Proclaiming The Resurrection
Luke 24:36-49
April 4, 2021
This morning we return again to Luke’s gospel.
It is certainly BENEFICIAL TIMING on our part that on this special day
We also happen to be studying Luke’s account of the resurrection.
If you have been with us the past few weeks,
We have been looking at the resurrection.
• All 4 gospel writers give their version of the event.
• Yet, as we have said, THEY ALL HAVE ONE GLARING OMISSION.
• None of them reveal the resurrection itself; none of them actually saw it.
• Instead they all, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, share the details of the story that they saw as the most compelling evidences that Jesus was raised.
• Matthew was mesmerized by the guards
• Mark loved the eye witness testimony of the women
• John was convinced by the arrangement of the death rags in the tomb
But Luke included none of those things.
• Nothing about the guards
• Nothing about sealing the stone
• Nothing about the guards seeing an angel
• Nothing about the guards abandoning their post
• Nothing about the women actually seeing Jesus
• Nothing about Mary supposing Him to be the gardener
• Nothing about the significance of the grave clothes
Luke omits all of that.
Luke’s glaring evidence of the resurrection is completely different.
Luke’s gospel drives home this one undeniable point:
WE BELIEVE JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD
BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE SAYS HE DID.
It started with those women who went early Sunday to the tomb and found it empty.
• They were perplexed, and had no thought of a resurrection
• An angel appeared and mildly rebuked them for not remembering the words of Jesus.
• The women then ran to the 11 and told them, but their message was considered as nonsense.
We then saw 2 men leaving Jerusalem and taking the 7 mile trip to Emmaus.
• They were sad as they discussed the wasted ministry of Jesus.
• Jesus appeared to them (they didn’t recognize Him)
• Cleopas shared what we called “The Impotent Gospel”
• Jesus rebuked them for not believing the Old Testament prophets regarding the death and resurrection of the Christ.
All were in despair because they had not believed the Scripture
All were rebuked because they had not believed the Scripture
And we have said repeatedly that
The greatest evidence that we can give men
Regarding the resurrection is the testimony of God.
• There is forensic proof that Jesus died and rose again.
• There is historical proof that Jesus died and rose again.
• There is circumstantial proof that Jesus died and rose again
And all of those things are good and important,
And we certainly don’t deny them.
BUT weightier than any eye witness testimony is the testimony of God.
Weightier than any forensic evidence is the proclamation of God.
We believe Jesus rose from the dead because the Scripture says He did.
And this is has been Luke’s point over the last few weeks.
This morning we move forward, and we come to the end of Luke’s gospel.
• Every gospel writer included the cross
• Every gospel writer included the burial
• Every gospel writer included the resurrection
• And every gospel writer included the commission that followed
Each gospel writer understood that the truth of the resurrection
Is truth that must be proclaimed.
So they all end with the commission of Jesus
To go forth and proclaim this truth.
The most famous is found in Matthew’s gospel
Matthew 28:16-20 “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
You are likely familiar with what has been called “The Great Commission”
The text we study this morning in Luke’s gospel is a different occasion.
• Matthew’s comes later in Galilee.
• Luke and John speak of this meeting in Jerusalem.
But even as they speak of different occasions,
The consistency is that they all immediately
Run from the resurrection to the commissioning of Jesus
To go and proclaim the resurrection to the world.
None of the gospel accounts end with the resurrection.
They all end with a commissioning of Jesus to proclaim the resurrection.
So allow me to make one obvious point this morning.
EASTER IS NOT A HOLIDAY
The Resurrection is not just a date on a calendar once a year
Like we might celebrate “Labor Day” or “Memorial Day”
EASTER IS MUCH BIGGER.
• We live in the reality of the resurrection every single day.
• And we proclaim the message of the resurrection throughout the world.
If Easter for you is a one day a year holiday where you go to church
Or sing “Because He Lives” then you have horribly missed the point.
The entire life of a Christian centers around and focuses on
The fact that Christ conquered death.
This isn’t a holiday,
• It is our life!
• It is our hope!
• It is our message to the world!
Luke 24:36-49 emphasizes that.
• The first 35 verses of Luke 24 focused on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.
• In verse 36 Luke begins his transition to show us that this is the message that Christ intended to be preached to the nations.
Here we see that Jesus is commissioning the 11
To go into the world and proclaim that He is alive.
And in order for them to do that, there were 3 things they needed.
(We’ll touch them all this morning, but we’ll likely have to work on it some more next week)
#1 SIMPLE PROOF
Luke 24:36-43
Now, if you’ve been with us the last 3 weeks you know that
We’ve jumped up and down on the table and emphasized that the reason we believe in the resurrection is because the Bible says He rose.
• We’ve talked about how Luke purposely omitted eye-witness testimony.
• We’ve talked about how Luke ignored forensic evidence.
• Luke deferred everything to the Scriptures.
And then we get to these 8 verses
That are absolutely chalked full of forensic proof.
Jesus is there in front of them.
• He is speaking, they are hearing Him.
• He is standing, they are seeing Him.
• He asks them to touch Him.
• He eats fish in front of them.
That is all very “hands on” type stuff.
• These are forensic proofs.
• They all deal with the human senses.
• Sight, Sound, Touch.
And so immediately we back up a little and say,
“But I thought Luke’s point was that
This type of evidence wasn’t necessary.”
For us, it’s not.
But for the apostles it was necessary.
They HAD to see Him.
One of the pre-requisites for being an apostle
Was that you had to be an eye-witness of the resurrected Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
There you have Paul sort of blending the two together.
• Christ did rise according to the Scriptures.
• And Paul said that he and the other apostles are eye-witnesses of it.
Peter said the same when talking to Cornelius
Acts 10:39-43 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
You see it again.
The Scripture said it, and we are witnesses that the Scripture is true.
Now we understand the apostle’s ministry better.
• They DID NOT preach solely on their experiences.
• They preached the Scripture, but their experience was used to verify that what the Scripture promised was true.
It was important that these men see Jesus and this evidence.
And so Luke includes it here.
These men needed simple evidence.
(36-38) “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
So if you are following along.
• Jesus vanished from before those men at the table in Emmaus
• Those men took the 7 mile run back to Jerusalem in the dark.
• They are in the process of telling their story.
And BOOM!
“He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
• On one hand it was a normal Jewish greeting.
• On the other it was an important reminder.
But the reaction was not surprising.
“But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit.”
• IT WASN’T THAT Jesus looked like a ghost.
• NOR WAS IT that He was glowing like when He was transfigured.
The reason they were startled is because they thought He was dead.
Remember later when God breaks Peter out of prison?
Acts 12:13-16 “When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.” But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.”
The disciples are shocked for the same reason.
They thought Jesus was dead, He should not be standing there.
Furthermore, according to John’s gospel, He walked right through the wall.
John 20:19 “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
It is the mystery of His resurrected body.
(A body we will have one day since we will be made like Him)
His body looked human.
• Mary thought He was the gardener.
• The men on the Emmaus road thought he was an ordinary traveler.
• In a minute He’ll eat fish.
Yet,
• He could vanish from sight and reappear somewhere else.
• He could walk through a wall.
It’s a bit of a mystery to us.
But you understand why they were startled, at least initially.
But, as we have noted, Jesus has taken issue with the fact
That His followers have thus far failed to believe the Scriptures,
And He addresses that again.
(38) “And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
“troubled” is TARASSO
It means “to agitate or be anxious or restless”
In Acts 17:3 it is translated “stirred up”
“doubts” is DIALOGISMOS
It means “to have inward reasoning; a dialogue in your own mind”
They were stirred up, they were confused,
They were inwardly arguing with themselves.
They are a group with no stability, no foundation, and no certainty.
And again that all stems from their failure to understand and believe
What the Scriptures had taught.
They also hadn’t believed the eye witnesses that said they saw Jesus.
• They hadn’t believed the women.
• They apparently weren’t believing the men from Emmaus
Mark 16:9-14 “[Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.”
So these men were full of doubt and fear and anxiety
And Jesus shows up in the middle and rebukes them for it.
And He offers them the physical evidence that they apparently needed.
(39-40) “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.”
This is the first time He made this offer.
• Remember, in John’s gospel, He’ll make the same offer later to Thomas.
But Jesus is giving them that forensic simple evidence
That they would need.
But, as you will notice, initially it is still not enough.
(We’ve said that, if you won’t believe the Scriptures…)
(41) “While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement…”
These guys are all over the place.
• 5 minutes ago the resurrection was impossible,
• And now it’s too good to be true.
If nothing else learn here that the story of the resurrection
Was NOT some story concocted by the disciples.
• They didn’t make this up.
• In fact, for the longest time they wouldn’t even believe it.
The only reason they went and preached that Jesus rose from the dead
Is because Jesus had appeared to them and convinced them He did.
And here He gives them even more proof.
“He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat? They gave Him a piece of broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.”
IT IS SIMPLE EVIDENCE.
Jesus is alive!
And this is going to change everything.
LAST WEEK we saw that “Impotent Gospel” of Cleopas.
We heard what he preached when he thought Jesus was dead.
1) Cleopas called Jesus a prophet because that’s the best thing you can say about a dead man, but the apostles aren’t going to preach about Jesus being a prophet.
The apostles are going to preach about Him being the Messiah, the anointed King, the very Son of God.
Romans 1:4 “[He] was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
2) Cleopas on that road preached that Jesus is dead, but the apostles aren’t going to preach that.
The apostles will go to the world and proclaim that Jesus is alive!
3) Cleopas lamented the cross as a great failure,
The apostles, through the lens of the resurrection, will preach the cross as the glory of God!
Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
4) Cleopas preached that they were in despair because Jesus failed to bring the redemption they were hoping for.
But the apostles will go out and preach that redemption is now available because Jesus is alive!
Acts 5:30-31 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”
5) Cleopas thought those women were crazy who said Jesus was alive.
But the apostles will take that message to the world and never back down from it, even when faced with persecution and death.
The resurrection changed everything.
JESUS IS ALIVE!
And Jesus just proved it to the disciples
With the simple evidence they needed.
But that wasn’t all they needed.
Simple Evidence
#2 SCRIPTURAL INSIGHT
Luke 24:44-48
Here again Luke is returning to point.
How important it is to believe what the Scripture says
About the resurrection of Jesus.
And look at how thorough the message is.
(44) “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Did you catch all the places where the resurrection was spoken of?
By Jesus – “These are My words”
Luke 9:22 “saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”
By Moses – “written about Me in the Law of Moses”
Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”
By the Prophets – “and the Prophets”
Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
By the Poets – “and the Psalms”
Psalms 16:10 “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
According to Jesus the entire Old Testament was about Him.
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;”
The entire OT is about His birth, His power, His life, His preaching, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His reign.
It was all about Him and the disciples had missed it all.
So:
(45) “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,”
What a moment for them!
• All of a sudden they could read the Old Testament and Jesus was obvious.
• Whereas they hadn’t seen Him before, they most definitely see Him now.
And the New Testament is filled with the things they learned.
• They read about Noah’s ark and saw Jesus.
• They read about Abraham’s ram and saw Jesus.
• They read about the Passover Lamb and saw Jesus.
• They saw the manna fall from heaven and they saw Jesus.
• They saw water from the rock and they saw Jesus.
• They saw the serpent lifted up in the wilderness and they saw Jesus.
• They read the Psalms and it was all about Jesus.
• They read the prophets and Jesus was the subject.
He was everywhere.
And now they could see Him.
It was a great moment!
And I KNOW IT WAS, AS DO YOU, because in many ways that is what God does for us when we are saved and indwelt with the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
• That DOESN’T MEAN that nothing in the Bible is ever confusing or that we
don’t have to study and seek God to understand; certainly we do.
• But it DOES MEAN that now our minds are also opened by the Spirit of God to
see that it is all about Him.
The disciples had not been able to see
That the Scriptures all pointed to Jesus
And therefore they were not able to go out and preach.
But on this day Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures”
And that had to happen.
(47-48) “And He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
When Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
What were the main points they were supposed to see?
The PARTICULARS of the gospel.
The suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ.
• That Jesus, the sinless Son of God, came to this earth and lived among men.
• He suffered (as Isaiah said) partly to become a merciful High Priest
• But also to bear the judgment for the sinners He came to save.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Jesus died
• Because “the wages of sin is death”.
• Because God promised Adam and Eve if they sinned they would die.
• Because the Law said “the soul that sins will die”
• Because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”.
But God raised Him from the dead.
• It proved He was sinless
• It proved He was righteous
• It proved that His sacrifice on our behalf was accepted by God.
God saw our sin and accepted His life as payment.
That is the overwhelming message of the Old Testament.
• Everywhere you look you see redemption.
• Everywhere you look you see grace.
• Everywhere you look you see atonement.
And it all points to Christ.
The disciples could now see the particulars of the gospel
Throughout the Old Testament.
They also saw THE PROMISE OF THE GOSPEL
“that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed”
The gospel promises forgiveness.
The gospel promises that sinful men, regardless of how bad they are, can be forgiven before God.
• If they repent of their sins.
• If they turn from their wicked ways.
The disciples could now see that God was in the process of saving sinners through Jesus, by granting them repentance.
But more than any of that, the disciples could now see THE PERSON OF THE GOSPEL
“forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name”
Forgiveness would now be available only because
Jesus had come and suffered God’s wrath.
And so now, anyone who repents of their sins
And trusts in the atoning work of Jesus
Will be forgiven and declared righteous in the sight of God.
The gospel is all about the person and work of Jesus
And the disciples could now see that.
But they also saw THE PEOPLE OF THE GOSPEL
“forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Earlier in His ministry Jesus sent out the 12 and told them to only go “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”.
But now, He reveals that God’s salvation is for the whole world.
Isaiah 49:6 “He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Even Gentiles could be saved by repenting and trusting in Jesus.
And Jesus revealed THE PREACHERS OF THE GOSPEL
“You are witnesses of these things.”
He told the disciples to go and proclaim to the world
This message of salvation.
And that is what they did.
Listen to just part of one sermon from Peter.
Acts 3:17-26 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. “Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
They went out and preached exactly what Jesus said.
• They preached Jesus crucified and raised from the dead
• They preached it from the Old Testament
• And they offered forgiveness to anyone who would repent and call on His name.
THAT CALLING BECAME THEIR LIFE.
DO YOU SEE THAT
The resurrection was far bigger than just some one-day event?
Easter is not some holiday to celebrate once a year.
• Easter is the message of the Law
• Easter is the message of the Prophets
• Easter is the message of the Psalms
• Easter was the message of Jesus
• Easter became the message of the Apostles and thus the New Testament.
That means that Easter is now our message…every day!
We are called to go and proclaim to men what every page of the Bible teaches:
• That Jesus suffered and died for sinners;
• That God raised Him from the dead;
• And that salvation is available to all those who repent and trust in Him.
Easter started for these men here in this upper room,
But Easter never ended.
This Sunday in the upper room started off a string of Sunday gatherings
THAT HAS NEVER STOPPED.
This message revealed in the upper room
Became the daily message of the apostles in the world.
• Do you see how big the resurrection is?
• Do you see how big Easter is?
Do not let this be some “once a year” holiday for you.
What happened here is to be the consuming truth of your life.
After you hear this message there should be no other message.
This is the universal message of the Bible.
And when the disciples saw that, they never discussed anything else.
They needed simple evidence They needed scriptural insight
#3 SUPERNATURAL POWER
Luke 24:49
I just want to introduce this one,
We’ll talk about all of this more next week.
But here Jesus told them not to go without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Because
• It is the Spirit who convicts men of sin.
• It is the Spirit who guides into the truth.
• It is the Spirit who glorifies Jesus.
• It is the Spirit who gives courage
• It is the Spirit who gives wisdom
• It is the Spirit who provides sanctification
If these men were to be witnesses for Jesus they had to have Him.
And so do you.
As I said, we’ll talk more about this next week.
But this morning I simply want to drive into your mind
That we don’t just gather to celebrate Easter once a year,
We proclaim it every day and everywhere.
That was the point.
Don’t try to be a spectator in the pew, be a preacher in the world.
• The resurrection demands proclamation,
• Every gospel writer understood that.
• I hope you understand it as well.
