Our King Conquers

Scripture: Luke 23:44-24:12

Luke 23:44-49 - It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

Before the greatest day in the history of humanity...

1. There was darkness.

“it was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

• 3 hours of darkness. The Son of God, slowly and painfully dying. His body completely beaten. His dignity completely stripped. His royalty ignored. And there was darkness. There was despair, discouragement, disbelief, grieving.
• The world turned dark- because we rejected Christ – the One who came to save. And when He went to the cross, because He is God, He knew it was coming. He knew it would hurt. He knew it would be humiliating.
• Knowing all this, He still went to the cross because He knew it was a necessary sacrifice to offer salvation to those who were guilty of nailing Him to the Cross.
• When they cried “crucify Him”, He had you in mind. when they whipped Him, spat upon Him, shoved the crown of thorns on His head, when they forced Him to carry His cross, when they through Him down to the ground, when the drove large nails through His flesh, when they stood the cross up taking away His ability to breathe without pushing up on the nails that were driven through His ankles… The glory of His Father and the salvation offered to you kept Him going.
• Have you known seasons of darkness?
• Are you experiencing a season of darkness right now? Are things in your life overwhelming?
• Our God is acquainted with your grief. Isaiah 53:3 - He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

Before the greatest day in the history of humanity, there was darkness and...

2. There was despair.

Luke 23:50-56 - Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

• Place yourself in this story- imagine being a follower of Jesus – you’ve seen His miracles, you knew His love, His devotion, His character. You’ve left your family, your job, your home. All the while thinking that this man you were following would somehow save your nation, but you still didn’t really understand how. And now, He is dead…
• The women were going to prepare spices to anoint Jesus’ dead body. They were without hope.
• Perhaps you know this feeling of despair very well. Maybe you have recently lost a loved one. After pleading with God to heal them, they lost their battle. I have gone through that more than once – where I have prayed, believing that God could heal - I’ve seen His miraculous work before so I know it can happen again. And I have gotten the answer I didn’t want – "no."
• But then on Easter, I remember the darkness and despair that happened on the original Easter weekend. I remember that it happened to offer me salvation.

And I remember, while there was darkness and despair – the greatest thing to ever happen was about to happen! You see God always has the final say!

This story doesn’t end with the suffering servant. It doesn’t end with a defeated Monarch that could have been. It doesn’t end with the world judging her Creator. It doesn’t even end with His death. 

It ends with His victory!

3. The tomb is empty.

Luke 24:1-12 - But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

• After the darkness, after the despair, after the loss of hope, when all seemed lost, they discovered an empty tomb!
• This is the greatest exclamation point on every miracle the Bible records. If Jesus could defeat the grave, everything else He said has done is possible.
• I’ve heard it said that the miracles in the OT are scientifically impossible… So is the way God has healed me, the way He has saved me, the way He has changed me, and so is the empty grave God doesn’t kneel to science, science kneels down before God!
• Here is what you need to know – only God gets the final say. It doesn’t’ matter how final a circumstance seems; God has authority over it. He has authority over sin, He has authority over death and He has the authority to save.
• My question for you this morning is this: Have you received His salvation? He died so you don’t have to. He has risen again so you can as well!

Conclusion:

The Lamb of God has taken away the sin of the world by defeating death.

1 Corinthians 15:50-57 - I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Challenge:

1. Have you received God’s salvation? 
2. Praise God for His salvation.
3. Share with someone.