Well, I think most of you know, other than Brother John here, that we looked at Jesus' first appearance after his resurrection, and as J.C. Ryle called it, a very affecting and touching scene, as Jesus shows himself to Mary Magdalene. clearly loved her Lord and Master deeply, as we saw, she being a most clear example of the truth, that the person who is forgiven much loves much. So as we seek to conclude today, I'd like to look at our Lord's second appearance. And again, it is to some of his women followers who also visited the tomb and brought spices. And so with all these accounts of these early hours on Jesus' resurrection day from the four gospels, they're difficult to harmonize. A lot happened. A lot of frenzied excitement in these first couple of hours, and they're difficult to harmonize. So as we sought to do that, keep these things in mind. First, there were many groups of Jesus' disciples, men and women, lodging in various places. There were, you'll recall, 120 disciples gathered in the upper room after Jesus' ascension. So there were at least 120 disciples of our Lord at that time in the Jerusalem and surrounding places. Secondly, there were more than a few women going back and forth from the tomb that morning. Mary Magdalene is the only one mentioned in all four gospels with John, as we've seen, giving us the most complete narrative of her experience and being the first to whom the resurrected Christ appeared. Three or four other women are mentioned by name as going to the tomb. And then Luke mentions other women. So there were several small groups of women disciples of our Lord traveling to and fro the mile or so from Jerusalem to the tomb and back. And this is kind of important as you're reading the early hours have to keep that in mind. There are a lot of comings and goings. Thirdly, these women were not expecting a resurrection. They had prepared spices to complete the embalming of Jesus' dead body, seeking to give him an honorable and permanent Jewish burial. Fourthly, as one also has said, the sight of the empty tomb and the angel's announcement that Jesus had risen then sent these women into great excitement and running back and forth to tell the other disciples, including the 11, no doubt, but also other disciples of our Lord, men and women. So, and we know of this because on the road to Emmaus, remember those two disciples of our Lord on that road, Cleopas is the one that's named. The other one could possibly have been his wife. It's possible. They knew of the women's report of what the angel said, but they didn't know of any appearances at that point. So these women running back and forth themselves experienced joy, fear, anxiety, wonder, bewilderment, What did all this mean? Perhaps fearing it was all too good to be true. You can imagine them carrying heavy loads of spices. Probably they were spread out, some traveling faster than others. I know when I hike with my son, his wife, my grandchildren, my wife, We are all spread out over a good distance with Papa, that's me, usually bringing up the rear or close to it. Peter and John appear to be the only men disciples of our Lord who visited the tomb in these early hours. All the rest of them were groups of women. Fifthly, as we think now in Jesus' second appearance, we need to bear in mind that the gospel writer sought to convey what was happening in these first frantic hours. Many things are not recorded. And of what we have, one writer tells us of this event, and another writer tells us of that other event. One writer tells us, one writer will summarize a number of things compacted into one sentence, where another writer describes one or more things in greater or even great detail, as John with Mary Magdalene. No one gives us a complete accounting of these early, frenetic hours. So I've tried to give you, to the best of my ability, these events in the order that seems to me to make the most sense. But I'd never seek to be dogmatic about it. And if you read many different attempts to harmonize, you'll find that that's difficult. And ultimately, we have to await a clearer day. One day we'll know these things in the exact order that they happen. We do know this for sure, Mary Magdalene was the first to whom our Lord appeared. And we also know that this that we're going to look at now had to be the second appearance. And this was to a small group of women as brought to our attention by Matthew. So that's why we read Matthew chapter 28. After the angel's announcement to the women that Jesus is risen, and to go quickly to the disciples and tell them, we read in Matthew 28 and verse 8, that they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word. And I was very curious about all this running. It was going back and forth. So I thought I would do a little research on what running in Jewish culture of that day, where did running fit into their lives? Well, back in those days, running was not generally common. And for men to run was considered somewhat undignified. So for Peter and John to be running to the tomb, People would have looked at them, if anyone had seen them, would have looked at them rather askance. It's considered undignified. And so it made me think of that parable in Luke 15 about the prodigal son. It's all the more striking. As we read that the rich and honorable father of the wayward son, he drops everything and runs to embrace his lost son who has been found. That scene becomes even more touching to me when we consider that running was not at all something we would expect to see of this father. showing the great love this father had for his lost son, now found. Oh, as Jesus said, the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. Women in Jewish culture would also run at times doing their daily routines. They did a lot of the daily routines, getting water and food and that sort of thing. But again, it was not a normal part of life to be running to and fro. Yet here in this first hour plus, we see great excitement, wonder, and perplexity, leading to overmuch running back and forth by the women and at least two men, Peter and John. Clearly, something extraordinary was happening here to stir up such activity in and around Jerusalem among Jesus' disciples, men and women. Keep in mind also it was hot in the arid desert that is the Middle East, though it was still early part of the day, so probably hadn't reached the zenith of the heat of the day yet. But you can be sure of this, there was no Jerusalem joggers club back then. Although running, I will say is much more common and popular today for men and women in that area of the world, especially for sport and conditioning like it is just about everywhere else, but not in that day. There were, of course, runners carrying messages to and fro as necessary for communication purposes of business and important news of the day, but that certainly was not the employ of the disciples or the women in the general course of daily living. Yet here we see the angels and Jesus himself enlisting the women, if you please, as those runners. to bring the good news of Jesus' resurrection to the disciples of our Lord on this most extraordinary day in the history of the world, a day that forever changed the world. The angels and Jesus enlisted the women to do this important work. Well, as we return to Matthew 28, we know that Mary Magdalene was not part of this group of women. And from the Mayesh road narrative, some of the women, as we know, had reached some of the disciples with the angels announcement. We read that in Luke 24. But these women had not seen the Lord as of yet. And Cleopas and his companion, remember they report to Jesus, not knowing they were conversing with him, they report to him that certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. When they did not find his body, they came saying that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. And certain of those who are with us, and he's almost, Cleopas is almost certainly referring to Peter and John, went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. So Cleopas and whoever the other person was were still despondent and sad, not being able to even imagine a resurrection. So it seems to me, as we've noted, Mary Magdalene made a quick first appearance at the tomb. She didn't see or hear the angels, and then she ran immediately off to announce the empty tomb to Peter and John, who then responded with this first news, and they ran to the tomb. Now, in the meantime, other women came to the tomb, and they went back with a report to some disciples that the tomb was empty, and two angels had announced to them that Jesus had risen, the disciples not believing them. So there's another group of women. And now, in Matthew 28 and verse 9, we have another group of women coming from the tomb. Perhaps they were heading back, maybe they were with that other group, maybe they were heading back in different directions, or they were a little slower in their movement, so they lagged behind the others. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter the details. But then, as we read in Matthew, we hear that word, we read that word, behold. And whenever you hear that, read that word behold, understand it's a strong word meant to cause us to sit up and take notice if you please. I think if someone ever were to do an interesting study, it would be to take all the behold statements of the New Testament. John, have you ever thought of maybe doing that? That would be an interesting study to take the behold statements of the New Testament. Behold, Jesus met them, saying, greetings, as the American Standard Version and English Standard Version translate. The old King James uses an old greeting, all hail, which we don't use anymore. The new King James says, rejoice. I like that one the best, and I think it's probably the closest to the word that he used, rejoice. Bottom line, Jesus' greeting of the women is not just a simple, hello there, how you doing? It was a joyous greeting that he gave them. Rejoice! And our Lord's joyous greeting sparked immediate joy in these women who came and held him by the feet and worshiped him, their Lord and their God. Another touching scene in the second appearance of our Lord. And then we hear our Lord's comforting words. Do not be afraid. Remember, these women upon hearing the angel's proclamation and command left with fear and great joy. They were still afraid, perplexed, excited. What did all this mean? Now Jesus dispels their fears with his appearance to them, and he bids them complete their mission to go to the other disciples. And I can't help it, but I have to notice again, and J.C. Ryle does every time he reads these accounts, I have to notice again, he tells the women, go and tell my brethren. I'm always drawn to those gracious words of our Lord to the women, that he entrusted them to carry this word to his disciples. J.C. Ryle says this, let us notice the gracious message which the Lord sent to his disciples after his resurrection. He appeared in person to the women who had come to do honor to his body. These women, they were remarkable. They were the last ones remaining at the cross on the day of his crucifixion, and they were the first at the tomb. They were then the first privileged to see him after he rose. And to them, he gives commission to carry the good tidings to his disciples. Jesus' first thought is for his little scattered flock. Go tell, my brethren. J.C. Ryle says there is something deeply touching in those simple words, my brethren. They deserve a thousand thoughts. Weak, frail, erring as the disciples were, Jesus still calls them his brethren. much as they had come short of their profession, sadly as they had yielded to the fear of man. Have you ever done that, brethren? Yielded to the fear of man, I have, much to my shame. They came short of their profession, yielding to the fear of man, yet, yet they are still his brethren. Glorious as he was in himself, a conqueror over death and hell and the grave, the Son of God is still meek and lowly of heart. He calls his disciples brethren. And then Ryle finishes, let us turn from this passage with comfortable thoughts. Let us see in these words of Christ an encouragement to trust and not be afraid. Our savior is one who never forgets his people. He pities their infirmities. He does not despise them. Aren't you glad he does not despise us? He knows their weakness and yet does not cast them away. Oh, our great high priest, my believing friends, is also our elder brother. who though for good we often render ill, as did his frail, weak, erring disciples, yet, yet he calls us brethren still. That always moves me to think of that. With this second appearance, all this happening well before noon, still in those morning hours. Now things do finally slow down as the first day moves on to what would be Jesus' third appearance and Luke's account of Jesus and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, a seven or so mile journey from Jerusalem. If we meet again, perhaps we could consider that remarkable resurrection scene in our next study. As we close, I'm again drawn to the words of the hymn that we just sang, just previous to this, speaking of our Lord. Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness, no harshness hast thou and no bitterness. Make us to taste the sweet grace found in thee and ever stay in thy sweet unity. And then that last stanza. Our hope is in no other save in thee. Our faith is built upon thy promise free. Oh, grant to us such stronger hope and sure that we can boldly conquer and endure. Oh, may God indeed grant it be so of you and of thy brethren. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for thy son, our blessed Redeemer, and for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. We thank you for the grace of our Lord, who though for good we so often render ill to our shame. yet as our great high priest and elder brother forgives and calls us brethren still. Thank you for your sovereign, sparing mercy to us in Christ. By the indwelling spirit, grant to us also such stronger hope and sure that we too can boldly conquer and endure. In Jesus' name we ask and give our thanksgiving. Amen.