The Resurrected Lord
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Introduction
The day that Jesus rose from the grave, He was seen five different times. For 40 days following His glorious Resurrection, Jesus appeared to over 500 people.
3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
There is lots of evidence that Jesus in fact did raise from the dead. Yet, every time He showed up, the people were not sure if He was a ghost or the Christ. Today we are going to look at a passage from Luke 24:36-49 and see the validity that came with that appearance of our Lord. We will also see how that appearance over 2000 years ago can help us see who Jesus is and what He means to us today.
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The Person of the Resurrection (vs. 36-37)
The Person of the Resurrection (vs. 36-37)
We see in verses 36-37 that Jesus was the talk of the town. This passage comes after the beautiful Road to Emmaus passage. Two of the disciples were going to Emmaus and they were talking with each other about the events that had just happen. Jesus shows up and questions them as to what they are discussing among themselves. They share the story of how Jesus of Nazareth was given a mock trial and was convicted as a criminal. He was crucified like a criminal and they had hoped He was the one who was going to redeem Israel. They tell how others had gone to the tomb where this man was buried only to find that His body was not there. Jesus validates the words written in what we know as the Old Testament and says:
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
They continue on their journey to the place they were going. They arrived and urged Jesus to stay with them. Jesus sits down at the table with them, took the bread, broke it and blessed it. It was at that point these disciples recognized Jesus. He then disappears and the men return to Jerusalem. They found the other disciples and began to tell them what they had experienced. Suddenly, Jesus is standing among them and says, “Peace be with you.” The men were startled. They had a natural reaction to a supernatural occurence. Sometimes our minds can’t understand what our hearts experience. Many scholars think that the phrase here, “Peace be with you,” was just a typical greeting. I would suggest it was far more than that! Jesus knew His sudden appearance was startling and frightening. He knew that the smartest and most spiritual of the disciples still struggled with the concept of a resurrected Lord. Jesus comes to you and I in the midst startling and frightening times and says, “peace be with you.” The abiding presence of our Savior has a way of giving us peace. In fact, He had already told them in John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
The Peace Received (vs. 38)
The Peace Received (vs. 38)
Even before the peace is received, Jesus recognizes the doubt of the disciples. He says, “Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?” Just like He did with the disciples, Jesus knows your troubles and your doubts. He knows everything we are experiencing and especially those times when we are unsure about our faith. In fact, Jesus takes our doubts and openly deals with them if we allow Him to! Jesus looked at the troubled and doubting disciples and asked them about it. The One that is the source of truth will always help you find out your why if you ask Him to! Jesus understands that trouble and doubts stem from a heart that is condemned by our belief system.
19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Anytime we have troubles or doubts, we have let those creep into our lives because we have not completely trusted God. All the commands of God’s word are based on us fully trusting that He is able and He is Bigger! The Psalmist recognized this multiple times. The quick turn around that he used was this:
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Even God’s word shows us how to quickly turn the troubles and doubts around. You might be saying, “Right, Mitch. But you are not dealing with depression or mental struggles due to a chemical imbalance.” Truth of the matter is that I have and so have these in God’s word of which we have these examples. What we worship will rise to the top. If we worship our troubles and doubts, our trouble and doubts rise to the top. But look what happens when we put our worship on the Resurrected Lord. Victory over troubles and doubts comes about!
The Presence Recognized (vs. 39-43)
The Presence Recognized (vs. 39-43)
Jesus must have sensed in the disciples that they were having a hard time with this. He tells them to look at His hands and His feet. He further tells them to touch Him and see for themselves. I don’t know about you, but I would be reaching and I would be touching. The disciples had a great advantage. They were there and they did see and they did touch. But what about us? How can we know? How can we recognize the presence of the Resurrected Lord? First we can trust the witnesses that did.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
Secondly, we can trust the written Word of God.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
The witnesses and the written word support each other. Jesus even gives another for the disciples to recognize His presence. Verse 41 says,
41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
The disciples had to be thinking with their troubled hearts and doubting minds, “Is this too good to be true?” Again, Jesus knows this and says in His way, “Okay, I will show you that I am not a ghost. I will eat something because we know that ghosts do not eat.” So they gave a piece of fish and the Bible says He ate it. I love me some fresh fish! Cooked on a grill or on open fire, glory hallelujah! Some of you are thinking, “yes, I like fish too but they in Jerusalem? There’s no river or sea in Jerusalem! So, this can’t be true.” Remember, the Bible gives us lots of information we can trust. In the Book of Nehemiah, we are told that there was a gate exclusively made for merchants to bring fish into Jerusalem.
16 Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah.
So it was accessible. Jesus took the fish in their presence and ate it.
The Purpose Remembered (vs. 44-45)
The Purpose Remembered (vs. 44-45)
Having established that He was real and not a ghost, Jesus then helps them remember His purpose. Jesus again reminds the disciples that what we now know as the Old Testament points to our Resurrected Lord. The Scripture written became the Scripture lived out! John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus shows that we can trust the Word of God. Not only can we trust it, we can understand it. For the second time in Luke 24, we see that Jesus opened the minds of the disciples so they could understand the Scriptures. The Scriptures can be very hard to understand. In fact, we had a discussion just this past Wednesday on some verses that are very difficult to understand and I have yet to see a good explanation for some of them. This reminds me that today when I read the Scriptures, I need to pray, “Lord, open my mind that I can understand Your Word.” Jesus opens the eyes of them who are His and can immediately influence how they see His word.
The Preaching Revealed (vs.46-48)
The Preaching Revealed (vs.46-48)
He then gives us the essence of the Gospel.
46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
The first phrase of verse 47 shows us the explanation of the Gospel. The Gospel causes repentance which in turn leads to forgiveness of sins. Jesus tells His disciples that simple message is what needs to be preached in His Name.
Verse 47b and verse 48 tell us that this Gospel is to be preached to all nations by these that were eyewitnesses. From these 11 men, the whole world has had the Gospel proclaimed.
Preaching should always call for repentance and promise forgiveness. This is the promise of Scripture and shows how it is being revealed. This also shows us another promise that is reassured.
The Promise Reassured (vs. 49)
The Promise Reassured (vs. 49)
The disciples were not to carry this out on their own, but to wait on the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised them help was coming and He would not leave them alone to do the work.
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
The package that is coming for the disciples is the Holy Spirit. It is a power that is comes as our text says, from on high. This power that connects the disciples is not something new by the way. It is as old as God Almighty.
22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
23 Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
God wants us to make wise decisions so He gives us the opportunity to be guided by His word. When we are wise to His word, He pours His spirit out on us and like Jesus did the disciples, helps us understand His word!
The Spirit of God has always existed. Jesus left His heavenly home, came to earth and did the work of His Father. When Jesus returned to His heavenly home, He left the Spirit to help us do the work of His Father. He gave it to the disciples and now every believer that calls on the name of Jesus and is saved, also gets the Holy Spirit in their lives to help them carry out the work of the Father.
You know, many people say they cannot carry out Luke’s great commission that has been our text today. You are right. You cannot. However, if you allow the power to come from on high, you will be amazed at what God does through you! The question is, have you met the Resurrected Lord and said yes to Him and His ways?