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.