36

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
(Luke 24:1–12)

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And 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 perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that 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, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened. (24:1–12)

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most significant event in history. Central to God’s redemptive plan and the foundation of the gospel, the resurrection is the essential truth apart from which there is no Christianity. Paul put it bluntly in 1 Corinthians 15:17: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” The resurrection is not the epilogue to the story of Christ’s life; it is its triumphant goal, objective, and purpose.

The church has always understood the importance of the resurrection. Throughout its history it has met on Sunday, commemorating Jesus rising. The church does not meet on Friday, because Easter is the interpretation and validation of Good Friday. The resurrection is the divine vindication of the work that Jesus did on the cross. Apart from the resurrection the cross means nothing. When God raised Jesus from the dead, He affirmed that He had indeed borne our sins in His own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and thereby propitiated or satisfied the justice of God (Rom. 4:25).

The resurrection vindicates the hope of the gospel. The good news of salvation is not just that believers might experience forgiveness of sin, but rather that having been forgiven, they will live forever in the bliss of heaven in glorified, physical, resurrected bodies. The message of the gospel is not that people can be delivered from their troubles in this life. Nor does it promise that they will live on in the sense of their continuing influence, or that Christ merely lives on in His continuing influence, or in some nebulous spiritual form. The Christian message is that Jesus Christ rose from the grave in a glorified, physical body, and that believers one day will rise with a body like His glorified body (1 John 3:2).

The truth is that despite the claims of false religions and philosophical systems, death does not end human existence. Death is merely the doorway into eternity, through which all must pass. Everyone will live forever, fully conscious in spirit and body, either in everlasting joy, or everlasting suffering. There will be a resurrection to life, and a resurrection to judgment (John 5:28–29).

The resurrection to life that comes through the resurrection of Christ (John 14:19; Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:20–23; 1 Peter 1:3; 3:21) has been the hope of God’s people throughout redemptive history (Job 14:14; 19:25–26; Dan. 12:2; Acts 24:15), and the theme of apostolic preaching and teaching. On the Day of Pentecost, in the first Christian sermon, Peter said of Jesus, “God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24). When the Sanhedrin, “being greatly disturbed because [Peter and John] were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2), arrested Peter and John, Peter boldly proclaimed to them, “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health” (v. 10). Later he told Cornelius and those gathered in his house,

In the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch Paul proclaimed,

Paul declared to the pagan philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens that God “has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). He wrote to the Romans, “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4); to the Corinthians, “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:14); and to the Ephesians, “[God] raised [Christ] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20). Peter opened his first epistle by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

It comes as no surprise, then, that all four Gospels contain an account of the events surrounding the resurrection, though none of them describe the actual event. Each of the gospel writers was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write a unique account, consistent with his own theme and intention. There is no evidence that the writers were, as some critics maintain, copying from a common source. The accounts are personal, unaffected, and uncontrived, which belies any kind of concerted effort on their parts to blend everything together. Thus Luke’s account does not give all the details concerning the resurrection. It does not repeat some of the things that are recorded by Matthew, Mark, and John. But it also includes some details that are not in the other accounts. And because the Holy Spirit inspired all four, they harmonize perfectly (cf. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012]).

There are some core truths concerning the resurrection that all four gospel writers present. First, Jesus was truly dead. Second, on Sunday morning, the third day after He was placed in the tomb, the tomb was found empty. Third, angels appeared and explained what had happened. Fourth, the first eyewitnesses of the risen Christ were the women who had been His followers. Fifth, the apostles and the rest of the male disciples refused to believe the testimony of the women.

The previous two chapters in this volume presented evidence that Jesus had died on the cross; this chapter will present the other four key truths: the empty tomb, the angelic messengers, the witness of the women, and the unbelieving disciples.

THE EMPTY TOMB

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (24:1–3)

The resurrection took place on the first day of the week in fulfillment of Jesus’ prediction that He would be “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40; cf. 27:63; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34). The Jewish people had no names for the days of the week, but numbered them in relation to the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. The first day, therefore, was Sunday, the day after the Sabbath. The Saturday that Jesus’ body was in the tomb was the last official Sabbath (Col. 2:16–17); the church, as noted earlier, meets on Sunday, in honor and remembrance of the Lord’s resurrection (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10).

The women came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared on Friday after watching Joseph and Nicodemus prepare Jesus’ body and then place it in the tomb (Luke 23:55–56). They intended to return after the Sabbath to finish preparing the Lord’s body for burial. Luke notes that they arrived at early dawn; Matthew “as it began to dawn” (Matt. 28:1); and Mark “when the sun had risen” (Mark 16:2). The varying terminology reflects the different ways the writers described the same time of day; early dawn was the time when it began to dawn because the sun had just risen. John notes that Mary Magdalene arrived earlier “while it was still dark” (John 20:1). Evidently all the women set out just before dawn while it was still dark, but Mary got to the tomb ahead of the others. Seeing that the stone had been removed, she assumed the worst—that grave robbers had broken in to the tomb and stolen Jesus’ body. She immediately left to report the shocking news to Peter and John (v. 2), who ran to the tomb to investigate (vv. 3–8). Overcome with grief, Mary returned to the tomb, but by the time she got there, the two disciples and the other women had come and gone. Since she did not cross paths with either group, she did not know about the angels (Luke 24:4–7).

Meanwhile the other women arrived at the tomb, where to their amazement, they unexpectedly found the stone rolled away from the tomb. The stone was far too heavy for them to maneuver, and the women had discussed the problem of how to move it while on their way to the tomb (Mark 16:3). They did not know of the guard detachment, which also would have prevented them from entering the tomb. It had been posted on Saturday (Matt. 27:62–66), when they were home observing the Sabbath. The guards, terrified by the earthquake and the appearance of the angels, had been rendered unconscious (Matt. 28:4). When they came to their senses they fled, and some reported what had happened to the Jewish leaders (v. 11), who initiated a cover-up (vv. 12–15).

With no stone or soldiers to hinder them, the women went inside the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus (cf. Acts 2:36). The soldiers knew the tomb was empty, or they would still have been there guarding it. The Jewish leaders knew that the tomb was empty, or they would not have invented a false story to explain why it was empty. Mary knew the tomb was empty, or she would not have reported to Peter and John that it was. Peter and John also knew firsthand that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb. There is no explanation for the empty tomb other than that it was empty because Jesus had risen from the dead.

THE ANGELIC MESSENGERS

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” (24:4–7)

The women were standing in or just outside the tomb, shocked and perplexed because the body of Jesus was gone. Suddenly, they went from being puzzled to being terrified. As they stood there in the light of dawn trying to figure out what could have happened to the corpse, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing. Matthew (28:2) and John (20:12) identify them as angels, appearing in human form (cf. Gen. 18:2; 19:1–5; Dan. 10:16). Although there were two of them (perhaps as witnesses; cf. Deut. 19:15), only one spoke. Similarly, although there were two demon-possessed men at Gerasa (Matt. 8:28), only one spoke (Mark 5:2, 7; Luke 8:27–28), and while there were two blind men healed on the road near Jericho (Matt. 20:30), Mark (10:46) and Luke (18:35) mention only the one who spoke. Their dazzling clothing (cf. Matt. 17:2; Acts 1:10; Rev. 19:14) identified them as divine messengers. Understandably, the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground (cf. Luke 1:12; 2:9; Dan. 8:15–18; 10:9; Matt. 28:2–4; Acts 10:3–4; Rev. 22:8).

In a mild rebuke the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One, the one who is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), the one over whom death no longer is master (Rom. 6:9), the one who was dead, but now is alive forevermore (Rev. 1:18) among the dead?” This angelic question is the first announcement that Jesus was alive. The angels went on to say, “He is not here, but He has risen” (lit., “been raised”; the Greek verb is in the passive voice [cf. Acts 2:24, 32; 3:15, 26; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 33, 34, 37; Rom. 4:24–25; 6:4, 9; 7:4; 8:11, 34; 10:9; 1 Cor. 6:14; 15:4, 12–20; 2 Cor. 4:14; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:20; Col. 2:12; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Peter 1:21]). “Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Matt. 16:21; 17:22–23; 20:17–19; 26:2; 27:63). Since Jesus had predicted His resurrection, they should have been expecting it. But they obviously did not, since they brought spices with which to anoint His dead body.

THE WITNESS OF THE WOMEN

And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. (24:8–10)

After the angels’ reminder, the women remembered the words Jesus spoke concerning His rising. As they left the tomb to report all these things to the eleven and to all the rest, the magnitude of what they had just experienced and heard dawned on them, and “they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples” (Matt. 28:8).

Meanwhile, Peter and John were en route to the tomb to investigate Mary Magdalene’s report that Christ’s body had been stolen by grave robbers (John 20:1–3). When the rest of the women returned, they confirmed Mary’s report that the tomb was empty, and also filled in the details that she was unaware of. Mary did not look into the tomb, and did not see either the grave clothes or the angels. The other women reported the words of the angels to the nine apostles (Peter and John still had not returned) that the Lord had indeed risen, as He had said He would. They also related their encounter with the risen Lord, whom they had met on the way back from the tomb (Matt. 28:9–10).

That the resurrected Christ appeared first to women elevated women, who held an inferior position in Jewish society. It was a testimony to their love, devotion, and courage. They had witnessed His death at Calvary and His burial, and had seen the empty tomb. John is the only disciple recorded to have been at the cross, but he did not witness the burial; Joseph and Nicodemus buried the Lord’s body, but they did not see the empty tomb. Now, with His appearance to the women, the evidence was complete, and only the women were eyewitnesses to the entire sequence of events. Luke may have specifically named three of them, Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James, again in light of the law’s requirement that “on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed” (Deut. 19:15).

At first glance Mary Magdalene seems out of place in the group of eyewitnesses. According to John 20:1–2, she had seen that the Lord’s body was not in the tomb, jumped to the erroneous conclusion that grave robbers had taken it, and ran back to report her conclusion to Peter and John. Thus, she was not at the tomb with the other women.

But her story does not end there. At some point she decided to go back to the tomb. John 20:11 finds her “standing outside the tomb weeping and … as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb.” This time, as the other women had, she saw the two angels sitting inside (v. 12). They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” and, still clinging to the belief that grave robbers had stolen Christ’s body, “She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him’” (v. 13). At that point, whether because she sensed someone behind her or the angels gestured, “she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus” (v. 14). He, too, asked her why she was weeping, and then whom she was seeking (v. 15). Leaping to another erroneous conclusion, “Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away’” (v. 15). Then with a single word, Jesus revealed Himself to her: “Mary!” (v. 16). Instantly all of her confusion, doubt, and grief vanished, as she recognized the Lord. Overcome with joy and relief, Mary addressed Him as “Rabboni!” (a strengthened form of the word “Rabbi,” used here to express supreme honor and reverence to her beloved Teacher) and clung to Him. He admonished her not to cling to Him, since He had not yet ascended to the Father, and sent her back to inform the disciples that He was to ascend to Him (v. 17).

With astonished joy, she raced back to the disciples, announced to them, “I have seen the Lord,” and gave them His message (v. 18). Since she had the same experience as the other women of seeing the risen Christ, Luke rightly included her with them.

THE UNBELIEVING DISCIPLES

But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened. (24:11–12)

Sadly, but predictably, the disciples dismissed the women’s testimony as nonsense, mere idle talk and folly. No matter that the women’s stories were identical, indicating that they all saw and experienced the same reality. No matter that their story had cohesion, was consistent, and provided details for which there was no other plausible explanation. The disciples thought the whole thing was absurd, and they would not believe them (cf. Luke 24:23–25).

Then Luke added as a side note Peter’s visit to the tomb with John, which happened before the other women and Mary Magdalene returned. Along with John, Peter got up and ran to the tomb after Mary Magdalene’s initial report. John outran him and got there first, but did not go inside. Peter arrived and, stooping and looking in (John 20:6 adds that he then entered the tomb), he saw the linen wrappings only. Puzzled and not yet sure what to make of it, he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

The disciples’ unbelief offers further evidence that Jesus had risen. They would never have fabricated a resurrection, as the Jewish leaders falsely accused them of doing, since they were not expecting one. When the resurrection was reported to them by eyewitnesses, they scoffed at it and refused to believe. It was not until Jesus Himself appeared to them that they finally accepted that He had risen—and Thomas, who was not present when the Lord appeared to the other ten, refused to take their word for it. He would not believe until Jesus appeared a second time with him present.

But if the disciples did not take the body maybe, some argue, the Romans, Jews, or grave robbers did.

Nor is it plausible that the women mistakenly went to the wrong tomb, since they had seen where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus buried the Lord’s body. And if they had, the Jewish leaders and the Romans knew where the correct one was. Why did someone not simply go to the right tomb and retrieve the body? Similarly, if the body of Jesus was not buried, but thrown into a pit, why did someone not go and retrieve it? If Christ’s body had been thrown into a pit it would mean that the story of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus burying Him was false. In that case, those two would surely have debunked it.

The numerous appearances Jesus made after the resurrection provide the most convincing proof of His resurrection:

As noted in the discussion of verse six above, the New Testament repeatedly affirms that God raised Jesus from the dead. To deny the resurrection, therefore, is not only to reject the compelling historical facts, but also to deny the testimony of the New Testament. But if the resurrection did take place as the overwhelming evidence indicates, then the Bible is true, Jesus is Lord, and every person is accountable to Him (cf. Phil. 2:10–11).

It is not enough merely to feel that Christianity is true, or even accept intellectually that it is. Feelings remove emotional barriers to experiencing the risen Christ; facts remove intellectual ones. But neither alone is sufficient to save. Only faith in the resurrection, “[confessing] with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and [believing] in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,” will result in salvation, “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Rom. 10:9–10).