Luke 24: 18-35

¹⁸They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
¹⁹"What things?" he asked.
²⁰"About Jesus of Nazareth ," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel . And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²²In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
²⁵He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
²⁸As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³²They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
³³They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem . There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." ³⁵Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning!

My hands were gripping the steering wheel. I was holding on for dear life. I was in Italy, and I only knew a few words of the language. I was traveling from Italy to Switzerland. in a rented car. I thought, "Well, I'm not going to take the regular roads, the big highways today. I'm going to take something a little off the beaten path." After consulting the map, I decided to take something called the Grimsell Pass. It sounds kind of quaint, doesn't it? Hansel and Grimsell, or something like that? On the map, it looked like a pile of spaghetti, but that didn't bother me – although it should have.

My hands were gripping the steering wheel as I went up an incredibly high mountain. Up and up and up the car went. And out my right window, I could see straight down. No guardrails on the Grimsell Pass – I didn't know that. There were wonderful towns and villages stretching out, ten thousand feet below me.

And the car went up the mountain. You know that terrible feeling when you can smell the brakes? It's not good. The car is going up the hill; it's straight down to my right; to my left, granite all the way up the mountain. And ahead of me, the sky. Nothing but the sky. I'm traveling along the road, and it looks like it goes off into nothingness.

Believe me, the prayers were flowing freely that day. I think the theme song would have been "Young and Foolish". Aren't you glad you weren't with me? I'm going up the hill, there's no turning back, and it looks like I'm at the end of the road.

But as I got to the point where the road seemed about to go right over the cliff, there was a hairpin turn, and I went back the other way. It was a marvelous sight. The road was going down the mountain, thank you very much, and I could see a beautiful valley. The valley had marvelous streams, and at the high points there was snow, even though it was August. There were red and blue flowers and a little church off in the distance. It was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous.

I learned an important lesson about Easter that day: what to us looks like the end of the road, in God's eyes is just a bend in the road. Won't you take that with you today?

Let's look at what happened in the Gospel story today. The disciples were terrified. Their beloved Jesus, the miracle worker, the teacher, the One they loved so much, was suddenly taken from them and crucified. They thought He could escape. Judas was convinced that as soon as He was captured, Jesus would call down a legion of angels, would oust the Romans, and the new Kingdom would come.

When it didn't happen, he lost all hope. Poor Judas. Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb, and the disciples were huddled together in fear and despair and broken-heartedness. They sat through the Sabbath completely immersed in their grief. And then, when Sabbath was over, on Sunday morning, some of the women decided to go and anoint the body of Jesus.

Remember this – those women had no hope! Never once did they say, "Let's see if He's risen." It's only we who know the rest of the story. Those women had no hope when they went off to the tomb. But I admire them. Do you know what they had? They had love. They had love that extended beyond the grave, and they were going to anoint the precious body of Jesus with fragrant oils.

You know what else they had? They had a little bit of faith, because they went out saying, "Who will roll the stone away?" But they were walking as they said it, so they must have had a little bit of faith that someone would help out. They started out before they had all the answers.

And they took action. They didn't stay frozen in their grief. They did something. I admire them for that. They walked to what they thought was the end of the road, to the cemetery where Jesus was. And as they turned to look at the stone, they saw something remarkable.

The stone had been rolled away, and there was a being, an angel, sitting upon the stone. His face was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. He looked back at them with a beatific smile.

Let's stop the camera here and see what had happened just moments before. Just moments before, there were solid, rugged Roman soldiers at the tomb, with their spears, guarding the tomb so that no one would touch it. Between the stone and the solid wall of the tomb, there was a large piece of melted wax with the seal of Rome on it. Do you know what that means? If something was sealed with the seal of Rome, the penalty for breaking the seal was death. That's how the tomb had looked moments before and all through the night. The Roman soldiers stood with their spears; no one was going to come near them.

As the sun began to rise that morning, the Roman soldiers saw something that terrified them. It was glowing like the sun, but it had the shape of a person. It grew brighter and brighter, and the soldiers realized that what they saw was no human. It was an angel, and his being glowed upon them, and those brave soldiers trembled and fell to the ground like dead men. At that moment, around the edges of the stone that sealed the tomb, there came a light. For within the tomb, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ was coming to life. The energy of life was pulsing through what was once lifeless clay. And His body began to tingle with life, and His eyes opened. Jesus rose. And the angel approached the tomb, took hold of the stone, and rolled the stone away. Light came flooding out of the tomb, and it was Jesus. He was alive! They greeted one another silently. Jesus came forth to fix the world, and the angel sat upon the stone and waited. Then the women appeared. And he said to the women, "Fear not. I know why you are here. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen! Come, see the place where they placed Him. Now go, and tell His disciples that He will go to Galilee ahead of them, and there He will meet them. Go, and remember the words I have said."

And the women ran, with fear but with great joy, to tell the others that they had seen a vision of angels, who had told them that He was alive. And He still is.

My dear friends, the women went forth thinking that it was the end of the road. But in God's sight, it was a bend in the road. I pray that you would take the Easter insight with you. Have you faced such a thing in your own life? Have you faced something in your life that, as you approached it, you said, "This is the end of the world for me. I can't live past this"? But you did. And you're here. And you're still breathing. And maybe you've learned to smile again. Maybe you've learned to bless life again. Maybe you've learned to sing and laugh again, even though you carry the memory of that hard situation.

Do you know someone who's been through it? Do you know someone who's been through such a hard time that it seemed impossible to get through, the end of the road, but yet they triumphed? And you look at them and see that they wear the badge of courage. If you know someone like this, you have spoken with the Easter angel.

My dear friend, my prayer for you today is that you would go forth into your world with love in your heart, with some faith and trust, and with the determination to move forward, even though you don't know the answers. The Easter insight is that what looks to us like the end of the road, in God's sight is just the bend in the road. May it be so for you. May His light fill your heart, because He loves you. I do, too. Happy Easter. Amen.