Luke 24:1-12

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

The Empty Crypt (Luke 24:1-12)

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the 24tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they went in they did not find the body. 4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; 5and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise. 8And they remembered his words, 9and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles; 11but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

Luke 24:1-7 Dramatic Decree: More authentic detail is available on the death and burial of Jesus than of any other great man of the ancient world. There was no doubt in the minds of both His associates and His enemies that He had died and was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. And the women who had watched where He had been buried came, very early, on the first day of the week (Sunday), after the Sabbath was over, to anoint His body in the tomb. We now summarize a chronological order of the preliminary watching of the tomb by the women:

a.

Friday afternoon, the sabbath Mary was beginning Luke 23:54

Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses saw the tomb and how His body was laid.

b.

Friday evening Luke 23:56 a

They returned and prepared spices for embalming His body

c.

Friday after sunset and up to sunrise Saturday, Luke 23:56 b

They rested according to the commandment

d.

Saturday before noon Matthew 27:62-66

Jewish rulers and soldiers secured the tombsealed it and set a guard.

e.

Saturday night, before sunset, Matthew 28:1

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb (Wieand says the Greek word opse, (translated after in RSV), may be translated late, (Arndt and Gingrich say the same).

f.

Saturday, after sunset Mark 16:1

They purchased additional spices (after sunset on Saturday, sabbath restrictions are lifted since it is no longer the Sabbath). They went home for the night (not definitely stated but necessarily implied).

g.

Sunday, before sunup Luke 24:1; Mark 16:2; John 20:1 The women started for the tomb

Before sunup the women started for the tomb. Luke 24:1 reads literally, And on the one of the week, deeply early (very early) in the morning. Mark 16:2 reads, and extremely early. John 20:1 reads, early darkness.

h.

Sunday morning, sunrise Matthew 28:2-4

Nisan (April) 17, A.D. 30

At sunrise a great earthquake; Jesus raised from the dead; an angel rolled back the stone; the soldiers fell down as if dead, then they ran off to report to their superiors.

i.

Sunday morning, just after sunrise, Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1 a

John 20:1 says, while. still dark but the Greek verb erchomai may be translated either came or went.

The women arrived at the tomb.

Wieand suggests switching John's usage to went (while still dark) and Mark's usage to came (when the sun had risen). The original authors, for all we know, may very well have intended such usage. And, after all, it is a matter of English translation as to which word should be usedand that should be determined according to parallels and harmonization.

j.

Sunday morning. Mark 16:3-4, Luke 24:2; John 20:1 b

The women saw the tomb already opened.

k.

Sunday morning, still early, John 20:2

Mary Magdalene is shocked; believing someone has taken Jesus-' body from the tomb, she runs to tell Peter and John. John 20:1 a mentions only Mary Magdalene as going to the tomb. This is not a contradiction since John does not say she was the only woman who went. John mentions her specifically because she is the one who ran to him and Peter with the report of the empty tomb. The Synoptic gospels were already in existence when John wrote (95 A.D.) so he simply supplies material the Synoptics omitted.

l.

Sunday morning, Matthew 28:5-8

An angel appears to the other women; calms their fear; announces Jesus-' resurrection from the dead; invites them into the tomb to see for themselves; tells them, after they have seen, to go tell His disciples they will see Him in Galilee.

m.

Sunday morning, Mark 16:5-8 Luke 24:3-8

They entered the tomb and another angel was there. They looked at the empty burial clothes, were exceedingly frightened, and hurried away with fear, and yet with great expectancy of joy. There appears to be some lapse of time before they told the disciples. They were afraid to tell anyone at first (cf. Luke 24:8 as it qualifies Matthew 28:8), This lapse of time would explain how Mary Magdalene could run away to tell Peter and John, run back to the tomb with them, have Jesus appear to her there, and still be found with the group of women later when Jesus appeared to the group. (This will be discussed further in the chronology of appearances).

n.

Sunday morning, 2 John 24:9-12 2 John 20:3-10

Peter and John, having been told by Mary that Jesus-' body was missing from the tomb, ran to the tomb. Peter entered, found the facial cloth rolled up neatly apart from the rest of the burial wrappings. John then entered, saw, and confirmed for himself that the body was gone. As yet they are not convinced Jesus is raised from the dead.

Luke reports the women found the stone rolled away upon their arrival at the tomb. It is probable that Christ arose from the dead at the moment the earthquake occurred (Matthew 28:2). Often in Scripture the earthquake signifies a divine visitation (Matthew 27:51; Matthew 27:54). But we cannot be dogmatic about the exact time of His resurrection. No one saw it or recorded it. The angel came to roll away the stone, not to allow Jesus to leave the tomb, but to let men and women see with their own eyes the empty tomb. Jesus did not need the stone rolled away or doors opened for Him to leave or enter any place (John 20:19) after His resurrection. There was no need for anyone to be present at the exact moment of His resurrection, either, since He appeared afterward in His glorified body to many eyewitnesses. That is the proof of His resurrection.

The women entered the tomb and found the body of Jesus gone. They had seen, themselves, His body placed in that very tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. They were perplexed; Luke uses the Greek word diaporeisthai, which means literally, they were searching for a way through their confusion. They could think of no explanation at this moment for the body being gone. There are really only four possible explanations: (a) Jesus did not die and was not buried; that has already been disavowed by enemies and associates alike, if the records are authentic; (b) the women went to the wrong tomb; but the gospel accounts document the meticulous efforts of the women to determine exactly where He was interred, even to going to the tomb at the moment of burial and returning once again; (c) either friends or enemies stole His body and placed it elsewhere; we will deal with the allegation that His friends stole His body, later, but most assuredly the enemies of Jesus were not interested in seeing His body stolen from that tomb and letting anyone get the idea that He had risen from the deadthey took every human precaution they could to preclude that possibility; (d) He actually arose from the dead, in His crucified and buried body, and came forth from the tomb by His glorified, supernatural power, as the gospel accounts declare. If the gospel accounts are authentic and credible (and they certainly are that), the last possibility is the only one acceptable.

While the women were in a state of confusion, two men (Gr. andres) stood beside them. These men were angels (Matthew 28:2; Matthew 28:5). Luke describes them as clothed in dazzling apparel (Gr. astraptousais, the same word used to describe the appearance of Jesus at His transfiguration, Luke 9:30). These were heavenly beings who looked like men. Matthew and Mark mention only onethey do not say there is just one. The women were terrified. This is the normal human reaction when confronted by angels (cf. Daniel 10:7-9; Revelation 22:8-9). But these men said to the women, Why do you seek the living among the dead? More literally, the angels said, Why are you seeking the living one among the dead ones? The phrase he is not here, but has risen should, we think, be a part of the text. Most of the earliest and most significant ancient manuscripts contain the phrase. Only a few manuscripts omit it. The women still did not understand. Finally, the angels said, Remember how He told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.Jesus made this prediction a number of times in Galilee (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:23) and in Judea (Matthew 20:19). When Jesus had said it before, those who heard it, because of prejudice and because of its non-experiential nature, did not let it register. They could not conceive of such a thing so they did not believe it. But now, the drama of the angelic presence and the empty tomb and the message of the angels force them to remember and accept the predictions of Jesus as the possible answer to the empty tomb.

Luke 24:8-12 Doubting Disciples: Jesus never referred to His cross without declaring also that He would rise again. The angels remembered; men and women did not! Human beings heard, but they did not comprehendbecause they did not believe. It was not until Jesus appeared, bodilyin the same body laid in the tomb with nail prints and allthat His own followers believed:

a.

Sunday morning (John 20:11-17): First appearance: All the women, except Mary Magdalene (who had gone to tell Peter and John), left the tomb and started back to Jerusalem. Peter and John, and probably Mary Magdalene following them, must have gone to the tomb by another way. Mary Magdalene stood near the tomb weeping, after Peter and John had returned to the city. Jesus appeared, there in the garden, some distance from Mary. In the early morning she could not distinguish who the person was. Jesus spoke her name and she recognized Him and grabbed Him. Jesus informs her that she cannot keep Him on earth any moreshe must prepare herself for His return to Heaven.

b. Sunday (Matthew 28:9-10; Luke 24:9-11; Mark 16:10-11; John 20:18): Second appearance: Mary Magdalene apparently caught up with the group of women as they were returning to the city. Jesus then appeared to the whole group of women, Mary Magdalene included (Luke 24:10), as they were on their way to tell the disciples gathered in a secret place in Jerusalem. The women finally arrived (Mary Magdalene appears to be the spokeswoman) and told the apostles they had seen the risen Lord. Mark tells us the apostles were mourning and weeping (Mark 16:10). When the women (led by Mary Magdalene, John 20:18) told the apostles their story, the apostles would not believe (Mark 16:11) and thought that the women were making up some fairy story! (Gr. leros, a medical term describing giddiness, delirium or hysteria). These apostles were hard-headed, logically-thinking men who insisted on a world of reality. That is the way they had lived their whole lives as fisherman and tax-collectors. They knew Jesus had died; they knew He had been buried; they would not believe He was alive again unless they could see Him up, walking and talking and eating in that same body (as they had seen Lazarus, earlier).

Sometime that same Sunday the guards who fled from the tomb reported to the officials of the Sanhedrin all that had taken place (cf. Matthew 28:11-15). What the all includes we may only speculate. We wonder if the guards knew more about the resurrection than that an earthquake had taken place. We wonder what they thought about the stone being rolled awayperhaps they, too, saw the angel. They knew enough that they had to be bribed. Not only so, but a story was fabricated for them in order to explain away the truth. The stolen body theory is as ludicrous now as it was then!

c.

Sunday (1 Corinthians 15:5): Third appearance: Jesus appeared to Peter alone somewhere in Jerusalem. The two disciples on the way to Emmaus mention it (Luke 24:34) as having already happened when Jesus walks with them. Peter was the acknowledged leader of the apostolic band. Jesus had already exhorted Peter to strengthen his brethren when he should repent of his denial. Peter would welcome special indication from Jesus that he had been forgiven and was still trusted to be an apostle. Peter would be one of the first to proclaim the resurrection (Acts 2:1-47) and one of the first to defend it before Jewish enemieshe must be certain of it!

Applebury's Comments

The Empty Tomb
Scripture

Luke 24:1-12 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it came to pass, while they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel: 5 and as they were affrighted and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. 10 Now they were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James: and the other women with them told these things unto the apostles. 11 And these words appeared in their sight as idle talk; and they disbelieved them. 12 But Peter arose, and ran unto the tomb; and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths by themselves; and he departed to his home, wondering at that which was come to pass.

Comments

They came to the tomb.All four Gospel writers present conclusive evidence that Jesus actually died on the cross. They also present conclusive evidence that He was actually raised from the dead.

The first point is that the tomb where His body had lain was found empty on the first day of the week by the women who came to complete the burial arrangements. It is evident that they had not anticipated this, for they were wondering who would roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb. Roman soldiers had been guarding it to prevent anything happening to it until after the third day. The chief priests and Pharisees had said to Pilate, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, -After three days I will rise again.-' Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day lest haply his disciples come and steal him away and tell the people that he is risen from the dead and the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate gave them a guard and told them to make it as sure as they could (Matthew 27:63-65).

Seeing the stone rolled away, the women entered the tomb but did not find the body of Jesus. In their perplexity, they were startled by two angels who said, Why seek ye the living among the dead? These heavenly messengers were the first to announce that He was alive, At long last, His disciples were beginning to see what He meant when He told them that He would be delivered up into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise again.
The women hurried away to tell the good news to the eleven and the others. Mary Magdalene was one of those women. She had been faithful throughout Jesus-' ministry. She was present as He died on the cross. She was among the first to hear the heavenly announcement, He is risen from the dead.

as idle talk.The apostles couldn-'t believe it; it was just idle talk, for they knew that He had died on the cross. But their attitude constitutes one of the strong points in the proof of the resurrection of Jesus. They had failed to understand His prediction, partly, no doubt, because of their concept of His kingdom. The idea of a spiritual kingdoma kingdom that was not of this worldhad never crossed their minds. There was no place for a cross in their concept of the kingdom.

They didn-'t believe that Jesus had risen until forced to do so by indisputable evidence. After they had investigated the evidence and had become convinced beyond a doubt that He was alive again, they did not hesitate to risk their lives to proclaim the Risen Lord. When commanded by the Jews not to do so, they said, Whether it is right in the sight of God to harken unto you rather than unto God judge ye for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard (Acts 4:19-20).

We may think it strange that the enemies of Jesus remembered the prediction of His death while His disciples did not. His enemies were interested in one thing only: His destruction. They rejoiced over the fact that He died on their cross. They did everything possible to make sure that no one remove the body from the tomb. But when the tomb was found empty, they felt compelled to explain it somehow. So they bribed the soldiers and told them to say that while they were asleep His disciples came and stole away the body. They promised that if this should come to the ears of the governor they would clear the soldiers.
Unbelievers have made many attempts to explain that empty tomb. But none of them have improved the fabricated tale told by the Pharisees. No court at any time or any place would accept testimony from a witness who openly admitted that he had been asleep when the incident being investigated had occurred.

but Peter arose and ran to the tomb.Even though the story of the women seemed as idle talk, there was something in that made Peter hasten to investigate for himself. When he did, he found every item of the account to be correct. The tomb was empty; the body of Jesus was not there. He returned home wondering what had come to pass.