No one is beyond recovery!

(Part 1)

“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, ]and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were [b]greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”-Luke 24:1-7

That morning, on the first day of the week, when Jesus stepped out of the grave, is unequivocally the greatest resurrection story of all time. On Friday, all of hell rejoiced, as Jesus breathed His last, but it trembled on Sunday when God rolled away the stone and Jesus came out of the tomb with the keys to death, hell and the grave. Jesus had triumphed over the grave, yet some of those who loved Jesus most showed up at the tomb, not to welcome a resurrected Savior, but to give Him a proper burial. 

Why do you seek the living among the dead? The angel of the Lord asked this question as he rehearsed with them Jesus’ own words: “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

Yet, the women who arrived did not come expecting a risen Savior. Instead, they came carrying burial spices. Jesus had been buried in haste just three days earlier as the Feast of Unleavened Bread was about to begin. He was wrapped in linen and placed in a borrowed tomb. After the feast and Sabbath day, the ladies returned with spices to complete Jesus’ burial. But why? Had they not heard Jesus’ words? Did they not believe Him? The problem that these ladies faced is not uncommon. In fact, most of us are conditioned to see death as being “beyond recovery”. 

Several times during Jesus’ ministry he endured the scoffs and laughs of those around Him, when He would dismiss the idea that a person who had died was beyond recovery: 

“While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.”-Mark 5:35-42

It is inconceivable that the author of creation could look at something and declare it was beyond recovery? So, instead Jesus would refer to them as sleeping. Consider the story of His good friend Lazarus:

“Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.” So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.  And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”-John 11:11-15

The disciples believed that if Lazarus was only sleeping he would recover. Death, however, carried a stigma of defeat. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Even Mary and Martha both declared, “Jesus if you had been here, Lazarus would not have died.” In their minds sickness was recoverable, but death was final. 

Jesus, however, was about to prove that no situation and no individual is beyond recovery. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church