Luke 24: Feeling Hopeless and Confused

We wrap up Luke by reading chapter 24 and watching the resurrection unfold through confusion, Scripture, and surprising joy. We sit with the Emmaus road story and ask what it looks like for God’s Word to move us from hopelessness to clarity and hope. 
• Luke’s focus on Jesus’ real humanity and sinless life 
• The empty tomb account and the women’s testimony 
• Why the apostles struggle to believe at first 
• The road to Emmaus and “we had hoped” disappointment 
• Jesus teaching how the Scriptures point to him 
• Recognizing Jesus in the breaking of bread 
• Jesus proving he is risen with flesh and bones 
• Repentance and forgiveness proclaimed to all nations 
• The ascension and why Acts is the continuation 
• A personal question about when Scripture last made our hearts burn 
 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to the Out Loud Bible Podcast. This is Mike. Today we are wrapping up the book of Luke. Can you believe it? The book of Luke has been a really great gospel where we get to

Wrapping Up Luke’s Big Theme

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see the humanity of Jesus. Luke is really leaning in on Jesus as a human. He has real emotions, he has real reactions, he has real feelings and opinions, and he's a human, and as a human, we can relate to him. He's not this God coming down untouchable, unblinking, glowing in the face sort of figure that we can maybe aspire to, but not really relate to or connect with. No, Jesus is a human. We know that his appearance was rather ordinary. You wouldn't know any different just by looking at him. And really, the only difference between him and any other man was that he didn't sin, and that was the whole point. He became the perfect spotless lamb that was crucified, sacrificed, for the covering of the sins of all mankind. Now, that point is such a climax to the whole Bible. We talked about that last week when we read the crucifixion. Today we're going to see a unique story, really, only Luke tells it, and a unique story about the significance of Jesus' life and his death, and as we're going to see, his resurrection. Any good Jewish man or woman who knew their scriptures should have seen this coming, and Jesus is going to make it clear to a couple as they walk down the road. Let's read Luke chapter 24 today, and this is the New English translation. Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared, and they found that

The Empty Tomb And First Witnesses

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the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in, they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. And while they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire, and the women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He's not here, but he's been raised. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again? Well then the women remembered his words, and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed like pure nonsense to them, and they didn't believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, and he bent down and saw only the strips of linen cloth. Then he went home, wondering what had happened. Now that very day, two of them were walking on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened,

The Road To Emmaus Explained

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and while they were talking and debating these things, Jesus himself approached and began to accompany them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And then he said to them, What are these matters that you're discussing so intently as you walk along? And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopus, answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days? He said to them, What things? The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, they replied, a man who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Not only this, but it it's now the third day since these things happened. And furthermore, some women from our group amazed us. They they were at the tomb early this morning, and and when they didn't find his body, they came back and said that they had seen a a vision of angels who said he was alive. And then some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said, but they didn't see him. So he said to them, You foolish people, how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Wasn't it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory? Then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures. So they approached the village where they were going, and he acted as though he wanted to go farther, but they urged him, No, stay with us because it's getting toward evening and the day is almost done. So he went in to stay with them. When he had taken his place at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. And at this point their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and then he vanished out of their sight.

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They said to each other, Didn't our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?

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And so they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and those with them gathered together and saying, The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon. And then they told him what had happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. And while they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. But they were startled and terrified, thinking they saw a ghost. And

Jesus Appears And Proves He’s Alive

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then he said to them, Why are you frightened? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look, look at my hands and my feet. It's me. Touch me and see. A ghost doesn't have flesh and bones like you see I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still couldn't believe it because of their joy and were amazed, he said to them, Do you have anything here to eat? So they uh gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in front of them. And then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. And then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, and said to them, Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer, and would rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I'm sending you what my father promised, but stay in the city until you've been clothed with power from on high. Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now during the blessing he departed and was taken up into heaven. And so they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple courts blessing God. And that, my friend, is how Luke's gospel account, the story of Jesus, ends. But the story does not end there. Next episode, we're going to be taking a look at the book of

Ascension And The Story Continues

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Acts, which Luke also wrote as a continuation of this story, so don't check out yet. But in the meantime, here's a question for you. Thinking about those couple of disciples who were walking down the road to Emmaus and encountered Jesus. After they had realized that it was Jesus speaking

When Scripture Makes Your Heart Burn

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to them, they said something really interesting. They said, Didn't our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road? While he was explaining the scriptures to us? Here's my question. When was the last time your heart burned inside of you when you were engaging with the scripture? You might say, Well, I that was Jesus talking. Like, how am I supposed to have an experience like that? Jesus himself isn't explaining to me how he shows up in all the Old Testament. No, granted, but we do have the living, active word of God. When we read the Bible, we really do have God's inspired, that means he breathed it, Word, right in front of us. And yes, God has provided some really great teachers, and I hope you have a great teacher and a great pastor and someone to explain the scriptures and to help you get excited to get into the Bible more. I hope you've experienced that on this podcast. That would be that would be amazing, and praise God for that. But honestly, maybe you can't relate. Maybe you haven't really had that feeling of, oh, your heart burning inside of you as scripture has been read and explained. And if that's the case, I would ask you this. When you are hopeless and confused, do you go to Scripture? We saw these disciples, Cleopus and his partner here, they were hopeless. They even said, We had hoped that this was the Messiah. And now they feel like that hope was taken from them. And they were confused because of all that's been going on. They don't know what to make of it, and they just feel confused about these life events that are going on. Jesus could have just opened their eyes right then and said, Don't worry about those. I'm here. Surprise. But he didn't. His answer to them was a couple hours-long conversation about the Bible, what it says, how it points to Jesus, and how they can find this answers to what they're looking for and what they're hoping for in the pages of the Bible. So I'm guessing if you have had that moment where the Bible was being read or taught and explained, and you felt that your heart burning a little bit, I'm guessing it's because that was providing an answer to something that your soul was thirsty for. There was some hope that you didn't realize was possible. There was some clarity that you had been looking for, and you'd just been in the dark and fuzzy and confused. And the Bible, again, living and active, illuminated that for you. And that just ignites your heart. Say, hey, there is hope, there is a path forward, and I can do something about this. And if you have not had that feeling, I would guess that maybe going to the Bible is not your first course of action when you feel hopeless and confused. Ask a trusted Christian friend, hey, I'm feeling this way. Do you know any Bible passages or something that could help me in this? Give Jesus the chance to ignite your heart, to ignite your soul through the written word, the living, active word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't walk down that road hopeless and alone and confused. Allow Jesus to show you how he has been showing up in your story all along. That's the Thinking Out Loud thought for the day. Thanks for joining me here in the book of Luke. Join me next time. We're going to open up the book of Acts and keep going with the story. We got more to discuss, more to discover as we move on. Thanks for joining me here in the Out Loud Bible Podcast. We'll see you next time.