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Good morning and happy Easter. Thank you. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do,
I want to invite you to join us in Luke chapter 24. As you turn there, we're excited. We want to
welcome each and every one of you for being here and for worshiping with us this morning. Hope you
got here early enough and enjoyed the breakfast. I'm so appreciative of the team of men that got
here early to prepare that for us, and so gentlemen, thank you so much for that. A couple of things
before we get started. After the message, we're going to have a time of response, and then we'll
take the Lord's Supper together. Hopefully, you're able to get your elements as you came in. If you
didn't have time or you didn't see those to grab those, that's okay. At any point in time, right
now, it'll be a perfect time. You can make your way to the back. We have some there. You can grab
those. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, we want to invite you to partake in the Lord's Supper
together with us, whether you're a church member here or not. And so we just want to thank you all
for being here. And I want to say this, whether Willow Ridge is your home every single week, whether
this is your first time at Willow Ridge, or whether this is your first time in a long time at Willow Ridge,
we count it a blessing and an honor that each and every one of you are here to be with us to worship
today. There's a lot of things you could have chosen to do this morning, but you chose to be here,
to be with us as we celebrate Jesus Christ. And for believers, today really is the ultimate day of
celebration. Over the last several weeks, we've been looking at, we started in Luke chapter 22,
and looking at the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion of Jesus. And as we look at
those events, the landscape of history would begin to show defeat. Defeat for Christ. Defeat for the
followers of Christ. But we see something different today. For you and I, followers of Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ, today is a day not where we look at how we've been defeated, but today is the day where we
understand our victory. That the crucifixion of Christ, that the story doesn't end there. All was not
lost. But today we celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive, that the tomb is empty. And today we'll look in
in Luke 24 of the events that surrounded that first Easter morning and the events that happened after
that. But before we get there, I want to read this verse that I think sets in our hearts and in our minds
the perspective of the power of the cross for those of us who are found in Christ, who have put our faith
in hope and hope and trust in Him. The Apostle Paul writes this in Romans 6-4. He says,
We were buried, therefore, with Him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. So today is a day that we
celebrate the truth that we have life eternal, but that we also have life abundantly. Would you join
me in prayer? God, today we come to you and thank you, Lord, for this day. That this day is the reminder
of the newness in Christ. This day is reminder of hope in Christ. And so, God, as we study your Word,
Lord, I pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to move and work in this place. God, I pray that in
your power, your Word will be proclaimed and taught and preached. That, God, in the power of the Holy
Spirit, Lord, will receive the truth of your Word. God, that in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will sing
in praise for who you are. And in the power of the Holy Spirit, Lord, lives will be saved, lives will be
transformed. And in the power of the Holy Spirit, God, we will walk and leave this place in the newness
of life with a story to share of your faithfulness of who you are. So, God, we thank you for who you are.
We thank you for what you've done. We celebrate you today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.
When we think about the narrative of Christianity, if the resurrection does not exist, Christianity is
destroyed. We have no hope. We have no peace. We have no Savior. We have no God. But because the
resurrection is true, there's so many truths that spring forth from this that begin to affirm the
theology and the doctrine of the Bible, the hope that we have in Christ and Christ alone, because the
resurrection is true, because Christ is alive, because the tomb is empty, we understand that Jesus
Christ truly is the Son of God. We understand the price that He paid for the sacrifice of sin has been
accepted. We understand that the work of salvation is possible for us and is complete in Christ and Christ
alone. We understand that those who trust Him do have life eternal and life abundantly, and that He is,
as He is the one who ascended, that He is the righteous judge who will one day return. It's amazing that
in the movement of Christianity, of what would happen and take place, we begin to understand. So Dr. Luke
writes in Luke, and then he writes in Acts, and he records in Acts chapter 1, that when the disciples
went out to spread the truth of Christianity, to step into the brokenness and the lostness and the
sinfulness of the world, that the message that they carried was not a message about church unity, was not a
message of church growth, was not a message of family dynamics, or any other issue that we want to talk
about and know about and we can draw truth from from God's Word. They simply went out and spoke about
the testimony of Christ and the fact that the resurrection had happened. It was so essential that
this is the message that the disciples came and carried into the streets. And this point is essential
to our faith, that when you and I come to believe not just that Jesus died, but that three days later,
he rose again. It's the very foundation of our faith. And the fact that the tomb is empty doesn't just impact
you in the moment, but it impacts us every single day. When we left off last week in Luke,
we see at the end of Luke 23, Jesus has been nailed and crucified and died on the cross.
He had been buried. And the Bible tells us that there were women who were followers of Jesus
and that they had prepared spices and ointments to care for Jesus's dead body.
But Saturday came. And Saturday was the Sabbath. And they weren't to work or to do this on the
Sabbath, so they waited until Sunday.
And they began their journey to the tomb that first Easter morning.
And this is where we pick up in Luke 24, if you join me in verse 1.
It says,
And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them,
why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he told you
while he was still in Galilee, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be
crucified on the third day rise? And they remembered his words. And returning from the tomb,
they told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and
Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But
these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the
tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home, marveled at
what happened. So we see on this very first Easter morning, the truth where everything is going to flow
from for us is the truth that God in his sovereignty, God in his power, and the miracle that he would
perform is that he opened the tomb. And in opening the tomb, Jesus left. That morning, a group of women
devoted to Jesus come to do a horrifically sad labor of devotion and love for Christ. Can you imagine the
burden that they would have carried as they journey in their final act of love, in their mind, in their
final act of devotion, in their mind, to care for their Jesus that they loved?
They were, I would imagine that this walk to the tomb would have been a silent, somber moment
as they prepared themselves emotionally for what they would see and for what they would have experienced
in the tomb as they prepared to find themselves a dead, broken, mutilated body. But instead, they find the
tomb empty and are told, hey, remember, Jesus is alive. I love this conversation of what we see that Luke
records in this because the open and empty tomb reminds us of the gracious work of Jesus Christ.
The angels tell the women what Jesus had already told them. Jesus had been sharing, look, the Son of
Man must, must, this must happen. This must take place. He must die, but he will rise again. In fact, three
days later, this is what will take place. Jesus didn't just say this once. Jesus said this numerous times
times that would happen over and over again. But the angels, when they show up, they didn't, they didn't judge
them. They didn't rebuke them. They reminded them. Do you remember the truth of who Jesus is? And do you
remember what he told you? Whatever brought you here today, whatever journey you've come on, the fact
that the tomb is empty is the gracious reminder from Christ to you that he is alive, and it's a message of hope
for you. I don't care how good you and I think our spiritual scorecards are with the things that
we've done. The game changer for all of humanity and the grace and the work of Jesus Christ is that
the tomb is empty, and that impacts all of humanity. It's the gracious work of God, the power of Christ.
The open and empty tomb also reminds us of the telling work that Jesus calls us to. It's very,
very important here. This first group of ladies that find the tomb empty and the message they go and tell.
I don't know about you, but in my world, death has been a final event, right? And to think someone is,
or to know someone is dead sets a finality to it.
And so to find out that the person that you know died, you saw what happened,
the testimony all around would have rang true. Jesus is not taken off the cross in a coma. He's not
taken off of the cross unconscious. He's taken off the cross dead. But he's alive. Did they fully
understand what they were saying? No. The Bible tells us that they were questioned by those who had heard
and those who had known as well, the 11 and the others. I can imagine that they were even mocked and
ridiculed. But here's the beauty of these ladies. They went and told anyways. Didn't understand. They
didn't comprehend. They faced question after question of doubt. But yet they went. And for us,
it reminds us the power of the story that we know. Do we understand it all? No. Are we going to be
questioned? Absolutely. But we see the power of the story that God calls us to share. We see the
open and empty tomb is not just about the gracious work, about the telling work that Jesus calls us to,
but it reminds us that our message, no matter how it lands, matters. See, they went back
and they shared. These ladies share with a group of know-it-all men.
And these men didn't believe. But their message matters. Because you see, when we do gospel work
and we share about the message of the cross, and God takes men and women like these ladies here and
say, go, go and share no matter how stubborn and hard-headed and ignorant and wanting to deny the
audience that you're going to be sharing this to. Go and share. And I love verse 12. Look back at that
with me. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in. And he saw the linen cloths by
themselves. And he went home marveling at what had happened. I think so many times we share
in what the response that we think. We share in what the reaction that we gave. And these ladies went
and their message is mocked. It's question. But there's that one guy. And Peter's like, I gotta check this out for myself.
You see, because the tomb is empty, our lives can be full with the gracious work of God. Because he got
it right, we didn't have to. Because the tomb is empty, we have a message to go and to share. And
because the tomb is empty, lives are changed. This is what we begin to see another step in the story of
what God's laying out before us, before we begin to see in the book of Acts, the spread of Christianity
that the world has never seen at this point. Because of the power of the resurrection, the tomb is empty.
So it continues on though. Look at me in verse 13. There's gonna be some other interactions that day and
the days after that Luke talks about. And here's another one. It's verse 13. That very day, two of them were
going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. So this is two other disciples of
Jesus. Verse 14. And they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened.
And while they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What is this conversation that you're
holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named Cleopas
answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened in
these days?" So let's pause here. There's a thick sarcasm here. How have you missed this?
And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests
and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was
the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things
happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,
and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had seen a vision of angels who said
that he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said,
"But they did not see him. And he said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into
his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted them in all the scriptures,
the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going.
He acted as if he were going further, but they urged him strongly saying, 'Stay with us,
for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.' So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table
with them, he took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they
recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. And they said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us
while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?' And they rose that same hour
and returned to Jerusalem. And they have found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together
saying, 'The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.' Then they told what had happened on the road
and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread." So because the tomb is empty, we see another
work that Jesus does here. He opened their eyes. We find two men on a journey, on a defeated journey,
walking seven miles is what the Bible tells us from Jerusalem to Emmaus. These two men, these disciples,
are very discouraged. They know of the death of Jesus. They've heard reports of the empty tomb. They
had heard the testimony that Jesus was alive. But they didn't believe. They didn't believe.
They knew what happened. They testify to Jesus that they don't recognize. Have you not heard what's
happened? Have you not heard what has taken place? But yet they're still disheartened. Why? Their eyes have
not been opened to Jesus. You see, in the years leading up to this, in the moments leading up to this,
they shared their hearts here. They shared their view. They shared their perspective of Jesus. What they
wanted was not who Jesus was. What they wanted Jesus to do is not what Jesus came to do.
They wanted a political redeemer, setting Israel free from Rome. And their discouragement had come
because, in essence, God had not done what they wanted him to do.
And so, in their mind, Jesus had failed. Jesus was broken. And in their mind, there was no hope.
So, they had this interaction with Jesus. A man whom they followed but could not see.
There's some power to that. That I think sometimes that you and I, we partake in religious activity. We
participate in religious services. And we're doing so not out of hope that we will begin to see and be
in relationship with the God of the Bible. But we do so in hopes that we'll engage with the God of our
our own expectations. And that's what we find with these two men. And if that's where you find yourself
today, I hope that you meet the Jesus that they met. As he's patiently correcting them.
The Bible says that Jesus started back with Moses, so at the very beginning, and began to walk through
Scripture with them, showing that the Savior would come to save men and women and children from
their sins to be their
to be their Messiah, to be their Savior, that he would pay the price on the cross, and that he would
resurrect again. He started at the beginning. And he opened their eyes for them to see themselves and
what they needed. Sinners who need to be saved. Whatever agenda that you want to come to Jesus with,
may that agenda begin with, may that agenda begin with the fact that you are a sinner who could not save
yourself. But Jesus did the work on the cross that you and I could not do. That he not only took on the
punishment for you and me, but he took on the punishment for the whole world. And that the end for
us does not end in the punishment, just as the end for him did not end in the punishment, but the promise
of life and life everlasting. And he did so after showing them their need and opened their eyes to see
him for who he truly is. So how do you see Jesus? Who is Jesus to you? Is he the Son of God? The sacrificial
Messiah, the risen Savior. It continues on in verse 36.
It says, "As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
'Peace to you.' But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
And he said to them, 'Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your heart? See my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.'
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet,
while they were still still disbelieved for joy and were marveling. And he said to them, 'Have you anything
here to eat?' And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before him. Then he said to
them, 'These are my words that I spoke to you while I'm still with you, and everything written about me in
the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to
understand the scriptures and said to them, 'Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the
third day rise from the dead.' Not only is the tomb empty, not only are our eyes opened, but he opened
their minds. John chapter 20 tells us that this encounter happens and the doors are shut, the doors
are locked, and Jesus comes in and he appears to the disciples who were startled and afraid about what
was happening to take place. But Jesus, in order to share with them, he calms the room. His very presence
is going to calm the anxiety of what they're facing. And he says and does some powerful things
that don't just resonate in that room for the day, but resonate when Jesus steps into your world and
to my world. He looks at them and the first thing he says is, 'Peace be with you.' You see this phrase,
'Peace be with you,' was a greeting that came with a blessing. It was something that you would say in
response to this, and so he steps in to the stress of their life, and what he does is he reminds them
of the peace that is possible through the blessing that comes from God.
'Peace be with you,' not in the peace that you're going to pursue and find of this world, but that in
Christ, the peace that he promises is the peace that comes from God. You see, the chaos and the
dysfunction and the sinfulness that we live at in this world would not be the one that produces peace.
There's conflict, there's torment, there's chaos, there's brokenness all around. And for followers of
Jesus, we're not removed from that reality that surrounds us, but we're filled with the peace of God
that comes from Christ and Christ alone. 'Peace be with you.' Then what he does is he shows them his hands
and his feet to remind them, those that didn't believe, those that were doubting, those that were
that were questioning, 'I did this for you.' Not in anger, but in love. And he looks at them and he says, 'Touch, touch.'
No more intimate of an act than to be out and to reach out and feel. Because he's not a spirit. This
isn't a mindset. This is the person of God standing before them.
We're not talking about a guru. We're not talking about a prophet. We're not talking simply about a
teacher. But the resurrection of Christ, the man we're called to follow is God. And then I love this.
And in a little bit of the spirit that we had this morning, right? He eats with them. He eats with them.
He fellowships. You see, the intimacy of the relationship with Jesus is, 'Come to me.'
Come to Christ. And then he teaches them. And the scripture says that he opens their mind to understand.
That the pursuit of Jesus is not simply an intellectual assignment, but he opens their mind to understand
that the pursuit of Jesus is found in a relational engagement with him.
That he came and that he died.
Lastly, in this chapter, verse 47, it says, 'And that repentance for the
givenness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.'
Verse 48 says, 'For you are witnesses of these things, and behold, I'm sending the promise of my
Father upon you. But stay until the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.' And he led them
out as far as Bethany. And lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And while he blessed them, he parted
from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Because the tomb is empty, eyes are opened, hearts are opened, minds are opened, but he also, he opened their
lips. He opened their lips. And so I think the hard part for so many of us is Jesus isn't simply
secret to keep, but Jesus is a message to tell.
From every single instance in this encounter.
Hey ladies,
go back and share.
Hey, let me teach you
about what the scripture says concerning Christ.
Hey, when you go from here,
go and proclaim.
Go be my witnesses.
And bless God as you go.
You see, the relationship sometimes for us, we begin to think that I'm in a relationship with God,
so I'm good.
And let me, let me clarify.
That's a half-truth.
When you're in a relationship with God, you are good.
Your eternity has been set.
The life that he has for you is there, but I am good and I am commissioned.
I am commissioned to go.
I am commissioned to share.
I am commissioned to proclaim.
And so the relationship vertically that I have with my heavenly father, the relationship that I have with my
savior is one that is shared over and over and over again.
So I proclaim the blessing and bless him for who he is and talk about how great he is and how
wonderful he is and how praiseworthy he is and he alone.
But it's a message that also affects the horizontal relationships of this world.
That you and I go out into this world with the peace of Jesus Christ with a purpose and a point to go and to share.
The tomb is open.
The tomb is empty.
Have your eyes been opened to see Jesus for who he is concerning God's word?
Is he something that you're trying to make him to be something that he isn't?
Have your, has your mind been opened to understand the life that he's called you to?
To the purpose that he's given you?
To the hope that has been promised to you?
And has your mouth been opened to proclaim the goodness of God?
Would you pray with me?
God, we thank you for the truth of your word.
God, we thank you that on that day, God, the tomb was not found full, but the tomb was found empty.
And because of that, there's life, there's hope, there's purpose, there's meaning.
That your word has been and always is true.
And so, God, I pray that our eyes will be opened to see Jesus for who he really is.
We'll see him as the resurrected son of God, who paid the price that we deserve, but who death in the grave could not hold down.
We thank you that through the work of the cross, he took the punishment that we deserve, that he bore the burden on his body that we deserved.
We thank you that through the spilling of his blood, a horrific, dirty, filthy event.
But that the blood of Christ washes us.
It makes us clean.
And that we will see Jesus for who he is.
I pray that our minds will be opened to receive him, to receive the peace that he offers, the relationship that he invites us to.
As God became man,
invites us into a relationship with him.
And God, I pray that our mouths will be opened.
Mouths to sing and proclaim about your goodness and who you are.
Mouths to tell of your glory and your majesty.
Mouths to say, this is what Jesus has done in my life.
For me and to me.
And I am forever grateful.
God, as we respond in worship.
As we prepare our hearts
to take the Lord's Supper together.
God, I pray that we'll do so
out of the reverence for the work of what you've done
and out of lives that have been transformed.
God, man, under the leading and drawing of your Holy Spirit,
may we take the inventory that you've called us to.
May we repent of any sin that is in our life
as we come to your throne of grace.
May we forgive others as you have forgiven us.
God, may we seek forgiveness
amongst brothers and sisters in Christ
so that we live unified as your bride
where we celebrate you.
It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
That's it for this week's message.
Be sure to check back next week for a new episode.
And in the meantime,
you can visit us online at willowridgechurch.org
or by searching for Willow Ridge Church
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Thanks again for listening.
Thank you.