ESOCS Devotional 26 April 2024 – An Empty Tomb
MEMORY VERSE: “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Luke 24:3
TEXT: LUKE 24:1-12
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘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 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
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Some women went to the tomb early Sunday morning. The time is called “deep dawn.” This was very, very early in the morning. The women came to the tomb with spices they had prepared. These spices would help preserve the body. These women came to embalm Jesus’ body. When the women arrived, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. In Jesus’ day, individuals were often buried in caves. A stone would be rolled at the entrance of the tomb to prevent grave robbing and to prevent the smell of decay from escaping.
These women fully expected to find the stone in front of this tomb. Mark informs us that the women were worrying about how to roll this large stone away from the tomb’s entrance (Mk. 16:3). But when the women arrived at the tomb, they found the stone had already been rolled away. The women went into the tomb but did not find Jesus’ body. This caused them to be greatly perplexed. To be perplexed means to be at a loss, in doubt. These women had no idea what had happened. These women went to the tomb expecting to embalm Jesus’ body, but they never found the body; the tomb was empty.
The body of Jesus was not in the tomb. Some say the women went to the wrong tomb. But they helped bury Jesus (Lk. 23:55). You don’t forget where you put the body of a loved one. Why did the Jewish authorities never produce Jesus’ body? The Sanhedrin ordered Peter and John to stop preaching in the name of Jesus (Acts 5:18). It would have been much easier to bring out the corpse and show the Apostles to be liars. We must remember that a record would have been kept as to where the tomb was (Matt. 27:62-66). The only reason the Jewish authorities never produced a body is that there wasn’t a body to produce.
The apostles could never have preached the resurrected Christ in Jerusalem had the tomb not been empty. The fact that the women found the empty tomb supports the idea that the tomb was empty. We must remember that women were not considered highly in this society. Women were not considered worthy to serve as legal witnesses. Women occupied a low rung on the Jewish social ladder. Had the apostles invented this story, surely, they would have invented more reliable witnesses to the empty tomb. Those who enter the strong city must be free of pride.
- Jesus is no longer in the tomb. He has gone before us to heaven to prepare a place for us in the paradise of God. Work out your own salvation so that you would have a place there.
- Lord Jesus, let me share a place there in your paradise.
Further Reading: Exodus 15:13-21; Luke 24:1-12; 1 Peter 1:13-end
ESOCS Devotional 26 April 2024
