Where Did He Go? He Is Not Here!

Join us as we conclude our Easter sermon series The Journey to the Cross - Where Did He Go? He Is Not Here! - Luke 24:36-53

Transcript

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He is risen.

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He is risen indeed.

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Yes, he has. Our king has most certainly risen. You know, the darkest day in history was on Friday, but it's met with the greatest day in history today. Ca is risen. He is risen. Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, said this about the resurrection. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the entire building of Christianity. Billy Graham said this about the resurrection. That without the resurrection, the cross is meaningless. Tim Keller says this. He has met, fought, and beaten the king of death. Everything is different because he has done so. Meaning, God, this is the beginning of the new creation. A new chapter in cosmic history has opened. Today, Jesus has risen. Amen. Well, Friday, we enter we uh ended our time in the chapter of Luke, Luke 23. And this morning at the beginning of the service, um, Mr. David read from Luke 24, 1 to 12. And as we know, there's a lot of things that have taken place already in the story of the resurrection. You know, the women arrived at the town at the tomb early Sunday morning to see that the stone had been rolled away. Jesus was gone. Where did he go? Was the question on their minds. Where is he? Well, their question was answered by the angels. He is not here, for he has risen. I mean, you can like sense and feel the excitement building, but also the anxiety, also the fear. And so what do they do? They go and they and they tell the apostles, and the apostles respond. Peter runs to see it for himself. But then Luke gives us this wonderful story in the midst of all of this of these two disciples of Jesus that are on their way to Emmaus. This famous exchange and interaction on the road to Emmaus. And in a supernatural way, they aren't able to identify that it's Jesus walking with them. And this man, Jesus, as we know that it's Jesus in this passage, he goes on to explain how everything in the Bible from the start to the finish has been all about him. And then at the end of the story, they talk about how they sit down with Jesus to eat. And this is so cool. This is, I love it. Actually, let me let me just read it, starting in in verse 30 of uh chapter 24. Um, and it was as he reclined at the table with them that he broke bread. He blessed it and broke it and gave it to them, and then their eyes were opened, they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. Picture this, right? He's praying, thanking the Lord for the bread, for the meal, giving thanks to God the Father. And after he says amen, then instantly these men recognize who he is just for a moment, and then Jesus is gone. They couldn't even get any words out of their mouth, and he was gone. And then what they do then is they meet up with the other 11 disciples gathered there in Jerusalem, and they testify to what they had seen and experienced. And that's where we pick up in today's passage that we're gonna look at. They began to describe what had happened on the road and how he had made known to them in the breaking of bread. And so this morning, what we're going to look at is three outcomes of the resurrection. The first being Jesus truly rose from the dead, the second being forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed, and the third being a new kind of worship. So Jesus truly rose from the dead, starting in verse 36. You know, this interaction that we're going to look at here is so vitally important. He was physically present with them. And the the resurrected Christ, not only was he physically present with them, but he had supernatural power to appear and then disappear and then appear again. But he ate with them, with his disciples. He had evidence of the scars in his hands, in his side, in his feet. He was very much a physical person, and he would now remain in this physical, glorified form for the rest of eternity. You know, many uh theologians have concluded that this gives us, as Christians, the church, gives us this glimpse into what our own glorified final state after our resurrection will be like. Scars of the past may remain, but our bodies will be like our saviors, healed and working better than ever. And so in verse 36, it begins by, um, Luke begins the story by telling us this. And as they were saying these things, that's those disciples on the road to Emmaus, he himself stood in their midst, and he said, Peace to you. They're just standing around, and boom, in their midst, there he was. The guy they're talking about. Peace to you. Now, I don't know if you're one of those people that get a scare, somebody just kind of pops out of nowhere. Or maybe you're one of those cruel people that likes to scare those people. I mean, it's always kind of an enjoyable thing. It can be uh a pretty, a pretty funny moment. And like they were startled and they thought that Jesus was a ghost. And I mean, this had to have been enjoyable for Jesus, at least a little bit, right? He just pops out of nowhere. Hey, I'm here. To see the look on their faces, it would be pretty cool to be there to see this take place. And it goes on in verse 38. He says, Why are you troubled? He asks him. And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet. That it is I myself. Touch me and see. Because a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you can see, I have. And having said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they were still amazed and in disbelief, because of their joy, he asked them, Do you have anything here to eat? Y'all got something to eat? I'm hungry. But he begins, Why are you troubled? Why are you troubled? Why are there doubts arising in your hearts? It's just me. I'm here. Touch me. I'm really here. Look at my hands, my feet, touch me and see. And Luke says they were amazed and in disbelief because of their joy. I mean, imagine what it would be like to be there for this. And then he says, Do you got anything to eat? You know, dead people don't eat. Don't know if you knew that. They don't eat. The ancient Egyptians perhaps didn't know that, but they would bury the pharaohs and ranking officials with vast quantities of food in case they needed it in the afterlife. Ancient Greeks also would bury their dead with honey cakes. Uh, Rold Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was buried with wine and chocolates. But dead people don't eat. But you see, our king, he's not dead. He is alive, and he's hungry. He's hungry. Jesus stands in the midst, once dead, now alive and eating. I think there's a few things here in this passage that are helpful for us in our own understanding of the resurrection, our own understanding of God and the things of life. And the one thing is this doubt doesn't intimidate Jesus or scare him away. Doubt doesn't intimidate Jesus or scare him away. Jesus gives the disciples exactly what they needed in this moment for their doubt. He invites them to touch and to see. He knew exactly what they were thinking and feeling. And he addresses it directly. He speaks right to their hearts. He knows what they're thinking. And he says, Come close, touch and see. You know, your doubt, and as Pastor Bob was praying, doesn't intimidate or scare Jesus away. You know, part of the Christian journey is sometimes seasons of doubt. Jesus knows what you're going through. He knows what I'm going through. He sees what's happening in our life. He knows what we're thinking. And for the disciples, this resurrection faith was not automatic. It took time to sink in, and Jesus knew it. It took time for them to get used to the fact that he was standing in their midst, just appearing out of nowhere. And he invites the disciples to deal with their doubt. They touched him. They saw. Instead of running from Jesus and looking elsewhere for answers, Jesus says, Come closer. Touch me and see. He invites them closer. Come a little closer. Jesus uses doubt in our lives to bring us a little closer. If you're struggling with doubt, my encouragement to you this morning is this don't be afraid. Come a little closer. Touch and see. It takes time, but we as the church, as West Knee Heights Baptist Church, we are here for you, and we're here for you for the long haul. As Jesus is, for the ups, for the downs, for the joys, for the highs, for the lows. And then looks, and then look uh what then happens here in the passage is that they had joy and amazement. So this doubt was leading to this joy and amazement. And here we're reminded that in the presence of Jesus is peace, joy, and amazement. In the presence of Jesus is peace, joy, and amazement. The first thing out of his mouth when he pops and appears before them is peace, peace to you, peace. And this is where Jesus leads us as we navigate seasons of doubt and we choose to just come a little closer to him, to touch, to see, as he leads us to joy and amazement. If I could say anything, it would be this don't give up on Jesus. Hang in there. Come a little closer. The season that you might be facing will eventually lead to joy and amazement as you draw a little closer to Jesus. Because that's what Jesus does. You come to Jesus, you touch and see, and you will never be disappointed. This drew the disciples to joy, to amazement. I mean, just think about all of the emotions and the and the doubts and the fears and the turmoil the disciples and others were facing as they saw their friend, their rabbi, beaten, tortured, killed. They saw him dead. They placed him in the grave. Hope seemed to have been lost. But now he stood in their midst. Peace to you. And they were filled with joy and amazement. Everything was gonna be okay. Because Jesus had truly risen. Do y'all got something to eat? He says. And they gave him broiled fish. The passage tells us in verse 42 to 43. He says, so they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and he ate it in their presence. They gave him broiled fish. He took it and ate it in their presence. I mean, you can just imagine the room is probably, I'm I'm I'm guessing, we don't know, but probably pretty silent. There's probably tears of joy. And you just imagine them just sitting there and watching Jesus eat a piece of fish and just taking it all in. Piece of fish never tasted so good. An everyday thing that he did with them, sit and eat. And they're just sitting there and taking it all in. Their Lord was risen and he is eating. The second outcome of the resurrection comes in the next section of verses as we see the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed. Forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed starting in verse 44. He is here, here in this in these verses, we have the gospel and the commission, the commission of Jesus to his disciples to go and share the gospel with others. Jesus is saying in these verses, I told you everything that was going to happen, and it happened exactly as I told you. It happened exactly as the prophets of old also told us they were going to happen. And starting in verse 44, he says, This he told 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, the prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He says, Everything, everything written in the entire Bible, the Old Testament, he's describing here. When he talks about the law of Moses, he's talking about the Pentateuch, so the first five books of the Old Testament. He's talking about the prophets, all of the prophetic books in the Old Testament. And then he goes on and talks about the Psalms. And this is another way for the Jewish people to refer to the writings. So basically, everything else. So it'd not just be the Psalms, it'd be Proverbs, it'd be Job, it'd be Ezra, Nehemiah, all those other books. And Jesus is saying, everything is about me. Everything. You know, scripture read and understood correctly always points to Jesus. All through the Old Testament, all through the note through the New Testament. He's the main character. He's the purpose. He's the point. And right here and in this moment, the complete, full fulfillment of all of those things that have been promised is coming to fruition. And he says, hey, it's all been about this. It's all been about me. It's all been about this moment. And I love what is mentioned here in verse 45, where it says, then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Okay, just think about this for a moment. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Did you know that it is possible to know things about Jesus and to know things about the Bible and not to truly understand? I mean, just think about these disciples, right? If anybody should have been at the top of their game understanding all of these things, it should have been them. I mean, that was their whole purpose and their point as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ was to follow him around and to learn and understand his teaching. That's the relationship between a rabbi and his disciples. But yet we understand and we know that this is true in life, even. We can factually know something, but to understand it is completely different. And although the disciples they factually knew about Jesus, they didn't understand until this point when Jesus revealed it to them. You know, it's like in in our own lives, it's like walking with someone through tragedy. We can know about the tragedy, we can know maybe about the medical things going on, and we can we can see what's happening before us, but it's not until we experience a similar tragedy do we truly understand. And you could be here this morning and know so much about the Bible and know so much about theology, but here's my question for you. Do you understand? Do you truly understand? In an experiential way? Do you see what Jesus is saying? The call of the gospel? The wonder, the wonder of forgiveness, the amazing relationship that we can have through God because of what He has done? Do you truly understand? And so Jesus reveals it to them. And this is, you know, for us the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as God brings understanding to us. To just know the facts is not enough. But do we understand? Do you understand that Jesus has a love for you that is beyond anything that you can comprehend? Do you understand that his grace is so rich and powerful that all of your sin, the darkest, nastiest, most hidden sin that only you know about, he says he can forgive? Do you understand that? Do you understand that he wants peace to be with you and the darkest of days and doubts? That he will lead you to joy and amazement. Do you understand this morning? That you're loved, you're wanted in the kingdom of God. And he goes on. Verse 46 and 47 says this. He also said to them, This is what is written. So here he's summarizing the entire Bible. This is the central message of the Bible from Jesus, from his mouth to us. This is what the entire Bible is about. All sixty-six books, all 2,000 plus years of writing, all 44 plus authors. Everything is about what he is about to say, and here it is. This is what is written, Jesus says. The Messiah will suffer. He will rise from the dead the third day. Repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what my father promised. That's for you. Stay in the city until you are empowered from on high. Verses 46 to 47. Man, like this is the gospel. This is the point of Moses, the prophets, and Psalms. This is the answer to how the serpent's head would be crushed in Genesis chapter 3. This is the answer to how the whole world would be blessed by Abraham's seed. This is the answer to who would sit on the throne of David forever as king. Jesus. The work of Jesus on the cross, him rising from the tomb. It's all about this message. And what is he, what does he say? He's saying a person's response to the message is important. It must be repentance for the forgiveness of sins. You know, we talked about this on Friday. You must repent to be saved. You know, every single one of us here has the same problem. All of us have the same problem. And that's sin. And everyone here is in need of the same solution, and that's Jesus. But you must repent to be saved. Acts 16, 31 puts it this way: believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Romans 10, 9 to 13, if we confess, if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, God has raised him from the dead, the resurrection, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness. One confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, you've never truly called on the Lord Jesus to save you. We really want you to. I don't know how else to put it. We exist as a church for this very message and this very reason. We want you to come to forgiveness in Jesus. We want you to be saved. And do you know what he does is he forgives you. Yeah. He saves you. You enter into that joy and amazement and that peace. But it's a decision that you have to make. And you will either make the decision, and Jesus can seal your eternity with eternal forgiveness and joy with Jesus and eternal life as he saves you from your sin. Or you can choose this day to reject Him. To repent of your sin, to trust Him to save you. And then what does Jesus say after he summarizes the whole message, the whole point of him living, the whole point of him dying, the whole point of him rising from the dead, the gospel. He says in verse 48 to 49, you are my witnesses of these things, he says to his disciples, and look, I'm sending you what my father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you're empowered from on high. He says, You're a witness to these things, disciples. And he gives them the promise of the Holy Spirit. I think that's cool. Gives them the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will come at the day of Pentecost, as we know in the book of Acts, to all the believers. And here we see both this commission given, this is what you're to do, to be witnesses of these things, to share this message that the whole entire Bible, all of human history is about. He's saying, not only is this your message here to share, but he's like, I'm gonna give you the power to do so. Wow. Isn't that amazing? I mean, we're gonna do a deeper dive into this into the weeks ahead as we talk about being a disciple-making church. But here Jesus is sending them off with the message of the gospel to proclaim repentance and forgiveness and promising them the help of the Holy Spirit to come. And this is what he does for the church. He sends us, he empowers us, and he always gives us what we need in the mission he has sent us on. And so that is the second outcome of the resurrection, that forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed. Here is the third, final thing we see in this passage: a new kind of worship, verses 50 to 53. A new kind of worship, verse 50. Then he led them out of the vicinity of Bethany and lifted up his hands, and he blessed them. So Jesus leads him, leads his disciples to one of his favorite places, Bethany, across the valley of Jerusalem, Bethany, where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. And you just picture this. And then verse 51 tells us, and while he was blessing them, he left them. This time it was an instant. They kind of saw where he was going, because Luke writes it down. So he left them and he was carried up into heaven. They saw this whole thing take place. So he prays for them, and then the unexpected happens. He ascends to heaven. Now, Luke doesn't give us all the details here. The other gospels help fill these things in. We're just going to focus on what Luke does here this morning. He just kind of mentions it. I love that. He blesses them, and then he's gone up to heaven. You see, what's unique about our Lord is that he's alive and he isn't dead. Did you know every other religion in the world that has a central figure? Think of Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius. I mean, the list goes on. Guess what they all have in common? They're all dead. Our Lord isn't. He's very much alive. All the other religions of the world, they need a successor. They need somebody else that takes on that personification of that person that started their religion. But we don't. Because our God is alive, ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father. The best place to be, ruling and reigning, awaiting for the day that He will return. And he will rise up and bring resurrection to all of the saints of glory that have gone and died before this time. Ready to come back, not just to rise the church up in a bodily, glorified resurrection, but ready to come back with the sword of judgment. And so here we see our Lord. He rises to the right hand of the Father. You'll kind of think about what's taking place here. He arrived when they were troubled and when they were doubting, and now they're no longer troubled, they're no longer doubting. They're no longer grieving. But what does the passage say? They're worshiping. Verse 52. After worshiping him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple praising God. This is the first recorded worship service after the resurrection. After the ascension of Jesus, the first recorded worship service. Jesus blesses them. He's carried up into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father until that day comes when he returns for his bride, the church. And how do they respond? They worship him continually praising God in the temple. Jesus had been risen from the dead, and now worship was different. The temple veil torn in two. Worship was not the way it was before. It was now different. There was now access to God that was no longer obscured. Now that access was direct, it was joyous, and they responded appropriately in worship. They now understood what it all was about. And it changed them. They were praising the Lord in a new way. You know, this morning, as we contemplate these things, what I think is astounding is that Luke doesn't try to wow us with philosophy. But what does he do? He just tells us the story. This is what happened. Jesus was there. We touched him, we saw him. He ascended to the Father. We touched him, we saw him, we saw him go and sit at the right hand of God. Jesus rising from the dead, fulfilling all that was written about him from centuries before, changing the course of history forever. Luke is just recording these events. And now it's time for the disciples to stand up and speak up with the message of repentance and forgiveness, calling people to repent, promising them forgiveness. Everything now made sense. It clicked. It led them to worship, led them to obedience, and it led them to great anticipation of the Holy Spirit coming. I'm gonna ask that everyone, just bow your head and close your eyes as we just prepare to pray in a moment. Just with your head bowed and eyes closed. We talked about this on Friday, but I wanted to mention it again today. I encourage you to repent and be forgiven. Come to Jesus. Be welcomed into his family. Join our resurrected worship. If you've never repented and been forgiven of your sin, just for a moment, just don't worry about who's here with you. I implore and encourage you, do business with God right now. Between you and him. In your own words, admit to him that you're a sinner. In your own words, ask him for your forgiveness. Ask him to forgive you of your sin. Trust in Christ to save you. Today is the day of salvation. Thank him for saving you. We're not gonna ask anybody to get up or do anything like that. But if you made that decision this morning for the first time, with no one no one looking around, I just want to pray for you. It'll just be between me and you. I just want to pray for you. And if you made that decision here this morning, would you just look at me? Awesome. Awesome. Amen. Father, we thank you for our resurrected Lord Jesus. And I thank you for the work and the movement of your spirit here this morning. I thank you for those that you have drawn into your fold here this morning, and others that you are poking and prodding, I know this is how your Holy Spirit works. There's others that are sitting here, I know they're resisting. Father, we thank you for your grace and your patience. We thank you that even in our doubt and our misunderstanding, the Lord, you're patient and gracious with us. And Lord, I just pray you would continue the work of your spirit in all of our hearts and in all of our lives. As we seek you and we look to the coming of our Lord Jesus again, for He is risen. We thank you all of this in Jesus' name.

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Amen.