"OH, WHAT A MORNING!"- (or, "Because He lives!")...........................Luke 24:1-12; 36-48
Intro: Our Bibles are filled with statements about the morning. We are told that our Savior prayed early in the morning. Joshua, in the Old Testament, is pictured as a man who rose up early in the morning. Think of that morning in Gen. 22 when Abraham rose up early and took Isaac to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him. What a morning it was for Jacob when he awakened from sleep in the morning and set up a pillar of stones in honor of God at Bethel. It must have been a glorious morning for Daniel when the first rays of sunshine lit up the city of Babylon after that night in the lions den. Imagine how beautiful was the morning for the disciples after they spent that terrible night on the Sea of Galilee in that storm. Yes, all of these were great mornings. However none of them can compare to the morning that is discussed in the passage we have read this morning.
I would like for us to spend some time today looking at that great morning when our Lord, Jesus Christ, conquered death, Hell and the grave forever. There has never been a morning like that before, nor shall there ever be one like it hereafter. Oh what a morning it was when Jesus rose again! Oh what a morning it was when He pulled the stinger from death and gave life eternal to all those who will place their faith in Him. Oh, what a morning that was!
HE IS ALIVE this morning!
IT WAS A MORNING OF SOLEMN REFLECTIONS....(v.1)
As the morning began to dawn on the first day of the week after Jesus had died on the cross, some women came to the tomb to finish anointing the body of our Lord for His burial.  Certainly, these women were sad and the disciples were scared. Just as the Jesus has said, the Shepherd had been smitten and the sheep had scattered, Mark 14:27. 
They had all believed Jesus to be the Messiah. Now, He is dead! The One that they had placed all their hopes in was gone. This man Who had so radically changed their lives by His power and had demonstrated the love and power of God to them had died a violent and humiliating death. 
As I reflect on the sadness of the disciples, I recall the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. He tells us that if Jesus were dead this morning, then we all have reason to grieve! If Jesus is dead, then we are all headed to Hell and none has hope beyond this life
IT WAS A MORNING OF STARTLING REVELATIONS....(v.2-12)
In the midst of their sadness on that morning, God took great pains to minister to the needs of their hearts.  Aren't you glad that the Lord cares when you hurt? He moved in several mighty ways to encourage these saddened saints:
 1. He rolled the stone away from the tomb - v. 2; Mark 16:2-3; Matt. 28:2. (Ill. Not to let Jesus escape, but to allow man the opportunity to look in!)
2. He sent an angelic messenger with the good news that Jesus was alive from the dead - v. 4-7; Matt. 28:2-7; Mark 16:5-7. (Ill. Never has the world heard a message like that one! It still reverberates through the halls of time and will through out eternity - He is Alive!)
3. He had a word of encouragement for Peter, who had denied Him - Mark 16:7. 
4. He met Mary Magdalene outside the tomb -John 20:11-17.
 (Ill. She had a great love for the Master - Mark 16:6.) (Ill. Great love begets great love - Luke 7:47; 1 John 4:19)
5. He left a message for His followers inside the tomb - John 20:5-8. (Ill. The oriental custom of the napkin. When a man with servants was eating a meal, he would use his napkin to signal them during the course of the meal. If he left the table and wadded his napkin up, it meant that he was finished and would not be back. If, however, he neatly folded the napkin, it told his servants that he was stepping away for a moment, but he would be back! Jesus was telling His disciples, "I may be out of your sight right now, but I'll be right back!")
6. He revealed Himself to other disciples as they traveled - Luke 24:13-35. 
There were many other things that took place on that resurrection morning that marked it as a great and glorious day. For us, 2,000 years removed from the resurrection, the message has not changed one bit! We still need to hear the good news that Jesus has risen from the dead! He is alive today and there is hope for tomorrow!
IT WAS A MORNING OF STUNNING REALIZATIONS....(v.36-43)
While the disciples were cowering in the Upper Room out of fear for their lives, something miraculous happened in their presence. Jesus, the One Who had died just three days before, was standing in their midst! They were terrified and thought they saw a ghost!  Most of the disciples hadn't believed until this moment!
The statement: "And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered..." means that it seemed too good to be true. They were beside themselves with joy and couldn't believe what they were seeing! He is more than a story in a dusty old book.
IT WAS A MORNING OF SPIRITUAL REPERCUSSIONS....(v.44-48)
*As they ate that first Resurrection Morning, Jesus began to tell His disciples that God's plan was to save the world!!!
When Jesus arose from the dead, old enemies that had plagued man since sin entered into the world were forever defeated that day:
1. Death... (2 Cor. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:54-57.)
2. Hell - When Jesus entered death for mankind, He descended into a place called Hell. He went to the paradise portion of that land of the dead.  Jesus went down there and proclaimed liberty to every person in that place who had died looking forward to His coming in faith, 1 Pet. 3:18-19
Then, when He arose from the dead and ascended to His Father in Heaven, the Bible tells us that He took those souls with Him to the Father in Heaven, Eph. 4:8-10.    Now, all those who believe in Jesus go directly to the Father when they leave this world. 
3. The Grave 
All his life, man lives in fear of that moment when he will lay down his body in death. We may be ready to go to Heaven, but we will always fight for that next breath!  Jesus GOT UP and is ALIVE FOREVER as we shall be one day!!!
4. Sin -In truth, sin had been taken care of three days earlier on the cross, but the resurrection of Christ from the dead is the Father's "Amen" to the sacrifice of the Son on the cross. You see, a dead Savior can save no one! But One Who is alive can save EVERYBODY! - Heb. 7:25.
5. Satan -He tried every way he could to short-circuit Christ's plans to go to the cross, (Ill. The babies in Bethlehem; the storm on Galilee; the Temptation; the oppression in Gethsemane, etc.) However, Jesus endured every temptation, He weathered every storm and made it to the cross. Three days later, when Jesus arose from the dead, Satan witness the total destruction of every plan and every scheme. He saw his power broken and himself judged.  *Let me read you what the Bible says about the devil's future - (Rev. 20:1-3, 7-10)! ..........Glory!
OH WHAT A MORNING!!!