Amy C Walters

The Resurrection | Luke 24:1-12

There are many things we can learn about Jesus from the resurrection. This post focuses on two words: living and risen. It’s how the angels describe him. It’s what makes the difference for Peter (who ran to find him) and the women (who ran to tell others). And it’s what our salvation hinges upon.

One of the things that surprises me about this story is Peter and what he does, how he behaves. We’re told that when the women come back from the tomb, they tell the 11 disciples everything that had happened. The apostles dismiss the women’s words as nonsense.

Peter, however, runs to the tomb. He bends over, looks inside and sees the strips of linen lying by themselves. But no body. Then Peter goes away wondering to himself what had happened. 

This little snippet about Peter surprises me because the last several stories about him have not been good. In Luke 22 at the Last Supper, Jesus predicts that Peter would deny him. And Peter basically tells Jesus that he’s wrong (Luke 22:33). 

Then Jesus and the disciples go to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus tells Peter and the others to stay awake and to pray. But they all fall asleep, including Peter. And Jesus rebukes them (Luke 22:46). 

Then when Judas leads the mob to arrest Jesus, Peter, among others, fights back, and Peter cuts off a servant’s ear. Jesus rebukes them all (Luke 22:51).

Then as the mob is leading Jesus away to his trial at the high priest’s house, Peter does follow at a distance. Throughout the night, individuals look at him and say, “you are one of his followers.” Each time Peter denies it, until the third time as the rooster crows, Jesus looks directly at Peter. They make eye contact, and Peter remembers that Jesus had predicted this, and he goes out and he weeps bitterly (Luke 22:62). 

That’s all in Luke 22. When we get to Luke 23, Peter doesn’t show up at all. He’s nowhere in that whole chapter. 

So you would think that after all of this, Peter would just try to keep his head down and not draw attention to himself, that he would be reluctant to interact with the other disciples, that he would try to avoid them because he’s ashamed of what he’s done. But instead, when Peter hears the report from the women who were at the tomb, he takes off running to investigate for himself.

Why, after his track record, would Peter even want to approach Jesus? Because Jesus’ resurrection makes the difference. If Jesus is dead, then Peter’s record is frozen at his lowest moments.

But a living Lord means that Peter can be forgiven. A risen Lord means that Peter can have a fresh start. 

The impact of Jesus’ resurrection extends to these women, too, who have gone to the tomb to find him. Before the angels’ announcement, the women were trudging, broken-hearted, hopeless, defeated. But when the angels remind them of Jesus’ words that he would be raised on the third day, they go running back to tell the disciples. 

Tim Keller compares this to the difference between religion and the gospel. Religion is a burden, a duty to perform to remember a dead teacher. But the gospel is a celebration of a risen Lord. It energizes, it gives hope. It’s something you want to share. 

This story has a lot it can teach us about Jesus. But I want to focus specifically on two words: living and risen.  It’s how the angels describe him. It’s the truth that makes the difference for the women and for Peter.

Notice, too, that the angels don’t say, “Why do you seek Jesus, who is living?” They say, “Why do you seek the living?” Jesus’ livingness is almost a title here. He is the living one. 

And there is a huge difference between a dead hero and a living Lord. A dead hero is just a good example, a good teacher, a philosopher. You follow him by looking to the past, and you may even visit his grave to honor him and solemnly contemplate the example that he set. It’s very serious, very quiet. A lot of people throughout history have treated Jesus like a dead hero. They think the story of his resurrection is just a spiritual resurrection meant to inspire his followers to be better people. 

But this story points us to a living, risen Jesus. And not just this story.

The rest of the Bible absolutely gushes about Jesus’ resurrection, pointing out the many powerful implications of it. 

Implications of Jesus’ Resurrection

For one thing, it means that Jesus is unstoppable, that not even the grave could hold him. It tells us this in Acts 2:23-24, which is actually a sermon by Peter. And he says, “This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

The resurrection also gives us hope beyond the grave. Before this, death was the most powerful thing we knew. Seemingly nothing could stop it. No one could escape it. Until Jesus. 

As it says in 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

In fact, Jesus has also given us eternal life through his resurrection. John 11:25-26 says that “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’”

And because Jesus is still alive, our salvation is guaranteed. As the author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 7:25, “Consequently, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” 

And we will one day be resurrected like Jesus. Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 6:14, “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.”

Our key truth for today is that Jesus is living and risen.

This is one of the most fundamental truths about Jesus that we can believe. It’s the difference between religion and the gospel, between a good example and a Savior, between death and life, not just for Jesus, but for everyone who believes in him. 

So what about you? Do you believe that he is living and risen still to this day? 

The women and Peter went out in search of Jesus. They were curious enough, courageous enough, humble enough to pursue the truth. And what they saw changed them forever. 

Be like them. Pursue that truth. It can change you forever too.