“Remember His Words”
Luke 24:1-8
INTRODUCTION What is the Meaning of Luke 24.1-8
Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 24. When my family and I arrived in the area here, we had to get used to rural life. We had been used to all the hustle and bustle of the city and now it was time to settle down in the country.
For example, in the city we would set the garbage down the driveway next to the street. But in the country, we had to figure out what we are going to do. How does the dump work?
In the city, our lot was so small, I used a reel mower…not a real mower as opposed to a fake mower, but a mower that was powered on a reel. It was pushed powered. Very simple.
But now in the country, that reel mower wasn’t going to work. And we had some problems with the mower that came with the property…and not all of it was the mowers fault.
In the city, being on time is being on time. But when we moved to the country, we realized that city time is not country time. Being a little past the time is still on time.
As we were getting used to this, during the first fall, Crystal, our neighbor, called and invited us to a little… Kids Fall party at the Forfar Hall. Ruth asks Crystal, “what time?” Crystal replies, “5 to 7.”
Ruth agrees we’d be there. I get done with work and talk to my wife and she says, “There is a fall party at the Forfar Hall and it starts at 5 to 7.” “5 to 7” I say. That’s an odd time. “Yes,” Ruth agrees, “I think she just wants everyone to be there by 7.”
So we arrive at precisely 5 minutes to 7, 5 to 7, 6:55 in the evening. And we see people getting into their vehicles and leaving. We’re perplexed…So we go into the hall and people are cleaning up. After a short discussion, it all became clear. Little did we realize that when Crystal said “5 to 7” she did not mean 5 minutes before 7, she met it ran from 5 PM to 7 PM … 5 to 7.
When we were pulling into the parking lot, we were confused as to why people were leaving. Perplexed, at a loss! But then when we discussed the correct time, the truth dawned on us.
And here’s the thing: we heard Crystal’s words, but they did not compute. Now, the disciples experienced that same sort of confusion on the first day of the week after the crucifixion.
Let’s read…
Luke 24:1–12 1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; 5 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? 6 “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” 8 And they remembered His words, 9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 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. 11 But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. 12 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. …
It’s a sad reality, but too often familiarity breeds contempt. When we’re so used to hearing of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we lose respect for it’s reality and power. Now, that has nothing to do, however, with hearing it too much. Our loss of respect for Jesus’ work for us is really … that we hear it with a hardened heart.
So, we’ll attempt today to look at the story with fresh eyes.
What would it have been like on that first day? As we’ll see a little later in the message, the disciples didn’t have a clue that Jesus was really going to rise from the dead. But Jesus had told them many times…many times, Jesus told them, “I’m going to die and rise from the dead.” But they didn’t get it.
Like my wife and I, they had heard the words but the meaning had escaped them.
Let’s say you are with the women that Friday when Jesus was crucified. Jesus is on the cross and Luke 23:49 tell us that the women who accompanied Jesus from Galilee and you are standing at a distance seeing these things.
You can imagine, as Joseph of Arimathea transports the body of Jesus to the tomb and the women follow … one woman saying to you and the other women …”Jesus is dead! All is hopeless now! We’ll never see Him again…” And it wasn’t like Jesus was just some man you were acquainted with for the past three years. You had set all your hope on him.
You had been with Jesus and saw the stories written in the gospels. You walked with him… “I remember when he cleansed the leper” says Mary. “I talked with him after He gave sight to the blind man,” says the other Mary. “I ran to him when I heard he raised Lazarus from the dead,” the mother of the sons of Zebedee could have said. … Saying these things to comfort each other.
Because you were with them, you and they had seen it all, but as of yet did not understand entirely. You had heard the words but the meaning has escaped you.
And then you all see the tomb and how his body was laid there. You would usually wrap the body and spices and perfumes right then but the evening was coming and so the Sabbath day was about to begin. The Sabbath day begins at sundown and you are not allowed to anoint the body with the spices on the Sabbath day.
So you go back to your home and prepare the spices and perfumes.
And as you went to bed that night, your heart was filled with grief! The anguish, and the tossing and turning, sleep flees from you because of all of your distress.
And when you woke up on Saturday, it was still the Sabbath day and it wasn’t all a bad dream … Your spices and perfume were already prepared and you are just waiting to go to the tomb to prepare Jesus body. A day of rest… all day that Saturday, very little eating… Your hopes have been dashed… And then the agony of sleeping again on Saturday night more tossing and turning…
Depression and hunger when you wake up Sunday, tears because yes, Jesus did die. The great miracle worker who was supposed to set your people free from the bondage of the Roman empire, the one who loved us. It didn’t seem like anything could stop him! “We thought we were going to live with him forever and now this… We are but fools in our own families…”
Extremely sad!
TRANS: But your emotion quickly changes …
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Perplexed: Women find the tomb empty (24:1-4a)
In a moment, you’ll be puzzled and astounded.
It’s Sunday morning, and you gather the spices and go to the tomb… And as you’re walking to the tomb, Mary looks off into the distance and says, “look, see the stone, it’s …it’s rolled away!” And you say, “but it’s extremely large… Who could have rolled it away?” You’re puzzled!
“Let’s go inside…” And you enter but you do not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Surely you understand now! Don’t you get it, the tomb is empty…
But His words… you had heard His words for 3 years, has the meaning escaped you?
No, you’re still very puzzled…
TRANS: But puzzlement about what is not there turns to terror about what is there when … suddenly end of 24:4…
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Terrified: Two men appear to the women (24:4b-5a)
In the dim light of the early morning … two men suddenly stand near you in dazzling clothing… Pause…
Who are these? John says they are angels in John 20:12. These are angels that appeared as human beings.
And, appropriately unpause…, you are terrified and now bow your face to the ground…Surely now you would understand His words … surely now, since the tomb is empty and since these two angels have appeared, you understand … Don’t you?
What? No, not yet?!
TRANS: No? Well then let the angel give you a gentle rebuke…
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Rebuked: Two men rebuke the women (24:5b-7)
End of verse 5… “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” [pause…] I’m waiting for a response … “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?”
You think, “What kind of question is this? What does he mean the living One?”
The angel continues “Let me spell this out plainly for you…Luke 24:6–7 6 “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
Remember? Don’t you recall that? And at this moment you have a flashback…the images and scenes of when Jesus predicted his own resurrection come flooding back…
Go through verses on Jesus predicting His own resurrection
Let’s all have this flashback together …Matthew chapter 12.
Turn to Matthew chapter 12:39-40. The angel who is speaking this to you remembers Jesus words. But do you remember how Jesus predicted his resurrection?
What follows are the verses where Jesus predicts his own resurrection. For the sake of time, I’ve left out the verses were Jesus only predicts his death by crucifixion.
And we’re not going to repeat the same stories in the Gospels. I will give you the cross reference when it is really the same story but just in another gospel.
Let’s let the volume of these verses impact us with the fact that, if we were one of His disciples that day, we should have understood…we should have comprehended, the words should have made sense! And it makes us wonder if we really get it today … We will go through these verses with a few comments…
Matthew 12:39–40 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [A similar passage is in Luke 11:29]. Just like Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for 3 days, so also Jesus would be in the tomb for 3 days.
Jesus predicted his own resurrection. Dead just 3 days! 5 chapters later…try keep up with me now … Matthew 17…verse 22-23…Again, Jesus predicts his own resurrection.
Matthew 17:22–23 22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved. [That also occurs in Mark 9:31]…that was number 2, number 3…
Keep going … Matthew 27, Matthew 27:62-64. …
This next one is interesting, because it proves that even the chief priests and Pharisees remember Jesus’ words, that He said He would die and rise from the dead…This is after Jesus has died…and they were asking Pilate for a guard of soldiers to guard the tomb.
Matthew 27:62–64 62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64 “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” [This also occurs in Mark 14:58]. Jesus enemies even understand that Jesus predicted his own resurrection.
Mark 9…keep going now….this is immediately after the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus shone like lightning and Moses and Elijah appeared…
Mark 9:9 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. [This also occurs in Matt 17:9]
Mark 14…on the Mount of Olives … Jesus will be betrayed by Judas and arrested… He predicts they will all flee away from knowing him…
Mark 14:27–28 27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ 28 “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” [This also occurs in Matt. 26:31-32]
Now to Luke 9 … right after the feeding of the 5,000 He predicts His own death and resurrection…
Luke 9:20–22 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” 21 But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” [This also occurs in Matt 16:21; Mark 8:31]
Now over to Luke 18…Jesus will take His disciples on His final leg of His ministry and predicts they will go to Jerusalem and it’s there that He’ll be killed…
Luke 18:31–33 31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 “For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, 33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” [This also occurs in Matt 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34]
And now to the final gospel, to John 2…where we’ll conclude our flashback of remembering Jesus’ words, how He predicted His own resurrection … John 2…Jesus cleanses the Temple. He chases out with a whip the thieves dressed up like religious people…
John 2:18–22 18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered [there’s our word, they remembered…] that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. [They remembered his words! … Cross references here are Matt. 26:61; 27:40; Mk. 14:58; 15:29].
Last passage, John 10 … this is Jesus’ parable of the Good Shepherd…
John 10:17–18 17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that [what…so that ] I may take it again. 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
No less than 8 different times Jesus predicted His own resurrection, with the 9th story being Jesus’ enemies even knowing what He said… This doesn’t include all the other times where He predicted His death by crucifixion.
TRANS: Now, back to Luke 24…Flashback is over and now you come to yourself and you still have the angel’s words ringing in your ear… Luke 24 verse 5…
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Remembered: The women remember His words (24:8)
Luke 24:5–9 5 … “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6 “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” 8 And they remembered His words, 9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
You and the women remembered His words.
CONCLUSION What is the Meaning of Luke 24.1-8
Have you remembered Jesus words? Did you get the point… The disciples didn’t! You are called upon to remember Jesus’ words.
It takes a Word from God to make sense of anything… We must have a Word from God. And we do!
2 Peter 1:19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
Remembering Jesus words is the major point in this 24th chapter of Luke. Yourremember in the passage we read earlier in the service when the two disciples were on the road to Emmaus, at the end Jesus says … if you’d look at Luke 24:25-27
Luke 24:25–27 25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
Hear His explanation; Remember the Scripture’s testimony about Jesus.
And then when they were in Jerusalem, He rebuked them for not listening to Jesus words …
Luke 24:44–48 44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the [word of God…the ] Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 “You are witnesses of these things.
Luke is writing to help us to remember the words of the Scripture.
Jesus had been pointing them to his own words during his earthly ministry, that he must die and rise again…, But they looked at him like a dumb dog with its ears up and its head cocked to one side … [dog sound … errrr?]
Jesus would point at the bone, but the disciples would simply sniff his finger. They could not see what his words were really pointing to.
Is it not true today: humanity has entirely lost his way, from Adam and Eve to the end of the age, the truth about God has been spoken but has fallen on deaf ears and hardened hearts. People have sought for satisfaction in earthly things… They think what they need to be satisfied in this life is food and clothing and security and money and possessions the things which the world seeks for, but the whole time the heart of man is so discontent.
And what people really need is to know for certain the satisfaction of everlasting life. And when you speak the word of God to them as it is in truth the word of God a real message from the other side, from eternity, it ought to bow their face to the ground in terror.
And those whom God saves will know and experience a bowing of their face to the ground…
Have you heard about Jesus your whole life and you have been one of his disciples, and now you know you have just never got it … Your life is the same, your pursuits are the same, what you find joy in has never changed,… You delight in things that die…
Instead, with the women that day, bow your face to the ground as you comprehend Jesus’ words and act on them … Run with the women from the tomb and report all these things to his disciples!
Or maybe you are on the road to Emmaus with those two disciples… And your heart burns now within you … will you get up this very hour and return and find his disciples?
Or maybe you were with the disciples in the last story of Luke, would you be his witnesses?
“You are witnesses of these things.” It is certain, Jesus was handed over to the Gentiles, and was mocked and mistreated and spit upon, 33 and after they scourged Him, they killed Him; but on the third day He rose again.” Let’s sing it like we know it…
159 Low in the Grave…