Welcome from all of us at Albuquerque Reformed Church, a particular congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church located in New Mexico. We thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about Albuquerque Reformed Church or to contribute to its ministry, visit abqreformed.org. And now, we invite you to open your Bible and listen to the preached Word. Let me ask you a question before I begin this time. So the question is this. Will Christianity as a religion, will it survive if there is no resurrection? Will Christianity as a religion, will it survive if there is no resurrection? I'm not talking about some kind of spiritual resurrection, but I'm talking about physical resurrection. The Apostle Paul says, if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then our faith is in vain. We are still in our sins, and out of all men, we are most miserable. Our condition is really miserable if Jesus really did not rise on that Sunday morning. The resurrection of Jesus is as important as his death was. The resurrection of Jesus is as important as his death was. Without resurrection, there is no Christianity. In fact, when it comes to other religions, If the founder died and their religion would still survive, their religion would still continue, like Islam or Buddhism or any other man-made religion. Even if the founder died and if he did not come back to life, their religion will survive. But when it comes to Christian faith, without the resurrection of Jesus, there is no Christianity. So did Jesus rise again from the dead? And Luke is showing us in this text that Jesus did rise again from the dead on the third day as he prophesied. Last week we saw that Joseph of Arimathea took courage and went to Pilate and asked for his body. Then he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb in which no one had ever laid, fulfilling the prophecy that at his death his grave was made with the rich man. Jesus was shamefully treated and killed by his enemies, but he was given a decent burial by his disciples, especially by those who were considered secret disciples. Then we also looked at the women who went home and prepared spices to anoint the body of Jesus. We read here in verse 54 that that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew near. So they had to go home and they just ceased from any work because Sabbath drew near and they rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandments. Now today as we look into this passage which we have before us, there are two things which we are going to see. Two things which will show us that Jesus truly and really, Jesus really rose again on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday morning. So this we'll see by seeing the empty tomb and then by hearing the women's, by seeing the women's testimony. So two way this text demonstrate to us that Jesus rose again from the dead on that Sunday morning. First way, by looking at the empty tomb. So look at verses one, two, three. 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, but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Now these women loved Jesus and had a true devotion towards him. They really loved Jesus. And I seriously doubt if they were even able to sleep that night before. It was, in a worldly sense, it was a horrible affair. They bruised Jesus. They beat him up. They abused him the whole night. They spat at him. And then they crucified him. And it was one of the most shameful death. And we read here, in the Gospel of Luke that the women were watching. When Jesus was on the cross, the women watched all these things. So I'm sure that it came as one of the greatest shock in their life. So I seriously doubt if they were even able to sleep. And then think about preparing spices, putting your mind into it. Women, those who cook, you know, how much effort it takes to cook and preparation and all kinds of things. And this is embalming Jesus' body. And they had to prepare spices. So they put a lot of effort. And despite all the difficulties they had and the difficulty they had to face in preparing the spices and the sleeplessness and everything, we see here that they were determined to go to the tomb very early in the morning, very early in the morning. They waited patiently for the Sabbath eve to end so they could go to the tomb and anoint his body with the spices. But what they were expecting, they were expecting to find the body of Jesus in the tomb, where they had last seen his body. We see here that they observed where Jesus was laid. That's what we saw last week in verse 55, that these women observed where his body was laid. So they were expecting to see the body of Jesus. They were not expecting him to rise again from the dead, but they were expecting to find his dead body. But to their surprise, they found the stone roll away from the tomb. And when they went inside the tomb, they did not find his body there. Now, Mark's gospel shows us that it was a large stone, meaning it was impossible for a few women to move it by themselves. In fact, as some of them were going towards the tomb, they were talking among themselves as to who would roll away the stone from the door of the tomb. Now, imagine if they would have just stayed home, thinking the difficulty of moving that stone. they could have argued, we are just women. How would we move the stone away? How would we enter? So we will not go there. If they would have just stayed home, they would have just missed the witness. They would have missed the greatest opportunity. They would have missed one of the world's greatest opportunities to become one of the first messengers of the empty tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they stepped up in faith without knowing who would move the stone from the door of the tomb. But God moved the stone for them. Now once they entered the tomb and did not find the body of their master, they were greatly perplexed. Or in other words, they were at a loss of words. They hoped to find the body of Jesus there and they hoped to anoint his body with the spices which they had brought with them. But his body was nowhere to be found. According to them, it was a dead body and they wanted to find that dead body. And a dead body cannot get up and walk out of the tomb by itself. Matthew's gospel shows us that Pilate had sent guards over the entrance of the tomb at the behest of the Jewish leaders because they remember his words that he had said that he will rise again from the dead after three days. They wanted to prevent his disciples from stealing the body and then proclaiming him to be alive. And because there were guards guarding the tomb, it was impossible for his disciples to come and steal the body of Jesus. So the question for the women at the tomb is, where is the body of Jesus? That is the question. They came to the tomb. The tomb is empty, even though the tomb was sealed and there was a guard outside the tomb. So there was no possibility of someone entering the tomb and removing the body. So the question is, where is the body? Why the tomb is empty? Now, here we read that as they were thinking through these things that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Now we should stop at this juncture for a moment and we should think about all the alleged discrepancies among the gospel writers that relate to the various resurrection accounts contained in the four gospels. Now in Matthew's Gospel we read that 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 for fear of him and became like dead men. So that is Matthew's account. In Mark's gospel, we read that when the women entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. Then in John's gospel, we read that as Mary stood outside by the tomb, weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. So question is, why are there alleged? I'm not saying that these are discrepancies, but the question is, why are there alleged discrepancies in the resurrection account? Was the angel sitting on the big rock or was the angel standing beside them? Or the angel sitting where the body of Jesus was laid? Now the skeptics often use passages like these to discredit the Bible. and sow seeds of doubt among Christians. In fact, there are those who grew up in Christian church and when they read some skeptics book, they read it, they thought, oh, there is discrepancy in the Bible. that there are real contradictions, that there are errors in the Bible. Look at all these resurrection events, accounts in all the four Gospels. And they concluded that Bible is not trustworthy and have walked away from the faiths. So how should we understand these alleged discrepancies this morning? Now you need to understand that people in those days did not possess cell phones and neither did they wear watches as in our modern times. In verse 10, we see three women binding and then there were other women too. We also read in verse 10 that there were other women too. So altogether, at least there were five women, but it could be eight or even 10 or even more. And I personally think that all of them reached the tomb at different time intervals. It was impossible for all women to agree on an exact time to come to the tomb, as they did not speak in terms of hours and minutes as we do. And it would have been highly unusual for all of them to arrive at the tomb exactly at the same time. So they arrived at different intervals, and because they arrived at different intervals, different women had a different encounter with the angelic beings. So it is very difficult thing for us to know which woman had an encounter with the angel who was sitting on the top of the rock at the entrance, and which one saw the angel when he was sitting at the head of the place where Jesus was laid. So just because we do not know all the details of that day, it doesn't mean that there are contradictions in the Bible. There are no contradictions in the Bible. If you are finding contradictions in the Bible, it just mean that you are unable to comprehend something. Ask God to give you wisdom to understand where you struggle. Ask someone who is well read in the scriptures. Most contradictions will go away. And even if some remain in your mind, it will not have an impact on your eternal destiny if you're pleading the blood of Jesus for your redemption. Once you're face to face with your maker, all your contradictions will go away. That day you will have zero doubt. All the alleged Bible difficulties will go away. But one thing is true that these women had an encounter with the angelic beings on that day of Jesus' resurrection, on the day of Jesus' resurrection. It perverts with Luke's gospel, because when Jesus was born, an angel visited Zechariah, then an angel visited Mary, and a host of angels to the shepherds in the field. Then we also see an angel visiting Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane and strengthening him. So this is not the first time we are seeing angels visiting human in the gospel of Luke. Angels visiting these women is in line with all other angelic visitation in the gospel of Luke so far. Luke is not giving us every chronological detail which happened on that morning. but he is giving us those detail which serves his overall purpose of showing who Jesus is and what he has done for his people. He has left out certain things from the resurrection morning, but has given us those things which are most pertinent to us. So there are no real discrepancies in the Bible. It is sometimes we just struggle to understand and sometimes it is just not clear to us. And sometimes the gospel writers have not given us all the details which happened on that Sunday morning. Here we see that the women saw two men who stood by them in shining garments. Luke's mention of shining garments is to convey to us that they were not mere men, but angels, as the other gospel account also confirms. And the natural response of the women was to be afraid. That's what happens when you see a being who is totally otherworldly, you'll be afraid. And that is a natural response of anyone. And that was a natural response of these women and they bowed in fear. But now we see a gentle rebuke from these angels. I say gentle rebuke. They ask them, why do you seek the living among the dead? In other words, you should not have been expecting him here. He is living and you cannot find the living among the dead. This was the testimony of the angels. But then these men also reminded them of the words of Jesus. The enemies of Jesus remembered the words of Jesus, how he had said that he will rise again from the dead on the third day. And that's why they had secured the tomb. The enemies of Jesus, they remembered his words. But it is regrettable that the disciples of Jesus did not remember his words. These women did not remember his words. So here the angels reminded them of the words of Jesus saying, look at in verse seven, Jesus said, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. But then he did not stop there. He also said, and the third day rise again. Now again, we should stop here for a moment and think. The women saw that the tomb was empty, but why didn't they believe? That's the question. The women saw the tomb empty, but why didn't they believe? We often hear about evidential apologetics. This is a field where the apologist tries to demonstrate the truth of Christianity by appealing to various pieces of evidence in favor of Christianity. Now some have done an excellent job by presenting various evidence in favor of Christianity. But ultimately we should remember that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Faith comes by hearing the gospel and by the work of the Holy Spirit in a sinner's life. Evidence is fine, but ultimately we should be trusting in the power of God and converting the sinner through the preaching of the gospel. God saves through the preaching of his word. God saves through the preaching of the gospel. The angels did not present more evidence in favor of the resurrection of Jesus. You give evidence to a skeptic and he will come up with some other explanation. In Matthew chapter 28, we see that after the guards at the tomb reported all the things that had happened at the tomb, they told the guards to just lie to anyone who asked about that incident. The empty tomb was a fact of that day, but the Jewish leaders just rejected it. It is not the evidence which saves, but the plain, simple gospel. The angels pointed the women to the words of Jesus itself. And we see here that when they recall the words of Jesus, they were at ease. The words of Jesus was a thing which settled their hearts and established them in the truth of resurrection. The empty tomb in and of itself meant nothing. But the empty tomb, coupled with the words of Jesus, is the undeniable proof of Jesus' resurrection on Sunday morning. So that was the first thing. How do we know that Jesus rose again from the dead? First, Jesus' own words that He will be crucified, he will be buried, and he will rise on the third day. Then the empty tomb. The empty tomb on Sunday morning was the undeniable proof that Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day. The second thing we look at here is the women's testimony. Now Luke mentions three women by name and he also says that there were other women who were part of this group on Sunday morning. And we read here that they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to the rest. Now Matthew's gospel also shows us that the angels also said to these women to go quickly and tell the disciples of Jesus about his resurrection and his going to Galilee. And after you compare the gospel of Matthew, Mark, and John, you will also see that some of the women did meet Jesus face to face. And Jesus told them to go to his disciples and his going to Galilee before them. Now here we have these women who have come to report the resurrection of Jesus to his disciples. In a sense, we can say that women were the first messengers of the cross. Now you should stop here for a moment and think. Often people say that Christianity is a false religion and the gospel accounts are man-made. But if the gospel accounts are man-made, why would Luke the Evangelist include women as the first messengers of the empty tomb? Especially in a time and culture where women's testimony was not easily believed. Now we may not like it and it is really misogynist and mean, but there was a Jewish prayer by Jewish men in those days which said, So men in those days They praise God saying that blessed are you because you have not made me a woman. The Jews in Jesus day did not believe the testimony of women easily because of their prejudice. Now if the disciples of Jesus are making these resurrection events, why would they include women as the first messengers of the resurrection, which was embarrassing for a first century reader, unless these events really took place. The point of Luke writing these verses is to demonstrate to his readers that Jesus did rise from the dead on Sunday morning. And if Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day, then you must believe. But this text also shows us that God loves women. God loves women. God loved these women by choosing them to be the first messengers of the resurrection. It is true that there are different roles for women in church. Men have certain roles. Women have certain roles. Even at home, men have different roles. Women have different roles. But it is also true that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. God loves all his children without distinction. That includes women. God does not discriminate between men and women. Jesus loved these women and made them the witness of his resurrection. Now, in verse 11, we see that the unbelief of Jesus' disciples. The women reported all the things which happened to them on that morning, but we read here that their words seemed like idle tales. And they did not believe in them. In other words, their words seemed to them like nonsense. Perhaps they thought that these women did not get proper rest in the night. And they were just hallucinating about the resurrection of Jesus. They were just dreaming about his resurrection. because they truly loved Jesus. They truly loved Jesus and they were devoted to Him. So perhaps the disciples thought that they were just dreaming or they were seeing something which is not true. And often skeptics argue that the disciples of Jesus were hallucinating about his resurrection because they were really heartbroken about his departure and were unable to overcome the grief. So there are skeptics who would say that all of the disciples of Jesus, they were just hallucinating. And when people are in real grief, when people are in real sadness, they do see things which are not true. But the problem is that people do not hallucinate in groups. They hallucinate individually. They hallucinate individually, but we see here that all the women who went to the tomb that morning, found the tomb empty, were met by angels, and some women were also met by the resurrected Christ, as per the other gospel writers. So these women were not hallucinating, but they were reporting what they had seen and heard. But to the disciples, their words were simply nonsense. They did not believe the words of these women. They were also prejudiced. It was the first century. They were also the Jews, the people of their time. They were prejudiced. They did not believe in these women's words. But we read here in verse 12 that Peter arose and ran to the tomb and stooping down he saw the linen clothes lying by themselves and he departed marveling to himself at what had happened. Peter was the one who had denied Jesus. He was the one who cried bitterly after he realized that he had betrayed Jesus under pressure. And I believe that there was some guilt in Peter concerning that incident, which still lingered in his heart. And he was also a man of action. We have already seen in the Gospel of Luke, when others won't speak, he would get up and speak. When others are just thinking about doing something, he will get up and do, and then later on, he will think about. So here, Peter, again, out of all the 11 there, we see here that Peter ran to the tomb. But we also see here in John's gospel that even John ran with Peter and he outran Peter and raised the tomb, but did not go in, but it was Peter who entered the tomb and noticed the absence of Jesus' body. So even Peter confirmed for himself that the tomb was empty on Sunday morning. So it is not only the women, but also now Peter and John, we can say, who also confirmed that the tomb was empty and the women were not exaggerating and neither they were hallucinating. He just did not know what to make of it. So we have looked at verses one to 12 of this chapter. The question is, what shall we learn from it? What shall we learn from it? First, these verses shows us the fact of empty tomb. These verses shows us the fact of the empty tomb. The tomb was empty on that Sunday morning. The group of women who went to the tomb shows us that the tomb was empty. They show us that the tomb was empty. Peter went to the tomb and he attests to the women's testimony and so does John in his gospel. So what do we make of the empty tomb? The angels have already interpreted for us. Jesus already spoke about this even before he went to the cross and was killed so that when these things happen, we believe. So what does the empty tomb mean? It means Jesus rose again from the dead, destroying the power of sin and death forever from his people and bringing salvation to his people. Once for all, he has atoned for the sins of his people and has opened the floodgates of salvation to all who believe and receive him. So the message of the empty tomb is to believe in his resurrection and receive him. So if you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the message of the empty tomb is to receive him, to believe him. Second, human flesh is weak, and you should not be trusting in your own ability. The women loved Jesus, but they forgot his words, which said that he will rise again from the dead on the third day. When it comes to his disciples, male disciples, they were much worse. They also forgot the words of Jesus, but they also did not believe in the testimony of these women. They were weak men. So are you. And hence, you should not be putting your trust in your own flesh. If you trust in your own flesh, then you will fail. Third thing, Jesus is kind and gracious. Jesus is kind and gracious. We do not see Jesus here explicitly in this text. We don't hear Jesus speaking here anything, or Jesus doing or performing any miracles, or he's present there. explicitly in this text. We have gone through every chapter in the Gospel of Luke, every passage. And there was no passage where Jesus was not there actively. In every single passage on which I have preached, in every single passage, Jesus was always present. But this is the only place you will see where Jesus is not actively present. We don't see him speaking. We do not see him doing anything. But Jesus was always there. Jesus is always there with his disciple. Even now, even though we don't see him explicitly, he is there. Not only he is there, but he is kind and gracious. The women did not initially believe in his words about his resurrection, and neither did his male disciples. But Jesus still loved them and made them the witness of his resurrection. The church is founded on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. Though the apostles were far from perfect, Jesus still chose them to be his witness to the end of the world. Jesus loved them and raised them up even when they fell. The same Jesus loves you too. He walks beside you to lift you up when you fall or when you fail. So keep coming to him even when you fail because he's always ready to receive you with open arms when you run to him. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, how beautiful, how excellent, how good your word is. It is only when we don't read your word, it is only when we don't ask your help that we struggle, that we have confusion, we have doubts about various things. And Satan tried to make a good use of our doubts. So Lord, it is only when we don't come to you, when we don't read your word, when we don't meditate on it, when we don't ask your help when we read your word, it is only then we have doubts. But Lord, as we read your word, as we meditate your word, as we hear your word preached, how clear it is, Lord. As we looked into this passage this morning, how clearly it shows that Jesus rose again from the dead on that Sunday morning. The tomb was empty and there is no other explanation other than the fact that Jesus rose again from the dead on that Sunday morning. Disciples did not steal the body. And there is no other explanation, Lord. So Lord, we thank you for preserving us, for preserving for us your word so that we may read and believe. So Lord, we pray that as we have looked at the witness of the empty tomb, as we have looked at the witness of these women, as we have looked at the witness of Peter, we pray that we would believe that Jesus died for our sins and he was buried, but he also rose again from the dead on the third day physically. bringing salvation to all those who believe him, all those who receive him. So we pray that we would continue to believe in your word. We would continue to believe that Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day for our justification, and we would be saved. We would be strengthened in our faith. So Lord, help us. We ask this prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for joining us. If you were blessed by this sermon, we invite you to visit us at abcreformed.org, where you'll find more information about our ministry. We look forward to you joining us again, online or in person. Until then, may peace, comfort, and grace be given to you through our Lord Jesus Christ.