THE UNEXPECTED RESURRECTION

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 20, 2022 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: April 20, 2022 from Luke 24:1-12

Theme: The Lord Jesus was raised as He promised—but as a surprise to His followers.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Much of what we have studied most recently in Luke’s Gospel has had a sorrowful undertone. But now comes joy! Luke 24 tells us the wonderful story of Jesus’ resurrection—and of how He appeared to those who bore witness that He was raised from the dead.

In Luke 24:1-12, we read of what happened after Jesus was crucified and buried—and after the women who had witnessed His burial had gone away to prepare spices and fragrant oils for His body:

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened (Luke 24:1-12).

And in this final chapter of Luke’s Gospel, this is only the beginning of the marvels!

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When we compare the different Gospel accounts of the Lord’s resurrection, we find that the way that the story is told in each of them—and the details that they each report—are sometimes slightly different from one another. When we put all the pieces together, however, we find that there’s no real conflict between them at all. They together give us a fuller story with all the parts in harmony. In fact, the variations between them actually help prove the truthfulness of their report that Jesus rose from the dead. After all, if they all reported the very same things in the identical way, it would make us wonder if the story they all told was made-up.

But we also find that the different Gospel writers had distinct purposes in relating the stories to us in the way that they did. They each bring a unique emphasis. And in Luke’s case, the emphasis seems to be the seeming-unexpected nature of our Lord’s resurrection. He tells us about the two disciples who met with the resurrected Lord along the road to Emmaus—and of how they, without knowing that they were talking with the Lord, expressed their disappointment at the turn of events. He had to prove to them that what happened to Him was according to God’s promise. Only then did He reveal Himself to them. Or Luke tells us about how the disciples were gathered together in the upper room, and were surprised to discover the Lord standing among them—presenting Himself to them as alive. He had to give them empirical proof that He wasn’t a ghost—and that He had truly been bodily raised from the dead. And the same sort of thing is true with the story that we find before us in this passage. Those who came to the tomb were not expecting to find Him alive. And to their surprise, they discovered that He lived.

This has important value with respect to the truth-claim of the Christian faith. Many skeptics of the Gospels have argued that the disciples were so completely given over to the expectation that Jesus would rise from the dead that they imagined that He did. They “experienced” appearances of Jesus that never really happened. Some have even argued that they had ended up going to the wrong tomb, found it empty, and over-eagerly reported that He was raised. But that’s not what we find in the Gospel accounts—and particularly in the emphasis that Luke brings to his Gospel. The Lord had told His disciples beforehand what would happen to Him—including that He would be raised. But they clearly didn’t grasp it or believe it. The Lord Jesus was indeed raised as He had promised. But it came as a complete surprise to His followers.

Notice how Luke shows this to us. First, we see …

1. THE SURPRISE ON SUNDAY MORNING (vv. 1-4).

Luke tells us in verse 1, “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” The “they” are the women who were mentioned in 23:55-56, who had seen clearly where the Lord was buried, and who then went to prepare the spices and fragrant oils out of reverential respect for His body. They had to prepare these elements on Friday evening before 6 pm—before the Saturday Sabbath, the day of rest, had begun. Then, they had to wait until early Sunday morning to come and apply them to His body.

Luke tells us that they came early in the morning. In John’s Gospel, we’re told that they went while it was still dark. And Matthew’s Gospel tells us that they came when the day began to dawn. There’s no conflict if we understand that they went when it was still dark and arrived as the sun was just coming up. They came as soon as they had daylight in which to do their work. But it must be that—on their way—they remembered that a stone had covered the tomb. Matthew, in his Gospel, tells us that this was a large stone. And Mark tells us that they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” Perhaps they were expecting that someone there would have pity on them and help them. They certainly couldn’t have moved it themselves. “But”, as Luke tells us in verse 3, “they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” And it wasn’t that it was just rolled out of the way. John, in his Gospel, uses a word that means that the stone had been lifted up and taken out of the way! As Matthew tells us, it had been done by an angel of the Lord before the women had gotten there. Verse 3 tells us, “Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”

The women didn’t expect to see this. They expected to find a stone covering the tomb, and the body of Jesus inside. If they had come expecting the resurrection, they would have brought palm branches and banners of celebration. They wouldn’t have brought spices to anoint His body for the final stage of His burial. The resurrection came as a surprise to them.

Further evidence of the unexpected nature of Jesus’ resurrection is found in …

2. THE REMEMBRANCE OF WHAT HAD BEEN PROMISED (vv. 4-8).

Luke tells us in verse 4, “And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.” It’s interesting that Luke refers to them as “two men”. In Acts 1:10-11—when Luke wrote to tell us about how the resurrected Lord Jesus ascended to heaven in the sight of His disciples—it says;

And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10-11).

What Luke calls “two men”, the other Gospels refer to as “angels”. The sight of them must have been awesome to these women. We’re told in verses 5-6, “Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!’” They spoke to these women as if they shouldn’t have been surprised that Jesus was raised. Then, the angels went on to tell them in verses 6-7, “Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” This was something that the Lord Jesus told His disciples repeatedly. In Luke 9:44-45, He told them,

“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying (Luke 9:44-45).

And in Luke 18:31-34, we’re told that He took His disciples aside and said,

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken (Luke 18:31-34).

It may have been that these women—or at least some of them—had been present with the disciples to hear Jesus say those words to them. And in verse 8 of our passage, Luke tells us, “And they remembered His words.” But the fact that they had to be ‘reminded’ of what they had already been told is another piece of evidence of how unexpected Jesus’ resurrection was to them.

A third piece of evidence is found in …

3. THE DISBELIEF OF THE REPORT (vv. 9-11)

Luke tells us in verses 9-10, “Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.” Just think of what a privilege these women had! The apostles were not the ones who first declared the resurrected Lord. It was these women! And they were sent to declare it to—of all people—the apostles themselves!

There’s a wonderful part of this story that isn’t told by Luke. We find it in Matthew’s Gospel. The angels sent the women to go and report what they had seen to the apostles …

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me” (Matthew 28:9-10).

You can just imagine the excitement of these women! And they would have imagined that the disciples would have been excited too. But Luke goes on to tell us in verse 11, “And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.” Clearly, the apostles themselves didn’t expect the resurrection either.

And this is proven to us further still by what we find in verse 12 …

4. THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SITE (v. 12).

In verse 12, Luke tells us, “But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves …” Peter had to stoop down to enter, because the doorway to the tomb was narrow and short. But entering in, he found the linen cloths that Joseph and Nicodemus had wrapped around Jesus’ body “lying by themselves”—that is, not wrapped around a body, but empty. If someone had stolen the body of Jesus, they would not have been able to leave the linen wrappings like that. John, in his Gospel, tells the story to us in this way:

Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes (John 20:3-10).

Only Luke, in verse 12, tells us this about Peter: “and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.” Why did He marvel? Because he didn’t expect to see what he found. He hadn’t anticipated the resurrection.

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The resurrection of our Lord was something that was unexpected by those who first heard of it. It caught them by surprise. This helps us to see that the resurrection of our Lord is a declaration of God’s grace to us. It’s not something that men created. It wasn’t even something that men anticipated. But rather, it was something that God declared for our salvation.

Today, the unexpected nature of the resurrection is removed. We have heard the testimony of those who saw Him. And so, as Jesus told Thomas, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

AE