Luke 24:1-11 “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet 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. And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.”
Text Luke 24:8 & 11, “And they remembered his words . . . and they believed them not.”
It is offensive to our religious nature to think that someone would even think of accusing us of not believing the Bible. Everybody knows that the Bible is the Word of God; eternal and without error! Having been confronted by the angels at the open tomb, the women are reminded of the words that Jesus spoke when they were with Him beyond Galilee; they in turn reminded the eleven of His spoken word (see Matthew 17:22-23). Neither the women nor the disciples would give even the slightest consideration of denying that the words of Jesus are not Bible! But, remembering and resting are two entirely different things. The problem is not in the Bible, but rather the believer; head-knowledge and heart-knowledge are not the same!
When the Bible becomes believable; it will affect our looking, “and found not the body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24:3). When reading the accounts in all four of the gospels; everyone seems to be looking for a corpse, but no one’s looking for Christ. They are agitated because of the absence of the body and not the absence of the Beloved! For those that believe, they are looking to meet a Living Christ, rather than maintain a lifeless corpse.
When the Bible becomes believable, it will affect our loyalty, “two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus” (Luke 24:13). When you read the account of Cleopas and his companion it appears that they have called it quits. They separated themselves from the body of believers at Jerusalem and bearing the spirit of defeat they returned home; much like Simon Peter when he said, “I go a fishing” (John 21:3). For those that believe, they are loyal to the body, the Beloved and the Book; “And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed” (Luke 24:33 – 34).
If the Bible is going to be believable, it must have an effect on our heart as well as our head; “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10); until then it’s Bible, but not believable!