The Empty Tomb

The Empty Tomb

Jesus has been beaten and crucified. Since he was first arrested in the garden, the disciples of Jesus have gone into retreat and hiding. What were the disciples thinking? Maybe it was, “who will be next? Who will be the next target of the religious hierarchy. Will it be Peter or James or John or some other of us?” Without knowing the reason, they may have heard that Judas was found hanging dead in a field. They might not have known why.

They felt like targets. Yes it was they stood by Jesus as He condemned the religious elite, confident that He would be the soon reigning king, and they would be at his side also reigning in this new kingdom. They could still hear the crowds in their ears, who cheered, loved and bowed to him and had also as unbelievably, just a few short days later turned on him calling for his crucifixion. And then with Roman approval they arrested and stole Jesus away from them at the garden, they tried him in a biased court, filled with lying accusations and then proceeded to torture and crucify the greatest and most loving man the world had ever seen. Hell had been unleashed against their teacher, their friend, their healer, their comforter and yes they were sure ‘the soon coming king’. Yes Jesus had told them that He would be led away to die and would be raised three days later. Yes He had recently spoken of His death quite often, but the crowds were on his side, of course He must have meant something else, and they just hadn’t understood. But no, in just a few short days the dream had ended. The promise hadn’t come as they were sure it would, and now they would be hunted down. God, they were sure, had abandoned them. But it couldn’t have all been a lie or a delusion. The blind were made to see, the lame walked, lepers cleansed, the demonized delivered and the dead delivered back alive, healthy and breathing into the hands of their loved ones. Even their friend Lazarus walked from a dark tomb, after being dead four days. And surely those thousands Jesus had fed in the wilderness would have come to the Rabbi’s defense, but there was no one. Father God what has happened to our friend and teacher? There is nothing left for us but to hide, to quietly keep our peace until this thing, this tragedy has faded from memory? Surely they will find us. My God yes, I’m sure they will crucify us as well.

We sit in a comfortable place with our bibles on our lap seeing the beginning through the end of Jesus’s ministry and the eventual establishment and growth of the church. We might have even shaken our heads from time to time at the disciples and their stubbornness, their unbelieving eyes, their desires to be first. But we are disciples. We are stubborn, we often see with unbelieving eyes, in secret we often desire prestige and honor. What would we have done? Our brothers, and sisters, yes they were afraid. Yes, they weren’t listening correctly, but how often do we listen incorrectly? If our faith were outlawed tomorrow and our leaders were to be taken out and shot next Wednesday morning and we here at Calvary Chapel of Beaumont were now the target of the authorities, would we find ourselves pulling into the parking lot of this church next Wednesday night- business as usual? That’s a question that you can answer in the quietness of your heart. But thankfully today this is not the case and we have an opportunity to see with open eyes and an open heart what would happen next on this the third day. A day of fear, a day of hope, a day of resurrection. And no, our focus won’t be on the failures of a few and sincere and hurting brothers, but will instead focus on the heart of a risen savior. So lets take a quick look back at a couple of quiet figures on the day the stone was rolled into place at the garden tomb and those who risked, what could have been everything, to do it.

Matthew 27:57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea. A rich man yes and chances are was a man of influence who may have once been part of the religious ruling class, but had since come to Jesus. It does not say that he was a brave man, but it would have been a risky request at best in the face of mocking and potential retribution. As far as I know, the bible doesn’t mention him by name in any other passages but this brave, selfless, and costly act, will follow this Joseph into eternity.

The end of vs. 60 says:… He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. But it is in verse 61 that I want us to look to for a brief moment. At a person I think central in the account of Christs resurrection. And Verse 61 says. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

Mary Magdalene is of first mention by name and the other Mary with her. They were watching as Jesus was placed in the tomb and the stone rolled over the entrance entombing their Lord. This is the same Mary Magdalene whom the Lord had cast out 7 demons from. He had quite literally delivered her from Hell on earth. Straight away it seems, she followed him and with the other women and from their own purses supported Christ and his disciples, making themselves servants doing the support of ministry which mean’t the dirty work. The cooking, the cleaning, the washing, the mending, the bandaging and I’m sure the fretting over. This Mary who was delivered by a gentle teacher who she intimately knows, that she owes her entire world to, has just seen a large stone rolled into place. In her heart she will never see her friend and master again. And so she sits quietly opposite the tomb with a friend by her side. Can you hear her heart? Can you feel the same ground under her feet fall away as she sits there? The one she loves with such a great love, is dead. The others have run off into hiding. “Why aren’t they here to mourn with me? Our friend and deliverer is gone.” Mary is shattered.

Lets continue on, to the 3^rd. Day.

Mary is seems can’t sleep. It says in another Gospel that she had purchased the spices with Mary the mother of James, and Salome the evening before and was to go with them to annoint the body of Jesus. But as much as she desired it, she couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t just lie there. In her heart she knew that she just wanted to be at the tomb. So there in the dark, she must have risen quietly, dressed and lit a small lamp, quietly closing the door behind her so as not to wake the others, who had finally found sleep after days of stress and fear.

John 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

Imagine Mary’s surprise. She had watched the stone being rolled and sinking into place just days earlier and now arriving at the tomb, the stone has without explanation been rolled away. It is dark, she is alone and frightened at the sight, and it must have been with every fiber, with every speck of bravery, that she approaches the entrance of the tomb and with her lamp in hand and peers in, not knowing what to expect. As she moves the lamp from side to side the light moves along the tombs walls and down to the resting table where Joseph had laid Jesus body. Nothing. There is no one. No body. It can’t be. Quickly she must tell the others.

John 20:2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”  3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 

Jesus? Gone? How could this be. They had run the entire distance, with it seems a winded Mary following at some distance. John, for some reason the more eager, or the faster of the two arriving at the tomb first. He cautiously peers in see the linen strips Jesus had been wrapped in, laying there, but did not go further to investigate. Peter however (being the impulsive one) pushes past John without asking a question. But going in he not only sees the linen strips, but the cloth that would have traditionally wrapped Jesus’s head. But something was amiss. The head covering wasn’t laying with the long pile of linen strips presumably lying there in a row the same length as Jesus body. But the headcloth was separate, at the top or the head of the flat stone where Jesus’s head would lain. Strange but the linen it seems was in perfect place. And so was the head covering, where it should have been. But with no body underneath.

Verse 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

John after going inside now believed as Peter, that Jesus’s body had gone missing. It does not say that they did not ‘know the scriptures’ of Jesus having to rise from the dead. It’s a case ‘of their not understanding’. Apparently for some reason ‘There eyes had not yet been opened’ to the scriptures meaning. Of course the disciples were still in hiding. They wouldn’t have gone and reported this to the authorities. Instead they chose to go back to where they were staying.

Going on. Mary finally it seems has made her way back to the tomb. The disciples have long gone. She I’m sure was hoping that Peter and John would be there to explain what has happened, but she arrives finding herself alone. Hopeless. Where have they taken her Lord? It seems her every anchor, her every hope has vanished with the body of her Lord.

Verse 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 

Doesn’t this just make your heart both fall and then sing out in just a few sentences? There is so much that this encounter with Mary teaches us, about seeking and finding the Lord doesn’t it?

And it tells us about the heart of God- things that Jesus teaches us by example. For instance, things like love.

Let me ask you. Who is the very first person in the bible that Jesus chooses to reveals himself too? Yes Mary Magdalene. Notice, it’s not one of the remaining eleven disciples. Not to thousands of onlookers in a grand appearance from heaven. No, but to this Mary Magdalene. The bible has to this point made clear the importance of order, the order of appearance, the order of birthrights, of inheritances in social order, religious the order of gender such as the mentioning of men before women. And it was not only that was Mary a woman, but Mary had been a demonized women with everything that could have gone along with being demonized. She would have previously been at the height of unclean, viewed with suspicion. She was in the eyes of many, someone to keep an eye on (at the very least). But this too, it should be considered, may be the same Mary that came with oil and tears and hair, who in a crowd of onlookers, bowed and washed and anointed Jesus feet, in life sometime before His burial, and if it is the same Mary- who would also have been the very first this morning at the tomb to anoint her Jesus in his death. And as we will read, she too out of all the others, is the first and only person to cling to these same feet, before his accession.

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

It bears reminding, that it is this Mary Madelene, who is the first person in the bible, that the risen Christ has entrusted with a special task. A proclamation and a command. She stands as the first preacher of the Good News. You see, Jesus honors the heart. And so, Jesus honored Mary Magdalene.

Verse 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

So tonight as God speaks to us, He speaks to the Mary’s who serve in humble obedience and love. He speaks that He sees your heart and measures out every tear. That no sin is so great that it discounts you from being honored, above all others. That what the world considers weakness, God honors above all things. I know that there are Mary’s here tonight and God just wanted you to know that He loves you.

Moving forward on this 3^rd day, who comes next in the story?

As I mentioned at the beginning many at this point are still dealing with the agony and fear of Jesus’s crucifixion. And though Peter and John and Mary Magdalene have already visited the tomb. Others have not heard the good news.

Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.  2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 

Though Mary Magdalene had purchased spices with these women, she had left earlier and doing so had already met the risen Lord and by this time had left to tell the disciples. Mary the mother of James, Salome and according to other gospels other women as well, joined in. And early day, ventured out to the tomb with the spices needed to anoint Jesus’s body. They could be recognized as Jesus followers, but no risk was too great. They would not be dissuaded. They would follow their plan and so headed to the garden. As they wound their way to the tomb the women may have stopped to catch their breath, when one of them speaks something that has been troubling her- “who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”. I can hear the worry in their conversation. “The stone is too large” “ There are no men to help us” “ Why didn’t we think of this before?” What could we have been thinking?” This is the scene described to us in Vs.3  and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

But continue on they did. Really, at this point, what choice did they have?

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 

5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 

They were alarmed and am sure were left speechless. But who was this stranger? But we know, don’t we? God had left yet another guardian at the tomb. A messenger.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.

The women’s minds must have been racing with thoughts like -Yes! But how did this young man know that we were looking for our crucified Lord? But where is he. Is he hiding him from us?

The verse continues on as the young man proclaims “He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

He enjoins them. Please take look for yourselves. This young man (who we believe is an angel wants to make sure that they investigate, so that they can tell others with great confidence, that the tomb was empty.

7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”

Can you imagine the women’s excitement? Who is this young man? It seems he knows the disciples, and Peter by name as well? And he knows of Galilee? Go to Galilee? We will see Jesus there, just as he told us? Yes! Jesus did tell us to go ahead into Galilee!

The scene was surreal. It had all unfolded so quickly. The stone! It was rolled away! The young man in the white robe! And he knew why we were there! He had Risen! We know what risen means! Jesus is alive! He will meet us in Galilee just as Jesus said? Jesus is alive, Truly He is alive!

8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Hearts are pounding. They cannot speak. Their chests are in their throats and every hair is standing on end. They duck out of the tomb , when one of them starts running. Running as if her life depends on it, and the others following in hot pursuit, in fear and joy and bewilderment and in pure excitement. Running is the only thing that feels right. But we must run. We must tell the others!!! We must let them know that Jesus is alive!!!

Again we are witness to the fact that God is choosing to honor servants here. And true to Gods Word, in addition to Mary Magdalene he sent these other witnesses, ahead to the disciples who had only seen an empty tomb, to confirm Gods Word, that not only was Jesus alive, but confirm Jesus command that the disciples were to go on ahead to Galilee to meet Him there.

Now it was a busy morning to say the least. And yes Jesus honored these servant women. But there is always more going on than meets the eye. Because God has a plan. Why God didn’t intend for the angels to be there when Peter and John arrived only He knows. But God was at work in these men’s hearts as well. That we can be assured of. We visited the earlier account of both Peter and John, in the gospel of John chapter 20, and now we read a similar account with added details in Luke 24. And take note for further consideration that in this account there were some disciples who did not believe the testimonies of the women. But lets read on. In this account after the women have come back, we read of Peters personal and abbreviated experience in going to the tomb (though we know that John had gone as well).

Luke 24:9 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.

Q: Why did Peter run? What was Peter hoping in his heart as he ran? It says in the earlier account that John outran him. Is it possible that Peter had slowed his pace just bit? A slight hesitation in his stride? What may have given Peter who seemed to jump in first in everything this time to come in second after hearing this news? What may Peter have still been dealing with in his heart?

Who was Peter? I mean Jesus would choose this disciple ahead of all the others to lead the early church. Would you describe Peter as an ‘all-in’ person? Well, he was ‘all in’, in both his failures as much as in his victories . Peter jumped in with both feet, whether he jumped out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the Water, or later would jump out of the boat to get to the risen Jesus who was preparing a meal on the seashore after a night of fishing. And he, it often it seems Peter jumped to put both feet in his mouth. Specifically I recall the time he interrupted a conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah at the mount of transfiguration, Interrupting to ask if he should set up a proper camp. And yet in another instance was profoundly right on the mark being the first to proclaim Jesus as the son of God, but who moments later turned right around in Matthew 16 :22 and I quote- “ after Jesus telling him he must suffer death at the hands of the religious elite and be raised to life on the third day took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” And it goes on to say in verse 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.

Or was it Peter ‘the defender’ who ran to the tomb, who exclaimed in Matthew 26: Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”  (Going on to say) “even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you” and who jumped in with with ‘both feet and a sword’ and cut of the ear of the high priest to defend Jesus from arrest? Or was it the Peter who was now running to the tomb, the same Peter who just days earlier later denied him three times. Is this the Peter who got up and ran to the tomb? It was. Was Peter all in? He was. Why? Because Peter intimately knew his own failure, in the same way that he knew of Jesus’s overwhelming grace. I believe Peter was running to the only grace, he had ever known. It was all he had, and he knew it. Remember the time Jesus told his followers a hard thing about eating flesh and drinking blood? Tell me, who was first to pipe up? Let me read from John chapter 6: verse 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 

Earlier I said that everything in the bible is in its order is for a reason. I included the first woman to see Jesus. But there is another account in Corinthians 15 that says that Cephas (Peter) was the first of the Apostles to see Jesus. As it reads in verse 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, (and then) to the Twelve. 

Just as I asked earlier. God looks at what? God considers what?…. That’s right, the heart. And no it doesn’t tell us in Corinthians what happened when Jesus met with Peter, but I can assure you that it was not to tear Peter down. And I highly doubt it was to discipline Peter. It was most assuredly to comfort and to honor this man who jumped into faith and his love for Christ with both feet.

So. Did Peter receive the grace he was running after? Yes he did. Peter, as with the women at the tomb, is Gods way of showing us, the flawed and the sinful, we who are weak in the flesh, that today, right here and right now, that He desires to honor our love and commitment, by revealing himself to those who would come after him.

So again. Men. I ask you. Did Jesus reveal himself to a man in his darkest hour? A man who sank, a man who constantly put his foot in his mouth, a man who was prideful, a man who drew the sword, and yes a man who once even denied Christ, but who in truth loved his Lord with selfless abandon? And if he was willing to reveal himself to, and honor a flawed Peter, again would he not do the same for you and me? Listen. If we like Peter, hope in grace, trust in grace and run to grace, then we need to get ready to see Jesus.

You see the story of the empty tomb, is not a story of defeat, it is the story of the defeat of death. It is a story of a risen savior. It is a story of women and men who rise in the midst of that which only looks like defeat in the eyes of the world.

Lets finish by reading John 16: 16-33

16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” 31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”