This is not a reprint. He is Risen!

Luke 23:44-24:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

Jesus Is Buried

⁵⁰ And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man ⁵¹ (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; ⁵² this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. ⁵⁴ It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. ⁵⁵ Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.

And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

The Resurrection

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² And 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 perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; ⁵ and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” ⁸ And they remembered His words, ⁹ and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. ¹¹ But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

Today’s text may seem odd; out of the proper time, because it speaks of the resurrection of Christ, which of course we celebrated last week. I felt though, as I read and meditated on the text that their was an important message for us in the timing. Look how the text begins:   It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.   I don’t want to get into the specifics of why darkness fell over the whole land; that Jesus, the light of the world was being taken out of the physical world. I don’t want to dig deeply into the significance of the temple veil being torn in two; that it was from the top to the bottom so only God could have done it or that it signified that because of Christ’s sacrifice, there no longer needs to be a seperation between sinful people and God. What I want to focus on is the time; the tense. It was about the sixth hour. Darkness fell over the land. The veil was torn in two. Jesus breathed His last. These are all past tense. These things happened then, on that day; in that time. Jesus died for sin, once for all. In John 19:30 He said:  “It is finished.”   There is nothing more that needs to be done, either by Christ or us. The work of the cross was complete 2000 years ago.   

The text continues:  And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.   This too, the burial of Jesus is in the past tense. It happened 2000 years ago. Although God is eternal and not limited by finite time, the death and burial of Jesus happened in a distinct time. Jesus lived, died and was burried. It happened in that specific time 2000 years ago.

The text continues:  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?  He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,  saying that 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, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.    The first word, But, indicates the shift from the previous text.  The men, or angels at the grave said:  “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?  He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,  saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”  Jesus has risen. While it did happen then, 2000 years ago, Jesus is still risen today. The tomb is and always will be empty. In John 11:25-26 Jesus says:  “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”   It is not that just Jesus was resurrected. He is the resurrection. Do you believe this?   The text ends saying:  But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.   Today and every day, like Peter, we should run to the empty tomb, the evidence of what happened. Then we should live in the power of the resurrection; not only because of what was, but because of what is. In Revelation 1:8 the Lord says: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."  Because He is risen, He will come again. He was, is and will be the Almighty; the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He was, is and always will be the Savior and Redeemer of all who believe.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; the three in one God, who is, who was and who is to come. I believe.  Amen.