Why We Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead
Luke 24:13-35
March 28, 2021
I know it’s been a couple of weeks since we were together in Luke’s gospel,
But certainly you remember where we left off.
Luke has now reached the glorious truth of the resurrection.
• We saw Jesus’ birth
• We saw Jesus’ ministry
• We saw Jesus’ death
• We saw Jesus’ burial
• And now Luke gets to the part of the story that is ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE TO CHRISTIANITY and that is THE RESURRECTION.
A friend of mine posted on social media this last week
A picture of the empty tomb and wrote,
“The real symbol of Christianity.”
AND HE’S RIGHT.
Certainly we focus a lot of our attention on the cross and rightly so,
For it was there that Jesus atoned for the sin of His own.
But what makes the Empty Tomb the really fitting symbol
Is that the resurrection is unique to Jesus.
NO OTHER RELIGION OR WOULD-BE SAVIOR CAN CLAIM IT.
Only Jesus conquered death.
The resurrection is the single most important truth of Christianity.
For even the cross is made void apart from the resurrection of Christ.
You are very familiar with that famous passage from Paul:
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
NOTHING about the life of Christ is of eternal significance
IF the resurrection doesn’t occur.
• His birth
• His miracles
• His preaching
• Even His death
Those things may be inspiring, but are powerless to save
IF Jesus does not rise from the dead.
Paul said it perfectly, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
BUT CHRIST WAS RAISED.
He is alive.
And each of the gospel writers set out to prove that point to us.
As we noted last time,
Every one of them has one glaring omission in their account. None of them include the actual resurrection.
NONE OF THEM SAW IT.
They are instead forced to prove to us that the resurrection occurred based on other facts.
• Matthew liked the story about the guards and how they abandoned their post
after having seen the stone rolled away.
• Mark liked how Jesus appeared to the women and they were eye-witnesses
of the resurrected Lord.
• John like the condition of the empty tomb, and the orderly fashion in which
the grave clothes were displayed.
But Luke included none of that.
• There is no mention from Luke about the guards
• There is no mention from Luke about Jesus appearing to the women
• There is very little mention from Luke about the appearance of the empty tomb
LUKE HAS A DIFFERENT PIECE OF EVIDENCE
THAT SOLIDIFIES FOR HIM
WHY HE KNEW JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD.
And if you’ll remember, “proof”
Was the very reason Luke set out to pen his gospel in the first place.
Luke’s gospel opened with:
Luke 1:1-4 “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”
• Luke set out as a historian bent on giving definitive evidence to the person
and work of Jesus.
• He noted that there had been many eye-witnesses who had told many
stories regarding Christ.
• Luke set out to investigate it all and write down an accurate account.
He was very much about giving the most compelling evidence possible
Regarding who Jesus was and what He did.
And now Luke comes to the most important event, the resurrection
And Luke gives us his most compelling evidence
That Jesus was dead and is now alive.
WHAT IS LUKE’S EVIDENCE THAT JESUS ROSE?
The Scripture says He rose.
That is Luke’s proof.
That is Luke’s main point.
We believe Jesus rose from the dead because the Bible says He did.
We started looking at it a couple of weeks ago.
WE SAW THOSE WOMEN:
• Rising early Sunday morning (possibly even late Saturday night)
• Gathering the spices and approaching the tomb
• The saw the stone rolled away and they were “perplexed”
• They had no solution for what had occurred.
• It never even entered their mind that He might be alive.
• For this they were mildly rebuked by the angel who asked them, “Why do you
seek the living One among the dead?”
• And then the angel said, “Remember how He spoke to you…”
The proof offered by the angel to the women that Jesus was alive
Was the fact that Jesus said He would die and rise again.
• The women ran with this proof to the 11 and their companions,
• But Luke told us that they would not believe these woman, but instead their
words were like “nonsense” to them.
The entire problem going on among all the followers of Jesus
Is that they are all in disarray and despair
Simply because they have not believed the Scriptures.
Well, having seen the women two weeks ago,
THIS MORNING we move forward to a story only Luke includes.
Jesus appears to two men who are on the road to Emmaus.
Let’s work our way through the text.
#1 THE COMMUTE
Luke 24:13-14
What we are seeing here is
THE FINAL UNRAVELING of all that occurred over the past 3 years.
It is their assumption that:
• Jesus is Dead
• It is all over
These men had been with the 11.
• We read in 24:9 that when the women left the tomb they “reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.”
• These two guys were some of “the rest” that were mentioned.
• BUT NOW IT’S OVER
“And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.”
• Perhaps they lived there, perhaps it was the first leg of their journey.
• Either way, the Passover is finished
• And so is any hope of Jesus delivering Israel.
(14) “And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.”
What you have here is an attempt to gain understanding
Not just to the past 3 days, but likely to the past 3 years.
(they are trying to “wrap their minds around all of it”)
• They had been convinced (as you will see) that Jesus was someone special.
• They had pegged Him as the redeemer of Israel.
• They had expected a great deliverance.
• They certainly saw His miraculous power…
• They certainly heard His preaching…
• They were filled with expectation.
But now, it all seemed to come crashing down.
And so you can imagine their conversation.
• “I can’t believe He’s gone…”
• “Remember when He healed that leper..?”
• “Remember when He fed the 5,000..?”
Their faith had been thrown into a tail-spin
And now they were trying to make sense of everything
As they walked to Emmaus.
What will become apparent is that the omniscient Jesus,
Who no doubt knew what they were talking about,
Didn’t care for their conversation.
It actually reminds me of Ezekiel 8
• When Ezekiel and some of the elders of Israel are sitting around discussing their current situation. (They are in exile)
• The implied conversation seems to be a confusion among the elders and Ezekiel as to why God won’t just forgive Israel instead of exiling?
• The LORD heard that conversation too, and in response to it, the LORD grabbed Ezekiel by the hair of the head and transported him in a vision to Jerusalem and let him see all that was happening so that he would understand why his reasoning was so far off.
That is the type of thing that is about to happen here.
We have two men stuck in grief and confusion
And they are discussing how everything just went wrong.
And the Lord is about to figuratively grab them by the hair of the head
And address their despair as well.
The Commute
#2 THE CONVERSATION
Luke 24:15-24
So here we find that the Lord Himself crashes their party.
(15-17) “While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad.”
So Jesus shows up, but they aren’t allowed to recognize Him.
Again we find that with Luke eye witnesses are NOT the main goal.
Luke actually includes that these men did not get to see Him initially.
WHY?
Because Luke is building a case that
Our faith does not rest on sight, but on Scripture.
We all remember what Peter will say later:
1 Peter 1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,”
• We haven’t seen Jesus either.
• We don’t believe because we have seen Him.
• We believe because the Scripture says He came, the Scripture says He died,
and the Scripture says He rose.
Incidentally, that is also why we believe His currently sitting at the right hand of the Father and why we believe He will return.
This is a very important foundation Luke is building for you.
I really can’t stress this enough.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s we endured what was known as “The Inerrancy Controversy”
• Evangelicals actually debated whether or not the word “inerrant” should be used of the Bible.
• There was a fight regarding whether the Bible was without error.
Fortunately that battle was won, and though there will always be skeptics, the truth today of the Bible’s perfection has been preserved.
But today we do not fight for the INERRANCY of Scripture;
Today we fight for the SUFFICIENCY of Scripture.
Is the Bible enough?
And there are many who actually answer, “No”.
• We have those in the charismatic movement who are continually seeking new fresh revelations from the Holy Spirit or even dreams or visions.
• We have those born out of the evangelical movement who measure truth by their feelings and experiences.
• We have those seeking to maintain academic credibility who continually run to scientific evidence and apologetics in order to defend the faith.
And in reality what each of those do at their core is say,
“Scripture alone is not a sufficient defense of the gospel.”
They say that in order to defend the gospel among skeptics we need:
• Scripture and signs and wonders
• Scripture and experiences
• Scripture and scientific evidence
• Scripture and philosophical logic
BUT LISTEN TO LUKE.
He is beating his drum as loudly as he knows how that
All you need is the Scripture.
• Even when these men are confronted by Jesus they are not permitted to
recognize Him.
• And as you will see they are going to be told to stand on Scripture as their
evidence that Jesus is alive.
SO JESUS APPROACHES.
And I told you He didn’t care much for their conversation.
In fact He says, “What are these words that you are exchanging..?”
• And the men stopped
• They were looking sad
• And “One of them, named Cleopas, answered…”
Now I want you to pay special attention to the answer of Cleopas here.
(You could preach an entire sermon just on what he says)
You would call it “THE IMPOTENT GOSPEL”
What you have in verses 18-24 is the gospel we would be forced to preach
IF Jesus had not risen from the dead.
If Jesus was not raised, THIS is the weak and powerless and depressing message that you and I would still be preaching today.
Hearing this highlights again for us the importance of the resurrection.
Romans 1:4 “[Jesus] was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead…”
The power of the gospel comes from the fact that Jesus is alive.
If Jesus was not raised, then this would be our pathetic message.
Listen to what Cleopas says.
(Let me break it down into 4 points)
1) JESUS WAS DIFFERENT (18-19)
“One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,”
One thing Cleopas was sure of is that Jesus was different.
• Cleopas calls Him “a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people.”
The thing that jumps out at you immediately is that
Cleopas called Jesus “a prophet”.
Now some have said that he is merely pointing out that Jesus is a prophet like 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.”
That was a messianic promise from Moses.
But I don’t think for one second that is how Cleopas meant it.
Jesus is about to point out that Cleopas
HAD NOT LISTENED to the Old Testament prophets.
No, I think Cleopas calls Jesus “a prophet” because
That is the best thing you can say about a dead man.
• If He’s dead you CAN’T call Him the Son of God.
• If He’s dead you CAN’T call Him the Savior of the World.
• If He’s dead “prophet” is the best title you can give Him.
That is actually a title of honor for everyone except Jesus.
For Jesus that is a horrible reproach.
But Jesus was “mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people.”
• It was evident that Jesus had God’s power.
• It was evident that Jesus spoke God’s message.
• It was evident that Jesus enjoyed God’s favor.
• It was evident that Jesus captivated the crowds of people.
Cleopas even insinuates that Jesus was the greatest who ever lived.
• He was better than them all.
• No prophet who ever came could hold a candle to Jesus.
Jesus was different.
Jesus was better.
But then comes the bad news.
2) JESUS IS DEAD (20)
“and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.”
The cross is a key component of the gospel message today.
• We preach it because of its power to save.
• We preach it because of its promised atonement.
But to Cleopas (who thought Jesus was dead) the cross was no message of salvation.
• To Cleopas the cross was a depressing defeat.
• To Cleopas the cross was a tragic loss.
JESUS WAS DEAD.
You can hear Cleopas as he reminisces all that Jesus once was,
But the story ended in tragedy
With Jesus hanging on a Roman cross.
What a horrible message that would be if that is all we had.
And the longer Cleopas preaches the more depressing it becomes.
3) WE ARE DEFEATED (21)
“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”
You can’t miss the words “But we were hoping…”
• As in – “not any more”
• As in – “now it’s over”
They had pegged Jesus as the redeemer.
That part was accurate.
What they misunderstood was what redemption meant.
Cleopas, like the rest of the Jews, thought that their greatest need was deliverance from Rome.
• To them the redeemer would come and deliver Israel from Roman oppression
and save them from Roman rule.
• They had pegged Jesus as that guy.
But the redemption they really needed was not from Rome.
• They needed redemption from sin.
• They needed forgiveness from God.
• They needed to escape God’s wrath.
This was the redemption Jesus actually brought.
Had Cleopas understood that, the cross would have made sense,
But since he didn’t, the cross was nothing but failure and despair.
To them Jesus died without redeeming Israel.
They could not see that He died to redeem Israel.
They thought they had lost.
Again, without the resurrection,
This would be the gospel you would preach today.
• Jesus was someone great
• But Jesus was murdered
• He died without ever completing the mission we hoped He would complete.
• He came to redeem us, and He had the power to do it, but they killed Him
before He got the chance.
Wow, that’s a great message isn’t it?
Well that’s the gospel you get if you remove the resurrection.
Jesus was Different, Jesus is Dead, We are Defeated
4) SOME ARE IN DENIAL (22-24)
(22-24) “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”
You will remember that when the women came and reported what they had seen and heard that the men in the room thought it was “nonsense”.
Count Cleopas as one of those.
• These women were dreaming…
• These women were being irrational…
• These women were believing and proclaiming fairy tales…
• They were conspiracy theorists…
Now Cleopas admits that they did investigate their claims.
“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”
In other words:
We investigated their claims, and it is true, His body is gone, but there is no evidence that He is alive.
• Do you see how weak a faith is when it is only built on visual evidence?
• Do you see how weak a faith is when it is only built on experiences?
• Do you see how weak a faith is when it is only built on emotion?
BASED ON ALL OF THAT
These men saw no reason to believe that Jesus was alive.
And that was their message to the world.
• That was their conversation.
• That is what they were talking about.
• That was their message to Jesus whom they thought to be an ignorant stranger.
• That would be the same impotent gospel you would preach to the world if Jesus was not raised.
And to that impotent gospel, Jesus speaks up.
The Commute, The Conversation
#3 THE CORRECTION
Luke 24:25-27
Here is the “grab them by the hair of the head” part.
“O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”
• Jesus DID NOT rebuke them for failing to believe based on the moved stone.
• Jesus DID NOT rebuke them for failing to believe the testimony of the women.
Why did Jesus rebuke them?
For failing to believe the prophets.
They were rebuked because they did not believe the word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
These men didn’t believe God.
Do you understand that?
• That is why the Scripture is so important.
• When we believe the Scripture, we are believing God.
And we say that
• God is a far more credible witness than science.
• God is a far more credible witness than experience.
• God is a far more credible witness than even eye witnesses.
That is certainly what Luke is revealing.
The prophets said that Jesus would die and rise again
And Jesus rebuked these men because they did not believe it.
• Jesus called them “foolish”
• Jesus called them “slow of heart to believe”.
Only a fool would fail to believe what God has said.
And Jesus continues.
(26) “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
• If they had believed the Old Testament they would know that it was.
• If they had read Psalms 16 or Psalms 22 or Psalms 118 or Isaiah 53 then it would have been evident to them that the death and resurrection of the Christ was necessary.
• But they had been foolish and had failed to believe the prophets.
So Jesus gives them a sermon.
(27) “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”
Look, I’ll be honest.
I love the Bible and agree that it is absolutely perfect.
But, if I were allowed the liberty to tweak one thing,
This sermon would have been included in its entirety.
To have Jesus walk you through the Old Testament
And show you Himself throughout would have been amazing!
• He would have talked about that promise to Eve about how her seed would crush the serpent…
• He would have talked about how God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins and the first blood sacrifice…
• He would have talked about Noah’s ark and how Jesus carries us through judgment…
• He would have talked about that ram caught in the thicket as Abraham was about to kill Isaac…
• He would talked about wrestling with Jacob…
And a host of other things like:
• The Passover Lamb
• The rock in the wilderness that gave water
• The manna that fell from heaven
• The serpent in the wilderness
• He would have explained Psalms 16 and how the Holy One would not undergo decay
• He would have explained Isaiah 53 and how He died for the sins of the people.
• He would have explained Psalms 118 and the champion who delivered the people.
What a sermon that would have been!
And here’s the point.
None of it was experiential or ecstatic or even scientific.
When Jesus laid out proof He did so by preaching the Scriptures.
IT IS ENOUGH!
And it answers again the question for us.
Why do we believe Jesus rose from the dead?
• Because the Scriptures says so.
• The Prophets said He would
• Jesus said He would
• Later the apostles in the N.T. will say He did.
And what is obvious to Luke in this text is that
THE SCRIPTURE WAS ENOUGH FOR THESE MEN.
The Commute, The Conversation, The Correction
#4 THE CONVICTION
Luke 24:28-35
So these men make it to Emmaus, and Jesus “acted as though He were going farther.”
He is seeing if they want more.
They did.
(29) “But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them.”
• Jesus is now in the house and the preaching no doubt is continuing.
• And then Jesus reveals Himself,
But again there is something remarkable about what is said.
(30-32) “When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
• So Jesus lets them see who He is, but then He vanishes.
• He is gone.
And these men now believe that Jesus has risen, but look at why.
(32) “They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
Do you see that?
• These men were foolish and slow of heart because they had not believed the Scriptures.
• But once the Scriptures were explained they became men of conviction with burning hearts.
The Scripture did that.
And look at their conviction.
(33-35) “And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.”
• 7 miles in the dark, back to Jerusalem to declare that Jesus really was alive.
• They went back and retold the story.
And Luke’s overall point is clear:
• The women were perplexed and ultimately rebuked because they had not believed what Jesus had said.
• These two men were sad and ultimately rebuked because they had not believed the prophets.
And let me tell you the same is true for you.
• You can dive into science…
• You can dive into experience…
• You can look for all sorts of extra-biblical proofs that Jesus is alive…
BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE YOU NEED AND THAT IS THE SCRIPTURES.
We believe Jesus is alive because
• The prophets said it
• Jesus said it
• And now for us, the apostles said it as well.
Listen again to Paul:
1 Corinthians 15:1-5 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 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.”
Did you hear it?
“according to the Scriptures”
I want you to understand that
• Jesus is alive.
• He did rise from the dead.
• We do not have a powerless gospel like the one Cleopas preached.
• We have a Savior who conquered death.
And we know He did because the Scripture says so.
