Sermon – “Their Words Were Like Idle Tales”

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” 8 And they remembered His words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had hap-pened.

50 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. 51 He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. 54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.

9 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gen-tiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

My title of my service morning is there words were like idle tales that was the words of the women to the disciples they seem like idle tales to them we’re going to be reading from Luke Chapter twenty four verses one through twelve hear the word of the Lord now when the first day of the week very early in the morning they insert another women with them came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb the stone was already rolled away my friends the stone was not road a ways to Jesus could get out the stone was rolled away so the women and the disciples could go in to see that the tomb was already empty but they for then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus and it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this that behold two men stood by them and shining garments and as always I always have a tendency to pause and preach a little bit these angels had shining garments and right away I thought of Moses when it come down off the mountain after being in the presence of God they had to put a veil over his face because he was shining these angels go in and out of the presence of God their garments were shining I’m not talking about just a shiny buckle war but a shining glowing these glorious angels they were in all they were fearful then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth they said to them Why do you seek the living among the dead he is not here but is risen remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again how will you and they remember his words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest it was Mary Magdalene Joanna Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles and their words seem like idle tales and they did not believe them were talking about the eleven they did not believe them they didn’t believe what the women said but Peter arose and ran to the tomb and stooping down he saw the living cloths lying by themselves and he departed and he marveled to himself at what had happened May God at His blessing so they hear it in the reading of His Holy Word let us pray grazes Heavenly Father we give you praise and glory and honor first of all for who you are that you are the creator the heavens and the earth and all that is in him we thank you for your presence in our lives today your presence in this world through your Holy Spirit we thank you that you sent your son Jesus Christ that he would die on our cross and take our sins upon himself to set us free from that debt that we could not pay we thank you for that and father we just rejoice in your mercy in your grace we thank you for your Holy Spirit and may your spirit be present today may your spirit speak to our hearts the word that we need to hear May we truly understand the significance of what you have done for us and Father’s your word goes out over the airways may it touch hearts may it bring forgiveness for those that have not found your forgiveness father may it bring peace where there is despair father may bring life where there is death follow God I just pray that your word would go forth and it would just reach the hearts and the ears of those in need to hear the may be just the where appropriate proclaimed all around us this world Father God we just sank you and just praise you foller for your love thank you for your presence thank you for your spirit in Jesus’ name amen as our passage began the women were coming to the tomb with spices and oils for the anointed into the body of Jesus it is you’ve I’m sure read the. The passage of the crucifixion and all the vents everything that took place you know that there were two men naked Amos and Joseph a very. Who when they found out that Jesus had died on the Cross that they went to pilot and they requested they might get the body of Jesus and taking down all that cross and give him a proper burial for Joseph had a tomb that no one had been laying in a new tomb and he wanted to take G.’s and put in there but we know that it was getting late in the day it was a preparation day the day before the Sabbath and they were they were in a hurry there was a little bit of a rust to try to get this taken care of because they were not supposed to leave anyone hanging on the cross after the Sabbath began so they want to get his body down they didn’t have time for the Noid thing so they just quickly wrapped his body in and linen cloths and carry him off to the tomb Luke twenty three fifty four fifty three fifty four says now behold there was a man named Joseph a council member and a good and just man he had not consented to their decision in D.C. He was from Ehrman. A city of the Jews who himself was also waiting for the Kingdom of God This man went to pilot and asked for the body of Jesus then took it down wrapped it in linen and laid it in the tomb that was here not of rock where no one had ever lain before this day was the preparation and the Sabbath through near you know some people want to debate about the days when and when he was actually crucified and when he rose and all was it really three days I take it for what it says that day that they took him down at the cross was a preparation day the sabbath drew near and the said that he would rise on the third day it didn’t stay that he has to be in a grave for three full days it just said Jesus said He will rise the third day so you have the preparation day you have the Sabbath the third day I take it for what it says he rose the third day but there’s no sense debating it because the truth is we just know that he was crucified we know that he died and we know the dead tumors empty we know that he rose up out of that grave the women mentioned in our passage. At least most of them they were there they were there when Jesus was taken down from that cross they said that the women had come with him from Galilee and followed afterwards they observed were Joseph an ignoramus took the body in place in a tomb because they were preparing the spices in the fragrant oils they were going to rest on the Sabbath according to the commandment then they were going to go in and point the body very early the first day of the week that was their plan and I just have to speak of the faithfulness of these women these female disciples there are faithfulness is unmatched if you’ve read the passage concerning the crucifixion and resurrection you might ask where’s the eleven now we know one Gospel does place one of the disciples there of the Gospel of John so you might then say well where’s the ten words the other ten we know Judas went out and hung himself but where are the other ten disciples John was there because we know that from the cross Jesus in His love and compassion he looked to John and apparently his mother Mary was standing beside him he said Behold the mother and he said to Mary behold die son so we can place John there but there were a number of women there a number of woman where were the other twelve they were nowhere to be found they were hiding they were scared but these women were right there you know through the centuries and across continents and called years women have walked in the shadow of the Curse the curse pronounced upon her by God himself I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception in pain you shall bring forth your children used your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you Genesis three sixteen when our Lord hung there on our cross paying our sin debt and spending that great divide between God and man it was the women who loved him so much that they were right there they were brave enough to be the ones to stand nearby to watch him no doubt weeping there’s no doubt in my mind that they were weeping women are emotional husbands you know that. You can take a sit down and watch a movie with your wife or go to the movies or whatever and you know they’re going to have a scene there this sad new no the the star dies at the end and they come out of their wiper neurons and are so emotional like what do you cry out of out you know it’s just a movie women are emotional so there is no doubt in my mind that these women were crying they were weeping their Savior the one they put all their hope in was hanging or not cross tortured I can’t imagine what his body looked like the flaw going that he endured that flaw that thing that the toll that they used to flog him had closed in one of the district the flesh off of one’s body he endured that flooding upon his back that crown of thorns crew pressed into always call the nails How could one not be weeping stannin or see in Jesus Christ hang on a cross they realize that he was different from anyone else that ever lived they hoped that he was the Messiah but I’m sure as they were standing there watching the one that they hoped would be the Messiah not fully understanding the things that he taught they thought their hopes were fading they were dying before their eyes who were these women so loam was one of these woman she was the wife of the well to do fisherman’s Eddie the mother of the sons of thunder James and John she was one that stood there and watched that cruel crucifixion how she must of River her first in her memory the things in the interactions that she had with Jesus over the years because it is believed this alone whose name means peaceful and her family were friends with Jesus even before he began his public ministry at the age of thirty so it’s very possible that Jesus may have been visited their home she may have even cooked meals for them and enjoyed meals together but when he launched into his public ministry she gave up a relative life of comfort to follow him because she believed in him she believed that he was the Messiah the one to come see serve him both in action and financial support. She believed him to the point that she interceded with him on behalf of her two sons she went to Jesus and said Lord Jr grant that one son sit on your right and the other sit on your left when you come into your kingdom she truly believed the Lord said that’s not for me to determine and then there was Mary Magdalene the woman who loved much because she was forgiven much many have mistakenly identified Mary Magdalene as a prostitute before she came to Jesus but there is no historical evidence to back that up as a matter of fact there is evidence to prove that there were so many Marys that it was just a misunderstanding misconception. Mary Magdalene though is clearly identified in Scripture as the woman in whom Jesus cast out seven demons Mark sixty nine says now when he rose early on the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he cast seventeen it’s that word is true so that we know much was forgiven if you imagine how grateful she was being held captive by demons and being set free put yourself in her shoes are you that thankful how grateful Mary must have been that she quickly and completely became a follower of Jesus Christ she is not only seen at the foot across maintaining her devotion to the Lord but as we have already learned she followed the men to the tomb to see where they would place the body so the sea and the other woman the other women could give Jesus the proper anointed a proper burial annoying thing they know not great resurrection morning to be the first one there the very first one to hear those words he is not here for he is risen he has risen from the dead verse eight said Then they remembered his words his words of how he would suffer and die and rise again all of Jesus’ followers though including the women they had their doubts they did not fully understand the resurrection they didn’t fully understand what Jesus taught them. As I said the men were hiding the women they were planning for the anoint in a body that’s why we followed them to the tomb if they fully understood what Jesus taught them what he was going to do why bother preparing the spices and fragrant oils we are going to Natal we’re going to hurry down air Sunday morning so we can see that he had risen right why but you wouldn’t have had to prepare for the burial if you truly knew and understood that he was going to rise from the dead he wasn’t going to be there long enough to need that anointing he taught them so many times about the resurrection in Matthew sixteen twenty one says from that time Jesus began to shows disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day in a loop Chapter nine twenty one through twenty two and he strictly warning commanded them to tell this to no one saying the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the chief elders or by the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day I had an additional Scripture that I want to share to go along with that. In Matthew Chapter sixteen when Jesus came into the region assessor refill it he asked the disciples saying who do men say that I the Son of Man Am so they said to him some say that you are John the Baptists some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them but who do you say that I am to Jesus ask his disciples Who do you say that I am Simon Peter answered and said You are the Christ the Son of the Living God Jesus answered and said to him bless it or use Simon bar Gena for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven and I also say to you you are Peter and on this rock I will build My Church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ will move on just a little bit from that time Jesus began to show the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders in the chief priests and scribes and be killed the third day so he’s telling the disciples this now listen to Peter’s reaction verse twenty two then Peter took him aside could you imagine he’s taken a Messiah is going to take him aside Dr Marilyn I have a talk with you we could have a little discussion he took him aside and he began to rebuke him saying Far be it from you Lord this shall not happen to you and that’s Peter he is the strong vocal one I’m not going to let this happen to you Lord we know he’s going to get that sorted out I’m not going to let this happen but the he turned and said to Peter Get Behind Me Satan for you are an offense to me for you are not mine for the things of God but the things of men glory imagine that one day he’s telling Peter you are the rock done going to build my church upon then he saying Get Behind Me Satan get behind me. What a humbling experience for Peter was and what a humbling experience he came that was the purpose of his coming Peter was going to let it happen now but God’s will was going to be done he warned the disciples what was going to happen Thankfully after the angels reminded the women they remembered said Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest it was Mary Magdalene Joanna Mary the mother of James and the other women who told them these things but their words seem like idle tales let’s be honest with one another by nature we don’t want to just hear words do we. Do you want to just hear words no why. I have a lot of questions don’t because so many times in our lives words have turned out just to be that you get one say in just to be words nothing else empty words nothing to back them up how many times has a woman that has been abused and beaten heard from her boyfriend her husband I’m so sorry I didn’t mean it my got the best of me on promise I won’t do it again only to next week or next month how the same thing happened again and again and again and the words right how many women have heard these words I promise to love you too for sake all the others Wow How many times is that promise been broken so many times William Deane how said an acre of performance is worth a world of promise I were an acre of action if you will is better than the whole world of promise we want to see we want to touch we want to action we want to see it with our own eyes but so many are like doubting Thomas John Chapter twenty twenty four twenty five says Now Thomas called the Twin one of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came the other disciples therefore said to him we have seen the Lord so he said to them unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side I will not believe he say and that’s just words I want to see it I want to touch it we want more than just words don’t we even his Even the fellow disciples Thomas a fellow disciple would not believe those that he had been with for three years he wanted to see I found a great illustration about how words aren’t enough there was a young husband he was desperate. His wife had abandoned him and their two children weeks before though she still occasionally gave them a phone call he had absolutely no idea where his young wife ran off to on these phone calls he pleaded and pleaded and pleaded with her to come home told her how much he in the children loved her yet she continually rebuffed him and he wondered was a time to give up ought I just give up on this marriage it’s over so I just move on but he thought No the husband used his meagre savings to actually hire a detective who found out that his wife was living in a third rate hotel across the country the husband borrowed the money for a plane ticket and soon he was at her doorstep knocking on the door she opened the door and he said We love you so much won’t you come home and she fell apart right there in his arms and they went home together it was weeks later that he asked her why did you not come home after I expressed my love in the children’s love for you numerous times on the phone she answered Those were just words but then you came but that sink in from Jesus came didn’t we can read about it but we know by faith and believe by faith that he actually came became one of us that’s true love true love is more than words it may involve flying across the country spending our last nickel to bring our spouse home or a child home or whoever it may be true love has indeed been demonstrated by God in sending his own son his only begotten Son my tie my Eastertide For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Galatians three thirteen fourteen says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus that we might receive the promise of the spear through faith and Ingle ations three twenty six and twenty nine through twenty nine for you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus in Christ Jesus for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on price there is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if you are Christ then your Abraham see and heirs according to the promise my friends God cannot lie his word is true you can depend on his word Jesus word to the disciples were not just empty words he did what he said he was going to do he said I will rise again on the third day and he rose on that third day this the words in this book that we go all the Bible are more than just words on a page they are the promises of God we can trust God to do what he promised to do there was a little boy named Philip Philip was born with Down Syndrome Philip attended a third grade Sunday school class with several other boys and girls his age and typical of that age children the children did not really accept Philip because he was so different according to an article in leadership magazine but because of a creative teacher they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group though not fully the Sunday after Easter the teacher brought some of those little L. egg painting those containers I remember those days even still make those those little egg shaped pantyhose containers the Condor looked like an egg each receiving one the teacher told the children to go outside on that lovely spring day find some symbol for a new life and put it in the egg like container so back in the classroom. They would share their new life symbols open into containers one by one in surprise fashion after running about the church property with wild confusion the students return to the classroom and placed the containers on the table surrounded by the children the teacher began to open them one by one each one whether it was a flower a butterfly a leaf the class just an odd then one was open revealing nothing inside the children explain that is stupid that’s not fair somebody didn’t do their assignment Philip spoke up that’s mine Philip you didn’t even do things right the students retorted there’s nothing there I did so do it Philip insisted I did do it it’s empty because the tomb is empty. Silence followed from then on Philip became a full member of the class the sad thing is though that Philip Not long afterward died of an infection that most normal children would have shrugged off they say at the funeral this class of eight year olds marched up to the altar not with flowers but with their Sunday school teacher each one lay on it and empty pantyhose. Brothers and sisters do you believe the tomb is empty Do you believe the tomb is empty that’s what sets us apart from all other religions the tumors and the whole New Year he is not there he is risen from the grave he has defeated death Hell in the grave and because he defeated death Hell in the grave we have been set free do you believe that we receive that if you’re watching if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior ask him the commune into your heart recognize that he is the Son of God recognize that he did die on that crawls recognize that he rose up out of that grave for you and me for our sins that we could be set free set free from that which separated us from God. What do you believe about Jesus that’s what he asked Peter what do you believe that’s the most important question that you ever be asked in your entire life what do you believe about Jesus do you believe that he is alive brother and sisters are believe that he’s alive and seated at the right hand of God right now the Smorgon as we speak and I pray and hope each one of you each one watching knows Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior he came gave his life that we can have a life that we can have eternal life Amen amen.