SPEAKER_00: So the time is drawing close.
SPEAKER_00: Only two sermons left in Luke's Gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And so we started this, I think it was the second Sunday in November of 2024.
SPEAKER_00: And so some time has gone by, and here we are almost to the end of Luke's Gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Two more sermons.
SPEAKER_00: And so today, uh looking at the resurrection, and then next time looking at the ascension.
SPEAKER_00: So let's give our attention to God's word.
SPEAKER_00: We're beginning in verse 50 of chapter 23, picking up with Jesus' burial, where we finished last week, and then we'll read through verse 45 of chapter 24.
SPEAKER_00: So Luke chapter 23, starting in verse 50.
SPEAKER_00: Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea.
SPEAKER_00: He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action, and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
SPEAKER_00: It was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
SPEAKER_00: The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
SPEAKER_00: Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
SPEAKER_00: On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
SPEAKER_00: But on the first day of the week at early dawn they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: But when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: While they were perple perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
SPEAKER_00: And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead?
SPEAKER_00: He is not here, but has risen.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
SPEAKER_00: Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who had told these things to the apostles.
SPEAKER_00: But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home marveling at what had happened.
SPEAKER_00: That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
SPEAKER_00: And while they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, What is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk?
SPEAKER_00: And they stood still, looking sad.
SPEAKER_00: Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, What things?
SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was mighty indeed, who was a mighty prophet, indeed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
SPEAKER_00: But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover, some women from our company amazed us.
SPEAKER_00: They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
SPEAKER_00: Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
SPEAKER_00: Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
SPEAKER_00: And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
SPEAKER_00: So they drew near to the village to which they were going, and he acted as if he were going further, but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent.
SPEAKER_00: So he went in to stay with them.
SPEAKER_00: When he was at the table with them he took the bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.
SPEAKER_00: They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
SPEAKER_00: As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace to you.
SPEAKER_00: But they were startled and frightened, and thought that they saw a spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
SPEAKER_00: See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
SPEAKER_00: Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had said this he showed them his hands and his feet, and while they were still disbelieving for joy and were marveling, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat?
SPEAKER_00: And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it before them.
SPEAKER_00: 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 and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_00: Then he opened up their minds to understand the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I hope so.
SPEAKER_00: I've certainly enjoyed watching a lot, a great time, and really an incredible World Cup for seeing the best.
SPEAKER_00: It's been a great World Cup in that way.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's one of the great things about watching is that you get to appreciate and understand the talent and the ability.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me just say that the passage we have in front of us is kind of one of the favorites of pastors and Bible teachers because you are watching the best at work.
SPEAKER_00: That here before us, what we've just read, it's kind of the best Bible study ever.
SPEAKER_00: It's the one we would all looked up to and hope to emulate.
SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, we could talk about the evidence for the resurrection, and we have in the past, and so let me just remind you that the resurrection of Jesus, it is one of the most well-attested and documented historical events.
SPEAKER_00: And so the evidence of the empty tomb, the eyewitness claims, and then the early church preaching the resurrection, all three things are very well attested in history, as in you really need to deal with them as historical fact and then try to figure out what would explain them all.
SPEAKER_00: But at least in the Bible itself, the most overwhelming evidence of Jesus' resurrection is the changed lives that he brings about.
SPEAKER_00: And so, as critical and as amazing as the resurrection is, so it is what Jesus does afterwards.
SPEAKER_00: You see, after Jesus raises from the dead, he doesn't move to retribution.
SPEAKER_00: That's often what happens in the superhero story or the hero story where the hero comes back from a great uh tragedy.
SPEAKER_00: Punisher, time to bring retribution.
SPEAKER_00: Or exaltation, time to claim it all.
SPEAKER_00: I'm back.
SPEAKER_00: Pilate, get off the throne.
SPEAKER_00: And yes, that's not what Jesus does.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he is vindication in transformation.
SPEAKER_00: The story of the resurrection is vindication that Jesus has proven to be true in transformation, that he then uses the resurrection to change the lives of ordinary people.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's our big idea this morning that Jesus' resurrection it proves his mission and then extends his ministry.
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus' resurrection, it proves his mission and extends his ministry.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're going to be working through our passage in two parts this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to follow an outline, it's there on the back of the program.
SPEAKER_00: But it's the resurrection changes everything because Jesus changes everyone.
SPEAKER_00: As we get into the details, let's pray and ask for God's help.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we ask for your help that even though we are separated from time and space, to you, Lord Jesus, that you would carry out an extraordinary and transformational Bible study with us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: As I speak, would you by your Spirit come down and make them your words to us?
SPEAKER_00: And would you stir our hearts to burn within us as we see who you are in the Scripture?
SPEAKER_00: We ask this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So first, let's look at how the resurrection changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to gloss over that point.
SPEAKER_00: It is true.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection in the Christian faith and in the biblical storyline, it is critical.
SPEAKER_00: It is a momentous event.
SPEAKER_00: And Luke, in particular, he kind of brings out two parts of how the resurrection changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: The expectations of Jesus, and then also the expectations of life and death.
SPEAKER_00: And so the resurrection, it changes the expectations of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And so part of the reason we picked up our reading with the end of chapter 23 describing the burial of Jesus is that we're really in that same type of story.
SPEAKER_00: If you look down and you're using a paper Bible, if you notice the transition between chapter 23 and chapter 24, it's really only separated by the number of the chapter.
SPEAKER_00: The story just continues.
SPEAKER_00: That the women have gone to the tomb and they're preparing for burial.
SPEAKER_00: And then in chapter 24, they go back.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is a burial story.
SPEAKER_00: This is a death story.
SPEAKER_00: So think back of last week where we ended.
SPEAKER_00: Joseph of Arimathea, he goes to Pilate to ask for the body.
SPEAKER_00: He then prepares the body for burial, and then he lays the body in the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the repetition of Luke here.
SPEAKER_00: Repeated, explicit interaction with the body.
SPEAKER_00: The verdict is clear that Jesus was dead.
SPEAKER_00: Notice then in verse 55, the women they see the tomb, and what do they see?
SPEAKER_00: The body where it was laid.
SPEAKER_00: And what do they do?
SPEAKER_00: They prepare to anoint the body for burial.
SPEAKER_00: And then we have this dramatic pause as the Sabbath day is observed and rest is observed.
SPEAKER_00: And so Friday night, the death of Jesus, Saturday, in their day, the Sabbath rest, and then Sunday, question mark.
SPEAKER_00: On the first day of the week, what will happen?
SPEAKER_00: And so look down at the beginning of chapter 24, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: On the first day of the week at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the research of Luke is clear that the followers of Jesus saw him dead and expected him to stay dead.
SPEAKER_00: All throughout the passage is clear.
SPEAKER_00: The women go to the tomb expecting to do tomb-related things.
SPEAKER_00: The two men walking on the Emmaus Road, they had believed big things about Jesus, but now that he was dead.
SPEAKER_00: The eleven disciples, when they hear about the empty tomb, they think the claim of the resurrection is an idle tale.
SPEAKER_00: No way.
SPEAKER_00: And then even later on, when they see Jesus in person, what does it say?
SPEAKER_00: They disbelieve for joy.
SPEAKER_00: It's too good to be true.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Luke is overwhelming with the point.
SPEAKER_00: Despite the varied and no doubt positive expectations Jesus' disciples had for him, none of them expected him to conquer death.
SPEAKER_00: None of them expected him to resurrect.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they expected Jesus to stay dead, but the resurrection changed everything.
SPEAKER_00: And so look back to the start of chapter 24.
SPEAKER_00: The women, they've come back to the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: They knew where it was from Friday night, and so that old theory that maybe they forgot about the tomb and went to the wrong tomb and found it empty.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, they saw him there.
SPEAKER_00: They saw him laid, and so they knew where to go.
SPEAKER_00: And so they go back to the tomb, and we have this building drama of their experience as Luke records it.
SPEAKER_00: They went to the tomb early.
SPEAKER_00: They found the stone rolled away.
SPEAKER_00: They went in but didn't find the body.
SPEAKER_00: And so, verse four, they are perplexed.
SPEAKER_00: They are perplexed.
SPEAKER_00: And then we have the clear biblical sign of extraordinary things happening.
SPEAKER_00: Verse four.
SPEAKER_00: While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood behind stood by them in dazzling apparel.
SPEAKER_00: And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead?
SPEAKER_00: I want you to notice and remember that angels they don't just show up all the time in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: The angels are not showing up all the time.
SPEAKER_00: The same thing with miracles.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we feel like, oh, God did so many miracles back then, where are they now?
SPEAKER_00: Miracles were still rare back then, and so it is for angels.
SPEAKER_00: Really, only three angels were ever named in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Most of their work is invisible, and so they are more active than we notice.
SPEAKER_00: And so Hebrews 13, verse 2, it's kind of this interesting throwaway verse where the writer of Hebrews is saying, show hospitality to strangers, because some of you have served angels unaware.
SPEAKER_00: And so I don't know if you've experienced that.
SPEAKER_00: You probably don't know it if you did.
SPEAKER_00: But actually, angels are doing all sorts of things for God all around us, but very rarely do we see them or hear for them.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, it's almost exclusively during times of key turning points in God's salvation story.
SPEAKER_00: And so, for instance, when Abraham is not having children and he's giving up hope of God's promise, you have angels announce the birth of Isaac.
SPEAKER_00: In the Exodus story, when the Israelites are being saved from slavery and bondage, you have angels show up to minister to them.
SPEAKER_00: And then remember, even in Luke's gospel, when did the angel show up?
SPEAKER_00: At the birth of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Big moments deserve big announcements, and so it is here for the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: We have a clear turning point.
SPEAKER_00: The angels tell us the point.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you seek for the living among the dead?
SPEAKER_00: Notice the expectation change.
SPEAKER_00: What did they expect?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus to stay dead.
SPEAKER_00: But they were all wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6 and 7 He is not here, but has risen.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: You see, their expectations needed to be changed, and the resurrection is what did it.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a point in another way.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection changes everything, it proves the mission of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's God's vindication or proof of who Jesus is and what he did.
SPEAKER_00: And so let me just give you a summary of how the New Testament talks about it.
SPEAKER_00: And you can think about kind of the proof of Jesus in three ways.
SPEAKER_00: One, it's proof that Jesus' words are true.
SPEAKER_00: It's proof that Jesus' words were true.
SPEAKER_00: And so if the hardest to believe claim is true, the resurrection, then maybe everything else he said was true as well.
SPEAKER_00: And so you can think of it this way.
SPEAKER_00: You can imagine, what if I claimed to have played college basketball at the highest level?
SPEAKER_00: It's a bit too much.
SPEAKER_00: Too much laughter.
SPEAKER_00: What if I claim to have played college basketball at the highest level?
SPEAKER_00: Hard to believe, yes.
SPEAKER_00: Hard to believe.
SPEAKER_00: But if we went out to the courts and I threw down some amazing dunks, your eyes might open a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Just maybe it's possible.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe if I could do all those things with this physical specimen at work, maybe the story is true.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it's something going on similar with Jesus' resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: If he said he would die and be resurrected, and then he backed it up with proof, then maybe everything else he says is true as well.
SPEAKER_00: The New Testament also says that the resurrection is proof that God was on Jesus' side.
SPEAKER_00: We saw that in Psalm 22.
SPEAKER_00: The people look at somebody suffering and they assume God has abandoned them.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's a big question for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's, remember, during the crucifixion, that's what the Jewish leaders are doing when they're mocking Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He claimed to be God's chosen one, but look at him now.
SPEAKER_00: God has abandoned him.
SPEAKER_00: And so the resurrection is proof that despite Jesus' suffering and dying, despite death being God's curse for sin, the resurrection proves that God has approved of Jesus' life and his sacrificial death.
SPEAKER_00: And so the resurrection vindicates that God was on Jesus' side.
SPEAKER_00: And really the third vindication, the third proof is that it's proof that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient.
SPEAKER_00: So basically, if Jesus claimed that he was going to be taking all of God's wrath, remember the picture that Jesus used, it was that cup of wrath.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus claimed he was going to drink it all down himself, then the resurrection proves that the cup is empty.
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus, he doesn't continue to face judgment for sin.
SPEAKER_00: Judgment is fully expended.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's a small thing, but it's one of the reasons why in our church we would not have Jesus on the cross still.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is over.
SPEAKER_00: He has been vindicated, the price has been fully paid.
SPEAKER_00: Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says that if Jesus didn't rise, then our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.
SPEAKER_00: Basically, if he's still suffering, if he still needs to be sacrificed, when would we ever know if it was enough?
SPEAKER_00: You see, the resurrection changes everything, starting with our expectations of Jesus and what his mission was.
SPEAKER_00: That his mission to go to the cross, to pay for sin, to then rise to vindicate his word for all the world to see, it has been proven true.
SPEAKER_00: And so if the resurrection changes our expectations about Jesus and his mission, that begins with the women at the beginning of our passage, then the resurrection then changed the expectations of life and death with the disciples at the end.
SPEAKER_00: You can kind of think of it this way: Jesus' mission and the result, that he would defeat death.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the resurrection changes everything by challenge our expectations of life and death as well.
SPEAKER_00: And so go with me to the end of the passage we read, verse 36.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples are talking about the rumors and the reports of Jesus' resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, they are not ready to believe.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus suddenly stands in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: He says peace, but peace is not what they experienced.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37, they were startled and frightened and thought that they saw a spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, what is their expectation?
SPEAKER_00: Even if Jesus was making an appearance, it must have been only by spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they thought.
SPEAKER_00: The only hope after death was ghost life.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus and then Luke, by his reporting, notice that he goes to great length, not first to convince them of the meaning of the resurrection, but rather to convince them of the physicality of it.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 39, see in my hands and my feet.
SPEAKER_00: See that I have flesh and bone.
SPEAKER_00: Would a spirit have that?
SPEAKER_00: You see, their expectation, after death, spiritual life only.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' mission, full physical life eternal.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 31, while they're still disbelieving with joy, they marveled, and he said to them, Have you had anything to eat?
SPEAKER_00: You see, not believing yet, so what's the evidence they need to see?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, fish and chips, as our British friends would say.
SPEAKER_00: Give me some fish.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus' resurrection changes everything, including the expectation of life and death.
SPEAKER_00: God has proven that he is able and willing to use death not as an end, but as a transformation of physical life from one level to another.
SPEAKER_00: And so, once again, talking about Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, he describes the resurrection of Jesus as the first fruit of those who had fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: That is, the first evidence or proof that there is a new and renewed physical life available with and through death.
SPEAKER_00: And so just imagine if people believed it was true.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine if we believe that it was true that there's a real and physical life after death.
SPEAKER_00: What this means is that YOLO isn't true.
SPEAKER_00: YOLO isn't true.
SPEAKER_00: You only live once.
SPEAKER_00: It's not true.
SPEAKER_00: There is more and more extensive time coming.
SPEAKER_00: And so that takes away the desperation.
SPEAKER_00: It takes away the desperation to avoid death at all costs.
SPEAKER_00: But it also adds an implication that if this life is just the warm-up or the opening act of the true life to come, then the ultimate purpose and point of this life is then to prepare for the next.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the resurrection changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: But surprisingly, and I think this is the surprise of our passage, also thankfully, the biggest change of the resurrection is that Jesus is alive to still change people.
SPEAKER_00: And so point two, Jesus changes everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, we have to qualify this that the resurrection changes everything so that Jesus can continue to change everyone, anyone who would receive him by faith.
SPEAKER_00: You notice as important as the resurrection is, and it is, the results or the fruit of Jesus' resurrection are giving much more attention, and in a way, they're much more subtle.
SPEAKER_00: And so the resurrection, it will mean retribution, condemnation, exaltation of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: All those things will be true.
SPEAKER_00: He is the king who will one day take his throne fully, who will make his enemies submit, who will bring judgment to an evil world.
SPEAKER_00: All that is true.
SPEAKER_00: He is the risen king who will rule on God's perfect world.
SPEAKER_00: But first, he has come to be the saving king who will change people to make them suitable, to make them worthy for God's coming kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the difficulties of understanding resurrection life, both for Jesus and for ourselves, the now and the not yet.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can imagine the same is true for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Do you realize he is in a physical body, in a spiritual place?
SPEAKER_00: It's part of what he expresses when he talks about the Lord's Supper, that he will not eat or drink of this again until he comes.
SPEAKER_00: We're not sure whether it means he's not eating or drinking, but certainly he is not celebrating.
SPEAKER_00: He's not feasting in a physical way as he awaits our redemption.
SPEAKER_00: He is also not vindicated fully in the sense that not everyone sees yet who he really is.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in a way, he has to put up.
SPEAKER_00: Put up with the nonsense.
SPEAKER_00: He knows where it's ending.
SPEAKER_00: He knows he's done the hard work already, and yet most of the world is going to live apart from him and against him.
SPEAKER_00: And so it is by extension for us.
SPEAKER_00: It is a hard thing to believe in the hold on to resurrection life while still wasting away physically.
SPEAKER_00: To believe in life while we're dying.
SPEAKER_00: To believe in holiness and redemption while we're struggling with sin.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that the Bible acknowledges these difficulties.
SPEAKER_00: And much of the New Testament is meant to help us to believe and to experience the grace of God for the time we're waiting.
SPEAKER_00: So for this point, we're going to go back to the middle of our passage and look at this conversation along the Emmaus Road.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you look back at our passage, verse 12, at the end of the empty tomb section, we're kind of left in limbo.
SPEAKER_00: The women, and now Peter as well, they have seen the empty tomb, but we haven't seen the risen Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We haven't seen Jesus yet.
SPEAKER_00: Where is he?
SPEAKER_00: We're also left in a bit of limbo about the faith position of Jesus' closest followers.
SPEAKER_00: Do you notice?
SPEAKER_00: The women remember, Peter marvels, the rest consider it a fantasy.
SPEAKER_00: It seems as though there was more work to be done.
SPEAKER_00: More work to be done, but how would Jesus do it?
SPEAKER_00: How would he change his followers to believe and to apply the resurrection?
SPEAKER_00: Well, if the resurrection confirms the mission of Jesus, who he is and what he did, the ministry of Jesus, what he's continuing to do, is what applies the resurrection to people's lives.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's look at the ministry of the risen Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: How will he change people?
SPEAKER_00: And so in verse 13, we have two of Jesus' disciples.
SPEAKER_00: We're not, with our, these, these isn't two of the twelve.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is two of the larger group that follow Jesus, maybe part of the 70 that the Bible talks about elsewhere.
SPEAKER_00: They are walking away from Jerusalem and they're discussing what has happened.
SPEAKER_00: One is later named Cleopus, only time we hear that name in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: No idea who he is, but one of the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: The other is unknown.
SPEAKER_00: Some have suggested that maybe it's Luke himself.
SPEAKER_00: It could be, but we don't know for sure.
SPEAKER_00: So we have these two disciples, they're walking along and having a conversation, and Jesus comes up as kind of your friendly stalker, and he shows up and he drops into the conversation.
SPEAKER_00: And the important note is that they don't recognize him.
SPEAKER_00: We're not told exactly the way they don't recognize him, like did Jesus put on like a fake mustache and kind of the googly eyes, something like that, but we're told the reason.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16, their eyes are kept from recognizing him.
SPEAKER_00: Something spiritual is going on here, that God is keeping them from seeing with their eyes.
SPEAKER_00: It's the divine passive that God is assumed to be stopping them.
SPEAKER_00: For them, seeing wasn't going to mean believing.
SPEAKER_00: You know, where we uh, Rebecca and I spent our early marriage and where I went to seminaries in Missouri, it's the state motto is the show me state.
SPEAKER_00: It kind of embraces this American skepticism.
SPEAKER_00: A good old American tradition.
SPEAKER_00: We won't be gullible.
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna get us.
SPEAKER_00: You want us to believe something proven.
SPEAKER_00: Show me.
SPEAKER_00: Not for these guys.
SPEAKER_00: See, in the middle of the following conversation, we see an illustration of the point we've already made that the disciples' expectation of Jesus didn't have room for resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you look down and just kind of follow with me, we're gonna summarize the conversation.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have some initial back and forth, and then the disciples they start to explain their perspective of what has happened.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 19, Jesus was a man who was a mighty prophet, in deed and in word, before God and all the people.
SPEAKER_00: See, they saw the miracles, they heard the teaching, they believed that Jesus was from God.
SPEAKER_00: But verse 20, despite that, despite Jesus seemingly to obviously be from God, to be supported by God, the religious leaders had delivered him over to death.
SPEAKER_00: The end result in verse 21 is we had hoped, we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
SPEAKER_00: You see, seemingly they had been following fairly well.
SPEAKER_00: They saw Jesus, they hoped for redemption, but what was the issue?
SPEAKER_00: They had no category for a savior who would suffer or for a king who would be killed.
SPEAKER_00: It all ended with death.
SPEAKER_00: And they go on, starting in verse 22, repeating everything we saw at the start of the chapter.
SPEAKER_00: They've heard about the empty tomb, they've heard about the angelic report that Jesus was alive, but notice none of that was enough.
SPEAKER_00: None of that was enough.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we hold ourselves and other people to such high standards when it comes to faith as if, you know, if we just saw enough, that would be better.
SPEAKER_00: Just show us something, God.
SPEAKER_00: But notice that these closest witnesses who saw everything needed something more.
SPEAKER_00: And what's interesting at this point is that Jesus, he doesn't criticize them for not believing the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't go to the three evidences of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, the tomb is empty.
SPEAKER_00: People claim to see me, people have been preaching the message.
SPEAKER_00: That should be enough.
SPEAKER_00: No, he corrects them, notice, for not believing the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25, he said to them, O foolish ones, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
SPEAKER_00: And then in particular, they were slow to believe this prophetic expectation that the Messiah would have to suffer before entering glory.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a worthwhile point to pause on for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: That apparently the suffering was harder to believe than the miracles or even the teaching.
SPEAKER_00: That the suffering was harder to believe than even the miracles and the teaching.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes that's experience that actually God could and probably has done all sorts of extraordinary miracles in your life and and around you.
SPEAKER_00: He has probably opened your eyes to understand, to believe all sorts of wonderful doctrine about who God is and who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: But often it is in the midst of suffering when faith is refined and proven.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus, he could have just proven the resurrection to them.
SPEAKER_00: But first, what does he want to do?
SPEAKER_00: He wants to prove the suffering.
SPEAKER_00: He says it is necessary.
SPEAKER_00: We have a hard time accepting and understanding that, the necessity of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: That in this already not yet time, in the time where we believe the resurrection life of Jesus, but we don't have it full, the suffering is a necessity.
SPEAKER_00: The way the Bible talks about is suffering against sin, the flesh, and the devil.
SPEAKER_00: So basically, suffering against sin and temptation and fallenness, suffering against the fallenness of our experience, kind of the way our bodies and our world suffers, and then suffering even from the attack and the opposition of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Suffering is part of the plan.
SPEAKER_00: It is a feature, not a flaw.
SPEAKER_00: Suffering.
SPEAKER_00: And so rather than changing the disciples by miraculous signs or by wonders, instead of giving them their own personal resurrection experience, notice what Jesus does.
SPEAKER_00: He changes them through a Bible study.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 27.
SPEAKER_00: Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, they still don't know they're talking to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: What is the ministry of Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: It's to show people Jesus from the Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: And if we don't get it clear in that first kind of hint, Luke gives us more.
SPEAKER_00: Starting in verse 28, um, evening's coming, and so Jesus is starting to act like he's gonna walk on, but they insist that he stays for dinner.
SPEAKER_00: These must have been good old Southern disciples.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, you can't go.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta stay.
SPEAKER_00: Best Bible study ever.
SPEAKER_00: They don't want it to end.
SPEAKER_00: I'm still waiting for that response from you guys.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, it's getting late, but keep on preaching.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they said.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 30 Jesus, he took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it.
SPEAKER_00: Probably not an explicit experience of the Lord's Supper, but certainly a memorable reference.
SPEAKER_00: In this moment, their eyes are opened.
SPEAKER_00: And you might think, you might think that we are transitioning to a miraculous vision type of story.
SPEAKER_00: But notice, instead, this is a vanishing story.
SPEAKER_00: Right when they have the moment to confirm their faith by their sight, he disappears.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus and Luke, they want to make it clear what is the ministry of Jesus, verse 32, they said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: What is the ministry of Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Changing people by changing hearts to believe the message of the gospel and the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: We're coming to a close here, but let me just point out one more thing before we close things up.
SPEAKER_00: This example of these two disciples on the road to Emmaus, it's not extraordinary.
SPEAKER_00: It is exemplary.
SPEAKER_00: Because in reality, if you look, how were the rest of the disciples changed?
SPEAKER_00: Not by the evidence of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Not by seeing Jesus, not by touching his wounds, not by seeing him eat the food.
SPEAKER_00: How were their minds opened?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 44 and 45.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said to them, These are my words that I have spoken to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_00: Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Luke wants to be clear for that generation of people living after the time of Jesus, missing out on the opportunity to witness the resurrection for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to make it clear what is the ongoing ministry of Jesus changing people by opening their minds to see him in the scripture.
SPEAKER_00: So a couple things as we close.
SPEAKER_00: First, to recap.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection, it is critically important.
SPEAKER_00: It is changing everything.
SPEAKER_00: It proves Jesus' mission, who he is and what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: It proves that death is not the end, that life is available.
SPEAKER_00: There is good evidence for the resurrection, and it is important that the disciples were eyewitnesses.
SPEAKER_00: But as important as all of that is, we should not miss the point.
SPEAKER_00: The real glory of the resurrection is that Jesus is still alive.
SPEAKER_00: The glory of the resurrection is that Jesus is still alive to apply his resurrection power in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And notice that he does that through fairly ordinary, but the extraordinary means of opening our eyes and our hearts to understand and to believe.
SPEAKER_00: And so what that means for us, a couple things as we close.
SPEAKER_00: One, you're not a second-class Christian.
SPEAKER_00: You're not a second-class Christian.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like, you know, those immediately close to Jesus, they had the real stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And those of us, we get the leftovers.
SPEAKER_00: That is not how the Bible describes it.
SPEAKER_00: As we started our service, the Bible describes our community here being linked through a spiritual portal to the throne room of God.
SPEAKER_00: If your mind has been opened to understand the message of the gospel, who Jesus is, what his suffering and resurrection means, if your heart has been burned to believe and to trust in Jesus, then you are a person changed by the risen Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: His life-giving work ministry is at work within you.
SPEAKER_00: You are not second class.
SPEAKER_00: In Ephesians, which I think is what we're going to look at when we come back to the New Testament for our sermon series, it says that in you is all the full fullness of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have less of Jesus, you have more.
SPEAKER_00: What that means then is that, secondly, you are some of the best evidence for the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we do the evidence of the resurrection seminar, and it is helpful.
SPEAKER_00: It is helpful to remember that there is good historical evidence, but actually, you are the best evidence of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles, they played an important role of testifying to the resurrection as I witnessed.
SPEAKER_00: They played an important role of passing on the authoritative teaching and testimony of Jesus as they wrote it down in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: But the most of the ministry of Jesus has happened as ordinary and everyday Christians live out the new life in the community in the local church.
SPEAKER_00: This is why for thousands of years Christians have believed that the New Testament is enough.
SPEAKER_00: In terms of eyewitness, in terms of extraordinary vision, the New Testament is enough.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is alive.
SPEAKER_00: And he continues to do the same ordinary work of applying this to our hearts and lives.
SPEAKER_00: Most of the ministry of Jesus happens, is ordinary, everyday Christians live out the new life in community.
SPEAKER_00: And so the fact that Jesus of Nazareth, who lived 2,000 years ago, who was crucified by the Romans, who is claimed to have risen from the dead, if that Jesus has transformed your heart and your life from the inside out, you are the evidence that he is still alive.
SPEAKER_00: And so we'll talk about this more next week as we look at his ascension and how he commissions his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: But this passage claims that what you need and what the world needs is not primarily mighty words and deeds, not usually visions or so-called spiritual experiences.
SPEAKER_00: What you need, what I need, what the world needs, is for Jesus, who even today is alive and continuing his ministry, is for Jesus to show up and change our lives by showing us everything that God has said and done concerning him.
SPEAKER_00: This is the ministry of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Alive today, able even in this moment to apply his word to people sitting here in the pews, that we would be changed by him.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray that that'll be the case for each one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have invited us into this great testimony of witnesses.
SPEAKER_00: That by faith we can come and join Peter.
SPEAKER_00: By faith we can join John, who saw the great revelation of heaven and the new heavens and new earth.
SPEAKER_00: By faith we can come with those who have been persecuted and stood firm.
SPEAKER_00: By faith, we can even be joined with our children and grandchildren and the generations who will come after us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, stir our hearts to remember that you are living, and so it would be for us.
SPEAKER_00: Remind us that our faith is not in vain.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord Jesus, would you continue to change us into the people you'd have us to be?
SPEAKER_00: Transform us from time to time and even many times.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stir our hearts to burn within us as you make known the word to us?
SPEAKER_00: And would you make this a church where that would happen often?
SPEAKER_00: Not by might nor by power, but by your spirit we ask, in dependence on you.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.