By Scott Brown
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly
Focal Passage: Luke 24:1-12
Reading this text, it is quite the emotional rollercoaster. In these few verses we see multiple strong feelings. The women are grief stricken, having seen the Lord crucified and the hope they had crushed.
As they came to mourn and to honor Him, they find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Their grief is now mingled with confusion. Did someone take the body? Who would do such a horrible thing? Their confusion turns to terror when they see two men in dazzling clothes who announce that He is risen. He is risen! Can you believe it?
They must have been awestricken in that moment. As they bow down in terror before these men, they hear this incredible announcement. The King is risen! A great emotional paradigm shift turned them from grief and hopelessness to overjoy and excitement in an instant. He is alive!
They run back from the tomb to tell the others what they had seen and heard. They can hardly believe it themselves! It’s almost too good to be true. As they share their excitement, it is received just like that. It seems too good to be true and the apostles will not believe it. Can you imagine the immense frustration these women must have felt?
Scott Brown
They are sharing the greatest news anyone has ever heard and yet it is dismissed as total nonsense. They were likely seen as just hysterical women, fragile and driven mad by grief. Impetuous Peter leaps up and runs to the tomb to see for himself.
Simon Peter resonates with me. He is consistently rash and unbridled, stumbling into some truly beautiful moments (walking on water, running to the tomb, confessing Jesus as Christ) and some deeply foolish ones (denying Christ, speaking up at the transfiguration). He is desperate for hope, though. “Maybe these women are crazy but, if there is any chance this is true, I have to see it for myself.”
As Peter arrives at the tomb he sees only linen cloths. There is no body, no stone, just linen cloths folded neatly and confirming the women’s story that He is risen. This passage ends with one more emotion described. Peter went away amazed at what had happened. He was dumbfounded, excited and thunderstruck all at once. Just like Peter, the truth of the resurrection of Christ still amazes me.
He is risen, praise God. Let us follow two examples here in the text. Let us hurry to tell everyone the Lord is risen. They may think we are crazy, but we will know because we have seen. He is alive!
Let us also hurry hastily to experience for ourselves the truth of the gospel, the resurrection power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is alive — we have hope. He is alive — we have peace. He is alive — we have life in Him Who died for us and defeated death for all who trust in Him. B&R
