HE IS NOT HERE
Luke 24:1 (BSB) On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared.
Mark 16:1-3 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”
Susie: Several women followers of Jesus had followed Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea in order to know where to bring the necessary spices for preparing the body of Jesus for the tomb. They had to wait until the Sabbath was over because that would have been considered work. Since the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday, they went first thing the next morning rather than be out at night.
Susan: There was a question in the minds of the women disciples that morning. Who could they find to roll away the large stone Joseph and Nicodemus had rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb? But they proceeded toward the tomb hoping and praying there would be someone to assist them.
Luke 24:2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, . . .
Mark 16:4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large.
Susie: When they arrived at the tomb the stone had already been moved out of the way. Matthew’s gospel looks back to how that had happened:
Matthew 28:2-4 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men.
Susan: What two men had struggled to accomplish—rolling the stone downhill, the angel reversed easily; and the power that emanated from the angel as he rolled the stone back uphill caused a great earthquake!
Susie: This angel had a startling appearance with a face like lightning and glow-in-the-dark white clothing. Between his appearance and strength and the earthquake, the soldiers guarding the tomb fainted dead away!
Susan: When the soldiers reported to the chief priests what had happened, the priests paid them off to lie and say they had fallen asleep, and the disciples had stolen the body. These same priests had paid witnesses to lie about Jesus at His mockery of a trial before the Sanhedrin and had bribed the crowd to yell “crucify him!” and ask for a murderer instead.
Matthew 28:11-14 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.”
Luke 24:3-4 . . . but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.
Mark 16:5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
Susan: The women entered the empty tomb and were astonished and confused to find the body of Jesus gone!
Susie: They saw two men, actually angels, in bright, shining clothing. Apparently only one of the angels spoke which may be why Mark mentions only one.
Luke 24:5-6 As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee: . . .
Susie: The women responded as most people who saw angels in the biblical accounts reacted to seeing angels: They bowed down, cowering in fright.
Susan: The words translated “the living” here are the definite article “the” and the verb “to live” in the Greek (Strong’s 2198) and literally “life” in the Aramaic text. Therefore, it would not be a stretch to translate this as follows: “Why do you seek THE LIFE among the dead?” This reminds me of what Jesus told the Apostles (emphasis mine):
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Susie: Mark records that the angel’s first words to them were, “Do not be alarmed.” Angels must be fearsome because they usually open with some version of this, such as “fear not” or “be not afraid.”
Mark 16:6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.
Matthew 28:5-6 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.
Susan: The angel assured the women that Jesus was not in the tomb because He had risen from the dead on the third day just as He had said He would.
Luke 24:7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”
Susie: Jesus had prophesied His death, burial, and resurrection more than once to His disciples and probably the women followers as well.
Susan: On those occasions, His prediction had gone right over their heads; but the angel is now reminding them of Jesus’s words.
Luke 9:22 “The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Luke 18:31-33 Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will flog Him and kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again.”
Luke 24:8-9 Then they remembered His words. And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.
Matthew 28:7-8 Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.” So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.
Susan: The angel urged the women to take the message of Jesus’s resurrection to the eleven remaining disciples.
Susie: They ran immediately to give this amazing report to the eleven who were gathered with some other followers of Jesus as well. We will see later, that included in this group were Cleopas and his companion to whom Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus.
Ponder this and apply it: Imagine the surprise of these women who went to a tomb prepared to anoint a body for burial and found that body to be missing! The angel explained the reason for the empty linen cloth lying there, and the women ran to tell the disciples. However, they still couldn’t quite take it all in. What exactly does the empty tomb mean to us? If Christ had not defeated death, we would have no hope of doing the same. The empty tomb means that those who believe will be with Jesus, not just in spirit, but in a resurrected body made new and perfect. We should rejoice and celebrate the empty tomb!