But on the morrow of the sabbath, very early indeed in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the aromatic spices which they had prepared.
The Sabbath was over, and at first light women were walking back to the grave with burial spices in their hands. Luke opens his resurrection account not with an empty tomb but with real love serving a Man they believed was still dead.
Their errand had waited a full day. One writer draws out what that pause reveals about the limits of even the finest human love.
The Sabbath day had interrupted the loving labours of the women with their spices. "On the first day of the week, at early dawn," they returned. Love is usually quick-sighted; it might sense coming danger where others were dull; it might have a feeling of death where others saw triumph. But none except God could anticipate the resurrection. Their labour was useless, as far as their own object was concerned, whatever grace might make of it.
The women prepared the spices before the sabbath, then set them aside while they kept the day of rest. That order tells us three things about them at once.
"Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." This shows three things very clearly. First, their affection for Christ. Second, that they had no expectation of the resurrection. And last, their devout piety, seen in their submission to the word of God. They longed to lavish the marks of their deep love on the dead body of their Lord. But the sabbath followed at once. So these holy women quietly waited and rested in obedience to the commandment before carrying out their plan.
Their journey was an act of service for someone they thought needed it. One writer sees in that a mistake we still repeat: we would rather work for Christ than believe He has already done our work for us.
It is much easier for us to do Christ's business than to believe that He has done ours. Not one form of human religion takes up that thought. So it was with the disciples. They could bring their spices and their ointments, but they were not yet able to believe the mighty fact that He had been doing their business... They came as the living to the dead, instead of believing that He, as the living One, has come down to us who were dead. We will spend our days in penances, but we will not trust Him.
Their unbelief is part of the evidence for the resurrection. One writer also reads the sabbath pause not as an unfortunate delay but as God's doing, because the errand was never needed.
The closing verses of Luke 23 and the opening part of this chapter make it very plain that none of His disciples expected His resurrection. This makes the testimony to it all the stronger and more satisfying. They were not enthusiastic dreamers, ready to believe anything, but materialistic and downcast, ready to doubt everything. The women come before us first. They had no thoughts except those suitable to an ordinary funeral. Their minds were full of the tomb, His body, and the customary spices and ointments. But the Jewish sabbath came in between and stopped their activities. This was of God, for their activities were wholly unnecessary. By the time they could have taken them up again, they would not have found the sacred body.
Luke marks the day with care. The old day of rest had held the body of Jesus in the tomb. The day that follows marks a new beginning.
Christ lay in the grave that sabbath. But now He is risen — risen on the first day of the week, the firstfruits of those who slept... This is why we do not celebrate the rest of the old creation — we were utterly lost as part of it. We celebrate the resurrection of our blessed Lord instead, as the foundation and beginning of the new, now that redemption is accomplished. So after His resurrection He meets His disciples on that first day of the week when they were together. And on the next first day, the Lord's day, the same thing happens.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each tell this morning in a different way, and commentators differ on the exact order of events. One writer lines them up like this:
The first text [Matthew 28:1] speaks not of the resurrection day but of the sabbath that came before it — late on that day, at dusk, when the next day was to begin by Jewish reckoning... The Sabbath was past, as we hear in the second [Mark 16:1], and the women named bought the spices to embalm Him. But when they came to the tomb very early next morning, they learnt that the Lord was risen. That is what the third text [Luke 24:1] says. The fourth [John 20:1] tells us of two separate visits of Mary of Magdala.
- Love — The spices prove real affection for Christ. Their obedience shows too: they waited out the sabbath first.
- Limit — That same love expected a corpse. Only God could anticipate the resurrection — and because no disciple expected it, their later testimony carries all the more weight.
- Mistake — They came to do something for Christ, rather than believe He had done everything for them.
- Mercy — The interruption was God's, sparing them a service that was never necessary.
- Morning — Their needless errand brings them to the start of a new creation: the old rest is over, and the Lord's day has begun.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
The women who set out for the tomb that morning had one plan: to finish the burial. Instead they found the grave already open. Everything turns on two questions: who moved the stone, and what for?
Luke never told us that a stone had been set at the tomb. It appears here for the first time, already rolled back:
"The stone rolled away." Luke, in keeping with a peculiarity of his record, has not mentioned this stone before.
So why move the stone at all? One writer says the answer has nothing to do with letting the Lord out:
Coming to the grave, these devoted women find that God had been there before them, and the stone is rolled away. It was not rolled away so that the body of the Lord might leave the grave. It was rolled away so that disciples might enter and see that the place where He had been laid is empty. No stone, however great, could hold the body of the Lord in the grave.
That means the moment of rising came earlier than the moment of opening, and the state of the tomb shows it:
When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb, an angel had come down from heaven and had already rolled the stone, which was very large, away from its mouth. The Lord was no longer there. He was risen, in divine power, in perfect calmness. All the grave-clothes lay in good order in the tomb... The great stone was no obstacle to the Lord's going out. The divine power that raised Him from the dead, and the spiritual body He then had, made it easy for Him to leave the tomb.
These writers never question the women's love. They question what the women expected. They came ready to care for a body, and the open grave undid the whole errand:
The Sabbath day had interrupted the loving labours of the women with their spices. "On the first day of the week, at early dawn" they returned. Love is usually quick-sighted. It might sense coming danger where others were dull... None but God could anticipate the resurrection. Their labour was useless, as far as their own aim went, whatever grace might make of it.
Devotion and understanding are two different things. One can run far ahead of the other:
The women, taken up with their own thoughts and affections, come with their spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus. Yet He was already living before God in the fragrance of His work and offering... At first this threw them into an unexpected difficulty: they did not find the Lord's body. Nor did they know He was risen. They did not understand that no judgment and no sin remained. There may be real and great love for Jesus without understanding this.
Their slowness was not unusual. One writer traces it to what the resurrection forces a person to face:
But men, and even saints, are slow to appreciate the resurrection. It brings God too near to them. Nothing is more characteristic of Him than raising the dead. Resurrection from among the dead must be learnt from divine teaching, for only He could reveal it in His grace. This breaks in on the whole course of the world. It shows a power above nature, victorious over Satan, which delivers even from divine judgment.
The stone moved on a particular day. One writer reads that day as a fresh start, not a repair of the old order:
The sabbath of the old creation passes in gloom and sorrow. Then the first day of the new week comes, and with it the First-born from among the dead. He is the Head of a new creation, living on in the power of His immortal life... The stone is rolled away; the tomb empty!
- Stone. Luke mentions the stone only here, and only once it lies rolled away.
- Sight. It was rolled back not to let the Lord out, but to let others in; no stone could have held Him anyway.
- Silence. He had already risen in calm divine power, and the grave-clothes lay in order. The opening followed the rising; it did not cause it.
- Love. The women's love was real and their spices were ready. But their errand assumed a dead Christ. Great love can exist without understanding.
- Sunrise. The empty tomb on the first day of the week marks a new beginning. The Firstborn from the dead lives in the power of a life that does not end.
And when they had entered they found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
The women had watched His burial. At first light they came back to finish it, and stepped into a tomb with no one in it. What they did not find became the first evidence of the resurrection. It also shows how much real love for Christ can still miss.
They came as early as the sabbath allowed, carrying spices for a corpse. One writer notes how far affection can see, and where it stops:
The sabbath day had interrupted the loving labours of the women with their spices. "On the first day of the week, at early dawn" they returned. Love usually sees quickly. It might sense coming danger where others are dull. It might feel death coming where others saw triumph. Only God could foresee the resurrection. As far as their own aim went, their work was useless — whatever grace might count it worth.
Their errand was warm and wrong at the same time. One writer finds comfort in that mixture, and draws the line the Lord keeps between love and faith:
There is something very comforting in it. It is ignorance and affection mingled. Ignorance took them to look for the living among the dead. Affection took them too, counting the dead body of the Lord worth more than everything around them. What are you to do with ignorant affection? Just what Christ did with it. He could appreciate it, but He was not satisfied with it. He will not have love in the place of faith. Love is the principle that gives; faith is the principle that takes.
The body was missing because Christ had finished His work and stood accepted before God:
The women, taken up with their own thoughts and affections, come with their spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus. But He was already living in the fragrance of His work and offering before God. He had accomplished everything that set man afresh before God the Father, the last Adam in living acceptance. Then an unexpected difficulty met them at first, for they did not find the Lord's body. Neither did they know He was risen. They did not understand that there was neither judgment nor sin remaining. There may be real and great love to Jesus without understanding this.
Another writer lists everything their love had already done, and then names the one thing it lacked:
In Luke 24:1 we have women who loved the Lord. Surely they loved Him! Had they not watched Him on the cross? Had they not seen that precious body taken down and laid in a tomb? Did they not return to their homes and spend many hours preparing spices to embalm His body? … Why did they return? Was it not to embalm His body? Yes, it was, but it was too late, for verse 3 tells us they "did not find the body of the Lord Jesus." Yes, they were too late. He was risen and alive for evermore. The opportunity to anoint His body had passed. They loved Him, but they had not learned His mind.
The missing body raises a question: was the body that rose the same one they had buried?
He bore our sins in His body on the tree, and that body was laid in the grave. It was the same precious body that was raised again, but made alive now by the Spirit. His blood had been poured out for our redemption. Thomas saw the marks, and they convinced him. They declare plainly that it was the very same body: the temple raised from death to die no more.
For the women standing there, the loss of their errand was the gain of everything:
"Him who lives"! What could that mean to these downcast women? He whom they sought was not there, but was risen! The tomb was empty. The spices and ointments were useless. But if He was alive again, the power of death had been broken — and all that could mean.
- Love. These women came first and came early. They counted His dead body worth more than everything around them.
- Lack. Love alone was not enough. Ignorance sent them to look for the living among the dead, and Christ will not have love stand in the place of faith.
- Late. Their spices were useless; the moment had passed. They loved Him, but they had not learned His mind.
- Living. They carried ointment for a corpse. He was already living before God, His work done, with no judgment and no sin left.
- Life. The very body they laid in that grave rose again, so the empty place meant Christ had broken the power of death.
And it came to pass as they were in perplexity about it, that behold, two men suddenly stood by them in shining raiment.
The women came with spices and found the grave open and empty. Then two men stood beside them — but who were they, how many were there, and why did they come just then?
The women had come to finish a burial, not to greet a living Lord.
It is ignorance and affection mingled. Ignorance took them to look for the living among the dead. Affection took them too, counting the dead body of the Lord as worth more than everything around them. What are you to do with ignorant affection? Just what Christ did with it. He could appreciate it, but He was not satisfied with it. He will not have love in the place of faith... It is Christ who has visited me in my grave, not I who have visited Him in His grave. He is the living One, I am the dead one.
Their confusion made sense. Nothing at the tomb added up.
Safe in the tomb the previous evening and guarded by the soldiers, it was there no longer. Was it stolen? Who would steal it? Besides, the linen clothes in which it had been wrapped were there. It is very unlikely that anyone would take the body and leave the shroud. Where were the guards? It seems they had already disappeared, terrified by the appearance of the angel (Matthew 28:4). No human being was around to explain the unexpected event. They were perplexed, and no wonder. Their suspense, however, did not last long. For two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. Perplexity now gave way to fright. With their faces bowed to the ground, they listened to what these heavenly beings said.
Luke's picture is not Matthew's or Mark's. The number, the human form and the standing posture all fit his own theme.
Matthew has the angel in his majesty, a fitting royal attendant. Mark has a young man in a long white robe. Here we have two men. That suggests both the general theme of the Gospel of the Son of Man, and enough witness to His resurrection. They are not sitting, as the one in Mark is, but they stood by them in dazzling clothing.
Matthew and Mark mention one figure. Luke and John mention two. Commentators differ on how the accounts fit. Some hold that the appearances happened at separate moments that morning.
Matthew mentions an angel rolling the stone away and sitting on it in view of the guards at the grave (Matt. 28:2-4). Mark speaks of the women seeing a young man sitting in the grave, clothed in a long white garment (Mark 16:5). John speaks of Mary Magdalene seeing two angels in white sitting inside the tomb (John 20:11-12). All four of these must have happened at different times, yet not far apart. It is good to see this abundant angelic testimony to the fact of the resurrection of Christ.
Others point to the different groups of women who came.
Notice that the second group of women spoken of here (compare John) see two angels. An earlier group had seen only one.
Two witnesses to the resurrection reached the women that morning, one after the other.
Instead of the dead body they found two men in dazzling clothing. From their lips they heard that the Lord was now "the living One" and not among the dead. So the first testimony to His resurrection came from the lips of angels. The words He Himself had spoken during His life gave a second testimony. He had predicted His death and His resurrection. When reminded of His words, they remembered them.
The two men brought more than comfort. Their words exposed what the women expected to find.
They were afraid. They were looking for a dead body — a shining stranger might well startle them. The angels had come straight from heaven, the witnesses of the risen and victorious Lord. They had not been thinking of that, so the angels made them afraid... That was a rebuke. Do you like to see love rebuked? It is not pleasant, but it is faithful. They were doing the work of love, but the work of unbelief too.
- Perplexed — The women faced an empty tomb. The grave clothes were still lying there. There were no guards and no one to explain it.
- Interrupted — Their suspense was short. Two men in dazzling apparel stood beside them. Their confusion turned to fear, and they bowed to the ground.
- Witnessed — Luke's two men suit his theme of the Son of Man. They also supply enough testimony to the resurrection. Commentators differ on why the accounts vary: different moments, or different groups of women.
- Corrected — Their love was real, but it was looking for a dead body. Christ values affection yet will not accept it in the place of faith, so the angels' word came as a faithful rebuke.
- Remembered — Heaven's messengers gave the first announcement of the resurrection. The Lord's own earlier words gave the second. The women remembered them.
And as they were filled with fear and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them, Why seek ye the living one among the dead?
The women came to the tomb with spices, expecting to finish a burial. The body was gone; they bowed to the ground in fear, and two men in shining clothes answered them with a question that named the Lord as the living One.
They came prepared for a funeral, so the shining strangers frightened them. One writer holds both sides together: their love was real, and so was the unbelief under it.
So they bring their spices and ointments to the tomb, and there the angels meet them. They were afraid. They were looking for a dead body — they might well be startled by a glittering stranger. The angels were fresh from heaven, the witnesses of the risen and victorious Lord. They had not been thinking of that, so the angels put them to fear... That was a rebuke. Do you like to see love rebuked? It is not pleasant, but it is faithful. They were about the business of love, but the business of unbelief too. So in everything God is proved right.
Older translations render the phrase "the living One" — a title for who Jesus now is. Put what the women came to do beside what the angels told them.
The women come before us first. They had no thoughts beyond an ordinary funeral. Their minds were on the tomb, His body, and the usual spices and ointments... Instead of the dead body they found two men in shining clothes. From their lips they heard that the Lord was now "the living One," not among the dead. So the first testimony to His resurrection came from the lips of angels.
The women were not the only slow ones. One writer finds the trouble in all of us: resurrection brings God too near.
But people, and even believers, are slow to value the resurrection. It brings God too near to them. Nothing marks Him out more than raising the dead. And resurrection from among the dead most of all must be taught by God Himself, since only He could reveal it in His grace. For it breaks into the whole course of the world. It shows a power above nature, victorious over Satan, that delivers even from God's judgment. And here it was the Deliverer Himself.
The angels tell them nothing new. They point back to what Jesus had said in Galilee, and one writer traces the sorrow at the tomb to forgotten words.
The day Luke 24 speaks of was the brightest day that had ever dawned on this poor sinful world. And yet... their hearts were the exact opposite of it. They were bowed down and broken in heart. They were disappointed and upset, with everything gone. His cross had killed all their hopes and His grave had buried them... In the eighth verse it says, "And they remembered his words."... their hearts had been leaky vessels for those words. His words had dropped through those poor leaky vessels and were gone. They had forgotten them... And how often it is so with you and me; we have forgotten His words.
The question outlives that morning. One writer turns it on anyone who ties Christ to what this world can offer.
The angels announce it (v. 4-8). They almost reproach the disciples for being so untrue to their special blessing that they still cling to earthly hopes, when they say, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead?" For us He is not in this world at all. So to expect to find Him here, or to tie Him to earthly hopes, is to seek the living One among the dead.
Answer the question, and the spices lose their purpose. Something far larger takes their place.
"The One who lives"! What could that mean to these downcast women? The One they were looking for was not there — He had risen! The tomb was empty and the spices and ointments were useless. But if He was alive again, then death's power was broken, and everything that could mean with it. A living, risen Christ — that is the starting point of real, living Christianity!
The women themselves show what that does.
Now see the immediate effect on these very women. We read that "they came and held him by the feet and worshipped Him" (Matt. 28:9). Their perplexity gave place to worship, and their desolate hearts were filled with gladness.
- Seeking wrongly. Their love was real, but they came looking for a dead body. Love aimed at the wrong place still needs correcting.
- Seeking forgetfully. Jesus had told them in Galilee what would happen. Their hearts were leaky vessels, and His words had dropped through and gone.
- Seeking Him living. The angels give Him a title, not just a report. He is the living One, and death's power over Him is broken.
- Seeking here. For us He is not in this world at all, so tying Christ to earthly hopes repeats the women's mistake.
- Seeking ends in worship. Once they knew He was alive, confusion turned to worship. A living, risen Christ is where real Christianity starts.
He is not here, but is risen remember how he spoke to you, being yet in Galilee,
The women came at dawn with spices for a body. Instead they met two men in dazzling clothes, who asked them a question and gave them a command. The message at the empty tomb is not only that Christ is alive. He had said so in advance — and His followers had forgotten.
The angels do not argue for the resurrection. They state it. One writer notes the three witnesses that met the women that morning:
The two angels reminded the women of what Christ had said in Galilee — that on the third day He would rise again. "And they remembered his words" (Luke 24:8). These words came to them at that moment. They confirmed what the open grave proclaimed and what the angels declared: "He is not here, but has risen."
The empty tomb made their spices useless, and it told them something far larger:
"The One who lives"! What could that mean to these downcast women? The One they were looking for was not there, but was risen! The tomb was empty; the spices and ointments were useless. But if He were alive again, the power of death had been broken, along with everything that could mean.
The angels' opening question is not just information. One writer calls it a rebuke of real love:
They were looking for a dead body — they might well be startled by a shining stranger. The angels were fresh from heaven, the witnesses of the risen and victorious Lord. The women had not been thinking of that, so the angels frightened them. And they said, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee." That was a rebuke. Do you like to see love rebuked? It is not pleasant, but it is faithful. They were busy with the work of love, but with the work of unbelief too.
The same question meets readers today who still fasten their hopes to this world:
For us, He is not in this world at all. To expect to find Him here, or to try to tie Him to earthly hopes, is to seek the living One among the dead.
The slowness was not just theirs. One writer explains why this truth is hard for everyone:
But people, and even saints, are slow to appreciate the resurrection. It brings God too near to them. Nothing is more characteristic of Him than raising the dead. And resurrection from among the dead most of all must be learned by divine teaching, since only He could reveal it in His grace. For this breaks in on the whole course of the world. It displays a power greater than nature, a power victorious over Satan, which delivers even from divine judgment.
The angels point them back to what they had heard. One writer traces the disciples' confusion to one root:
First of all, it is very serious to think that the words of the Lord Jesus had been forgotten by them. The apostles' state seems to have been the darkest of all in this respect. The confusion of unbelief covered their hearts and minds. The news the women brought back from the tomb had no place with them; it all seemed like "idle tales."
The change came at once, and the same words are now in our hands:
"And they remembered His words" — and with that everything was changed for them... It is very good to see how they left the tomb at once when they remembered His words... How it shows us the power of the words of Jesus! Now we have them written, praise the Lord!
Galilee matters here. The prediction came long before Jerusalem:
He was risen. But He had said this in advance, while in Galilee, before He even came up to Jerusalem: the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men.
Luke's account of that morning differs from the others:
In Matthew we have the angel in his majesty, a fitting royal attendant. In Mark we have a young man in a long white robe. Here we have two men. This suggests both the general theme of the Gospel of the Son of Man, and enough witness of His resurrection... The two then remind the women of His words when He was in Galilee. This part is unique to Luke and very instructive.
- Forgotten — Their confusion at the tomb had one root: the Lord's own words had slipped out of their hearts.
- Rebuked — The angels' question rebukes real love that was mixed with unbelief. Faithful correction is not always pleasant.
- Reminded — In Galilee, before Jerusalem, He had told them what would happen to the Son of Man.
- Remembered — His words came back to them, everything changed, and they left the tomb at once. Today we hold those same words in writing.
- Risen — The empty grave says death's power is broken. Stop looking for Him among earthly hopes.
saying, The Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinners, and be crucified, and rise the third day.
Inside an empty tomb, two shining messengers give the women no fresh news. They hand back words Jesus had already spoken in Galilee, which raises the sharpest question of the chapter: why did those who loved Him most forget them?
The angels ask a question before they give the news. The women came looking for a dead body, and the answer from heaven corrects them as well as comforts them.
They were afraid. They were looking for a dead body — they might well be startled by a shining stranger. The angels were fresh from heaven, the witnesses of the risen and victorious Lord. They had not been thinking of that, so the angels put them to fear. And they said, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen: remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee." That was a rebuke. Do you like to see love rebuked? It is not pleasant, but it is faithful. They were about the business of love, but the business of unbelief too.
The saying carries a word of necessity: the Son of Man must be delivered up. That necessity looks like a contradiction until you ask what it was for.
He was the Deliverer from Satan's power. The disciples were as nothing in the presence of the enemy. That was natural enough. But what shall we say when we hear that the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men? Here unbelief is always at fault. It never knows how to put these two things together. It does seem a moral and mental contradiction that the mightiest of deliverers should look like the weakest of all beings, delivered into the hands of men, His own creatures! But so it must be. If a sinner was to be saved for eternity, and if the grace of God was to make a righteous basis for justifying the ungodly, then Jesus, the Son of Man, must be delivered into the hands of man. And then a far fiercer fire must burn — the divine judgment, when God made Him sin for us.
"Sinful men" names the human hands at the cross. What God did there, at the same hour, was something else.
These verses bring two things together so closely that we can hardly separate them. There is the Lord's treatment at the hands of sinful men, and there is His bearing our sins under the hand of a holy and righteous God. Both happened at the same time, when our Lord allowed Himself to be taken by wicked hands and crucified. Yet we must be clear: not one thing that men did to Him had any part in the work of redemption.
The prediction ended with a date. Their failure to remember it was not a lack of information.
But men, and even saints, are slow to appreciate the resurrection. It brings God too near to them. Of all things, none is more characteristic of Him than raising the dead. Above all, resurrection from among the dead has to be learned by divine teaching, since only He could reveal it in His grace. Resurrection breaks in upon the whole course of the world. It displays a power greater than nature, victorious over Satan, and it delivers even from divine judgment. Here it was the Deliverer Himself. He had often told the disciples of it, and He had even named the third day. Yet those who were most faithful did not understand at the time, and so did not remember afterwards — not until the fact had taken place and heavenly messengers recalled His words to them again.
Once His words came back to them, the women did not stay at the tomb. Memory moved their feet.
"And they remembered His words"; and so everything changed for them. They can now put on the garments of praise. It is very blessed to see how they left the tomb at once when they remembered His words… How it shows us the power of the words of Jesus! Now we have them written, praise the Lord! We have them in what is called the "Word of God." We have the very words of Jesus.
The report they carried, however, landed on ears as slow as their own had been.
The Living One was not with the dead. He was risen, as He said. Joy must have filled their hearts, and have given wings to their feet. But who believed them? The apostles heard the women, but could not credit their report. It was just idle talk.
- Word spoken. Jesus had already said it all in Galilee: handed over, crucified, and raised on the third day.
- Word necessary. The "must" comes from grace. For the ungodly to be justified on a righteous basis, the Deliverer had to be delivered up.
- Word precise. Sinful men crucified Him. At the same hour God dealt with our sins. One cross, two very different things.
- Word forgotten. His most devoted followers came looking for a body. Love without faith met a faithful rebuke at the tomb.
- Word remembered. Remembered words emptied the tomb of mourners and sent them out with news. The first hearers called it idle talk.
And they remembered his words;
At the empty tomb the angels do not argue the resurrection from the evidence. They send the women back to what Jesus had already said in Galilee — and this one short line raises the question of why His closest followers needed the reminder at all.
Jesus had told them all of this Himself, down to the third day. One writer explains why even faithful hearts are slow here:
But men, and even believers, are slow to value the resurrection. It brings God too near to them. Nothing is more characteristic of Him than raising the dead. And resurrection from among the dead must above all be learned by divine teaching, since only He could reveal it in His grace. It breaks in on the whole course of the world. It shows a power above nature, victorious over Satan, that delivers even from divine judgment. Here it was the Deliverer Himself. He had often told the disciples of it; He had even named the third day. Yet those who were most faithful did not understand at the time. And they did not remember afterwards either — not until it had happened, and heavenly messengers brought His words back to them again.
Three things agreed that morning, and each backed the others:
The Galilean women came to the tomb and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. There they saw two angels. The angels reminded them of what Christ had said in Galilee: that on the third day He would rise again. "And they remembered his words" (Luke 24:8). These words came to them at that moment. They confirmed what the open grave proclaimed and what the angels declared: "He is not here, but has risen."
This short line is typical of Luke. One writer traces the same emphasis through the whole Gospel:
"And they remembered his words." This last point always matters greatly to Luke. He stresses the value of every part of God's word, and above all the words of Jesus.
One writer draws out what memory did to the women that morning — and what it leaves with us:
"And they remembered His words"; and so everything changed for them: they can now put on the garments of praise. It is very blessed to see how they left the tomb at once when they remembered His words... They "returned from the tomb" (v. 9). That is one great change already made. How it shows us the power of the words of Jesus! Now we have them written, praise the Lord! We have them in what is called the "Word of God." We have the very words of Jesus.
The same writer turns the verse around and applies the gloom of that morning to us. Sadness, he argues, often has a traceable cause:
Oh, what a voice all this has for us; for how often do we forget His words and sayings! Is there one here tonight who has forgotten His words? That is why you are sad — full of gloom and hopelessness. You have forgotten the Saviour's words; they have ebbed away out of your hearts. Is it any wonder, then, that your heart is miserable and your soul confused?
Words only come back at the right moment if they went in first. One writer turns that into practical advice for reading:
So if you commit parts of the Bible to memory, you clearly prepare yourself. Help and comfort from the Scriptures will then be there when you most need them. For instance, the verses you read or learned this morning may not have a direct application to you today. Days and weeks may pass; and then in a moment of sharp trial they will come to you, like the arm of a strong man, to lean upon. But they would not come to you like that if you had not previously learned or read them.
- Spoken — Christ had told them plainly of His death and resurrection, and had even named the third day.
- Forgotten — even the most faithful missed it at the time and forgot it afterwards. It took heavenly messengers to bring His words back.
- Recalled — once His words came back, they matched what the empty grave and the angels both said.
- Changed — the women did not stay at the tomb. They left at once and carried the report to the others.
- Stored — words return in the hour of need only if you read and learn them first. Forget them, and gloom fills the space they leave.
and, returning from the sepulchre, related all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
The women who went to the tomb leave it carrying a message. What turned them from the grave, what exactly did they carry, and who was waiting to hear it?
The angels had just reminded them of the words of Jesus. One commentator ties what they did next to that moment of remembering:
"And they remembered His words"; and so everything was changed for them: they can now put on the garments of praise. It is very blessed to see how they left the tomb at once when they remembered His words. They returned from the tomb. How it shows us the power of the words of Jesus! Now we have them written, praise the Lord! We have them in what is called the "Word of God." We have the very words of Jesus.
The same writer notes what had gone wrong before that moment — the words had been given, and lost:
Their hearts had been leaky vessels as to those words. His words had dropped through those poor leaky vessels and were gone. They had forgotten them. For the Lord had often spoken of it. There was plenty of testimony that He would be killed by men, by His own people, and raised up again the third day. But they had forgotten it all. And how often it is so with you and me; we have forgotten His words.
The phrase covers more than an empty grave. It holds three kinds of evidence — and it still met unbelief:
The women returned and told all these things to the eleven. That is, they gave them the evidence of the angels, of the Lord's own words, and of their own eyes: the body was not in the tomb. Yet they did not believe. The modern sceptic might call these things "idle tales;" well, that was just how they appeared to the disciples.
They carried the news before they had grasped it. One writer draws out how the Lord valued that limited but real devotion:
There was no real faith in the resurrection. But there was enough to fill their hearts and send them to tell the disciples what they had seen and heard. These faithful women, faithful even if ignorant, were not forgotten by the Lord. The service of those whom the Lord sent may have overshadowed them. Yet His ways are grace, and He has kept the memory of them, and of their early seeking of the Lord.
Luke names two audiences: the eleven apostles, and a much wider circle. The same writer notes how loosely Luke sums the whole scene up:
Verse 12 is also given as a confirming fact. It comes after the very vague general statement about all the women telling the apostles and all the rest. They were about one hundred and twenty, men and women. These preparatory facts are really almost introductory to the account of the journey to Emmaus.
Luke gives no timetable. He does not say which woman spoke to whom, or when.
One writer looks at the errand the angel gave these women:
It has been observed that women were employed as the first heralds to announce the Lord's resurrection. Granted... We know that the women were commissioned by the angel to advise the eleven of the empty tomb. We know that they discharged their mission faithfully.
- Remembered. The angels gave them nothing new — only the words of Jesus they already had and had let slip. Recovered words turned mourners into messengers.
- Returned. The moment His words came back, they stopped lingering at the grave. Faith does not stay where Christ no longer is.
- Reported. They carried three strands of evidence to the eleven: what angels said, what Jesus had said, and what their own eyes saw.
- Refused. The fullest evidence still sounded like idle tales. Unbelief is not cured by more facts.
- Remembered by God. These women were faithful, even though they did not understand. The Lord did not forget them. He kept the record of their early seeking of Him.
Now it was Mary of Magdala, and Johanna, and Mary the [mother] of James, and the others with them, who told these things to the apostles.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And their words appeared in their eyes as an idle tale, and they disbelieved them.
The women came back from the tomb with the first news of the resurrection. The men who had walked with Jesus for years dismissed it. Luke records their unbelief without softening it, and that unbelief shows where real faith comes from.
The word behind the phrase is blunt, and critics today have their own version of it.
"An idle tale." Writers today use a now familiar word for the women's report: they call it "legend." It is worth noticing that the disciples said it first. They called the report λῆρος, a fable. But those honest men soon had to cross the line, pull down the bridges behind them and burn their boats.
Unbelief about the resurrection did not start with outsiders.
You may think it a strange thing that the testimony of these dear, devoted women was not believed. Make what you like of it, but it was so. In fact, the Spirit of God tells us that people treated their testimony as "idle tales." That testimony was the resurrection of Jesus, the victory of redeeming love, the witness to all that His death accomplished. When it was first announced, even His own people called it an idle tale. Little wonder there is unbelief today.
The disciples had already heard the promise from Jesus Himself. Their problem was not a shortage of information.
Underneath the forgetfulness lies something the human heart resists by nature.
Would you call the apostles Corinthians, who used intellectual reasoning to deny the resurrection? Or Sadducees, the corrupt sect that denied the resurrection? I could not say that... How then do you account for their unbelief? Ah, it is hard to believe that God is doing your business in this world. It is much easier for us to do Christ's business than to believe that He has done ours. Not one form of human religion takes up that thought. So it was with the disciples. They could bring their spices and their ointments. But they were not yet able to believe the mighty fact that He had been doing their business... We will spend our days in penances, but we will not trust Him.
The apostles rejected the message, but the errand was not wasted.
They did not really have faith in the resurrection, but they had enough to fill their hearts and to make them tell the disciples what they had seen and heard. These women were faithful, even if they did not understand. The Lord did not forget them. Even if the service of those whom He sent overshadowed theirs, He, whose ways are grace, has preserved their memorial and their early seeking of the Lord.
Their refusal to believe did two things.
But God's wisdom is seen in this. It tested whether the disciples believed Christ's own words, which the angels' report to the women confirmed. Moreover, the cynicism of the disciples is clear proof that they had no thought of inventing a false story of resurrection to deceive the world.
The same point cuts against the charge that the first witnesses were gullible.
If they had been credulous, eager to believe any tale they heard, one could understand that their testimony would carry no weight. But when disciples who were slow to believe the astounding news of our Lord's resurrection were convinced of its truth by undeniable evidence, their testimony should not be denied.
Even seeing the empty tomb did not settle them. Something else was missing.
No doubt they were amazed, but they went home. Nothing they did matched the immense fact of the resurrection. Why? Because as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. Scripture is now the resting place for faith. No matter what the external evidence, there is no true faith apart from the written word. The disciples had known neither His word nor the written word.
But Peter, rising up, ran to the sepulchre, and stooping down he sees the linen clothes lying there alone, and went away home, wondering at what had happened.
The women had come back from the tomb with news the apostles dismissed as nonsense, and only one man moved. Peter had denied his Master days before, yet he got up and ran — and what he found left him puzzled, not believing.
Peter had every reason to stay away from that tomb.
He had slept when he ought to have watched and prayed. Then, when the crisis came, he denied his Master — and the denial was all the worse because it came after His solemn warning. But he was not a Judas — very far indeed from it. He loved the Lord, and the Lord Himself knew that he loved Him. So, despite his deep and shameful sin, news he could not explain stirred his heart: the body had disappeared from the tomb. It was Peter's eagerness — burning not less now, but more, from the sense of his recent wrong — that drove him not merely to take a glance, but to go in and look at everything closely.
Luke singles Peter out among the apostles, and one writer sees a reason for it.
Still, Peter was seriously interested, and ran to the grave. It was likely at this time that John also ran there (John 20:3-10), but Luke's interest centres on the grace of God at work in Peter's heart with a view to his restoration.
Peter saw grave cloths and no body. That combination is itself an argument.
What clear evidence this gives that the body had not been taken away by enemies any more than by friends! Why should either leave the linen wrappings behind? Who but someone rising from sleep would arrange the coverings in this calm and orderly way? It must have been His own doing as He rose from among the dead. He laid aside what did not suit His new condition, and what He no longer needed. Here we may contrast the very different way Lazarus appeared when the Lord raised him. That difference points to the different character of the Resurrection.
Another writer pictures how the scene looked to the eye.
The linen cloths are lying by themselves, and the head cloth is in its place. Everything looks as natural as the bed a man leaves after a night's sleep. It was not as though the clothing had been taken off Him, but as though He had gone out of it.
The apostles heard the women's report and stayed where they were.
The women returned and told the eleven apostles all these things. They laid out the evidence of the angels, of the Lord's own words, and of their own eyes: the body was not in the tomb. Yet they did not believe. A modern sceptic might call these things "idle tales"; that is just how they appeared to the disciples. Peter, however, with his usual impulsiveness, went a step further. He ran to the tomb to see for himself, and what he saw confirmed their words so far. Yet in his mind wonder, rather than faith, was stirred.
Peter did reach a conclusion at the tomb. It just did not go deep.
Still, there was no depth in the conviction Peter could not help forming. He returned home, wondering at what had happened. Wonder is in no way the expression of the intelligence that faith gives; it rather implies the clear lack of it.
A deeper problem lay behind the wondering. Their eyes had taken in the evidence, but the word had not yet taken hold of their minds.
They did not know the scriptures which declared that it must be so. Sadly, Jesus did not have their hearts, and the word did not have their understanding. They go to their own homes; they look no further; they are astonished, John at least convinced. Understanding from God did not enlighten them, and love for Christ did not move them: they went to their own homes.
Luke has Peter alone; John's account has him running with another disciple. Commentators differ on how the two records fit. One takes them as the same run; another reads Luke as a second, later visit.
John 20:5 speaks of Peter's first visit, when "the disciple whom Jesus loved" went with him. Luke is speaking of the second visit, made alone, which came out of the report of the angels' words. On returning from this later visit, Peter met the Lord.
- Grace moves first. Peter had denied his Lord, yet he was not a Judas. Love for the Lord got him off the ground and running to the tomb.
- Grace leaves evidence. Cloths left in order and no body point away from any thief: He laid the wrappings aside calmly, as One who no longer needed them.
- Grace outruns understanding. Peter's eyes had the evidence; his heart had no faith. He went home marveling, and wonder is not the intelligence faith gives — it shows its absence.
- Grace waits on the word. They still did not know the Scriptures that said it must happen this way, so they went home.
- Grace finishes what it starts. Luke tells Peter's run because he is tracking God's work in Peter with restoration in view. Returning from that visit, Peter met the Lord.