Luke 24:1-10

“But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ³ So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.⁴ As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. ⁵ The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? ⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee,⁷ that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”⁸ Then they remembered that he had said this. ⁹ So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. ¹¹ But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. ¹² However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.”

It’s here that we see three Responses to the resurrection, first the women:

• Rush to tell others

Verse 9 says:“So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples and everyone else what had happened.”They didn’t just share the Good news they rushed to share it. What is it that’s driving your life, what causes you to rush around? Are you rushing around because of the Redeemer or something else? There are many of us that are more in a rush over our jobs than we are for Jesus. In order to fulfill their purpose, they couldn’t stay in the place of death. God longs and loves to remove our pain and replace it with purpose, but you have got to stop living in the tomb. In order to share the truth, they had to leave the tomb. Many of us are ineffective at sharing truth because we are not living in that truth. We are trying to tell others the truth from the tomb. At some point we have to stop being defined by our pain and our past and start being defined by God’s plan.  What did these women do with the truth, they told others, they didn’t selfishly hoard the Hope they shared it. They publicly confessed Christ as the cure. Who are you sharing the good news with? Who are you going to promote self or the Savior? Are you going to follow your plan and be perplexed or God’s plan and find purpose? When we really grasp the truth that He is Risen it will not only excite us, but it will engage us in eternity. The second response to the resurrection was:

• Rejection

Verse 11 says:“But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.”Most of Christ’s disciples responded with doubt and dismissal. Do you know how discouraging that would have been for the women? Don’t let other people’s response and opinion of Jesus dictate your decision to share the Good news. One of the reasons we don’t share our faith is that we project our fears of how others will respond to the resurrection. Their response is their responsibility, but your response is to be dedicated no matter how discouraging it may seem. These disciples dismissed the resurrection because their decision was based on the sensible not the supernatural. At first it appears that these 9 disciples based their decision on Logic and facts, but they actually based it on their feeling. The facts were that Jesus had told them over and over He would rise from the dead, they had witnessed only a few weeks before Lazarus being raised from the dead. They had witnessed Jesus commanding the wind and the waves to be still as creation was calmed at Christ’s command. They had witnessed Him command water be to turn to wine, food to be multiply from five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand men. They had witnessed the wonders of God, yet they chose to live life with limits. Where in your life are you limiting the Lord and trying to put God in a box? Are you living life based on facts and feelings or by faith? Miracle after miracle yet they chose to believe in what makes sense according to ME. The result was that they stayed where they were. Unmoved and so they missed the moment to witness the greatest miracle because they minimized God. Do you have a Me perspective or a Master perspective? What miracles are you missing? The third response to the resurrection was to:

• Run–

Verse 12 tells us: “However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look”Peter and John chose to investigate Immanuel, God with us. They ran to the resurrection and even though John got their first he hesitated and held back. Maybe it was fear of what he would find or the fear that the Roman soldiers would see him, we don’t know what held him back. What is holding you back from really believing? Fear of your family how they will respond, maybe it’s the fear of what you will have to give up to go on with God. John hesitated and held back until Peter went in but when he finally did go in he saw and believed.

The women went from wondering to wonder

John went from being bewildered to believing

What about you how are you going to respond to the Resurrection? Are you going to run to Jesus? Are you going to rush to tell others about Him or will you refuse and reject Him?

Luke 24:1-10

“But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ³ So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.⁴ As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. ⁵ The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? ⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee,⁷ that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”⁸ Then they remembered that he had said this. ⁹ So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. ¹¹ But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. ¹² However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.”

Last time we saw the women walked right past the power of God and missed it. How often does that happen in our lives where we miss the first miracle because we are so focused on the misery. Do you realize that the power of the resurrection means that God can remove your stones of doubt and despair? That He can roll away your regret and push aside your pain and replace it with peace. That He can fill you with healing and hope so that you can help others. Only God can bring ministry out of your mess, only He can bring purpose out of your pain. It’s here in the confusion and the chaos that God intersected their lives, sending messengers to minister to these messed up women. God responded first with:

• Reassurance Luke vs 4-6

When the Angels appeared, the women responded with reverent fear and bowed their faces to the ground. They were no longer living in the fear of their circumstances but in the fear of Christ. The truth is you will bow to fear, either wrong fear or reverent fear. It’s at this point that the Angels ask a question and make a statement. The question that they ask is this:“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?”I think we need to ask ourselves that same question today, why are we dwelling on death instead of living in the life. Is your life revolving around what is rotting or around the resurrection? Many of us are defined more by death than by deliverance. Look if you are saved then it’s time to stop living in the tomb and start living out the truth. Because it’s here in verse 6 that the Angels make a startling statement; “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!”You are not going to find life in the grave so stop dwelling in the place of death. Second God responded by:

• Reminded them of Truth Luke Vs 6-8

“Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”This is a call to remember because when it comes to God the Father we tend to be forgetful. Why do we need to be in the Word of God daily because we tend to forget what God has said. They needed the reminder because they had fallen into the trap of doing what they thought made sense instead of what the Savior had said. Have you fallen into the trap of trusting in your wisdom instead of God’s Word? Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”Is Scripture your sounding board? Do you make decisions based on the Father or your feelings? Is it about His Will or your way? We need the daily reminder of His Word or we end up living in the lies. Thirdly God responded by:

• Redirecting their lives Luke Vs 9

These women showed up to serve the Savior with spices and left serving through their speech. It’s not about what you have its about who you have. Many of us are not serving today because we are so focused on what we don’t have instead of who we do have. In our own strength we have nothing, but in Him we have everything. Are you relying on the Redeemer or on self? It’s the difference between trying and trusting. One leads to resting the other to running around. When they tried to follow their plan of anointing a dead Jesus they had a major problem because there was no body to anoint. They were sincere in their service, but it wasn’t based on what God was doing it was based on what they could do. These women went from anointing the dead to announcing Good News to the living. God hasn’t called us to a ministry of covering up the stench of death, he has called us to the ministry of confronting the stench of sin with the gift of salvation. They went from sorrow to service. You were not saved to be stuck in a tomb sitting on the sidelines, you were saved to share the Good News of God. It was the truth of God’s Word that changed the direction of their lives, from death to life, from self to serving. It’s not about being in the Word it’s about the Word being in you. Are you letting the Word guide your way or are you trying to use the Word to get your way?