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.