They're maybe unconscious as a result of this fear. But they arrive. The stone is rolled away and so they go inside. Verse 3.

It says, then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. So they go inside the tomb, again, still expecting to find the body of Jesus, but he's not there. His body is not there. In the next verse, it's going to tell us that they were perplexed. They didn't know what was going on. They couldn't figure it out. They weren't expecting a resurrection. They were expecting to find his body. And they could not figure out

why his body was not there. The women did not find his body. Now again, I shared at the beginning, you know, the subject of the resurrection is attacked often because it's such a crucial element of the gospel message. And so one of the things that people will bring up as they question the resurrection is, you know, maybe Jesus really didn't die there on the cross.

He was injured, yeah, for sure, but maybe he just was mostly dead, and then they gave him a chocolate pill, and he revived in the tomb. Slight reference to the princess bride there. But maybe he was almost dead, but he was not quite dead, and he revived in the tomb. But there's some serious problems with that idea. Number one, we talked about last week the centurion who watched Jesus, who was in charge of the crucifixion.

This guy would have been an experienced guy who, it was not his first crucifixion. He crucified people. He knew what death was. He knew what it meant for someone to be dead. It would not be, it would be very unlikely that someone would be alive when he declared him to be dead.

But on top of that, you have the other soldier who, when they came to break the legs of the people on the crosses, came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, he thrust the spear into his side. And then the blood and water came out. And so even if they had mistaken and thought, oh, well, Jesus is dead, but he really wasn't, then the thrust of the spear, that would have, you know, been the final blow. That would have put him to death.

But let's say, just in theory, that even that wasn't enough to kill him. That he somehow survived beyond that. Then he's taken down from the cross and laid in this tomb. If you remember from a few weeks back as we gave the details of what was involved in crucifixion, you understand that his injuries were extreme. They were extensive.

These are not injuries that you recover, you know, like you have a cold and you lay down for a couple days and then you feel lots better and you get up. These are injuries that unless you're attended to, unless there is some, you know, medicine applied,

they are fatal. The amount of blood that he lost and the injuries that he sustained would have, he would not have been able to survive three days in the tomb. So it's not a good theory, but it's one that people will bring up. Maybe he didn't die, but it really does not make sense when you consider all the things that were involved. So another way people try to discredit the resurrection is, well, maybe the disciples stole the body. And in fact, that's what the Jewish leaders told the guards to say.

When they came in and said, hey, there was an angel and he rolled away the stone and we can't find the body of Jesus now and we don't know what's happening. And so the religious leaders told them and paid them to say, the disciples of Jesus stole the body. But the whole point of the guard being there was so that nobody could steal the body because the Jewish leaders remembered what Jesus said.

that he would rise again on the third day. And so they sealed the tomb. They set the guard there to make sure that the body was not stolen. And so the body of Jesus was not stolen. He did really die on the cross. He was really placed in the tomb. And so another theory that people come up with is maybe these ladies are at the wrong tomb.

Maybe they went to the wrong tomb and they went in and nobody was there and so they thought, oh no, Jesus resurrected and maybe they were just in the wrong place. Now, it's interesting because, you know, when someone kind of comes up with that kind of explanation or try to discredit the resurrection with that, you can understand that what they're picturing in their head is

is very different from what's actually there when you look at what's happening in the place around Israel, around Jerusalem. Because someone who's thinking that way is thinking like there's this field, like what we have as a cemetery, right? It'd be easy to be at the wrong gravestone at a cemetery.

It'd be pretty easy, you know. If it's not clearly marked, you know, if you don't know where you're at, yeah, you could be one row over, a couple aisles down. It'd be very easy. But this is not a graveyard with many tombs. This is a garden that has a tomb in it. It's not there's a whole row of tombs in this garden. There's one tomb in this garden.

And it's the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. It's a piece of property that's known as Joseph is known. It's one tomb within a particular garden. And so they weren't at the wrong tomb. They were there a couple days before. They knew where they were. They were in the right spot.

But the body of Jesus was missing. Now we get the benefit of reading the rest of the chapter and there's appearances of Jesus to the disciples that we'll be looking at over the next few weeks. Where he reveals himself to them and proves that he indeed is alive and has resurrected from the dead. But they're still in the midst of this time of what's going on? The body of Jesus is missing. We know it was placed here but now we can't find it. What do we do?

Well, God intervenes at this time in verses 4 through 8. And here we see the third point, and that is that angels announced that he is risen. So the angels come and bring an explanation to these ladies about what's happening with the body of Jesus. In verse 4 it says, And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. So here these ladies are, greatly perplexed.

They haven't put the pieces together. They know that his body was there. They know it's not there, but they don't know why. They can't figure out why. And so two angels appear and begin to speak to them. In verse 5 it says, 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?

And so the angels speak to the ladies and say, you're looking for someone who is alive. So why are you looking for someone who is alive inside of a tomb? But they weren't really looking for someone who is alive. They were looking for someone who is dead. That was the confusion. They were not expecting Jesus to be alive. They were expecting him to be dead. And so the angels are challenging their expectations, their presuppositions and saying, you think that Jesus is dead. Why

But he is alive. Why are you looking for Jesus here? They go on to say in verse 6, he is not here, but 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 then verse 8, and they remembered his words. Finally, things are starting to click.

The pieces are starting to come together. After the angels remind them, then they remember that Jesus had told them all that would happen. In Luke chapter 9, verse 21 and 22, Jesus talking to his disciples after the transfiguration said, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.

So back in chapter 9, Jesus said, here's what's going to happen. There's going to be this rejection. There's going to be this turning over to the Romans to be killed. But then I'm going to be raised the third day.

Now Luke chapter 9 sounds like it's really far away, right? We're in chapter 24, chapter 9. That must be years of time that happened in between. Well actually, as you look back at Luke chapter 9, it's there that Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem for that final time. And so Luke chapter 9 begins this journey to Jerusalem and

Which concludes with the Passion Week, that triumphal entry, and His final week in Jerusalem, and then the crucifixion and resurrection. And so it's several weeks ago, really, maybe a couple months at the most, that Jesus had been telling them in Luke chapter 9, I'm going to be killed and raised the third day. More recent than that, in Luke chapter 18, as Jesus was right outside of Jericho on His way to Jerusalem,

Talking about himself, he says, for he will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge him and kill him and the third day he will rise again. And so Jesus has been preparing his followers by giving them this insight into what is going to happen. But as it's unfolding, you can see that they're still confused. They didn't get it.

They didn't understand. As Jesus told them several times, here's what's going to happen to me and then I'll be resurrected on the third day. These ladies, his disciples, they didn't quite grasp what he was saying. I think as Jesus was sharing these things with them, they were thinking, hmm, this is another parable, isn't it? You know, we could never figure out those darn things. What is he trying to say? What could he possibly mean?

About death and then resurrection and Gentiles and scourging. What could he possibly be talking about? Is this some spiritual attack? Is this like politically he's going to be rejected and then all of a sudden he's going to be accepted and promoted politically? Is this some kind of metaphor? What is he trying to say? They didn't get what Jesus was saying. He told them but they didn't understand. They couldn't figure out what he meant. But now...

Now that it's actually happening. Now that the angels come along and remind them. Now they're beginning to put the pieces together. Oh, you meant literally you're going to be put to death. And then you're going to rise from the dead? Completely unexpected. Not what they were anticipating. It was actually far greater than what they were anticipating. Because Jesus has risen from the dead.

As we look at these things today, again, we can read the rest of the story and understand Jesus really did resurrect from the dead. And that's powerful because it means that Jesus is the Savior that he claimed to be. It means that Jesus is the way to have forgiveness.

It means that Jesus is the way to have everlasting life. It means that Jesus is the only way to the Father. All the claims, all the promises that Jesus ever made are verified and proven by the resurrection of Jesus. And so as we look at these things today, it means that our faith is not futile. It means that our faith has power, it has meaning because our faith is in a resurrected Lord, a risen Savior.

It's not just rituals that we practice. It's not just an old book that we study. It's not just good principles to live by or good morals. But our faith is based upon a relationship with a living God who rose again from the dead. And so there's great power to the truth of the resurrection. And they're just now beginning to discover that truth.

Well, these ladies go back and they share it with the other disciples. And here we find the fourth point. And that is that Peter sees the linen cloths. He goes and checks it out for himself. Look at verse 9. It says, 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."

So these ladies are really excited now. They're like, can you believe it? Now we remember what Jesus said and the angels appeared and the tomb is empty just like Jesus said and we didn't get it but now we get it. So they come back and you can imagine. I might get myself in a little bit of trouble here but when a group of ladies are excited about something, it's kind of seldom that they take turns talking, right? You can imagine they come back and there's just this excitement in the air, right?

One pastor said, the reason why God revealed this to women first is to get the word out really quickly. They're excited. They come back. The disciples are like trying to hear, trying to understand. But what they have to say is not very well received. Look at verse 11. It says, and their words seemed to them like idle tales and they did not believe them.

Idle tales is kind of soft for us in English. It doesn't pack a lot of punch. But what this word is actually talking about, it's a medical word that they would use to describe the babbling of someone who has a crazy fever. Or the babbling of an insane person. So someone who's gone crazy and speaks nonsense. Or someone who is hallucinating because of a high fever, speaking gibberish. That's babbling.

Well, that's how they received the words of these ladies. They're like, you guys are crazy. You guys have lost it. You need to get some sleep or something because you're way off. And it says that they did not believe them. They just discounted them. You guys are out, way out there. You've lost it. And they disregarded their testimony or what they had to share. Except,

In verse 12 it tells us, but Peter arose and ran to the tomb and stooping down he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves and he departed marveling at himself or to himself at what had happened. So the group as a whole rejects and says, you guys are talking crazy, but I like Peter here. And John tells us that John was included with him. Peter and John, they run to the tomb.

They want to see for themselves. They want to figure out what's going on. What's happening? What did they really see? And so they go and Peter stoops down. He looks and he sees the linen cloths just lying by themselves. And he's starting to think to himself, now if the body was stolen, they wouldn't have left the linen cloths behind. They wouldn't have folded neatly, you know, the cloth that covered his face and set it aside and

It would have been quite different if the body was stolen. So this is strange. Perhaps the linens were still in the shape of the body, but there was no body there. And Peter, it says, marvels to himself. He had a sense of wonder.

It's not a marvel of depression, but it's a marvel of like wanting to hope, but not quite hoping yet, but not quite getting it, but still wanting to. And so there's this expectation, this marveling. He's wondering, what could be happening here? What is God doing in this? The body of Jesus really is gone, but what does it mean? Well, it means that Jesus really did resurrect from the dead.

And as we look at these things, yeah, Peter hadn't quite figured it out yet. He will. We'll see that in the weeks to come. But it means that Jesus is the Savior that he claimed to be. We can see the chain of custody. He was turned over to Joseph of Arimathea. Specific person, prominent person, well known. Taken to his property in his garden, placed in his tomb. But now that tomb is empty.

The women could not find his body. And the angels appear to tell them, that's because he's risen from the dead. Peter went to check it out for himself and he found, oh indeed, it's just linen cloths there. Jesus really did resurrect from the dead. And that means that he is the Savior he claimed to be. He is the only way to have forgiveness and the hope of eternity. He is the only way to the Father. It also means that he's here.

He's in our midst. He promised where two or three are gathered, I'm there in your midst. It also means that He loves you. It means that He ever lives to make intercession for you. It means that He can save you. He can help you. It means that Jesus can provide for you. It means that Jesus can work all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Everything is fulfilled in Jesus because Jesus resurrected from the dead.

We recently read through Ephesians, going through the Bible in three years, and in Ephesians chapter 1, Paul the Apostle is praying for the saints at Ephesus. And I like one aspect of his prayer there in verse 19 of Ephesians 1, where he prays that they would know the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

Paul's prayer for the Ephesians and my prayer for us as we look at the resurrection over the next few weeks is that we would recognize not just that Jesus raised from the dead but that the same power which God enacted in raising Jesus from the dead is at work in us who believe. God has great power at work in your life.

If you believe in Him. If you believe in Jesus. We don't always feel that. We don't always sense that. It doesn't always seem like there's a great power from God. But Paul says, I pray that you would know. I pray that you would know. That you would understand as Jesus is resurrected from the dead. That when you believe in Him. That same power is at work in your life. To give you life. To do God's work. To accomplish God's will and His purposes for you.

And that's something that we need to grasp hold of. And so I'd like to pause for a minute. I'm going to come back and share a couple of things, but I want to invite up the worship team to lead us in a song. You guys can come on up. And as they lead us in this song, let's reflect on the reality of the resurrection. And let's pray that God would show us that His power is at work in our lives. And let's just rejoice in that and celebrate the power of God, the work of God in us.

as we believe in Jesus. And let's take a moment as we worship Him and rejoice in what He's doing. We'll honor Him and exalt Him. And then once they finish this song, I'll come back up and share just a couple more words that the Lord has on my heart for us this morning. But let's worship Him and rejoice in His power that's at work in us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

There is a King for us, humbled to a sinner's cross, broke my shame of sinfulness.

Rose again, victory Faithfulness none can deny Through the storm, through the fire There is truth that sets me free Jesus Christ lives in me

you are stronger you are stronger sin is broken you have saved me it is risen christ is risen jesus you are lord of all no beginning

You're my hope and my defense. Came to see

and save the lost paint it all upon the cross you are stronger you are stronger sin is broken you have saved me it is written Christ is risen Jesus is

You are Lord of all. You are stronger. You are stronger. Sin is broken. You have saved me. It is risen. Christ is risen. Jesus, you are Lord of all. So let your name be lifted higher. Be lifted higher.

higher higher

Be lifted higher, be lifted higher. You are stronger, you are stronger. Sin is broken, you are saved. It is risen, Christ is risen. Jesus, you are loved.

you are stronger you are stronger sin is broken you have saved me it is written christ is risen jesus

to finish up this morning the Lord need me something else to kind of share with you same same passage but just slightly different insight to I think some things that maybe you might be going through and maybe there are some who are experiencing

And that is looking at these different groups of people, the Joseph and Nicodemus and then the ladies and the angels and Peter and getting some insight about how to deal with in our lives when we do not sense the presence of the Lord. And that's really what was happening for these groups of people that we've been looking at is they were looking for the presence of Jesus. And

He wasn't where they expected him to be. They were missing. They'd spent much time with him and they were used to that, but they were experiencing this lack. And for you and I as believers, we can go through those times as well. Sure, there are the times where, man, God is speaking to us and we hear his voice and we see his leading and it's clear that he's at work and there's just an abundance of just evidence of him in our lives.

But we also have the other kinds of seasons where we don't see that much happening. And maybe he's not speaking so clearly as he once did. And we can't figure out what's really going on and why these things are happening. And we're wrestling with where are you God in the midst of all of these things that I'm going through. And I think there's some good insight in these things that we looked at today for those who are in that condition. Here's what we need to do.

When you don't sense his presence. First of all, I would encourage you to ask for his presence. This is what Joseph did. He went to Pilate and he asked for the body of Jesus. This was a bold move because, well, he was a secret follower of Jesus before this. But now it would be fully known.

And so it tells us in Mark chapter 15 verse 43 that he took courage and went to Pilate. He had to kind of stir himself up and get himself to go and talk to Pilate and request the body of Jesus or the presence of Jesus. In a similar way, I would encourage you, when you do not sense the presence of Jesus in your life,

When you're trying to figure out where is Jesus, what is He doing, why isn't He speaking, why isn't He leading, why isn't He working out these things, I would encourage you to take courage and embolden yourself. Go to the authorities and ask for the presence of Jesus. That is, enter into the presence of the Father and ask. Ask for Him to reveal Jesus to you.

Ask for him to speak to you. The author of Hebrews tells us to have boldness to enter into the presence of God to find grace and mercy to help in time of need. Have boldness to enter into the presence of God. Be bold. Yes, you don't deserve the revelation of Jesus. You don't deserve for him to speak to you or lead you. You don't deserve for him to work in your life.

But that's always been the case, regardless of how good or bad you've been. It's always been the case. It's not about our goodness. It's about His work. And so take courage, encourage yourself, and ask for Jesus to reveal Himself to you. Be bold and ask. Then as we see the ladies who were there, they saw what was happening and they wanted to

anoint the body of Jesus. And so, for lack of time, they couldn't. And so what they did is they went home and they prepared so that when the time come, they would be ready. And here I would encourage us, when you don't sense the presence of the Lord, well, that's a time for you to prepare yourself to honor Him. Although we have boldness to ask for the presence of Jesus, and you enter in and you ask,

You know as well as I do, things most often don't happen in our timeline. And a lot of times things aren't immediately resolved in the way that we wish that they would be. And so even as we ask, yes, Jesus will reveal himself to you. But many times there's going to be a gap of time where you're continuing to not sense the presence of the Lord. And in that time, make use of it to prepare yourself for

to honor him. This is what the ladies were going to do with these fragrances and oils. This was a costly investment, but they wanted to demonstrate their honor. They wanted to express their love of Jesus. It was an act of worship to glorify him. And I would encourage you when you're in that season where you don't sense the presence of the Lord, that that's the time to prepare yourself for

To honor Him. Prepare yourself. Get yourself ready so that when He does reveal Himself, when He does speak again, when you do get to see His glories in your midst, that you're prepared, that you're ready to honor Him, to praise Him, to glorify His name, to express your love, and to worship Him. It's a time of preparation for us. And in faith, trusting that He will reveal Himself, we need to prepare ourselves to praise Him.

Thirdly, I would say that we need to remember what He has told us. This is what the angels told the ladies. He is not here. He is risen. Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee. These ladies are not much different than us. That is, a few weeks later, we've forgotten the things that God has spoken to us.

It's one reason why we encourage you to spend time in the Word regularly, but also have some means of capturing, of writing down, or typing in, or recording as God is speaking to you and showing you things, even if you don't fully understand it yet. Like these ladies did not understand what Jesus was saying. It's amazing how

Three weeks later, I've already forgotten those things that God has shown me. And in those times where you don't sense the presence of Jesus, when you're wondering, where are you at, Lord? Why aren't you saying anything? What are you doing in the midst of this situation? What we need to do is to go back and remember those things He has shown us. And hold on to those truths that He has revealed. He spoke them to us for a reason. And so we need to go back and grasp hold of those things.

And then finally, I would encourage you when you don't sense the presence of the Lord to verify what others tell you. And we see this in Peter. As the ladies come back, they're sharing their story and Peter hears it and he goes and he investigates for himself. He doesn't outright discount them and just say, you didn't see nothing, you're crazy. He says, I don't understand it. I'm going to go check it out for myself.

One of my favorite scriptures is Acts chapter 17 verse 11, which tells us that the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians because they received the word that Paul spoke and then they examined the scriptures daily to see if it was so. They received what Paul spoke and then they verified it for themselves. Does the Bible really teach this? Verify. When you don't sense the presence of the Lord, it's really tempting to

to let others experience God for you. It's really tempting to let others tell you what to do, or what God says, or what God wants. It's really tempting in those times to just receive, because you're kind of desperate. You need something, and so somebody says, well, I'll just trust. And maybe you came this morning, well, I just trust that Jerry heard from the Lord, and so I'm just going to receive from him. Hey, that's great, and God's, you know, called me to teach here. But

I would encourage you, listen, you need to insist on your own experience with God. This is not about dead religion, rituals. It's not about studying an ancient book. It's about walking with a living, risen Savior. And you need to have your own connection with Jesus. You need to hear from Him.

You need to know how He speaks to you. You need to know what He's doing in your life. And you need to insist and don't settle for someone else telling you. But you insist. You continue to cry out for God. You continue to go and ask for His presence. You continue to prepare yourself and remember what He has told you. And wait and keep on waiting and look to Him until you know what it's like for Him to reveal Himself to you. Insist on this.

Peter hears the words of these ladies, but he doesn't take their word for it. He goes and he verifies it himself. And then, I think it's really cool, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 5, Paul tells us that Jesus was seen by Peter and then by the twelve. As we go forward in chapter 24, we're going to see Jesus reveal himself to the gathering of disciples and

But Paul tells us there's a little bit of a meeting that takes place between Jesus and Peter before that happens. And as Jesus, well as Peter verifies what others said, as he seeks out the tomb, as he's not just sitting back and just letting other people experience God for him. He's passionate, he's pursuing, he's seeking out. Guess what? He gets a personal encounter with Jesus, one-on-one with him, one-on-one with the risen Lord.

And Jesus wants to reveal Himself to you in that way as well. He wants to speak to you. He wants to have that kind of relationship with you. And there will still be seasons where you hear Him a lot, He's working a lot, and then you don't sense His presence a lot. And we're going to be in this cycle. But here's what we need to do when we don't sense His presence. Ask for His presence. Ask for Him to reveal Himself. Be bold and ask.

And get ready and prepare yourself so that when He does reveal Himself, that you're ready to honor Him and to praise Him and to express your love and adoration for Him. Also, stir up in your mind the things that He has spoken to you. And hold on to those things. Don't let go of those things just because you don't sense His presence at the moment. And then finally, verify what others tell you. Insist. Don't let others have an experience with God on your behalf.

Insist. You spend time in worship and encounter Him. You spend time in prayer and get to know Him. You spend time in the Word and hear from Him. Insist on your own experience with God and He will reveal Himself to you. And that's my prayer for you. That you would connect with Him. That each one of us would know Him and the power of His resurrection. Amen?