Luke 24: Jesus is risen!

Captain Naomi Clifton explores the significance of the Resurrection.

Key texts

• Luke 24:1-12

This Easter Day, Salvation Army halls and churches around the world will be filled with the sound of celebration. We’ll sing out the great Easter hymns, rejoicing that the ‘risen, conquering Son’ has won an endless victory over death (SASB 276). We’ll decorate with flowers bursting into bloom and crack open chocolate eggs, delighting in these symbols of new life. We’ll shout aloud the angels’ announcement: ‘He is not here; he has risen’ (Luke 24:6).

This is a day of triumph because we have good news: Christ is not defeated by the power of death but has risen! On this day, we remember that God has acted decisively to ‘swallow up death forever’ (Isaiah 25:8), and we can have a ‘living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1 Peter 1:3).

Pause and reflect

• What’s your favourite Easter tradition to celebrate the Resurrection? 
• What does the Resurrection mean to you?

Our study passage reminds us that the first visitors to the empty tomb did not know Jesus had risen from the dead. Very early in the morning, the women had come to honour Jesus’ dead body with the rites of burial, only to discover the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Nothing was as they had expected. The women were left perplexed, wondering where the body of their beloved Lord Jesus had been taken.

Even after angels announced Jesus’ resurrection to the women, the disciples dismissed their eyewitness account ‘because their words seemed to them like nonsense’ (v11). On that first Easter Day, the disciples’ understanding of the Resurrection dawned slowly.

As we reflect on the experience of those present on the first Easter morning, we find wisdom for living in times when the Resurrection promise isn’t easy to see.

I’m always struck that the women received good news while they were in the middle of their daily tasks. Despite their loss, Mary Magdalene, Joanna and the other women were faithful in intending to carry out the ordinary tasks of mourning by giving Jesus’ body the burial rites that had not been possible before the Sabbath. They continued to express their love for Jesus in practical ways, even when their hope that he would save them from their oppressors seemed lost. Their faithfulness led to new revelation. Had they not gone to carry out the burial rites, they would not have been the first witnesses to the Resurrection.

Each of us will experience times when we struggle to see the hope of new life. It might be in moments of loss and grief. It may be when we find ourselves stagnating spiritually, struggling to encounter God’s presence, or seeing prayers go unanswered. There can be times when our efforts in mission seem fruitless. In these moments, it’s important to go about the necessary tasks of the day with faithfulness, while remaining open to the new thing that God wants to reveal to us.

The women at the tomb received good news from angels and, while we may not receive angelic visitations, we can be intentional about positioning ourselves where we will hear the good news proclaimed. This could be by joining in worship with our corps family, listening to podcasts or Christian radio, or engaging in devotional reading. What’s truly significant is that hearing the proclamation of the Resurrection prompted the women to recall the promises Jesus had given them in the past. The angels challenged them to ‘remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee’ (v6) and then they remembered his words.

In our own times of uncertainty, we too can recall the promises God has given us in Scripture and reflect on our experiences of the Resurrection power of God at work. This helps us to reframe our present struggles within the bigger picture of God’s redemptive work in our lives and find new hope. As Sidney Cox reminds us: ‘What God has done, he still can do;/ His power can fashion lives anew’ (SASB 852).

Pause and reflect

• Where have you seen Resurrection power at work in your life and community?
• What promises from Scripture restore your hope in hard times?

At the conclusion of this passage, Peter goes to the tomb. Having heard the possibility that God had done something entirely new, he set out to see for himself. 

In times of difficulty, it can be easy to cling to old certainties, but doing so risks missing the new life that God is bringing into being. Like Peter, we need to cultivate a holy curiosity about where Resurrection power may be at work. Perhaps this Easter, God is calling you to step out with holy curiosity – to explore a new opportunity, rekindle a neglected spiritual practice, or encourage someone in their faith. Just as Peter ran to the tomb, may we also seek out where God is moving and remain open to the new life he is bringing.

Sometimes, we hear good news about a new product but, when we try it out, it doesn’t live up to the hype. However, in the days that followed, there were more signs that God had changed the world for ever. Two disciples encountered a stranger on a journey and found themselves face to face with the risen Christ. Jesus stood among the disciples and promised to clothe them with power from on high. He sent them out with his message of good news, which has now reached you and me.

The world is changed for ever because he is risen!