In the twenty-fourth chapter of Luke we read about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the perspective of those disciples who saw the empty tomb and others who heard about it. First of all we read about the women like Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, the apostle, and others who received the astounding news from “two men (undoubtedly angels) in clothes that gleamed like lightening, tell these women not to look for Jesus or lament his “disappearance” because “He is risen!” These dear saints were so baffled and so troubled by the “missing” body that they needed to first of all be reminded that their Lord according to the divine plan needed to be crucified for our sins and then rise on the third day again by divine appointment. They were so troubled but everything was under control. Nothing happened that caught God by surprise; the gory details of our Lord’s suffering while horrific, were not outside of God’s providence. It was the price Jesus paid for our redemption. As the classic hymn reminds us: “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He has
washed it white as snow.” Hallelujah!
Next (verse9f), we read about the women witnessing to the Apostles about the Resurrection, but they considered it an “old wives tale.” All except Peter (and John-not mentioned here but reported in John 20:2) who while unbelieving, nevertheless, decided to check things out for himself. Sure enough everything was as the women had said but Peter is still puzzled. Luke tells us that he went away wondering to himself what (in the world) had happened. Finally, we read about Cleopas and another unnamed follower of Christ who hear the incredible news but whose faces are downcast as they encounter a stranger on their way to Emmaus. He wants to know what’s got them so down. They respond in a way similar to how someone today in similar circumstances would respond: “Where have you been? Have you just arrived from another planet?” Then they tell the Stranger that the one who they had HOPED would redeem Israel is “missing in action.” He was executed, but even his body is now missing.”
In each case we read about people , the majority of whom were intimate friends of Jesus who were devastated by their Lord’s death and terribly dismayed by the empty Tomb. The angels try to help out but at least for a while everyone wonders what has gone wrong. Of course from our vantage point, we know that nothing has gone wrong. We are sympathetic to their sorrow and observe their lack of understanding even though they had been told by Jesus before the crucifixion that it all would happen this way. If they had remembered What Jesus had said they would not have been bent so out of shape. (See verses 6, 25-27. The meaning of the resurrection is sublime and manifold, but for me today it means that no matter how bleak things look at times, no matter how abandoned I might feel from time to time, no matter how intimidating the thought of dying is, God is in control. As Jesus often said’ Fear not! Resurrection is our guarantee that God is on the throne. Our privilege is to trust him no matter how messed up things are or how miserable
we fear.
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