The bulletin for tonight’s service can be found here.

Luke 24:1-11

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.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

With all the reverence and respect that I can give to them, the angels that appear the morning of the resurrection are a bit sassy. These women had left early, even before the sun had started to peek over the horizon. So, they probably hadn’t gotten themselves ready like they would on any other morning. They just tossed on some clothes and grabbed the bundles of spices as they went out the door to walk through that dewy, morning air. They went intending to finish the job of burying Jesus. But when they arrived at the tomb, they find it. The stone – rolled away. The body of Jesus – gone. So, they stand there totally disheveled and utterly perplexed.

These two angels that stand in front of them look completely different. The angels are clothed in dazzling apparel. They look at these tired women with their bundles, and it’s almost like the angels are thinking, “Oh, for cute. These women with their bundles of spices. What do they think they are going to do here?”

And one of those angels asks his sassy question, “Why do you seek the Living One among the dead? He’s not here. He is risen. Remember what He told you while He was still with you in Galilee? The Son of Man had to be delivered into the hands of sinful men, crucified, and on the third day rise. By the way, ladies, that’s today.” It’s like that angel is saying, “This shouldn’t be too difficult for you. He told you all about this.”

And it’s at that point that these women – Mary and Mary and Mary and Mary (there were lots of Marys) and Joanna and Salome – they remember that Jesus had said that He would rise. Only then did they remember those words of Jesus.

So, they ran back to tell these things to the eleven apostles and all the others who were gathered together. Luke doesn’t record the conversation between the women and the rest, but he makes it very clear (it doesn’t come out in our translation) that there was an ongoing conversation. “As they were speaking about these things to the apostles” (Lk. 24:10). 

Luke only leaves us to imagine what this conversation would have sounded like. But the women probably told them all about the angels and their dazzling apparel and about the other sassy angel who had come down to sit on the stone and dance on the grave of death (Mt. 28:2-3). They would have told them how the angel reminded them what Jesus had said about that dying and rising stuff.

But the words of these disheveled, frantic, crazy women sounded delirious. The apostles figured it was nothing more than an idle tale and a bunch of nonsense. What they had seen on Good Friday was too devastating. They figured the women hadn’t gotten enough sleep and should have set their alarm clocks for a little later.

And that reaction to the women’s report is a huge comfort to us today. They should have believed the whole time, even as Christ hung on the cross. But the fact they initially thought it was all nonsense bolsters our faith.

Because as that day rolled on, Jesus would appear to two of them on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-32). Jesus would appear to Peter (Lk. 24:34). That evening, Jesus would appear to all of them as they sat locked in the upper room (Jn. 20:19-22). Jesus would eat in front of them and show them His pierced hands and side (Lk. 24:38-43).

The women weren’t spewing a bunch of nonsense. It wasn’t an idle tale. As that day wore on, their disbelief melted away into belief. And that belief would strengthen into boldness. And that boldness would mature into courage.

What first had sounded like an idle tale and a bunch of nonsense to the apostles slowly became an undeniable certainty. Jesus died but lives. And now, because He lives, death would have no hold on them because it had no hold on Jesus. Death was no longer their enemy, because their Savior, their Lord, their Jesus, had defeated death.

As the years passed, almost all of those – who, initially, thought that the Resurrection was just a bunch of nonsense, just an idle tale of tired and confused women – they would, one by one, refuse to deny the fact that Jesus had risen. They would not deny that the One who had died is now living. They would rather give up their own lives because it wasn’t nonsense. Jesus is the Living One who gives everlasting life to all who believe in Him.

Dear saints, the day is coming when all the perplexities of this world and of your life will not be perplexing anymore. In that day, this fact will remain certain, firm, and sure – Jesus is risen. It is no nonsense. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.