March 27, 2005 (Easter Sunrise Service)

IT’S OPEN!!!

Luke 24

The title for my message this morning is IT’S OPEN!!! What do you think the title refers to? (Assumed answer: The Tomb). Do you know something? You are absolutely right! At least you’re partly right. It does refer to the tomb. But the interesting thing is, as I pondered the resurrection account given in Luke 24, I actually found 5 things that are mentioned as being open.

Let’s start with the obvious one. 1. An Open Tomb. We know that as the small group of women went to the tomb early on Easter morning to apply additional spices to Jesus’ body, one of their concerns was how to move the large stone that they knew had been used to seal the tomb. But when they arrived, we’re told that they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. The tomb was open!!

Now, did you ever stop to think about why the tomb was open? The obvious answer is, “To let Jesus out.” But if you think about it a little bit, you’ll find that isn’t the reason. We know that Jesus, in his post resurrection body, was able to pass through locked doors and appear in closed rooms. He could easily have left the tomb without the stone being moved.

No, I believe the reason the stone was rolled away and the tomb was open was to let Jesus’ followers in so they could see that the tomb was empty. Notice in verse 3, it says: but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

There is also an account in John 20 of the resurrection. John, relating his own experience, says this in verse 8. Finally the other disciple (meaning John himself), who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

What John saw in the open tomb convinced him that Jesus had risen from the dead. Even today, as we consider the various eye-witness accounts of that first Easter morning, it is the data of the open tomb, the empty tomb and the empty grave clothes that constitutes the earliest evidence for the resurrection. The tomb was open to let us in.

The second one is 2. Open Scriptures. We find this one in verse 32, in the account of Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. As they recounted their experience to each other, they said: Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?

Now, we know that they were talking about the Old Testament Scriptures, as we discussed on Friday. We know that what Jesus did was to explain to them beginning with Moses and the Prophets…what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

It’s all here. If you have not met Jesus, this is where you will find him: in the Old Testament prophecies, and in the eye-witness accounts of the gospels, and then in the theological expositions of the epistles. If you do not know Jesus, or if you are still filled with questions about him and his claims, this is where to look. Open the Scriptures. Read them. Keep reading until “your heart burns.”

But as you do that, you will need something else. You will need 3. An Open Mind. We find this one in verse 44-45. In this account, Jesus has now appeared to his disciples in the upper room. He’s showed them his hands and feet. He’s eaten a meal with them. Then notice what he does: He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

It will do you little good to come to the Scriptures with your mind already made up, looking for excuses and reasons not to believe. You must come with an open mind. You might ask: “But where shall I get an open mind? My mind is so cluttered with this idea and that teaching. How shall I ever sort them all out?”

Notice what this passage says: He opened their minds. Let me ask you; If you pray, and sincerely ask: “God, if you’re real, and this is your truth, then open my mind so that I can understand the Scriptures,” do you think that is a prayer God will answer?

If we come to the Open Tomb and the Open Scriptures with an Open Mind, what will happen next? 4. Open Eyes. Let’s go back to verse 31. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. In their case it was their physical eyes that were opened to enable them to see that the man talking to them was the risen Christ. In our case, it is not our physical eyes that are opened, but our spiritual eyes.

We saw this in the message last week. When Jesus commissioned Paul into the ministry, he said to him: I am sending you to them to open their eyes. I am convinced that anyone who comes to the open tomb and the open Scriptures and sincerely asks God to open his/her mind, will have his eyes opened to recognize the crucified and risen Lord. Easter will no longer be a cultural observance of an historical event, but a personal celebration.

This will lead to the fifth point. 5. An Open Mouth. It simply must follow. There is no other choice. First of all, our mouths will be opened in witness. We must tell what we know! This is where that appearance of Jesus to the disciples in the upper room on Easter night ended. Look at his commissioning words to him in verses 46-48: He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

He commissioned his disciples as his witnesses to preach this good news in his name to all nations. But this commission is not exclusive to the apostles. As we learned in II Corinthians, he reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…and has committed to us the message of reconciliation. As those who have had our eyes opened to recognize Jesus as the Savior and Son of God and been reconciled to God, we have been entrusted with the task of opening our mouths and making that message of reconciliation known to the world.

But there is another way to open our mouths. This one is also found in Luke 24. The followers of Jesus opened their mouths in praise and worship. We find that this response became a way of life for Jesus’ early followers. After Jesus left them to return to heaven, we read in verse 52: Then they worshiped and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

“It’s true! The Lord has risen!” How can we experience the wonderful truth of Easter without opening our mouths in praise and worship? That is how we want to conclude this service, by singing “Lion of Judah, the Lamb who was slain…who was raised up to reign at His Father’s side.”