Stop Going Back To Empty Tombs|04.05.26|Holy Week 2026 EASTER

I know that you all just finished shaking hands and saying hello just a moment ago, but I’d like to ask you to turn your neighbor and give them a compliment. Tell them, “you look good!”

Okay, now turn to the other neighbor and say, “nice hair!”

Because, let’s be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever been around so many well-dressed people! And I get it, it’s because it’s Easter, and everyone usually feels at least a *little bit of the “Easter-Best” pressure. Have you felt the “Easter-Best” pressure?

We want the matching outfits so that we look good in the family photo, but we’re also thinking about whether or not someone is going to spill on themselves at brunch.

And if I can just get the attention of all the kids for a second? Kids? You look incredible. Would you do me a favor? Would you smile with a very nice smile for the family photo today? Because your parents and grandparents want to remember this day forever!

And even if you didn’t pull out ALL the stops with your outfit today, I can almost guarantee that you showed up today with a slightly more put-together version of yourself.

Even more than regular Sundays… for big days like Easter, we show up with the polished version of ourselves.

But on that first Easter morning? Jesus didn’t show up to polished people.

He showed up to devastated ones.

And for anyone listening today that is feeling discouraged, or anxious, or like your life has drifted… Jesus has something for you today.

[Scripture Ref]

So open your Bibles with me to Luke 24 (p???). I’d love for everyone to have a Bible open in front of them, whether that’s one of the black, seat-back Bibles, or if you just open up Luke 24 on your phone with the Bible App.

Because we’re going to be reading almost the entire chapter, and this is picking up on the Sunday morning after Jesus was arrested, condemned, tortured, and executed on Friday. And Saturday was Sabbath for all the jews, so they couldn’t attend to the tomb.

And the people we’re going to see in our text this morning weren’t polished or put together. They weren’t celebrating. They were devastated, but Jesus was able to meet them in the midst of their low point. As we read, let’s STAND for the reading of God’s Word…

[Luke 24:1-9] [Luke 24:13-33] [Luke 24:36-48] [Word]

[Luke 24:6-7]

Now, I want us to notice something specific about each of these three scenes, because each time, the people are looking for SOMETHING, and they’re not finding it.

The first group is the women who are showing up first thing in the morning. They’re going out of grief and duty. Because they had all their hopes crushed when Jesus was murdered.

They had hoped that he would be the leader their people needed, the one who lifted them up out of their prison and oppression and set them free.

But the dream had died with Jesus. So now, they’re going to the tomb to pay their final respects and say farewell to the last piece of hope they had.

But to be honest, they don’t feel any hope anymore. They’re numb from the grief and just going through the motions at this point.

But when they are met by the angels, they’re told, “you’re not going to find what you’re looking for here. You’re not going to find a dead man. You’re not going to find the end of your hope. Because this tomb is empty.”

And in response to their surprise, the angels say, “Remember? He told you this would happen. This has always been the plan!”

[Luke 24:20-21]

And the second scene we read is the two disciples who are walking the seven miles out of Jerusalem to their place in Emmaus. These are two guys who have been following Jesus, and who had hoped that he was the savior they were waiting for. They hoped he would get rid of the big enemy, Rome, and get Israel out from under Roman oppression.

And so, when Jesus starts walking next to them, it’s almost as if their grief keeps them from seeing him. And I think it’s funny how Jesus is like “playing dumb” so that they can tell him why they are so bummed.

But notice that he lets them process their grief. He lets them vent their disappointment and unmet expectations. But then he tells them, “the cross wasn’t a plot twist in the story. It was a promise kept. …Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things…?”

They were looking for the point of their life to be found in a leader that never suffered or “lost.” But they came up empty.

But Jesus spends the walk with them helping them to understand from the OT prophecies about the Messiah… this was always the plan.

[Luke 24:44-45]

And then, in some strange twist, Jesus disappears right as they recognize him, so they rush back to Jerusalem, running 7 miles, and find the rest of the disciples. And these guys are hiding, because their leader had just been arrested and falsely accused of being a revolutionary, and then executed.

And they’re thinking, are we next?

And so when the two guys from Emmaus rush back in and say they’ve seen Jesus, and they know that the tomb was empty that morning, they’ve got to just be FREAKING OUT. Because it’s all too strange still! Jesus died. They saw it! He was laid in the tomb. They saw it!

And their fear of what might happen to them is keeping them from allowing their hearts to hope.

And then Jesus just… APPEARS in the room with them. And you just KNOW somebody freaked out, “It’s a ghost!” Because Jesus has to reassure them, “Yep, not a ghost, check out my very real and very alive body.”

And even when they make sure he’s real by feeding him some food, they still aren’t sure what to think of this surprise. But Jesus has to remind them, the cross and the empty tomb weren’t a plot twist. They were a promise kept.

“Remember, these are the words I spoke you when I was with you…” I already told you all this. And you might not have understood then, but this has been the plan all along. This was always the plan!

[blank]

Do you see how each of the three groups were putting their hope in things that kept coming up empty. Which is why the cross seemed to seal the fate on their lives.

And I think we actually live in the same habits. Because you know what it feels like to keep going back to the same thing, expecting it to give you life… but coming up empty again.

You know what it feels like to put all your hope in that vacation being the thing that finally resets everything for you… that’s going to be the ticket for your marriage… but it didn’t.

You know what it feels like to hope that the raise at work will finally be the thing to settle the money stress and anxiety… but it hasn’t.

You know what it feels like to put the pressure on your kids’ success, because that will prove to you and everyone else that “you’re not failing as a parent…” … but that feeling is still there in the quiet moments.

You know what it feels like to hope that THIS relationship is going to be the ONE that finally makes you feel loved… but you still feel alone.

Just like those followers of Jesus, we keep going back to empty tombs. And it’s not like those things are evil or anything! They’re just not able to give us life.

Instead, they are forming us to be people who keep chasing, keep reaching, keep hungering… but never finding. These things that we put our hope in are changing us… slowly… little bit by little bit… into people we never wanted to be.

And all of a sudden, we’re more angry than we ever wanted to be. We’re more anxious than we ever wanted to be. We’re more alone than we ever wanted to be.

[Jesus keeps]

But the good news is that Jesus doesn’t wait for us to figure it all out before he comes to us.

He meets the grieving women before they even know what to hope for.

He walks 7 miles with the 2 discouraged disciples who don’t even recognize him.

He appears in the locked room to the frightened ones who think it’s not possible.

He goes to them FIRST. He meets them where they are. In their grief and doubt and discouragement. He shows up to the REAL version of his people… not the polished version.

And what does he say every time? “Remember… I told you this would happen. This was never out of my control. This was always the plan.”

The good news that Easter shows us is that the resurrection wasn’t a surprise ending. It’s proof that Jesus is exactly who he said he was.

It’s proof that Jesus keeps his promises, because he’s the promise-keeping king.

He defeated the true enemy that none of us can defeat on our own — DEATH.

And if he kept THAT promise, then he can be trusted with all the other promises he gave us in his Word.

And so if you’re listening to me and you feel behind, or you feel like you’re not enough, you can trust the promise that “my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

If you’re listening and you feel anxious or overwhelmed, you can trust the promise of Jesus when he said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” Because I give true PEACE!

If you’re listening and you feel like you’re too far gone, or you have had too many failures in your life for God to love you, then you REALLY need to listen to this promise that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And His Word is full of so many other promises for every other area of your life. He’s already spoken in here about your marriage. Your kids. Your work. Your purpose.

He didn’t leave those things out. He cares about them because he cares about YOU. The REAL you, not just the polished, tidied up you.

[Trade the tomb]

And even though you came in today with the polished version, Jesus already knows the real version. He already LOVES the real version of you, because he already died for and rose back to life for the real version of you.

And he’s calling you to trust him, to say yes to him, because he’s already working IN the real you, and he wants to bring the life and transformation that you were made for.

That’s why you need to stop going back to empty tombs looking for life. You need to trade that empty tomb, and return to the promises Jesus has already made for your life. Return to the finished work of Jesus on your behalf.

And you can’t surprise God. He already knows where you’ve been looking for life and purpose and belonging. So name it today. Where is one place that you’ve been looking for life… but it keeps leaving you empty?

Where is one place that you’re afraid God won’t show up for you? Where are you afraid to hope? Where are you wondering if God is actually with you?

Where are you running away from God’s call?

That is exactly where you need to receive Jesus’ life.

[END]

Last week, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey… knowing exactly what was coming.

Thursday night, he served bread and wine to the man who would betray him… knowing exactly what was coming.

And on Friday, he went to the cross… knowing exactly what was coming.

He was never surprised. He was never out of control.

He was keeping a promise. And on Sunday morning, the empty tomb proved it. Jesus keeps his promises.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!