From Tragedy to Triumph

Luke 24:33-53

Transcript

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Amen. He is our living hope. Amen. Well, good morning. Happy Resurrection Sunday. Happy Easter. He is risen? Yes. You know, the first year we were at church, I did that, and people were like, You remember that, Mariah? Do you guys remember that? We got it now, though. Like, right? We know what to say. Now, he is risen, and that's that is the greatest news of all time, isn't it? We should be celebrating this morning. Amen. Well it is always great to worship with you, uh, but maybe even uh maybe especially great on Easter Sunday, and there's excitement in the air as we celebrate. Really, this is the central doctrine of our faith that we serve a risen Savior. Uh we we've had a wonderful holy week here at Risen Life, uh, trying to focus our hearts on uh the week leading up to Jesus' death and burial and resurrection. And um I want to thank Drew for putting together those daily devotions. Uh did y'all enjoy those this week? Anybody use those? I hope you uh I know our family did and and really uh sparked a lot of great conversations for us and kept us focused on the cross and ultimately the resurrection this week. Um I hope you took advantage of that uh this week. Um and then all of that led to our Good Friday service here, uh Friday night. And if you missed that, I think you missed a really special time of worship and communion together considering the cross of Christ. Um, our goal in that service really was not to rush to the resurrection. Right? We wanted to kind of sit in the grief and the tragedy of the cross where Jesus Christ was brutally murdered, mocked, spat upon, ultimately shed his blood and died for you and for me. Um, you know, sometimes it's hard for us, I think, to uh sit in the sadness of Good Friday because we know the end of the story, right? Even on Good Friday when we celebrate, we know, well, you know, Sunday's coming. We're gonna celebrate the resurrection. We know we know he rose. Um but you know, for Jesus' disciples, his original disciples, the cross must have seemed so permanent for them. Right? It's hard for us kind of to get in that mindset uh just to give an idea of how powerful that visual of the bloody cross must have been. You know, Jesus had explicitly told his disciples on numerous occasions that he would be arrested and crucified and would rise from the dead. We're about to get to that section in Mark here in a couple of weeks in our study through Mark. Um, but he told them very explicitly, I'm going to die. But then on the third day I'm going to rise from the dead. He told them that very clearly in multiple places in the Gospels. You know, they should have really known the resurrection was coming. They should have known. But when they saw Jesus taken from them, arrested and beaten the way he was, and hanging naked. I mean, the cross was meant to be embarrassing, too. Not just torture, but embarrassing. Hang them naked on the cross. When they saw that, I think it ruined any hope of assurance that they had of a resurrection. Yeah, it's like, I mean, what whatever Jesus said, that doesn't matter anymore. He's done. We're done. They scattered in fear, the Bible says. I mean, that was it. That was, it was over for them and their minds. That's clear from the gospel accounts of the resurrection. They were not expecting it. They were defeated. The women came, remember, and told the disciples that they saw Jesus alive. And Luke, uh Luke says to the disciples, their words were like idol tales. Oh, we saw him! We saw Jesus, he's alive! And I said, Oh, sit down, ladies. I mean, really, I think that was the response. Like, sit down. Like, that's that's ridiculous. He didn't rise. Stop. That's what the Bible says their response was. They were like idol tales. They didn't believe it at all, though Jesus had told them. Peter and John go to the empty tomb. But you know, they didn't really know what to think. They still didn't really put the pieces together. John kind of did, you could argue. I think they were, they were still kind of lost. Uh, they didn't really know what to think of it. Mary Magdalene sees Jesus himself. Um, and at first, remember, she thinks he's the gardener. It can't be Jesus. She thinks it's the gardener, and uh she says to the gardener, just show me where you put his body, and I'll go get his body. I don't know how she was gonna do that. But she says, just uh, you know what? I know you you probably put his body somewhere, just just show me and I'll bring him back. There's two disciples uh that Jesus meets on the road to Emmaus, uh, which is gonna be right before the text we're gonna read today. It's the the text right before that. Um and they're hopeless. And they're telling Jesus, they don't know it's Jesus, but they're telling him just, you know, these things were said, the women said they saw him, but nobody's really seen him. And so we're just going back home. You see, even even though Jesus had told them clearly the disciples had no room in their hearts and their minds for a resurrection. There was no room for that. The cross was just too brutal, too final. We don't see the cross. Thank God we don't see crucifixions today. But I think if we had, we too would would be in the boat with them. Oh, that's final. And for these ridiculous theories that, oh Jesus is the swoon theory, you know, Jesus didn't really die. He he he got to the cool of the tomb, and then, you know, he got his energy back. These are the some of the theories that the world comes up with. That's an actual theory from actual scholars. He wasn't really dead, and so that's why he was able to move the stone and get out of the tomb. No, no, no. The cross was final. The Romans were very good at killing people. Right? They could take care of a crucifixion. This was a final, final thing for the disciples. There was no hope. Their expectations were something far different than what was happening. You know, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, I promise this message is going to get happier because we have something to celebrate today, don't we? But you know, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Jesus did not rise, then Christians should be pitied more than anyone. Because you're wasting your life if Jesus is not alive. Can you amen that this morning? If he's not alive, like, I don't know why you got dressed up today. Unless you just wanted a nice family picture. There's no reason to be here. Those Bibles in front of you, throw them away if Jesus is still dead, like Muhammad, and like Buddha, and like every other world religion leader. If he's dead like them, then who cares? There's no point. That's what Paul says. Jesus is teaching, his sacrificial love, his his death on the cross even mean nothing without the resurrection. They're meaningless. Jesus was brutally murdered for no reason. If he didn't rise. You know, if he didn't rise, Paul says, eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Right? Just go out of here and fulfill any uh passions that you that you want, because it, you know, it doesn't matter. Life is meaningless. There's no purpose to life if Jesus is still dead. You know, that's how the disciples, I think, uh, must have felt on that Friday and that Saturday and even that Sunday morning when they got up. Uh, just, I don't want to get up. I don't want to face this day. Everything they had spent years doing was for nothing. And now there really was no hope in life or in death. But praise the Lord, that's not the end of the story. That's not the end of the story. Praise the Lord that Jesus did rise from the grave and he has given us tremendous proof that he rose from the dead. And we have incredible and sure hope this Easter morning. Now, our text this morning shows uh kind of that transformation from heartbreak and tragedy to triumph. And that's gonna be our title this morning, From Tragedy to Triumph. And we're gonna look at Luke 24, if you want to be turning there, uh, starting in verse 33. Um, this passage again opens right after Jesus has appeared and revealed himself alive to uh two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And that's in verses 13 through 32 and really through through 34 here, and we'll read part of that. Um I love that resurrection passage. That's probably uh my favorite one. Um I'm not gonna preach on that this morning, but but I love that passage of Jesus appearing uh to those two disciples. Uh, but our passage picks up with these two disciples. Um, they've been walking with Jesus all day and they didn't realize it, but then uh he's revealed to them when he breaks the bread for them. Uh just like he did in the Last Supper. Um, and and he breaks the bread and they recognize him. Um and then they start running back to Jerusalem excited to tell the eleven disciples who are still scared and they're still in a locked room together for fear of the Jews. And in this passage, we really see the journey from tragedy to triumph and explore the victory the resurrection gives us. So I'm gonna ask you to stand with me. We're gonna read uh these 21 verses, 33 through 53, and then we'll continue this morning. So Luke 24, starting in verse 33. And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven, and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace to you. But they were startled and frightened, and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet, and while they still disbelieved for joy, and were marveling, he said to them, Have you anything to eat here? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are my witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, blessing God. Amen. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for Easter, for Resurrection Sunday. Lord, I thank you that Christianity is set apart from every other religion on the planet. Lord, every single one is about trying to work our way to you and hope that it's enough. But Lord, our faith is a sure hope. Because you have come to us, or you have died in our place, and you didn't stay dead. But we praise you that Jesus is risen, that he's currently right now sitting at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf. Father, we praise you that you've made a way for salvation for us and that we can have a sure hope this morning. We don't have to be empty and mope around like the rest of the world, even through suffering, Father. We have this sure hope of eternity with you and with our loved ones who have died before us in Christ. So, Father, I just pray that you would whoever's coming in here this morning, maybe in the midst of tragedy, Lord, heartbrokenness, um confusion, a waiting period, asking, you know, what's going on here, Lord? Father, I pray that you would help them, help all of us, Father, be comforted by the triumph that is in your resurrection, by the power that is in your resurrection this morning. We are not defeated. We we live in victory, Father. And Lord, I pray that as we open your word this morning, you give me the words to just to speak. Uh the words that I need to hear and that these people need to hear. Um, Father, we want your word to come through, not mine, so move me out of the way. And Lord, we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You can have a seat. Okay, well, our passage this morning uh begins with most of the resurrection appearances of the day having already happened. Um, at this point, it's Sunday evening, and the disciples are in a room uh in Jerusalem together trying to make sense of the events of the day. Um, some of them have seen Jesus, some of them have not. Uh, they've heard uh from the women that the women have seen Jesus alive. Now, here come two more disciples who claim to have seen him, um and um that he was made known in the breaking of bread. At this point, verse 34 says that Simon Peter has seen Jesus alive, though the gospels don't actually record the details of that account. Um, it just says that Simon, uh, that Jesus did appear to Simon. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Jesus appears to them behind the locked door in the midst of the room, and he says, peace to you. And their response is anything but peace. I think we see that from uh this passage, right? They are terrified, they're frightened, um, and they think that he's a ghost, right? It's got to be a spirit. This can't be anything else but that. He just came through the locked door, in fact. And Jesus indicates that they're troubled and they're full of doubts, despite all the evidence that they have seen and heard at this point. They've actually heard a lot of evidence this uh before uh before this moment. Again, I think this is just a testimony to how they could not get that cross out of their minds. How brutal the cross was and how hopeless they seemed. Um, even after some had seen him alive, they're still struggling to believe, as you can see here in this passage. Uh, Jesus could have very easily been very frustrated at this point and just rejected them. Like, you know, Jesus didn't have to appear to anyone. That is God's grace. He could have, you know, I told you I was going to rise from the dead, I did rise from the dead, and I'm not appearing to you. You just need to believe. Right, but what grace of God that he appears to multiple, multiple people over a period of 40 days on this earth alive. But Jesus could have been very frustrated with them at this point and just said, you know what, that's it. I have shown myself to a few of you at least. And you still don't believe. And here I am. You still don't believe? You're still struggling with doubts. But Jesus doesn't discard them, he doesn't reject them. He meets them right where they are in their fears, in their doubts, and he actually just gives them the extra proof that they need. Man, we serve a gracious God, do we not? That we serve a gracious God. And so this is our first point. Proof provided. Jesus, in this passage, rather than scold his disciples for doubting, he meets them right where they are. And he gives them all the proof that they need that he truly is risen, just as he told them he would. In verse 39, he says, Touch me and see. For spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. And he showed them his hands and his feet that no doubt still had the nail prints there from the cross. And it said they still disbelieved for joy. That's an interesting little phrase. They disbelieved for joy. You know what? They were so happy because they kind of believed that they couldn't believe their eyes, though. Right? Have you ever been in that situation? You're like, I can't believe my eyes. Well, you've never been in a situation like this, I guarantee you. But you might have been in a situation like, I can't believe my eyes. That's kind of the idea here. They were rejoicing and doubting at the same time, right? Simultaneously. And so Jesus, he continues with the proof, and he he asks them for food, and he eats it in front of them, showing that he was truly risen in bodily physical form. This wasn't some spiritual resurrection. This was a physical resurrection. He was back physically. He just graciously poured on them the proof that they needed to hear in that moment, regardless of if they should have needed to hear it in that moment or not. You know, there's a reason that we are still celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years later. That's pretty remarkable when you think about it. 2,000 years later, we are still celebrating this thing pretty strong, aren't we? There's a reason. That believers for centuries, for millennia now, and even today are losing their lives in horrible deaths because they refuse to deny this event, the resurrection of Jesus. And that's because no one has ever been able to produce the body of Jesus or any kind of reasonable explanation. We have tremendous evidence that the best explanation for the events surrounding Jesus' death is that he truly did rise from the dead. Amen? You believe that? As scholars have examined these eyewitness testimonies, they really haven't been able to come up with a reasonable explanation that could just put this to rest. I mean, it's been 2,000 years. And you got, you skeptics still haven't put this to bed yet? There must be something to it. We see Jesus alive in the Gospels, appearing to many different individuals on separate accounts, separate occasions. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, 6 that Jesus appeared to over 500 people at once. That's a hard one to say it was some sort of mass hallucination. That's pretty difficult, right? That's pretty difficult to discount. Over 500 people at one time, Jesus appeared alive too. And he says, Paul says, most of these people are alive today. Just go ask them. Ask them what they saw. Even the Jewish leaders agreed that Jesus' tomb was empty. I mean, they even agreed the tomb was empty, but they had to, of course, come up with some other explanation that his body was stolen by the disciples, despite the tomb being secured by the Roman military. Right? And with their lives on the line, if they let this body escape, and despite the disciples being scared to death and scattered the night of his death. We have all kinds of evidence for the resurrection. We can talk about more evidence. We can focus on the fact that the first witnesses to the resurrection were women. Now, don't take that offensive, ladies. We don't live in that society now, but in the first century, in the court of law, a woman's testimony was not trusted. You would never write something that you wanted people to believe and say that women were the first one to see it. You would never do that. Not in the first century, you wouldn't. Because no one would believe it. Why is it written that way then? Because that's what happened. That's just the way it happened. Jesus appeared to the women first. And that's actually becomes then a proof, an evidence that this is actually a true story, because if they were trying to deceive people, they wouldn't write it this way. We could talk about how Peter and John went to the empty tomb and they found the linens and the clothes, and they weren't all in a mess. They were perfectly folded. They were neatly folded there. You would expect if there was a robber or even if the disciples stole his body, it would be a mess. They're not going to take time to okay. You grab that in, John. I'll grab this in. Let's fold this really neat before we go. They're not doing that, right? They're in a hurry because they're committing a crime. But yet we we find the linens completely tidy and in order. That's just a grace from Jesus that he would do that to dispel that rumor of the body being stolen. Of course, one of the strongest cases for the resurrection involves observing how the disciples went from completely defeated and hopeless cowards to bold martyrs of the faith, seemingly overnight. And how Paul went from killing Christians to perhaps the boldest witness to the resurrection the world has ever seen. How do you explain those things without something having happened? How do you explain those things without a resurrection? You know, one scholar has said that we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have an embarrassment of riches. For believers, we can see how all these things vindicate the truth of the resurrection. But we believe because God's word says that he rose. I believe he rose because God's word says that he rose. We have this book that we call supernatural, breathed out by God, inerrant. That's what you claim to believe about the Bible if you're a Christian. We have God's word in front of us, and it says he rose. It's very clear that he rose from the dead. Do you understand that? Yeah, I heard R.C. Sproul put it this way once. It's like Jesus walked in this door. If he were to walk in this door right now and say, told you guys I rose. Do you understand that we have just as sure a word written in the Bible? Yeah, we we struggle to believe that, don't we? We struggle to believe that. We have a sure word right here in front of us. It's just as good as if Jesus were to appear in front of us and say, I rose. You can believe it. You can believe the Bible that you say is inerrant, that you say you believe, that you say is breathed out by God. We have a sure word that he rose. You know, my goal this morning is not to give every piece of evidence that the resurrection actually happened, but really it's to remind you that we serve a God who is comfortable with your doubts and will meet you where you are, just like he did these disciples. If you will humbly come before him with your doubts and your struggle with faith and truly seek his face, lean into faith a little bit, Jesus will meet you and provide the proof that you need. Just as we see here with the disciples. And what a precious gift that we serve a God who is patient in our struggle. Because I think we all can relate to the struggle that I just illustrated with that Jesus coming down. We can all relate to that. We struggle to believe this, and we serve a God who's comfortable with our struggle, and he says, Come, draw near and I'll show you. I'll give you the assurance that you need. Jesus meets them in their weakness, and he will meet us too. We do have tremendous evidence for our faith. We have a thinking faith. But the resurrection is so much more than just a set of facts leading to a conclusion that we intellectually believe. The resurrection means something to us. And that's where we want to go with really the rest of our time here today. Our second point this morning: promises perfected. In verses 44 through 46, we see that we see what had to be the most incredible Bible study in all of history. Jesus begins walking them through the law and the prophets and the Psalms and showing them how the Old Testament prophesied that Jesus would suffer on the third day, or would suffer and rise on the third day from the dead. If I could go back, you ask people if you could go back to one point in history, where would it be? For me, I think it might be right here. Where Jesus is showing his disciples from the scriptures exactly what just happened. Can you imagine being there and witnessing this? He's reminding his disciples that, you know, I did tell you this while I was with you. But also, he was showing them that this was God's plan all along, and it's revealed throughout the scriptures. Now, I'm not going to pretend to know exactly what Jesus pointed out to them. I'm sure his was much, much better. He's Jesus. So he could trace these things far better than I could. He's the author of the book, right? But perhaps, perhaps he started with Genesis 3.15. All the way back in the garden, after Adam and Eve had blown it, they had sinned against God, they had been tempted by the serpent. And God told the serpent, the seed of the woman was going to crush his head. But the serpent would bruise his heel, the seed's heel. See, that was a foreshadowing of the cross and of the resurrection from the very beginning. And there would be the blow of the cross. Yes, he would bruise his heel, but ultimately the serpent would be crushed by the resurrection. Uh-oh, he's alive. I'm in trouble. You understand? Satan and his demons thought they had victory at the cross. And then Jesus appears alive. See, this was God's plan from the start, from Genesis 3. Maybe he took them through the sacrificial laws and showed them the reason for each of them. Maybe the reason the lamb had to be slain each year, the reason it had to be without blemish, it had to have no broken bones. It was fulfilling prophecy of his perfectly sinless life. He was spotless. He had to be spotless. And the way that they pierced his side on the cross to ensure he was dead rather than what they normally did, break their legs. All of that sacrifice was pointing to that moment. But unlike his sacrifice, this animal sacrifice had to be done year after year after year. And it was pointing to something greater, the greater Lamb of God. Maybe he took them to Psalm 22, which shows a clear picture of the crucifixion a thousand years before Jesus died. And it starts with the statement that Jesus proclaimed on the cross. And maybe he said to his disciples, Psalm 22 is about me. That's why I said it on the cross. Go back to Psalm 22. This was written long before. This was written long before. Maybe he took them to Isaiah 53, also written almost 800 years before the cross. We read it Friday night. It says that he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed. And it says he would be cut off out of the land of the living. He would be dead. But then a few verses later, it says, He shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. So he's dead, and he died for sinners in their place. But wait a minute, it seems he's alive. It's a prophecy of the crucifixion and then the resurrection. I don't know what all Jesus said to these disciples here, but I would have loved to have been there. Luke says he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Oh, that he would open our minds this morning to understand the scriptures and to believe the scriptures with everything in us and not walk out of here defeated. He wanted them to see that this was the eternal plan of God, not plan B. He wasn't reacting to the problem of sin. This was God's plan from the beginning, that he would pour out his love on sinful humanity by giving his son Jesus to die in our place as a substitute. But death would not hold him down. And because that is true, because he defeated the grave, everything else Jesus ever said is also true. Think of that. Let me just share with you some of the promises Jesus made that have to be true today because he is risen. John 11, 25, whoever believes in him, though he may die, he shall live. That is true this morning because Jesus is alive. Matthew 28, 18, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. He is always with you, Christian. John 16, 33, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world, and he's with us always. John 14 says he's gone to prepare a place for us. He's still there. Preparing a place for us, and he will return to get us that we may be with him forever. That is true this morning, if the resurrection is true. And it is true. Amen? He said he's been given all authority in heaven and on earth. And he said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father except through him. When someone rises from the dead of their own accord, you should believe what they say. He's the only way to God the Father. Now that's really good news if you trust in Jesus this morning. That's really bad news if you're trusting in anything else this morning. Because there is one way. He said it, and then he rose from the dead. We cannot go back and change that and say, well, there's a couple other ways. No, there's one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus Christ. That rules out this kind of half-in, half-out kind of faith, this kind of, oh, I'm very spiritual, but I don't really trust in Jesus. No, you better trust in Jesus. He's the only way. See, if Jesus rose from the dead, all of these things, and we we could spend hours and hours just rehearsing the promises of God that are true because of Jesus. All of these things, and many, many more are true. For the believer, that's great comfort. For the unbeliever, I pray that it causes you to realize that what you do with Jesus is the most important thing in your life. Above your career, above your family, above your relationship, above anything else, what are you going to do with Jesus? But at the root of all those promises is the one Jesus mentions here in Luke 24. He says that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations. When Jesus appears to these disciples and says, peace to you, he's not just giving a greeting, he's making a declaration. Peace with God has been made possible. You see, the Jews knew that God is unapproachable on their own. They knew that he is holy and he is set apart. They knew that God told Moses in the Old Testament that the people couldn't come near the mountain where he was meeting with Moses because they would be killed by his glory and his holiness. They knew they had to make sacrifices over and over again to cover their sins. God was full of wrath against sin, and in his justice, sin demanded a payment. See, no just judge can let sin go unpardoned. That's not just. And God is just. Jesus is declaring that in him that payment has been made and accepted by God. Sin has been permanently atoned for. The wrath of God has been satisfied in him, and we can be forgiven through repentance of sin and faith in his sacrifice. We can have our slates wiped completely clean, no matter what we've done. You see, the penalty was paid at the cross, but the resurrection is the receipt from God that says, I've accepted the payment. And you can now be forgiven and set free. Paul says, if Jesus didn't rise, then we are still in our sins. But he did rise. And Jesus says repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations. It is truly finished in him. There's nothing else to pay for. That means I don't have to earn God's favor. Nor can I. It means I'm not defined by my past failures. You may come in here with a lot of failures, a lot of sin. Sin that you would be totally embarrassed if we were to just, you know, broadcast it to everyone here. Sin that you are so ashamed of. You may come in here with a lot of present struggle this morning. Think of the two people. Two of the first people, rather, that Jesus appears to. Mary Magdalene the first, a woman who was previously possessed by seven demons. I don't know if we can imagine that. Possessed by seven demons. He says, you're not defined by that anymore. I've made you clean. And then Peter, after Peter had denied him three times leading up to the cross, verse 34 says that Jesus appeared directly to Peter. Oh, what grace. We see another appearance to Peter in John 21, where Jesus fully restores him to ministry by asking him three times, do you love me, Peter? Do you love me? Ask him three times. How many times did he deny him? Three times. That's complete restoration. He wanted Peter to know you're completely restored in me. Peter had a huge failure the night of Jesus' arrest. I think Peter was holding a lot of shame for what he had done. Even in John 21, it seems Peter's still holding a lot of shame and he's ready to go back to fishing, thinking that God can't use him again. But Jesus says, there's no room, there's no place for shame anymore. You're not defined by your failures. I have paid the penalty. You see, what makes us right before God, what enables forgiveness of sin, what defeats shame is just Jesus and his substitutionary death on the cross. That's it. It has nothing to do with me and my failures. Jesus will save anyone who will come. The blood of the Lamb covers over our shame. See, when we stay in shame, it's just another way of rejecting the cross's payment. Shame is just pride repackaged. No, I'm not good enough for your sacrifice. Who are you to say that? The God who created you says, I have died for you. And it is finished. So step out of that shame this morning and find life. The whole point of the cross is that you are unworthy and I am unworthy. But Jesus has said it is finished. And it's all because of him, and none because of us. The resurrection proves that the promises of God are perfected in Jesus. Most notably, that promise of having our sins and our shame forgiven. From that flows eternal life and inheritance in a perfect paradise with our Savior. No more sin and death and all of these other promises that we've read this morning. As tragic and brutal as the cross is. And as much as we should sit for a moment and just think about what our sin has cost, like we did Friday night. As much as that is, the resurrection brings unbelievable joy and victory. Because the promises of God have been sealed in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 1.21 says, all the promises of God find their yes in him. Don't you love that? I love that. All the promises of God find their yes in Jesus. The weight is not on you to perform. The promises are fulfilled in Jesus. So fall at his feet this morning. Because of his resurrection, the promises are perfected. But also we, as his followers, are not left alone here. That's still not the end of the story. And that brings us to our third and our final point this morning, power proclaimed. I think that the resurrection often never finds its way to the third point of this sermon in our lives. Very sadly. We can say yes and amen to the proof, the evidence for the Bible, evidence for the resurrection. We love the promises of God and we can say yes, amen. They're perfected in Christ, but so often I think we fail to live from this power and victory of the resurrection that it provides for us. That Jesus promises here in verse 49. Yes, this morning we are celebrating an historical event that has sealed an eternal future for those who believe in Christ. Because He lives, we will live for eternity with Him. But do you realize we're just as much celebrating a power that we've been given to walk in today? Do you understand that, Christian? Did we sing like we understand that this morning? Are we excited about this resurrection? Like we actually believe that this morning. You have been given power. The resurrection doesn't just find its benefits in the hope that we have in the future, but right now, today. That's why we named our church Risen Life, by the way. Risen life, because the resurrection could should cause our lives today to look different. Yes, we will be risen with him. Amen. But today we should be different because he is already risen. Jesus here in Luke 24 gives to his disciples future hope, but he also promises them present power, and with that power, a responsibility. He tells them to wait in the city until they are clothed with power from on high. This promise would have its fulfillment. Not long after this, at Pentecost, when God would pour out his spirit, the third person of the Trinity, he would pour out his spirit on believers to indwell us. Jesus had actually promised his disciples earlier, before his death, that it was good for him to leave. Can you imagine the disciples hearing that? When Jesus said, It's actually good for me, good for you that I leave. Because if I don't leave, I can't send the comforter. That's what he says. I can't send the Holy Spirit. His very essence to live inside them and empower them at all times. I think we often believe we'd be better off if Jesus were just sitting in the front row here. Of course, he'd be preaching. Let's be honest. I think we often just think we'd be better off if he was here physically with us. But that's not what Jesus said. It's not truth. Think of the power we must have in the Holy Spirit for Jesus to say, it's better that I go, actually. Because if I don't go, I can't send him. I can't send the Holy Spirit to you. See, without the resurrection, we're left without the Holy Spirit because sin has not been dealt with, and God can't dwell in a dirty vessel. But because the believer has been made perfect through the forgiveness of sins, God Himself is pleased to dwell in us through His Spirit. We are His temple. And that gives us incredible power that we so grossly underestimate. We have power, first of all, over sin. As believers, yes, we still sin. The penalty for sin has been dealt with in Jesus. The penalty for sin will never be upon the believer. You will be in heaven someday with Jesus in his presence. But we still battle our fleshly desires until we're made perfect in heaven, don't we? Anybody else still battling? You still battle your flesh. But the same spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and enables us to go to war against sin and put it to death. We're called to walk in the spirit so that we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We're not helpless to just keep falling into those same old sins. If you're in a present struggle this morning, then be freed. You don't have to be. You don't have to continue to struggle with that same old thing. We have power. You have power in Christ. Paul speaks in Romans 6 about how sin should no longer have dominion over us. But we must consider ourselves dead to Christ and dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. We have the power we need living in us to conquer over sin because He lives. We're not relegated to broken marriages and suffering relationships and slavery to lust or slavery to anger or to gossip or to controlling our tongue or so many of these things that we struggle with because we refuse to recognize the power that God has given us. We refuse to walk in this power of the Holy Spirit. We have victory over those sin struggles. Do you believe that this morning? Somebody say amen. My goodness. Y'all don't seem that excited about the resurrection. We have power this morning. I don't usually yell, I'm sorry, but we have power. We've got to be more excited than this, guys. We've got to get into this. You've got to recognize you cannot walk out that door and live the same defeated life. We've got to stop living in Good Friday and welcome to Resurrection Sunday. You are not hopeless against sin. But you've got to fight. You got to recognize this power. You've got to actually believe this stuff. And call sin what it is. It is dead. It is dead to the believer. Now walk right over it in the Spirit. Walk in Him. He will give you the power to conquer. And for some reason, we want to stay in this defeated Friday mindset when Sunday has already come. He is risen and his spirit lives in us. We also have power through suffering. You have power to face suffering. That's why these disciples changed from being absolute cowards locked in a room to bold proclaimers to the point of even losing their lives. Losing their lives for their proclamation. They could face suffering in their lives because they knew this is not the end. And the sufferings of this life cannot begin to compare to the joy that is coming for the believer. Because he lives, we have a future beyond the sufferings of this life. That's why Paul says we don't have to mourn like the world mourns, because Christ has overcome the world. And for those in Christ, we will see each other again. We can face whatever trials come our way. Because of this power he has given, we also have power for ministry, for proclaiming the truth of the gospel. We have in this passage, we have the ascension of Jesus. That was actually about 40 days later, and it's recorded also in Acts chapter 1. And we know that Jesus charged his disciples to go and be his witnesses unto all the earth. And we've been given that same charge as believers today. That same responsibility. But we also have the same power that they had, you see. We also should have the same sureness. Just as sure as they saw Jesus, they touched his nail-scarred hands. We should have that same sureness because we have the written word preserved for us, written by these eyewitnesses. We have sureness that should enable our boldness. We so often make every excuse not to share our faith, and we cower to the fear of man. Again, we often look a lot more like the disciples on Saturday after the crucifixion than we look like the disciples after the resurrection, after the Spirit had been given. Why is that? I wonder if it might be that for some of us, the resurrection has not moved from our heads to our hearts. It hasn't moved from being a fact that we intellectually agree with to a power that we live by each and every day. Because he lives, I can conquer sin. Because he lives, I can forgive the unforgivable. Because he lives, I can endure suffering. Because he lives, I can boldly proclaim the gospel and leave the consequences up to him. And I can face those consequences. Because he lives and has given his spirit. And there's so much power we've been given through his spirit because of the resurrection of Jesus. And honestly, we've not begun to scratch the surface of the power that the believer has. Thinking about the power the word of God says that you have because of the resurrection. Because he lives. And begin to ask, ask the Lord, how can I more fully experience that power? Walk in that power. Verse 52 says that the disciples worshiped Jesus and returned to Jerusalem after his ascension with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. The tragedy had been completely swollen up in triumph. Sorrow and uncertainty had turned to elation. The resurrection of Christ had filled their lives with great, great joy. And my prayer is that this morning we would walk out of here with that same joy. On Easter, you know, we we typically we dress in our nice clothes, we get nice family pictures. We have big meals with family, we might do fun activities. And you know what, the world does a lot of these same things, and they don't believe in the resurrection. But as believers, we have something far greater to celebrate and to proclaim. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest news of all time. Because he is alive, we can know that we have eternal life. You can know that this morning. You're not just living for this dot, you're living for an eternal line of paradise that goes on forever and ever and ever. We can know because of the resurrection that God sees his perfect son or daughter when he looks at us if we're in Christ. Because it is finished. Sin has been atoned for. We're going to move to a closing time and a time of communion together as we close. We also did communion Friday night very somberly, considering the body broken for us and the blood that was shed for us. And we're certainly going to remember that today as well as we take the elements. We want to remember the body and the blood. Consider what your sin costs. What a tragic, unjust way for our Savior to die. How unfair that he would take my sin upon him and then give me perfection. Why should I gain from his reward? As that song says. So we want to remember the blood and the body. But we we do it from a stance of celebration with joy. From a place of victory that Christ has won for us. I'm asking to bow your heads and close your eyes if you will. Your life is meaningless without Jesus Christ. And you're on your way to an eternity apart from God. Where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Because of your pride. Because you want to keep chasing emptiness. You want to keep chasing the pleasures of sin. I just want to invite you this morning to lay that down at the foot of the cross and receive, find forgiveness in Jesus. If you will come to him in repentance of sin. I'm sorry, Lord, that my sin has cost your death. He will forgive you. And he will seal you with his Holy Spirit for all of eternity. He will make you a new creation. That old life will be passed away and the new will come. The risen Savior offers you life this morning. Will you take it? Will you take it? Or will you walk out of here again without Jesus? Walk out of here again chasing emptiness, chasing broken vessels that just keep losing water. Come and find life in Jesus this morning. You don't have to earn anything. And it doesn't matter what you've done. It's not about being a good person. You cannot be a good person. You cannot be a good enough person to earn heaven. It's not about having better behavior. It's about the fact that God saw you in your sin and decided to take your place on the cross, paying the penalty that you deserve. The Bible says he became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God. It's only by trusting in his sacrifice that you can become, you can be made clean and escape the judgment of Almighty God. Will you do that this morning? He's made a way to freedom. It doesn't cost us a thing. Repentance and faith. For believers, I want to ask, has this resurrection become real to you yet? Is it real to you? What does your life say? Does your life look more like the tragedy of Friday or the triumph of Sunday? Are you walking in that resurrection power daily? If not, let's just confess that to him this morning. Let's just surrender more of ourselves to him this morning in these moments. Let's repent of whatever kind of defeat we're settling for this morning. Stuck in shame, struggling to fight back against sin. Fear of man, loss of joy. Whatever it may be this morning, let's ask him to show us his resurrection power this morning as we come. Close. I'm going to give you a few moments to do that. We're going to, as this next song plays, we're going to go back to the table and grab the elements when you're ready. And then we'll come back in a few moments and we'll celebrate together.