Scripture
Luke 24:9-12 But very early on Sunday morning they took the ointments to the tomb-- 2 and found that the huge stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. 3 So they went in--but the Lord Jesus' body was gone. 4 They stood there puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Luke 24:1-4 (Living)
9 and they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell his eleven disciples--and everyone else--what had happened. 10 (The women who went to the tomb were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James, and several others.) 11 But the story sounded like a fairy tale to the men--they didn't believe it. 12 However, Peter ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; and then he went back home again, wondering what had happened.
Luke 24:13-27 That same day, Sunday, two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles out of Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking of Jesus' death, 15 when suddenly Jesus himself came along and joined them and began walking beside them. 16 But they didn't recognize him, for God kept them from it.
17 "You seem to be in a deep discussion about something," he said. "What are you so concerned about?" They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. 18 And one of them, Cleopas, replied, "You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about the terrible things that happened there last week." 19 "What things?" Jesus asked.
"The things that happened to Jesus, the Man from Nazareth," they said. "He was a Prophet who did incredible miracles and was a mighty Teacher, highly regarded by both God and man.20 But the chief priests and our religious leaders arrested him and handed him over to the Roman government to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had thought he was the glorious Messiah and that he had come to rescue Israel.
"And now, besides all this--which happened three days ago--22,23 some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning and came back with an amazing report that his body was missing, and that they had seen some angels there who told them Jesus is alive! 24 Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, Jesus' body was gone, just as the women had said."
25 Then Jesus said to them, "You are such foolish, foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures! 26 Wasn't it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his time of glory?"
27 Then Jesus quoted them passage after passage from the writings of the prophets, beginning with the book of Genesis and going right on through the Scriptures, explaining what the passages meant and what they said about him.
Observation
Where is Jesus? The tomb is empty so the next question has to be where is He? The women at the tomb asked that question. The eleven remaining disciples asked and I say that we must also ask that same question. Where is Jesus?
Jesus encountered two disciples on the road and they were asking the question. They were having a crisis of belief, they knew the law, and the prophets and the Psalms and what they all said about Jesus. They should have known what was going to happen next. God was telling his people for thousands of years what he was up to. But since they missed it Jesus started explaining the scriptures to them he actually proved that the law the prophets and the Psalms were correct so they would know that he had risen just as they had been told.
For forty days Jesus proved his resurrection (Acts 1:1-3) and we must examine these proofs and answer the question for ourselves. If he didn’t rise from that tomb then we have no hope for eternity and all the church stuff we do is completely meaningless. But thank God that he did rise and that he now sits at the right hand of God. (Acts 3:12-15)
Application
I will praise God daily for His plan! That Jesus would die on the cross for our sins and then rise from the tomb to give me the hope that “I know all will be well with me in death, You will give me back my life and give me wonderful joy in your presence.”
Prayer
Thank you Lord that you loved me so much that you would suffer and die a cruel death to pay for my sins and allow me access to you.
