Luke 24:1-5
Luke 24:1 (KJB)
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto
the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others
with them.
The seventh day sabbath was now coming to an end and it was getting toward dawn
on Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Cleopas, had decided to
go to the sepulchre and complete the anointing of the body of Jesus. (Mark
16:1 KJV) And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
The time frame was just before dawn and the sun may have turned the sky from
black to purple. Little did they know it, that they were about to experience the
greatest day in the recorded history of man. Each of the gospel writers wrote
about a different aspect of the resurrection as the day unfolded. There was soon
going to be much activity and Jerusalem would once again be buzzing with rumors
and stories. It is not recorded as to whether the Pharisees or Sadducees had
visited the tomb to confirm what they would eventually hear. The reason that the
church meets on Sunday is to commemorate the Lord’s resurrection.
Luke 24:2 (KJB)
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
On their way to the tomb they no doubt were keeping their head down watching
where they were walking so they would not drop any of the anointing spices. Once
they arrived at the tomb, they looked up and saw that the stone was rolled away
from the entrance to the tomb. The stones were large to prevent grave robbing
and to prevent any movement of it in case of an earthquake.
Luke 24:3 (KJB)
And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
As soon as they saw that the stone was rolled away from the entrance, the first
thing they did was to enter the sepulchre and when they did, they saw that the
body of the Lord Jesus Christ was gone. There was probably a great wonder as to
what happened to the body.
Luke 24:4 (KJB)
And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men
stood by them in shining garments:
Their wonderment and questions were very soon to be answered because when they
had gone into the tomb, they had seen what looked like two men dressed in
shining garments. It must have been a shock to them to see that Jesus was gone
but these two men who were actually radiating a glow were in there instead. The
words “much perplexed” carries with it the meaning of “going through all possible
solutions but finds no way out.” In other words, the women had gone over every
possible scenario in their minds and could not come to a solution as to what
happened to the body of Jesus or who the two men were.
Luke 24:5 (KJB)
And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto
them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
The women then became afraid at the heavenly sight before them and then bowed
their heads in respect to them. Then they asked the women a great question. “Why
seek ye the living among the dead?” They did not know yet that Jesus had risen
from the dead, so that question may have been a little puzzling. It is the
question of the ages. No one can ever find the grave or tomb of Jesus because
living people do not live in tombs or graves. If there was such a place on
earth, then the detractors of Christ and Christianity would have found it long
ago to discredit Jesus and His followers but they can’t find it. This is also a
question that Christians must ask themselves concerning their lives. If they are
in a dead church then why seek ye the living among the dead? Christians need to
break any type of involved relationships with anything that is dead to Christ
and alive to the world. Dead churches need to be left behind, even if it is the
one your parents attended. There is no living among the dead, you must go where
the living is among the living.