He Has Risen!
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:1-12

Today's Treasure: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He

is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:5-6).

How the Sabbath hours must have dragged for the women who witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus.  They had prepared spices and perfumes to anoint His body but were forced to rest on the Sabbath.  They had come with Jesus from Galilee, so we can assume they were guests in others' homes.  Surely the time seemed to be an eternity.  Women two thousand years ago were not so unlike we are today.  We want to do something.  Feeling needed is sometimes the very thing that keeps a woman going.  For months they "had followed him and cared for his needs" (Mark 15:41).  Now all that was left to do was serve Him in memorial.  They needed to get to the tomb and do one last thing they could for their Lord.

As the moments crawled by, I'm sure these women recounted with horror the last few days' events.  Surely, at times, they sat in silence, each one weeping in painful solitude as she remembered every encounter with Him.  Jesus had a way of making a person feel like the apple of His eye.  He still does.  

The women "rested" through a Sabbath dusk that frustratingly gave way to night.  More waiting.  They probably never slept a wink and were on their way to the tomb before the cock could crow.  John 20:1, spotlighting Mary Magdalene, tells us "it was still dark."

Mark tells us that the women were hoping the officials would allow someone to roll away the stone so they could apply the spices and perfumes to the body.  To their astonishment, they saw that the "very large" stone had been rolled away.  The women had no way of knowing at that moment what Matthew 28:2-4 records.  I love the wording in Matthew 28:2: "An angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it."  Can you fathom the angels' horror when humans mocked, spat on, beat, flogged, and crucified the Son of God?

Imagine the joy of the angel whose thunderous arrival caused the ground to shake.  God chose him to be the one who rolled back the stone—not to free Jesus—but to reveal Him already missing!  Can you picture the angel's gleaming face as he perched on that stone?  The guards were so afraid that they shook and became like dead men.  The graveyard needed a few folks acting like dead men since a number of the formerly dead were suddenly walking around on the streets (see Matt. 27:52-53).  I'm about to have to shout hallelujah!  The women entered the tomb, but they did not find the body.

Acts 2:24 tells us exactly why Christ was raised from the dead: "God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."  Some things are simply impossible—and death keeping its hold on Jesus is one of them.  Mind you, the women didn't yet understand.  Luke 24:4 tells us "while they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them."  At the sight of the angels, the women fell on their faces.  The celestial guards announced to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"  The what?  The living!  "He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:5-6).  Oh, glorious, merciful, omnipotent God!  He is risen indeed! 

The angels reminded the women of three facts Jesus foretold, not just to His disciples, but obviously to them as well.  "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again" (Luke 24:7). 

All things had to go exactly according to the plan.  No point was negotiable.  After heralds delivered their three-point sermon, "They remembered his words" (v.8).  Luke leapfrogs immediately to their departure and intent to tell the eleven, but Matthew shines a flashlight on something that happened in route.  Jesus met them.  They worshipped Him, and He gave them a message to deliver.  "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me" (Matt. 28:10).

I hope God recorded that scene so we can watch the replay in heaven.  As hard as pulling themselves away from the visible presence of Christ must have been, the women did as he commanded them.  Luke 24:9 records one of my favorite reasons why I believe God might have chosen to reveal the empty tomb first to this group of women: "they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others."

If I may say with a chuckle, one possible reason God chose to reveal the resurrection first to women is because He can trust us to get the word out!  Telling what we've been told is our specialty!  However, nothing can deflate the spirits of an enthusiastic woman like an apprehensive audience.  Luke 24:11 records that the apostles "did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense."

Sisters, don't be insulted by this scene in Luke 24:11.  Rather, be blessed that God was up to something awesome even in this seemingly insignificant detail.  You see, in that day women couldn't testify as witnesses. 

Now isn't that just like my Jesus!  He threatened the status quo in countless ways, not the least of which concerned women.  He invited them into Bible class (see Luke 10:39) after they had spent centuries learning what little Scripture they could from their husbands.  He honored their service during a time in which men were the only ones who ministered publicly (see Mark 15:41).  He healed, forgave, delivered, and made whole the very ones society shunned.  Women of ill repute.

Appointing these women as the first to share the news of Jesus' resurrection was a definite "custom shaker."  Jesus knew the apostles wouldn't believe them, but perhaps He felt that the pending discovery of their authenticity would breed a fresh respect.  After all, at the first roll call in the post-ascension New Testament church you'll see women listed as part of the New Testament cell group (see Acts 1:13-14).

For centuries the synagogue had kept men and women separate.  Suddenly they would be working, praying, and worshipping shoulder-to-shoulder.  Christ built His church on a foundation of mutual respect.  Don't misunderstand.  Christ wasn't prioritizing women over men.  He simply took the ladder down to the basement where society had lowered women.  With His nail-scarred hands, He lifted them to a place of respect and credibility. 

The last thing we women should want to do in the body of Christ is to take men's places. They have far too much responsibility for my taste!  But by all means, lets take our places!  We have also been called to be credible witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, how I have enjoyed peering back into this first resurrection Sunday.  I could feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck as Mary gazed into the tomb and saw two angels.  I could smell the earth as the women fell on their faces at the sight of the angels.  I could race down the streets this minute and proclaim to every doubter, "He is risen!"  And, if I should run into Him on the way, my knees would buckle involuntarily.  I would drop to the ground, clasp His feet, and wash them in my tears.  I would grab Him, worship Him, and never want to let Him go.  Someday, my dear friends, we will get our chance. 

Until then, "Don't be afraid.  Go and tell."

Lord Jesus, how glorious it is that death could not keep its hold on You!  I praise You with all my heart, my Risen Lord.  Fill me with Your Spirit and cause me to proclaim the wonderful news that You live!  I long to see Your face and worship at Your feet.  In Your wondrous name, Amen.

Adapted from Jesus, the One and Only, by Beth Moore, pages 318-323. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2002. Used by permission.