{"id":1412,"date":"2021-04-04T19:36:19","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T18:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=1412"},"modified":"2021-04-04T19:36:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T18:36:20","slug":"he-is-not-here-he-has-risen-from-the-dead-luke-241-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=1412","title":{"rendered":"He is not here! He has risen from the dead! Luke 24:1-12"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! (Luke 24:5-6)
\nIs there life after death? Can we really go to heaven? Only somebody who has died and returned to life can answer those questions. And here is the glorious message of Easter! The wonderful good news that after dying on the cross on Good Friday, Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter Day! Jesus Christ is alive. And because He has died and is now alive again JESUS can show us the way to heaven.
\nOn that first Good Friday, Jesus was crucified. He was dead and he was buried. Sealed in a tomb by a great seven ton boulder! But then on the Sunday when a group of women went to the tomb, strange things were happening.
\n24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
\nThe stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty! Dead men don\u2019t walk! But Jesus wasn\u2019t there! The tomb was empty! And then there were the two angelic messengers.
\n4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, \u201cWhy do you look for the living among the dead?
\nThe women had come to a graveyard. They were expecting to find the dead body of Jesus to pay their respects and to anoint the body. Instead there is this incredible message.
\n\u201cWhy are you looking among the dead for one who is alive?\u201d What a wonderful, amazing statement! That Jesus who had died was alive again!
\n6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 \u2018The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.\u2019
\nThe New Living Translation puts it this way.
\n\u201cWhy are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn\u2019t here! He is risen from the dead!\u201d
\nThat had been God\u2019s plan from the beginning. Jesus had told his disciples he would return to life again. But they hadn\u2019t understood him. The truth was too wonderful to believe! But now, just as he had promised, the angels announced that God had raised Jesus from the dead! It was a story too fantastic to believe! Even the disciples did not believe the women at first \u2013 it seemed like foolish nonsense. But Peter went to the tomb and found that everything was as the women had said. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. Jesus\u2019s body had gone. The grave clothes were left behind folded tidily.
\nThe body of Jesus had disappeared. The disciples didn\u2019t take it \u2013 they were as surprised as anybody that the tomb was empty. The Roman authorities didn\u2019t steal the body. The Jewish leaders didn\u2019t steal the body. If they had they would have just produced the body again and stories about Jesus rising from the dead would have ended before they started. Jesus\u2019s body had gone! But then we have more than the account of a few women about the message from the angels to assure us that Jesus was alive again. During that day Jesus himself appeared to Mary Magdalene, and to the apostle Peter. He appeared to two of His disciples as they walked along the road to Emmaus. And that evening He would appear to all of the apostles.
\nLuke 24 36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d
\n37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, \u201cWhy are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.\u201d
\nAfter his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples many times. They didn\u2019t make up those accounts. Most of them died horrible deaths for proclaiming that Jesus was alive and that they had seen him. We can believe their testimonies.
\nJesus had died. But then Jesus was alive again. And that means we don\u2019t have to be afraid of death. Because Jesus\u2019s resurrection opens the door of heaven for us! Listen to these wonderful promises Jesus made to His disciples.
\nJohn 14:1 \u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. \u2026. \u201cI am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.
\nSo now we know that there is life after death. We know what happens after we die! Jesus has prepared a place in heaven for everybody who believes in Him, so that we can be with Him in glory forever. We KNOW there is life after death \u2013 and we know the way to heaven. It is in Jesus who is the way and the truth and the life. Jesus is the way to God.
\nHowever evil we are – however much we have hurt God and rejected God, however many of His laws we have broken, we can be forgiven. NO-ONE is too wicked. Our sins may be very great – but God’s mercy is greater! If a thief dying on a cross next to Jesus can be forgiven, so can we!
\nWhat amazing love of God! Even a prisoner on death row, or lifelong sinners on their death beds, can cry out to God and find forgiveness and assurance of all the blessings of heaven. The door of heaven is open to everybody who admits that they need saving and asks God to save them!
\nJesus Christ is alive \u2013 He is risen from the dead. And because he lives, we will live also. That is the good news of Easter. \u201cWhy are you looking among the dead for one who is alive?\u201d
\nChrist is risen. He is risen indeed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! (Luke 24:5-6) Is there life after death?…<\/span><\/p>\n

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