New Life Bible Fellowship Church
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      • 1 Corinthians 15:20–22NKJV

  • Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
  • He Lives

      • Psalm 80NKJV

  • Introduction:

    In our final message in this years passion week series entitled, Joy From Sorrow, we shall seek to unpack the greatest of all miracles known to man. A miracle of such immense proportion that our present purpose and future continuance rises and falls on this miracle, the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus the Christ from the dead. The apostle Paul declares it like this:
    1 Corinthians 15:12–19 ESV
    12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
    The last time we met, on Good Friday evening, we learned how God’s servant, his Son, the Messiah, had to endure the sorrow of the cross in order for joy to be the outcome. We learned that the peace we seek with God can only come through the sacrificial, substitutional death of the Messiah in our place, in other words,
    Isaiah 53:3–7 ESV
    3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
    Thus it was so as we left Friday night. However, if Christ remained in the grave, he would have been no better then any other humble religious leader. But it is the miracle of the resurrection that sets Christ apart from them all, for Paul goes on to say, from our call to worship this morning,
    1 Corinthians 15:20–22 ESV
    20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
    It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that gives us hope here this morning, and every morning. This we will see was not a manufactured hope brought on by some fanatics who were living in deception, but real unexpected hope which we seek to expose this morning in our message entitled, Exaltation of Joy, from Luke 24:1-12.
    ​

    Text: Luke 24:1-12

    Luke 24:1–12 ESV
    1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 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? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 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, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

    Main Idea: Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ we his people have real hope and real joy.

    Background:

    The resurrection is one of a few events in Jesus life here on earth that is mentioned in all four of the gospels, and, all four Gospels state that the resurrection took place on Sunday. In fact, this is the reason that we worship together every Sunday. So why was the resurrection so important that each of the four gospel writers would include it? Especially since each wrote for a different purpose and to a different group of people?
    Matthew wrote to the Jews, declaring the Jesus was their Messiah. Mark, wrote to the Romans, showing that Jesus was one who came to serve. Luke, wrote to the Greeks, emphasizing Jesus’ humanity. And finally John wrote to everyone in order to declare the divinity of Jesus. However, each saw their message audience and message purpose as pivoting on the death, burial, and glorious resurrection of their main topic, Jesus. They were not just history writers, writing about a historical figure, but they knew that apart from this truth, the truth of the resurrection, they would have no message, to the point that each gospel builds to this event as its crescendo, its main event. This is why all four are called The Gospels! I want us to understand as we begin here this morning, that the event of the resurrection was…

    I. The Unexpected (1-4)

    The women who came to the tomb that morning were rational human beings that had seen Jesus die, and their expectation was that they had prepared spices to embalm his dead body, which they had prepared two days earlier, for we read:
    Luke 23:54–56 ESV
    54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
    (1) But (de [conjunction]) on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. - they had come expecting to find a body, in a tomb, with a large stone in front of it, wondering how they were going to get in (Mark 16:3). But instead they found:
    (2) And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, - the stone was gone…
    (3) but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. - so was the body…
    (4) While they were perplexed (aporeo [pre,mid,inf)] - confusion, unable to reason) about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. - being confused, since all that they were seeing and experiencing was completely unexpected, and as a result, they were unable to reason what was going on as they stood in the presence of two supernatural beings.
    But in the midst of their perplexity, the angels gave…

    II. The Proclamation (5-10)

    (5) 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? - the women’s fear was a reverent fear, but the message was unmistakeable…Jesus was alive!
    (6) He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, - you don’t see him for one reason and one reason alone…he has risen from the dead. This should not have been a surprise since Jesus had made this very clear to his followers…
    (7) that the Son of Man (emphasis on his humanity, used often by Jesus himself) must (dei [pre, act, ind] - to be unavoidable) be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” - Jesus declares this in Luke 9:22, as part of something that was predetermined, and not just the random act of evil men.
    Luke 9:22 ESV
    22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
    (8) And they remembered his words, - their eyes were opened and they recalled Jesus words. Now their perplexity turned into action, showing they now believed and now understood…
    (9) and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
    These women became the first to proclaim this irrefutable proclamation!
    the eleven. Judas is now missing (cf. v. 33; Matt. 28:16; Acts 1:26). and to all the rest includes the two disciples of Luke 24:13–25 and the 120 of Acts 1:15. Luke now discloses who some of these women were…
    (10) 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,
    it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women - indicates that at least five women went to the tomb.
    Mary Magdalene is the first to see the risen Lord (John 20:10–18). She is mentioned in all four Gospels in connection with the crucifixion and the resurrection; but otherwise we hear of her only in Luke 8:2, where we learn that Jesus had exorcised seven demons from her.
    However, the disciples either finding it hard to believe something that seemed so irrational, or just because the women were proclaiming it, somehow needed proof…

    III. The Verification (11-12)

    (11) but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. - something like our phrase, “Old Wives Tales”. In general, for some reason, the testimony of women was not highly regarded by first-century Jews. But I think that this report was so incredible, that someone needed to verify their report…
    (12) But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
    This detail exposes the mistake of the rumor later circulated by the Sanhedrin, that Jesus’ body was stolen (Matt. 28:11–15).
    Peter rose and ran. - from John’s account (John 20:3-6) we find out that John out ran Peter, but that Peter entered the tomb first. So when he saw, and verified the women’s testimony…
    he went home marveling (thaumazo [pre, act, par] - astonished, not believing one’s eyes) at what had happened.- he went home marveling.
    Luke tells us in his book of Acts, speaking of Jesus resurrection:
    Acts 1:3 ESV
    3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
    Paul also declares the same in his verification statement in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
    1 Corinthians 15:3–8 ESV
    3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
    It is this Gospel that we also declare until you this morning, the sorrow of the crucifixion became the joy of the resurrection.

    So What?

    Do we understand the immense miracle of the resurrection?
    Without the resurrection, we would be as hopeless as every other human being on earth.
    Do we understand that Jesus was the first-fruit of all those who will die in Christ?
    This means that because of Jesus’ resurrection, he was the first of the harvest, and we will follow in our own resurrection some day.
    Have you believed the gospel this morning?
    That Christ Jesus died for our sins, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day.

      • 1 Corinthians 15:12–19ESV

      • Isaiah 53:3–7ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 15:20–22ESV

      • Luke 24:1–12ESV

      • Luke 23:54–56ESV

      • Luke 9:22ESV

      • Acts 1:3ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 15:3–8ESV

  • I Come To The Cross
New Life Bible Fellowship Church
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