March, 1936
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tion. Fourth, the apostles regarded the women’s report as "idle tales." Fifth, even Peter, having seen for himself the empty tomb, departed from the scene “wondering in himself." Golden Text Illustration A brutal warrior, having taken a city, announced his intention of burning it. The surviving soldiers o f the garrison were thrust into prison, where they lay expect ing a horrible death. But their king, whom they believed dead, had escaped the con queror’s clutches, and was gathering forces for their deliverance. One day sounds of a fierce conflict penetrated the prison walls. Silence followed, then the sound of marching. Then the prisoners heard the townsfolk shouting, “ God save the king!” Imagine their joy. He was entering the city in triumph. That meant life for them. Because Christ lives, we shall live also.—J. A. C l a r k , in Cyclopedia o f Religious Anecdotes.
hearts are aching needlessly and many sorrows are borne unnecessarily. We must observe, however, that in their sorrow these women were not left without com fort. When they saw the “two men,” they were afraid, but their fear was quick ly dissipated by the words they heard. The question was a rebuke as well as a com fort : “Why seek ye the living among the dead ?” Then they heard the glorious announce ment of the resurrection of our Lord. “He is not here, but is risen . . (vs. 6 , 7). This is perhaps the fullest sentence ever uttered. It declares the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Lord o f life and the Conqueror of death—He was dead; He is alive. It is also the most gloriousnsentence ever heard by mortal ears,- for it opens the door o f r life for all who will enter in by simple faith in the One who died and who lives. The women were reminded -of'what the Lord Himself had told them, that He should be delivered into the hands o f sin ful men and be crucified, and the-third day should rise again. The empty tomb was a demonstration of the fulfillment of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Immediately the women left the sepul cher, in order to report the news (vs. 8 - 10). Hence, women were the first preach ers of the facttjof the resurrection. With out this great truth that Christ is risen from the dead, all the sayings of and about the Lord Jesus would be valueless. With out this truth, no portion of the Bible would possess the slightest power tq. bless the sin-sick soul. If the resurrection—the literal, bodily, resurrection of our Lord— be not a historical fact, we are, as Paul declares, “of all men most miserable ” - (1 Cor. 15:19). III. T h e C o n fir m a tio n a t t h e E m p t y T om b ( 11 , 12 ). Today we are so” accustomed to hear of the resurrection, that it is difficult for us to put ourselves in the place of those to whom the women’s message came with a tremendous shock. The disciples were not expecting such an experience as the women described, and they were loath to believe.' that it could be true. But Luke tells 5us that Peter, willing to confirm the message, ran at once to the tomb, and there he found conditions just as the women had said. But instead of rejoicing that the word o f the Lord actu ally had been fulfilled, he merely turned away to his home filled with wonder and perplexity (cf. John 20:3-10). W e need not blame Peter overmuch, when we re call the thousands today who, after nearly two thousand years of proof, still refuse to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead, and who still attempt to explain the account o f the resurrection as being a myth rising from the hallucination of distraught women. When we tell the story o f the risen Christ, we need not be sur prised if we are met with the doubt and disbelief of the multitude. The truth concerning the resurrection o f the Lord Jesus Christ is woven into all the warp and woof of the Word. The Old Testament predicts the resurrection of the Lord, the Gospels record it as a historical event, the Epistles build all their teachings upon it, and the book of The Revelation bears, witness to it—being “the Revelation o f Jesus Christ. . , the first-begotten of the dead” (Rev. HI, 5). The literal resur rection of Jesus of Nazareth is the foun dation stone upon which the whole system o f Scriptural truth rests. To us who are born again, it brings the joy and assur
The Glad Surprise L u k e 24 :l-35 *.
Memory V erse : “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore”*'( Rev. 1:18). Approach: Because this is Easter, the day on which we think of that glad day many years ago, when Jesus arose from
ance of new life—a life forever imper vious to sin and death and decay. ;
the dead, we are go ing to skip over some of the stories about Jesus which we read^in the Gos- pel o f Luke, and talk about that won derful time when the friends and dis ciples of Jesus went to weep at His tomb and found that His body was not there
Points and Problems 1. “Found the stone rolled away" (Lk. 24:2). The angel was sent to remove the stone, not to let the risen Christ come forth, but to let the witnesses enter and see the empty tomb. Stone walls and closed doors were no barrier to the resur rection body of our Lord (John 20:26). The rolled-away stone is God’s gracious invitation to come and see. 2. “ They were much perplexed" (v. 4) when they entered the tomb and found no bod y' therein. The'S on of God had de clared plainly that He would rise, yet the sight o f the empty tomb brings perplexity instead of belief to those who should have remembered His word. It is hard for human nature to believe God. Still, the very perplexity o f the'women witnesses to the fact that the story of the resurrec tion did not rise out of mental halluci nation. His disciples did not expect Him to rise. There is no fertile soil here for self-induced credulity. 3. “ Why seek ye the living among the dead?” (v. 5). The expression, “the liv- ingjSdoes not refer to the living in gen eral, but has a very specific meaning. The Greek may be translated, “Why seek ye The Living One among the dead?” The same expression is used in Revelation 1: 18, where our Lord says of Himself: “I am the first and the last, and the Living one" (vs. 17, 18, R .V .). With some of the best commentators, I regard the term as a reference not only to the resurrection of Christ, but also to the fact of His deity. “In him was life,” writes John, pointing to the underived character of His life. All other life is derived, not self-existent. How astonishing for men to be looking among the dead for Him who has “life in himself” ! 4. The entire passage is an instructive commentary upon the unbelieving heart of man. First, the women came with “spices" to embalm a dead Christ. Second, they were “perplexed" at the empty tomb. Third, they had utterly forgotten the Lord’s clear prediction o f His resurrec
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in the tomb, for He had risen! Lesson Story: You remember the story—how the enemies o f Jesus, these same people who had not wanted Him to heal a sick man on the Sabbath day, would not believe that He was the Son of God, and how they delivered Him up to the governor. You know of how the governor, Pilate, could find no wrong in the Lord Jesus, but, because Pilate wished to please the Jews, he let his soldiers crucify Jes.us. But Jesus was not a man, but God, and the tomb could not hold Him. He had told His disciples many times that He would rise again, and although they want ed to believe Him, they didn’t understand. Some of His followers went to the tomb. It was empty. The stone had been rolled away so that they might look in and see that He was gone. And then, because He wanted His disciples to be very sure that He was risen and His body not just stolen away, the Lord Jesus showed Him self to His disciples a number of times. After forty days, He went back to heaven, Jesus arose from the dead that all who receive Him as their Saviour might also rise and dwell forevermore with Him in heaven. What a happy day Easter is ! It is a day which tells us glad, good news.
Object Lesson T h e Two R esurrections
Objects: A two-pound coffee can cov ered with green paper, two tumblers, enough corn to fill one tumbler, a black cloth, and a white cloth.
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