Easter: Running to Jesus

Luke 24:1-12:

 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

I chose the gospel of Luke for us to examine this morning because I felt there are so many faith lessons to be taken away from it, like: the important role of women in ministry, the disbelief of the disciples, miracles happening when we least expect them, and Peter’s excitement running to the tomb only to walk away with even more questions.  We will examine these and other topics as we progress through the scripture this morning.  

First, I would like to talk about the role women play in the gospel of Luke.  It was common practice that women would go to the tomb and take care of the decaying body and to pay their final respects but the fact that Luke names three of them and hints that there were possibly more than five, is commonplace within Luke, more so than the other gospels.  The way Luke describes the Easter narrative is an outline for the way the entire gospel is written.  The gospel of Luke opens with a description of Mary, Elizabeth and Anna and their importance in the role of redemption so that easily explains why Luke would have the angels appear first to the women.  They were the very first to find out what had happened.  To me, the importance of the women that are involved in our faith cannot be stressed enough.  I absolutely could not be standing here in front of all of you if it were not for the very important women in my life, especially my wife.  Much like the women at the tomb, it is possible that she did not fully understand what she was getting into, yet because of her faith, she was able to give me the push that I needed to accept my calling.  There are countless examples of women who have helped me get where I am today.  From my mother to my Sunday School teachers to my friends that also helped me along the way.  For some reason it seems to be easier for women to have faith because we cannot have faith without emotions and feelings and women are better able to combine them and talk about them than men are.  Therefore, I can say with confidence that it is very likely that your faith has been strongly influenced by a woman.  In our prayers, we should take time to thank God for placing them in our lives.  

The difference between men and women are also explained in our second faith lesson.  Once the women had been reminded of what Jesus told them in Galilee, it was not difficult for them to believe.  On the other hand, it took the eleven disciples multiple encounters with the resurrected Christ before they could fathom the miracle that had taken place.  The question that keeps bugging me is why did it take so long for the disciples to understand what had taken place after they had spent so much time with Jesus?  I kept asking myself this question all last week.  I just could not fathom the fact that they could not comprehend all that Jesus had taught them had finally come true but they could not see it.  Then, God humbled me.  The question then came full circle.  I found myself asking what took me so long to understand what Christ had done for me.  Even after I had found my salvation, I kept doubting.  I thought to myself, “God, that is not a very nice way to answer a question of mine...”  But it was so true.  Why did I continue to doubt the love of Christ, even after having a relationship with Him.  I found that I was no different than the disciples.  Since we believe that Jesus is still alive today, then it is fair to assume that I had just as much access to Him as did the disciples, and just like the disciples, I too could not bring myself to fully give my heart to Him.  Why do you suppose that is?  Why are we still like the disciples.  Jesus’ love and miracles surround us every day yet we cannot bring ourselves to fully believe in Him.  We come up with excuses of inconvenience and misunderstanding to not fully immerse ourselves into seeking Christ with every fiber of our being.   The disciples did not fully understand what Jesus had been teaching them; therefore, when the time came to celebrate His resurrection, they missed that opportunity.  Luckily for them, Christ kept giving them chances.  This morning, do not miss your opportunity to celebrate with Jesus and us but if you do, I want you to leave here knowing that Jesus loves you and will not give up on you.  

Our third faith lesson came to me when I was reading a commentary on the day before the resurrection.  It was interesting to read something from that perspective.  The commentary discussed the process of getting everything ready to take care of the body and the conversations that might have occurred that day.  The women would have had to gathered everything they needed, the perfumes and ointments, to take care of the body.  It is likely that the women and the other disciples spent that day completely wondering about the what-ifs of Jesus’ ministry.  They knew in the very bottom of their hearts that they were going to wake up the next morning to find Jesus lying in his tomb, lifeless.  They had just watched him breathe his last breath the day before.  The task that laid before them was difficult, but still very ordinary.  People they had loved had also passed just the same as they do today.  They had prepared themselves to see what they fully expected to see when they were to enter the tomb.  They were prepared and ready for everything but what they found that morning.  Even though they had been taught about the resurrection, they did not expect to find what they found.  A miracle had occurred in the very moment they least expected it.  Had they paid closer attention to what Jesus was teaching and showing them, they could have seen this miracle happen from a mile away.  This brought to mind two different ways to look at this: 1) we could view it as the signs were right there in front of them all along yet they did not see them.  In our lives, Jesus is always present, yet there are times where we cannot find Him.  And 2) it is possible to get to a point in our faith that we start failing to see miracles for what they are... miracles.  We can get to a point where we can take advantage of the blessing given to us and not see them for what they really are: gifts from a loving, caring God.  We have a tendency to place Jesus in the context of history and leave him there, we make the same mistake the women did, we look for a living, breathing savior among the dead.  As Christians, we often forget that Jesus was resurrected, that He LIVES! HE IS RISEN!  We talk about Him in the context of the past but we need to remind ourselves that Jesus is constantly with us in the here and now.  Jesus is part of the present, part of this very day just as you and I are.  This miracle is one that we have a tendency to take advantage of.  We forget that He walks with us, talks to us, and loves each of us, today!

Our fourth faith lesson comes from Peter’s excitement while he is running to the tomb.  In the context of my own personal faith I find myself to be much like Peter on that first Easter morning.  I ran to Jesus, only to walk away more confused than I was before.  All too often we run to Christ expecting so many things, yet when prayers are not answered or a loved one is taken from us, we are left with confusion, wondering what had just happened.  It is in this transition that we see Peter turning into the rock in which God would build his church.  He was puzzled by what he had seen that morning, yet he continued to seek God, he continued to seek what God had called him to do.  We too are called to continue to seek God’s will for each of us.  We may encounter our own empty tombs where God seems to have left us with only more questions instead of answers.  Even though it may appear that Jesus has left you, know that He hasn’t left, he has been resurrected and placed all around and in each of you.  

In closing, if you take nothing else away from today, take this: Jesus died on the cross for your sin, so you could have eternal life but He rose again so He could be with you in the here and now.  Jesus gave his earthly life so you could be forgiven, but He rose so you did not have to about it alone.  Jesus is alive!  He is waiting for your acceptance.  He is knocking at the door, all that is left for you to do is open the door.  But know this: you will still experience heartache but your faith will give you the tools to see the blessings that are right in front of you.  I would encourage all of you, whether it be coming up here to show the congregation or right there in your seat, to see the miracles where life has overcome death, to see the evidence of our Risen Lord, to open the door and let Christ into your lives so you can start living your faith.  Amen.  

Bella and Griffin enjoying the children's sermon:

God Bless,

Clinton

Fairview Christian Church