Easter Sunday // Grave Robber

A message for Resurrection Morning by Dr. Mark Jordan, Pastor

Luke 24:1-8 (NIV) | On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.

Why Do You Look for the Living Among the Dead? (Burial Sites of…)

• Abraham;
• Confucius;
• Buddha;
• Mohammed; but
• Jesus’ is EMPTY!

Where Do We Look for the Living Among the Dead?

Earthly Attachments: placing temporary things over the eternal

• 1 Peter 1:10 (MSG) | Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.
• Attachments shift our trust, love, and identity away from God and onto things that cannot ultimately satisfy or last.
• Fear of loss.

Pride: putting self above others

• Proverbs 29:23 (CJB) | The proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored.
• Pride puts self in the place of God.
• When we are humbled in pride, we lose sense of self.

Vanity: worrying too much about what others think

• Galatians 1:10 (NIV) | Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
• Vanity leads to compromise; when approval becomes the goal, truth often becomes negotiable.
• Always calculating on lesser things and compromising on greatest things.

Perfectionism: being so concerned about making mistakes that you neglect to live

• James 1:4 (NKJV)| But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
• You have God’s perfect love to cast out your fear (1 John 4:18)
• Christ’s perfection grace frees us from our fear of being imperfect.

Jesus Conquered Death and Stole the things that Steal Us

• Revelation 1:18 (NLT) | I am the living one. I died, but look — I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
• Death = Hades so it’s temporary vs. Jesus’ eternal victory.
• Jesus robbed the grave of its power and wants to take from you the things that can lead us to a grave, either literal or figurative.

Reflection Questions

1. In what areas of your life might you be “looking for the living among the dead”—seeking fulfillment, identity, or hope in things that cannot truly give life?
2. Which of these struggles—earthly attachments, pride, vanity, or perfectionism—do you most relate to right now, and how is it affecting your relationship with God and others?
3. What would it look like for you to loosen your grip on temporary things and live more fully with an eternal perspective?
4. How does remembering that Jesus is alive—and has authority over death and the grave—change the way you face your fears, failures, or insecurities?
5. If Jesus has already conquered the things that “steal” from you, what is one step you can take this week to live in that freedom instead of returning to old patterns?