TEXT: LUKE 24:4-8 #2885 EASTER THEME: "WHY DO YOU LOOK FOR THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?" 1. WE HA VE A RISEN LORD. II. WE HAVE ms RELIABLE WORD. III. WE HAVE A RESPONSffiILITY IN THE WORLD. Phoenix - 3127116 My dear fellow redeemed, Here's a strange story from the Associated Press. A judge over in Yugoslavia was electrocuted when he reach up to change a light bulb while standing in the bathtub, and his wife found his body sprawled on the bathroom floor. He was pronounced dead and, as was the custom in that town, he was placed in a room under a crypt in the town cemetery for 24 hours before his burial. In the middle of the night, however, this judge suddenly revived, realized where he was, and rushed over to alert the night watchman .... who promptly ran away, terrified. Fortunately, the night watchman returned with a friend, and they released the newly-revived judge. The judge's first thought was to phone his wife and her and let hr know what had happened, but he got no farther than, "Darling, it's me .... when she screamed and fainted. He then went to the houses of several friends, but them slammed the door in his face, thinking he was a ghost. In one last desperate measure, he called a relative in France who hadn't heard yet about his death, and this relative interceded for him with his family and friends. Almost unbelievable, isn't it? But at the same time, it sounds an awful lot like what happened on the first Easter Sunday morning. Bright and early that day, the women who came to the tomb of Jesus had come fully expecting to find someone who was dead. But boy, oh boy! Were they ever surprised! He wasn't dead at all- He was very much alive! Then they were encountered by an angel who asked them the question we're going to focus on this morning, namely, "WHY DO YOU LOOK FOR THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?" First, in connection with this question, we should hear the Easter angel remind us that I. WE HAVE A RISEN LORD. Then, II. WE HAVE ins RELIABLE WORD. And finally that m. WE HAVE A RESPONSffiILITY IN THE WORLD. I. On this beautiful Easter Sunday in 2016, the first thing we are reminded of is that WE HAVE A RISEN LORD. "While they were wondering about this," Luke says, that is, finding the tomb open in Joseph's family plot, "suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among tbe dead? He is not bere; He bas risen!'" v.4,5. Those words have a rather biting edge to them, don't they? There's a rebuke in them. These women really were looking for someone who was dead, not for someone who was alive. They were looking for Jesus, ture .... but for a dead Jesus - for the One they had seen placed into that tomb a few days before. Just try to picture them on that first Easter Sunday morning. Because they didn't have enough time to properly prepare the body of Jesus the previous Friday since the Sabbath Day was about to start, they got together everything they needed to finish their labor of love as soon as the Sabbath was over. Well, that time had now come, and there they were - out at Jerusalem Memorial Acres, bright and early Sunday morning, with their spices in hand ready to finish what they thought still needed to be done. They were fully expecting to find a dead Jesus, and that's when they got the shock of their life. An angel greeted them and asked, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" That was a rebuke - a rebuke for their lack of faith .... a rebuke for living and acting as though Jesus were still dead. In reality, we sometimes deserve this rebuke too, don't we? Like these women lugging their unnecessary spices, we also carry around needless burdens - like the needless burdens of guilt and shame because of our sins. We act as though Jesus were still dead, and we are therefore still saddled with our sins. Like these women and their concern about who was going to roll away the massive stone that was covering the entrance of the tomb, we often worry and fret about things over which we really have nothing to worry and fret about. How many of us don't worry about the "big stones" in life - problems, challenges, illness - wondering how we'll ever be able to roll them away? We live as though Jesus were still dead. These women had come to the cemetery thinking death was the end for Jesus. Aren't we sometimes guilty of the same thing when we stand at the grave of a loved one who has died with faith in Jesus? "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" the Easter angel also asks of you and me. We have a risen and living Lord, my friends! A risen and living Lord who walks with us on every step through life. We need to remember this. A pastor named Tony Evans once brought an important reminder to his congregation by directing them to a scene from one of the Superman movies. Like me, some of you probably also grew up with Superman comic books, TV shows, and movies, where we would hear, "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane! It's Superman!" Remember that? In this particular movie, Superman saves a man from a burning building. He rescues him from the top floor and is carrying him to safety by flying thru the skies. The man looks at Superman, and then he looks down at the ground. "I'm really scared, Superman," he says. "Look how far down that is!" At this point, Superman gives him a great answer. "Hey," he says, "if! delivered you from the raging fire, what makes you think I'm going to drop you when I'm carrying you to safety?" Great answer. Our Lord Jesus isn't Superman, my friends. He's God! The true God Himself. And by comparison He makes Superman look like the proverbial ''97 -pound weakling at Muscle Beach." He has delivered us from the raging fires of hell with the sacrifice He made on the cross of Calvary for all of us, and He's not going to drop us now while He's carrying us to eternal safety in heaven. So don't live as though He were still dead. He's our risen and living Lord. Trust Him! II. But why trust Him? Well, it's because WE HAVE HIS RELIABLE WORD. "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" the angel asked. There was an answer to that question, and the angel knew what it was. "He is not here;" the angel said of Jesus, "He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.'" v.6,7. This is why these women were looking for the living among the dead. To put it very simply, they didn't remember the words and promises of Jesus. He had told them very clearly all that was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem - about His betrayal, how He would be arrested and tortured, how He would be crucified and finally die. These women had witnessed all ofthese things, but they had forgotten that Jesus had foretold them. And they had also forgotten another important thing that Jesus had made crystal-clear to them, namely, that He wouldn't be in that tomb on Easter Sunday. That's why they were living as though Jesus were still dead - they had forgotten His reliable words and promises. Do you see a personal application in this, my friends? Well, what it's saying is that we need to remember the reliable words of our risen Lord and not forget them. Take the matter of being burdened by the guilt of our sins, for example. Thru His inspired Apostle Paul, Jesus tells us that "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. " In other words, it was because of our sins that Jesus suffered and died, and His resurrection from the dead is God's resounding assurance that we are now "justified" in His sight - completely forgiven .... totally free from our sins .... holy and righteous before God. "Though your sins are like scarlet, " God says to all of us who trust in Jesus as our Savior, "they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. " Do you need more assurance that you don't have to be plagued by the guilt of your sins or fear standing before God in judgment? How about this: "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, purifies usfrom aU sin." You can "take that to the bank," as they say. All of these words are reliable. Thru faith in Jesus, you are completely free from your sins - free from their guilt, free from their condemnation, free from the everlasting punishment they deserve in hell. And what about "the big stones" that often block our way in life? The problems we have? The challenges we face? Everything that causes us to worry and fret, and even become depressed and despair? Again, we need to remember the reliable words of our risen Lord. "Surely, / am with you always, " He has promised. "Never will / leave you; never will / forsake you." These are the words of Him for whom "all things are possible" and with whom "nothing is impossible. " They're reliable words because He Himself is reliable. Trust Him! When we stand at the grave of a loved one who has died as a believer in Jesus, and grief wants to take over and drive away all hope, we need to remember the reliable words of our Savior that "the dead in Christ will rise." If ever we have fears as our own death approaches, Jesus reminds us, "l am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. " That's a real fear-killer, isn't it! As the caption on the picture in your bulletin says: "Easter - The life of Christ is the death of fear." Trust your risen Lord as you go thru life, my friends, because He's 100% reliable. And trust His words and promises because they're reliable too. Easter proves this. ill. Just one more thing this Easter morning. The Easter angel would remind us like he did the women that as followers of Jesus WE HAVE A RESOPONSIBILITY IN THE WORLD. About 900 years before Jesus lived and died here on earth, the prophet Elijah became very discouraged in the responsibility the Lord had given him. He ran off into the desert, hid in a cave, and was hoping that he could die. But the Lord found him there and asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" That question was really a reminder. With it, the Lord was saying in essence, "Elijah, you're a prophet of the living God! What in the world are you doing way out here in the middle of nowhere hiding in a cave?! You have an important responsibility back in the land of Israel!" In like manner, the angel's question of these women contained very much the same reminder. "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" he asked "He is not here; He has risen!" In other words, the angel was reminding them that they had some good news to share. They had a risen and living Savior! They needed to share that good news. That was now their responsibility. And it's ours as well, my friends. "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation, " our risen Lord has commanded. We have "good news" to share with the people around us. Jesus has risen from the dead! He's our living Savior, and not only ours but the Savior of every human being who will ever live. He's the Savior who paid in full our enormous debt of sin with His own holy life and innocent death. He's the Savior who slammed the doors of hell and opened the gates of heaven to everyone who trusts in Him. He's the Savior who crushed the head of Satan and conquered death - the Savior who rose on Easter Sunday to give eternal life to every single man, woman, and child this world will ever see. This really is good news, isn't it! - the very best news we and everyone else around us could ever hope to hear. So, as the Easter angel said, my friends, "Come and see the place where He lay .... He is not here. " Don't look for the living among the dead. "He has risen!" the angel said. Now .... "go and tell. " HAPPy EASTER!

AMEN