Sermon Snippet – Echoes from the Empty Tomb
INTRODUCTION – Usually, the word empty has a negative connotation – an empty bank account, an empty house, an empty feeling. It is fitting that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has taken this desolate word and invested it with hope. Let us hear the echoes from the empty tomb as we read Luke 24:1-12.
1. THE EMPTY TOMB SPEAKS OF LOATHSOME DEATH
The death of Jesus was real, horribly real. He suffered an excruciating physical death from crucifixion; even worse, infinitely worse, was the spiritual death that He endured for us as He took upon Himself the full punishment of our sins. “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me,” Jesus cried from the Cross (Matthew 27:46b), indicating the absoluteness of the separation of God the Father and God the Son. This separation is the sad essence of death, cruel death. Note that the ladies, devoted disciples, “came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared” (verse 1). This act of love also had an unpleasant practical aspect: the spices would help to cover the overwhelming stench of death and decay. I hope that none of you have had to smell that odor, and I hope that you never will. Given my position as a pastor, I have – and the remembrance is uncomfortably unforgettable: “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19b). The empty tomb of Jesus speaks of the reality of loathsome death – speaks directly and forcefully to each one of us.
2. THE EMPTY TOMB SPEAKS TO OUR LINGERING DOUBTS
Even though these dear ladies “entered” into the empty “sepulchre” and “found not the body of Jesus,” still “they were much perplexed” (verses 2-4). They needed angelic intervention and instruction before their doubts could begin to be allayed (verse 4-8). Jesus had spoken clearly to them before His death (verse 7), but only when the empty tomb spoke to them did they finally grasp – at least tenuously – the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. The “eleven” leading disciples also had dark doubts (verses 9-12). After their visit to this echoing empty tomb, they remained puzzled: John 20:9 records, “For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” All of these people – all of them extremely close to Jesus – had doubts. Only in the emptiness of Jesus’ tomb did these doubts start to lift. The same is true today for each one of us.
3. THE EMPTY TOMB SPEAKS OF LOVE DIVINE
More accurately, it shouts – and the triumph echoes. The sacrifice was real, and it was sufficient. Now, the power of the Resurrection confirms the claims of Jesus and proclaims that His offer of everlasting salvation is legitimate (I Corinthians 15:19-20). Cynics scoff, “If it sounds too good to be true, it is.” For many things, including internet scams and political promises, the cynics are undoubtedly correct. However, the things of God are not the things of men: “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (II Corinthians 1:20). Are we required to believe in the miraculous? Yes, of course we are! God is different from us, and we should reasonably and rightly expect Him to do that which we cannot do. Moreover, these miracles are supported by facts. Each Easter, I point out that if the powerful political and religious authorities who opposed and killed Jesus had simply produced His dead body, the Christian faith would have died immediately. These authoritarian rulers could have forced every inhabitant or visitor in and around Jerusalem to enter the sepulchre of Christ and view His decaying remains. They did not, for they could not. The convincing evidence leads us to the logical conclusion that Jesus is alive (Note also the eyewitness testimony of I Corinthians 15:1-8) – and should convict each one of us of our need for this Savior.
CONCLUSION May each one of us trust in Jesus for the eternal life that is His to give. Our lives will never be the same – and our lives will never be empty.