Luk 24:1 | KingComments | STEP | The Sabbath is over and a whole week has passed. During that week events took place that will bring the history of the world and eternity to their fulfillment according to God’s plan. The old is over, the new has come. Symbol of this is “the first day of the week” which is the day of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. With His resurrection a completely new order of things begins. The women are not yet aware of this. They are still attached to the old order of things. Their love for Christ brought them to the tomb very early that day. They want to give the Savior their last honors by anointing His body with the spices which they have prepared. Despite their love, which is very praiseworthy, they are ignorant of the resurrection which was also prophesied by Him. When they reach the tomb, they find the stone rolled away from the tomb. The tomb is open! As a result, much more opens in this chapter: the Scriptures are opened ( ), eyes are opened ( ), the mind is opened ( ) and heaven is opened ( ). The stone has not been rolled away to enable the Lord Jesus to go out. He has already risen before the stone was rolled away by the angels. He can also enter somewhere despite closed doors ( ). The stone is rolled away to let the women and us go inside to look into the tomb. The women can enter the tomb in this way. That is what they do. There they discover that the body is not there. The tomb is empty. This is the first proof of the victory of God’s grace. Now grace and mercy can go out to man. It is remarkable that the Holy Spirit speaks of “the Lord Jesus” the first time the Name of the Lord Jesus is mentioned after His resurrection. It is the distinctive Name by which Christians speak of their Lord. The women do not understand that the tomb is empty and are embarrassed about it. They have seen for themselves that His body was placed in it ( ). Then suddenly there are two men with them in dazzling clothing. The light of the day and the light of their clothes belong together. The resurrection of Christ is a radiant event, but it causes fear among the women. At the sight of these men, angels, they bow with their faces to the earth. Then the angels speak the beautiful, significant words that testify that He should not be sought among the dead. He is “the living One”. The old has ended, a new era has begun. It is unthinkable to find anything of the living One among the dead. What is connected with life is of a totally different order than what is connected with death. The first testimony of the resurrection of Christ comes from the mouth of an angel. Because He is raised, He is no longer in the tomb. God has fully accepted His work and has found His joy in raising Him from the dead. Said with respect, God could not have done anything else. His Son has accomplished the work commissioned to Him perfectly, so His resurrection is an act of God’s righteousness. The angel does not say any of this, but we know it from the rest of the New Testament and especially from Paul’s letters. The angels also remind the women of what the Lord Himself has said. So they could have known better. The angels also quote the words He spoke to them when He was still in Galilee. Then the light breaks through in their thoughts. The memory of His words gives them the conviction and boldness and strength to testify to it to others. There is no talk of works of power. Luke always emphasizes the words of the Lord. As Christians, we have nothing but the Word of God. We are called to believe in it.

‏ Luke 24:1

The Women At the Empty Tomb

The Sabbath is over and a whole week has passed. During that week events took place that will bring the history of the world and eternity to their fulfillment according to God’s plan. The old is over, the new has come. Symbol of this is “the first day of the week” which is the day of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. With His resurrection a completely new order of things begins.

The women are not yet aware of this. They are still attached to the old order of things. Their love for Christ brought them to the tomb very early that day. They want to give the Savior their last honors by anointing His body with the spices which they have prepared. Despite their love, which is very praiseworthy, they are ignorant of the resurrection which was also prophesied by Him.

When they reach the tomb, they find the stone rolled away from the tomb. The tomb is open! As a result, much more opens in this chapter: the Scriptures are opened (Lk 24:27), eyes are opened (Lk 24:31), the mind is opened (Lk 24:45) and heaven is opened (Lk 24:51). The stone has not been rolled away to enable the Lord Jesus to go out. He has already risen before the stone was rolled away by the angels. He can also enter somewhere despite closed doors (Jn 20:19). The stone is rolled away to let the women and us go inside to look into the tomb.

The women can enter the tomb in this way. That is what they do. There they discover that the body is not there. The tomb is empty. This is the first proof of the victory of God’s grace. Now grace and mercy can go out to man. It is remarkable that the Holy Spirit speaks of “the Lord Jesus” the first time the Name of the Lord Jesus is mentioned after His resurrection. It is the distinctive Name by which Christians speak of their Lord. The women do not understand that the tomb is empty and are embarrassed about it. They have seen for themselves that His body was placed in it (Lk 23:55).

Then suddenly there are two men with them in dazzling clothing. The light of the day and the light of their clothes belong together. The resurrection of Christ is a radiant event, but it causes fear among the women. At the sight of these men, angels, they bow with their faces to the earth. Then the angels speak the beautiful, significant words that testify that He should not be sought among the dead. He is “the living One”. The old has ended, a new era has begun.

It is unthinkable to find anything of the living One among the dead. What is connected with life is of a totally different order than what is connected with death. The first testimony of the resurrection of Christ comes from the mouth of an angel. Because He is raised, He is no longer in the tomb. God has fully accepted His work and has found His joy in raising Him from the dead. Said with respect, God could not have done anything else. His Son has accomplished the work commissioned to Him perfectly, so His resurrection is an act of God’s righteousness. The angel does not say any of this, but we know it from the rest of the New Testament and especially from Paul’s letters.

The angels also remind the women of what the Lord Himself has said. So they could have known better. The angels also quote the words He spoke to them when He was still in Galilee. Then the light breaks through in their thoughts.

The memory of His words gives them the conviction and boldness and strength to testify to it to others. There is no talk of works of power. Luke always emphasizes the words of the Lord. As Christians, we have nothing but the Word of God. We are called to believe in it.