A few years ago I stood inside of Jesus' tomb, in Jerusalem. Actually there are two tombs in Jerusalem, both of which are said to be the original.

      I visited what is called Gordon's tomb, and it has a very convincing air of authenticity about it. It could well have been the very tomb in which Jesus was laid after His crucifixion. It is not decorated; it's just a cave carved out of rock. The only thing man-made about it is a door at it's opening made of wood, with a sign painted on it which says, "He is risen, He is not here." And there is the light bulb inside, and the the wiring that leads to it. Other than that, it is perhaps just the way it was when Jesus left it.

      There in one of the compartments of the small cave is a shelf cut out of the rock, on which the body of Jesus may have rested. And I immediately visualized in my mind's eye, the grave cloth which was wrapped around the body of Christ, along with spices anad perfumes, lying on the slab of rock, still in the shape of a body, but caven in, because the body of Jesus had disappeared. And it was for me a moving experience. How much more so must it have been for those who had placed Him in the tomb. It was the final act of a devastating defeat.

      The two disciples who walked to Emmaus described in Luke 24 felt such a defeat. They were disappointed, hurt, lonely and frightened. The darkness and gloom of Christ's tomb hung over them like a smog over Los Angeles. Verse 14 says, "They were talking with each other about everything that had happened." They talked about the crucifixion, the death and burial of the man whom they had thought was the Messiah. The only thing they could now see was that His death meant the end of all they had believed in and hoped for.

      However, as they talked , the risen Jesus joined them. They did not recognize Him, but they did not seem to mind His intrusion into their company and conversation. And graudally, according to Luke's account, Jesus did three things: He opened their minds with Scripture; He warmed their hearts by His words; and He unveiled their eyes so they knew who He was. And that encounter restored to them three essentials of the Christain faith: Joy, Hope and Witness. The experience of those early followers of Jesus deserves our attention because an encounter with the reality of the resurrection should have the same effect upon our lives.

      1. FIRST, THEIR JOYFULNESS WAS RESTORED. Luke 24:3 says that they "got up and returned at once to Jerusalem." They had walked seven miles back. They did so because their mourning had been turned to joy, their gloom to gladness, their sorrow to shouting.

      One of the marks of the Christian faith is joy. Christians should be joyful people. Jesus told His disciples the night before He died, "Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy," John 16:22. The Christian Church meets on the first day of every week to remind itself that there is a reason to be joyful.

      Unfortunately though, we often entomb Him in the sepulcher of neglect and forgetfulness. In the routine of living we can forget that He is alive. Too often, we live as though He were dead. Sunday reminds us He is alive, risen, and living. On this day, we plant anew the flag of joy deep within our hearts.

      2. THE SECOND THING THAT HAPPENED TO THE TWO DISCIPLES WAS THAT THEIR HOPE WAS RESTORED. When Joseph and Nicodemus rolled the heavy stone in front of the tomb, they sealed the hope of the early church inside. Thus, the disciples of Luke 24 walked a road paved with hopelessness. It was a road with nothing at the other end, a road leading to despair and fear. How different the road back to Jerusalem was for them. They were walking in the light of the Ressureciton. They were traveling with a new companion - hope. They passed the same scenery, but it had a different hue than before.

      Before becoming Christians, we see life differently. We interpret reality differently. However, after believing in Christ, we begin to see life with Him as the focus. Everything is coloured by the "risen Christ factor". We see our families, our time, money, work, present life and future against the backdrop of Christ. The risen Christ brings hope.

      Which way are you headed - to Emmaus, without hope or joy; or to Jerusalem, buoyed by hope and animated with joy? Regardless of how things look, Jesus is alive. And whether we consider today's headlines, our daily uncertainties, our past sins or tomorrow's challenges, we can be hopeful because the Jesus of Galieee, Gethesemane and Calvary is alive.

      3. THE THIRD RESULT OF THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE RESURRECTED CHRIST BY THE TWO DISCIPLES WAS THAT THEIR WITNESS WAS RESTORED. Verses 34 & 35 show these two people doing what we called to do - witnessing to the living Christ. On the way out of Jeruusalem, they were reporters, not witnesses. On the way back to Jerusalem, they had a faith that functioned. They had something they wanted to tell.

      The heavy stone shut the tomb and silenced the disciples. When the stone was moved and the tomb opened, their tongues were loosened. Their witness was "the Lord is risen indeed". And it has been the witness of the church ever since. They did not fabricate it; they found it. They did not invent it, they experienced it. They did not look for it, it looked for and discovered them.

      The resurrection set the church singing as the joyful news was made known. It set the church to hoping as the impact of all that Jesus said and did was now assured by His great victory over death. And it set the church to witnessing as Jesus' disciples went far and wide announcing the glad tidings that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. So may it be with us.

In the name of the Risen Christ,
Floyd McPhee