Luke 24:1-5
Not Finished Yet (Easter)
I want to tell you a story. It’s a true story and it is an important
story. To save as much time, after I read the opening text, I will
not read many Bible passages, although I will refer to several, until
near the end of the message. At that time, I will finish reading this
text.
Luke 24:1 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.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from
the sepulchre.
3 And they entered in, and found not the body
of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it came to pass, as they were much
perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by
them in shining garments:
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their
faces to the earth, they said unto them…
The story divides into chapters.
I. Chapter One-God’s Greatest Creation
A. This creation wasn’t a man or a mere angel.
B. It was a being by the name of Lucifer.
1. Lucifer was created before us.
2. Lucifer was created higher than us.
3. Therefore, Lucifer was and is greater than us.
C. \\#Eze 28:14\\ God called Lucifer a cherub.
Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that
covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon
the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up
and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
1. A cherub is of an order higher than the angels, and the
Bible says the angels are a higher order than us
\\#Heb 2:7\\. That leave us way down on the totem pole.
2. Cherubs appear to have more power, more abilities, and a
higher rank in God’s kingdom.
3. That same verse said of Lucifer that he was anointed and
that he covereth.
a. "anointed" means he was appointed and empowered by God
for a task.
b. "covereth" means to defend as to fence in, hedge in,
or to cover for protection.
c. It appears that Lucifer was created and gifted to
protect something.
(1) I know of nothing that really needed protecting,
but God made a protector anyway.
(2) I would suppose that Lucifer’s job was to protect
God and His glory.
(a) Maybe that is why Satan likes to make
traitors of people.
(b) He’s the first and biggest traitor of all.
D. \\#Eze 28:12\\ God said he was full of wisdom and perfect in
in beauty.
Eze 28:12 …Thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
1. If you are full of wisdom, you can’t hold anymore.
(a) That doesn’t means that Lucifer was all wise.
(b) If he was, he wouldn’t have gotten himself and us
into the mess he has.
(c) It means anything that is created can only hold so
much.
(d) God gave Lucifer all the wisdom he could hold.
(e) It just wasn’t enough.
(f) Perhaps that is the reason God does not fill
Christians with wisdom but with the Holy Ghost.
(1) If God just put wisdom inside of us, we too
could reach our limit.
(2) By putting God inside of us, we have all the
wisdom that God has.
2. Lucifer was—and as far as we know—still is the perfection
of beauty.
(a) Satan does not look anything like our artist’s
conceptions.
(b) We have never seen beauty perfected, but Satan is it.
(c) Sad that one can be so beautiful on the outside yet
be so corrupt and evil on the inside.
(1) I suppose that is one reason why the devil
likes to take some of the most beautiful and
twist them into the most ugly, hateful people
in the whole world.
(2) Maybe it makes him feel better about himself.
E. There is much more I could say of God’s greatest creation, but
what we must know is that he turned away from God.
1. He sinned and was cast out of God’s kingdom.
Eze 28:15 Thou wast (past tense) perfect in thy
ways from the day that thou wast created, till
iniquity was found in thee.
a. In that day, Lucifer, son of the morning, became
Satan, prince of darkness, and set himself up to
overthrow God and everything that God loves.
b. Even more, God’s greatest creation took 1/3 of
heaven’s hosts with him!
c. In that very moment, Satan rejected God and all God
stands for.
2. Yet, perhaps for reason incomprehensible to mere men,
God has not judged Satan—at least not totally—as of
yet.
a. And while God did cast Satan out of heaven, he gave
him the ability to roam the earth; in fact in time,
God referred to Satan as the "the prince of this
world."
b. That does not sound like much punishment, does it.
c. Today, God allows Satan to rule over every THING that
can be touched, heard, seen, smelt, and tasted.
d. And more, God appears to have given him dominion over
a spiritual world and empire that our senses do not
perceive at all.
4. But God is NOT FINISHED YET.
II. Chapter Two-God’s Greatest Love.
A. I will not dwell on this but for a second, for most of you
already know of God’s greatest love.
B. It is us.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
1. The world is not s reference to a place but a people.
2. Jesus did not die for the planet.
3. Jesus died for the people on the planet.
4. God will soon chunk this planet, but those that He died
for will be God’s forever.
III. Chapter Three-God’s Greatest Disappointment
A. That might be an overstatement.
1. Afterall, disappointment implies surprise or a setback.
2. God was not surprised, and there was no setback.
B. In Satan’s rebellion against God, he desired to overthrow God.
1. Of course, Satan cannot overthrow God.
2. I honestly do not know if Satan knows that or not.
3. It seems to me that for someone who was filled with
wisdom, he seems to be a little bit touched.
C. But since Satan cannot overthrow God, he directs all of us
vile and violent venom at the part of God’s creation that
God loves the most, mankind.
1. The story is given in \\#Ge 3:1-5\\.
a. That is just five verses and it should give us an idea
as to just how easy it was for Satan to defeat
mankind.
b. With just one seed of doubt and two lies, Satan
tricked mankind into joining him in sin and rebellion
against God.
2. But Satan did not stop there.
a. Every moment of everyday for at least 6,000 years, the
devil has deceived mankind into going deeper and
deeper into sin, the most addictive and painful sins
that exist.
b. The devil has spurred on violence, war, drug abuse,
slavery of all kinds, sickness, earthly catastrophes,
betrayal, neglect, abuse, and insult at every chance
he has had.
c. The devil has defeated mankind on every front.
(1) He is smarter than we are.
(2) He is stronger than we are.
(3) He has more forces than we do.
(4) He has more authority than we do.
(5) He is a spiritual being while we are physical.
(6) He is already in his eternal state while we are
in our temporal.
(7) He is not limited by the laws of physics while we
handicapped and hobbled by them.
(8) The angels are in class higher than humans and
cherubs are in a class even higher than the
angels.
3. Any human being who thinks he can go up against Satan and
even survive is a foolish person.
a. He is the anointed cherub that covereth.
b. He is the prince of darkness.
c. He is the prince and power of the air.
d. And he is our pledged enemy.
D. But with God’s greatest creation doing this to God’s greatest
love—for reasons which mortal minds perhaps cannot
understand—God appears to have very little if anything to
stop him.
1. Oh, God gave the Old Testament law, but even the Bible
itself says that it was weak, too weak to have mankind
overcome either sin or Satan.
2. It did not nothing to hinder the devil, to stop him, or to
deliver man from Satan’s reach.
E. But God is not finished yet.
IV. Chapter Four-God’s Greatest Warrior
A. At long last, God did something.
1. God sent Jesus—not a man, nor an angel, nor even a
cherub—but the second Member of the eternal Godhead
into this world.
2. But God sent Jesus as a human being.
3. Again, I really do not know what Satan thought.
a. Even with the deficits that sin had created within
him, surely he knew he could not defeat God…
b. But Jesus was God in flesh.
c. Satan has proved his superiority over the flesh
every day for thousands of years.
d. "Perhaps," Satan thought, "while God is in the flesh,
I have a chance."
e. And Satan when after Jesus with all of his fury and
force.
B. Satan attacked Jesus on two fronts.
1. First, He tried to kill Jesus.
a. If Satan could kill Jesus, he would win by default for
there would be no Savior to redeem mankind.
b. I believe Satan’s attacks started before Jesus was
born.
(1) The Bible tells us nothing about it if it was so.
(2) But I think the devil would be too smart not to
have attacked this vulnerable pregnant lady.
c. The Bible does describe at least some of the devil’s
attacks once Jesus was born.
(1) Herod, killing the babies of Bethlehem, was one
of the first.
(2) There were probably others, but the Bible
specifically mentions three other attempts to
kill Jesus.
(a) Satan convinced those of Nazareth to attempt
to throw Jesus head first off the side of a
mountain \\#Luke 4:16-29\\.
(b) At least twice, Satan filled the hearts of
the religious leaders in Jerusalem to stone
Jesus \\#John 8:59, 10:31\\.
d. All of these attempts failed, sometimes with Jesus
simply walking through them.
e. I don’t know of anyone who really knows what that
means, except that Jesus walked through them.
2. At the same time, God allowed Satan to try to trick Jesus
into sinning.
a. If Satan could tempt Jesus into sinning, he would win
by disqualification for Jesus would be unfit to be
the Savior.
b. That had worked so well on Eve in the Garden, he must
have hoped it might work on Jesus too.
c. But Eve was easy compared to Jesus.
(1) Satan pulled out his best bribes, but Jesus
resisted them all.
(2) Satan appealed to Jesus’ pride—and found He had
none.
(3) Satan tried to anger Jesus but could not.
(4) He sowed seeds of doubt, but they would not take
root.
(5) Satan offered Jesus shortcuts, but He refused
them.
d. And these are just the temptations that you and I
can see and imagine.
(1) What temptations do you suppose the devil
offered in places where you and I cannot see or
imagine?
(2) And yet Jesus succumbed to none of them!
C. The devil must have been about to despair, when he caught a
break.
1. One of Jesus’ own, an inner disciple, showed signs of
discontent.
a. Could he get Judas to do to Jesus, what he had done to
God?
b. Could he get Judas to betray Jesus?
c. The answer turned out to be, "yes," and it was quite
easy.
2. Judas would sell Jesus, but things did not go as planned.
a. During the Last Supper, Jesus let on that He knew
Judas’ plan.
b. Everything would have to be sped up.
c. Judas fetched the Jewish guards while Satan lulled the
disciples into a deep sleep.
3. Soon, Jesus was arrested.
a. Satan must have watched with bated breath.
(1) Would Jesus just walk out of the prison? He
had done similar things before.
(2) Would angels come to deliver Him? Satan knew by
name those God would likely send.
b. But God did nothing.
(1) What kind of a Warrior is this?
(2) At the devil’s suggestions, Jesus was slapped,
stripped, and mocked.
(a) Still, God did nothing.
(b) Satan continued.
(3) He whispered, "Plant thorns in His brow for a
crown, drape a purple robe on His shoulders,
and pretend He is a King.
(4) I can hear the voices of the men as they laughed
out loud, but I suspect the loudest cackle of
all could not be heard with human ears, the
crowing of the devil himself
c. But still, as far as any could tell, God did nothing.
4. I wonder if it was possible that Satan got caught up in
his own rage and excitement.
a. Is it possible that he was not just encouraging others
to cast themselves into the cruelty of sin; but he
himself was also swept away?
b. I suspect so.
(1) I suspect Satan enjoyed every strike of the whip
on his back,
(2) I suspect he delighted when Jesus fell beneath
the cross.
(3) I suspect he gloated as Jesus was nailed to the
beams.
(4) I suspect he marched with excitement around the
suffocating body of Jesus.
c. God’s greatest Warrior?
(1) "Ha!" he no doubt cried out!
(2) His fiendish flesh may have crawled with joy as
he watched death’s tenacles wrap themselves
around the body of Jesus, slowing crushing the
life out of Him.
(3) Demonic chill bumps must have run up and down his
spine as he watch the grave grab the feet of
Jesus and pull Him downward.
d. I suspect Satan’s only disappointment was that death
came so quickly.
(1) Satan would have preferred it much slower.
(2) He would have wished Jesus to hang there for
days, for years, even for centuries.
(3) Perhaps he like found some comfort in telling
himself he had worn the earthly body of Jesus to
such a frazzle that even weaker mortals He was
crucified between.
(4) And he knew death’s chains were wrapping so
tightly that no one could loosen their eternal
grip.
D. And through it all, God did nothing.
1. This was God’s greatest Warrior?
2. This was the battle of the eternity?
3. "Why," said the devil, "This was no more difficult than
tricking Eve or luring Adam! He was easy to defeat!"
4. Oh, the sky grew dark for a few hours.
5. The earth even shook when He died.
6. But he had won.
6. The Messiah, God’s Warrior, was dead.
7. His body was laid in a cold, damp grave.
8. There was no doubt of it!
E. But God was not finished yet.
V. Chapter Five-God’s Greatest Surprise
A. I don’t know when Satan first realized it was not over.
1. Perhaps it was not until he heard what the religious
leaders said to Pilate, speaking to him of a
resurrection.
2. Perhaps it was sooner, maybe when he calmed down enough to
remember the prophecies, to realize that in his own haste,
he HIMSELF had helped to fulfill the Scriptures, causing
Jesus to be crucified on a tree.
B. Whatever it was, he knew he must move quickly.
C. Jesus must NOT leave that tomb.
1. He gave Pilate the idea to seal it and set a guard, and
he likely did the same.
2. Satan’s strongest and his evilest set watch around the
tomb, hoping to repel any powers God might send.
3. By the sheer numbers along, I imagine Satan blanketed the
hillside of Golgotha.
4. And when all was set, he himself, the anointed cherub that
covered, likely sat in front of the tomb or perhaps on
top of that rock which had been used for a door.
5. With all of the forces of evil gathered on that spot,
a spirit of gloom, of despair, of sheer evil must have
hung heavy over it.
6. And Satan probably smiled, for in all the days since he
had first sinned against God, for whatever the reason,
God had let Satan go unchecked.
a. Satan had won victory after victory and now on this
day, he likely feared very little.
b. God may have talked big, but He had done nothing, or
so the devil thought.
c. But God was not finished yet.
D. Just before the sun began to crest over Israel’s mountains,
the ground beneath Satan’s feet began to tremble and the sky
began to lighten with a brightest that Satan had only seen
in the heavens.
1. The holy glow of heaven hurt his eyes, and a cold chill
ran across his now trembling body.
2. Being a spirit himself, he peered inside the closed tomb.
a. The tomb now set exactly as it had been; except now,
it was totally empty!
b. The now empty wrap of sheets, still held in place by
the hardening ointments, now sagged some in the
middle.
c. The shroud that had been laid over His face, was
folded and left at the head.
d. It was empty, death’s chains broken into a million
pieces were scattered along the cave floor!
e. Human eyes would never see them, but they were visible
to him.
3. "How could this be?" he was about to demand, but before he
say a word, the stone through which he was peering, began
to slid up the hillside.
a. That heavenly glow quickly filled the small cavern.
b. "This can’t be," the devil screamed to himself.
"Graves don’t open!"
(1) But the Grave, like Death, had lost its grip.
(2) With shattered arms, all he could do was
whimpered and crawled away.
c. Satan turned to look at what was happening on the
outside of the tomb.
(1) Two angels were descending.
(2) Demons were fleeing.
(3) The Roman guards lay past out on the ground.
(4) In the far distance, he heard the sobbing of
women as they approached the tomb; but he knew
they would not cry for long.
d. Satan bowed his head and slinked back to the dark
pits of hell.
(1) He was defeated, and He was damned.
(2) He will make a show of it; but he knows, all is
lost.
(3) As he filtered through the stones, I hope he
heard clearly what the angel told the women.
Luke 24:5 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?
6 He is not here, but is risen:…
Chapter Six is not yet complete, but it is entitle God’s Greatest
Opportunity. It is not about an opportunity FOR God. It is about an
opportunity FROM God, to you. You can have Jesus’ death on the cross
pay for your sins. If you do, you will a new life, both on this
earth and for all eternity. It will not be a sinful life. It will
be a new kind of living, the kind of living God intended you to have
all along. You and you alone get to write that chapter.
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