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Christ
and
Creation
Unit
2:
The Dawn
of
New Life
(Lessons
6-9)
HE
Is
RISEN!
--------1_--
INTRODUCTION
A.
REMEMBERING
TO
REMEMBER
It
is
funny how
the
human mind remembers.
Friends
and
familywill
sometimes
tell
us
stories
of
events
we
participated
in
firsthand
only
a
few
years
back,
but
we
may
have
absolutely no recollection of them. Then
we
may
hear an
old
song on
the
radio that
we
haven't heard in
years
and,
in
stantly,every
word
of
the
lyrics
comes
back
to
mind. I
imagine some
of
this
has
to
do
with the
level
at which
the
original
context
affected
us.
Forgetfulness takes several fonns. Some forgetfulness
is
hannless and
some
is
hannful.
Some
is
accidental and some
is
intentional.
Does it
surprise
us
that jesus'
followers
all
seemed
to
have
forgotten
that he
foretold his
suffer
ing,
death, and resurrection?
How
could
they
forget
something
so
crucial?
And
what
do
we
learn
from
the
different
ways
they
responded
to
the
newsof
this
life-changing
event when reminded?
B.
LESSON
BACKGROUND
In
Luke
9:20,
Peter
was
the
first
disciple
to
confess
jesus
as
Messiah(or
Christ). jesus responded
by
warning that
he
wasto
suffer,
die,
and
rise
on
the
third day
Shortly
thereafter,
following
a
crowd-dazzling
healing
display,
jesusimpressed upon
his
followers
that
he
would
be
betrayed.
Butthey
didn't understand (9:44,
45).
jesus later alluded
to
being
killed
in jerusalem (13:33).
He
also
said that he had
to
suffer
and
face
rejection (17:25).
As
the
time
of
his
death
drew
closer,
jesus repeated these predictions.
He
was
to
be
handed
over,
mocked,
beaten, and
killed,
but would
rise
on the
third
day
(18:31-33).
Still
his
disciples did not
grasp
what
he
was
saying.
jesus
gave
his
disciples
several
opportunities
to
expect
his
death and
recognize
it
for
what it
was:
a temporary stop on the path
to
resurrection.
Butthey did
not comprehend. Indeed, they could not because it had been
concealed
from
them
(Luke
9:45; 18:34).
God
planted a seed within them that
was
to
bear
fruit onlyafter
Christ's resurrection. Our
text
today records howjesus' closest
followersfirst
responded
to
the
newsof
that resurrection.The
events
that transpired
before
it
are
familiar
to
long-time
Christians.jesus
was
betrayed and handed
over
to
jewish authorities.
They
handed him
over
to
Roman
authorities.
Pilate
gave
in to
the
crowd's
wish
that
the
innocent man jesus be
crucified.
Since
it
was
the
day
before
the Sabbath,jesus'body
was
removed
quickly
from
the cross
and placed in
the
tomb of]oseph
of
Arimathea.
Then
on
the third
day
the unbelievable happened.
I.
EMPTY
TOMB
(LUKE
24:1-3)
A.
ROUTINE PREPARATIONS
(v.
1)
1.
On
the
first
day
of
the week, very early
in
the
morning,
the
women
took
thespices they
had prepared and
went
to
the tomb.
DEVOTIONAL READING:
1
CORINTHIANS
15:
12-26
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE:
LUKE
24:1-12
PRINTED TEXT:
LUKE
24:1-12
LESSON
AIMS
Afterparticipating
in
thislesson,
each
student
will
beable
to:
1.
Retell
Luke's
ac-
count
of
the
women'sexperience
on
resurrection
morning.
2.
Compare and contrast
the
various
levels
of
belief
of
those
first
told
of
the
resurrec-tion
with
the
varying
levels
of
faith
expressed.
3.
Plan
to
discuss
with
an
unbeliever
the
facts
of
Jesus'
resurrection.
KEY
VERSES
\Vhy
do
you
look
for
theliving
among
the
dead?
He
is
not
here;
he has risen!
-Luke
24:5,
6
 
APRIL
12,
2009308
HE
Is
RISEN!
LESSON
7
NOTES
WHAT
Do
You
THINK?
How
do
you
prepare
to
honor
Christ
on the
first
day
of
each
week?
WHAT
Do
You
THINK?
What
was
a
time
when
you
didn't
find
Christ
as
you
expected
to
find
him?
How
do
you
remain
open
to
admitting
and
adjustingyour
wrong
ex-
pectations?
The
first
day
of
the week
is
of course
Sunday.
Jesus
was
crucified and died
two
days
previously,
on
Friday.
Since
Saturday
was
the Sabbath, it wouldnot
have
been appropriate
to
anoint Christ's body with
spices
on that
day.
Pious
Jewsare
careful
to
avoid
all
fonns of work on the Sabbath
(Luke
23:56). Coming into contact with a dead
body,
especially on a "special"Sabbath
Qohn
19:31), creates problems of ceremonial uncleanness (Numbers 19:11).
So
Friday evening the
body had been
taken
off
the
cross
and hastily placed
in
a
tomb
to
await
final
burial preparations.
Luke
23:54-56
tells
us
that
the
women
who
followed
Jesus
from
Galilee takeit
upon
themselves
to
prepare
the
spices the
day
of Christ's death and then
wait
until the
first day
of
the
week,
after
the
Sabbath,
to
administer
them.
The time
of
day
(very
early
in
the
morning)
shows
us
how
eager
the
women
are
to
complete this
task. Psalm
30:5
says
"weeping
may
remain
for
a night,but
rejoicing comes in
the
morning."
God
is
about
to
dry the
tears of
all
Jesus'
followers
and
change the
course
of world
history.B.
UNEXPECTED FINDINGS
(w.
2, 3)
2.
They
found
the
stone
rolled
away
from
the
tomb,
Mark
16:3
tells
us
that
the
women wonder who
will
roll
the
stone
away
sothey
can
gain
entrance
to
thetomb.
When they
see
that
the
stone
is
alreadymoved, they
may
be
both
relieved
and startled. Who has done
this,
and
why?
Perhaps
the
women think thatJoseph of
Arimatheahas
courteouslysparedthem
the
burden
of trying
to
roll
back
the
heavy
stone.
After
all,
the
grave
site
does
belong
to
him,
and
he
has
taken
a
keen
interest
in
providing
for
Jesus'burial
(Luke
23:50-53).One mental
image
of this
gravestone
is
that of a giant sphere that
rolls
downhill into
the
cave
mouth, thus securing it
from
intruders.
This
is
one
possibility,
but there
is
at
least one
other.
The
stone
may
be a
flat,
round
disc
that
rolls
side
to
side
in
a track running
in
front
of
and parallel
to
the
cave
opening.
Such
stones
may
thus be
rolled
to
the
left
or right
to
gain
access
to
the
interior.
3
....
but
when
they
entered, they
did
not
find
the
body
of
the
LordJesus.
If
the
women
are
not disturbed
by the moved
stone,
the
fact
that
the
body
is
missing certainly alanns
them!
What thoughts
flash
through their
minds?
Have
theycome
to
the wrong
tomb?
Not a
chance!
These same
women
per-
sonally had
followed
Joseph
to
the
grave
and witnessed
the
location of]esus'
lifeless
body
(Luke
23:55).
Have
Jesus' enemies stolen
his
body in order
to
subject it
to
further
dis-
grace?
One
can
only imagine
the
rush of
mixed
thoughts that
come
over
the
women.
But
they do
not wonder
for
long.
II.
HEAVENLY MESSENGERS (LUKE 24:4-8)
A.
ANGELS ApPE4.R
TO
THE
WOMEN
(w.
4,
5)
4.
While
they
were
wondering
about
this,
suddenly
two
menin
clothes
that
gleamed like
lightning
stood
beside
them.
God
supplies
an
answer through
two
men
clad
in
clothes
that
gleam
like
lightning.
They
are
later identified
as
angels
(Luke
24:23).
Thisevent parallels
the
appearance of
two
men
to
the
disciples
to
interpretjesus' ascension into
i
Heaven
(Acts
1:
10).
Perhaps God
chooses
two angelic
messengers
to
satisfy
 
LESSON
7
. _ ~ _ _ _
 
309
APRiL
12,
2009
the requirement that weighty claims be confirmed by
two
witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6; 2 Corinthians 13:1; Hebrews 10:28;
Revelation
11:3).
5.
In
their
fright
thewomen
boweddown
withtheir
faces
to
theground,
but
the
men
said
to
them,
"Why
do
you
look
for
the
living
anlOng
thedead?
Apparently the appearance of the angels
is
more startling than
verse
4would
imply!
The women respond
to
the awe-inspiring presence of angels
as
any of us would
if
approached
by
heavenly messengers: the women
areterri
fied,
bo\\ing
their
faces
to
theground
in
respect. The angels respond just
as
in
Acts
1:
11:
they greetJesus'
followers
with a question.
In
Acts,
angels ask whyhis
followersare
staring up into
Heaven;
here, angels ask why these women
are
looking
for
their
living
Savior
among
the
dead.
CEMETERIES
I
have
an abnormal interest in
cemeteries. Perhaps
it
is
because
of my
interest
inhistory,
but I
find
cemeteries
fascinating.
Sometimes
I
like
to
wander through
old
cemeteries
just
to
see
what I
can
find.
One
day
when I
was
inBaltimore,
I
was
walking
through a section near
downtown
and
discovered an old
church with a
small
cemetery Included
was
the
grave
of Edgar
Allan
Poe.
I
have
visited the
grave
sites
of
Washington,
Uncoln, Roben
Frost,
and
several
other
famous
people.
I
have
visited the
cemetery in
Salzburg,
Austria,
that
was
used
for
some
of the
footage
near
the
end
of the
movie
The
Sound
~ f M u s i c .
 
In
all
these
visits
I
was keenly aware
that
the
graves
held
the
mortal
remains onlyof
people
who
were
dead.
If
a person
is
alive,
we
do
not
expect
tofind
him
or
her
in
a cemetery
except
for
brief
visits.
The
Wall
StreetJournal
ofjuly
23,
2007
carried
a
front-page
story entitled "Uberia's
Tombs
Shelter Much
More
Than
the
Dead."The
story
was
about children, criminals, and poor people who
live
subsistence
lives
in
a cemetery
after
being
displaced
by
war.
Thisgrates
against
our
sensibili
ties
(compare
Mark
5:3).
The
location ofjesus'
tomb
is
irrelevant todayprecisely
because
we
don't
seek
the
living
among
the
dead.
-j.
B.
N.
B.
ANGELS
REMIND
THE
WOMEN
(w.
6-8)
6,
7.
"He
is
not
here;
he has
risen!
Remember
how
he
told
you,
while
he was
stillwith
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.
'"
The prospect thatJesus could be
alive is
certainly inviting. But what
do
the messengers mean
by
their question
in verse
5?
Those words can be interpreted in more than one
way.
So
the messengers quickly
clarify.
They remindthe women of Christ's prediction of both his death and resurrection
(Luke
9:22; 18:31-33).Jesus had known
all
along what would
take
place, and he had told his
followers
as
much.
Yet
his
followers do
not
remember.
It
is
as
if
God wantedJesus'
followers
to
hear the predictions
for
the purpose of later recollection
as
a testimony of God's control
over
these events.
It
is
also
important
to
note the language the angels use
to
describe whathappened
to
Jesus.
He has
risen
is
the language of resurrection. The kind ofresurrection at issue
is
not just any kind of postmortem existence.
It
certainlydoes not mean thatJesus' spirit mystically departed his body
to
take
on anew bodiless
form
(Luke
24:39).
It
does not mean merely that the disciples
will
feel
Jesus
to
be
alive
in
their hearts.
Rather,
it means that God has raisedJesus
bodily.
DAILY
BIBLE READINGS
Monday, Apr.
6--God
Raised
Him from
theDead
(Acts
13:26-33)
Tuesday,
Apr.
7-God's
Power
for
Us
(Ephesians
1:
15-23)
\Vednesday,
Apr.
8-
First
Fruits
of
theDead
(l
C011nthians
15:
12-26)
Thursday,
Apr.
9-Buried
and
Raised
with
Christ(Colossians
2:6-15)
Friday,
Apr.
10-Walk
in Newness
of
Life
(Romans
6:3-11)
Saturday,
Apr.
II-Seek
the Things
Above
(Colossians
3:1-11)
Sunday,
Apr.
12-C1111St
.
Has
Risen
(Luke
24:1-12)
WHAT
Do
You
THINK?
What
are
some ways
you
can
remind
yourself
of
the
fact
of
the resurrection?
Why
and when
do
you
need
this
reminder?
l l o . . . . . . . . . ~ ~ ~ _
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