This Is No Idle Tale (Luke 24:1-12)
Many people today believe that the resurrection of Jeus is an idle tale. They believe it to be a story that may or may not be true. And they believe that it really doesn’t matter. But it does. It matters greatly.
As Paul put it in his first letter to the church at Corinth.
“(14) And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (15) We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. (16) For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. (17) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (18) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (20) But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:14-20 ESV)
As Christians, our entire lives are to be staked upon whether or not Christ rose from the grave. It should affect how we live, how we raise our children, how we relate to our spouse, what we choose to do with our finances, how we work, how we participate in society, and whether we go to church on Sunday.
You see, the resurrection of Jesus is true. It is just true. It’s not dependent on my own belief, it is true whether I believe it or not. It is simply truth. And because it is true apart from us, we can stake our lives on it.
The resurrection is not true because you really believe it deep down in your heart. It is true. It is not true because you behave in a certain way. It is just true. It is no idle tale.
We should be making decisions that other people think are crazy because we are people that believe in the resurrection of Christ. If the resurrection of Jesus Christ were an idle tale, then we should order our lives in such a way that we should be pitied.
But Christ has been raised from the dead. This is no idle tale.
Therefore, you can stake your life upon it.
Our text for the day is from Luke 24. Jesus died on Friday and His followers were still in mourning. They had followed Jesus, and things hadn’t worked out as they had hoped that they would.
In fact, it seems that they were despondent and looking for answers after Jesus died. They had devoted much of their lives at this point to Jesus Christ. And now He was dead.
But Jesus rose from the grave. The desperation was turned to joy. And the despondency was turned to celebration. Today we look at our own lives and see that the sacrifices we make in this life for Christ are not in vain because Jesus rose from the grave.
The Resurrection Was Always Part Of The Plan (Luke 24:5-8)
Notice what the angel said, if they had known the Scriptures better, what had been written for many years already and what Jesus repeatedly told them, they would have known that Jesus would die and rise from the grave.
A few weeks ago we spoke of Psalm 22. It takes this very path. And if they had remembered what was written in Psalm 22, long before Jesus died, then they would not have been despondent. Genesis 3, just after the Fall, there was promised one that would crush the head of the serpent. He would undo all the evil that the evil one accomplished by tempting Adam and Eve. But even there, He would be wounded.
The Prophets spoke of the death of Jesus in passages like Isaiah 53, hundreds of years before Jesus was born. “By his woulds we are healed”. It happens repeatedly.
But this is not all. Jesus also spoke of His own death to His disciples. Jesus predicted His own death and resurrection to His disciples on multiple occasions. If they had only listened, understood, and remembered what He had said then they would not have been so downcast.
Had the disciples better understood the Scriptures better understood the Scriptures, had they better understood what the Scriptures taught concerning the Messiah, then they would not have been so despondent. They would have understood that this was always part of the plan and would have waited for the resurrection of Jesus.
It took an angel to remind them of what Scripture said. It took an angel to show them that this was always supposed to happen.
I can say from personal experience that this often happens. This is often how things take place.
How many times do I get despondent because I don’t think that things will work out?
How many times do I get downcast because a little something has gone wrong in my life?
How many times do you do the same?
We stake our lives upon Christ. We stake our lives upon what He has told us to do. And we understand that this life is not all there is. We have staked our lives upon Christ.
And because this is no idle tale, our sacrifices are not in vain.
The Resurrection Was No Idle Tale (Luke 24:10-12)
Mary Magdalen, Joana, and Mary the Mother of Jesus told the Apostles about the resurrection of Jesus. They remained despondent because they believed it to be an “idle tale”. But it was no idle tale.
If you put yourself in their shoes for a moment, then you understand why they were behaving as they were. They had devoted their lives to follow Jesus and now He was dead. They had staked their lives and their reputations on Him and now He was gone. When Jesus died all of that vanished.
And, when they heard that Jesus had risen, their immediate response was to remain in that despondency. But this was no idle tale, Jesus had risen from the grave. Peter looked for himself and found that Jesus really had risen from the grave.
Do you sacrifice part of every day to teach your children God’s Word?
Do you sacrifice part of your week to come to church and meet with God’s people?
Do you sacrifice time throughout your week to serve this church?
Do you sacrifice time to help others?
Do you sacrifice your comfort to help people in need, to help your brothers and sisters in Christ?
Do you make sacrifices financially to be faithful to the Lord?
How many things in your life are sacrifices that you have made, much like the sacrifices that these disciples made? Their lives were staked upon Jesus. And when He died, they believed it was all in vain.
But this was not in vain.
The Resurrection Gives Us Hope
Their sorrow was real. They were despondent. But this changed in a moment. And the reason was that Jesus rose from the grave. At the resurrection, they received hope.
Today we make sacrifices to follow Christ. We sacrifice time, effort, relationships and other things to follow Christ. And sometimes we start to become despondent. But here’s the truth of the matter.
Christ rose from the grave. Therefore, every sacrifice for Christ is worth it. And the resurrection gives us hope.
Because Jesus rose from the grave, I know that I can be with Him forever. Because Jesus rose from the grave I can be forgiven, justified. Because Jesus rose, we can have eternal life.
This also brings us to consider the fears we have in this life. Because Jesus lives, everything has changed. As the hymn says, “I can face tomorrow.”
Because Jesus lived, died a sacrificial death, and rose from the grave I can have eternal life. I don’t have to be afraid of what happens tomorrow, for I know the future. I know that I will be with Him for eternity.
Does the resurrection give you that confidence?
Because Jesus lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose from the grave you can be brought into God’s family and be given eternal life. You can have hope in this life. If you would turn to Christ, you would have hope in this life.
Have you trusted in Him? This is no idle tale. Trust in Him and have eternal life.
R. Dwain Minor