Luke 24:1-6
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen!”
I read the other day that Abraham Lincoln’s body has been moved some 17 times since his death in 1865. Most of the movement has been due to the many reconstructions of the Lincoln Tomb over the years as well as for security purposes.
The coffin itself has been opened 5 times, the last time in 1901 when, some 36 years after his death, his casket was chiseled open and 23 people viewed his head and shoulders to ensure that Lincoln’s body was, in fact, still in the grave.
Today, Lincoln’s casket is encased in a steel cage 10 feet beneath the floor of the tomb and covered in 4,000 pounds of concrete.
And despite the fact that our 16th president has been dead for 158 years now; despite the fact that his body is not preserved under Plexiglas like Vladimir Lenin’s body in Red Square in Moscow and, therefore, is not on display to onlookers; despite all this, over one million people visit Lincoln’s Tomb in Springfield, Illinois every year.
Why?
We visit Lincoln’s Tomb out of respect; out of curiosity; to find some kind of connection with our history; and it’s not a bad thing to do.
But the angels in this story ask a very interesting question: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
We go to Lincoln’s Tomb, essentially, because he is still there! It would take some doing but, if we really wanted to, we could dig down 10 feet, break through 4,000 pounds of concrete, open the lead-lined coffin, and look into the embalmed face of Abraham Lincoln. It makes sense to look for the dead among the dead.
But not so with Jesus.
The women had gone to the tomb early in the morning in order to anoint Jesus’ body properly for burial. That was not a bad thing to do! But, from the viewpoint of the angels, it was simply an unnecessary thing to do! And it was unnecessary for one reason, and one reason only: Jesus was not there!
We come now to the central claim of the gospel. Paul writes:
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Paul is telling us that without the resurrection there is no gospel!
Without his resurrection from the dead Jesus would have been just another Jewish prophet crucified by the Romans.
Without his resurrection from the dead we would not number our years from his birth.
Without his resurrection from the dead there would be no church.
Without his resurrection from the dead the cross would be just another ancient instrument of torture and death.
Without his resurrection, there would be no salvation. Paul says,
…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…1 Corinthians 15:17
But somewhere just outside the ancient walls of Jerusalem there is a tomb where once laid the cold and lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth who was charged with treason and crucified by Pontius Pilate. But his body is not there. That tomb is as empty today as it was that first Easter Sunday morning nearly 2000 years ago.
And because that tomb is empty we rejoice in the words of the Apostle:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55
He is risen!
Hallelujah!
He is risen!
Brian Coffey
Brian Coffey
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